Gene, protests also invorm all of we citizens of the level of concern on an issue.  There is little else that we citizens are allowed to do between elections. As each No King protest is larger than the previous, we learn that there is real opposition to Trump and his regime acting as lords of our land and intimidating Congress and the courts.  We are telling ourselves that we as a society want a nation governed by laws and limited powers.

I agree that Mr T and his minions care not a twit about the demonstrations.  They do not care about fair elections either - but we do.  Liberals, Ds, Rs, and MAGAs all believe in fair elections with every citizen having a equal opportunity to vote.  And we all believe elected officials should represent us.  

Congress could rein in our would be king - and our representatives are definitely paying atttention to the No Kings demonstrations.  

The person I want impressed is our Representative Rick Larsen - the cowardly quiet one who does not speak out in Congress or in public for these values. Maybe he might realize that he should exercise his privilege and power to speak....  ah, I'm dreaming.  While it seems impossible to replace him in November with an actual representative of we citizens of the 2nd Congressional District, we can try - and the demostrations may encourage new candidates to run against Larsen and the membes of Congress who are such cowards.

Enoch, the new AI generated map is still very much in error.  Fo starters, Sumas Lake was in Canada and the map shows it in the U.S.  The map shows Canadian city of Abbotsford in the U.S.  And more.  We appreciate your effort, but ... lets let it alone. 

To our readers, our apology for posting this graphic without fully examining it.  We owners and editors are now discussing the AI issue as it has come to NW Citizen.

In my personal opinion, AI is a developing useful tool, just as are computers and most all other human inventions.  And like all new inventions in human history, the first uses of it go wildly crazy and people think it spells the end of civilization.  

John Servais, one of the owners and editors of NW Citizen

So AI (Artificial Intelligence) has intruded onto NW Citizen. Inevitable and was only a matter of time, as the saying goes. If you did not catch it, the comment just above - the one that looks like 4 comments - is Artificial Intelligence computers’ answer to Randy’s questions. Aside from the comment not being relevant to the article nor the commenting thread, it is not the writing of a human. It is no more than word soup - the combination of an uncountable number of copyrighted articles by humans writing on this subject. The copyrights were violated - the writing stolen - criminally stolen - and mushed into standard sentences. No new thinking here.  No human behind those sentences.

There is some value in AI for us humans. It is a summation of what AI found. Thus AI has a great future in medicine, law and such specialized disiplines. 

We here have two important first values.

Humans are the measure of everything.  The Greeks thought that up and passed it on to us.

Commenting here is for humans who have been confirmed as humans and use their own names.

AI does not qualify on either of these values. We do not tolerate trolls here and now we also do not tolerate AI  generated comments here.  Randy, your comment above stays and provides the basis for this comment. We will remove AI comments in the future - just as we do personal insults and trolling. Using our own names is 99% effective in eliminating trolls. 

But here is the challenge; the fun aspect now with AI is seeing if others can tell it is AI. Well, without putting too large a target on it, we writers, commenters and editors can all watch for obvious instances.  Please, this is a venu for citizens. It will be hard to avoid AI on this site but we are not going to embrace it.  

Here is a statement by Washington State Senator Bob Hasegawa on SJR 8201.  This clarifies the issue raised by Forrest Longman - which does not affect the reasons for rejection 8201.  Also, here is a link to Bob’s full statement and explanation on this issue of investing long term care funds in the stock market. 

“Please Vote NO on SJR 8201, a Constitutional Amendment that changes our state Constitution to allow our Long Term Care Trust Fund to be invested (gambled) in the stock market. This proposal was rejected by the people 5 years ago but has resurfaced again, this time with a $1/4 Million war chest.  Other than that, nothing has changed to warrant adoption this go round.

“First, a categorical rebuttal of their Voters’ Pamphlet claims, which I expand on in the thread below:

“1) Proponents falsely state, “Approve 8201 to guarantee long-term care funds are there when we need them.”

“Response: The truth is No One can make such a guarantee, especially regarding Wall Street 

“2) They say, "8201 is a commonsense measure that ensures tax dollars go further.”

“Response: Gambling with needed tax dollars is not commonsense. The old commonsense adage is, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

“3) They say, “Approve 8201 to increase funding without impacting taxpayers.”

“Response: If Wall Street crashes or falls short of expectations, our only recourse is to raise taxes or cut benefits until the market recovers, which can take years.

“4) They say, "8201 has overwhelming bipartisan support across the political spectrum.”

“Response: 8201 also has bipartisan opposition. That we are being forced to reconsider our previous rejection of this ballot measure is just a sad commentary on our times and the influence of money in our voting and policy setting systems.”

Again, for his full statement, click the link at the top of this comment. 

Janis, thank you.  I also wish I had put this article together two weeks ago.  But at age 84 I am now much slower than I used to be.  Those two article were exhausting.  In the end they held up but as others ove 80 know, one can get confused on the path towards the goal. 

Our daily newspapers should be producing these.  They do not.  I started NW Citizen 30 years ago out of frustration with the Bellingham Herald ignoring our need for critical information on our governments and for voting. The lesson learned is citizen journalism is needed to nudge the commercial media to do better.  Just why did the Cascasia Daily ignore the issues measures on our ballots?  Why? Maybe it is not click bait.

Thank you for the compliment.  

Forrest, you are correct in the details.  And those details make this proposed investment idea even more absurd and dangerous.  If funds are insufficient then we as a state need to look for additional funding.  The idea that the stock market can supplement our taxes is basically our leaders drinking the kookaid.  

Our legislature in Olympia has for many years prevented a state public bank from being developed.  That is the safe and profitable path to enhancing funds such as disability funds and pensions.  

In reply to first comment by Rick regards amendment #2 - hiring an ombuds person; you have a good point that the public currently has a challenge in reporting abuse and other types of issues.  And of the several very expensive proposals, this one has the most promise of actual value to us citizens.  

The 'but' that I have is that this is a challenge that the council and executive already have the power and authority to solve.  We can pressure our council and executive to create a safe path for grievances.  The charter is for structuring government so our elected ones have the powers to solve problems. The charter is not for solving problems tha our council and executive should be solving.  The charter review commission should not act as a proxy county council to do the things they think the council should do. 

The big problem with solving problems in the charter is those solutions are cast in stone.  Unlike laws passed by the council and implemented by the executive, they cannot be changed for 10 years if they are off the mark.  Actually they can be changed by the long process of initiative and public vote on the issue.  Not the way to fix things we know do not belong in the charter.  

The original Freeholders who drafted our charter were careful to not legislate in the charter.  They structured government, put limits on powers and specified powers and gave the people of Whatcom County the initiative process.  The charter commission is not a county council.