“Abuse of power is not a crime”: Says the former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker. So, uh, that’s where we’re at.
Kshama Sawant wrote an op-ed for Teen Vogue: It’s called “I’m a Socialist Taking On Amazon and a Corporate Onslaught in Seattle.” In it, she argues, “Seattle’s elections this year are a key test. If the billionaires are successful in buying them, I have no doubt a similar dynamic will play out nationally to further push back against socialist politics.”
There’s a ghost in the Beacon Hill light rail station: That is an OPINION not a FACT, but the FACTS are that light rail service was shut down at the Beacon Hill station this afternoon after a fireless smoke started coming from the station. The cause of the smoke is undetermined.
2700 block of Beacon Ave S: Crews ventilated smoke from the station, but no fire found. Reducing response to a few units and transitioning the scene to @SoundTransit
— Seattle Fire Dept. (@SeattleFire) October 23, 2019
Man running for office in the Puyallup School District argues we should bring back the death penalty: “We need to give the inmates their last meal so we can give our children their first meal” is the quote.
It’s always a wild ride reading the voters pamphlet for local elections.
See if you can tell what’s wrong with this… pic.twitter.com/ClWOCd9iIZ
— Cascadian Solo (@CascadianSolo) October 23, 2019
Republican lawmakers “storm” an impeachment hearing: A bunch of good old boys delayed the testimony of Laura Cooper, the top Pentagon official on Ukraine, by breaking into a secure building on Capitol Hill where Cooper was supposed to testify. The stunt caused the testimony to be delayed by up to five hours, reports the Washington Post.
BREAKING — The Republicans who have stormed the SCIF have ordered pizza.
“They’re a bunch of brave freedom fighters having pizza in a secure conference room,” complained Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ).https://t.co/hthVNifnAG
— Sam Stein (@samstein) October 23, 2019
Malicious animal cruelty could become a felony: The US House passed a bill that would ban “crushing, burning, drowning, and impaling animals, among other things.” Violations could “result in prison time of up to seven years.” Save the puppies!
More shit passing in the House: This one is less likely to make its way through the Senate, and definitely not the president’s desk, but the US House passed a bill that “would require campaigns to report illicit offers of campaign assistance from foreign governments and restrict campaign-related communication between candidates and foreign governments,” writes Politico. Mitch McConnell has described the legislation as an attack on the First Amendment, so it’s going nowhere. The White House has threatened to veto the bill.
Hold on to your butts: Boeing’s CEO is sticking with his belief that the 737 MAX could fly again by the end of the year. What’s the rush? Take your time fixing the death plane!
Do you subscribe to my favorite New York Times newsletter? Charlie Warzel’s “The Privacy Project” newsletter highlighted how 2020 campaigns are tracking and using data today. Some spooky quotes (bolding from me), but TL;DR: I’m ready to get a flip phone:
“The Trump campaign is using beacons to collect location information on attendees at rallies. It’s not entirely clear how much data the campaign is getting, but even in small portions the information is extremely valuable, especially when cross-referenced with other data broker sets like financial information.”
[…]
“Should any of that data leak or be abused by any campaigns, it has the potential to trigger nuclear-level scandals. The Cambridge Analytica debacle, which spurred governmental investigations in multiple countries, concerned fairly mundane data, including profile names and the “likes” of users’ Facebook friends. In other words, it was hardly as invasive as the information collected by location beacons.”
The world’s largest Christmas festival AND light maze is coming to Seattle: Christmas, it’s lit.
Cloud City, baby! Microsoft beat expectations for its first fiscal quarter, reporting $33.1 billion in revenue, reports GeekWire. That’s up 14 percent year-over-year. Much of this growth is due to the company’s Intelligent Cloud division. As more companies focused on cloud services move into the area, we really are becoming Cloud City.
THREAD: $MSFT Q1 EARNINGS
Revenue: $33.1 billion ⬆️ 14%
Operating income: $12.7 billion ⬆️ 27%
Net Income: $10.7 billion ⬆️ 21%
EPS: $1.38 ⬆ 21% pic.twitter.com/efyoIQQiay
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) October 23, 2019
Egan Orion drops a new TV ad: “What the ad doesn’t say is that Kshama Sawant has 864 more donors from within the district than Orion,” writes Capitol Hill Blog Seattle. More data below the ad, pulled from the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.
What are you doing for Halloween? The Trump campaign is apparently throwing a “witch hunt”–themed party if you need ideas.
You know what this political mashup needs? A “witch hunt” Haloween party. pic.twitter.com/hJkCyihFLG
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) October 23, 2019
