Here's why I think it would be a horrible idea for OlyBlog users to vote on their docents:

Elections haven't gone my way on important issues since 1996.

I'm superstitious about it now. In fact, from now on I'm going to try to think and act opposite of what I should, maybe things will turn around then. It worked for George Costanza after all.

Thank You OPD.

I actually submitted more, but "somebody" felt the need to censor me. That's what I get for being a little bit sorry over some unpleasantness in the recent past, apologizing in a roundabout way, and giving him some benefit of the doubt.

Recently called into a company which employs over sixty people:

"Yeah, I was just talking to someone there, but I don't know who."

"No idea at all?"

"Well, it was a guy if that helps."

Thanks for the clarification.

Where do you live? Do you own or rent? Live with your parents, couch surf? Are you currently houseless?

How much are you paying each month? What do your utilities usually come out to? For home/property owners how much are you paying in taxes?

Are you living where you want to? If not, where would you like to be? What is your (reasonable) living goal?

Maybe Jim G-Man can set up another chart.

The John Doe was found in the woods off of Cedar Flats Road last March. It's estimated he was there 1 to 5 years before discovery.

He was six feet tall, at least fifty, and (from The Doe Network) "The bottom eight vertebrae of his spine fused together. He may have walked bent over because of the fusion of his spine."

If anyone can think back a few years to someone who matches this description, even if you can't remember his name, even if you're not 100% sure, every little bit helps. Be aware that the artist's sketch isn't intended to be the exact likeness.

 

This isn't hyperlocal but it's an issue which affects thousands in our community. The article, How Much is a Life Worth?, is from MSNBC and Self Magazine.

It focuses on how pharmaceutical companies are gouging cancer patients with attrociously priced medicine, literally making people choose between Life and Debt. Although only Cancer is covered in the article it's safe to assume the story applies to all issues regarding medicine.

But Diekmeyer had another, more immediate, fear keeping her up nights. Because of mounting medical bills, she was worried she might lose her home. Already, Diekmeyer owed her oncologist more than $10,000, debt that had escalated since May 2005, when she started taking Herceptin, a cutting-edge cancer formula. Produced by Genentech, a leading manufacturer of biotech drugs in South San Francisco, California, the new medicine was her best — perhaps her only — hope of beating the disease.

Personally, I've never had five figures in my bank account.

The cost of cancer-fighting drugs went up 27 percent in 2006, compared with less than 2 percent for other drugs, according to the most recent Medco Drug Trend Report. And many of the new medications are being tested in combination, so patients may be faced with not one but two or even three drugs that cost $50,000 each.

....

One in 10 cancer patients is unable to cover basics such as food and housing, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, California; more disturbingly, 1 in 12 people with cancer has delayed or decided against treatment because it was too costly.

....

Diekmeyer was covered under her husband's health insurance, a plan that had always seemed adequate. Now she watched her co-pays for doctor visits, hospital stays, surgeries and drugs add up.

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In today's Olympian there's an article on how Tumwater hasn't hired a new Chief of Police in almost a year. It explains how Acting Chief John Stines doesn't want the position for reasons of Job Security, and shows how those without strong local ties would prefer the better money of a larger city like Tacoma.

Nothing in the article was fishy until this quote from Tumwater head of Human Resources Eric Trimble:

I'm just speculating that perhaps it's harder for them to meet employment standards than it was before. Now there's criminal background checks and that type of thing.

As commenter Toad Man said in their forums: "Now there’s a jaw dropper if I ever saw one."

Deleted for sharing alternate points of view

Deleted for not being submissive enough.

Deleted for deflecting from other conversations.