MONDAY, JULY 24 What would prove to be one of the more tumultuous and tragic weeks in Seattle history kicked off today with a faraway warning, courtesy of WorldNetDaily. Citing fears that Hezbollah sleeper agents are looking to attack Israel-friendly targets in the U.S. and abroad, today Israeli security officials called for heightened alert at Jewish institutions worldwide. Today's alert comes on the heels of last week's threat from Palestine's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, whose second-in-command told WorldNetDaily it is only a "question of time" before Palestinian terror groups and other Islamic organizations begin targeting the U.S. for its "support of the enemy." By week's end, al-Aqsa's prediction will come to lunatic fruition, thanks to a gun-toting, woman-hating freak in Seattle's Belltown. But for today, all we've got is a vague, terrifying, as-yet nonfatal threat, for which Last Days is already horribly nostalgic.

TUESDAY, JULY 25 Speaking of terrifying, as-yet nonfatal threats: Today brings the incriminatingly awful story of Enrique Fabregas, the 53-year-old Seattle man revealed to be, at the very least, the most extravagantly unfit foster parent in history. Details come from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which reports that since the mid-1990s, Fabregas has cared for three girls—one, now 12, whom he adopted as a baby, and two teenage sisters, now 18 and 19, who became Fabregas's foster daughters from 2002 to 2004. Things were fishy from the start: Years before the two sisters moved into his home, state social workers "expressed concerns regarding the relationship" between Fabregas and his then 3-year-old adopted daughter, who'd told daycare workers about her father's "bad touch." Over the next several years, neighbors, teachers, and other onlookers alerted the Department of Social and Health Services to the oddly sexual manner in which Fabregas engaged the young girl: "The staff at the school state that he is 'all over her' physically all the time," wrote a school counselor to the state in 2001. Nevertheless, the state saw fit to license Fabregas—an admitted cocaine addict whom a police investigator reported seeing with "fresh track marks" on his arm—as a foster parent, granting him custody of the aforementioned teen sisters, whose mother Fabregas dated. Meanwhile, the complaints kept coming, with DSHS records showing more than two dozen complaints about possible sexual or physical abuse of the girls in Fabregas's file. Still, Fabregas retained his license and custody of the girls, as DSHS investigators determined each charge to be "unfounded, unsubstantiated, or inconclusive due to lack of evidence." For eight years this cycle of horrible allegations/inconclusive investigation repeated itself, until, finally, the shit hit the fan. In February, one of the teenage girls contacted police, leading investigators to a wealth of evidence supporting the years of abuse allegations, including numerous pornographic photographs of Fabregas engaged in sexual acts with each of the three girls. Last month, Fabregas was arrested and jailed on charges of exploitation of a minor and child pornography, leaving DSHS to explain its eight years of abject failure. Meanwhile, the now legal-age teen sisters are investigating possible civil claims against the state. Stay tuned.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26 Nothing happened today, unless you count the Washington State Supreme Court's upholding of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman, thus forbidding the extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples, and crushing the hopes of countless citizens, gay and straight, who'd dreamed, however foolishly, of seeing their state take a stand for justice. As distressing as the decision itself was, the alleged reasoning behind it was worse: Defending the 5–4 ruling, Justice Barbara Madsen wrote that "limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples furthers the state's legitimate interests in procreation and the well-being of children." Calling eloquent bullshit on Madsen's fantasia was dissenting Justice Mary Fairhurst, who blasted the weasely decision for "... condon[ing] blatant discrimination against Washington's gay and lesbian citizens in the name of encouraging procreation, marriage for individuals in relationships that result in children, and the raising of children in homes headed by opposite-sex parents, while ignoring the fact that denying same-sex couples the right to marry has no prospect of furthering any of those interests." Despite the loss, the accumulated data of the decision and its aftermath couldn't help but confirm how far we've progressed. As the civil rights movement gained steam through the progressive enlightenment of white minds, so has the fight for equal rights for gays and lesbians been strengthened by the progressive enlightenment of straight minds. In the wake of the decision, Last Days was repeatedly dazzled by the impassioned outbursts of gay rights' straight defenders, from King County Executive Ron Sims ("This decision will not stand the test of time—justice won't allow it") to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels (who decried the court's failure to "tear down another wall of inequity and prejudice that has long stained our society") to Stranger publisher Tim Keck, who interrupted the DOMA-defending equivocations of supreme court candidate/Republican State Senator Stephen Johnson (whose endorsement interview happened to be scheduled the day after the decision) with an exasperated, "Admit it—you're a bigot." To those who'd point out that such gay-friendly lip service is a savvy political move, consider this: When Last Days came out, no sane straight politician outside of San Francisco would openly defend gay rights, and such strong support from the straights confirms that marriage equality has made the invaluable leap from "gay issue" to social-justice issue. Thanks to the couples and lawyers who made the events of today possible, and full speed ahead.

THURSDAY, JULY 27 Nothing happened today, unless you count a lot of grumbling about what happened yesterday.

FRIDAY, JULY 28 The week continues with a total fucking nightmare in Belltown, where this afternoon at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle building on Third Avenue, a 30-year-old man wielding two semiautomatic pistols and claiming "I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel" opened fire on the building's occupants, killing one woman and wounding five others, one of them pregnant. After giving himself up to police, the gunman—identified as Naveed Afzal Haq of Everett—was booked into King County Jail on one count of investigation of homicide and five counts of investigation of attempted homicide. News reports will confirm that Haq was recently charged with lewd conduct after allegedly exposing his penis to women at Kennewick's Columbia Center mall, and a friend of Haq's will tell the Seattle Times of Haq's frustration over his inability to find a job and girlfriend, and tendency toward anti-Semitic outbursts. Adding to today's weird sense of American anti-Semitism spiking to a level of violence most of us in this country have only read about was the outrageous arrest of Mel Gibson, who was busted for drunk driving and promptly lashed out against the Jews: "Fucking Jews," spewed the sloshed Gibson by the side of Malibu's Pacific Coast Highway. "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." By the end of the day, Gibson will have apologized (blaming alcoholism and professing shame) and Haq will be imprisoned on $50 million bail. Still, today was terrifying. Deep condolences to the victims of today's tragedy.

SATURDAY, JULY 29 Nothing happened today, unless you count reverberating shock and horror over the events of yesterday.

SUNDAY, JULY 30 The week ends with horrific bloodshed, this time courtesy of Israel, whose air forces bombed the Lebanese village of Qana, killing at least 54 people, 37 of them children.

Next week: Pure escapist bullshit. Send Hot Tips to lastdays@thestranger.com.