Fuse Washington
Working to secure major advances in progressive public policy for Washington State.
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Fuse Washington

Fuse Washington We'd like to buy the world a Coke...
(Because the Coca Cola company's actually doing something to reduce its carbon footprint.)

And for those of you who don't get the reference, here's a bit of bell-bottomed holiday Americana for you to enjoy:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zCsFvVg0UY&feature=related


Best Retro Holiday Wishes from Fuse!

UPDATE 1-Coke to move to climate friendlier vending machines | Reuters
www.reuters.com
* Will double rate of buying climate friendlier coolers * Has invested $50 million for research in effort so far (Adds background on regulation) LOS ANGELES, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co
December 24, 2009 at 1:09pm
Fuse Washington
Fuse Washington
[A response from the original poster, Fuse Media Fellow, Darrin Gunkel.]

Do I really want everybody to drink Coke because the company took one postive step? No. Was this post about Fuse endorsing Coke and its products? Absolutely not.

The point of posting the Rueters article was to show that corporations have stumbled upon incentives to do something about their carbon emissions – even while climate change naysayers argue that doing so will put those very same corporations out of business (the merits of which are certainly subject to debate, but that’s another post.) Is this an example of greenwashing? Good chance. Still, I delight in any instance of the corporatocracy undermining the arguments that it’s ultimately responsible for by acknowledging reality. In this case, the reality that abundant reasons exist to reject our collective addiction to carbon. Would I be happy to see the world also reject its collective addiction to processed sugar? Certainly.... See More

Posting the Coke “Christmas Tree of Diversity” ad was totally ironic. Superficially, it’s laughably cheesy. And if you want to dig deeper, there’s plenty to ponder. Unpacking how media phenomena work. 1970’s “one world” naiveté. The evolution of mainstream (and counter-culture) concepts of diversity since then. The ways marketers respond to and repackage popularly held values and perceptions. How entrenched corporations co-opt and repackage potential ideological threats to the status quo. The appropriate progressive response to these tactics of neo-liberalism. And I could go on. I heartily invite any and all of these discussions.

I do appreciate everybody’s vocal engagement. That’s what makes this job interesting.

-Darrin
December 26, 2009 at 3:57pm
Genevieve
Genevieve
right on, Darrin :-) . . . Happy Boxing Day!
December 26, 2009 at 4:26pm
Fuse Washington

Fuse Washington Who would you like to see as Washington's tenth rep? Any local politicos up to the task? Another tech-magnate-in-retirement? Or how about one of our regional rock stars? (I'd vote for Neko Case, if only she'd come back to Tacoma...)

Politics | Washington is on track to add seat in U.S. House | Seattle Times Newspaper
seattletimes.nwsource.com
Comments (45) E-mail article Print view Share
December 24, 2009 at 11:21am
Michael Grenetz
Michael Grenetz
What about Larry Philips as a consolation prize for losing King County Exec.
December 24, 2009 at 12:49pm
Jon
Jon
Frank Chopp. We need him out of the legislature. Like Ron Sims, he's gone kooky locally but would be good in higher office. Joe McDermott would be good. But we kind of need to know what the new map would look like first--where would the 10th CD be? Of our current 9 districts, I'm guessing the 8th has grown most quickly. So maybe an Eastsider like Ross Hunter.
December 25, 2009 at 1:34am
Alene Cisney

Alene Cisney Here is an interesting new take on the proposed healthcare bill from Paul Krugman (economist) -- that it works a lot like single payer healthcare! Please see http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/simulating-single-payer/ ... This, of course, ignores the huge percentage of U.S. health dollars wasted on insurance ...company overhead and profits (currently about 31%).

See More
Simulating single-payer - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com
krugman.blogs.nytimes.com
Even in this form, we're looking a something that will help make America a more just, more secure nation.
December 23, 2009 at 7:05pm
Fuse Washington
Fuse Washington
Thanks for the post, Alene. Just as - or even more - stimulating, is the discussion that follows, which demonstrates clearly that it's too early to call this health care bill a victory or defeat for progressives. Today's Senate vote could be just the beginning of real healthcare reform. (Hopefully not the end!)
December 24, 2009 at 11:34am
Alene Cisney

Alene Cisney For a balanced treatment of what really happened at Copenhagen, please take a look at Sam Hummel's article, "Five common mistakes in the coverage of the Copenhagen Accord" -- http://www.salon.com/news/2009/12/22/5_common_mistakes_in_the_coverage_of_the_copenhagen_accord/index.html?source=newsletter
Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009 16:01 EST

December 23, 2009 at 6:54pm · Report
Fuse Washington
Fuse Washington
There's certainly a vested interest for the corporate (carbon economy driven) mainstream to make COP15 look like a failure.
December 24, 2009 at 11:44am
Timothy Michael Kearney

Timothy Michael Kearney Immediately after COP 15, I was very distraught. However, now, I still have hope. If the US is able to accomplish something meaningful in the next couple of years (and that's a big IF), I'm confident the rest of the world will follow our lead. This may turn out to be even better that an "agreement."

An aside. Throug...h all the buildup to COP 15 as well as during the conference, not enough is made of the HUGE impact our diet choices make on climate change.

See More
December 23, 2009 at 2:44pm · Report
Fuse Washington
Fuse Washington
There's a lot of buzz growing in the wake of COP15 about the solutions (plural) to climate change, as opposed to the solution (singular.) That can only be a good thing.
December 24, 2009 at 11:49am
Fuse Washington

Fuse Washington Read this article he penned on why the Senate health care bill should die, and decide: Is Howard Dean Crazy? Or crazy like a fox?

Kill the health bill - washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com
Without the public option, it's just a giveaway to insurance companies.
December 16, 2009 at 1:46pm
Jon
Jon
He's selfish, self-aggrandizing, and a publicity hound.
December 16, 2009 at 3:59pm
Fuse Washington
Fuse Washington
@ Greg -- true. I should echoed Dean's first line and said "the current bill." Thanks for keeping me on my toes.
December 24, 2009 at 12:00pm
Michael Grenetz

Michael Grenetz What present should we give Joe Lieberman for Hannukah? I was thinking a recall or taking away his public health care plan. I know that's not the Hannukah spirit, but he's really pushing my Jewish sense of togetherness.

December 16, 2009 at 8:09am · Report
Fuse Washington

Fuse Washington Do I believe my eyes? In opposing the state employee raises, WA Republican leadership adopts OUR language:

"What does it say to the average Washingtonian who is fearful of becoming unemployed that his or her taxes are going to pay 5 percent annual salary increases for state workers?" asked Zarelli, the ranki...ng Senate Republican on budget matters. "Or, for that matter, to the person who lost health coverage on the Basic Health plan, the disabled senior citizen who is receiving fewer hours of in-home care, or to the middle-class family that will see the costs of higher education increase by 30 percent over two years all due to budget cuts?"

If you control the framing, do you control the outcome of an issue?

See More
Washington state employees getting step raises
www.seattlepi.com
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- More than 21,000 state employees could get pay raises of up to 5 percent in the next year, despite Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposal to cut $1.7 billion from public schools, health care and other programs to solve a budget shortfall.
December 15, 2009 at 1:37pm
Charles
Charles
That's the most hilarious thing ever. Undermine support for the poor for decades, and then complain about their plight when another marginal group gets a lift.

Awesome.
December 15, 2009 at 5:44pm
Mary
Mary
I think Devin's on to something... challenge them to support their own rhetoric by supporting basic health, in-home care, rolling back higher education fees (or increasing subsidy for in state students) Tell them to put up or shut up.
December 16, 2009 at 5:50pm
Jessie

Jessie Thank you for your strong and capable leadership!

December 15, 2009 at 10:34am · Report
Fuse Washington
Fuse Washington
Jessi, thanks for keeping up with the issues.
December 15, 2009 at 1:25pm
Lynne Treat

Lynne Treat Thanks are out to FUSE Washington for keeping us informed!

December 14, 2009 at 5:24pm · Report
Michael Grenetz
Michael Grenetz
It's thanks to Darrin, our amazing New Media Fellow at Fuse
December 14, 2009 at 5:30pm
Alexandra Schiff-Bellabiod

Alexandra Schiff-Bellabiod Nice piece in the seattle times:
Opinion | Washington state needs a modern tax system | Seattle Times Newspaperseattletimes.nwsource.com Comments (71) E-mail article Print view Share

December 14, 2009 at 12:24pm · Report
Fuse Washington
Fuse Washington
"Modern" is certainly putting it nicely.
December 14, 2009 at 1:35pm
Michael Grenetz
Michael Grenetz
You don't usually get that message from the Seattle Times - that's when you know it's bad
December 14, 2009 at 2:41pm
Fuse Washington

Fuse Washington Guy wins a Nobel Peace Prize and he still don't get no respect! What's going to reign in Wall Street's execs? The 2012 Apocalypse?

Wall St. Bankers Snub Obama, Duck D.C. Sit-Down Because of 'Inclement Weather' - Goldman Sachs - Gaw
gawker.com
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Citigroup chairman Dick Parsons, and Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack all skipped out on a scheduled dressing-down today from Barack Obama because "inclement weather" made it physically impossible for them to travel to Washington. Convenient!
December 14, 2009 at 10:35am
Fuse Washington

Fuse Washington Do you think the budget Gregoire released today might scare Washington into changing our perversely regressive tax system? If the prospect of eliminating Basic Health, GAU, student aid, senior med assistance and closing prisons doesn't make people get serious, what will?

NPI Advocate: Governor Gregoire unveils 2010 supplemental budget with jaw-droppingly awful cuts
www.nwprogressive.org
Read a Pacific Northwest, liberal perspective on world, national, and local politics. From majestic Redmond, Washington - the Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate.
December 9, 2009 at 12:56pm
Alexandra Schiff-Bellabiod
Alexandra Schiff-Bellabiod
I agree with Derek!
December 9, 2009 at 4:10pm
Devin
Devin
I also agree with Derek. This state needs an income tax, passed by legislators and not one put to the voters. And it should be coupled with visible decreases in our other, very regressive tax bases (sales tax for starters). It'd also help to reform the B&O tax to stop taxing businesses based on all the money that goes in and out of their stores ... See Moreand instead only focus on profits. A store making just enough money to keep its doors open has to pay taxes on their nothing.

The B&O thing is new to me, so I think I have it right.
December 15, 2009 at 2:13pm
Fuse Washington

Fuse Washington Finally, thanks to Fox "News", 2+2 really does =5. (And with the cuts in education funding we could see over the next few years, don't count on the next generation's math skills to be any better.)

Think Progress » Fox fudges poll numbers to claim 120 percent of the public believes scientists fals
thinkprogress.org
Last week, Fox and Friends showed a Rasmussen poll graphic revealing that a whopping 120 percent of the American public believes scientists may be falsifying research to support their own theories on global warming:
December 9, 2009 at 12:18pm
Fuse Washington

Fuse Washington Do you think Tim Eyman is beginning to enjoy getting smacked down? Even if it makes it onto the ballot, even if it passes, his 2010 initiative -- a retread of 2007's I-960 -- won't stand up in court, according to this post from our pals at NPI. Can't Tim take a hint?

NPI Advocate: Tim Eyman's 2010 scheme will be an Initiative 960 redux (or so he tells the Associated
www.nwprogressive.org
Read a Pacific Northwest, liberal perspective on world, national, and local politics. From majestic Redmond, Washington - the Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate.
December 8, 2009 at 1:04pm
Valerie
Valerie
Lets start an initiative that states: "Initiative organizers must be volunteers and in no way personally profit from the process"
December 8, 2009 at 1:47pm
Chad Lupkes
Chad Lupkes
Here's an even crazier idea. Reverse that. If someone is going to be paid for gathering signatures, they must be paid $100 per hour. If they are volunteers, fine. But paid gatherers must be paid a HELL of a lot of money. too much for anybody to pay.
December 8, 2009 at 1:50pm