I think we’re a clone now
I have lived in Federal Way since 1999.
I moved here because my father was in the U.S. Coast Guard, and when my family was to move to Florida, I decided to stay. I consider Federal Way home. For a military kid, it’s hard to find a home, but I did.
When I read about the possible moving of a large company to Federal Way, possibly adding high-rises to my town, I was appalled. Every day, I see my beloved town get torn down and rebuilt, all for commercial purposes. I get sad when I see a patch of our forestry, where I use to go and hang out, get demolished. There is already a plan to tear down the trees at the corner of 336th Street and Pacific Highway, and this high-rise business just tops my anger.
I live in Federal Way because it is the only gem in King County that wasn’t commercialized. I will truly miss that when these new developments come up.
Bye-bye, small Federal Way. Hello, Renton clone…
Enrique M., Federal Way
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Students campaign for a green Earth
I wanted to thank you for following up on the “Go Green or Go Home” rally (March 29). I really appericate your support and we all really appreciate The Mirror writing about our rally, and thank you for including me in the second issue. Thanks again for your support!
Laura Ewton, Federal Way
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Time to end this negative rhetoric
I was distressed to read Roy Parke’s letter to the editor (March 22) disparaging Jerry Vaughn’s comments about the recent Federal Way Works effort by our citizen committee to preserve and protect our city government.
It is a government we voters chose when we incorporated as a city.
Personally, I found Roy Parke, as the driving force behind Accountability Comes to Town (ACT), to be a committed, genial competitor and a gentleman. It is time to put away the negative rhetoric. The election is over. The voters made the decision. If change is to occur, there will be another election, another fundraising effort, and another campaign committee rolling up its sleeves.
Jerry Vaughn was a valuable, knowledgeable, articulate voice and advisor on successful government organizations throughout the campaign. His input was always factual and true.
Our choice for a council-manager government has served us well. The old partisanships that only served to divide a population were not wanted. Instead, we moved into a bright future of economic growth and enthusiastic community involvement by willing citizens. I never cease to be amazed by the giant steps we have taken: Our expanded parks and recreation system, our remarkable accredited police department that has attracted officer candidates of the highest caliber. Because of effective city leadership, the impressive, rapid residential and business development has been possible.
Our recent election was democracy at work. Now we face another challenge. We have to get through what is probably going to be the nastiest presidential campaigns any of us have ever witnessed. I have had my fill of the recent negative rhetoric on the national stage. Do we really want to keep up the local personal attacks against our neighbors? I say it is time to give it a rest.
Barbara Reid, Federal Way
Note: Reid is the former chair of the Federal Way Works campaign committee.
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Lust, lies and murder: Tales from the Bible
Come on, Frosty Hardison. If you really think King David would be the ideal candidate for our presidential election (letters to the editor, March 22), perhaps you should refresh your biblical memory.
King David was a great little commandment breaker. According to the Bible, he not only coveted his neighbor’s wife. Uriah, the Hittite, was married to Bathsheba when David’s roving eye spied her taking a bath, and not only lusted in his heart, but he sent servants to bring her to him and he committed adultery with her and got her pregnant.
To cover this up, he tried every which way to get her husband, Uriah, to “lie with her,” but unfortunately for him, Uriah wouldn’t cooperate so David couldn’t blame the pregnancy on him. So David had Uriah sent to the front lines and left him there to be killed. This made God angry enough to punish them by killing the child.
That didn’t discourage David too much as he went ahead and married Bathsheba and impregnated her with King Solomon. So, the greatest king of all lusted, lied, stole, committed adultery and murder.
What a peach! Would you vote for him? Not me!
Marjorie Seavers, Federal Way
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Advice from broke people
My favorite quote this month is one I heard in a wealth building seminar I paid some $250 to see.
The quote is from Robert Kiyosaki, the author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” who said: “You can’t teach a pig to sing.” He was talking about trying to teach some people how to be wealthy and manage money. Some people want to be wealthy, some don’t. Some folks will work hard for money, others will work smart.
It’s a funny quote, until you start to realize: “Is he talking about me? Am I the pig?” Well, are you broke? Could you be broke because you take advice from people that give you financial advice like: Work hard, save money, get out of debt, invest long term and diversify? Do you know who tells you advice like that? Broke people. Most of them well meaning, very sincere yet just like you, they are broke with a job. These people include most brokers and most financial advisors.
Have you ever heard Warren Buffet give that advice — work hard, save money, get out of debt, invest long term and diversify? No. Because Warren Buffet and his team of multi-millionaires day trade and are not investing in stocks for the long term; they are in it for the money. When the market is making money, they are in to win it. If the stock market is tanked, they take their billions elsewhere where the markets are performing.
An article by Doug Legg printed by The Mirror (Dec. 26, 2007), did you the reader a huge disservice by quoting this same mantra: Work hard, save money, get out of debt, invest long term and diversify. Broke people keep quoting and printing this same song and dance garbage about saving money, and how a 401k is good for you and contribute to your IRA. All of it is crap! It’s bad advice because of several reasons: The tax code is stacked against you if you have a job, the school system is stacked against you because you are not taught financial education or economics in high school, and the U.S. Federal Reserve currency itself is stacked against you because it is nothing more than paper and they print as much as they need. If you listen and take advice from brokers that have a job selling you products and services their company sells? That is why you are broke. If you take foolish advice from the ungodly and allow the financially uneducated people in this world to manage your money? You get what you deserve.
Every single year that goes by, I hear and read the same stupid financial advice on making and saving money all spewed out by broke people in the business of making money off of what products and services for a fee that they can sell you and make a fee off of your money from your investments. Charles Schwab, Merrill Lynch, Primerica and Edward Jones are only a few of the companies that are willing to maybe pay you a small return on your money for their “services.” No guarantees, no insurance and often times little results. What you don’t often see are the fees and service charges that sap you dry over the decades your money is invested. What you do see is that the buying power of your dollar is falling through the floor without any control.
Do you remember 1999? That’s the last time gas was under $1. Do you know what happened since then? Some educated person with a lot of financial interest in oil, made the statement that no more oil was being produced. He insinuated that there is a finite supply. He was right about the finite portion of course, but like any sly scum-sucking attorney would do in a court case, what he failed to tell you is the other side of the argument – that we have nowhere near found all the oil that has been produced. There are still huge reserves yet to be found and tapped. Did this economist tell you that? Of course not, it wouldn’t have made his case. He was trying to raise the price of oil for the benefit of his company. Now, here we are a mere nine years later and gas is at $4 a gallon. Has your paycheck or hourly wage kept up with that? Let’s see, I was making $20 an hour back then, by now I should be making $80 an hour if my paycheck kept up with oil and gas prices. Did your income multiply by four since 1999? No? Maybe that’s because your dollar is no longer based on gold, not since 1971. Today the government prints up as much cash as they need to keep you happy in junk food, in beer and TV to watch. That’s the rat race folks. Are you a victim? Want to change that?
If you really want to make some money and become wealthy, why not ask someone that is in the fight, who’s winning, someone that has done it, ask someone that is already wealthy to teach you how. There are some really great books out there to teach even you how to become wealthy if that is what you want. Books like “Mentored by a Millionaire,” the entire Rich Dad series of books. If nothing else pick up and play the game Monopoly for $20 and learn something playing the game Donald Trump built his empire upon. If you’re too lazy to do it yourself, find an investment club and invest into a limited partnership where you can invest your money with others as a joint venture and profit share on income producing real estate. What ever you do, do not take the advice of the unwise or ungodly that are doing nothing more for you than feed you a solid sales pitch. Brokers are broke people interested in making money from your ability to save money – that is a simple fact.
Empower and educate yourself on investing and managing your own money before turning it over to anyone else – especially bankers, brokers and panhandlers on the street corner. None of these people will be more motivated to make you wealthy than you will be to make yourself wealthy. And again if you are too lazy? Join an investment club!
Frosty Hardison, Federal Way
