Good morning! It’s a grey one again, but after the deep, moody fog over the weekend, today is comparatively pretty bright. High of 49 and rainy, but we should get a break from the wet for a few hours in the middle of the day.
Election Update: Every race in Seattle has now been called. We know what City Hall will look like next year. (We technically won’t have the final counts until the window to cure ballots is closed next Monday, November 24, but they won’t change anything dramatically.) So now seems like a great time to remind everyone that Seattle just passed a progressive tax with more than 70 percent of the vote. The Shield Tax, championed by the unlikely pairing of Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Mayor Bruce Harrell, cut taxes for thousands of small businesses and raised taxes for the city’s largest, increasing the city’s revenue by at least $80 million. It’s the second time we’ve voted to support progressive revenue this year (the first was Proposition 1A, to fund social housing). Now let’s do it again. And again. And again.
Speaking of the Election: We know that we at the SECB complained about how long the vote took. We might have made a couple jokes about King County Election doing the whole count on a single abacus. But let us take a moment to clarify that the time it took to tally the election results was totally normal. It was a tight race, and voters turned out late, which is typical for an odd-year election. Why are we telling you this? Because after Mayor Bruce Harrell’s concession speech, someone in the crowd asked if he planned to ask for a recount, and he replied that “a lot of people were saying that I shouldn’t concede and that there were anomalies, differences, and stuff,” before skating past that and saying he was conceding anyway. KCE says there were no anomalies in the count. And it’s massively irresponsible to imply otherwise. Where have we heard that before?
All Eyes on Seattle: The national media have all been weighing in on Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson’s win. Most recently, the Washington Post (owned by our hometown start-up founder Jeff Bezos), decided to say their piece: that Harrell was the best mayor we’ve had in decades, that “residents find the city unaffordable because it’s long been a petri dish of failed progressive social experiments and absurdly high taxes,” and that Wilson would run businesses like Amazon out of the city. Then they ended by vaguely making fun of queer people. Good one, Jeff.
Dear John: According to the Seattle Times, SPD sent 21 letters to the homes of people who paid for sex on Aurora last month. This is part of SPD’s new program to try to shame Johns out of buying sex by staking out sex workers, photographing the cars that they lean into, and then sending those photos to the address the car is registered to, paired with a letter describing the suspected crime. There’s basically no evidence that shame is an effective deterrent in the sex industry. But the Mayor’s Office told both Publicola and the Seattle Times that they back this tactic, saying that it’s supported by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a right-wing group that has spent the last 60 years campaigning against same-sex marriage, sex toys, and comprehensive sex ed.
ICYMI: Starbucks’ PSLs and caramel macchiatos are still across the picket line, which means today is a very good day to find your new favorite indie coffee shop. They probably won’t add protein to your coffee, but can we collectively decide that that’s a good thing?
The Mariners and Naylor Are Getting Back Together: After helping get the Mariners closer to the World Series than they’ve ever been, first baseman Josh Naylor’s contract ended, and he was suddenly a free agent. But it turns out, the Mariners wanted to keep him just about as badly as he wanted to stay. So Naylor, one of the few players in the American League who’s capable of fitting an entire pack of gum in his mouth when he’s at bat, will be with the Mariners for another five years.
SCOTUS Takes on Trans Sports Case: The court plans to hear oral arguments in Little v. Hecox, on January 13. The Idaho case will decide if trans women and girls can play sports. Lindsay Hecox, the trans student at Boise State University who filed the case against Governor Brad Little, tried to get the case dismissed before it went to the Supreme Court because she was concerned that she’d “personally be subjected to harassment that will negatively impact [her] mental health, [her] safety, and [her] ability to graduate as soon as possible.” A federal judge denied the request, so we’re full steam ahead next year.
Trump Addresses Groypergate: Weeks after Tucker Carlson invited Holocaust-denying white supremacist Nick Fuentes onto his podcast, Trump has finally weighed in: “You can’t tell him who to interview.” Trump really only talked about Carlson, but that was all Fuentes needed to imply that his views had the co-sign of the White House. Fuentes had already taken Trump’s weeks of silence as implied support, and he shouted his thanks on social media on Sunday for Trump’s stamp of approval. If you’re not familiar with him, here are some highlights of what Trump just co-signed: he has repeatedly praised Hitler; he said that Jim Crow was “better for them”; and he said that women should be subordinate to their husbands.
Epstein Flip Flop: After running a massive pressure campaign to convince the GOP to lay off the Epstein files, Trump has now turned on his heel. “We have nothing to hide,” he wrote on Truth Social. Sure, Jan. House republicans are expected to vote on the release this week, but it’s not clear how long it’ll take for the files to be released, considering that move lies with Pam Bondi.
Buh-Bye: The Pentagon is pulling the National Guard out of Portland and Chicago. The Guard, sent from Texas and California, had been stationed in both cities since October, but never deployed because every judge they asked said absolutely not. Apparently, they just couldn’t handle these shithole cities.
Good News! If you’re travelling for the holidays, you can unclench your cheeks just a little bit. The FAA has lifted all restrictions for commercial flights as of 6 a.m. on Monday. So now Thanksgiving travel will just be the normal amount of hell.
Congrats to the SECB on the NYT article today.
Sensible trans YouTube content creators and celebrities against trans women athletes completing in girls and women’s athletes completion include Caitlyn Jenner, Blair White, Alexis Blake, Buck Angel, Marcus Dib, and another I know I’m forgetting…
Can Josh Naylor play quarterback?
Why is it that the Right keeps whinging about M2F trans athletes participating in womens sports, but you never hear a peep out of them regarding F2M trans athletes participating in mens sports? All I hear from them about the former is something-something “unfair performance advantage”, which of course is complete and utter bullshit. If they’re concerned about that, why don’t they assert that male-at-birth athletes possessing greater strength, speed, endurance, reach, height, agility, etc., etc., have an unfair performance advantage over their competition?
Funny that Trump is calling for a release of the Epstein files, given how many people are convinced they contain secret revelations of Trump pedophilia. Every Big New Epstein Revelation has ended up being a humiliating bust, and I think we’ll all be better off when this dumb cycle ends.
@4 The male deadlift record is over 400lbs higher than the female record – it’s silly to pretend there isn’t a substantial degree of advantage. That said, I think there are still solutions to the issue that already exist, such as open divisions/open categories where people who wish to compete without a sex restriction can do so.
@4 because the unfair advantage cuts against the F2M athlete. There’s no need to prevent a disadvantaged athlete from competing. It would be like making a rule kids can’t play up an age group because it would be unfair to them.
And pretending like biological males don’t have an advantage is honestly an embarrassingly bad argument. If that’s the case, and both sexes are equally good at sports, why even have women’s sports at all? When conservatives claim we’re “denying biological fact” it doesn’t help the cause to actually deny a different biological fact.
I don’t know. Even if you don’t like Jeff Bezos he is still the chairman of the largest employer in the city and the biggest “contributor” to the jumpstart tax. If he is sending up warning flares that he doesn’t think the city is a great place to do business anymore you might want to at least listen to what he has to stay. He is not wrong about about the policies and taxes making it more expensive to live and do business here. The real question that should be asked is whether the amenities Seattle offers justifies the cost of living and working here. I think its debatable right now that residents or business owners are seeing value. Progressives seem to think there is some endless pot of money that can be collected and the business will continue to pay while being blamed for all the ills. I look forward to seeing that hypothesis tested in both New York and Seattle.
and right on cue “It’s the second time we’ve voted to support progressive revenue this year (the first was Proposition 1A, to fund social housing). Now let’s do it again. And again. And again.”
@4, They classify wrestlers and boxers by weight class, so that there isn’t a size or strength advantage. Thus classified, the outcome of the contest comes down to the training, discipline, technique, and toughness of the athletes, not inherent physical disparity.
We separate youth athletes by age groups for the same reasons. Varsity teams vs. junior varsity.
At professional and international sporting levels, they test for performance enhancing drugs to make sure that no one has an unfair competitive advantage.
They separate men’s and women’s teams for like reasons. Men, on average have 15% more muscle and bone mass than women, among other inherent differences between the sexes.
Men that identify as women, don’t lose those differences in muscle and bone mass, differences in height, differences in reach, etc, when they change their identity. It’s about keeping things fair for competitive for female athletes.
It also cuts the other way in sports like gymnastics. Men don’t do uneven bars, but if they did, they would get killed by women. It favors the short, compact, and lighter. Other events like floor exercise favor women as well for the same reasons.
There are legit reasons to classify and separate athletes into like physical classes, and that includes separating them by the sex at birth that influenced their physical development.
@6, Depends on when you’ve transitioned and for how long. If you go on hrt and testosterone blockers you’re going to lose any strength/endurance advantage it provides within a few years.
Ftm athletes are taking steroids so there is a much stronger argument for restricting their access to sports but we don’t have the same diminished expectations for male athletes as we do for women. No one says a 7 foot tall man is cheating at basketball but even women with an F on their birth certificate can be tested out of sports if their t levels naturally exceed a defined range.
“We might have made a couple jokes about King County Election doing the whole count on a single abacus”
It’s quotes like this that erode credibility – maybe just accept counting votes takes time, and the days of calling elections early based on projections are over (aside, it’s not like we’re slower today counting votes it’s just so many of us grew up in a time or place where projections were assumed undeniable fact, which they are not). It was the illusion of speed.
@9: You just admitted to the unfair advantage as “within a few years” — that’s totally meaningless when it comes to women and girls sports. Let’s take high school – or are you now admitting that some kids are groomed into taking estrogen in elementary school so that they lose strength enough by the time they enter high school?
@5 Yeah, I’m surprised that Trump didn’t want every day to remain another wonderful secret!
“KCE says there were no anomalies in the count. And it’s massively irresponsible to imply otherwise. Where have we heard that before?”
Well, we’ve heard it from progressives actually, who constantly claim that AIPAC and the (((Zionists))) are “buying” our elections whenever a favorite progressive candidate loses! 😂 See, e.g., Jamaal Bowman 😄 That’s not to say Bruce Harrell is right to peddle conspiracy theories, but progressives are in no position to cast stones at him if he does. 😛
@11 not sure what you mean by totally meaningless if someone loses strength and endurance because they take drugs to block the hormones that produce the effect. Also not sure where you got the idea that i’m saying kids are taking estrogen in high school. All I’m saying is that taking drugs that reduce athletic performance will reduce athletic performance.
@11 I should also note the casual use of “grooming” when discussing gender identity or non-heterosexuality is gross and lgbtq-phobic but coming from you it feels like projection more than anything else
@14: But you acknowledged that until that reduction in strength the unfair advantage existed.
@15: If I’m a “g” what I say can’t be lbtq-phobic.
https://gaysagainstgroomers.com
“but you never hear a peep out of them regarding F2M trans athletes participating in mens sports?””
That’s because they hardly ever win against the actual men.
ALSO:
Governing bodies like the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and NCAA allow them to participate without hormone restrictions, recognizing no inherent physiological advantage over cisgender men. However, they face unique challenges, including hormone therapy effects that can initially hinder performance.
@16 and from this you deduced that i am saying kids are taking cross-sex hormones?
Honestly your obsession with kids’ genitals was weird enough before you were defending trump and epstein but it makes so much sense now
Professional women soccer teams badly lose against teams of high school boys. You seriously expect that “trans men” would dominate in sports competing against actual men?
LOL
Hey, look! It’s Bi-pedos new nym…
“If they’re concerned about that, why don’t they assert that male-at-birth athletes possessing greater strength, speed, endurance, reach, height, agility, etc., etc., have an unfair performance advantage over their competition?”
We need to get Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, on this important issue right away!!!
@17 of course gay people can be lgbtq phobic because people can internalize their own mistreatment. That can exist separately from the minority of gays like you who hate trans people but in your case it feels like a little of both.
@19: I will now disregard your comments whenever you pivot from the subject and sink into being hostile and nasty. I know it’s a defense mechanism when you feel cornered, and it’s so dreadfully juvenile and immature.
24 you say this like it’s a threat
@14, Do the reverse bone growth and previous height when they start taling hormones? There are other physical advantages that are not reversed.
@24 you gratuitously threw “grooming” into your comment, you deserve all the smoke
@26: I won’t quibble if you suggest a different verb.
@27 I’m confident you could think of a more appropriate, non-incredibly charged verb on your own if you set your mind to it
@14, Do the reverse bone growth and previous height when they start taling hormones? There are other physical advantages that are not reversed.
@28 you are talking to someone who believes elementary school kids are taking estrogen, if you expect him to think for himself you are asking way too much
Barth has to re-read @11 and answer the question if a MTF student in high school has depleted strength because of estrogen after “a few years”, then it logically points to taking hormones in 6th grade for a 9th or 10th grade competion. That hypothetical question is simply about the timing of such a threshold. I’m not quantifying the actual number of kids doing so, hopefully it’s still very infrequent.
But since he wrote in @9 “If you go on hrt and testosterone blockers you’re going to lose any strength/endurance advantage it provides within a few years”, then logic dictates that MTF high school students in girls spots WILL have the strength advantage because there hasn’t been “a few years” of the strength to dissipate.
UN Security Council voted in favor of the peace plan for Gaza! 😃 The international stabilization force now has a much beefier mandate than the UN’s usual toothless, sit-back-and-watch-the-terrorists-shoot operations (UNIFIL, UNDOF UNTSO, etc.). The international stabilization force is empowered to disarm Hamas. 💥💥💥 Lo, a new pathway to peace beckons the Palestinians, if they but choose to follow it. 😁
Haven’t been to a SB in years, but would enjoy hopping back and forth over their little picket line.
Not a coffee drinker but I could go for a peppermint hot chocolate.
Two things the baristas should keep in mind:
1. There are dozens of places to get coffee that are less expensive and, I’m told, taste better.
2. They can be replaced by a machine that doesn’t piss and moan when they have to do their job.
@31 adults play sports too, a fact i would never think i needed to explain to someone who doesn’t live in a cave, but logic is not a word i would use to describe the thought process you just unpacked because it’s somehow even worse than i imagined
@34 the challenged Idaho law prohibits people born biologically male from participating in women’s sports at public schools from elementary through college though. Would you accept a law that mandated trans female athletes have been on hormone therapy for two years prior to participating? I feel like there are legitimate concerns on both sides of this issue (as well as a lot of illegitimate concerns almost exclusively on one particular side)
@33 “They can be replaced by a machine that doesn’t piss and moan when they have to do their job.”
If that’s true then Starbucks should replace them with machines instead of pissing and moaning when they have to compensate their workers.
@31: Even after that carefully worded comment, barth evaded the question in @34 by pointing to another scenario. Let’s see if he has the intellectual honesty to answer @35, which will partially answer mine.
@32: And not just any peace plan, but one even better than the one originally proposed:
‘The U.S. gained more support for its efforts within the Security Council after painstaking behind-the-scenes negotiations over the text of the resolution to allay the concerns of Arab and European countries over the future governance of Gaza… [t]he new draft made changes to include more specific details on Palestinian self-determination and the future role of the Palestinian Authority in governing Gaza.
‘The resolution cites a possible path forward for Palestinian statehood, but only if the right conditions are in place following the Board of Peace’s oversight of Gaza’s reconstruction and reforms to the Palestinian Authority.
‘“After the [Palestinian Authority] reform program is faithfully carried out and Gaza redevelopment has advanced, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” the resolution states.’
Path to a two-state solution becomes clearer, and the international stabilization force can begin forming. Great news all around!
“Eight other Middle Eastern and Muslim countries—Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey—joined with the U.S. to urge a swift passage of the resolution.”
Of course, not everyone is happy:
‘Hamas and other Palestinian factions Monday denounced the resolution and called it dangerous, saying they oppose any clause relating to the disarmament of the Palestinian factions or harming “the Palestinian people’s right to resistance.” They added that they reject any attempt “to subject the Gaza Strip to international authority” and are against any foreign military presence inside Gaza.’
Aw, the terrorists have a sad! Maybe they can commiserate with Bibi, and the Israeli hard right?
Can’t wait for the Stranger, and supportive commenters here, to reaffirm their support for peace!
(All quotes from https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/security-council-expected-to-back-trumps-plan-for-post-war-gaza-d500fb3b?mod=hp_lead_pos9)
@38 seems more than ever like President Trump has succeeded where Biden (and others) failed and crafted what looks like a durable peace agreement in Palestine. Turns out the voters who prioritized bringing peace to Gaza and rejected the Democrat candidate on that basis were 100% right to do so. Hopefully Democrats do better next time.
@39: Or maybe everyone had finally tired of fighting? However it happened, you’re also anticipating the Stranger, and other supportive commenters here, will rejoice and celebrate it, right?
“Turns out the voters who prioritized bringing peace to Gaza and rejected the Democrat candidate on that basis were 100% right to do so.”
Meanwhile, back in reality: during the campaign, Trump talked favorably about the ethnic cleansing of Gaza — and continued proposing it after he became president:
‘Trump floated the idea of seizing control of Gaza, displacing the Palestinians—whose homeland it is—and transforming the area into a luxury seaside real estate project, branding it “the Riviera of the Middle East.” This “long-term ownership partnership” would require US troops on the ground and massive tax dollars…’
(https://www.thestranger.com/slog-am/2025/02/05/79907047/slog-am-trump-wants-gaza-seattle-childrens-halts-trans-teens-surgery-and-its-snowing)
That’s the actual Gaza policy everyone who rejected Harris actually voted for. But nice try on the wholesale rewriting of recent history. You will always be at war with Eastasia!
@40: hey come on now, the important thing is he’s finally cheering for a peace plan in which Hamas loses and Israel wins. 😎 If he has to do a face-saving little dance to finally drag himself onto the right side of history, then by all means let him do the dance 😂
@32 38 40 & 41
thump-
fnsorna
tees ’em Up
wormthumpfer
Mows ’em Down
hey
at Least
‘they”re not
Cheering on a
Genocide, justifying
the Murder of TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF PALESTINIANS
because,
you know,
Hamas! like for
the. last. two. years.
@42: ha ha ha, like I’ve been telling you, the war ends when Hamas loses the war! 😁 But I’m glad you’re finally onboard with an Israeli victory, it’s an important step in your journey to justice! 😎 Two-state Zionism with a demilitarized Palestine is and always was the morally correct position, it’s just a shame the Palestinians had to eat so many casualties before they accepted it 😘
“the war ends when Hamas loses the war!💀”
–@thumpfnsorna
or when Israel has killed
every last one. “say, where’d
all those Gazans Go TO?” “well.
they were In The Way! it Cannot be
Israel’s Fault they’re all Gone! what Else
could they’ve Possibly Done, ffs? 💀”
the
Genocide Continues
as long as bibi remains in Power
depose
bibi END
the “War.”
unless this
Peace Plan or
Ceasefire Agreement or
Real Estate Deal makes it Stop.
the
Odds’re
not Good.
@44: you are groping your way toward one of the big lessons of the Gaza War, which is never store your bombs in your kids’ bedroom 🤣
Yet even marking out a “green zone” in Gaza risks drawing comparisons with Iraq and Afghanistan, where the phrase became synonymous with US military failures. 💀
In Baghdad and Kabul, the green zones were enclaves ringed by concrete blast barriers where western forces and their local allies retreated to escape the violence their mission had unleashed in the communities around them. 💀
The plan to use aid to tempt the Gaza population into an area under Israeli control, after two years of a war deemed genocidal by a UN commission, has echoes of other disastrous US policies from those conflicts. 💀
More than a month into the ceasefire, Israel continues to limit aid shipments into Gaza, including barring basic items, such as tent poles, that it classifies as “dual use” because it says they have the potential to be used for military purposes. 💀
Nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are waiting for emergency shelter items and hundreds of thousands more are living in tents without access to basic services such as clean water. Almost all the population – more than 2 million people – are crowded into the red zone, a strip along the coast that covers less than half of Gaza’s surface area. 💀
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/14/us-military-plan-divided-gaza-green-zone
💀 yeah
it’s a Veritable 💀
fucking Paradise, 💀
ain’t it, wormthumpfer? 💀
@46: Generous foreign aid, complete Israeli military withdraw, well-financed reconstruction, and the right of return are all explicitly spelled out in the peace plan. In return, Gaza just gotta get over that one teeny, tiny little hurdle of putting down their guns 😆 Nobody is asking the impossible of these people, it really is up to Gaza what kind of life they want to live. 😉 Put down the guns, guys, the whole world is rooting for you! 😇
@36 that’s already happening, its just taking time to fully implement. look around at any quick eat place and you already see the cashiers are being replaced by kiosks and mobile ordering. One local paper is reporting the union is asking for a 65% raise immediately with an increase up to 77% in 3 years. Based on Seattle min wage that would put a FT barista at $90K per year before benefits. There is no reality where it makes sense to pay a barista that much money.
@47: “Generous foreign aid, complete Israeli military withdraw, well-financed reconstruction, and the right of return are all explicitly spelled out in the peace plan.”
Which is why we see our friends here so completely supportive of this peace plan! 😀
Remember, when we point out that Mayor-elect Wilson has no real experience of any kind in civic leadership, dropped out (at best!) from her last stab at formal education, and has lived off her parents for years, our friends say this isn’t us just stating facts, but that we want her to fail. When they pour scorn on this peace plan without citing a single thing from it, or offering any alternative to it, that’s because … because … because they totally support Hamas’ disarmament! Yeah, that’s it!
Of all the great benefits of this peace plan, so far one of the smallest — yet most amusing — is watching our friends spurn peace and praise Trump. They act like MAGAs because they hate Horseshoe Theory! 😉