The Burien Independence Day Parade 2011

[elfs]

It was a beautiful Fourth of July here in Burien, where the weather reached a sweltering 74F (23C), and Omaha had volunteered to do her annual part with the 33rd District Democrats, and Kouryou-chan was commandeered into showing up for her dance school's part in the parade.

We have one of the longest parade routes of any small town, almost three miles. The next town over barely manages one mile of parade length. There's a mile up Ambaum, then down 153rd St, then up 152nd. There's a pecking order to property, with everything one 152nd being in the "heart" of the town, Ambaum being a major strip, and 153rd being, well, whatever's left over. The problem with the route is that if we went down Ambaum & 152nd, there'd be no way to get back to the parade route start. So we have this weird extra mile with nobody on it right in the middle of the route.

Veterans of Foreign Wars

First off, we had the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which always leads off, followed by the Disabled Vets of America.

Disabled Vets of Ameria

The Disabled Vets included two men from "Wounded Warriors," a charity raising money for veterans by bicycling across the country every summer-- despite one being legally blind, and the other having to use a hand-crank to power his bike, as he had no legs. Pretty impressive.

Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts came next, looking all martial and proto-military and fascistic. I only say that because the Boy Scouts have decided they're both a religious organization (their rules still say you must be a heterosexual monotheist to join) and a primer on military regimentalism (the US militaries are proud of their "more than half of our officers were boy scouts!").

Dave Upthegrove

Then came the first politician. Dave Upthegrove is a state representative from the 33rd District, a very decent guy who's interest is mostly in environmental issues. Omaha helps him get re-elected.

Joan Hernandez

After Dave came the city council chairwoman of Tukwila, the next town over. She road in the back of an SUV and, while she smiled, didn't engage much. She doesn't need our votes, unless she's planning on running for the county council or something.

Antique Car

A bunch of antique cars, and then the Highline Highschool Cheerleaders and Band. And their robotics team. We have two high-school robotics teams in Burien, although neither actually makes autonomous vehicles. Their projects are more like glorified self-propelled remote-controlled industrial processes. Highline came in second to Aviation.

Highline Marching Band

Ronald McDonald

Ronald McDonald looks dorky on a Segway. Then again, everyone looks ridiculous on a Segway. Earlier, Omaha and I passed a tall, handsome man driving a Segway painted Ferrari colors and with a fake Ferrari logo on the front. He still looked ridiculous.

Hydroracer

Hydro-racing is a big deal in Seattle. We host some of the biggest hydroraces in the country during our annual SeaFair celebration, when the military vessels come in and Seattle briefly remembers that it's not really a European city.

Council of Islamic American Relations

CAIR, the Council of American Islamic Relations, had all of three people walking in the parade. To my pleasure, there was no verbal abuse or other open displays of hostility against CAIR, which surprises me because one of Burien's schizophrenic personalities is still a God, guns and guts kind of town.

The Commerce Committe, the Burien Little Theater, Local Beauty Queens, the Toe Truck, a "drill team" not associated with a school, the Lions Club, the local Catholic high school's Marching Band. The Masons, whose only hint that they run the world was that they drove in a Jaguar. Another drill team, a scooter club, the Elks club, a citizen's patrol (I wonder if they're gonna have funding next year), another politicians I've never heard of. I'm not gonna bore you with these photos, just go see the set.

Kouryou-chan with Dance Group

And then Kouryou-chan's dance team. Given that they had one hour to rehearse a routine that could be done by the Jazz, Contemporary, Tap, and Ballet teams, they did okay.

Tina Orwall

The 33rd District Democrats were next, and it's a good thing, too, because it gave Omaha and I a chance to make sure Kouryou-chan stayed hydrated. Omaha was joined by Tina Orwall, the other state representative from our district.

Aviation High School Skunkworks

A local BMX Bike Club, and then Aviation High School, with their own robot. The goal was to lift small inflated swimming pool rings off the floor and hang them on hooks eight feet in the air; Aviation built a gripper that fell into the ring's hole and opened to grasp it, then when it approached the hook used an airgun to blow the ring onto the hook, thus avoiding any entanglements with the target. It exploited a feature of the MacGuffin, its lightness, in an innovative way, which is why they won.

Vacation Bible School

Is it just me, or does the Vacation Bible School's Statue of Liberty squeakytoy look a little Hitleresque from a distance?

34th District Democrats

The 34th District Democrats have a lot of enthusiasm.

Diana Toledo

Diana Toledo is running for county council. She's been very cagey about describing her political philosophy, however, and although she has sought the endorsement of various Democratic councils throughout the county, including Omaha's, she last year described herself as "very" non-partisan and this year isn't saying what she'll do if elected other than some pap slogans.

One of those slogans bothers me, though. Remember "sound science?" "Sound science" became a hated phrase among scientists during the Bush Administration, as it was a buzzphrase used by corporatists pushing to require higher standards of evidence before enacting environmental legislation than had previously been applied. The guys claiming that there was no link between tobacco usage and lung cancer were proponents of "sound science."

This year's version of that is "Responsible Reform." Diana Toledo is using "Responsible Reform." The National Republican Congressional Committee's anti-Affordable Care Act committee is called "The Physican's Council for Responsible Reform." Anti-Tax initiatives are labeled "Responsible Reform." The Chamber of Commerce has called for cuts to Medicare and Medicaid under the banner, "The Campaign for Responsible Reform." It's a marketing thing: the attempt is to frame all Democratic initiatives as "irresponsible." That Diana Toledo is using the phrase is, I think, rather telling.

Airport Towing Trucks

And toward the end, another tow truck company shows off its vast history.

Military Vehicle Collectors Club

I was wondering why this military-looking guy was all alone. It turns out he's a float of one: The Military Vehicle Collector's Club. It would be nice if he could tie that into some past service, a veteran's status or something, but apparently not.

Fire and Rescue

A show by our fire & rescue folks.

At least this year Metro Transit had the decency to not show up. After telling us last year that they were putting Burien onto the list of towns that would receive high-speed "feeder" bus service to the county's new light rail system, then telling us they were yanking that service due to budget cuts, it was probably a good idea that they skipped joining the line this year.

The Last Clown

Ed Dacy, someone else I've never heard of, running for city council, and then at the very end, the last clown. He should have had a broom, like at the end of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

Zach Hudgins works the crowd

Meanwhile, local pol Zach Hudgins worked the crowd along 152nd street. As I walked back to the mustering point, I saw that the local fraternity Eagles' float had broken down. Good thing there was a tow truck nearby.

The Eagles float is towed away by Airport Towing

After the parade, Omaha and I went to Dave Upthegrove's 4th of July barbecue, where we ate burgers cooked by his brother while Kouryou-chan and Dave's niece went swimming in the lake nearby. It was very mellow before we made it home for a few hours' rest. We were going to see fireworks later that evening.

Comments

[resonant.livejournal.com]

"their rules still say you must be a heterosexual monotheist to join"

Very odd - I wonder how they cleared that weird policy with the organization leaders. I suppose if someone clues in the head office, the local troup will be forced to stop discriminating.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

The Scouts had a kiosk at last weekend's Pride in Toronto, and were agressively recruiting for leaders to act as positive role models. From their FAQ:

"Scouts Canada does not discriminate for reasons of gender, culture, religious belief (see above) or sexual orientation."

[aelfie.livejournal.com]

Boy Scouts of America is allowed to discriminate against the Queer community and atheists because its a private organization. Went all the US Supreme Court.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America_v._Dale for more detail.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, for a "private organization," it sure fights like Satan was at its back for discounts and privileges usually only accorded public, non-discriminatory institutions.

[aelfie.livejournal.com]

Agreed. And this is the main reason why I won't let my boys join...even though my oldest really wants to. And where I'm at there isn't an equivalent organization I can send him to.

WTF?

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Wait - private organizations are allowed to discriminate in the US???

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Being a private organization isn't a license to discriminate in many places.

In Canada (except maybe Quebec*) and much of the EU, contracts require five elements: capacity, consideration, consent, agreement on terms, and _lawful_purpose_. Even if a private organization made members sign a contract promising to be monotheistic and heteronormative, any clauses deemed discriminatory or unconsionable would be void.**

*Quebec's "Code Civil" is weird, and I do not pretend to understand it. The other nine provinces and three territories generally follow Common Law***
**IANAL, and not in your jurisdiction anyway
***mostly

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Catholic schools in Ontario tried to say something similar, that their deeply-held beliefs made it a requirement that they discriminate. A few brave students tried to create a GSA, and got banned. The school got slapped down, and was forced to allow support groups. The school then banned the students from calling their LGBT support groups "GSAs" or mentioning LGBT issues. The school board just got slapped down again:

http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Ontario_to_mandate_LGBT_support_groups_in_Catholic_schools-10425.aspx

[elfs.livejournal.com]

You don't understand. Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is explicitly, at the national level, a religious organization that requires both a belief in a singular god, and a rejection of homosexuality, in all of its members.

After the case Dale vs. Boy Scouts of America (2002) made it to the Supreme Court, the Supremes voted that the BSA had the right to set discrimination policies that it felt were in keeping with it's mission statement, one tenant of which is "to honor God."

Days after the Dale Case, the BSA Council passed a resolution that "duty to God is not a mere ideal for those choosing to associate with the Boy Scouts of America; it is an obligation," and "homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the traditional values espoused in the Scout Oath and Law and that an avowed homosexual could not serve as a role model for the values of the Oath and Law," and "BSA's values cannot be subject to "local option" choices."

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmm ... after a (very brief) skimming and Googling, I think I see the root cause.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms explicitly gives rights only to NATURAL persons. For some reason the US Supreme Court treats organizations and corporations as people, and then pretends the organizations have rights that can overide those of humans.

This seems to date back to a US Supreme Court decision in 1886:

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v._Southern_Pacific_Railroad

Therefore, in the Dale case, the BSA could claim that it was legally a person, and therefore had a the same First Amendment expressive associational right as a real person.

I now better understand Alexis A. Gilliland's "Rosinante" series. There was an AI character referred to as "Corporate Sakash"; now I understand that it created a corporation to buy its hardware so that it would have legal rights.

[omahas.livejournal.com]

That Supreme Court decision (which wasn't actually a decision, but some note by a clerk that became convenient for everyone) has nothing to do with this.

This has to do with the freedom of religion in America. The Boy Scouts declare themselves a religious organization, so they enjoy the same freedom to practice their religion the way that they want to.

I've always held that if you want to upend the Boy Scouts on this issue, there are two ways.

1. make the change from within. Get the people inside to realize that this interpretation of their belief is, in fact, wrong. It's not like other Christians haven't come to that conclusion already.

2. Create other boys clubs and simply put the effort into making them as popular or more than the Boy Scouts. Yes, the Boy Scouts have been around for a long time, so it will take time and effort to do this. But if you really want the change, you'll do it.

And the Girl Scouts are proof that you can have a scouts organization that is very popular, big, and *doesn't* need to discriminate.

[rick-bannerman.livejournal.com]

Despite the fact that the Boy Scouts are where millions of boys in America experienced their first circle jerk.

[wyrdone.livejournal.com]

" where the weather reached a sweltering 74F (23C), "

ROFLMAO. I was just outside Raleigh, NC on the 4th. It was 98F (36C) and close to 75% humidity. I felt like I needed another shower after just walking out the front door at 10am.

[srmalloy.livejournal.com]

People may look ridiculous on a Segway, but just think of how silly people would look on a commercial version of this walker.