Good morning! After Sunday’s wild, chaotic patchwork of sun showers, we’re getting a break from the rain. For the next few days, it’ll be partly sunny with highs in the low 60s. Get outside. The Big Dark starts in 13 days.
But first, the news.
Seattle’s Best Inflatables Hit the Streets: On Saturday, 90,000 protesters hit the streets for the No Kings march in Seattle, according to an initial estimate from the organizers. If their guess is right, this march beat the first No Kings march by 20k, and amounts to about 11 percent of the city’s population. It’s clear that Seattle doesn’t know what our answer to Portland’s protest frogs are. There were inflatable axolotls, inflatable sumo wrestlers, inflatable unicorns, inflatable dinosaurs, an inflatable St. Rat. But our sign game was solid.
To the march haters: I hear you. You feel like these marches are a way for libs to get their anti-Trump out without actually doing anything. A way for cis, straight, white, wealthy people with less on the line to anoint themselves with a gold anti-fascist star. And you’re right that this isn’t the frontline fight. This isn’t the protests outside ICE facilities or immigration courts or federal buildings. This is a rally. Rallies are silly and energetic and they provide a wide-ass umbrella. And that’s not a bad thing. Making dissenters feel powerless is one of the essential tenets of an authoritarian government. And rallies—whether they’re before a sports game or against a government—their job is to make you feel like you’re part of something big and powerful. Seven million people marched against the sitting president of the United States on Saturday. And it’s a lot easier to do your part, whatever that is, when you have hope. When you feel like you’re a part of something. And when you know you’re not alone.
Plus, visible shows of dissent create a PR problem for MAGA that they don’t know how to deal with, so then…
Trump Blows His Load: Our Dear Leader didn’t enjoy knowing that 7 million people were marching in the streets with signs calling him a turd, so he took matters into his own tiny hands. On Saturday night, he posted an AI-generated video of him climbing into the cockpit of a fighter jet painted with “King Trump.” To the tune of “Danger Zone”—with an oxygen mask on his chin—Top Trump dumps piles of liquid shit over protesters in New York. Not to be one-upped, JD Vance then posted a video of Trump being crowned, which cuts to what appears to be video of the Democratic leadership kneeling during their incredibly cringey Black Lives Matter media stunt.
Meanwhile, in Real Life: Actual Vance gave a speech on Saturday in front of hundreds of US Marines (none of them fat or bearded, we assume), ranting about Senator Chuck Schumer and the government shutdown. Then, Vance watched Marines fire 155-millimeter artillery shells over a major interstate highway, while parachuters jumped from the sky and Navy seals swam out of the ocean. Vance called the whole fever dream “testament to the corps’ strength and unbeatable power.”
First “Antifa” “Terrorism” Charges Are In: On Thursday, federal prosecutors announced that terrorism charges had been filed against two people for their alleged involvement in a shooting that injured a police officer during a July 4 ICE protest in Alvarado, Texas. It’s been about a month since Trump shouted on social media that he was going to designate “antifa” a “major terrorist organization,” which isn’t technically possible for domestic groups in the US. But anything is possible if you make up your own rules, and that’s just what Trump did.
What are they actually charged with? Neither of them are accused of shooting the gun. Instead, the government accused them of “providing material support to terrorists” and having “aided and abetted” the alleged attempted murder of the cop. It also accuses them of being part of an “antifa cell.” Because there’s no such thing as a centralized Antifa organization, that means nothing. But this case will be Pam Bondi’s testing ground for using this terrorist designation as a form of repression.
Speaking of Shit Trump Made Up: Trump’s undeclared war on narcotraffic in the Caribbean is still roaring. On Thursday, the US military hit its sixth boat that they claim is carrying drug traffickers, and unlike the previous five strikes, this one left two survivors. They’re now theoretically prisoners of war? In a war that was never declared or approved by Congress. At least 29 people have been killed in these extrajudicial killings (murders), and Trump is now flirting with continuing these attacks on land in Venezuela.
A Broken Ceasefire: On Sunday, ten days into a fragile truce, Israel launched an attack on Gaza and halted aid deliveries. In a truly spectacular use of doublespeak, Israeli officials said the attacks were “enforcement of the cease-fire.” Israel claims that two of its soldiers were killed by “Palestinian militants” on Sunday before they launched the attack. Gaza’s health officials reported that 44 Palestinians died in Israel’s bombing. Both Israel and Hamas accuse the other of breaking the ceasefire, and both Israel and Hamas say they’re still committed to it.
Ocean’s Four: On Sunday, in broad daylight, two burglars drove a truck carrying an electric-powered ladder to the Louvre, climbed up to the second floor and broke a window into the gallery holding a collection of royal jewels. They smashed two cases and nabbed eight objects, including a royal sapphire necklace and a diadem worn by Empress Eugénie. Then they shot back down the ladder, and hopped on two scooters driven by their getaway drivers. The heist took seven minutes.
It’s Election Time: By now, your ballot has probably arrived in your mailbox. Our general election voters’ guide is out, our cheat sheet is live if you don’t feel like reading that much. If your stomach sank because you just realized you’re not registered to vote, fear not. You can register to vote until October 27, and if you miss that deadline, you can still go to a voting center on election day. We have a real, proper slate of progressive candidates, but please, don’t assume the primary results mean we’ve got it in the bag. VOTE!
Winner Takes All: We can’t say the Mariners aren’t keeping it exciting. We’re now 3-3 in a seven game series against the Toronto Blue Jays, and tonight’s game will decide who goes to the World Series. The Mariners are the only MLB team never to go to the Series, and this is the closest they’ve ever gotten, which means at 5:08 p.m. today they’re starting the biggest game in the team’s history. Everybody be cool.
Here’s a Headline for Ya: “Police Break Up Lego Theft Ring, Recovering Hundreds of Beheaded Figurines.” A California man was arrested for stealing $6,000-worth of Legos, the New York Times reports. The article does not address how or why they lost their heads.
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@50, Cis isn’t slang, it’s a scientific term, something you would know if you understood biology. Anyway i already told you i would call you non-trans if cis is so offensive to you, so we can distinguish you from the people you’re trying to logic-trap out of existence.
@51: Logic trap out of existence. That happened to the probe in the Star Trek episode “The Changeling”.
Given that apparently we can choose our own realties – I’ll let you dwell in yours and won’t belabor the point.
51 well no, we can’t choose our own realities (star trek is a work of fiction) but you’re always welcome to join us in the one where trans people exist regardless of what words we use to distinguish them from everyone else so you don’t have to keep feeling victimized by value-neutral adjectives
@49 It was referred to a “MASS RALLY AND MARCH” from the beginning, dummy.
@53: Seems the power to make people un-exist merely by the use of language is a work of fiction also.
Hey, I tossed you an out on a silver platter but you chose to belabor this and continue embarrassing yourself.
@45: And the Obama DOJ. And the Biden DOJ. And the Trump DOJ. 😁 And the federal courts, where the ELF terrorists were tried and convicted. 😆
I mean, at what point do you abandon this whole bogus defense of “ELF is not actually a real group, the government is only chasing shadows?” Cause that defense led ELF straight to prison, and it won’t work any better for antifa than it did for ELF! 😉
55 yes that’s exactly what I’ve been saying this whole time why would i be embarrassed that you’re agreeing with me
@57: whatever barth, whatever, you’ve exhausted me.
Ok
@15 – Less than ten percent of the gun violence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is committed by White people, and that’s just one of the things that made the attack on the Alvarado ICE facility notable, newsworthy, and unusual.
I suspect what really bugs the “cis” haters is that it sounds too close to “sissy.” That’s actually an easier, less overtly bigoted argument to make (albeit no more rational or persuasive) than denying the equal humanity of trans people. Why not just go with that?
@48, 7 million people out accomplishing no change in Trump’s approval or 7 million people staying home and not changing Trump’s approvsl rating is the same OUTCOME.
@61: We can love trans people and they can love us without qualifiers and labels and the humanity will balance out.
Trust me.
Oh look, the Stranger finally discovered Gaza remains violent: “On Sunday, ten days into a fragile truce, Israel launched an attack on Gaza and halted aid deliveries.”
Or Hamas, having started shooting Palestinians almost from the moment the IDF withdrew, started shooting at Israelis again. Which could more likely prove correct?
Well, to the first point, anyone who paid attention after the cease-fire began knew Hamas started shooting Palestinians almost from the moment the IDF withdrew:
“As Israeli troops pulled back last week to facilitate a deal that freed the living hostages still held in Gaza, Hamas surged security forces in behind them—a public assertion of authority intended to make clear the group remains the enclave’s governing power.
“Those forces immediately began cracking down on rival militias controlled by prominent Palestinian families, engaging in firefights and conducting public executions that have spread fear and raised concerns that a spiral of internecine violence could bring new pain to a long-suffering population.”
Not merely “public executions,” but full-out extra-judicial mass killing, in public and in daylight:
“Clashes around a hospital in Gaza City on Sunday left dozens dead, according to the Hamas unit that conducted the raid and members of the family it was fighting. Videos that emerged Monday—verified by Storyful, which like The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp—show Hamas fighters dragging a number of men from the family into a public square in broad daylight, forcing them to kneel and executing them in front of a crowd of onlookers.”
(https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-gaza-israel-withdrawal-33d69b55?mod=Searchresults&pos=9&page=1)
Spoiler alert: that “Sunday” mentioned above? That was Sunday the 12th of October. You know, the very first Sunday after the Thursday when the cease-fire started. Not that other Sunday, which has passed since then. (Perhaps the Stranger can understand this before yet another Sunday arrives?) To the Stranger, the only possible explanation for this (the most recent, that is) violence is the IDF started it! (Why, it’s almost like dead Palestinians simply don’t count here at the Stranger — if Hamas kills them. In public. In daylight. Without a hint of due process.)
What’s that, you say? Hamas murdered those prisoners in front of a hospital? Yes, yes indeed. Specifically, this hospital:
“Heavily armed Hamas fighters seized the Jordanian Field Hospital complex in Gaza City last weekend after a gunbattle with a rival Palestinian group, re-establishing their control over what residents and Israel’s military said had long been a redoubt for the Islamist militants.”
Oh, look: Hamas had been using this hospital as a military center, just as the Israelis had said! Hamas used a hospital, the medical staff, and the patients as shields against the IDF. Wow, what a surprise the Stranger, and supportive commenters, must feel! After all, as far as they know about this conflict, no such thing has ever been described to them in the past. They certainly have shown no awareness of what this NATO report (Note: Israel not a member of NATO) had described over the period 2007-2014:
‘Hamas, an Islamist militant group and the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip, has been
using human shields in conflicts with Israel since 2007. According to the Statute of the International
Criminal Court (ICC), the war crime of using human shields encompasses “utilizing the presence of
a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas, or military forces immune from
military operations.” Hamas has launched rockets, positioned military-related infrastructure-hubs
and routes, and engaged the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from, or in proximity to, residential and
commercial areas.’
(https://stratcomcoe.org/cuploads/pfiles/hamas_human_shields.pdf)
Well, this comment contains a lot of unpleasant news for the Stranger. Luckily, from the second WSJ link comes a statement the Stranger can regard with warm familiarity, a statement the Stranger can believe without reservation:
“Hamas has vehemently denied using hospitals in the fight.”
wasn’t it
tS’s reich-wing
commentariat who
shrieked for two fucking
Years — if they wanna END
bibi’s Keep-outta-Prison scheme
cum “War” on Palestinians all Hamas
had to DO was ‘Release the Hostages’?
they’ll ALWAYS find a way to Justify
nutnyahoo’s war crimes, like @64
does in their 2,ooo word
diatribe, above
AIPAC
is Here.
Mariners
lose by
One in
fucking
Montreal
but it was
ONEHELLOVA RUN.
Pretty damn
Well-Played,
lads. hats off.
@65: lol no, it was always release the hostages AND disarm AND exit government. You keep moving the goal posts closer and closer for Hamas, and I think I know why 😉
ah,
Yes
and
right
on Cue
UP pops
thumpfnsorna
with all the ANDs
The
imperial
propaganda
machine is crumbling
in ways we’ve never seen in our lifetime.
They wouldn’t work so hard on
shoring up narrative control if they didn’t
need it, and their narrative control is falling apart.
Look at Israel.
This is an arm of the empire
that understands the importance of
narrative manipulation so acutely that
they’ve got their own term for the practice,
“hasbara”, with countless systems in place
for influencing the way westerners
view the Zionist entity.
But they’re losing.
Israel and its supporters
are more keenly aware of how
important it is to control the narrative
than maybe any other population on earth,
and yet they are losing control of the narrative.
Worldwide support for Israel is plummeting,
with more American voters sympathizing
with the Palestinians than the Israelis
for the first time in history.
And Israel is panicking.
They’ve been ramping up spending
on propaganda and influence operations
while billionaire Zionists like Larry Ellison use
their fortunes to shore up more control over social
media platforms and mainstream news outlets. They
wouldn’t be doing this
if they didn’t feel the need to,
and it won’t even work. No amount
of propaganda is going to cause people
to unsee two years of live-streamed genocide.
Propaganda is a powerful tool, but it isn’t magic.
The Zionists in the White House
are panicking as well.
Donald Trump has stated
that his goal in securing a ceasefire
was to rescue Israel from the PR crisis
created by the Netanyahu regime, saying,
“Bibi
took it
very far
and Israel lost
a lot of support
in the world. Now I
am gonna get all that support back.”
–by Caitlin Johnstone; October 20, 2025
oodles:
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-imperial-propaganda-machine-is
yeah
Nice work,
Bonespurs. bibi
and his psycophants
looking at You
thumpfnsornas
are doing
Israel oodles More
Damage than they are good
get
Rid of
bibi — depose
indict or even Pardon
and Israel’s
“War” on Palestinians
Fucking ENDS Tomorrow.
oh, and Fuck Hamas.
@thrumpet
I am looking for all this love and support you claim slog commenters are heaping on Hamas. But I’m not seeing it. Do you have any examples?
@70: Sure, you see an example in Kristo’s @65, where he thinks the only thing Hamas has to do to end the war is release the hostages. Not so. Releasing the hostages is not Hamas’s only obligation, it’s merely Hamas’s first obligation. 😁 Like many so-called “pro-Palestinian” progressives, Kristo is eager to let Hamas off the hook easy. 😆 Sound familiar, Angry One? 😘
speaking
of Losing
Narratival
Control &,
Once Again,
Right On Cue:
AND, just like FOX
Fucking “News” AND,
the Donald Fucking Eltrumpfster
where a well-Told LIE
is JUST AS GOOD
AS THE FUCK-
ING TRUTH:
“… where he [that’d
be Me, Elkristo] thinks
the only thing Hamas has to
do to end the war is release the hostages.”
when the Lies
Come and Oh,
So EASILY, one
Knows they are
Dealing with The
Wormtongue &/or its
sicsokbott Thumpf You!
aka thumpfnsorna derr Schlogg
and AIPAC’s one-man, two-headed
Propaganda Machine aka La Machine
See: @65, so fucking Closely, just Above
and Below, too!
(AND
see Also @67,
for further Confirmation):
@65:
“wasn’t it
tS’s reich-wing
commentariat who
shrieked for two fucking
Years — if they wanna END
bibi’s Keep-outta-Prison scheme
cum “War” on Palestinians all Hamas
had to DO was ‘Release the Hostages’?”
my oh my
how Easily
the Lies can
AND do Flow!
thanks
for Proving
My (and Caitlin’s!)
Points and so Succinctly
Wormtongue thumpfnsorna!
The Zionists
in the White House
are panicking as well.
@wormmy
You’re
Late!
HEY lil
thumpfer
is your Master
sleeping in? better
check & see if he still has
a Pulse? or have you done
the Unthinkable and
Finally Subsumed
ole wormmy?
Hath
Slave be-
Cometh Master?
we always
Knew this Day
was Coming. oh
Lordy, Have Mercy!
@70: Expanding on @71, this thread is not even the first time since the cease-fire started that thumpus has corrected kristo’s blatantly false assertion about Hamas and ‘only hostage release’. Kristo’ simply does not want Hamas disarmed, and so has repeatedly lied in service of keeping Hamas fully armed. (So they can kill yet more Palestinians without trial, apparently.)
@75: They’re in a bind. If they admit that Palestinian terrorism is the main obstacle to peace, it could undermine their argument that a Jewish state must be uniquely evil and sinister. 😂 Just look at Kristo, ranting about “AIPAC” and “Zionists in the White House!”🤣🤣🤣
A whole lot of republican text messages involving racist nazi shit getting leaked lately… but Trump is building a golden ballroom so… yay?
it ain’t about what I want
it Is about the Reality
that is bibi’s keep
outta prison
gambit
now, in a Blast from The Past
for the Hard of Reading
(read: thumpfnsorna):
Trump’s Sham Peace Plan
There will be no peace in Gaza.
Only the temporary absence of war.
There is no shortage of failed peace plans in occupied Palestine,
all of them incorporating detailed phases and timelines,
going back to the presidency of Jimmy Carter. They
end the same way. Israel gets what it wants initially
~in the latest case the release of the remaining
Israeli hostages!while it ignores and violates
every other phase until it resumes its
attacks on the Palestinian people.
It is a sadistic game.
A merry-go-round of death.
This ceasefire, like those of the past,
is a commercial break. A moment when the
condemned man is allowed to smoke a cigarette
before being gunned down in a fusillade of bullets.
Once Israeli hostages are released,
the genocide will continue. I do not know
how soon. Let’s hope the mass slaughter is delayed
for at least a few weeks. But a pause in the genocide
is the best we can anticipate. Israel is on the cusp of em-
ptying Gaza, which has been all but obliterated under two
years of relentless bombing. It is not about to be stopped.
This is the culmination of the Zionist dream.
The United States, which has given Israel
a staggering $22 billion in military aid
since Oct, 7, 2023, will not shut
down its pipeline, the only
tool that might halt
the genocide.
Israel,
as it always does,
will blame Hamas and
the Palestinians for failing
to abide by the agreement,
most probably a refusal~true
or not~to disarm, as the proposal
demands. Washington, condemning
Hamas’s supposed violation, will give
Israel the green light to continue its genocide
to create Trump’s fantasy of a Gaza Riviera and
“special economic zone” with its “voluntary” relo-
cation of Palestinians in exchange for digital tokens.
–by Chris Hedges; October 10, 2025
from The Chris Hedges Report
oodles:
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/trumps-sham-peace-plan
kristofarian on October 11, 2025 at 6:27 AM
for two years
tS’s reich wing
contingent shrieked
how if Hamas simply
‘released the Hostages’
the “War” on Palestine’d
be wrapped up the next day
but That was Never gonna happen
even if Hamas Did Release the Hostages:
@thrumpus,
I disagree. The current Jewish state and Hamas are both evil in their own unique ways.
The Israeli state might be reformable. Let’s hope.
And you do know that AIPAC targets candidates that aren’t pro zion/pro illegal setttlements, right?
Legal, sure. Moral, nope.
It’s only a rant when you disagree with it.
@79
fawking
bingo. bibi’s
the albatross
that’ll sink Israel.
@79: lol, there’s nothing evil about a Jewish state. 😂 And AIPAC’s political spending is something like one-half of one percent of the total spending on US elections. The people who are obsessed with AIPAC are conspiracy theorists who think they’ve uncovered “the Jews” sinister plot for world domination! 🤣 Even Kristofarian, in his unguarded moments, will sometimes slip up and refer to AIPAC as the “Jewish lobby,” giving away the game! 😂🤣😂🤣
Oh look, it appears Hamas may actually stop killing Palestinians without trials:
“The U.S. approach appears to be working, with both Israel and Hamas signaling they aren’t interested in collapsing the deal.
“Following Trump’s warnings, Hamas told mediators it would stop public executions of rival gangs after mediators argued those actions could give Israel an excuse to resume fighting, the Arab officials said.”
(WSJ.com/world/middle-east/trump-officials-ratchet-up-pressure-on-israel-and-hamas-1e525492?mod=world_lead_story)
Who cares more about the deaths of civilians in Gaza: 1/ the Stranger and supportive commenters, or 2/ Donald Trump?
Ouch.
That’ll leave a mark (here).
“lol,
there’s
nothing
evil about
a Jewish state.”
–@thumpfnsorna
of Course not.
but when they’re
Controlled By an Iron-
Fisted Magalomaniac and
Forced to commit War Crimes
in his/their Names
there IS Evil.
and, rightly or Wrongly
mostly 99% wrongly
it’ll be Attributed to
Jews, Planet-
fucking
Wide.
how’s
That
working
out for anti-
Genocidal Jews,
so far,
thumpfnsorna?
@83: antisemitism is the fault of antisemites not the fault of Jews, this point seems obvious? And there is no genocide in Gaza, just urban warfare against an enemy who uses their own kids’ bedrooms as armories 😂
@79: “The current Jewish state and Hamas are both evil in their own unique ways.
The Israeli state might be reformable. Let’s hope.”
Citizens of a country which twice elected Trump really shouldn’t presume to lecture other democracies on how to govern themselves properly, ‘k?
More to the point, getting on with the two-state solution will help both the existing state of Israel, and the new state of Palestine (or whatever the citizens decide to call it). That starts with supporting this peace deal, which in turn means loudly and proudly advocating for Hamas to disarm.
You know, doing the very thing the Stranger, and supporting commenters, now very carefully avoid doing?
@Biped “AntiFA” stands for Anti-Fascist action. AntiFA is the default position of every patriotic American. That a group of activists in Portland calls themselves Rose City AntiFA does not mean that there is a nationwide organization called AntiFA. Now if you want to talk about actual organized domestic terrorist organizations, how about talking the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Patriot Prayer, and the 3%ers.
@86 – “We call ourselves the Anti Bad-Guy Squad, and we label our opponents The Bad Guys. How can people not understand this? We can never be terrorists because we’re fighting The Bad Guys. It’s so simple to understand. Everything we do is justified because of our name.”
You did the meme lol
@86 Greenwood Slob
Hey have you noticed that the official name of “North Korea” is “The People’s Democratic Republic of Korea”? That means the DPRK is totally democratic and not a totalitarian state in any way.
You might have heard of the “NSDAP” too, the “National Socialist German Workers’ Party”!
They were totally Socialist dontcha know. It’s right there in their name! If you are ignorant (you probably are) of the NDSAP, look em up!
@84: “antisemitism is the fault of antisemites not the fault of Jews, this point seems obvious?”
Yes, but such hateful, bigoted attitudes can receive encouragement. Examples include:
Accusing Israel of “genocide” in Gaza constantly for two years, then saying absolutely nothing as Hamas engages in mass murder in Gaza;
Making an explicit moral equivalence between mass-murdering Hamas and “the Jewish state”;
Advocating disarmament of Israel because of the war in Gaza, then refusing to call for disarming Hamas to prevent resumption of the war in Gaza;
Luckily no one here would ever encourage anti-Jewish bigotry in these ways, hm?
Nobody decent, anyway…