Wonderful Weather We’re Having: It’s shaping up to be a beautiful, cloudy day with a high of 76. We’ll dip into the high-50s tonight before temps bounce back to 75 tomorrow. We’ll remain in the mid-70s until we hit the low-80s Friday and Saturday.
A Forest Still Burns: The weekend’s rain didn’t smother the Bear Gulch Fire near Lake Cushman on the Olympic Peninsula, The Seattle Times reports, but all that water did add some smoke. The human-caused fire has burned at least 8,368 acres since July 6. It’s only 3 percent contained.
Will they (the City) or won’t they… give Christian supremacist Sean Feucht a permit for a far-right “Revive in 25” rally and concert at Cal Anderson on August 30, or is the event going to move somewhere else? (The last Christian supremacist rally went terribly, no thanks to the Seattle Police Department for escalating a tense situation and arresting protesters.) Publicola first reported Thursday that the city would likely issue the permit for Feucht to use Cal Anderson, but then later updated the story: Last-minute conversations suggest the City may move the thing. It’s unclear who is a part of those conversations and what will happen as a result, sources tell The Stranger.
Who is this guy again? Feucht, like most Christian supremacists, is a messy bitch who lives for drama, to the detriment of our country. Feucht was known as a preacher and musician before the pandemic, but became a real celeb when he began touring the country to protest the mask mandates and public health measures that impacted all Americans, but were, in his view, persecuting Christians specifically. When that grift dried up, he found a new one: waging his “spiritual” war against the government, the left, and the woke mob, all of whom are, of course, trying to blot out his very important Godly message of unity and healing. The anti-gay, anti-trans Feucht claims his provocative events in blue cities are innocent worship services; people who object to his anti-pluralist, Christian-dominated vision for society are really anti-Christians manning the battlements of age-old demonic strongholds. He’s just like the bully who pushes someone and calls the teacher over when they push back. Feucht has deep connections to the White House and powerful figures on the Christian right.
A great excerpt on Sean Feucht’s persecution complex from “The violent take it by force” by Matthew D Taylor.
— Sam Harper (@sharper.bsky.social) November 18, 2024 at 4:28 AM
ICYMI: To abide by a court order, the city has installed a 4-foot-high chain link and tarpaulin anti-masturbation fence at Denny Blaine. “Nooooo!” screamed the agonized public masturbators who discovered a fence they could hide behind, before melting into puddles of white goo. Anyway, everyone seems to think this stupid solution sucks, including the neighbors who forced it into being.
Our Mountains Aren’t Supposed to Melt: But they are. This illustrated guide from The Seattle Times will help you understand how climate change is destroying habitats essential to local wildlife. (Knowing won’t put a stop to it, but at least you’ll understand?)
First His Ass, Now a Beautiful Chest: Cal Raleigh is, as we all know, built different. During the second inning of the Little League Classic, he was decorated differently, too. To celebrate the occasion, he had a chest protector specially made with a photo collage of his coaches and teammates playing baseball as kids. The pictures looked like little baseball cards. It was mostly his girlfriend’s idea. It’s very sweet, and something interesting for him to look at whenever he plops that Big Dumper onto his Honey Bucket throne.
Bird Eternal: There’s a new 8-foot, 650-pound statue of WNBA superstar Sue Bird posed in a forever, ponytail-swishing layup outside Climate Pledge Area that, like all statues, will become a sort of Honey Bucket for birds.
Sue Bird speaking next to the new Sue Bird statue at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
— Nancy Drew: Girl Detective (@sonjajacobsen.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Less Funny Shit: Somebody (or somebodies) has (or have) been throwing bags of dog poop at an LGBTQ youth center in Bell, California. Local police are searching for a suspect. A Los Angeles County Supervisor is giving the center $2,500 for new security cameras that might catch the perpetrator(s) stink-handed.
The Crime “Crackdown” in DC Continues: Federal agents arrested an immigrant delivery driver as he left a coffee shop Sunday morning. Videos taken by witnesses, including a Washington Post reporter, show six federal officers tackling the man, holding him down, sticking him with what appears to be a stun gun, and then hauling him off in an unmarked black van. Remember, the National Guard troops and federal agents occupying DC for this “crackdown” on bullshit claims of “bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor” are only there because a group of kids assaulted a racist 19-year-old DOGE staffer known as “Big Balls” (an “incredible young man,” according to President Donald Trump) in Dupont Circle.
Eight Dicks Leave One: A Ring doorbell caught eight federal agents posing with a pro-immigrant banner in a public park, tearing it down, and, like Indiana Jones swapping a golden idol for a sandbag, leaving behind a dildo. According to Mother Jones, the banner has been replaced, and the “park is full of chalk art denouncing the occupation.”
As if this week were not bizarre enough: Mount Pleasant residents tell me a group of federal agents gathered for a photo-op near a pro-immigrant banner, pictured below, then tore it down. In its place, they left a dildo. A neighbor’s Ring camera captured the whole thing…
— Alex Koma (@alexkoma.bsky.social) August 15, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Escalation Incoming: Republican Govs. from West Virginia, South Carolina, and Ohio will deploy hundreds more National Guard troops to join up with the 800 already in Washington, DC.
Who Needs Leakers When You Have Idiots: Papers with State Department markings left on a printer in a hotel in Alaska included the precise locations and times of President Donald Trump’s meetings with Vladimir Putin (with a seating chart) during Friday’s fail-summit, the phone numbers of US and Russian officials, and the phonetic pronunciation of Putin’s last name (POO-tihn). This wildly sloppy behavior is also known as a security breach.
A Town? The summit ended early, so lunch was cancelled, but the President and Putin were supposed to eat halibut Olympia, a filet with cracker crumbs and a mayonnaise-based sauce that may or not be named after our capital city. Or capital town, as The New York Times called it. We get it, New York Times. You’re a little confused about how places, as well as people, identify themselves.
An Important Meeting: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and an “extraordinary cadre of European leaders” are meeting with Trump this morning to protect Ukraine’s future. Putin has laid claim to Ukrainian land with false, mystical history. Trump, who has called for a cease-fire, told European leaders after the summit that he supported Ukraine ceding land to stop the war, according to The New York Times.
Thank You, “19-Year-Old Pop Sensation” Jim E. Brown: I love your hilarious songs.
Halibut Olympia is topped with a mixture of sour cream and mayo and then coated in cracker crumbs. Based on some of your views of immigrants, it’s probably a little too spicy for some of you.
I think if the Christian Nutbag thing happens at Cal Anderson (or whereever it ends up at) the best protest is to silently protest it. Show up, but turn your back on it. Don’t be provoked, because that’s what they want. It’s not a time for grandstanding, it’s a time to stand in opposition to Christian douchebaggery.
omg
M L B
Home-run
Leader Cal Releigh
driving porta-potty trucks
in the off-season, supplementing his
six-year $105M salary: now That’s entertainment.
@2: Better to not show up at all. Does’t the phrase ‘Don’t feed the trolls’ apply?
Besides, let’s give our dear SPD officers a break.
@3: It shouldn’t bother you, unless you have an issue with capitalism.
@3 or
as wormmy
says, infiltrate
irritate, agitate
& Provoke them
to Indulge their Violent
proclivities and Expose them
as the neo-fascist ‘xians’ they’ve become
and they
shan’t soon
be invited back.
@6 was for @2
@5 why on Earth
would anyone ‘have
an Issue’ with *capitalism?
it’s given us
cadet bonespurs
and his fascist takeover
of our little democracy. what’s
not to Love? *Unbridled, for sure!
@1 Good Lord. Why would anyone do that to a perfectly good piece of halibut?
@2 you’re operating on an assumption that there’s any scenario in which they won’t claim victory. That if the city doesn’t “give them what they want” by aggressively protesting them they will slink off sheepishly never to return. I don’t think that’s the case, so the best we can do is make the entire event as uncomfortable as possible for the attendees. Maybe a LGBTQ dance party at the same time and place, with plenty of drag queens or even some of the Denny Blaine nudists.
@7 Capitalism is good business.
Hopefully the Christians will be allowed to demonstrate their faith and build fellowship with others without being assaulted by the oh-so “tolerant” left or having their rights trampled by our government.
The maturation fence is a national joke now. We should have just utilized the police to remove the masturbators and called it a day.
The National Guard may be in DC to avenge Big Balls assault or they may be there because DC has the 4th highest homicide rate in the country (4 times the Seattle homicide rate) and even higher than Baghdad or Mexico City. Heck, even Maureen Dowd is now praising Trump for his move to protect DC residents from rampant victimization at the hands of a relative small number of “youths”.
Of course Ukraine is going to have to concede land in order to stop the war. Any middle school kid could have told you that.
maybe someone should just build a fence around Cal Anderson and put an ugly green tarp on it?
@7: Your sarcasm unveils that it’s an issue for you. Sad, because no other economic system has lifted more people out of poverty and famine than capitalism.
Phoebe dear, the police don’t need a break. Especially the Seattle Police, who have been in a snit for the last five years because they don’t think they’re getting the respect they’re entitled to. And your suggestion to “just stay home” is exactly the sort of thing one would expect from a Good German like you.
And if “the left” wants to keep rehashing Vietnam War era protest methods, have at it. But one would think that they’d figure out that hasn’t been particularly successful for them on the macro level (but I’m sure it makes them feel heroic on a personal level).
What I’d like to know is where are all the “Not all Christians are like that” crowd when it comes to standing up against the Christians who are indeed like that.
@5 7 10 & 13
Capitalism is Great! but
when it’s used as a Tool
to take over one’s Nation
it soon becomes a Weapon:
“the most
stupid decision the
Supreme Court ever made
& one of the most damaging was
to rule that corporations are people”
–President Jimmy Carter
100,000,000 Americans
with Inadequate healthcare
a million (& swiftly rising) people
living in our streets – now ‘Outlawed’
income inequality approaching neofuedalism
3 families owning more Wealth than HALF THIS COUNTRY
you
think
this is re-
motely Sustainable?
@14: It will only amount to good stock footage for them on X. I know you think this is “the last act of Cabaret” but it’s just adrenaline bait for both sides. Remember, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell and others fizzed out because they were ignored.
@14 I think you’re making an assumption that the “protestors” are actually upset about the rally. I would offer that the people showing up in black bloc are the same idiots who show up to any type of event where there is an opportunity to destroy things and get into it with police. The actual content of the event doesn’t matter. You could move this to another location and they are still going to show up looking for a fight. I guess the benefit of Magnuson Park is you won’t have collateral damage to neighboring businesses but I also wouldn’t assume they would remain down there since they seem to love making a scene as mush as the religious nuts.
@17 “I would offer that the people showing up in black bloc are the same idiots who show up to any type of event where there is an opportunity to destroy things and get into it with police. The actual content of the event doesn’t matter”
Why then do you imagine you never see anyone in bloc protesting drag queen story time, or vaccine mandates, or to “stop the steal?”
Phoebe dear, for a variety of reasons, I very much do not think this is the second act of “Cabaret”.
District13 dear, I think that a silent protest would thwart the black bloc (and undercover cop types). How are they going to infiltrate that?
I’m just advocating for some new thinking. I’ve even made up a chant:
Hey Hey, Ho Ho, these old chants have got to go
Ha ha, tee hee, how about a little originality?
@19: Oh, I thought the phrase was ‘last act’. What scene is the second act?
@2 Yes, that would be the ideal tactical response. Zero chance of it happening, though, and that’s understandable given that fundamentalist revivals in the Trump era can no longer be enjoyed as harmless kitsch. Pity.
@8 Agree, sounds horrible (and Olympia pop.~50k is a town, no matter what the Census Bureau calls it). But of course since Putin had just eaten Trump’s lunch, the formal meal was no longer necessary.
@18 Drag Queen Story times don’t generally have hundreds of protesters where black bloc guys can blend in and break stuff without getting caught…. it’s usually like four people.
@8, @21: Really? It seems tasty to me, though that recipe does sound better with scallops.
@23 Maybe you can have one of your servants cook it for you?
@18 fair enough, they are 10% there for the protest and 90% there to create chaos.
@19 perhaps but it just seems like that crowd is really there for the mayhem and could care less who is impacted. I like your thinking though.
The Big Balls “car-jacking” incident illustrates what a Jussie Smollett-style hoax would look like if someone had the resources of the Federal government available to them to pull it off.
@22 that example wasn’t as good as the other two I suppose, but the point was the idea that black bloc are just there to cause trouble is right wing nonsense
Of course, only there to respond to any “trouble” and they get plausible deniability. How charitable of you.
@28 Coolie…
It helps if you use numbers and ‘nyms when you reply to comments.
Otherwise, you look like an idiot yelling at clouds. I’m not saying that you are… but, yeah.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!!!
@20 Like most musicals, Cabaret has two acts. The second act is the last act.
@23 Halibut is just fine grilled with lemon and herbs. No need to smear it with mayo.
What DO black-bloc people want, exactly? I’ve never quite figured that out and I’m genuinely curious. They typically seem to take a more or less hostile stance toward the organizers and main body of protests, and notably I’ve never seen them protest anything by themselves, without a larger group present, which implies a lack of a political agenda of their own beyond an inchoate, vaguely left-coded affect. Virtually none of them are identifiable on sight as people of color and/or female, which suggests (though it doesn’t prove) that their main motivation isn’t racial, sexual, or socioeconomic oppression. Generally their antics strike me as violence and destruction just for the sheer thrill and catharsis that some people (disproportionately, younger men) undeniably get from violence and destruction. Am I deeply, profoundly wrong about this? What larger political and/or cultural objective, if any, are they trying to achieve?
@31 bloc tend to be anarchists so they object to the structure of society which includes racial, gender, and of course socioeconomic inequalities. One of the core tenets is diversity of tactics so when you’ve seen them having antagonistic interactions with other protesters it’s almost certainly because the others tried to police them.
In addition to gay infiltration (penetration?) of their event, to enter Cal Anderson Park, the bigots should walk past many Christians, all polite, smiling, and happy, and holding signs, reading “JESUS LOVES ALL,” “REPENT OF HATE,” and simple Biblical citations, of Jesus calling the bigots hypocrites (“Matthew 6:5,” “Matthew 7:1-5”). Parishoners offer flyers for their churches, inviting the bigots to learn the true message of Jesus. Ministers ask politely for the bigots to attend those same churches, where “All are welcome,” because “all men are brothers in Christ.” Muslims and Jews, also politely asking for tolerance, round out this welcome. Have the bigots’ teeth on edge before they’ve even started. This should rile the bigots up for an old-fashioned gaybashing, when the infiltrators start their make-out session.
@32 OK I get that much, but leaving aside my reservations about anarchism as a viable form of social organization I still don’t understand how they think their tactics will help bring it about. Reducing the built environment to rubble has, needless to say, historically not given birth to egalitarian utopias. In general, protest movements that succeed in making positive change (such as for civil rights) do so because their tactics inspired a critical mass of people to think, “yeah, they have a point AND I like what I see them doing about it so I’ll join (or support) them.” Who ever says that about bloc, other than congenitally angry young men? I won’t dispute that it’s preferable to their joining the Proud Boys but ultimately both tendencies seem to be political dead ends.
@33
that’s
huntersthompson-
level thinking and Precisely
what we Need to Counter these malevolent
and malignant usurpers of this, Our little American Democracy
Bravo.
thirteen12
you were looking
for a Pathway to counterrevolution?
look
no Further.
@35 Kristo… (welcome back, by the way).
Typo alert, your last word should be spelled “Furthur”.
Ken Kesey “APPRECIATES YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER”.
Cassady also might have an opinion on this.
@30 boatgeek….
The best meal I ever had was a filet of halibut stuffed with brie, crab, and tiny shrimp. I ate it in such small bites just to let the flavor melt into my mouth. The reduction drizzled on top was the Chef’s Kiss. Where did I find this, you might ask?
Las Vegas.
My friend and I decided we would not eat any food from a place that had gambling. So we found a French restaurant named “Boisans” sadly no longer there. Went back three days later, I had the same meal, and it was just as good as the first time.
@2 & @13 Catalina Vel-DuRay and @14 kristofarian: +3 For the WIN!!!!
@34: You’re entirely correct about the black-bloc losers; they’re self-indulgent purity trolls who like to cause trouble and get themselves seen, full stop. (Hence 1312’s deep affinity for them.) They help the traveling bigot shows, by providing some of the images the bigots want to create. Any effective community counter to the bigot shows will need to separate themselves from these fools.
@36a — Thnx!
b. this crowd mayn’t
be quite There yet;
but then the
negative
isn’t ne-
cessary.
and
thnx
for the
Headzup!
@38
Thanks
auntie Gee!
@34 “In general, protest movements that succeed in making positive change (such as for civil rights) do so because their tactics inspired a critical mass of people to think, “yeah, they have a point AND I like what I see them doing about it so I’ll join (or support) them.”
That’s kind of revisionist history. At the time, MLK and peaceful civil rights demonstrations were unpopular, and actually became more unpopular as the movement progressed.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/10/how-public-attitudes-toward-martin-luther-king-jr-have-changed-since-the-1960s/
https://news.gallup.com/vault/246167/protests-seen-harming-civil-rights-movement-60s.aspx
@41 True, the civil rights movement never won majority support, and MLK undoubtedly would still be anathema to most whites if he were alive today. Trump would be railing against him on the daily. But as I said the movement did achieve a critical mass, i.e., enough support to realize most of its goals. That doesn’t necessarily require a majority, but it does require a large number of people who find it appealing enough to associate with.
@42 my point is remaining peaceful did not result in people approving of the protest. As you can see in the Gallup link in May 1964, in the middle of the passage of the Civil Rights Act, fully 74% of Americans thought the protests were hurting Black peoples chances of bringing about the change they sought. The idea that remaining peaceful is the way to convince others to join your cause is a false narrative pushed by elites to maintain the status quo. The other example people always cite is Gandhi, but it was actually the increasing violence of the Quit India Movement after he was arrested, which pulled troops away from the war effort, that convinced the British ruling India was more trouble than it was worth. I honestly can’t think of a single occasion in history where strictly peaceful protest brought about any meaningful change.
@43: “I honestly can’t think of a single occasion in history where strictly peaceful protest brought about any meaningful change.”
This, in the very same comment where you reference the Civil Rights Movement, is truly priceless. It took just ten years of wholly nonviolent protest, 1955-1965, for the Civil Rights movement to achieve all of their goals. Contrast gay rights, which literally began with a riot (1969), and then took almost 40 years (2007) to achieve economic equality, even in liberal Washington state.
@44 I’m not sure what’s more ridiculous, thinking the Black struggle for civil rights started in 1955 or that they achieved all their goals in 1965
@45: I neither wrote “Black struggle,” nor claimed the “Black struggle” (however you define it) won everything they’d wanted by 1965. Fail harder.
@46 pedantry aside, were you unaware of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 or intentionally ignored it so you could claim the protests achieved all their goals prior to turning violent?
@47: You’re referring to what we usually call the Fair Housing Act, passed shortly after (and because of) MLK’s assassination. Saying the Civil Rights movement became violent because King was murdered makes for an extremely tortured misinterpretation of events — which, TBF, is completely normal for you. (That’s why the rest of us don’t follow you, either in arguments or in politics.)
@48 so that was not one of their goals (which were all achieved in 1965) just a nice bonus?
@49: I apologize for my error. Fair housing was one of the Civil Rights Movement’s goals.
Now, your turn: when did the Civil Rights Movement (note: not the “Black struggle”) renounce non-violence? Citations, please.