Microsoft is slipping Xbox Live subscribers a little surprise starting next year, Microsoft will start mailing out the Xbox Live Diamond Card. The card gives Xbox Live paid subscribers exclusive benefits and discounts from stores, restaurants and retailers. The card is personalized with your Gamertag and is,free to all paid Xbox Live subscribers who have subscribed or pre-paid for at least a one year account on the 360 or old Xbox.

Xbox Live has partnered with your favorite stores, restaurants, and other retailers across the country for discounts and promotions exclusively for Xbox Live Diamond Card program members. You can go here to see some of the deals.

If you have a live account, go over to the Xbox Live Diamond Home Page and sign up with your Gamertag.

My Gamertag is FallOutBoy but I do feel for some of you who have who have Gamertags you may not want your mom to see when getting a two for one meal deal.

Technorati Tags: Xbox, Xbox360, Xbox Live, Gamertag , Microsoft

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Greg Rodriguez announced today that he is leaving the race for chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. His farewell letter can be found here . In the second paragraph, Greg very gracefully addresses the ugly side of the inner circle of the party. Currently, the climate among active party members is one of suspicion and innuendo rather than inclusion and openess. Many in party leadership have done little if anything to discourage it. Hidden scandals have become standard operating procedure. Democrats can’t use openess and inclusivity as their public face, with intolerance, dishonesty and plain old spite going on the background and expect that people won’t notice the disconnect.

I have no problem with those who oppose someone in a political contest voicing their oppositions firmly and loudly, I even encourage it, as long as the opposing points are relevant to the discussion at hand. Ability to manage people, funds, are some examples of what could be considered fair. Politics will often get negative, that’s the nature of the game, but going negative does not mean you have to get plain ugly. Greg’s detractors attempted to malign him with his ethnicity and sexual orientation to maintain the status quo and keep power concetrated in the hands of the usual suspects. The results of this the first time around were to keep the party at an utter standstill for almost an entire year with the notable exception of the political firefight that was critical to ensure victory in the governor’s race. The results of these actions the second time help to ensure that the new strategy by Ken Mehlman (National Republican Chair) and the Republican party stands a better chance of being successful in Washington State.

Mehlman has been openly recuiting the support of minorities in hopes of broadening the Republican base. Mehlman has been telling minorities to “give us a chance and we’ll give you a choice” to get them to join with the Republicans. His fall back line is “give the GOP another look.” He has used this speech at African American leadership conferences and with the Asian comunity in Seattle. The Republicans are learning that in order to survive, they need to open their party up to the influence of groups other than the religious right. If Democrats engage in dirty politics internally, they are playing right into Mehlman’s hands and we will lose voices that are critical to the party’s future.

After all why should anyone get on the bus, if they know they are going to be told to sit in the back and shut up. The Democratic party will never be “whole again”, until we give everyone a place at the table. I hope some of the ideas that Greg has presented wil be considered and adopted by the new chair. Running the party like a business, developing leaders, and making the party-the party of the whole state and not central Puget Sound are important concepts for a winning formula going forward.

Technorati Tags: Greg Rodriguez , Washington State Democrats, Republicans, Ken Mehlman

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Technorati Tags: Comics, Cartoon, Surrounded, Doug Dobbins

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Mrs. Taft died this morning after a stroke. She was an influential Democrat for many decades. Both in the small and large D traditions.

The following is from the Western Washington University web site.

Kathleen Taft
Lady lawyer is pioneer and inspiration.

Like many early graduates, Kathleen Taft began teaching at 18, after earning her certificate in 1925. Unlike most of her contemporaries, she’s still working daily at her second career, as an attorney in Spokane.

Recognized in 1991 as a Distinguished Alumna for her pioneering work as “the lady lawyer” whose first assignment was for the federal government during World War II, Taft says she’s recently reduced her workload.

But, at 92, she continues to gain recognition for her contributions to the profession and the community in which she’s renowned for helping those most in need, regardless of their background, problem or ability to pay.

She has received awards for professionalism from the Spokane County Bar Association and the Washington State Bar Association as well Gonzaga University’s Law Medal for helping to improve access to justice and benefiting the community.

Born in 1907 near Moses Lake, Kathleen Mitchell rode horses to grade school, and at 16 traveled west to attend Bellingham Normal. After graduation, she taught briefly, then worked her way through law school at the University of Washington, graduating in 1935. The only female in her class, she was a pioneer and an inspiration for other women.

In 1938, she married Willard “Duke” Taft, a state legislator and later mayor of Spokane. He died in 1971.

During the Depression, unable to get legal work, she taught at a business college until 1943, when she became an attorney for Spokane’s federal Office of Price Administration.

Six years later, she started her own practice and hasn’t stopped working since. Nor has she stopped serving her community. Taft has been a tireless advocate for children and, for 26 years, worked part-time as a Spokane County Family Court commissioner. Since she retired from that post in 1977, she has focused on civil law and a variety of volunteer assignments.

Former U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley lauded her as “a person with exceptional legal capability, great educational diversity and one who has played an integral role in the development of the Spokane community.”

Technorati Tags: Kathleen Taft, Tom Foley, Spokane

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