When I looked out the window of The Stranger's new office on 11th and Pike, I saw two cranes still on top of the 47-story towers called WB1200. I wrote about this development in December, 2023. At the time, the cranes had pretty much stopped moving for a year. And the big question was: Would the developer, Vancouver BC's Westbank, complete the buildings? A story in Globe and Mail, revealed that Westbank was basically broke and not paying contractors. But somehow, the project slowly returned to life, and the last I heard, at a bar near the towers, swimming pools had finally been installed on the top of the towers. But, clearly, the construction has yet to reach the end. And those cranes, seen from the window, have about them a weltschmerz mood. They be like Mobb Deep in the opening of "Quiet Storm": "Done been through it all, man... Blood, sweat and tears... What the fuck else can happen, yo? I don't think much more... We done seen it all, and been through it all, yo."
May has been, for the most part, splendid. It's given us much to be thankful for: clouds, rain, cool temperatures. Today promises not to rise above 64, and the force of the the sun will be checked by large and slow-moving clouds. One hopes that June gets a clue and says: I'll be just like you, May, and stay away from all the heat and bother that's bound to come with July.
People are getting antsy about the ever-growing delays for the completion of Link's Bellevue/Seattle connection. It was supposed to be done long ago, 2020. Now it's placed in some foggy region around the end of 2026. Will it ever end? In Danny Westneat's column today, titled "Sound Transit light rail’s impossible time horizons," shared this comment by Matt Bailey: “I’m disappointed about the delays and lack of transparency regarding the opening of Judkins Park station and Line 2 across Lake Washington.” At this point, one can imagine a future where Sound Transit just gives up and admits it was never to be.
Joe Kent is already making major MAGA waves in DC. He ran against Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez twice and lost. Now he is "Tulsi Gabbard's acting chief of staff." And right off the bat, he is defending Trump with everything he's got. What's this intelligence report that shows the president cooking up some flimsy excuse to exhume the "Alien Enemies Act to justify deportations of alleged gang members?" Kent is not having it. He wants a new intelligence report that puts his lord and master in a better light. And he wants that report yesterday!
Target is feeling it. MAGA appears to be taking a big bite out of the retailer's profits in two ways. One, consumers are now hoarding cash because the very real possibility that Trump's tariff's will trigger a recession. Two, "customer boycotts have also done some damage." In January, under pressure from Trump and conservative activists, Target rolled back many of it's DEI initiatives. It turns out, a lot of the people who buy their stuff didn't vote for Trump and his anti-DEI agenda. Target's sales "fell 2.8% to $23.85 billion in the quarter."
Remember US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem? Yes, the one who is working on "a reality show in which immigrants compete for citizenship." Well, her she goes again. This time, she provided, during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday, an interpretation of habeas corpus, that would make perfect sense in Panem, the fictional North American country in the Hunger Games.
Sen. Maggie Hassan: "Secretary Noem, what is habeas corpus?"
Noem: “Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country, and suspend their right to ... ”
Hassan: “That’s incorrect... Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason,”
With the Hunger Games in mind, let's watch for a few minutes, the car crashes on Instagram’s “Seattle Car Accidents”:
Cars running red lights, cars speeding, cars cutting off other cars: this is transportation as a demolition derby. To go from home to work, or from work to a grocery store means entering a competition that is often deadly. It is you against all other drivers. Indeed, one reason (if not the main reason) why automakers will not design vehicles that run at a fixed and safe speed is because this would be like removing the lions from a Roman arena. When you are behind the wheel, you and Maximus are one.
The same cannot be said for those who travel by bus or train. There is little of this bellum omnium contra omnes here. In fact, when an elderly person enters a mode of public transportation, it is customary for a young or fit person to offer them their seat. No such civility exists on I-5 or any road. Old people, sick people, any kind of driver is in it to win it.
Let's end Slog AM with one of the most slamming beats in recent memory, SZA's and Rihanna's "Consideration." ("When I look outside my window, I can't get no peace of mind.")
