Tag Archives: Meta

February 16th, 2010

“Camano” is here: Welcome to the new Permanent Defense

Announcements

Last week, Permanent Defense celebrated its eighth anniversary, which means the project is only twenty four months away from being a decade old. As we were contemplating the significance of the occasion a few weeks ago, we decided it would be fitting to begin PD’s ninth continuous year of operations by giving it a new virtual home. To that end, we’ve completely reengineered and rebuilt this site, giving it a new engine, new transmission, new body, and a new coat of paint.

We’ve kept the content and what we consider to be the key, distinctive elements of the old site’s identity, but other than that, everything has been overhauled.

Version 8, or Camano, is by far the most ambitious reorganization and relaunch Permanent Defense has ever undergone. It’s also the most solid: we’re pretty confident that we’re not going to need to retool on this scale for a long time, if ever, because the free software stack we’re using makes it easy to implement and roll out improvements to the functionality and to the look-and-feel.

In its Web 1.0 incarnation, Permanent Defense was a collection of static content that had to be updated manually. As the site grew, maintenance became a big chore for us, and it became hard to keep everything accessible and functional. But in the future, maintenance won’t be so time-consuming, because Permanent Defense is now powered by the best content management system ever created… WordPress!

(Yes, we’ve finally gone Web 2.0!)

With WordPress now responsible for storing and serving content, we no longer need to worry about archiving old pages and posts to a separate subdomain to keep the primary Permanent Defense site manageable. What we’ll use the archives for is to preserve the visual identity of the old site, and show what it looked like at various points in time. The archives will basically be a series of time capsules.

Although we’re launching Camano today, we’re not done with the new site yet. We still have many more posts and pages to import, and it’s slow going, because we’re cleaning up the code as we go so it’s lean, mean, and compliant with W3C standards. Expect to see some empty placeholder pages in places for some time to come, but rest assured we’re working on finishing what we’ve begun. We want to be consistent and thorough… it just takes time!

Finally, here’s a quick overview of some of the biggest changes:

  • As should be evident, the site has a brand-new look-and-feel. We kept the navigation menu and the main logo the same, but pretty much everything else has changed. The site is now rendered in a larger gray Georgia font, which looks more readable and professional than the smaller red Tahoma we were using. Tahoma is still in use on sidebars, but it’s gray too… not red. The footer is also totally revamped. It contains shortcuts to Media Center categories, a tag cloud, links to other NPI projects, site search, and an image selected at random from one of our pages.
  • We’ve added a rather comprehensive biography of Tim Eyman, which presents a history of his activities beginning in the late 1990s. It’s required reading for any progressive in Washington who isn’t familiar with what Tim has been up to.
  • Research and Reports now houses our investigative work, which we’ll be doing more of in the future. Tim Eyman’s Failure Chart is there, along with our in-depth report on the demise of I-917 and our analysis of propositions on the 2004 primary ballot.
  • We’ve combined the Press Box, Release Center, and the Journal into the Media Center. The Media Center is Permanent Defense’s blog and news feed. It contains the statements and advisories we send out, along with occasional analysis of right wing initiatives that we’re fighting. All of our prior releases going back to 2002 can be found in the Media Center.
  • Finally, Essays & Position Papers is where our “big picture” analysis from years past can be found (as opposed to the news-style posts in the Media Center, which usually chronicle or react to some development that falls within the scope of the project). All essays going back to 2002 will eventually be restored to their original home here.

That about sums it up. We’re excited about this overhaul and we hope it makes the site more readable and useful for voters, supporters, and reporters.

July 23rd, 2008

Welcome

Announcements

Welcome to the NO on I-985 Coalition blog. Here, you can find the latest news from the campaign and commentary on recent news articles.

The Coalition is a diverse group of Washingtonians fighting to preserve and enhance our collective quality of life.

We oppose Initiative 985 because it would further cripple our already dysfunctional transportation system, moving us backwards instead of forwards.

Traffic congestion already costs our economy, our environment, and our families. We simply can’t afford to make it worse by approving an ill-conceived initiative that will bring us bigger traffic headaches.

May 31st, 2007

May Campaign Update debuts

Announcements

The Journal is back after a long hiatus, newly integrated into the latest and greatest version of Permanent Defense’s online home (Version 7, the May Campaign Update, codename Whidbey). We have worked hard to improve the user experience. Here’s a summary of the major changes we’ve made.

New slogan/motto. We recently restyled Permanent Defense’s tagline to emphasize its broader mission of fighting against bad libertarian ideas (Opposing Right Wing Initiatives and Fighting Tim Eyman). This change is permanent as of this update.

Page Background Adjusted for Easier Reading. A number of visitors have long complained that Permanent Defense’s stucco background, which has been used on the site since its inception in February of 2002, makes reading text too difficult. So we’ve refitted the stucco pattern to appear on the screen where there isn’t page content. (Where there is, you’ll see a white backdrop).

Improved accessibility. Almost every image on the site uses an alternate tag now

Faster loading. The site now uses more optimized graphics (especially for navigation) and a leaner, better codebase, which means it will load more quickly in your browser.

Darker red theme. We used a softer, darker hue of red for text and buttons in this version to reduce the amount of glare or annoyance caused by the previously brighter color used throughout our site.

New address for the archives. The Permanent Defense Archives, which are being restored, reorganized, and expanded, will in the future be accessible at archives (dot) permanentdefense (dot) org. We hope to complete our work on the archive as part of this summer’s July Relaunch.

Reshaped Navigation. Old sections of our site that have outlived their usefulness have been removed (such as the Press Box, which is now integrated with the Release Center). The Permanent Defense Journal is now incorporated into the left navigation menu. And there is a major distinction between the two types of buttons in the menu – red ones take you to sections inside of Permanent Defense’s site, blue ones take you to other parts of the Northwest Progressive Institute’s network.

Front Page Changes. We’ve refreshed the appearance of the menu centers on the front page (Breaking News, Releases, and the Journal) which help you find important information about our latest activities. The front page sports a new NO on I-960 banner and a frequently asked questions (or FAQ) about Initiative 960.

A more useful Release Center. We’ve retooled the Release Center/Newsroom to help you easily browse official statements, special reports, our document library, tax references, and press coverage of right wing initiatives. The Release Center has incorporated the now retired Press Box as mentioned above.

Updates for all permanent sections. We’ve carefully and thoroughly revised all the major sections of our website, including our about and contact pages, Links & Resources, Dangerous Initiatives, and the Action Center. Essays: Our Arguments includes a new exposition on I-960 and Reasons presents the case against Tim Eyman’s undemocratic idea.

New materials available. Handouts are available for download to help educate the public about the harmful consequences of Initiative 960. They can be downloaded from either the Action Center or the Release Center.

February 13th, 2007

Five Years: Statement from the Founder

Announcements

Today and throughout this month, Permanent Defense proudly celebrates five years, or sixty months, of political activism in Washington State, fighting Tim Eyman’s senseless initiatives, working to reform the state’s tax structure, and promoting the value of public services. Launched in early February of 2002, Permanent Defense has remained in continuous operation for half a decade. It became a project of the Northwest Progressive Institute in 2003.

The last twelve months, our fifth year, presented many challenges, but was arguably our most successful ever. The following is a brief recap of our amazing accomplishments:

  • Throughout the spring of 2006, we monitored right wing signature drives, allowing citizens to report on their experiences with petitioners – many of whom lied or fabricated information in order to get a signature.
  • We worked with our allies at Washington Won’t Discriminate to fight Referendum 65, a right wing effort to legalize discrimination masterminded by Tim Eyman. We won a huge victory in June of 2006 – it never made the ballot, and the amended civil rights law remains in place.
  • We organized and mobilized to fight Initiative 917, Tim Eyman’s attempt to repeal sorely needed transportation funding enacted in 2005 by the state Legislature. When I-917 failed a random sample check of signatures at the end July, we sent representatives to Olympia to observe the full signature check. I-917 ultimately failed to make the ballot a month later and we won another huge victory.
  • We teamed with broad based coalitions to beat two other right wing initiatives that did make the ballot – Initiatives 920 (repealing education funding) and 933 (pay or waive: land use mayhem). We were victorious again in November of 2006 as both were overwhelmingly defeated.
  • We renewed our efforts to urge the Legislature to enact initiative process reform in early 2007.

We also witnessed two courts issue rulings which we support – in June of 2006, Initiative 747 was ruled unconstitutional, and in December of 2006, the state Supreme Court ruled Sound Transit may continue to collect its motor vehicle excise tax so it can repay critical bonds.

We met all of our goals and responded to all the challenges laid before us in this last year – successfully. 2006 was nothing short of remarkable.

Despite our victories last year, Tim Eyman isn’t going away. We will continue our opposition to his senseless onslaughts on our government, our communities, and our quality of life. We will fight against his “Minority Rules” initiative to cripple representative democracy until it is defeated.

As we pledged last year, we will continue our work to map out a long term plan for fixing Washington’s tax structure, including the development of a property tax homestead exemption as well as alternatives to the state sales tax and the obnoxious “business & occupation tax”.

In the coming months, we’ll be rolling out numerous improvements and additions to our website, as we have in years past.

After our successes last year, we are confident we can overcome any challenges in our path and make Washington State a better place to live, work, and visit.

Thanks for your involvement during the past 365 days – here’s to another year of triumphs and successes!

June 5th, 2006

Eyman dresses up as Darth Vader for ridiculous stunt

Announcements

Permanent Defense’s parent organization, NPI, has a report on its Official Blog about Tim Eyman’s latest and most deceptive trickery to date: lying to the media about turning in petitions for Referendum 65.

Eyman recently told the media by email that he was to coming to the Secrretary of State’s office this morning to turn in petitions, but he ended up turning in absolutely nothing.

Read the full report here.

February 13th, 2006

Four Years: Statement from the Founder

AnnouncementsThreat Analysis

Today and throughout this month, Permanent Defense proudly celebrates four years of political activism in Washington State, fighting Tim Eyman’s senseless initiatives, working to reform the state’s tax structure, and promoting the value of public services.

The arrival of February 2006 marks the end of our fourth year of operation and the beginning of our fifth year.

Our fourth year was very eventful. We faced significant obstacles but we were successful in accomplishing many important goals. Here’s a review of what we achieved this past year:

  • In late February 2005, Permanent Defense’s founder, along with David Goldstein of TaxSanity and Steve Zemke of Taxpayers for Washington’s Future, testified before the House Finance Committee in favor of House Bill 1744 (the homestead exemption proposal) to create a fairer property tax structure.
  • Throughout the spring of 2005, Permanent Defense organized to fight Initiative 900, Tim Eyman’s overload of performance audits. Upon the filing of Initiative 912, the leadership of Permanent Defense decided to set up a sister organization, Washington Defense, to oppose the repeal of the 2005 Transportation Package while Permanent Defense fought I-900.
  • In the summer, following the end of the signature drives, Permanent Defense’s website was retooled through the annual July Relaunch and readied to oppose Initiative 900. Washington Defense’s website was readied to oppose Initiative 912.
  • Throughout the summer of 2005 Permanent Defense’s founder spoke before numerous organizations, including the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Municipal League, to urge an endorsement against Initiative 900.
  • In August Washington Defense PAC was launched to raise money to fight a grassroots campaign against Initiative 912.
  • During the fall Permanent Defense supporters worked extremely hard to fight against Initiative 912, and, when time allowed, oppose Initiative 900 as well. A strong emphasis was placed on defeating I-912 due to the fact that it would have repealed some $5 billion in needed transportation funding, whereas I-900, though poorly drafted and unnecessary, would not have gutted state revenues.

Ultimately, Initiative 912 failed in a significant defeat for Tim Eyman and his fellow anti-tax zealots. Eyman had predicted its passage and even attempted to latch onto the effort to wipe out the gas tax increase. Though Initiative 900 passed, the real Eyman initiative was destroyed in a huge, landmark victory.

Despite the failure of I-912, Eyman has decided to press ahead with his plans to mount an assault on the other revenue sources for the 2005 Transportation Package. In 2006, Permanent Defense will work to protect over $2.6 billion in transportation funding from being wiped out by Eyman’s initiative.

Permanent Defense will also vigorously oppose Eyman’s outrageous attack on Washington State’s newly amended anti-discrimination law, which now prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Not only will we fight these senseless onslaughts on our quality of life, but we’ll continue our work to map out a long term plan for fixing Washington’s tax structure, including alternatives to the state sales tax and the obnoxious “business & occupation tax”.

As in past years, we’ll be rolling out numerous improvements and additions to our website during the next twelve months.

Great challenges lie ahead, but we can overcome them and make Washington State a better place to live, work, and visit.

Thanks for your involvement during the past 365 days. Here’s to another successful year!

December 16th, 2005

Gearing Up for 2006

Announcements

The Permanent Defense team has been working hard getting ready for the road in front of us in 2006. Though we’ve had many significant accomplishments in almost four years of operation, stopping Eyman in 2006 will be one of our biggest challenges. That’s why we’re getting ready. Content from 2005 and the campaign against I-900 is now being archived, and PD is transitioning into fighting mode to defend the 2005 Transportation Package. Stand with us!

July 28th, 2005

July Relaunch 2005 goes live

Announcements

Permanent Defense has been working hard to improve the experience of our visitors. We’ve made the following recent improvements to our site.

Connection & Access

Getting to Permanent Defense and viewing its content has never been easier!

  • Faster loading. Some elements that often failed to load on the old homepage are gone. The homepage has less elements, so it loads more quickly.
  • Simplified home page. The home page is less cluttered and there’s more empty space to ease the strain on your eyes. Accessibility has been improved.
  • More accessible archives. The archives have been completely rebuilt – hundreds of broken links were repaired in an effort to make the Archives work smoothly. Additionally, all the pages in the archives had their navigation button system replaced to allow for a return to the to the archive homepage.

Design & Content

Permanent Defense content is completely revamped and more appealing.

  • Permanent Defense Journal. We’re excited to introduce the new Permanent Defense Journal – an integrated news blog providing instant updates to visitors. It covers everything – from announcing new website content to discussing newspaper editorials to bringing you breaking news stories.
  • Menu Center Update. Two year ago, we pioneered “menu centers” on our website to present important information to site visitors and help you get around faster. The Breaking News Center and the Front Page Release Center remain, but we’ve also added a Campaign Headquarters to help you find more content related to Initiative 900. Menu Centers remain clearly identified by clear, streamlined colored bars and Tahoma font at the top to improve navigation and clutter.
  • More Tahoma. Visitors have repeatedly told us that they wanted more of the Tahoma font because it was clearer to read and looked more high-tech. We’ve done our best to incorporate more Tahoma into the website. You’ll find that almost all PD sections and pages are now in Tahoma font or have Tahoma on them.
  • Better color. Thanks to feedback from site visitors, you’ll find that on every page, and our blue backgrounds lighter and softer, so it’s easier for you to read and navigate Permanent Defense. Our classic red text remains the same hue as before.
  • Reasons to Oppose I-900. Fully updated, Reasons to Oppose I-900 has all the information you need to know about why Initiative 900 is bad for Washington State. It also has resources and additional information.
  • Revamped Action Center. Our new Action Center is cleaner, easier to use, and has more tools and options available to take action.
  • About Us Update. The About Us page recieved a major facelift, including an updated history of Permanent Defense and a more appealing design.
  • New Advocacy Sections. Our new advocacy sections detail good policy that we’re fighting for. There are currently four advocacy sections: Voters Want Better Choices, Growth Management, The Initiative Process, and Supporting Sound Transit. You can access each via our link menu – they’re the blue buttons in the middle.
  • Essays: Our Arguments. With four new essays, and a fifth coming out next week, we’ve got Initiative 900 covered. Read why you should vote no on the initiative and why Eyman is now more reliant than ever on wealthy backers.
  • Press Box. The Press Box has received a major facelift. New stories are now automatically pulled off our newswires to give you the latest news. The Press Box also now includes editorials and commentary.
  • Release Center. From the updated Release Center, you can read Permanent Defense statements, content that appeared in our e-newsletter, Extra!, download PDFs and other files from our Document Library, and access links to resources on current topics.

We hope you enjoy the new site as much as we enjoyed putting it together!

POSTSCRIPT: In conjunction with Permanent Defense’s eighth anniversary in 2010, the project received a major overhaul. The above-mentioned advocacy sections were incorporated into NPI’s website, while the Press Box, Release Center, and Journal were merged together to create the Newsroom. Previous releases and journal entries dating back to 2002 can now be found in the Newsroom.

July 27th, 2005

Welcome to the new Permanent Defense Journal

Announcements

The Permanent Defense Journal was designed to be an integrated news blog providing instant updates to members, site visitors, and supporters.

It covers everything – from announcing new website content to discussing newspaper editorials to bringing you breaking news stories. It’s built right into our main page, and offers traditional features such as commenting and an RSS feed. It’s your campaign link to Permanent Defense.

February 13th, 2005

Three Years: Statement from the Founder

AnnouncementsThreat Analysis

This week and this month, Permanent Defense is proud to celebrate three years of political activism in Washington State – opposing Tim Eyman, fighting for real tax reform, and promoting the value of public services.

February 2005 marks the end of our third year of operation and the beginning of our fourth.

The last year has been Permanent Defense’s most successful year to date. Working together with our friends and allies, we have accomplished much of what we set out to do a year ago.

Last year, in this statement, I wrote about how imperative it was that we stop Tim Eyman and his initiative factory from causing further devastating harm to Washington State. Thanks to your hard work, and our cooperation with other groups opposed to Eyman, we successfully defeated both I-864 and I-892.

I’d like to reflect on some of the things we’ve accomplished this past year- from February 2004 to February 2005. I’m proud of what this project has been able to accomplish, and I’m confident that we will continue to be successful in our efforts to change Washington State for the better.

  • We defeated Initiative 864 in July of 2004, destroying a threat that would have brought certain disaster to local governments and public services across the state. We fought this issue for a year (June 2003 to July 2004) and won, dispelling Eyman’s myths and rumors about the tax climate.
  • We defeated Initiative 892 in November of 2004, with voters rejecting Eyman’s attempt to proliferate our state with slot machines by a landslide. We mailed flyers, distributed yard signs, appeared in the media, and attended community events to voice our opposition to I-892.
  • We debuted a new e-newsletter for the press – Permanent Defense Focus!, which has helped to counter the lies that Tim Eyman continually feeds the media.
  • We retooled our site through January Launch, July Relaunch, and December Update, with lots of new sections and features, especially the Release Center and the Permanent Defense Forum.
  • We had three times the traffic to our website this year of what we had in 2002 and 2003 combined, with thousands of visits to our site.

In the years since Permanent Defense was founded, Tim Eyman has had one initiative which passed at the polls:  Initiative 776. All of the others have been failures. Eyman is currently is in an 0 for 4 slump and is trying to break out of it by qualifying an initiative to the people that would overload our state with audits.

Eyman’s proposal would have the state shelling out around $90 million every biennium so we can pay to audit every single state agency, program, and account and would require the auditor’s office to expand by four times its current size over the next decade.

Fortunately, the state House and the state Senate are considering much more practical legislation that has the state auditor’s support.

We will continue to vigorously oppose Eyman on all the issues. And we will step up our efforts to fight for real tax reform, including pushing for a state homestead exemption.

We’ll talk about a long term plan for fixing Washington’s tax structure, including alternatives to the state sales tax and the obnoxious “business & occupation tax”. We’ll also talk about tackling the state’s current funding problems.

We will continue to roll out improvements and additions to our website during the next year. So, I hope you’ll stand with us as we embark on the beginning of another year of political activism, and take a moment to pause and reflect on our achievements and accomplishments from the last one.

Thanks for your involvement. Here’s to another successful year!

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What we do

Permanent Defense works to protect Washington by building a first line of defense against threats to the common wealth and Constitution of the Evergreen State — like Tim Eyman's initiative factory. Learn more.

Protecting Washington Since 2002

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