It’s a Trap: The firefighters fighting the Olympic Peninsula’s Bear Gulch Fire believe their leadership coordinated with federal immigration authorities and intentionally deployed fire crews to a remote area last week when two firefighters were arrested. Looking back on that day, firefighters are convinced their leadership sent them into a trap. The two crews targeted by the raids weren’t scheduled to work together that day. Their assignment was to chop firewood for a local community, but when they got there they found piles of logs from a timber operation. They waited for leadership to show up and give them further instructions. Leadership didn’t show. Federal officials did, though. After that incident, fire crews worry about future deployments. Will they be detained next?
Vaccines Aren’t for Florida: Oh this is bad. This is bad bad. Florida, land of fools and oranges, plans to become the first state to eliminate all vaccine mandates. Yes, even the ones for school children. This is buffoonery that is going to cause serious harm. You thought tuberculosis was a thing of the past (in Western countries, at least)? Think again! Polio? Rubella? Mumps? All of that progress could go out the window if vaccination rates go down. Herd immunity and all that. People will die. Yes, all of you old people in Florida, that likely means you first. It’s not totally clear how Florida can completely unspool its vaccine mandates, but it’s likely the state legislature will need to have a say.
Vaccines Aren’t Even for the Dogs: Rabies is on the rise in wild animals across the US. Watch out for bats and foxes, which are the usual rabid culprits. This year, six people have died from the disease—a number that seems small, but is apparently big if you know anything about rabies. Before the 1960s, pets like dogs were the main rabies spreaders, but strict pet vaccination laws tamped that down. Officials are worried about those vaccine rates these days. According to a 2023, study “nearly 40% [of a representative sample of Americans] believed canine vaccines were unsafe and 37% believed that vaccines could lead their dogs to develop cognitive issues, such as autism.” Vaccinate your dogs, you freaks. They won’t get pawtism, I promise.
The Weather: It will be a perfectly pleasant partly-cloudy day with temperatures scraping the upper 70s.
Wait, but What’s That Haze? Sigh, it’s smokey out there.
Ugh smoke season is back in the Puget Sound region
— Robert Cruickshank (@robertcruickshank.com) September 4, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Labubu Haul Seized at SeaTac: Border Control seized a $500,000 shipment of seemingly counterfeit Labubu dolls. Hype for the ugly-cute toys has swept the globe this summer so much that copycat knock-offs, known as Lafufus, appeared. That’s what was in the boxes from South Korea marked “LED Bulb” that arrived at Seattle Air Cargo. Border Patrol says the dolls will be destroyed. Rest easy, little fake monsters.
Tacoma Man Killed at Burning Man: A 37-year-old Tacoma man was found dead in a pool of his own blood at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert last week. Police are treating the case as a homicide.
Fatal Funicular Crash: Seventeen people are dead after a funicular derailed in Lisbon, Portugal. Around 21 other people were injured. The funicular, known as Elevador da Glória, is popular with tourists because who ever gets to ride a funicular? The Portuguese government declared a day of mourning.
Judge Lifts Consent Decree on SPD: After 13 years of federal oversight, US District Judge James Robart lifted the consent decree on the Seattle Police Department. SPD had been under full federal control and oversight since a 2012 Department of Justice lawsuit over use-of-force abuse and biased policing. That lawsuit came after a 2010 police killing of wood carver John T. Williams, who was shot by an officer while crossing a street and carrying a piece of wood and a pocket knife. Apparently, it’s all hunky dory now. SPD’s use of force has fallen, Robart says. And the new Seattle City Council-passed crowd control weapons ordinance satisfied Robart. He lifted the consent decree despite lingering concerns about the Seattle Police Officers Guild standing in the way of true police accountability. Ah, well, good enough! Not Robart’s problem anymore!
RFK Jr. in the Hot Seat: On Thursday, everyone’s least favorite roadkill enthusiast Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will face questioning from senators over his firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez, and for his firings of the entire 17-member CDC vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with eight handpicked successors. RFK Jr. also changed vaccine recommendations for the new COVID-19 shots, making it harder for people to get the jab. You can watch it live here.
Is This ASMR?
listen to this, if you can stand it — RFK Jr’s hot mic breathing make it sound like he’s dying
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) September 4, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Anything but Gun Control: Florida wants to store attack drones at schools to help respond to school shootings in the vital seconds after they start and before police arrive on the scene. The Texas-based program known as “The Campus Guardian Angel” will be rolled out in three Florida school districts once Gov. Ron DeSantis gives it the green light. The pilot program costs $557,000. Our government will do literally anything to address school shootings except the one thing that will really address school shootings: gun control.
House Approves Alaska Mining Road: On Wednesday, the House voted 215-210 in favor of building a 211-mile mining road through pristine Alaskan wilderness to reach a copper and zinc mine with natural materials worth an estimated $7.1 billion. The bounty comes with a price: Destroying untouched wilderness, harming wildlife, and threatening Alaskan tribes the rely on that wildlife for sustenance. The 211 miles of road cuts through 26 miles of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and “crosses 11 rivers and thousands of streams,” according to the New York Times. Trump tried to jumpstart this project, known as the Ambler Access Project, in his first term, but Joe Biden killed it when took office. Now, with the support of all House Republicans save Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and many Alaskan lawmakers who can’t see the forest for the trees with all those dollar signs in their eyes, the road is one step closer to reality. It goes to the Senate now.
How To Invade Your Own Country in Just 30 Days: The Department of Homeland Security has asked the military to support ICE raids in Chicago, according to a leaked memo obtained by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein. Dated August 27, the memo requesting “support infrastructure” (highway access, fuel, and “other logistical nodes”) makes no mention of the Illinois National Guard, suggesting active duty troops will provide this support. According to the memo, an advance party arrived at Naval Station Great Lakes on September 2. The “operations” will last 30 days, the memo says.
More details from the Chicago Sun-Times: According to the paper, hundreds of federal agents will travel from the naval station each morning to conduct operations in the city. At least some of the 230 agents work for US Customs and Border Protection. At least 30 agents are at the naval station practicing with flash-bang grenades and shields for crowd control already. Writes the paper: Illinois “Gov. JB Pritzker says he expects ICE agents ‘assembled, ready to go on Friday, and that they will begin actions on Saturday or over the weekend.’”
CBS Poised to Lower Editorial Standards: Paramount is “on the verge” of buying the anti-woke, right-wing The Free Press and putting its founder and editor, Bari Weiss, in a top role at CBS News. According to Puck, a year-long courtship preceded the acquisition. It’s not a done deal, but it’s on the “1-yard line,” according to a source familiar with the negotiations. To catch you up: In July, Paramount paid Donald Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over a segment on “60 Minutes.” In August, Paramount merged with Skydance Media. Before the deal, Skydance pledged to install an “ombudsman” to monitor alleged bias at the network.
fondly remembering the time when Bari Weiss cited a Twitter account called “Official Antifa” in The New York Times puck.news/david-elliso…
— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper.com) September 3, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Federal Judges Are Fed Up: We’ve all seen the pattern. A federal judge methodically considers the case against a Trump order (like, say, birthright citizenship or massive federal layoffs), and grants an injunction. Then, Trump complains about it on Truth Social like a Karen on her third glass of Chardonnay, his lawyers appeal it to SCOTUS, and in an “emergency decision,” the Supreme Court overturns the injunction with barely an explanation. Federal judges rarely speak to the press, and it’s even more rare that they’d speak out against the judges that decide whether or not to uphold their decisions. But after watching the Supreme Court overturn decision after decision, ten federal judges (some of whom were appointed by Trump) told NBC that SCOTUS is undermining trust in the judiciary, and making judges less safe in the process. Many of them have gotten death threats since their decisions were overturned. “Somebody is going to die,” one just said.
A Song for Your Thursday: That was a lot of news. Sorry. This is how it feels to be an American. Well, really just the name of the song:
Firefighters have nothing to worry about. Illegal immigrant firefighters should be worried. The government is on the hunt. Leave voluntarily and preserve a future option to immigrate legally. Or get deported and be locked out for at least 20 years. Too bad, so sad. NOT.
Children are not regularly vaccinated for TB in the US. Nice scare tactic though.
God bless the SCOTUS constitutional majority. The founders wanted a Unitary Executive. The court is protecting their wishes.
No duh Florida isn’t interested in Gun Control. They are a state that respects the Constitution and the Constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms.
Glad to hear we are back to mining American resources here in America. We aren’t going to neuter ourselves and be beholden to foreign resources any longer.
Chicagoans are going to greatly appreciate the Trump Surge. The poorest citizens of Chicago are at greatest risk of violence. I guess that makes Trump a social justice warrior now. Nice, Mr. President.
Neither Bari Weiss nor The Free Press are right wing. Centrist maybe.
Bari weiss is one of the worst writers and dimmest bulbs in the entire mainstream media, so uniquely terrible at her job she somehow turned it into an empire for people who are gullible enough to think an urban millennial lesbian couldn’t possibly be far-right. She is the living embodiment of the question, “you get paid for this???”
@1 My god, you’re dumb. Or willfully uninformed, which may be worse. The Founders explicitly did not want a unitary executive. They didn’t want a king, having just, you know, staged a revolution to get out from under one. They wanted checks and balances between the branches of government.
The rest of your claptrap doesn’t get any better from there.
Worst writer, dimmest bulb, but got hired by the venerated New York Times? Nah, that doesn’t make sense. More likely you are bitter that she’s struck out on her own and made a huge success for herself. Or, maybe you just hate Israel.
@3 – I think you are dumb. The founders clearly did want a Unitary Executive or they would have split the executive function across multiple positions (by Department perhaps.) A Unitary Executive does not eliminate the checks and balances created by having three branches of Government. Re-read the Constitution. It ain’t hard bro.
@4, Lol you’re exactly the kind of moron her schtick is made for, of course you think this. The nyt may be venerated for its reporting but it has the hackiest opinion page in the entire media.
Might as well argue with a member of the Manson family if you’re gonna try to have an actual conversation with WereBackBaby. Truly brainwashed and worships a child molester. But at least Manson could play guitar.
Remember when we all thought the consent decree and federal oversight was going to mean real, significant change to SPD? Such an innocent time.
I’m actually quite reasonable in my takes (as evidenced by the fact the candidate I supported was also supported by the majority of the voters.)
“… ten federal judges . . . told NBC
that SCOTUS is undermining
trust in the judiciary… “
‘our’ USSC
long ago’d Already
‘undermined Trust’ in
our Judiciary when Dread
‘Justice’ Roberts SAT ON HIS
HANDS WHILE MkMitch fucking
KkKonnell STACKED HIS formerly-
Supreme (Kangaroo) fucking Court
cadet bonespurs
now OWNS ‘our’
‘Judiciary’ and’ll Do
With It as HE sees ‘fit.’
” … and making judges less safe in the process.”
so many Guns
so Few, well-Regulated.
only in America,
baby. only in
America
Bari Weiss is a good illustration of the inevitable result of the progressive “Small Tent” approach to politics — force out the moderates, then act shocked when they no longer offer wholehearted support for your political project.
I’m sure progressives will learn their lesson by… primarying candidates who give interviews to CBS news.
@5 Dear Lord, he’s doubling down. Try reading a little. The First Congress (aka made up of the Founders) delegated a significant amount of executive power to people that the President can’t fire. The Founders didn’t want a unitary executive. The Supreme Court didn’t rule until 1926 (hint: long after the Founder’s time) that the President had the power to remove officials in the executive branch without Senate consent. It wasn’t until Scalia (hint: not a Founder) that any Supreme Court justice argued that the President could remove any executive branch official.
If you were half as smart as you think you are, you’d be ten times as smart as you are.
If the reactionaries progressives at the NYTimes hadn’t of hounded Bari out of there, she would probably still be there and not be about to cash in. She wouldn’t have built The Free Press otherwise. I liked the idea of Bari at first, but then I went meh and moved on.
Bari weiss has never been a moderate. People just think this because her identity is left-coded but she was a central figure in the anti-anti-Trump wave of his first term and is singularly responsible for elevating a bunch of far-right hacks, conspiracy cranks, and peter thiel acolytes to a national profile with her ridiculous “intellectual dark web” column.
“ Florida, land of fools and oranges…” and an orange fool
It was right there and you missed it. C’mon you’re better than this
@12 – there was no language in the Treasury Act explicitly preventing or allowing the President to remove the Comptroller of the Currency. Absent said language, one defaults to the Constitution and the vesting of all executive authority in the President. Got another example bro?
14: Wow, moderate cracks in your beloved woke and progressive echo chamber really has you rattled!
@9 “the candidate I supported was also supported by the majority of the voters”
Donald Trump was not supported by the majority of voters. Trump won 49.8%, which means 50.2%, i.e. the majority, voted for somebody else. He won a plurality, not a majority.
@18 – good catch, thank you for correcting me. I got a little overzealous there.
@17 another 10 watt bulb who thinks conspiracy cranks and incel idols are moderate has entered the chat
Cult member insists that cult leader isn’t actually crazy. News at 11.
@17 Shouldn’t you be online somewhere else complaining that a black person got cast in a random movie you never planned to see in the first place?
@6: “The nyt may be venerated for its reporting but it has the hackiest opinion page in the entire media.”
The Wall St. Journal’s editorial page says hello. (And by “says hello,” I mean, “runs down the street, hair aflame like an out-of-control meth’ lab, shrieking how RFK Jr. was right about everything, until he succumbed to Hilary’s mind control.”)
We need to establish proof-of-vaccination requirements for out-of-staters entering Washington. They can do whatever idiotic, death-cult shenanigans they want in their home states, but if they want to come here, they should be prepared to demonstrate they’re not going to be a potential carrier of easily preventable contagions while visiting. If we can require their pets to have certificates of vaccination, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to require their owners to provide the same.
22: I have nothing against Dan Ackroyd’s performance in Trading Places.
Nathelie’s “Pawtism” pun is beautiful. Nicely played!
Nathalie’s…Sorry
@8 actually you should be really excited. The consent degree was one of the barriers the city ran up against when they wanted to defund the police in 2020 because any changes had to be approved by the federal monitor. Now that the monitor is no longer part of the equation the city is free to do whatever they want once Katie has been sworn in.
@16 Alas, you’re misinformed again. No shock, it’s your stock in trade. Sure, there wasn’t anything in the Treasury Act about removing the Comptroller. Unfortunately for your argument, the Comptroller is currently governed by the National Currency Act of 1863. You don’t have to read very far in that (only to Line 10-15!) to find
“He [the Comptroller of the Currency] shall be appointed by the President, on the nomination of the Secretary of the Treasury, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall hold his office for the term of five years unless sooner removed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.”
Oops. The act of Congress establishing the current off of the Comptroller of the Currency does require the President to get Senate approval for firing the Comptroller. Alas for your argument. Wrong again.
Most of the right wing trash haven’t commented yet because they’re too busy trying to google what both a funicular and consent are.
@24 Given Washington State’s notoriously open borders during the Biden years, we’d also need to have unidentified agents with police powers stopping individuals with unvaccinated markers (out of state plates, certain accents, red hats, etc.) and authorized to jab those not carrying recognized documentation of status. After all, only those here illegally would need to worry.
@11 Trump is a good illustration of the Democrat “small tent” approach to politics–force out the mOdErAtEs, then act shocked when they no longer offer wholehearted support for your political project.
@29 that’s my point, the consent decree turned out to be more of an impediment to change than anything positive despite the high hopes when it was announced
24 and 32 remind me of Stephen Miller and Tom Homan.
@31 They also have to wait to get their talking points on why the funicular failure is Biden’s fault.
@33: “mOdErAtEs” here meaning, “protestors who won’t stop insisting a stretch of Mediterranean beachfront property is Teh Most Important Place in Entire History of Ever, and could not be made to understand how Trump was worse on every other issue, too.”
@8
Seems to me there was significant change and progress.
John T. Williams was killed in 2010. In the last 15 years SPD has not been involved in a similar incident and has implemented clear use of force policies.
@3
Unfortunately Article II does give the President a ridiculous amount of power. Power that has only increased over the last 50 years as Congress has ceded much of its authority, including the power to declare war, to the President.
Here’s a mind boggling riddle for you.
When the Democrats next hold both houses of Congress and the White House which will be more important:
1) Using the powers of the Presidency to try to reverse the damage done by Trump.
or
2) Using the legislature to reassume their authority and amending Article II so no future president has similar powers. I
@38 what? SPD just killed a man “armed with a knife” in the Southwest Precinct parking lot in March, and it’s still under investigation. Also:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/seattle-police-killings-rose-under-federal-oversight-according-to-data-analysis/
@40
You mean the guy who jumped over the fence into the closed parking lot.
Who repeatedly ignored officers orders to just walk out of the lot.
Who then paused at a gate, and instead of exiting, turned and brandished a knife at the officers.
Who repeatedly refused to put the knife down, as officers backed up and attempted multiple times to deescalate.
Who was not phased by an attempt to subdue him with less than lethal force.
Who then ran towards the officers lunging at them with the knife.
That guy? Are you comparing him to John T. Williams, who was simply walking away from the officers, apparently unaware of their presence since he was hard of hearing.
Isn’t that insulting to the legacy of John T. Williams?
@41 I’m extremely confident that, at the time, you blamed Williams for not obeying the order to drop the knife, and believed it was open because the cop said so
Werebackbaby dear, I’m not comfortable with having ‘muricans fighting wildfires. Or programming computers. Or working as physicians. Or a million other things. As a group, we’re a pretty stupid nation. Just look at who we elected.
@15 LHS: Excellent catch! BINGO, and well done!
@10, kristofarian, @15 LHS, @24 COMTE and @43 Catalina Vel-DuRay: +4 For the WIN!!!
@34 & @35: Yaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwn. You two lamebrains should just get
a room already, and before your mom’s account expires.
& @43 Catalina Vel-DuRay: Agreed. We really are stupid as a nation.
My only comfort right now is that I am among those who wisely had
voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz last November, not this global
nightmare of a shitshow run amok.
The usual trolling gang of idiots will feel the consequences of their
ignorance when it’s too late to repair what will be many decades of
preventable damage.
Jeezus! Just when I thought the Sunshine State couldn’t possibly get any Flori-dumber….
@43. Really!? With all due respect, Ms. Vel-DuRay, you would be on much firmer ground with a claim such as “our nation is replete with intelligent and industrious souls, who, through mysterious alchemical alteration, become mentally addled the moment they don the political mantle.”
Not only is this safer ground, it has the added benefit of agency – indulge in ideological affirming care at your own peril.