Happy Birthday to Rich Smith! Our illustrious leader turns forever young today. Make sure to wish him a good year in the comments before you hurl your vitriol. [Eds note: Thank you. I thought I was 38 for most of the year, but it turns out that I am in fact turning 38 today, so I feel like I got a little extra time.]

Today's weather: BRRRRRR! Foggy morning today, but the sun comes out this afternoon with a high of 41 degrees.

Ceasefire in Gaza extended: Qatar announced Monday that Hamas and Israel agreed to extend the four-day ceasefire for another two days as hostage releases continue, according to CBS News. Unclear whether Israel plans to agree to another ceasefire extension after this, but Hamas says it's open to a longer pause.

Witness carries water for Tacoma cops on trial: A police training expert and former King County prosecutor testified Monday afternoon and defended the three cops charged with the murder of Manuel Ellis, according to the Seattle Times. The expert said even if Ellis posed no threat to the officers, they were "justified in continually applying force." The expert went on to say that he figured lots of stuff happened that witnesses didn't capture on video. Incredible expert there, folks, and what a feather in the cap of the King County prosecutor's office that this is the kind of analysis their former employees provide.

Anti-trans laws in Florida forced Hayden to travel 14 hours across state lines for medication. Read her story in Viv's latest installment of Forced Out.

There's some horsies in this house, theres some horsies in this house: The Seattle Police Department's mounted unit plodded along Aurora Avenue in their dumbass hats. You'd think with the staffing "crisis" we'd put these cops in patrol cars.

Speaking of our fine police department: The deadline to submit your thoughts about our local officers via the Public Safety Survey is Nov 30. Usually just older, white folks take the survey, so help out and diversify the takes. Though, to be honest, I've read the way SPD interprets these results, and it's just like a Rorschach test. All the cops ever see are reasons to increase the number of cops. Still, take the survey, as they do read the comments. 

Semi-truck shuts down Sea-Tac Airport arrivals lane: Apparently semi-trucks can't fit underneath the airport's sky bridges. The airport made a snippy little comment about it on social media Monday night when the truck caused a significant interruption. 

Strippers are Workers event Wednesday: Come out to the Cha Cha Lounge and support the Strippers are Workers (SAW) campaign, which seeks to improve working conditions for dancers. SAW wants Washington State lawmakers to allow strip clubs to sell liquor while at the same time requiring clubs to use that new revenue stream to pay for security, reduce dancer fees, and institute mandatory training for employees. I wrote about SAW's last fundraiser, when people packed the lounge and brought an unreal amount of energy to the event. Seriously, come say hi!

And on Friday night... Consider checking out the Washington Ethnic Studies Now Inaugural Dance Party. The nonprofit is dedicated to creating anti-racist educators across Washington. They're fundraising with dancing, drinking, drag shows, and disco. 

Huzzah! Rescuers saved all 41 workers who got trapped 17 days ago in a collapsed tunnel in India, according to CNN. As rescue workers got closer to the section where the men were trapped, they had to drill open a hole by hand. 

Hunter Biden heads prepare: The president's son said he'd testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee as it continues its impeachment inquiry into his father, according to NBC News. No word yet on whether the House Oversight Committee chair will agree to it, but god I hope so. Hunter Biden seems cool.

Florida state official died outside Ron DeSantis's office: Florida's chief elections fraud official, Peter Antonacci, lay dead or dying outside the governor's office for more than 20 minutes in September 2022 after "'abruptly' leaving a contentious meeting" with the governor, according to a report unearthed by the Florida Bulldog. The Guardian also picked up the story and said that while nothing in the report indicated criminal wrongdoing, it "highlights the veil of secrecy that was thrown over the incident and its aftermath."

Sports Illustrated denies it published AI-written articles: A robot may have written some product review articles appearing on the lauded American sports magazine's site, according to Futurism. The review articles have authors with headshots that can also be found on an website that sells AI-generates headshots. Sports Illustrated said they'd contracted with a third party for the product reviews, and that company uses the AI-personas to protect the anonymity of the real writers it employs. For sure for sure for sure. 

CASISDEAD celebrates some bipolar love: Cas's newest album, Famous Last Words, seriously is just a series of bops. In particular, the song "Venom" (all about a bipolar love affair) has some of the funnest lyrics I've heard in a minute, and it immediately hits. Highly recommend a listen.