We are much more than Jeff Bezos and his balls... Or are we? Credit: Charles Mudede
We are much more than Jeff Bezos and his balls... Or are we?
We are much more than Jeff Bezos and his balls… or are we? Charles Mudede

The New York Times Amazon piece: I was hoping we were just getting off on the wrong foot, Karen, when you opened your article with the line “Tourists in Seattle have a new must-see destination: Amazon Go.” But it quickly became clear it wasn’t just one wrong step. This feature talks about all of the wonderfully experimental ways Amazon is changing Seattle, and seemingly the most critical part of the entire piece is when it mentions how the Amazon bookstore in University Village is near where the old Barnes and Noble used to be (rest in peace), and that critique is at best inferential. Despite the first phrase of this article being entirely silly, the idea that a must-see part of one of the most beautiful regions of the country is a cashier-less grocery store is actually slightly offensive. But maybe this notion rubs me the wrong way because the phrase “tourists in Seattle” could potentially be an accurate way to describe what Seattle has become.

Interesting that we move from a piece lauding Amazon to talking about PNW homelessness: Six homeless residents are suing the City of Puyallup and Pierce County. According to KING 5, the complaint filed alleges that the city and county “frequently force individuals to vacate their outside homes and seize and summarily destroy their property.” Meanwhile, Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan has proposed a $3 million increase in homelessness spending in Seattle.

Want to watch Senator Ted Cruz heckled out of a DC restaurant? Of course you do: He was heckled by Kavanaugh protesters who were shouting, “We believe survivors.” If you listen closely, you can hear one man say, “Beto is way hotter than you, dude.” Beto O’Rourke is Cruz’s political opponent in the Texas Senate race.

Trump taxes trade with China, then gives handouts to farmers: Republicans, allegedly, fight tooth and nail to lower taxes and stop giving out handouts. So I suppose when they use the word “tariffs,” it doesn’t mean taxes, and when they use the word “bailout,” it doesn’t mean handout. Alas, the Trump administration is handing out $12 billion in emergency relief to American farmers to combat the impact of his trade war with China. Joel Schreurs, a soybean and corn producer from Minnesota says it best, “Nobody wants to have an aid package. I mean, if you’re a farmer, you’re in the business of producing a crop. We just want a fair price for it.”

If I tell you to register to vote, it means very little, but if Don Cheadle tells you to vote, it means the world:

Animal crossing: A bridge is being built near Snoqualmie Pass, over I-90, to allow the safe passage of wildlife across the highway. Evan Bush from the Seattle Times reports that “by revamping the highway with wildlife’s needs in mind, officials were able to broker an easement with the U.S. Forest Service to add the additional lanes.” Essentially the bridge is a response to widening the highway, but it seems to serve other important needs for wildlife, connecting different habitats that would be otherwise extremely dangerous to move between.

40,000 people wanted to be surrounded by cats in Greece: Look, I love my own cat, Gouda. But as I always say, one cat’s enough cat. Apparently this is not the case for the 40,000 people who applied to run a cat sanctuary on the island of Syros in Greece, called God’s Little People. My wife has told me stories of working at a cat sanctuary, lovingly so, but when the descriptions of swaths of social cats uses the language “descends upon,” I start getting freaked out. The woman who got the job clearly knows what she is getting into, and summed it up just right, “This will be a wonderful opportunity to spend with just cats.”

Instagram cofounders resign: Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the cofounders of Instagram, cited the urge to “explore our curiosity and creativity again” as their reason for leaving Instagram, the company they sold to Facebook for $1 billion in 2012. There is plenty of suggestion that the real reasons behind them leaving come down to tensions between them and Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg. Oh did I say Facebook? Last Week Tonight with John Oliver did an amazing feature on Facebook on Sunday that you can watch here.

Audience at the United Nations General Assembly laughs at President Trump’s insane remarks: Can anyone figure out what he says after, “In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country”? It sounds like he says, “Ameriker’s so true.” Then everyone laughs at him.

Let’s end today’s Slog AM with this President Trump meme that’s making the rounds, enjoy: This meme (a satirical image) also featured in our Weekday Trumpdate yesterday was actually made a year ago, after Hurricane Harvey and uses a picture from 2015 floods in central Texas. It depicts President Trump handing a MAGA hat to a person hanging on for their life in an intense flood. In the wake of Hurricane Florence, it has seen a resurgence. I wonder why?

Tonight’s best Seattle entertainment options include: A reading with Native poets Heid E. Erdrich, Trevino L. Brings Plenty, Laura Da’, and Cedar Sigo; a show with Sylvia Plath–winged seraph Chelsea Wolfe; and a Local Sightings screening of It Happened at the World’s Fair with live commentary from Ahamefule Oluo, Lindy West, and The Stranger‘s Charles Mudede.