Weed? Bernie's got a plan for that. Credit: Lester Black
Weed? Bernies got a plan for that.
Weed? Bernie’s got a plan for that. Lester Black

Buckle up. Let’s get the Amazon news out of the way: First, today’s protest at the Spheres.

Amazon workers protested the company’s $1 million money dump: At noon a group of people led by tech workers gathered in the shadow of Bezos’s balls to protest the retail giant’s attempt at a corporate takeover of Seattle. The message was simple: If Seattle becomes a company town, then Amazon won’t stop there. Washington will become a company state, and then America will become a company country. But if the left—including organized tech workers, Democrats, Democratic Socialists, and Socialist Alternative—stick together, then they can slow that dismal tide. Seattle Council Members Teresa Mosqueda, Lorena González, and Kshama Sawant, all took a turn at the mic, as did city council candidates Tammy Morales and Shaun Scott.

The cops allegedly asked the protestors to move to the sidewalk: But they didn’t move, according to 36th District Democrat policy director Summer Stinson, who also spoke at the rally. That’s because they didn’t have to. As part of the city’s deal to give Amazon the alley that eventually became Amazon’s courtyard, Amazon had to agree to keep the place open for “free speech activities.”

More Amazon protests: This time, the protests are coming from musicians. Over 150 musicians are protesting Amazon’s music festivals (they recently announced an Amazon Web Services-produced Intersect Music Festival in Las Vegas) “until the company stops supporting human rights violations through its contracts with ICE and other U.S. government agencies.” The pressure may cause more artists to drop from the Intersect lineup.

Amazon’s added nearly 100,000 employees in three months: The bookseller’s employee roster now includes over 750,000 people, reports GeekWire, with almost one hundred thousand of those employees (96,700 people) joining in only THREE MONTHS. In other Amazon news: Their shares fell more than 8 percent again after missing profit expectations, although their revenue is up 24 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Okay, I won’t talk about Amazon again until tomorrow: Let’s pivot to weed.

Bernie has a plan for it: and the stoners are rejoicing. His plan, which he released at 4:20, would pile $50 billion from legal marijuana tax revenue into business grants, reports CNBC.

Laura Cooper, the Pentagon official whose impeachment inquiry testimony was interrupted by Republican lawmakers yesterday, was previously sent a letter from the Trump administration not to talk to Congress: The New York Times has obtained a copy of the letter. An excerpt:

“In the event that the Committees issue a subpoena to compel Ms. Cooper’s appearance, you should be aware that the Supreme Court has held, in United States v. Rumely, 345 U.S. 41 (1953), that a person cannot be sanctioned for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena unauthorized by House Rule or Resolution.”

Harvey Weinstein shows up to an event for young comedians. One of them calls him out on stage. Guess who gets booed? The comedian! Kelly Bachman, a performer at “Actor’s Hour,” noted that Weinstein was in the room during her set, calling him “the elephant in the room” and “Freddy Krueger.” She was booed after saying she “didn’t know we had to bring our own Mace and rape whistles to Actor’s Hour.” Later, an audience member who protested Weinstein’s attendance was escorted out of the venue. BuzzFeed News has more. Video:

Big Ds are coming to Seattle in November: But you probably won’t see them, unless you got $$$. Sources have confirmed to The Stranger that Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez and 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden are holding separate fundraisers in Seattle in mid-November. On Thursday, November 14, Perez will speak somewhere in Seattle, with tickets ranging between $250 and $10,000. Biden will hold two fundraisers the following day. Longtime Dem donor and philanthropist Janet Ketcham will host the afternoon fundraiser in Madison Park. $1,000 gets you in as a guest, and $2,800 gets you a photo. Former lawyer Lynn Hubbard and current Amazon lawyer David Zapolsky (oops, broke my promise not to talk about Amazon—they’re everywhere!) will host the evening fundraiser in Queen Anne, where guest entry sits at $2,800.

Biden needs the money: Biden’s plan is to lose Iowa but win Super Tuesday. But if he wants to win Super Tuesday, then he needed to have raised more money than the fucking mayor of South Bend in Q3. He didn’t. Which is why he’s coming here. And which is why he just announced today that he will be taking Super PAC support.

Lawmakers paid their respects to the late Rep. Elijah Cummings today: Republican Rep. Mark Meadows gave an emotional speech on the power of bipartisan friendships.

Tim Ryan drops out of the 2020 race: Tim who? I had the same question. There are just 18 more contenders left………………

Gasp: The majesty.

Egan Orion signs a settlement with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission: agreeing to pay a $1,000 fine after many people (notably, me) filed complaints alleging that Egan Orion’s ad on the cover of The Stranger‘s Endorsements Issue did not properly list the ad’s “sponsor identification” information. What I told Capitol Hill Seattle Blog (which published a thorough overview, including a comment from our publisher, Laurie Saito):

Stranger writer Chase Burns who filed a separate complaint with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission over the ad in his employer’s publication, tells CHS he is “glad the SEEC agrees that the Egan for Seattle sponsor ID should have been on the first page of the ad.”

“I think Mike McGinn said it well on KUOW yesterday: ‘This is really inappropriate behavior from the Orion campaign and the election regulators should come down hard on this because a small fine isn’t going to deter anybody. They’ll just do it again because that Stranger cover is worth a lot, speaking from experience,’” Burns wrote.

Some end-of-day breaking Boeing news: I never want to ride a 737 MAX again.

Stranger senior staff writer Rich Smith contributed to this post.

Chase Burns is The Stranger's former editor. He's covered everything from gay luchadores to chemical weapons to Isabella Rossellini's favorite pets.