Happy Friday the 13th! Go cast some spells or buy a lotto ticket.
Sign of the times: Yesterday morning, someone reprogrammed a lighted road sign near the Aurora bridge. Typically, it’s the type of sign that would read something like “Right lane closed.” But yesterday, it read: “One less CEO. Many more to go.” It was gone by the time the sun came up.
🚧✨ A striking construction sign in East Queen Anne, Seattle, reads: “One less CEO, Many more to go.” We’re asking local authorities how this could happen. What are your thoughts? @komonews pic.twitter.com/M5fZC24djs
— KOMO PHOTOG OLEN (@olenhogenson) December 12, 2024
Insurers are spooked: Floridian Briana Boston, frustrated after a denied medical claim, allegedly dropped the phrase “Delay, deny, depose. You people are next” on a call with Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also just happens to match the exact words inscribed on the bullets that killed a certain health insurance CEO. Authorities swooped in, charging her with threats of terrorism, though Boston insists she owns no weapons and was just venting about, you know, the usual for-profit healthcare nonsense.
Weather (and space): Still wet, though it looks like we might get some sun on Sunday. If we get a break in the weather, though, don’t forget to look up. Tonight and early Saturday morning, we’ll be in the peak of the annual Geminid meteor shower. NASA recommends that we find an area with less light pollution so we can watch the greenish streaks across the sky. There should be about one every minute, so get thee to the woods.
Tis the Season: We have our first anti-trans legislation out of Olympia, just in time for the holidays. Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen previewed two bills this week: one to ban gender-affirming care for kids, and one to keep trans inmates convicted of a sex offenses out of gender-affirming housing. You can read more about it from Vivian here.
The last initiative standing: Remember the four initiatives on November’s ballot that were all paid for by wealthy anti-tax bro Brian Heywood? We voted most of them down (yay!), but I-2066—an electrification ban that they claimed was a repeal of a non-existent gas ban—made it through by a narrow margin (boo). Now, King County, the City of Seattle, and a group of climate activists are suing the State of Washington, saying the initiative is unconstitutional.
Misconduct and scandal at youth facility: At Green Hill School in Chehalis (“school,” of course, being a euphemism for a maximum-security facility for people ages 17 to 25), police are seeking charges against two employees accused of sending “suggestive” selfies and smuggling contraband for inmates with cell phones, adding to a whopping 21 criminal referrals this year (up from just one last year). The facility’s woes include drug overdoses, overcrowding, and a growing list of misconduct allegations, prompting Gov. Inslee to pitch opening a new facility for older youth. Meanwhile, Chehalis Police Chief Randy Kaut says he’s concerned that Green Hill administrators have simply stopped reporting crimes to his department, while the DCYF who runs the facility, insists its “extra resources” for investigations are working—we’re gonna call bullshit on that.
Gentle Giant: Over in Oak Harbor, Jeff Pangburn, a 6-foot-10 “gentle giant” who’s been living in the woods for 15 years, is known as the friendliest face with the biggest feet in town. Recently, when a car crashed near his makeshift home, he tried—and heartbreakingly failed—to save a young driver from a fiery wreck. The community is now rallying to help Jeff trade his forest digs for an RV while he’s out here asking, “Can we fix the crash-prone intersection already?”
Maybe it’s Santa’s surveillance? CNN reports: “[New Jersey] residents have reported seeing drones the size of small cars flying around at night; officials are unsure if they’re seeing anything unusual, or if these are drones at all.” John Kirby, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security and White House security said many of the sightings are actually “manned aircraft” and that there is “no evidence at this time” that the mysterious sightings “pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.” Sure!
Vaccines, who needs ‘em? RKF’s lawyer, Aaron Siri, is petitioning the government to revoke FDA approval of the Polio vaccine. Siri has been a key player in helping ol’ Bob pick health officials for the incoming Trump administration. In his free time, he’s been waging a war against, well, science. He’s filed a petition to halt the distribution of 13 other vaccines, challenged Covid vax mandates around the country, and deposed some of our most prominent vaccine scientists.
Speaking of RFK: In October, he threatened to fire FDA employees for “aggressive suppression” of products such as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, “sunshine” (lol what), and raw milk. Raw milk is especially risky right now. This week two cats in Los Angeles died “from consuming recalled raw milk,” according to Los Angeles TV news station KTLA. Public officials suspect H5 bird flu was present in the milk. RFK is gonna get us all killed, isn’t he.
More lawsuits for Diddy: On Thursday, three men filed complaints alleging that Diddy “‘personally offered’ them alcoholic drinks which made them unconscious, before they say he raped them,” reports the BBC. Diddy’s lawyers said the suits are “full of lies.” More than 30 civil cases have been filed against Diddy, and Thomas Giuffra, the lawyer who filed yesterday’s complaints, says “more than 60 people have reached out to his office with claims.” Another lawyer representing some of Diddy’s alleged victims says the potential number of cases “is probably in the 300 range.”
Cruelty Can’t Wait: Republicans have already announced plans to take a big slice out of social safety-net programs, targeting Medicaid, food stamps, and cash assistance, which disproportionately support women and children. Their pitch? Cutting these programs promotes “family values” and “self-sufficiency”—because nothing says empowerment like fewer groceries and unaffordable healthcare. Advocates argue these cuts will trap women in poverty, dangerous situations, and worse, while research shows work requirements and forced “family values” do little to solve systemic issues. Meanwhile, states will be left holding the bag, and spoiler alert: it’s empty.
Daniel Penny’s first public appearance: Proving yet again that he claims G.O.A.T status amongst assholes, J.D. Vance is bringing Daniel Penny, freshly acquitted for the killing of Jordan Neely on a NYC subway, as his VIP guest to the Army-Navy game, joining President-elect Trump and other members of his soon-to-be cabinet. Vance celebrated Penny for his “backbone.”
A treat for your morning: I heard Aldous Harding for the first time on a live KEXP performance that’s also 100% worth your time. I’ve never seen someone who can be so perfectly unsettling and so charming at the same time. Every six months, I remember this video exists and I watch it on repeat.
@44 Exactly.
@44 — fucking BINGO.
@deweyrainy perhaps
But impertinent’s one
of dewey/rainy’s most
Famous scoldings you
haven’t changed your
spots you’ve just rear-
ranged them a tadbit
@47 “In comparison, the impacts of transitioning that you claim will kill people are mostly speculative”
this is really a simple question. Yes or no, if we ban natural gas or mandate everyone own an electric vehicle do we have the capability to generate the energy needs of our communities with alternative energy? Everything I have read has indicated there is no way you can generate what what is needed to meet forecasted demand before you even get into restricting other energy sources. Solar and wind are great. They can’t meet our energy needs. So now what? If the answer is restrictions and rationing then you are inviting chaos.
“so why do you consistently oppose progressive taxation”
The second half of my post answered this question. I don’t oppose progressive taxation if it can be measured and is results driven. If the CCA said for example we are going to use it to electrify the bus fleet and that is going to cost XXX and will result in a drop in the carbon footprint of YYY I would support that. The CCA does not say that. It’s just a giant bucket of money that the Dems can play with and dole out to their benefactors with zero measurable results because they have admitted they can’t measure anything. The bigger question is why do you blindly put your faith in an institution that has completely failed to make any progress against drug addiction, homelessness, income inequality (all things that can be actually measured) for a cause that they can’t demonstrate results? When we look back in ten years at the billions the state is about to waste I think the money would have been much better spent outside of government control.
@48, “living in a shithole country full of idiots with toxic values.”
That is what causes the violence. Not knives, guns, baseball bats, fists, gasoline, or cars.
Remember that our European counterparts have 2 to 8 times less murders and assaults when comparing crimes without guns. Criminologists look at that to see if access to guns, or the people are driving differences in those crimes. There are also European countries with private gun ownership rates nearly 2/3 of ours, but with murder rates 1/8 of ours. That is another metric that shows its not access to weapons driving murder and assault.
Good news this Saturday.
The Midshipman sang last!
@50,
“Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss.”
Pete Townsend, The Who
@48, The studies yoy cite have huge methodological problems.
The studies that pro 2a people often cite, are even worse in that regard.
The problem is that there are too many co-occuring variables to isolate whether just one has a causative contribution.
You can read about the flaws in all the studies, pro and con, here:
https://reason.com/2016/01/05/you-know-less-than-you-think-a/
our right wing takeover
being nearly Kompleat
allow me to get in a
word Edgewise
nyt:
The Texas Millennial
Trying to Rebrand
the Democrats
“We can’t bring a policy book to a gunfight,” said Representative Greg Casar of Texas, the incoming chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Ever since they lost big in November, Democrats have talked about how much their party needs to change.
Representative Greg Casar is living it.
Last week, Casar, a 35-year-old Democrat from Austin, Texas, was elected as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, becoming the youngest person ever tapped to lead the group of liberals at a moment when his party is struggling with younger voters. He’s also the first leader from Texas, a state Democrats find perennially vexing.
Casar, a former union organizer, will be tasked with leading progressives through a challenging period, one that has some Democrats blaming them for tugging the party too far to the left.
He believes it was centrists like Joe Manchin, the former Democrat and departing senator from West Virginia, who caused the party to water down policies that could have galvanized working-class voters. But he says progressives need to shift their message, too.
We should be clear that the Republicans are playing a game by targeting and scapegoating a group of vulnerable people in order to make it sound like, in Middle America, that is all the Democratic Party works on and cares about.
Instead of fully diving into the culture war fight with the Republicans, I think we should be more clearly calling out the Republican game and connecting the dots for the everyday voter.
–by Jess Bidgood; Dec. 13, 2024
lots more
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/us/politics/democrats-texas-greg-casar.html
so
there
Is hope.
Til
The
‘d’nc
Puts its
Arse on the
fucking Scales
no more Algores
no more Hillarys
no more Kamalas
we need
a Fire-breathing
Dem telling Us Truth
Not capitulating to corporate Am.
with Every breath ~ carpe fucking Deim.
speaking of Reich Wing
takeovers & Publisher
Beware! — nyt:
Trump and His Picks Threaten
More Lawsuits Over
Critical Coverage
The small flurry of threatened defamation suits is the latest sign that the incoming Trump administration appears poised to do what it can to crack down on unfavorable media coverage.
The legal threats have arrived in various forms. One aired on CNN. Another came over the phone. More arrived in letters or emails.
All of them appeared aimed at intimidating news outlets and others who have criticized or questioned President-elect Donald J. Trump and his nominees to run the Pentagon and F.B.I.
The small flurry of threatened defamation lawsuits is the latest sign that the incoming Trump administration appears poised to do what it can to crack down on unfavorable media coverage.
Before and after the election, Mr. Trump and his allies have discussed subpoenaing news organizations, prosecuting journalists and their sources, revoking networks’ broadcast licenses and eliminating funding for public radio and television.
Actual or threatened libel lawsuits are another weapon at their disposal — and they are being deployed even before Mr. Trump moves back into the White House.
It is notoriously difficult for public figures like Mr. Trump to win defamation lawsuits. Under longstanding Supreme Court precedent — which Mr. Trump and some of his allies want to see weakened or overturned — plaintiffs must prove that a publisher knew a defamatory statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its accuracy.
But that high bar has not stopped a wide range of politicians, business leaders and others from threatening or filing such suits — a strategy that often seems tailored to cause news outlets and individuals to rein in aggressive coverage of the public figures.
The strategy can pay other dividends as well.
On Saturday, ABC News said it had agreed to give $15 million to Mr. Trump’s future presidential foundation and museum to settle a defamation suit that Mr. Trump filed against the network and one of its anchors, George Stephanopoulos.
Mr. Trump sued in March after Mr. Stephanopoulos inaccurately said the former president had been found “liable for rape” in a civil trial. In fact, Mr. Trump had been found liable for sexual abuse.
–by David Enrich; Dec. 15, 2024, 11:30 a.m. ET
David Enrich’s latest book, to be published in 2025, is about the weaponization of libel law and the campaign to limit press freedoms.
oodles, horrifingly:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/15/business/media/trump-defamation-lawsuit-abc-hegseth-cnn.html
@52
I expect our most
Serious of far right
commentariots to be
invited to the White House
to speak Power to the Huddled
Masses reminding them the Perils* of
showing themselves in the Streets, ‘dissent’
having been long Outlawed, & Necesarily So!
by Our Glorious Leader, the Man with the Golden
bouffant. see the
Rest of You @
The Gulag!
*you think
the Sweeps
were ‘bad’?!
they’ll be tossing
Away their silly little brooms
& bringing In the Front End Loaders
remember
Rachel Corrie?
looks like xina’s
about to bat 1.000.
@60
no Not
‘@52,’ silly!
@59 for fucks’ sake
[who ‘edits’ this Tripe?]
57, Wrong. All observational data has “co-ocurring variables” but multivariate statistics can isolate individual effects. It’s standard practice to control for all manner of confouners (demographics, socioeconomics, crime severity, etc). You don’t know what you’re talking about, and your sources are exploiting your ignorance by feeding you garbage that flatters your preexisting beliefs. I’ll take statistics from the CDC over a libertarian propaganda rag any day.
Also you’re wrong about the comparison to the EU. The US has about 2.5X the violent crime rate as the EU at baseline, including guns, so your no-guns data is mathematically impossible. And that’s without even touching the stupidity of having unfettered access to guns in a culture you believe to be predisposed to violence. They can only make the problem worse.
If you can’t make a point without bullshitting what does that tell you about your arguments? Think about it. Take as much time as you need.
@58: “no more Algores”
Al Gore received half a million more votes nationwide than did G.W. Bush. Had it not been for the flat-out lie that the two parties were the same, and Ralph Nader’s spoiler candidacy, Gore might well have won outright. “No more unwinnable third-party candidates,” should have been the lesson here, but some folks seem incapable of learning that simple and obvious lesson, no matter how much damage failing to learn it does.
“no more Hillarys”
Hillary won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. Kshama Sawant still has not apologized for the campaign of lies she perpetrated, especially to the women who lost their rights to medical care as a result.
“no more Kamalas”
No more demanding Democratic presidential candidates promise illegal policies, i.e. arms embargo of Israel.
“The fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.”
You’re welcome. Please do not make such obvious mistakes again.
@58: I agree:
no more Algores
no more Hillarys
no more Kamalas
@63: They didn’t win. We need winners. If Kamala had spoken her heart instead of being trepidations with everything, she might have seemed genuine enough to get the votes in the swing states to win. But she is horrible to work for, had a campaign more about celebrates and superstars than working people. She didn’t deserve to win.
@64: If the Abandon Harris campaign hadn’t occupied time and energy better spent on more important things, then the election outcome might have been different. Upon learning “Gaza Isn’t Driving Votes,” The All-Gaza-All-The-Time crowd should have simply acknowledged this really. No, they’re far too vain and ignorant to understand their own personal causes don’t matter.
For the entire past year, progressives’ only goal should have been to defeat Trump. Full stop. Anyone who spent time on anything else can take the blame for his re-election, recognize the complete failure of their judgement, and listen — NOT talk.
@65
more utter nonsense
(should we be Surprised?)
see xina above: Dems* (including
YOU)’re Complicit in political misfeasance
by not screaming from the Rooftops
(like you do about Kshama Eevery fucking day
and But IS it “genocide” or whatever the fuck the
Point Is
you guys
allowed/enabled
eltrumpfster thru your
Distractions and now wanna
Blame Progressives via your deflections
*Especially the so-called
“democratic” national
committee: LLC,
bitches! lol lol!
well,
we’re
takin’ what
they’re givin’
’cause we’re Workin’ for a Livin’.
ffs
Just
Say: no.
@62, And yet the studies don’t properly control for co-occurring variables and other issues as noted in the link provided to you. It’s a problem for pro-control, and anti-control studies alike as noted in the link.
Another source is RAND, which states, “There is supportive evidence that shall-issue concealed-carry laws MAY increase total homicides, firearm homicides, and violent crime. Evidence for the effects of permitless-carry laws on total homicides is INCONCLUSIVE.” (CAPS added for emphasis, not in original. Source: https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/concealed-carry/violent-crime.html) That is based on one sub-set of gun studies, but meta-analysis of just about all the studies wind up at the same place. The anti-control studies are just as bad, if not worse.
Your baseline across the EU is probably about right; however, in some countries is 2x and others nearly 8x. Even at 2.5x that’s a big difference. The research of Criminologist James Allen Foxx and Northeastern compares non-gun assaults and murder in the U.S. and Europe and finds the multiple of those kinds of crimes in the U.S. vs. Europe persists. He talked about it on KUOW, with Ross Reynolds, in the wake of the Cafe Racer shooting. He is not anti-control, but notes that gun control won’t resolve the multiple in rates of such crimes over Europe.
As far as the CDC: They cherry-pick what they fund and use for their conclusions and posts. They withdraw research from their websites that is as sound as the some of the pro-control studies they allow to remain. The withdrawn study shows benefits of firearms, even with substantial methodological weaknesses that lead to high levels of uncertainty. https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsieh/2018/04/30/that-time-the-cdc-asked-about-defensive-gun-uses/
Polifact further discusses what that study did and did not show. Specifically, it doesn’t address the question of lives saved by defensive gun use (DGU). As a research question, that would be difficult to measure. Measuring something that doesn’t happen, is tough-sledding. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jun/06/andy-biggs/no-government-data-does-not-say-defensive-gun-use-/ But because you can’t prove with certainty, lives saved from DGU, doesn’t mean that government funded study didn’t show a hell of a lot of benefits of DGU and allow us to make reasonable inferences that a significant fraction of DGU’s save lives for serious physical injury.
But assume for the sake of argument that the study over-states DGU by a factor of 10. That is still 150,000 DGU a year that remain. If only 10% of those were lives saved, and some multiple of that was serious physical injury prevented, that’s still a net positive impact of firearms. (“Serious physical injury” is the threshold that allows lawful use of deadly force in self-defense laws, not threat to live. As a practical matter how do you differentiate between whether a baseball bat strike will cause a concussion that someone recovers from, suffers permanent damage from, or will kill, from the defender’s perspective, or even the attackers? You can’t, which is why the threshold is what it is in law. Where that bat lands, head, arms, or torso is going to make a big difference, and neither the attacker or defender can control that with much certainty.)
Internal e-mails of the CDC show that their removal of the study wasn’t over concerns about the limitations or rigors of the study, but was driven by political considerations and pressure from pro-control groups that didn’t like what it showed. https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/cdc-quietly-removes-defensive-gun-use-studies/
@64
why
Thank
You, dwebe!
plus, good Post!
yeah,
Wormmy’s
got that capacity
to justify Anything
given enough words
he can argue Both sides and
win Twice.* maybe thrice. guy’s Amazing
you can even Ask him.
whoa, huh?
but:
if Only
he was
working
on bending
the Moral Arc
of the Uni The Other Way
such a
Travesty
*67
LOVE
your wee
Novellas. they
make Mine look
Good by comparison.
keep it Up!
*UNLIKE
algore
hillary
kama-
la.
@66: “Dems* (including
YOU)’re Complicit in political misfeasance…”
I’m not a Democrat.
“… allowed/enabled
eltrumpfster…”
I’m not Kshama Sawant, either.
Once again: listen — NOT talk.
hey
thanks
for the
Lecture
Wormtongue.
I’ll be
Certain
to make
Nothing of it.
and your
“D”NC’ll
just keep
on a keepin’
on. we Owe you
a Lot. now kindly
bugger off.
@70:
“and your
“D”NC’ll
just keep
on a keepin’
on.”
Again, I’m not a Democrat.
“I’ll be
Certain
to make
Nothing of it.”
Again, you’ve already made it clear that you won’t blame Sawant for Trump, even though Sawant stumped for Trump. So why should anyone care if you blame anyone else for Trump?
Again, listen — NOT talk.
@71*
right,
wormmy:
“STFU! And
Listen to The
Wormtomgue!”
I do believe
I will fuck-
ing Pass.
hardly?
Heartedly.
*Again
this utter
Obsession
with Kshama
she
mustta
REALLY
broke your
massive brain.
my sincerest Condolences.
Happy
Trolling!
@72: Every time you complain about Trump, I can mention how Sawant campaigned for Trump. “Obsession?” Broken brain? You’re the one reduced to abjectly servile silence; she has rendered you completely unable to offer a single word of criticism for her having worked to elect Trump. Your absolute obedience to her own “listen — NOT talk,” command speaks far greater volumes than anything you could possibly write.
Imagine for a moment how you and the Stranger would be railing and wailing about, say, if the Seattle City Council President Sara Johnson had stumped for Trump. Now contrast that with the dead silence you’re delivering on Sawant. It’s truly blissful, which is why I recommended it to you for everything to do with Trump’s election.
@73
more whining:
“Every time you complain
about Trump, I can
mention how
Sawant… “
sure.
of Course*
you Can wormmy.
“… say, if the Seattle City Council
President Sara Johnson
had stumped for
Trump… “
how the fuck you’ve
Also decided I’m gonna
speak out for someone on
the SCC – which I don’t follow
is yet another fine example of your
obviously-busted ‘thinking cap.’ that it’s
made of tinfoil’s leetle surprise to we Schloggers
but, Keeping
Making shit up as
you go — you Never disappoint.
*give it Up Wormtongue
you’re likely Never gonna get
me to join you in your ANTI-Sawant
insidously and increasingly disturbing
Tirades. your guilty conscience’s just gonna
Hafta
Deal
with
it.
@17, @22, and @32 Catalina Vel-DuRay: +3 For the entire thread WIN!!!
[@ed have you considered
occasionally Flipping your
pic? it might Confuse the
neocons even More so.
thnx! & THNX for
derr Schlogg!]