In Washington State, there is an important initiative being put to a public vote that will determine if Washington will maintain its backwards and competition-stifling liquor sales monopoly. It’s called I-1183, and it’s being backed by Republicans (including the Attorney General, Rob McKenna), business leaders (including most notably Costco), libertarians, independents, and the state’s largest newspaper, The Seattle Times. Its detractors primarily fall into two groups: rural social conservatives and national liquor distributors. Big money has been spent on both sides, with most of the money in support of 1183 coming from Costco, and most (if not all) of the money in opposition of 1183 coming from national liquor distributors.

Why do big liquor distributors oppose 1183? Because under the current system, the Washington State Liquor Control Board is the sole buyer of liquor available for sale in the state, which locks in oversized profit margins for the big liquor distributors. If 1183 were to pass, liquor retailers could bargain with liquor distributors for the best prices and could choose not to carry certain brands (or liquor from certain distributors) that carry an excessive markup.

The Costco-financed ‘Yes on 1183′ campaign has been met with tens of thousands of vocal supporters, whereas their opposition seems to have either significantly-less supporters, or supporters who are much less vocal than those in the ‘Yes’ camp.

For an objective comparison, here are the numbers from each sides’ respective Facebook fanpages:

Yes on 1183‘s Facebook Page*:

• 35,147 ‘likes’/fans
• Six fanpages (one official page, five unauthorized/duplicate fanpages each with less than 80 ‘likes’)
• Timeline posts with up to 377 ‘likes’
• Timeline posts with up to 77 comments
• Polls with 1000+ responses

No on 1183‘s Facebook Page*:

In summary, 1183 supporters are absolutely trouncing their opponents–on the web, at least.

The ‘Yes’ camp has more than 18 times as many ‘likes’/fans as the ‘No’ camp, 6.5 times more ‘likes’ on its timeline updates/posts, more than 7 times as many peak comments on its timeline posts, and is using polls to great effect.

All this data begs the question…does ‘No on 1183′ have lots of real supporters, or is their campaign using its large budget to falsely create the appearance of grassroots support (also known as astroturfing)? The data on Facebook points to the latter, but we cannot rely on just one far-from-ideal dataset to answer our question. Doing so would be a failure of scientific and statistical rigor because Facebook is likely not representative of the state’s voting population.

There is another problem that complicates the route to finding an answer: public choice theory. The theory illuminates a common problem in democratic politics: minority special interest groups who stand to gain from changes oftentimes make themselves more vocal than those of indifferent majorities with little to lose. This could explain the gap in visible support of 1183–perhaps voters are evenly split on the issue, but the supporters of 1183 just happen to be much more vocal than its opponents.

So, which side is doing the astroturfing?

Neither side of the 1183 issue is totally innocent of astroturfing, but it is ‘No on 1183′ that is certainly guiltier.

Costco’s support for 1183 is largely self-serving, and it just so happens that their call for change has been met with quite a bit of support from individuals and politicians of all types (Democrats excluded). Big liquor distributors are likewise self-serving in their opposition to 1183, but because they’ve found themselves on the wrong side of a wedge issue that has widespread support, they’ve had to resort to a determined campaign of misinformation in an effort to confuse voters about what would happen if 1183 were to pass, and they’ve attempted to create the illusion that all firefighters, first-responders, and law enforcement professionals in the state are on their side, which isn’t true, either.

It effectively replaces your iPhone Calendar app and does all the regular things (creating/editing calendar entries, inviting others, et cetera) that you would expect. It really shines, though, when you’re running late to meet someone or need a map of the venue to navigate to the meeting venue quickly with GPS.

Here’s an example. If I create a calendar event called “Lunch with Tony W. at Grim’s Seattle”, TouchBase will automatically go through my iPhone contacts and find Tony W. and associate him with the calendar event. The app will also run a Google search for “Grim’s Seattle” and insert the top-ranked search result’s address into the location/address field of the calendar event. Since TouchBase knows who I’m meeting with and automatically fetched his phone number from my address book, I can call or text Tony DIRECTLY from the calendar event, and because TouchBase has automatically fetched the meeting venue’s address, I can navigate to it and get driving directions–also straight from the TouchBase calendar event. If I’m stuck in traffic for our lunch meeting, I can simply hit “I’m running late by 20 minutes” and TouchBase will send Tony a text to let him know (or I can call him).

This is the kind of useful extension of the calendar that I wish Apple had built into the standard iPhone calendar. Anyways, you can now have this functionality for just $0.99 (the price is set to quadruple to $3.99, so get it soon!).

TouchBase App (iTunes)

Via GeekWire.

The film was light-hearted and funny, and full of surprises. I wouldn’t have normally chosen to see a film in this genre, but after seeing the film I’m quite glad I did.

Check out the remainder of the festival, which goes through Sunday:

festival of new spanish cinema
September 21–25, SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall

The energy of Almódovar. The risk-taking of Amenabar. The unadulterated exhilaration of Buñuel. SIFF celebrates the return of the Festival of New Spanish Cinema, unveiling the next generation of Spanish film legends. Featuring first-time filmmakers and established masters alike, the very best in contemporary Spanish cinema comes to SIFF Cinema. Join us for award-winning comedies, romances and dramatic masterpieces, and the special unveiling of a horror classic.

Organized by Pragda and SIFF Cinema. Supported by the Embassy of Spain in Washington DC and Ministry of Culture of Spain-ICAA. Additional support comes from Consulate of Spain in Seattle and San Francisco, Instituto Cervantes Seattle, University of Washington, Iberia Airlines, American Airlines and Eurochannel. Wine courtesy of Martín Códax Albariño and Las Rocas Garnacha, our exclusive wine sponsor. Promotional consideration by 88.5 KPLU.

Series Pass Available!
All 10 films for $60 | $40 SIFF Members

We began our evening at Mario’s, Seattle’s landmark luxury shopping destination.

Click here to begin Slideshow

We perused their impeccably-chosen lines from Brunello Cucinelli, Loro Piana, Kiton, and Isaia, sipped Caipiroskas provided by 42 Below, and enjoyed delectable bite-sized steak sandwiches from Morton’s.

Then, we ventured over to The Finerie, where we chatted with owners Michael and Tanya and sipped mojitos while we perused their racks.

Then, it was off to Barney’s, which kindly offered nibbles and a selection of cava and prosecco to us. A big thanks to Barney’s impeccable staff.

Nordstrom’s twitter team, led by Shauna Causey, held a tweetup at Nordstrom’s Flagship Store’s Nordstrom Grill, which was a real treat. A big thanks to Nordstrom!

Can Seattle’s retailers step it up again next year? Here’s hoping they do.

Imagine a cross between Kanye West, Michael Jackson, and 80′s synth pop, and you’ll have some idea of what Theophilus London sounds like. Really, he’s an enigma.

Theophilus London – Grey X Sage

I was lucky enough to meet him last night when he performed at a private show in Seattle for Bing (thanks, Bing!):

(click to enlarge)

Here are a few more shots from his show (which was amazing!):

You can buy his most recent album on Amazon here:

And you can preorder his new album, Timez Are Weird These Days, on iTunes here.

And he even gave me a copy of his book, Light and Shadow!

Check out his exhibition in San Francisco if you have the chance (it ends 4/2/11).

His gallerist‘s Artist Description:

“Z.Z. Wei’ s paintings transport us to a place where time stands still. His compositions portray quiet, yet powerful images reminiscent of a whimsical, rural America. Richly complex, they are filled with humor and loneliness, peacefulness and pain. They balance on the knife-edge of meaning, half in shadow, half in light, tempting those who choose to look beyond the mundane to experience a unique and timeless look at life.”

I just found out that they’re got a few pairs left. Get down there and get your hands on a pair before they’re gone!

Deli
1307 First Avenue, Seattle, WA

http://www.deliseattle.com/

Enter 2011. The indefatigable Eric Koester, a published author (his most recent book can be purchased here), well-known technology attorney, and tireless supporter of innovative non-profits, graced me with a nugget of wisdom on this topic that is so inspirational I simply must share it. Mr. Koester, the humble man that he is, would be the first to tell you that the ideas I’m about to explain are not his own, but rather came to him from his mother, who is obviously quite wise herself, so all credit goes to her.

Years (perhaps decades) ago, Mrs. Koester approached her blossoming young son Eric, and kindly asked him to sit down for a moment, for she was going to teach him about his Yellow School Bus.

“Eric,” she began, “everyone on this planet has their own school bus. Each person’s bus is of a different size, seating a different number of people.” Eric listened intently, trying to ascertain what exactly it was she was getting at.

“The people seated on your school bus are the people you interact with, the people who you respect, the people you make time for. Going through life, you’ll meet thousands of people, and if you try to stuff them all onto your bus so that you can keep in touch with them, you’ll find that invariably, some of them will be forced to stand in the aisles. If your bus gets too full, you neglect the relationships you have with the people you value most.”

“I see,” Eric said, signaling his attentiveness and politely awaiting the conclusion of the story.

“The solution,” she continued, “is to maintain a bus with the appropriate number of people on it such that nobody is left standing in the aisle, and also to have a section at the front of your bus for your closest relationships, your inner-circle. These seats at the front of your bus are permanent seats. By making it clear to these cherished people that they’ve got a permanent seat at the front of your bus, they’ll be likely to reciprocate in kind. This mutual respect will pay dividends, and together you will thrive with the help and support of the riders seated at the front of your bus.”

Eric pondered the wise words he’d just heard from his mother. He thought about the many relationships he’d built over the last few years, and the fantastic people he’d met. He realized that she was right–it would be impossible to stay in touch with all of those amazing people. It was time to be more selective, it was time to decide how many people could be safely seated on his bus, and who he would select to sit in the front.

It’s time to take a look at your own bus. Do you see anyone who has been neglected, who has been relegated to standing in the aisle? How many people can safely fit on your bus? Who is on your bus, and do each and every one of them deserve to be there?

Visit Eric Koester’s Blog / View Eric’s TED Talk from TEDxTucson