Here Comes the Heatwave: Temperatures will stretch into the mid-80s Friday and could brush up against 90 degrees on Saturday. Summer isn’t over yet. Make sure you check which beaches are safe to swim in this weekend. Madison Park Beach has a high bacteria alert. Mount Baker Beach is dealing with a sewage spill. Yuck.
Tinderbox Weather: This weekend’s hot, dry weather is bad news for firefighters trying to stop the spread of the Bear Gulch fire that’s burned up 8,300 acres on the north edge of Lake Cushman so far this summer. As of this week, the fire was only 11 percent contained. The coming heat could allow the fire to grow.
Monsanto Settles: Everyone’s least favorite agrochemical and biotechnological company, Monsanto, settled with parents, students, and teachers at Monroe’s Sky Valley Education Center after a seven-year-long legal battle. The plaintiffs alleged the fluorescent lights and building caulking in the school were riddled with cancer-causing chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. They said the PCBs caused 200 of them to experience serious illness and alleged Monsanto knew about the dangers of the chemicals but didn’t tell the public. This case could be the largest PCB settlement concerning a contamination at a single site. While the dollar amount of the settlement remains confidential, the Seattle Times reports Monsanto’s parent company, the German-owned Bayer, “set aside 530 million euros, or about $618 million, for Sky Valley settlements and litigation costs.”
Atrocities Continue: Israel killed at least 71 Palestinians and injured 251 others in the last 24 hours. Of the dead, 24 were seeking aid. Additionally, two more Palestinians died from starvation. Al Jazeera reports the total count of hunger related deaths in Gaza is 273, including 112 children.
BREAKING: At least 71 Palestinians, including 24 aid seekers, have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the latest 24-hour reporting period, says Gaza’s Health Ministry.
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/r3s7v3
— Al Jazeera English (@aljazeera.com) August 22, 2025 at 6:22 AM
FBI Makes House Call at Bolton Residence: The FBI dropped by former Trump national security advisor John Bolton’s house to search it as part of an investigation into the mishandling of classified information. Bolton served Trump during his first term and then became a staunch critic. He’s now a Trump foe. This raid on his house might be the most direct, targeted move from the Department of Justice against one of Trump’s political enemies. Sounds like an abuse of power to me, but what do I know?
Is This Another Misdirection Tactic? Is the dramatic Bolton raid a means to distract from the fact that the first wave of the Epstein files is being sent to Congress today? Nah. Couldn’t be that. Could it?
DeSantis Paints over Pulse Memorial: In his latest anti-LGBTQ move, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the erasure of the rainbow crosswalk outside Orlando’s Pulse night club where a gunman killed 49 people in 2016. The crosswalk was a memorial to those lives lost. Apparently, the state paved over the memorial in the middle of the night. Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer called it a “cruel political act.”
Colorado Coroner’s Creepy Body Room: During a routine inspection, inspectors with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies found Pueblo County’s coroner Brian Cotter hid bodies in a secret room of his private funeral home. Upon arrival, inspectors noted a “strong smell of decomposition.” Then, they spotted a door obscured by a cardboard display. When they went to open it, Cotter asked them not to go in there. They did. Inside they found “bodies in various states of decomposition.” Some had been there for as long as 15 years. Cotter said they were awaiting cremation.
ICYMI: On Thursday, ICE arrested Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, a Pakistan-born US army veteran, and the husband of a former Washington congressional candidate, Melissa Chaudhry. He was taken into ICE detention during a citizenship interview in Tukwila. The Stranger‘s Vivian McCall has the story.
“Crap hole Cities”: Donald Trump Jr. hopped on Newsmax to evangelize about the deployment of federal troops and agents in Washington D.C. In doing so, he suggested the government “should roll out the tour to Portland, Seattle… other crap hole cities.”
Donald Trump Jr on Trump’s DC takeover: “Maybe we should roll out the tour to Portland, Seattle, the other what we’d call craphole cities of the country.”
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 22, 2025 at 6:01 AM
Bye, Alligator Alcatraz: A judge ordered the dismantling of the Florida concentration camp immigration detention center in Florida because the state and federal government circumvented the environmental review process when constructing it. No more detainees can be sent to the facility, the order states, and the state and the federal government have 60 days to move everyone out and begin dismantling the site.
A Long Read: DOGE and Elon Musk targeted Mohammad Halimi on Twitter, falsely misrepresenting the work he did for a US-funded non-profit to counter the Taliban and help Americans understand Afghanistan. Due to his career spent in opposition to the Taliban—which he used to work for in the 1990s before switching allegiances to help the US after 9/11—Halimi’s work was highly sensitive. By exposing him, Musk made him a target. Because of DOGE, Halimi’s family was taken by the Taliban.
Something for Your Friday: Here is the YouTube yoga video I do every time my neck and shoulders rebel against my own body (this happens more than I would like). I’ll be doing it this morning.
So many commenters here find themselves in the uncomfortable situation of being in complete agreement with Don Jr
All rainbow crosswalks in FL are being painted over and restored to their utilitarian purpose. As a gay man I applaud this and hope they paint them over here. Why should we be so special?
wait’ll
they paint
over You, ‘gay man.’
you’ll
soon find
you’re just
Not That Special
at least not to your
favorite fascist fucks
they’re
Coming
for YOU too
@2…
How does a paint color determine if something is “utilitarian” or not? This is one of the dumbest takes I’ve heard in years, and that’s saying a lot.
Oh, and by the way, believe me, you are very “special”.
@2 they’re not going to fuck you no matter how far you can reach your tongue up their ass, though to be fair no one is fucking you, which explains why you’re like this
&
the
Troll
wins
Again.
2,6: Are you guys drama queens or woke gestapos? Hopefully the former.
Re-BS’ing Aaron Rupar is cringe, and should embarrass you (I don’t know the word for BlueSky post, or for re-posting one, and BS seems perfectly adequate for a BlueSky post, so Re-BS’ing is what I’m going with).
Also, Don Jr. is correct.
Maybe they’ll finally find that yellowcake uranium at Bolton’s house.
@8, I have no idea what that means. All i know is that you wouldn’t be like this if you were getting laid.
conservative men will accuse liberals of being soft and then openly admit to being terrified of big cities
11: Just means that your obsessively prurient mind is just a bore to everyone else and does raise eyebrows.
trolls
projecting
again and again
oh my fucking God what a bore*
*caliber less than .00002
worth even less
14: Ok, I’ll do my part and shut up.
13 do you think calling me prurient doesn’t completely validate everything i’ve said because you sound like a schoolmarm from the 1950s
Unfortunately, it’s not exactly unknown for crematoriums to hide that their “inbox” is getting a little too full and end up with a situation of hundreds of bodies hidden around the property for years. Several such examples.
So the FBI raided the house of one of the prime architects of the mega-catastrophic “contain Iran” policy, as well as the complete destruction of Iraq? Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Mr. Bolton was detained, let alone imprisoned, so the public won’t get the satisfaction of seeing him drawn and quartered on television.
re: #2: A right-wing, conspiracy-theory believing African-American man is called a “hotep” – but what is the slang term for a right-wing, conspiracy-theory believing ‘mo?
@1 we’ve already covered Sawant and her sycophants
re: 20: to paraphrase: “All we have to do is suppress the progressive vote and we can have democracy back.” That seems to be a running theme for this commenter.
@20 anybody remember that old meme “I see myself in this picture and I don’t like it?”
Don Jr. is disgusting, but shame on Aaron Rupar (and Nathalie too) for cutting the quote in half. Don went on to say “not because they’re crap holes but because democrats made them that way”.
So Don Jr. isn’t disparaging these cites personally, but just making an insult to democratic governance. Subtle, but worth noting.
@1: I doubt that Don Trump, either pere or fils, would disagree with any of the following. Do you?
‘So the goal is “fighting to defeat Harris, not just symbolically but in reality,” Sawant said. “This is ground zero to punish Kamala Harris and defeat her.”‘
(https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/a-big-seattle-name-is-in-the-election-battlegrounds-helping-trump/)
If you don’t, then you are the one agreeing with the Trumps.
Please let us know.
Call me crazy, but I am pretty sure the state has zero authority to repaint or do anything to city roads that are not state-owned and maintained, of which Orange Ave in Orlando is not.
They should repaint it (could be done on a day) and then sue, which they would win based on the law.
@19 A ‘motep’? (I’m probably treading on thin ice here.)
So apparently we now have to rally ’round John Bolton, who’s so single-mindedly hawkish that not even Condoleeza Rice wanted anything to do with him. Not an easy ask for progressives, and that’s probably why he was chosen as Trump’s first “big name” retribution target. An FBI raid on, say, Barack Obama’s house would’ve sparked nationwide outrage dwarfing the George Floyd protests. Which isn’t to say that’s not still a possibility. Bolton is probably a test run for bigger fish.
Of course Seattle and Portland will get the LA/DC treatment soon enough. Just because we’re not at the top of Trump’s invasion list doesn’t mean we’re not on it. This all by itself is why we must elect Wilson and Evans, not Harrell and Davison.
@2 Rainbow crosswalks seem perfectly “utilitarian” to me. I’ve been using the ones in Capitol Hill for years and I haven’t been run over yet.
@24 see 22
@28: Weak, even by your standards.
Enjoy your status as a cult follower of Trump by proxy, knowing the overwhelming majority of Seattle’s voters repeatedly rejected Trump. That’s why you’re so angry at them: they easily rejected Trump, but you can’t.
@29
jesus.
the east coast’s
rodney fucking dangerfield
strikes again, Wormtongueing
its way into the depths of depravity
twisted ‘logic’ and vile evil vile projections
26: Yes, Donald will summon the troops on us especially if these nasty Wilson and Evans clowns win their elections.
@23, If i called you a piece of shit, not because you were born that way but because your parents did a horrible job raising you, would you find it any less insulting?
32: Who knows, but it’s shitty to call people a piece of shit and it’s shitty that you don’t have that awareness.
@33
what’s
Truly Shitty
is being a shitty
piece of shit and
not even Knowing
you’re a shitty piece
of shit. but it was
kind of barth to
let you know.
34: No, Barth has only hypothetically called Phoebe a piece of shit. Try to stay focused.
@26 If we elect Wilson and Evans crime in Seattle would get so bad, and encampments would so proliferate, that we can be guaranteed Trump’s involvement. And the national media coverage that would generate will cause Democrats to loose the midterms.
Anyone who wants to see Mike Johnson continue as Speaker of the House in January 2027 should be actively campaigning for Wilson, Mamdani, and Fateh in November of 2025.
Elections have consequences, and not all of the consequences are immediate.
35 you are a piece of shit but that’s beside the point because i’m asking how it’s any different to say being a piece of shit is in your dna or if someone made you that way
37: Are you asking about nature vs. nurture?
36: WORD
@35
see @37
& nevermind
my prescience
@37
omg
the Obtusity
of @38, 35 et al
kinda Amazing cal’s
survived for this long
“Life is Hard. It’s
Harder if you’re Stupid
and also a piece of Shit.”
–John ‘The Duke’ Wayne
Who shat bigger
than ‘Honest
Cal.’
@36 see this I almost respect. You’re like a self aware tensorna. Very solid trolling
40: John Wayne never said that – not that it’s a bad thing to say. You’re welcome to find a link to prove otherwise.
@23. Shame on you for making a distinction without a difference.
@42
so you
Identify
with it; okay,
that’s good – it’s a start.
b. your
Obtusity’s
even more Profound
than one couldda Imagined:
I’ve got it
ON A SIGN*
up on my wall
which I got
at a State Fair or
a carnival or wherever tf
I can take a pic
and Send it
to you.
what’s the
address of
your Institution?
*give me a couple weeks
to get that final line
laminated on
27: As you were when they were just painted white. Pavement agenda art just gets ugly with oil spills and skid marks.
45 you’re just saying that because you hate yourself but it wasn’t agenda art it was a memorial for people who were murdered
45: Whatever bs you’re trying to project doesn’t make sense, but crosswalks aren’t memorials, or make lousy memorials. A permanent memorial in a public square should be made, if there isn’t one already.
The governor just ordered all Florida crosswalks restored to their natural beauty. That’s all.
47 refers to 46
the
utterly
utilitarian
is, to the Fascist
innately Gorgeous
as is state-sponsored
enforced-at-gunpoint
uniformity of viewpoint
& nothing
can be more
upsetting to the
fascist mindset than
differences in appearance.
iron-fisted
brutalism
is their
one &
Only
God:
Believe
it or perish
and you’ll Get
No Memorial
and you’ll
fucking
LIKE
it.
Believe
IN it or
Be perished
got it?
@47, I’m not projecting anything. Agenda art is exactly what someone would call a rainbow crosswalk if they hated gay people.
No one needs your approval to put up a memorial. It can take whatever form the community decides, and they chose to paint the crosswalk, but it doesn’t even need to be a memorial. It could just be an expression of solidarity with a minority group who need it, precisely because miserable pieces of shit like you want them erased from public life.
If you really are the gay man you claim to be, self-hatred would be the only rational explanation for defending the removal of a rainbow crosswalk. Self-hatred would explain a lot about you actually.
@29, 30
speaking of Twisting logic
to Infucking Finity and
far, Far Beyond oh &
the Wormtongue:
Adam Smith
Assures Voters He
Remains Best Choice to
Represent AIPAC and Boeing in Congress
“Since 1996, I have had the distinct privilege of representing both hardworking salt-of-the-earth Boeing executives who call the 9th District their home and IDF soldiers who live half a world away from here,” said Smith.
“If you look at my record, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who could do a better job of keeping Boeing swimming in government contracts long after they stopped prioritizing building functional aircraft over building bombs to kill thousands of innocent civilians.”
Some, though, questioned Smith’s display of a modicum of
empathy for Gazans suffering starvation this last May and July.
“It worries us for sure even if he stuck to his propaganda script for the most part in those statements by continuing to blame their starvation more on Hamas than Israel just like a good little AIPAC boy we bought for $500k should,” said AIPAC lobbyist Mark Weinstein.
“But tonight was a good reminder that between him and his challenger, labor and human rights leader Kshama Sawant [in case Anyone’d some how “forgotten” wormmy’s 5-year Religiously-repeated, virulently violent Anti-Sawant Campaign?], of course he’s going to be a better enabler of an endlessly violent ethnic cleansing of the entire Middle East that’s just starting with Palestine.”
[now
THERE’s
some Good News!]
Most voters said they left the town hall much more assured that Smith is also still the best Congressional candidate to represent his major campaign donors Palantir, Microsoft and Lockheed Martin.”
yep.
that’s (Adam fucking
Smith, oh and) our ‘dear’ wormmy
“Advising” the Left on nearly Every Fucking Occasion
–by The Needling
Seattle’s Only Real Fake News
oodles More
right fucking Here:
https://theneedling.com/2025/08/19/adam-smith-assures-voters-he-remains-best-choice-to-represent-aipac-and-boeing-in-congress/
oh, ballses!
there I go – again!
with the damn Purity Tests!
whatever the Fuck
the “Democratic” Nationalists
Committee shoves down our Throats
rest assured
it’s “The BEST”
we’re EVER. Gonna. get.
51: Yes, you’re projecting in all sorts of directions. You are so far gone and unglued over this. It’s just a crosswalk. I don’t like ANY pavement agenda art and that includes BLM markings – are you now going to say I hate blacks? Go ahead, it will at least make you consistent. The more you that say I hate gay people and myself the more pitiful you are. And good lord man, you are really pitiful. Pitiful beyond belief. Pitiful I say. Pitiful!
50: Believe what? Perish? Perish the thought.
51: Not to mention straight man saying that I as a gay man hate myself and gays is cruel and mean. You are a bigot.
50: Salvation trumps perish, got it?
That crosswalk by Pulse looked like a xylophone – not even a rainbow.
A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation said in an emailed statement that the department has a duty to “ensure the safety and consistency of public roadways and transportation systems” and therefore ensure “roadways are not utilized for social, political, or ideological interests.”
Hope our own WSDOT does the same.
‘salvation’
bequeathed
and delivered
by christofascists?
perished
by any
Other
word
yep.
self-hating.
58: What you project
onto me
I now project
onto you.
Required viewing for kristobarth:
Gays & Celebs Are LEAVING The Left…We’re NOT Safe
by Arielle Scarcella – a lesbian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eZCB9ritH4
@52
Sorry, Kristo,
but I’m going with Adam Smith.
But I love you anyway.
No-one
does this
undulating
trolling better
than Kristo
no-one
@51: “If you really are the gay man you claim to be, self-hatred would be the only rational explanation for defending the removal of a rainbow crosswalk.”
Well, no, we might recall that rainbow symbolism for gay rights began specifically as a rainbow flag, and walking on a flag has usually been considered an act of disrespect for whatever the flag symbolizes. Ditto for intentionally displaying a dirty or damaged flag, and crosswalks by their nature tend to get very dirty and damaged over a relatively brief time. So, the removal of a rainbow crosswalk could be interpreted as supporting gay rights, rather than opposing. (Or it could, as @54 says, originate from a dislike for that form of art generally, without regard to a specific message.)
Wow! Nearly 60 posts of invective over a crosswalk, led by Barth, resident sciolist. But lets pause for a moment to consider Nathalie’s omission – that the city purchased the Pulse property (and apparently some adjoining parcels) and has been working with community partners to build a truly dignified memorial onsite. The plan looks amazing, and is due to be completed in 2027.
In two sentences Nathalie could have offered a nice “silver lining” finish to what by all appearances does seem to be general vindictive shit behavior from some elected officials. But that violates TS SOP – to maintain its readers in a constant state of vexation. Regardless, the reality is that the tragedy will be properly memorialized through a well funded program, ergo rendering community street art activity a bit redundant if not subordinate to a much grander project.
Here is the URL for project; https://www.pulseorlando.org/Home
which Nathalie might have provided to offer not only as a tonic but to prompt readers for donations. Barth will be sending quite a sum given his alleged emotional investment.
Coda – When the young and the woke react indignantly to anyone who raises an eyebrow toward the “queers for Palestine” cause, consider the shooter, Omar Mateen, and his state of mind. “Problematic” is one word (among others) that comes to mind.
@54, What other kinds of pavement agenda art can you name?
You can feel however you want about it but if you’re going to share your opinion you’re going to have to hear mine and I think you’re a miserable incel who resents queer people who don’t live in shame like you.
@60 Oh wow you mean to tell me there are queer social media stars who are gay avatars for antigay bigotry? Fascinating, I’ve never heard of anything like that before
barth: always prepared with prepackaged return fire.
@64: Don’t get out much, do we? 😉
You apparently believe expression of artistic preferences should result in nasty bitter personal attacks, if you just so happen not to like the preferences expressed. (Or maybe you just have rage for this particular commenter.) Either way, I’m not sure what you believe your name-calling has accomplished, but I’m pretty sure what it does accomplish does not align with any belief you may have as to what it should accomplish.
65: Name just one anti-gay thing about Arielle Scarcella. For practice, name just one anti-black thing about MLK Jr.
@63: Thanks for providing the context the Stranger (as usual) failed to provide. They’ve failed on so many occasions, I normally wait for the (predictable) outrage in the comments to burn itself out before I go looking for the (not-so) mysteriously missing context. You saved me the search, so thanks again.
Ugh. I knew Coolidge was a dumb piece of shit but I didn’t realize he was a gay republican dumb piece of shit. Those are the second worst ones.
@59
I’ve no
Need to project
Anything on to you
Kalvin Magakunt Koolie – not
When you’re projecting it onto Yourownself.
@61
Thanks. Pat_L!
when Both parties
are corporate-owned, our
‘choices’ are narrowed considerably.
END ‘Citizens United’
and FREE O U R
Lawmakers!
“This raid on [John Bolton’s] house might be the most direct, targeted move from the Department of Justice against one of Trump’s political enemies. Sounds like an abuse of power to me, but what do I know?”
Sounds like The Stranger is siding with the mustachioed Antichrist, but what do I know?. Trump Derangement Syndrome makes the strangest bedfellows.