Good morning: Welcome to another gloomy day in Seattle. This morning, you can expect cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 40s. Things should warm up slightly in the afternoon, peaking at 52 degrees at 4pm before the showers roll in for the evening. As many of you may know, I’m extremely dedicated to walking 10,000 steps a day (don’t tell me it’s an arbitrary number. I listen to Maintenance Phase, I know), but I’m really struggling to reach 70,000 by Saturday in this rainy weather. Time to fire up the walking pad!
The revenge of Adrian Diaz: Former Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz filed a $10 million tort claim against the City, Mayor Bruce Harrell, and Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess, according to the Seattle Times. Diaz claims that they “wrongfully discharged and discriminated, harassed and retaliated against” him after he came out as gay to Harrell and Burgess in February. Months later, in May, Harrell removed Diaz from his position amid several harassment allegations from women within the department. Diaz seemed to brush the women’s allegations aside in an interview with conservative commentator Jason Rantz in June where he publicly came out. But remember: You can be gay and harass women! Happens all the time actually.
Budget: Yesterday Budget Chair Dan Strauss unveiled his balancing package, which represents the City Council’s first edit to the Mayor’s budget 2025-2026 proposal. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that the Mayor’s budget sucks really bad. He sacrificed $200 million in JumpStart revenue legally obligated for affordable housing to fill the huge budget deficit—all to avoid sticking his wealthy donors with more taxes. I kinda thought Strauss might reverse that action since he advocated for more progressive revenue when he ran for office in 2023, but his package continues to steal from the City’s most vulnerable to save the rich some money. Reverse Robinhood type shit.
Get your bag, I guess: The package does include amendments to reverse some of the Mayor’s most outrageous cuts. If passed, it would save the Seattle Channel, restore funding to the Office of Labor Standards, and partially restore funding for tenant services. It also includes the line item below, which made me laugh only because it’s so shameless, regardless of Council Member Tanya Woo’s intention.
CM Tanya Woo proposes funding to add what could be a good job for her after she loses the election next week. She must really see the writing on the wall! pic.twitter.com/dGrC9Jbi9t
— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) October 30, 2024
Ballot box: Cops revealed more information about the suspect in the recent attacks on the ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. Apparently they believe he’s a thin, balding white guy in his 30 to 40s with a background in welding. Watch out because the cops think he’s likely to strike again.
Now Ashley has something to say…
Blame it on Antifa: Right-wing journalist Andy Ngo reported that the incendiary devices used to explode the ballot boxes in Clark County earlier this week included a note with the phrase “Free Gaza.” The Stranger has not independently verified this. But keep in mind, according to documents obtained by Property of the People, on September 10, the Department of Homeland Security warned that some of the people plotting to blow up ballot boxes said they’d attempt to avoid detection by pinning the attacks on leftist actors. So let’s wait to put weight on this until they catch the guy who did it.
Neck-and-neck: New polling from USA TODAY/Suffolk University shows Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are deadlocked in Michigan, a crucial battleground state. Can’t fucking wait for this election to be over!
Speaking of: If you have not voted yet, there’s still time! Your ballot should be in your mailbox or on whatever surface you let your mail pile up on in your apartment. Rip that thing open, fill it out the way we tell you, and then put it in a ballot box by 8pm, November 5. You can take a bike!
You can get a free shared e-bike or scooter ride to drop off your ballot.
Lime (@limebike) offers two free 30-minute rides: use the code VOTE2024 in their app.
Bird (@BirdRide) offers two free rides: use the code RockTheVote2024 in their app. pic.twitter.com/2Z0Za1W3xA
— Seattle Department of Transportation (@seattledot) October 30, 2024
Happy Halloween: Here’s some of the celebrity Halloween highlights as told by some guy on my FYP this morning.
@louislevanti im OBSESSED with these costumes #halloweencostume #celebritynews ♬ Cooking, bossa nova, adults, light(950693) – Kids Sound
North Korea + Russia = BFFs: The Associated Press reports that as many as 12,000 North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian weapons are en route for Ukraine. Bringing in North Korea could further destabilize the region and lead to broader war, according to U.S. and South Korean officials.
Garbage truck Trump: Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s latest campaign stunt involved driving a Trump-branded garbage truck, possibly in effort to appeal to the working class he barely pretends to care about. Or perhaps to push down search results for the racist comments that comedian made about Puerto Rico being an pile of garbage at his recent rally. Trump bashed President Joe Biden to reporters for his controversial remarks calling Trump supporters garbage (to be fair, I think he meant to call their racism garbage, but reading is hard). Trump said, “I can tell you who the real garbage is but I will not say that.”
Hm, interesting choice to place the garbage in the front of the truck.pic.twitter.com/CdQzp4fycZ
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) October 30, 2024
SCOTUS? More like suck ass: See what I did there? Very funny for 6am! Anyway, the United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Virginia does not have to restore voter registration for 1,600 voters removed from their rolls. The decision responds to a lawsuit from the Department of Justice and civil rights groups against the Republican governor’s recent executive, which directed the state to run daily checks for non-citizens on its voter registration rolls. The groups say the order violates a federal law prohibiting systematic removals of voters within 90 days of election. Seems pretty cut and dry, but leave it to SCOTUS to greenlight voter suppression! I would tell you why, but the justices didn’t explain, as is customary with expedited decisions like these.
ICYMI: Didn’t make it to the Climate Pledge Arena for Maggie Rogers earlier this week? No sweat. Join The Stranger’s own Audrey Vann for a spiked Shirley Temple at the indie pop girly’s first arena tour. Basically like being there!
From Maggie: I’m not so familiar with Maggie Rogers — like, I don’t have a favorite song — so, here’s her latest, I guess.
I was with Ashley that the “Free Gaza” stuff by the ballot box bomber was a false flag. Then my wife told me he drives a 2006 Volvo. That was a pin in my balloon, though of course we won’t know for sure until he’s caught.
wouldda
LOVED to see
the sentient Garbage
Truck extract eltrumpfster
from the cab & lovingly place
him into the Back where he Belongs
it wouldda made a
Great Wrap-up to
a shitty election
and gone Miles
toward Making
America Great
yet Again.
Happy
Halloween!
@1 — probably stolen.
Someone intentionally leaving identifiable information at a crime scene should always be regarded with skepticism, as should reporting from Andy Ngo.
okay, one more since it’s
Halloween & the USofA’s
facing an Existential Crisis
from the New Republic:
Trump’s Promise to Young Men:
I Am Your Retribution
Against Women
He and his MAGA allies are ramping up the sexism and misogyny as part of a closing message that they will restore men to their rightful place—of total control over women.
These were not simply off-the-cuff remarks; they were very deliberate. It’s all part of Trump’s electoral strategy to Make America Masculine Again.
He knows he’s losing women by massive margins, so he’s going after the men—especially, but not exclusively, aggrieved young men who feel they’ve been robbed of their male birthright to power.
Trump is giving them license to say whatever they want about women, and his campaign is an implicit promise to give them control over women, including their bodies.
–by Susan Milligan
more:
https://newrepublic.com/article/187419/trumps-promise-young-men-retribution-against-women?
END the Stockholm
Syndrome: Vote
for Kamala!
I’m preparing myself that the election won’t be settled until Groundhog day.
Trump barely cares about the working class?
The democrats have taken them for granted for decades and since 2008 have been calling them nazis, uneducated hicks, racist, misogynists…
I’m sure I missed a few, but you get the idea.
Trump’s proposal to replace the income tax with tariffs would be a massive cut for rich people that would overwhelmingly shift the tax burden to people of lesser means, crippling trade and the US economy in the process. But sure, democrats call working class bigots nazis. I mean they also call rich bigots nazis too, but, uh, yeah. You get the idea.
If I had to have a wild stab in the dark at what the drop box bomber looked like, I’d have gone with “overweight, balding, white guy in his 40s”. Four out of five ain’t bad.
@7- I’ve never heard anyone call the working class as a group Nazis. I have, however, heard many people call the Proud Boys, the “Jews will not replace us” marchers, the Charlottesville tiki torch fascists, and the assholes in the Boaters for Trump parade with ACTUAL FUCKING NAZI FLAGS ON THEIR BOATS Nazis. Which seems quite reasonable, frankly.
Why do you hate having the Seattle city government paying money for supporting community organizing and mutual aid.
@4 In this case Ngo is just repeating a story that was posted on the NY Times. I would think if this was a right wing agitator who was trying to frame dem operatives they would have gone with some anti Trump message. The fact it’s a Gaza message makes me think its more likely the pro Hamas crowd (who of course hate Dems just as much as they hate Repub) but I’ll withhold judgement until he is caught which seems just a matter of time given what is known.
I wish there was better reporting on the equipment and organization of the North Korean troops about to be committed to the fight in Kursk. 12,000 infantry carrying small arms and light weapons likely won’t make a huge difference, as there are already something like 15 Russian brigades already engaged in Kursk, and the Russian brigades are all equipped with armored vehicles and artillery. A few thousand extra lightfighters wouldn’t add much capability to the Russian force that is already there. They would just serve as more fodder for Ukrainian fires to burn up. Particularly on the offense, which is the current Russian posture in Kursk, 12,000 rifle-toting Norks just don’t add much value.
On the other hand, if the Norks are coming in with supporting arms, especially artillery and engineers, then they might add something of real value. If they are bringing ISR assets, then more value still.
If I was committing a serious felony I would not leave behind any potentially identifiable information that might lead the authorities to my door. Whether or not your intentions are declared, the ballots are still burnt so who cares whether people think it’s pro-Trump or pro-Palestinian. The only benefit to leaving evidence at the scene is to throw them off your trail and even then it’s a dumb risk to take.
@9: There’s no one stereotype that fits the face of evil.
Garbage Man
Cramps
You ain’t no punk, you punk
You wanna talk about the real junk?
If I ever said I’d be banned
‘Cause I’m a garbage man
Well, if you can’t dig me, you can’t dig nothin’
Do you want the real thing or are you just talkin’?
Do you understand?
I’m the garbage man
Yeah, and it’s up from the garage and down the driveway
Now, get outta your mind or get outta my way
Now do you understand?
Oh, do you understand?
Louie, Louie, Louie, Louie-a
The bird’s the word and do you know why?
You gotta beat it with a stick
You gotta beat it ’til it’s thick
You gotta live until you’re dead
You got to rock ’til you see red
Now do you understand?
Oh, do you understand?
I’m the garbage man
Ah, dump it on mine
Yeah, it’s just what you need when you’re down in the dumps
So one half hillbilly and one half punk
Oh, eight long legs and one big mouth
The hottest thing from the north to come outta the south
Do you understand?
Oh, do you understand
Woo, I can’t lose with the stuff I use
And you don’t choose no substitutes
So stick out your can
‘Cause I’m the garbage man
@14 you mean like shutting a major interstate or airport? harassing and assaulting Jewish students on campus? vandalizing and burnings businesses who don’t agree with your viewpoints? trying to burn down a new local jail? Last time I checked that group seems to delight in not only doing those things but bragging about it. I’ll still wait and see once they catch this guy. I just hope its soon as I’m sure many of the collections boxes will be full this weekend so the potential damage could be very high if he strikes again.
Most of those things aren’t felonies on the same scale as tampering with ballots and you could say the same thing about “that group” who stormed the capitol and marched on Charlottesville chanting about Jews. None of that addresses how pointless it is to risk identifying yourself when you are committing a felony as serious as election interference.
@17,
Pretty sure all collection boxes are now being watched 24/7 by a paid employee, so think/hoping this is it for this specific method of attack. Agree and hope the fucker gets caught, though if what’s been made public to date is really all they’ve got then I’m not terribly confident.
they create
Enough mayhem
they’ll get it turned Over
to the States; having a R majority
it’s Already been Decided. how Much
Mayhem will be Enough? look for all Hell
to break loose: Mayhem’s right up their Alleys
“I can Kill someone
on Fifth Avenue &
fucking Get Away
With It.” –@45
when tfg djt Tells you
Whom he can kill
believe his Im-
punity. so
much for
our little
republic.
Big Money’ll likely
get the guy they Wanted
will donold Remain that guy?
or will he declare his Dictatorship
on Day One, hand it over to a
pardoning JRR Vancelot
& skate off to Never
Never Land? stay
fucking Tuned.
Go, Kamala.
fucking GO.
nyt:
Trump
and Vance
Escalate Efforts to
Sow Doubts on Pennsylvania Voting
The former president and his running mate made false attacks about the security of the election in Pennsylvania, the battleground state with the most electoral college votes.
Former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, escalated their false attacks about the security of the Pennsylvania elections on Thursday, ramping up baseless accusations about voter fraud that could erode confidence of the results in one of the most critical battleground states.
On Thursday Mr. Trump posted on his social media site that Pennsylvania was “cheating” and breaking the law. He called for prosecutions, though he made no specific allegations. Earlier in the day, Mr. Vance seized on deceptive posts online claiming that Democratic Party volunteers were impersonating election officials at polling sites.
The remarks followed a script similar to the final days of his 2020 campaign, when the former president spread dozens of falsehoods about voting before trying to overturn the election.
This year, he is focusing most of his false claims on Pennsylvania, the battleground state with the most Electoral College votes and where polls show him tied with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Throughout the past week, election officials in Pennsylvania have been rebutting specious claims of fraud while also reporting when systems flagged suspicious activity, informing voters of issues and enforcing the law where necessary.
This is the system working exactly as it should, they have said.
–by Nick Corasaniti and Michael Gold; Oct. 31, 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/31/us/politics/trump-vance-pennsylvania-voting.html
who knew
America was on
such Shaky Gound?
Calling Andy Ngo a journalist is a stretch. He’s never been a journalist, and mostly acts as a publicity agent for Fascist groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer.
“You can be gay and harass women! Happens all the time actually.”
Looks like Hannah wants to step in between women & the gay community. Bye, bye Hannah.
@10
Wow. That’s a reach.
I had forgotten about the Proud Boys.
I notice though you make no attempt to refute the other names leftists typically call working class folks.
The Republican Party repulses me, but that kind of arrogance is why I can’t support the democrats either.
@24- I don’t see how calling any of the groups I listed Nazis is a reach. And let’s talk about the other names. I’ve never heard liberals say “the working class are racist.” I do often hear “Trump voters are racist.” Or “working against equal rights is racist.” Or “putting up statues of Confederate traitors and flying that Confederate flag is racist.” Why do you think that might be? Maybe you believe that you can support someone so clearly and proudly racist without yourself being racist. I don’t think that’s possible unless you have no problem with racism. Which, if you think about it, is itself kinda racist.
I do agree that many (urban) liberals tend to discount those in rural areas, and even look down a bit on them. Part of that is because the rural areas spend a lot of energy trying to force us into living by a particular kind of religious rules. There’s also the issue of the red states not paying their own way but depending on the blue ones. That’s not so bad. We live in a society where resources need to get spread around. But then they fight tooth and nail against any efforts to raise taxes to pay for the things they want, and call us communists when we do so.
How many more times does the Orange Turd feel it has to keep proving it’s toxic industrial waste unfit to govern?
The overwhelming majority of us have already known this for decades.
Kristofarian called it. DJT has long gotten Mafia Don-OLD.
May this Err of Fascism spell the end of the GOP.