Keep those mittens handy: The Seattle Times reports this pattern of light snow, melting, and refreezing will likely continue through the weekend. There's now a winter weather advisory in place from 10 am today through tomorrow morning, with two more inches of snow expected to accumulate. If you're out driving, take extra caution as officials warn the melting and refreezing snow could create "black ice" on the region's roads.

New idea to close the wealth gap: Washington state has some of the worst wealth inequality in the country, and state policymakers are rolling out a proposal to do something about it when the State Legislature convenes in the spring. The Washington Future Fund would invest $4,000 "baby bonds" on behalf of children born while on Apple Health, the state's Medicaid plan. Once eligible kids reach adulthood, they can use the money for a down payment on a home, to pay for higher education, or to start a small business. The program comes with a hefty price tag of $150 million annually, but it could garner bipartisan support due to the much higher percentage of kids born on Apple Health in rural and conservative areas.

Hockey mascots rule: As a general proposition, hockey mascots are the best of all mascots. First, the Philadelphia Flyers' insane mascot, Gritty, became a "leftist avatar." Now, the Kraken's Buoy has officially become my favorite troll on the internet:

Pierce County Sheriff on trial: Remember back in March 2021, when Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer brought several dozen cops down on a Black newspaper delivery driver in his neighborhood because of allegations that the man threatened to kill him? Well, the driver denies he ever made any threats, and Troyer is now standing trial on charges of false reporting and making a false statement to a public official. Attorneys for each side have given opening statements, and the meat of the trial will take place next week. 

Speaking of Pierce County cops: The final episode of The Walk Home podcast about the police killing of Manuel Ellis in Tacoma dropped this week. I have been relentlessly urging you to listen, but if you've ignored me thus far, make a note to binge it over the holidays.

Washington leads a failing country: According to a report from the National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham Law School, Washington state's laws criminalize poverty the least of any state in the union. That's great! What's not so great is that even our curve-setting reforms didn't earn a passing grade. The NCAJ flunked us because we still let courts use private collection agencies, charge kids for the privilege of getting processed through juvenile courts, and directly fund our cops and courts through the revenue those fees generate.

Weekly reminder to avoid giving your grandparents COVID for Christmas. They'd much prefer a macaroni necklace to the 'rona, so get your booster shots, people!

We have to talk about Ye: This man gave a horrific interview on Alex Jones's Infowars show, where he claimed he loves both Jewish people and Nazis, among lots of other nonsense. At this point, it's hard to tell if the disgraced artist is having the world's most public breakdown or (more likely) is just seeking attention in the most obviously profitable way for an over-the-hill hiphop artist. After elevating him for years due to his willingness to suck up to Trump for attention, the ever-shrinking portion of the GOP concerned with acceptance in polite society is denouncing him.

But that's too little, too late. This is who they are now. When Trump had dinner with Ye and Nick Fuentes, another antisemitic far-right "free thinker," the GOP's establishment tried to have their cake and eat it too by denouncing Trump's decision. The time for that was the minute this man descended a golden escalator and called Mexican immigrants rapists, not seven years after the fact. This is where the energy is in the Republican party at this point: demonizing parents of transgender kids, banning books from public libraries, and courting reactionary shitposters who just so happen to espouse the same hateful ideology that many mass shooters repeat in their manifestos. 

Here's the real danger: When Ye acts like such an obvious fool, it gives cover to assholes like this who get to seem like they're "just asking questions" in comparison to the rapper's outrageous antics.

Musk entering his "finding out" phase: A law firm is now threatening a massive deluge of arbitration claims against Twitter if Musk doesn't pay out severance packages to recently fired employees. Love to see an employment lawyer turning a company's decision to mandate arbitration and prohibit class-action litigation against the corporate bosses. Go off, king.

Soccer update: In case you only tune into futbol every four years when the World Cup happens, you should know that the people running the sport's international governing body, FIFA, have absolutely zero principles. After facing allegations of corruption for picking Qatar to host this year's tournament, FIFA's president decided defending North Korea's right to host a future World Cup was a good use of his time yesterday.

I'm normally not a fan of cute animal videos on the internet. I know, this makes me broken somewhere deep inside, but I can't help thinking how staged they are, or how many takes the poor pets must have sat through. This is the exception that proves the rule, because this little guy clearly doesn't give a fuck whether anyone is watching him. He just loves snow, and we should be more like him.