Washington: Primary Today

This reminder comes from my friend Jay Arnold:

The primary is on Tuesday, August 21st. Yes, this is earlier than previous years; part of an effort by the legislature to give candidates and county election offices a few more weeks to prepare for the November election. In addition to narrowing the field in some Port races, there are important parks levies on the ballot.

For poll voters, the routine has not changed (yet). For mail-in voters, your ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday or turned into a polling place by 8:00 PM.

Jay also served on the King County Park Futures task force which recommends the county parks levy. ( More info, with links )

stir-fried random

[about Madame de Pompadour]

Rose:	The Queen must have loved her.
Doctor:	Oh, she did. They got on very well.
Mickey:	What, the King's wife and the King's girlfriend?
Doctor:	France. It's a different planet.

- From Doctor Who 2.4, "The Girl in the Fireplace", by Steven Moffat.

I liked Ben Stein's response to the subprime mortgage thing, but Free Money Finance puts it more bluntly:

The market is a herd of lemmings following one another up in good times and down in bad times. Lately, there's been so much negative press about the housing crisis that everyone's saying the bottom's falling out. And when everyone begins to act on this information, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But the basic, fundamental value of most of the S&P 500 stocks has changed very little in the past few months. Yeah, they may take a hit for awhile, but when the tide turns and the lemmings start to say things are all better again, they'll skyrocket.

Woz got a ticket for going 104mph in his Prius. "He does he not recommend those speeds -- his 55 miles per gallon dropped to between 31 and 37 miles per gallon at 104 miles per hour."