I don't want to sound holier than thou when it comes to spelling. I can never remember if "I" comes before "E" or "E" comes before "I."

But I have usually been pretty good about spelling my own name correctly (there's a "g" in there someplace.)

Not so Tacoma City Council candidate Beckie Summers Kirby (note the spelling of her first name and last name.) Beckie is a candidate for the council seat from District 5 and sent a mailing into homes in the district recently called "Teamwork."

"We made progress because true community leaders were willing to step forward and make things happen. Leaders like Becky Sommers Kirby."

In case voters didn't catch it, the brochure then spells both names correctly in big type just to the right.

She will face Joe Longeran, I mean Lonergan, in November.

Kathy Durbin at The Columbian in Vancouver has a story about a national GOP fundraising appeal disguised as an opinion survey.

This is a pretty common practice, using the questions to both test future campaign themes and to rile up donors enough to send generous checks. But to say that both sides do it shouldn't divert attention when they get especially outrageous.

Like this question in the "survey:"

"It has been suggested that the government could use voter registration to determine a person's political affiliation, prompting fears that GOP voters might be discriminated against for medical treatment in a Democrat-imposed health care rationing system. Does this possibility concern you?"

A good laugh to start your weekend over at Feed Tacoma. R.R. Anderson pens a spot-on tribute to John Hathaway. We're big Tacomic fans here at Political Buzz. Mr. Anderson's satiric cartoons are sometimes over-the-top, but always well-drawn, opinionated and frequently funny. (Not that talking worms aren't funny.)

Would he close Chambers Bay?

Here's a link to the New York Times article about Chavez loyalists calling for the closure of golf courses in Venezuela. It started after Chavez attacked golf as bourgeois.

Perhaps he would have some affection for the Scottish Links course because he had special contempt for golfers who use carts. Carts are not available for most golfers at Chambers Bay.

Son–of–Everett Pete Jackson has identified the secret for projecting winners in both the Seattle mayor election and the King County executive election: Everett roots.

Find his piece here.

I'm not exactly sure how this e-mail new release showed up in my mail box, but here it is. JZ Knight, who channels 35,000-year-old warrior Ramtha out in Yelm, is going to auction off a bunch of stuff come September.

Not sure why. Maybe enrollment at the School of Enlightenment has been hurt by the recession and there aren't as many "Ramsters" as there used to be. Anyway, it looks as if Knight will be selling off a bunch of his old rugs and other stuff from the 17th Century, etc.

Here is a link to the Bonhams & Butterfield site. Click on events, scroll down to Sept. 27 and you'll see the auction of J.Z. Knight collection will be held in Los Angeles. I actually called the auction house to confirm the news release was legit.

And here is the news release I got yesterday.

The Collection of JZ Knight on Offer at Bonhams & Butterfields in September

Dear Journalists and Friends of the Firm,

Bonhams & Butterfields is pleased to announce the September 27, 2009 auction of The JZ Knight Collection. Amassed over a decade, the Collection will feature eclectic and unique examples of period furniture, decorative arts, carpets and paintings from the 17th through 20th centuries with a particular focus on European and American elegance.

=> Read more!

Apparently, the K-9 units have been taught how to dial the cell phone number, then they follow the sound of the ringing and chew through the prison inmate's mattress until they find the phone. But the search dogs have to use Jitterbugs because their paws are too big to use the keypad on conventional cell phones.
(OK. Maybe not.)

MEDIA ADVISORY July 21, 2009

DOC to Host K-9 Demonstration for News Media to Show How Prisons Search for Contraband Cell Phones

OLYMPIA – Members of the news media are invited to a demonstration on July 30 at Monroe Correctional Complex to see how K-9 units have been trained to search for contraband cell phones in prisons.

The issue of contraband cell phones is in the news after Washington became one of more than two dozen states to petition the Federal Communications Commission to allow prisons to scramble cell-phone reception.

Inside an empty prison unit, two Department of Corrections K-9 officers will demonstrate how specially trained dogs search for cell phones. Officers and administrators will be available for interviews to explain why cell phones are dangerous to prison security and what the agency is doing to keep them out.

=> Read more!

One of the many things I missed while on vacation last week was Fuse Washington's announcement of its "Sizzle-Fizzle Awards 2009."

I give them high marks for cleverness and higher marks for paying attention to during the 105-day legislative session that ended in late April, albeit through their Seattle-centric lens.

Agree or disagree with Fuse, the organization's values most certainly show through their choices for praise and condemnation. If Fuse were a person, s/he would be a tree-hugging Leninist who rides a bus, even though s/he can afford a hybrid (and may have one parked between the Lexus and VW bug in a three-car garage.)

Here's a link to the full list of "Sizzle and Fizzle" awards.

At first Alex Hays didn't think the e-mail was out of the ordinary. Given that Hays will manage the campaign to approve three amendments to the Pierce County Charter, he expects to get questions about the measures such as this:

Mr. Hays,

I recently heard from a friend that you were going to be the campaign manager for the efforts in favor of Pierce County Charter Amendments 1, 2, & 3. I was wondering if you could provide me with more information on the amendments. I know they have to do with term limits, moving county elections to odd years, and ranked choice voting, but which one does what? Do you guys have a website yet? Where would I go about donating if I decide I agree with your positions?

Scott Mateyka
Tacoma, WA

But then Hays noticed that the message signed by Scott Mateyka came from the e-mail account of Erik Connell. A little web search found an Erik Connell who should probably know a bit about ranked choice voting. He is a "democracy fellow" with FairVote, the leading national advocate of ranked choice voting.

And Connell was described as a University of Puget Sound graduate whose focus at FairVote is instant runoff voting.

"In the coming weeks you’ll see that these guys will say anything to preserve their experiment," Hays wrote of IRV advocates.

I sent an e-mail to Connell and asked if the Scott Mateyka e-mail, in fact, came from him. If so, why hadn't he identified himself as an advocate for IRV?

Here's what he wrote:

Yes, that was me. I just was curious as to what was going on with the opposition and came up with this approach spur of the moment. Kind of boneheaded, I realize. I certainly didn't mean to be underhanded, but just to get answers to some elementary questions.

He then offered to brief me on the virtues of IRV and the No on 3 campaign.

I guess this all means he isn't going to be donating to Hays' campaign.

When I was out at Fort Nisqually a few weeks ago to see the new/old buildings (don't forget the dedication and celebration Saturday from 11 to 5), I was talking with park district historian Melissa McGinnis. The last time we'd worked together was when Wright Park was being renovated and the subject of missing items came up.

One is a water fountain dedicated to missionary Narcissa Whitman. It featured a Grecian figure holding water vessels. The cast iron statue disappeared in the 60s.

What other lost artifacts might be out there somewhere? I put together a list that will appear Sunday in the News Tribune and on thenewstribune.com. Some of the other items are the Fun Circus sign, the tribal petroglyph and the Fern Hill School cupola.

What would you add to the list?

This may not make anyone forget U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott's office manager and her "Don't call me, Liz" e-mail tirade, but maybe it will take some of the heat off her.

Here's another Politico blog posting that will entertain you.

(Sorry, you'll have to listen to a 15-second Applebee's commerical, but it's worth the wait.)

From time to time, I have encountered a legislative committee chairwoman who prefers to be called "chairman." Our journalistic style rule is, if you know the gender, use it. It's more specific. And we hate, "chair person."

--Joseph (Don't Call me 'Joey') Turner

Our former political reporter Ken Vogel sends this along from his new employer, Politico.

It relates how an aide to U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott dealt with someone who inadvertently addressed her as Liz instead of the required Elizabeth.

I could go on but I don't want to spoil the full effect of the item here.