The dumb helmet law could have racial consequences.
The dumb helmet law could have racial consequences. Charles Mudede

The Racial Dangers of the Helmet Law Emerge With the Popularity of Stationless Bike Shares in South Seattle: There's no hard data on this yet, but blacks in the South Side are certainly using Lime and Spin. Three good reasons for this development: One, their bikes are in the area (you can even find them in front of the Rainier Community Center); two, they are easy to access with a smartphone; and, three, they charge only a buck for 30 minutes of use (this is the "lowest price of any bikeshare system in a major U.S. city").

Pronto, which provided helmets at its stations, never saw anything like South Seattle in its brief existence, and not once did I ever spot a black person on its bikes—this includes the reflections on the windows of the bars I frequent. Spin and Lime appear to be popular with all races, and their riders often break the law by not wearing helmets. This law, however, makes little sense when seen from the position of the higher reason. If you are standing on the lower logic, as many lawmakers do, all you can see is the protection helmets provide bikers. But if you go up the ladder of your reasoning, you will see that there should be no punishments for anyone who uses not only bikes but public transportation or their legs to get around. The higher logic says this alone: All punishments must be directed at those who drive dangerous and carbon-releasing cars.

At the moment, the SPD isn't handing out many helmet citations (12 so far this year, according to Seattle Times), but if it needed the revenue, it could start doing so. This would have a negative impact not only on the bike-sharing system but on black youth, who are increasingly using Lime and Spin. The helmet law, if vigorously enforced, would discourage black youth from using the bikes, as citations would expose them to encounters with lethally armed law enforcers. A part of Nikkita Oliver's program was providing cheap transportation options for poor and working-class people in South Seattle. Spin and Lime, and now Ofo ("the Chinese bike-share giant"), appear to be doing just that.



(Oliver, however, opposed the bike infrastructure projects in North Seattle.)

Tests Confirm Sick-Looking Green Lake Bat Had Rabies: On the night of August 11, a bat was found on a boat house in Green Lake. It was acting strange. It could not fly. What the hell was wrong with this ugly mammal? Tests showed the bat had rabies. Public health officials are now asking people to remember if they had any contact with a bat last week. Did one bite you in the neck? Or did you happen to touch a bat's saliva? Go back in your mind, pull out your recent memories, and try to see in the light of your mind's eye if there is a bat in any of them. This is a matter of life and death. KOMO: "Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms begin but can be treated before symptoms appear."

And now, something to think about. In the Christian world there is this bad business about being possessed by a demon. An evil spirit enters you, takes control of you, and makes you do all sorts of horrible things, like plunging a cross into your vagina. There are even people who specialize in casting out these demons. Fair enough. But how is having rabies or even the common cold different from being possessed by a demon? These diseases also take control of your body and make you do things that you do not want to do. In the case of rabies, it is biting other animals and infecting them; with the cold, it is coughing and spreading the disease though the air. What does a demon, a servant of Satan, want?


A Woman With Gunshot Wound On the Head Dropped of at Harborview Medical Center: She did not leave that hospital alive. The police has her husband in custody.

Oregonians Forced Out of Prime Eclipse-Viewing Location By Rapidly Growing Wildfire: The wildfire is in the Deschutes National Forest, which is six miles from a town called Sisters. Sisters also happens to be on the edge of the path of totality. But the smoke and spread of the wildfire has ruined everything for this town and a large number of campers.

Traffic On I-5 Is Not So Bad, People Are Saying: It seems the bad traffic was all hype, or many people just decided to not deal with it and stayed out of Oregon.


The Worst Eclipse-Related Headline: "Today the moon finally gets its day in the sun" (CNN).


They Wanted to Become Rich: But the head of a Bellevue wealth management firm just took their money and did what one should always do with the money of fools: live large. He will soon be in prison with memories of the good times, while his victims are condemned to the cemetery of the past, where their dreams of future riches are buried. “I have lost my future,” said one of the wealth manager's fools in a letter to the court. “I worked an honest job, packing my lunch to work each day to save. I thought I was making sound financial decisions, and trusting [the wealth management firm] cost me everything. 
 My life savings. Gone.” Money is for today, never tomorrow.

Trump Has Bankrupted the Secret Service:


So You Know:


And It Don't Stop:


Rural America, This is the Man Shaking Up Washington and Draining All of Those Swamps For You: