Edward Christopher Sheeran, MBE is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. He has performed here in Seattle at Century Link Stadium.
Edward Christopher Sheeran, MBE is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. He has performed here in Seattle at Century Link Stadium.
Liz French did a great presentation on vaudeville last Wednesday. Some got to see this clip of her performance in 5th Avenue Theater’s production of A Christmas Story back in 2014. Wow, what talent!
“The Crosscut Festival will bring together some of the boldest thought leaders in politics, business and social justice activism to be interviewed live on stage by some of the finest journalists in the Pacific Northwest. Organized by the news outlet Crosscut and hosted by Seattle University, the event — which takes place February 2 (7–9 p.m.) and 3 (9 a.m.–5:30 p.m.) — is expected to draw over one thousand attendees from across the state and region.”

A light dusting of snow in the Middle Cascades.

A new roof garden in the neighborhood. That new apartment building on the NW corner of James & Boren has more “roof investment” than Skyline.

The Medicare-required space for airing patients outside the 9th floor of the Terraces.
And, for construction buffs, here is how those vertical support columns (as seen in the Skyline parking garage) are seated into a maze of rebar set into a footing of rebar and concrete (blue arrow).

The central elevator pit for 610 Terry today, surrounded by rebar packages.

By Nicole Brodeur in the Seattle Times: “We don’t know how good we have it with our cellphones and bike shares. Our labor laws and dating apps. Our good hips and sharp eyes. And yet, the residents of The Summit at First Hill retirement home wouldn’t trade their lives for any of those things. That would mean losing their own stories and memories, things they have not only lived, but lived to tell.
That’s the take-away from “The Faces of The Summit,” a photo exhibit that captures the faces and words of more than 20 residents ranging in age from 85 to 102. The exhibit is hanging in a horseshoe of hallways on the home’s first floor and is open to the public. There’s no plan to take it down.”
Sent in by Dick Dion. Click here for the full story.
Thinking of taking the trip to Winterfest on December 29? That annual experience at the Seattle Center with the train village, the ice skaters, the cute kids, and all the food, people-watching, and holiday decorations you could want?
If you’ve seen that, done that, take another look at what’s happening that day, December 29. It’s NANDA, a.k.a. Acrobaticalist Ninja Theater, bringing a probably-never-before-seen experience to your annual holiday memories.
As one reviewer put it: “It’s a martial arts sparring performance. No, wait, it’s a juggling show. A comedy act? Or an on-stage movie? If you don’t know how to describe NANDA, it’s because their show is like nothing you’ve ever seen. But with acrobatics, perfectly staged fight scenes and spot-on comedy, you’ll probably enjoy it.”
So the trip to Winterfest could be your most traditional holiday outing, or your most unusual, most memorable conversation starter. Sign up in the Lifestyle binder.
It’s finally
on the city web site for download:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/AppDocs/GroupMeetings/DRProposal3028357AgendaID6647.pdf
Submitted by David O’Hara
For the article website go to https://medium.com/@nicklicata/the-democrats-never-had-a-plan-to-defeat-trumps-tax-plan-fc3e2f9c986c
The Democrats let President Trump define the playing field for the Tax Reform Game. They fell short in imagination; they didn’t offer a plan that would have forced the Republican’s to debate the merits of their plan versus a Democratic alternative. Instead, Democrats relied on a strategy of “resistance” rather than on “leadership.”
Democrats endlessly criticized the Republican tax plan’s content. They said it gave too much money to the wealthiest, took away health benefits from those most in need, piled up national debt that would burden future generations, couldn’t guarantee job creation and finally their tax plan was too long at 1,000 pages to be properly evaluated in less than a week. Each of these criticisms was well backed up with facts. But as Hillary Clinton learned on election night facts are not enough.
Here’s a pic of the empty cups after hot coco, coffee and tea were consumed by Skyliners after a walk at Greenlake. They were trying to see how tall they could make it. Isn’t it fun to be young again!
A video update presentation about the Olympic Tower is on the Skyline Resident Portal. To access it do the following: log on to the portal; click on “Our Community”; then click on “Media”; then scroll down to “Olympic Tower update 12/14/17. This video is not linked here due to the proprietary nature of its content.

From the Seattle Times: “Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are: “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”
Ed Note: It seems we now need to rework reality. It’s “there” but not “really there.” Green isn’t really green, it’s “non-blue.” When we know something scientifically, but can’t say it, it’s preferring disinformation to truth. We become confused and might even give up seeking truth. Years ago I took training in Parasitology at the CDC, a superb group of scientists dedicated to health research and preventative medicine. It’s so sad to see false restrictions laid upon them.
“In George Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984, doublethink is the act of holding, simultaneously, two opposite, individually exclusive ideas or opinions and believing in both simultaneously and absolutely. Doublethink requires using logic against logic or suspending disbelief in the contradiction.
The three slogans of the party — “War Is Peace; Freedom Is Slavery; Ignorance Is Strength” — are obvious examples of doublethink. The act of doublethink also occurs in more subtle details throughout the novel.”
In a way, the CDC rules are beyond doublethink in that these rules actually forbid language that describes reality. Perhaps we are entering a new world of “virtual unreality.” Certainly it will become harder to describe what’s real as our government forbids reality based language. So virtual unreality and doublethink may go hand in hand as our institutions become weaker and weaker.
The New Yorker has a lengthy feature article about the Sackler family. You might say, “Who are they?” Staying definitely under the radar, this wealthy dynasty (with fortunes greater than the Rockefellers) own and operate Purdue Pharma, the company largely responsible for initiating and promoting the chaos of the national opioid epidemic.
The means of promotion and denial of damages reminds me so much of the tobacco companies – promote a deadly addicting product, deny the harmful side-effects and go to court to defend oneself.
Even today Purdue ran a full page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal proclaiming, “We manufacture prescription opioids. How could we not help fight the prescription and illicit opioid abuse crisis?” In the ad there is no apology, no promise of centers for addiction treatment, and no promise that their misleading promotional techniques will be restricted elsewhere in the world. They fail to mention the many lawsuits that they have settled in order to avoid going to court. In time, it’s estimated that the lawsuits may put them out of business. But what about the Sacklers? Will their attorneys be able to shield them from individual liability?
Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Linquist has a running history of complaints about his management style which tends toward favoritism and self-promotion. The Bar Association has not acted and a recall attempt never quite got off the ground. I’m sure he’d like to be our next Governor but this time he may have quashed his own future by appearing on the Nancy Grace show about an active case – a no-no to be sure.
From December 11:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=91427&src=eoa-iotd

Hope you get a chance to visit Bellevue’s Botanical Gardens – it was a fun Skyline sponsored trip. Amazing improvements since our last visit years ago.
Lately I’ve been reading Hit Refresh, the best-selling autobiography of Satya Nadella in which this CEO gives his philosophy of making Microsoft a more empathetic yet successful leader in transforming technology.
But what does this really have to do with Seattle’s problems of growth and homelessness. Newt Berger in Crosscut has his wishlist of what Seattle’s billionaires might give us – using Amazon’s Alexa as a metaphor.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a new poll conducted on Wednesday, a sweeping majority of Americans said they support moving Donald J. Trump to Jerusalem.
The sixty-three per cent of survey respondents who approved relocating Trump to Jerusalem placed few conditions on such a move, other than that it take place “as soon as possible” and that it be “permanent.”
In other poll results, an overwhelming majority of respondents said that they would support relocating Trump to any number of other foreign destinations, including Russia, the Philippines, and “that station where scientists live at the South Pole.”
Though Americans were strongly enthusiastic about moving Trump to Jerusalem, in a rare consensus both Arabs and Israelis vehemently opposed the move.
Tonight at the Seattle First Baptist Church you can enjoy Garfield’s Orchestra’s Messiah sing-a-long at 7:30 PM.
Also, you might enjoy the surprise this little girl had after tossing a few coins into a musician’s hat.