Conlin Is Gone! 16-year incumbent wheezebag Richard Conlin conceded defeat to socialist challenger Kshama Sawant last night, making Sawant the first socialist elected to Seattle City Council in at least a century. Sawant talked about her victory on national television.

The Usual From Seattle Police: In a 61-page report obtained by the Seattle Times, federal monitor Merrick Bobb slams SPD for "intransigence and aversion to innovation," and failing to implement key reforms.

Philippines Aid Effort "Still Patchy": Bodies are still strewn in the wreckage, and the United Nations just doubled its estimate of people displaced by the typhoon to two million.

Investment Manager Brings the Realness: "The American dream of striking it rich is merely a well-marketed fantasy that keeps the bottom 99.5% hoping for better and prevents social and political instability."

Black In Seattle: Hopefully the first of many forums.

Today In Impunity: Rios Montt, the Reagan-backed genocidal former president of Guatemala, remains a free man. Prospects for prosecuting and re-convicting him grow dimmer.

UW Moves Ahead With New Underground Animal Testing Facility: Ignoring pleas from protesters, the university's regents approved $132 million to build a new research lab, which will be "underground to avoid blocking views of Portage Bay."

Thumbs Down: The Associated Press looks into President Obama's green power push in Iowa and all but concludes it's a scam that will hurt the environment more than help.

Thumbs Up: Obama issued an order this week allowing more undocumented relatives of soldiers to stay in the country rather than face deportation.

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