As a Firefighter for the city of Tacoma I have heard both sides of the story. I to believe that the state spend money on thing that they should not, but do we cut off our funding for help if we need it just to save a few bucks. I know thAt every one thinks it is a scare tactic to say that we will have to cut back on public safety but it will happen. Who will come when you call 911? As a Firefighter my safety and my family's safety has been put in jepardy as well as the rest of the public. This was so some people could save on thier taxes. Remember those of you who wanted and voted for this, if it takes longer and it will to get help when you call 911. Do not get mad at the Firefighters or the Police Officer that come when you call. Remember you asked for this and now you will have to dance to the music.

-- tony varney (varnuke@msn.com), November 09, 1999

Answers

I, personally, will call Ghostbusters.

After you actually see police officers laid off from the street, or firefighters out of their stations, give us a call.

Westin

"Have you emailed Rep. Fisher (fisher_ru@leg.wa.gov) to resign today?"

-- Westin (86se4sp@my-deja.com), November 09, 1999.

Better get your paramedic kit ready, Westin -- if you mean that people who can't get through to 911 should call your house instead.

Heh, heh, heh...

"Why must I be like that, why must I chase the cat...must be the dog in me!" -- Al Gore, from the Mothership, on the campaign trail tip

-- George Clinton (chez@u.washington.edu), November 10, 1999.

"Better get your paramedic kit ready, Westin -- if you mean that people who can't get through to 911 should call your house instead. Heh, heh, heh...

"Why must I be like that, why must I chase the cat...must be the dog in me!" -- Al Gore, from the Mothership, on the campaign trail tip

-- George Clinton (chez@u.washington.edu), November 10, 1999. " Your state education dollars at work. TIME TO RAISE TUITION AT THE DUB!

-- (zowie@hotmail.com), November 10, 1999.

zowie (now there's a name we can take seriously),

I really don't see the connection between my refusal to succumb to the bad mathematics and pseudo-populist rhetoric which paved the way for the "success" of I-695 and any supposed failure on my part to learn what I'm being taught here at the U, which, for the record, is Linguistics, and not Voodoo Economics.

Would you like to sit down and talk to me for an hour or two or three about Chomsky and Halle's English Main Stress Rule?

After all that, maybe you can explain to me the brilliant logical ellipses buried deep within the text of I-695.

Put up or shut up, as the saying goes.

-- Charles Baudelaire (chez@u.washington.edu), November 10, 1999.

"Would you like to sit down and talk to me for an hour or two or three about Chomsky and Halle's English Main Stress Rule? " Hell no, who would??? GET A JOB!

-- (zowie@hotmail.com), November 10, 1999.

I would have hoped by now, Jeff, that your mandatory attendance to English classes at the Dub would have taught you the difference between "us" (of course, meaning the board} and "me."

Sad, Jeff. Very sad.

Westin

"Have you emailed Rep. Fisher (fisher_ru@leg.wa.gov) to resign today?"

-- Westin (86se4sp@my-deja.com), November 10, 1999.

Anyone who would spend an hour or two discussing the theories of Noam "mob rule" Chomsky should be taken lightly.

-- Paul Oss (jnaut@earthlink.net), November 10, 1999.

Tony:

Don't be angry at the voters for taking back some control of their government, be angry at your representative government for aggregiously misappropriating funds.

-- Paul Oss (jnaut@earthlink.net), November 10, 1999.

"answering off the topic"

Glad to see you're still in business, Westin.

Did you answer the questions on all your final exams back in the day the same way you've answered my questions relating to the faults of I- 695?

Did you actually get a degree, or is your constant slamming of higher education as being a waste of money...

...a case of "sour grapes"?

"That reminds me of a joke I heard at a frat party back at good ol' wazzu, let me tell it for you all..."

Tim Eyman, "answering" a question at an I-200 debate, 1998

-- Zooty Singleton (chez@u.washington.edu), November 10, 1999.

Westin, time to call you out. 2 officers from Chelan Co. were given their pink slips yesterday. there goes your scare tactic excuse.

Hang in there tony, i'm in the same boat as you.

-- theman (theman@wuzzup.net), November 11, 1999.

theman--"Westin, time to call you out. 2 officers from Chelan Co. were given their pink slips yesterday. there goes your scare tactic excuse."

Was one of them the infamous detective Perez?

Seriously, I understand he works (worked?) for the city of Wenatchee. The point being is the fact that 2 officers got cut is not necessarily a "bad thing." By itself, it's a meaningless statistic.

As I've stated on other threads, I-695 gives political cover (AKA plausible deniability) to people who might want to make changes unpopular with rank'n'file employees. Without knowing the whole story, it's imprudent to assume that the layoff of these two cops is a negative consequence of I-695.

FWIW, I think law enforcement is over-funded. Until the pool of male between the ages of 18 and 34 begins to rise, there's no real worry about the crime rate rising. . .gotta figure this is a pretty unpopular opinion.

-- Brad (knotwell@my-deja.com), November 11, 1999.

911 is fine when whenever emergencies are individual events such as house fires, heart attacks, etc. But in serious mass disasters, don't bother to call 911. When the big earthquake hits, you will have to depend on yourself, your neighbors, and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTS). These CERT volunteers have invested in their own training and equipment to help their community in times of disaster.

You can help yourself to an extent tax-supported government services can never approach. Eliminate fire hazards from your house. Keep a 72 hour supply of food and water. Stock up a first aid kit. And if you care about your community, go get CERT training and become a resource that your neighbors can count on for help.

We can do so much more as caring individuals than we can ever do by taxing ourselves into the poorhouse.

-- Art Rathjen (liberty@coastaccess.com), November 11, 1999.

Art,

All points well taken. But what about re-building infrastructure after large-scale natural disasters? Are we to cross our fingers and hope that the private sector will have pity on us?

Or will there still be a revenue surplus which still belongs to the people (as opposed to private corporations and kind eccentric billionaires) which can be used to rebuild the PUBLIC infrastructure for PUBLIC use?

-- Jeff Stevens (chez@u.washington.edu), November 12, 1999.