The headquarters of capitals deepest fantasies.
The headquarters of capital's deepest fantasies. Charles Mudede

Seattle Corporation Obtains a Patent for Floating Warehouses Serviced By Drones: That corporation is, of course, Amazon, and it has a vision of the future that's becoming clearer by the day. With its back turned to the past and its mountain-sized wreckage from class conflicts, it looks forward to a world cleared of workers. There will be stores with no workers and warehouses that are not only managed by robots and accessed by drones but are not even on the ground. They will be floating in the sky like clouds. In this consumer utopia, the unemployed will only have to look up to see where their jobs have gone. KOMO describes the vision: "[B]limps would circle over cities at 45,000 feet and launch drones carrying orders. The drones would initially fall to earth through gravity—and their motors would fire up for the final stretch to glide them to their destination." (The dub in my use of the word cleared in this news item will be heard if you listen to Cybotron's "Clear.")


The idea, however, is not really new:

Seattle Burglars Appear to Be Tech-Obsessed Too: Yesterday, thieves (we are guessing there were more than one) broke into a Capitol Hill house that a Stranger employee shares with her family. The thieves only took computers. There was weed in a drawer they rummaged, but they didn't pocket it. A whole saxophone and other musical instruments were also not stolen. These thieves just took tech-related things. Because the family is a bit on the old-school side, it was actually relieved by this very precise and very Seattle and very now preference; old-school thieves, of course, would have placed greater value on the musical instruments.

Seattle Is About to Get Very Cold: KIRO reports that the "coldest airmass seen in quite a few years will arrive along with the new year." Some snow is predicted, but the "arctic blasts" will certainly freeze the day and night air and make walking, the ultimate urban activity, quite disagreeable. KIRO: "The magnitude of the cold air coming warrants preparation of home and vehicle regardless of whether snow accumulates." The popular but regrettably controversial weather blogger Cliff Mass points out that cold winters usually result in a healthy snowpack.

Seattle Times' Excellent Transportation Reporter, Mike Lindblom, On the Plan to Link South Lake Union and First Hill Streetcar Routes: The project, called Center City Connector, begins next month, will cost $135 million, and be completed in the same year Elizabeth Warren begins her run for president.

Happening the same year Center City Connector is completed.
Happening when the Center City Connector is completed. Charles Mudede

Seattle Bike Blog Wants the Washington State Convention Center Expansion Not Only to Place a Lid on I-5: But to also contribute important connections to downtown's present and future bike network. The concept is not far from reality, and if implemented would complement the Center City Connector. LMN, the architectural firm planning and designing the expansion, is responsible for the city's best work of architecture in 2016, the University of Washington Station.

Seattle Officials Promise Upzone of the U District Area Near the Future Light-Rail Station Will Be Good For Everyone: Housing activists, however, say it will not, arguing it will only generate more gentrification and displacement in the fast-growing neighborhood. The story, which is in the Seattle Times, is the same as it ever was. The sad thing is that this is still as far as the argument gets. You must choose one or the other. You can't have the whole enchilada. But most of us want exactly that kind of urbanism—the whole enchilada. Increased density and more than just middle- and working-class affordability, but also housing for the hard up. At present, we need to permit the upzone (a denser U District needs to be realized no matter what) and then fight for the urban virtues of racial and class diversity in this neighborhood.

The Thing I Hate Most In the Star Wars Universe: The super-silly lightsaber, a weapon that makes no sense at all in any real or imagined galaxy, and always brings me down when it is drawn, will be used tonight in a vigil for the late Carrie Fisher.