We need more children should live in our city's apartments.
We need more children to live in our city's apartments. borbapereira/Shutterstock.com

Seattle Not Big On Raising Kids in Apartments: This is sad news. Out of the biggest 50 cities in the US, Seattle is second to last when it comes to the percentage of children raised in apartments (33 percent). Portland is rock bottom with 31 percent. Miami is at the top with 75 percent. Of course, New York City is not far behind Miami with 69 percent. Why aren't there more children in Seattle's apartments? Is it that people here will not let go of the old and dying idea that a house is the best place to raise a family? If so, we need to wake up and smell the coffee. Apartments, and not houses, are the future of humankind.

Deadly Crash Splits Automobile Into Two: The car, which must have been moving at a tremendous speed, hit a utility pole on MLK and was cut in two. A part of the car stayed with the pole, and the "other half traveled 100 feet further down the road." 100 feet! The accident left one man dead.

Young Man Shot to Death and Dumped in Olympia's Capitol Forest: His family, originally from Los Angeles, but currently living in Oregon after spending a little time in Ohio, was surprised to learn that he was in the capital of Washington. Why did he go there? Who did he know there? The wrong crowd? His body, which had been shot several times, was found in Capitol Forest last Thursday. His mother says he had only been to Olympia twice, and that the second time he visited the city, he did not return from it.

The Dakota Demonstrators Against US's Oil Addiction: Are "bracing for a confrontation with police." The protesters say it is their land, the US says this land was not made for you and me but an oil company that plans to build a pipeline. This is where things stand.

Canadians Backwards On Pedestrians: A new poll has shown that an astounding 66 percent of Canadians are all for laws against distracted pedestrians. For them, a "texting-while-walking ban made 'common sense.'" This is what Geoff Meggs, a member of the Vancouver City Council, had to say: “We drop really hard on drivers who text while they’re driving. I think people in the roadway should not be texting, they should be paying attention to traffic." All of this time I thought Canadians were generally smarter than their brothers and sisters across the border. I thought they knew better. But here is evidence that contradicts that way of thinking. Many Canadians, like many in the US, cannot see that pedestrians are not the same as drivers. If you want to talk about common sense, it should be this: The reward for being a pedestrian is precisely the pleasure of not paying attention, of dreaming or texting while walking. The punishment for using four thousand tons of industrial materials to get from A to B is your full attention.

Gene Hackman's San Juan Island Wants: $3.48 million. The island, which is small and not exactly lovely or safe-looking, has a name: Fawn Island.


The Good News Is There Is Not Much News About Trump At This Moment: Politico, nothing except that Trump might lose Texas. Washington Post, again nothing new or surprising (he is now behind Clinton by 6 points, up from 4). In the New York Times, the biggest story is about how Trump voters might start a revolution if that nasty woman wins. This is not really a story at all because clearly these people do not know a damn thing about the social and economic conditions that can explode into a massive revolt against the state. They are comfortable enough to mistake their racism and sexism for actual empty stomachs, labor without pay, open military oppression, arrests by the secret police, and the disappearance of political prisoners. Recall those white ranchers (Vanilla ISIS, as some called them) who occupied a park in Oregon earlier this year. Recall how they needed snacks not long after they directly challenged the most powerful government on earth. Now, the way we laughed at their request for snacks is the way we should laugh at any of this talk of white middle-class persons (with their cars, mortgage payments, and 401(k) plans) rebelling against Hillary like she is Marie-Antoinette. Hillary can say: Let them eat hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, bowls of snacks, and watch Monday Night Football! And they can, and they will, and their revolution will end on sectionals.