UW College Republicans are suing UW: The club is bringing Patriot Prayer, a far-right group that pals around with white supremacists and whose rallies often break out into violence, to UW campus on Saturday. UW demanded the club pay a $17,000 security fee nine days before the event. UWCR says this is in violation of their First Amendment rights and a form of the heckler’s veto, the unconstitutional act of suppressing speech based on negative audience reaction aka counter protesters. Their lawyer, Bill Becker of Freedom X, has filed a complaint yesterday for a civil rights violation in U.S. District Court in order to get the fees dropped.
Washington’s weed woes: Shelves are sparse, growers and sellers are scrambling, and it’s all because a new traceability system keeps fucking up. Stores in Washington are having trouble getting any weed. The state mandates that all weed is tracked from seed-to-sale so they can keep tabs on everything, keep it cool, keep it kosher, you know? Well, they switched systems last week and it’s a giant clusterfuck. Shipping orders are getting mixed up, some growers can’t even log on, and the whole thing is a pain in the ass. Stockpile your supply because fickle technology is holding our weed hostage.
Medical technology at Harborview saved woman thought to be dead: When emergency crews pulled the 21-year-old woman woman out of the Puget Sound in the early hours of the morning, she was face down and her lungs and heart had not worked on their own for four hours. They thought she was dead. Use of a Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation machine saved her life. The ECMO “is a specialized pump that drains a patient’s blood from a major vein, adds oxygen, strips out carbon dioxide, warms it and pumps it back into the body,” The Seattle Times reports. It is making waves with trauma patients at HarborView.
Are the fences in Ballard just like the bike racks in Belltown? Hostile architecture is meant to keep homeless people away. After our initial reporting and the backlash that ensued, the Seattle Department of Transportation is removing the bike racks meant to stop homeless camping in Ballard. However, city officials say fences constructed under underpasses in Ballard are a safety precaution, not a way to keep the homeless out. Still, some of the 5,500 unsheltered people in King County had slept in those places and now they’re gone.
Not ready for the Big One: Washington is the second-most earthquake prone state in the nation. We’re next to all those huge subduction zones and, if those don’t get us, we’ll likely be leveled by a tsunami. The threat level is high and tangible. Yet, only 11.3 percent of Washington homeowners have earthquake insurance. I can tell you one thing for sure, and that’s that my 110-year-old house is not insured. When the quake hits, think of me and my paper maché walls.
Purchases of political ads on Facebook increased by 5,000 percent in Seattle: From 2013 to 2017, the years of Seattle’s local elections. Not only that, but Facebook underreported the total spending by local candidates. According to Zuckerberg & Co., the amount is $182,451. If you look at campaign disclosure filings, the amount is more like more than $300,000. Eli Sanders has the complete breakdown here.
Russian bots on Tumblr not there for the fun gifs: Since 2015, the Russian Internet Research Agency infiltrated Tumblr by posing as black activists and posting anti-Hillary Clinton and pro-Bernie Sanders content. A lot of their propagated content racked up thousands of notes (the accumulation of all possible interactions on Tumblr: likes, reblogs, replies). Many accounts were similar or the same as identified Russian Twitter bots.
Can the LA Times heave a sigh of relief now? After a turbulent first month of 2018, the LA Times will have a new owner, Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong. Tronc, the previous-owner, announced the sale of the Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune for nearly $500 million in cash and $90 million in pension liabilities.
So far this year at the @latimes:
– Newsroom unionizes
– Publisher on leave during sexual misconduct investigation
– Editor-in-chief ousted
– Outcry over “pyramid scheme”
– New editor hired (third in six months)
– Possible sale to local billionaire…and it’s only February 6th!
— Laura J. Nelson (@laura_nelson) February 6, 2018
Lake Stevens foster children suffer abuse, fed “dog food burritos”: Child Protective Services didn’t listen to the abuse of multiple foster children suffered at the hands of two foster parents for years. Now, the state is paying four former foster children $6 million for what happened to them.
Kansas senators have never masturbated before: The Kansas Senate voted on a resolution yesterday that condemns porn. It has no legal effect. The real effect is that a bunch of elected officials voted 35-4 against porn because they think it causes erectile dysfunction, infidelity, and objectification of women. Can we FOIA request every Kansas senator’s browser history?
Let there be light! The Fremont Bridge got some new bulbs to celebrate the centennial of Seattle’s historic bridges. It’s part of a new and permanent art installation with lights meant to “gently reflect seasonal, solar and lunar patterns.” The first preview is tonight but they’ll be turned on permanently starting Thursday. The Ballard and University Bridges are up next.
Sea-Tac Airport bustling amid tech boom: Last year the airport serviced a record 46.9 million passengers. A $17 million Central Terminal Renovation is being discussed Thursday. It will cover how to handle increased demands.
Booze cruising at altitude: In a breathalyzer test, an Alaskan Airlines pilot was found to be three times over the appropriate limit for airline pilots after finishing two flights in 2014. I’d imagine the appropriate limit is zero but this article doesn’t say. I’m googling it for you. It’s 0.04 percent. You’re welcome. Anyway, he pled guilty to flying under the influence. How very Sully of him.
Flat-earther’s rocket launch doesn’t get off the ground: He’s no Elon Musk and this hilarious and scathing Washington Post article won’t let you forget it. Mike Hughes wanted to “shut the door on this ball Earth” by flying high enough to prove that the Earth wasn’t round. He didn’t account for the Earth’s gravitational pull when building his rocket and he stayed, predictably, on the surface. Whether it’s a flat surface or a round one we may never know.
Portland-Favorite Salt & Straw has made it to Seattle! I’ve never eaten their ice cream but apparently it’s all the rage. Their new location is now open in Ballard.
An ingredient in McDonald’s french fries could literally put hair on your chest: Or, your head. A recent study in Japan found that the chemical used to keep the fry oil from frothing while cooking can cure baldness. Dimethylpolysiloxane, the silicone used in the cooking oil, was found to mass-produce hair follicle germs on mice. It’s yet to be tested on balding humans but it shows great promise, according to scientists. You hear that dad? Maybe there’s hope!
Now for what you’re chowing down on this Slog AM:
A balanced breakfast for Andrea.
Nicole said she was pleasantly surprised with how her breakfast burrito turned out. She strategically used avocado to mask the overwhelming taste of egg. She’s not fond of eggs.
Sent all the way from Ecuador, here’s Marcy’s morning meal. Or, dare I say, desayuno.
Hitting the grind hard this morning.
Do you know how you’re spending your Wednesday? If not, check out Gregory Orr’s poetry reading, Christopher Frizzelle’s monthly Silent Reading Party, Simian Mobile Disco’s DJ set—or one of the many other events listed on our Things To Do calendar.
