The Shareholders Are Hungry: They must feast on livelihoods! And bones! And they demand more! More! More! Amazon is planning to cut thousands more corporate jobs next week, according to a report by Reuters. Back in October, Amazon trimmed 14,000 jobs. The plan, supposedly, has been to cut around 30,000 jobs. Why? Not because of artificial intelligence, or earnings, but "culture," as per CEO Andy Jassy. Too many people? Too much bureaucracy. Sorry, tech brethren.
Save the Date: Sound Transit is going to announce when it's going to open its Crosslake Connection and knit together the spine of the 1 line with the east side 2 line. They'll make that announcement at 10 a.m.—which is in the future at the time of this writing. I will update this if I remember.
Two Hikers Dead on Mount Rainier: Two backcountry hikers on Mount Rainier were reported missing earlier this week. Rangers found them, both dead, on Wednesday.
Timber: A falling tree on Lena Lake Trail in the Olympics hit and killed two women in their 70s.
ICE Out Act: Down in Olympia, Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton has introduced a bill that would bar anybody who became an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer during Donald Trump's second term from ever becoming a law enforcement officer in Washington. "I don’t want people that are trained in that culture to come and infiltrate our culture," Simmons said. Rep. Shaun Scott, D-Seattle, is the only other sponsor of the bill.
The Weather: Another crisp, sunny day. Meanwhile, seemingly everyone else in the country is going to get rocked by a dramatic winter storm. Texas and Oklahoma are preparing for snow! The storm will stretch from the southern Rockies up through New England. You know who is not included in that? Us. It's so lonely in this mild winter. Though, maybe I should be grateful. Dozens of states have issued states of emergency in advance of the oncoming storm.
White House Uses AI-altered Photo as Propaganda: The Justice Department arrested demonstrator Nekima Levy Armstrong for the crime of interrupting a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota because of the pastor's alleged ties to ICE. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a photo of Armstrong's arrest to X. In it, Armstrong looked calm, composed, stoic. Later, the White House posted its own photo showing Armstrong open-mouthed sobbing, tears streaming down her face. The picture was manipulated with generative AI tools. In a response to questions about the doctored photo, Kaelan Dorr, the deputy communications director for the White House, said, “Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.”
This is the first example I’ve seen of an American government using AI to meaningfully misrepresent actual events with the intent to deceive the public. We are at Stalinesque levels of propaganda.
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn.bsky.social) January 23, 2026 at 6:23 AM
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/past-the-b...
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There's a Big Game This Weekend: The Seahawks will play in the NFC Championship game in Seattle on Sunday. As the old adage goes: Fuck the Rams.
Minnesota on Strike: The Day of Truth & Freedom general strike is on in Minnesota this Friday. To protest the ICE killing of Renee Good, Minnesotans are participating in a "no work, no school, no shopping" blackout. It's been endorsed by the Minneapolis City Council. Businesses around the state are shutting down in solidarity. The demands of the action are simple: ICE needs to GTFO, Jonathan Ross—the agent who killed Good—needs to be held accountable, Congress needs to stop federal funding for ICE, and there needs to be an investigation into the agency's actions.
JD Vance Pins Blames on Minnesota Officials: Vice President, expectant father, and couch lover JD Vance told the press that the one thing that would "lower the temperature" in Minnesota is if local officials cooperated with federal law enforcement by "helping ICE identify and arrest violent criminals so that the operation could be more targeted," as The Guardian reports. In fact, the federal government suspects Minnesota officials are conspiring to impede federal efforts in the state. The US Justice Department subpoenaed local officials like Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz this week to investigate these conspiring claims. Walz called it "political theater."
Good's Autopsy: Renee Good's autopsy—which was commissioned by her family—showed she was shot four times. Once in the forearm, once in the right breast, and once in her head near the left temple. That bullet exited through the right side of her head. She also sustained a graze wound. Why the fuck did that man shoot her at close range four times?
Everyone Has a Role in Resistance: A Minnesota man offered up his screen printing talents and studio to help stand up to ICE.
You don’t know your role yet maybe, but we are all finding out just what we have to offer.
In Minneapolis, one man knew immediately what he could offer and said “Bring me your clothing”.
— LorennaCleary.bsky.social (@lorennacleary.bsky.social) January 22, 2026 at 6:57 PM
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Deuces: Trump has officially pulled the US out of the World Health Organization since the organization is, as he says, "straying from its core mission." That's surely a sign of our country's good health, right?
Good News for Brainrot: TikTok finalized a deal to create an American entity, a move that circumvents the national security concerns that threatened a ban of the app. US investors in the new joint venture include Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. President Donald Trump praised the deal, thanked China's President Xi, and said he hopes, "that long into the future I will be remembered by those who use and love TikTok."
Hell Is Also Elsewhere: Wildfires are raging in Chile. They've gobbled up record 45,700 hectares of forest which is the equivalent of a 176 square miles. The fires have killed 21 people so far. While firefighters are trying to stop the blazes, people are trying to hurt them. There have been two attacks on firefighting brigades—one of which included gunfire (it's unclear why they were attacked). Plus, arsonists are having a field day. At least 70 people have been arrested for setting or attempting to set new fires this fire season.
A Food Review: Have you seen the ads for the new Applebee's cheeseburger sitting open-faced in a pile of cheese? This man has. "The O-M-Cheeseburger, the purest distillate of Americana yet produced."
Queer Bait: The straight ex-hockey player brothers behind the hockey podcast "Empty Netters" are in hot water after publicly praising the steamy gay hockey show Heated Rivalry but bashing it in private. Their episodes praising Heated Rivalry have hundreds of thousands of more streams than their regular content. The hosts, realizing the grift at their disposal, started hawking Heated Rivalry t-shirts. Too bad they actually hate the show.
A Song for your Friday: Marty Supreme gave me a new appreciation for this song. Sad that the soundtrack was snubbed from the Oscar nominations, but ya can't win 'em all, right? Which is probably one of Marty Supreme's themes.
