Good Morning! It’s another one of those perfect days that convince unsuspecting visitors to move to Seattle. Clear skies, high of 69, lows in the high 40s. You can practically hear the soundtrack to Practical Magic.
Trump Is Still Obsessed With Portland: And Chicago. And all of our other Godless, queer, blue-haired cities. On Saturday, a judge temporarily blocked Trump’s attempt to activate the Oregon National Guard to “defend” Portland’s ICE facilities against protesters. So Trump decided he’d try and get around that by summoning 200 of California’s National Guard troops to Portland instead. Some 100 troops arrived in the city on Sunday before a judge blocked that order (which covers deployment in Portland from any state). Then Trump remembered that he has friends in high places in Texas, so he ordered 400 members of the Texas National Guard to deploy for “federal protection missions” in Portland, Chicago, and possibly other cities. The judge’s block protects Portland from Texas’s troops as well, but it doesn’t apply to Chicago or other cities yet.
The @oregonian.com social media team spending the weekend making social card after social card explaining the current state of national guards coming to Oregon
— Nik Streng (@nikstreng.bsky.social) October 5, 2025 at 8:30 PM
And There’s More: One of Stephen Miller’s top deputies, Anthony Salisbury, was chit-chatting on Signal with one of Hegseth’s senior advisers, Patrick Weaver, in public, apparently with his screen “in clear view of others” in Minnesota. The Minnesota Star Tribune saw images of those messages. The two were talking about the Trump administration’s plan to send the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an elite overseas military unit that specializes in parachute assaults and forcible entry operations, to Portland, an American city. Weaver told Salisbury: “Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there,” Weaver said. “82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines,” he added. “Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.”
Awfully Busy for a Government That’s Closed for Business: We’re starting day six without an operating government, and there’s no sign that an end to the shutdown is in sight. Two million federal workers currently aren’t getting paid, and the White House social media account is still posting AI video of Hakeem Jeffries with an ever-larger sombrero while Trump threatens widespread layoffs for federal workers. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the legislation again today, but the current stopgap bill still strips millions of Americans of their healthcare subsidies, so it’s not going anywhere.
Third Country Deportations Are Still Happening: Amid the noise of government shutdowns, National Guard threats, and AI-generated diss-videos, 10 people who were deported from the United States were sent to the African nation of Eswatini on Monday morning. (For anyone rushing to Google Maps, it’s a small kingdom that borders South Africa.) And they’re just the latest. More than 40 people have been sent to Africa since July, after Trump struck secretive agreements with at least five nations there to take migrants under his third-country deportation program. At least two of them are Vietnamese—none of them are from Eswatini. They’re now in a maximum security facility with no known charges.
Peace Progress: This week will mark two years since the genocide in Gaza began, and on Monday, Israel and Hamas are starting indirect peace talks in Egypt. Everyone seems more onboard than usual: Israel has said it supported the new plan that Trump’s administration has drawn up, dictating that Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages—about 20 believed to be alive—within three days. It also requires that Hamas give up power and disarm. Notably missing from the coverage: Hamas’s take on the deal.
Flotilla Protesters Deported, Detained: Meanwhile, last week, more than 400 activists who were sailing from Barcelona to try to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza on the Global Sumud Flotilla were arrested in international waters by Israeli forces. The protesters included climate activist Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, and our own local protester, Orcas Island resident Jas Ikeda. The protesters were taken to Israel, where they report being held in inhumane conditions “like monkeys.” Today, hundreds of protesters were deported from Israel, but Ikeda is still detained, and is one of 42 protesters on hunger strike in the prison.
Watch for Splinters: Foster Poultry Farms had to recall almost 4 million pounds of chicken corndogs after wood was found in the batter. This is the second corndog recall in as many weeks.
Dr. Brunkow Gets Her Flowers: It’s Nobel Prize season, and Seattle’s Dr. Mary E. Brunkow is one of three researchers who won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for their work on peripheral immune tolerance. What does that mean? It means she helped open an entire new field in immunology that makes it easier for us to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. And how did Dr. Brunkow react? She didn’t answer the phone because she thought it was spam. Nobel-prize-winning doctors, they’re just like us.
The Ms Tie It Up: Okay, that news was a lot, but guess what?? We’re two games into the post-season, and last night, the Mariners won their first post-season game since 2001. They’re now 1-1 against the Detroit Tigers.
the Mariners would probably win the world series if they brought back “Can’t Hold Us” as the seventh inning stretch song
— Nathalie Graham (@gramsofgnats.bsky.social) October 5, 2025 at 7:05 PM
“Notably missing from the coverage: Hamas’s take on the deal.”
Not missing from the WSJ’s coverage: ordinary Gazans’ take on the deal:
‘Alaa Khalil, a 49-year-old Palestinian living in a tent camp in Gaza, doesn’t like the terms of President Trump’s peace plan. But she likes the war even less.
‘A mother of six who had to flee her home in Gaza City because of the fighting, Khalil says she is upset Trump’s plan has no timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave and no guarantee that Israel’s campaign against the militant group will stop for good.
‘“In many aspects this is not in the Palestinians’ favor,” she said in an interview. Even so, she said she hopes Hamas accepts it “so the bloodshed stops.”‘
[…]
‘For Khalil, that view marks a shift. She said she supported Hamas before the war. Her husband worked in the Hamas government’s finance ministry. He was detained by Israel when the conflict started. But Hamas’s conduct during the war has led her to question the group’s decision-making and leadership.
‘…She says Hamas’s assault lacked a clear objective. And she blames the group for failing to secure Gaza and stockpile food and medicine.
‘Now displaced for a second time, with her husband still detained, she is upset that Hamas is making an issue of disarmament when its weapons have been shown throughout the war to be ineffective at stopping the Israeli advance.
‘“I don’t feel like our suffering matters to them,” Khalil said. “I am very upset by their statements.”’
[…]
‘Eman Badah, the mother of a days-old premature baby, said she wants Hamas to relent.
‘“For me, anything that ends the war is good,” she said. “I don’t care about Hamas’s weapons, its leaders, their fate or the prisoners. My husband, my son, and I—we are the ones paying the price.”’
[…]
‘She said she wonders what Hamas thought would happen when it launched the 2023 attacks, why it didn’t prepare and what it thinks could be gained from further fighting. She doesn’t trust Israel, and Trump’s deal isn’t perfect, but, she said, it does promise the things she needs—a cease-fire, food, reconstruction.’
‘“What are we waiting for?” she said. “At the end of the day, we are suffering,”’
‘Even when Gazans are out of the line of fire, living conditions are a constant struggle. Rozian Hwaila, 29, displaced from Gaza City and now in Deir al-Balah, lives in a tent on land her family has to rent.
‘Hwaila says life amid the war is hard. Very few people she knows oppose Trump’s plan, she said. Everyone wants at least to be able to pitch a tent in front of their old homes.
‘“Disarming Hamas is the last thing on my mind,” she said. “I want this war to stop—at any cost.”’
Oodles more, damningly:
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/gazans-have-a-message-for-hamas-end-the-war-now-ec769626?mod=middle-east_news_article_pos5
@1 Your Smartness Rankings of 50 or so Sloggers is most certainly a waste of time, but I appreciate the banality of the exercise. We’re really all just wasting time here. Nice work.
@49: lol how do you go this quickly from “I dont care” to foaming chucklefuck ha ha ha! bruh I think I ranked you too high 😂
@51: looks like I got yours about right 😄
@ Smiley Guy…
Sure, rate me lower. I would be proud to be down there with Xina. I miss seeing her around.
You apparently still don’t get my point @5 that anything you disagree with might be worth looking into and supporting. Just because you are that dumb, the converse is probably the better option versus whatever stupid shit you type.
@54: “… anything you disagree with might be worth looking into and supporting.”
Examples of which are…?
@54: Somebody on the internet thinks you’re kind of stupid, and you spend the entire rest of your day slowly losing your mind over it 😂😂😂
Too bad he wasn’t part of the hilarious, “crushed curls of Mount Meron”.
@57: thats why youre second from the bottom! Thumpus sniped you from a mile away! 🤣
Smiley Guy @ 54…
Nah, I just like poking fun at stupid Dunning-Kruger examples running wild on the intertubes on my day off while home sick. But if it makes you feel better to think you actually trolled me, all I can say is:
“You go, Glen Coco!”
I wonder what the editors of an alt-weekly in a liberal city think of this effect of boycotting artists:
“For two years, controversies have engulfed film festivals, popular TV shows produced in Israel have gone dark on American streaming platforms and escalating accusations of antisemitism and complicity in genocide have pitted artist against artist.
“Last month came the latest salvo: a boycott by thousands of Hollywood figures against all TV and movies connected to Israel—a country where largely left-wing creators have been waging their own battle against the Israeli government.”
‘“To boycott creators from any country in the world is outrageous,” Liat Benasuly, the producer of Netflix’s hit series, “Fauda,” said in an interview. “We are not our government—we suffer from them.”
‘“The boycott completely plays into their hands,” she said. “They want nothing more than to silence us.”’
The WSJ has an entire story on how the boycott against Israel has weakened Israeli critics of the Netanyahu regime, strengthened the repressive elements in that regime, and caused Paramount to cite free speech concerns as a reason to stream a mini-series about the effects of 10/7 on innocent Israelis:
‘Paramount is the only major Hollywood studio to have officially come out against the boycott. “The idea that you’re going to censor art, I don’t believe to be in line with American values and freedom of speech,” said Paramount CEO David Ellison, who closed on Paramount in August, in an interview.’
Ouch!
‘On Tuesday it will air “Red Alert,” a limited drama series about the fate of multiple characters, including an Israeli family with young children, an Arab family and Israeli police officers after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.’
(https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/television/israel-television-hollywood-boycotts-the-sea-fauda-tehran-b6e74305?mod=Searchresults&pos=1&page=1)
“Dr. Mary E. Brunkow is one of three researchers who won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for HER work on peripheral immune tolerance.”
Fixed it for you.
@61 So do you think the other two scientists did none of the work? (Or are you just an anti-woke dweeb?)
speaking of the Unfairness!
and Temerity of boycotts
against AIPAC/Israel!
and the Crimea
Fucking River:
The ruin of Gaza: how Israel’s two-year assault has devastated the territory
The majority of those killed by Israel’s
offensive in the strip have been civilians,
and the overall total now exceeds 67,000.
Entire families have been wiped out in a single airstrike.
Sometimes, only a single individual, frequently a child,
is left alive. There are also nearly 170,000 injured.
In all, casualties amount to roughly 10% of
Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.
There may well be
many more dead
uncounted in the
rubble that now
covers much
of Gaza.
[100,000?
200,000?]
Those killed by untreated illnesses,
poor nutrition, suicide or other causes
linked to the conflict are more numerous still.
Thousands of people have simply disappeared –
lost, incinerated or blown apart by explosions,
or held in secret detention by Israel.
The war, triggered by a Hamas raid into Israel on 7 October 2023
which killed approximately 1,200 people and took a further 251
as hostages More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed
inside Gaza by Israeli attacks, has devastated Gaza,
in physical and human terms.
[Some — Many — MOST’d
call That a Genocide]
{surprisingly, AIPAC
the Wormtongue
& Israel do Not.}
[go figure.]
Almost all Palestinians in the territory have been displaced, usually many times.
Entire cities have been reduced to dust and broken concrete.
Witnesses of attacks, or victims of the violence
around some food distribution sites, or medics
in overwhelmed hospitals describe “post-a-
pocalyptic landscapes” or “hell on earth”.
[well -what the Fuck did Hamas* expect?
after all, they Did Kill 1,200 Israelis]
More than 67,000 Palestinians have been
killed inside Gaza by Israeli attacks.
Most are civilians. At least 20,000
are children – about 2% of
Gaza’s child population.
But in September the former Israeli army commander
Herzi Halevi said more than 200,000 Palestinians
had been killed or injured in the war in Gaza.
[well — ONE THOUSAND,
TWO HUNDRED Israelis
WERE killed!]
Leaked Israeli military intelligence data
on casualties until May this year
suggested that more than 80%
of the dead were civilians.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/oct/07/the-ruin-of-gaza-how-israel-two-year-assault-has-devastated-the-territory
as nutnyahoo is allowed to go
so too will Cadet Bonespurs
given enough Rope
and Time
*did Palestinians elect Hamas?
A. Yes. they Did.
in 2007.
before MOST
Palestinians
were even
Born.
@63
Q. Has Hamas allowed more Elections
since their Election in 2007?
A. are you Kidding?
Of COURSE Not. they
‘don’t Believe in’ Elections
at least, not since they won theirs.
Q. does Cadet Bonespurs
‘believe in’ Elections?
A. are you
Fucking
Joking?
[Working my way to ‘the Bottom’ of
thumpfYOU!’/wormmy’s Shitlist up
@1 before I’m banned/Gitmo’d
for fucking Ever. wish me luck!]
@1 I hope that took you way too much time to both think through and type out. Fucking loser
@66: That sentiment fits far better when applied to the scroll-past fest’ directly above it!
@66: dont shoot the messenger! 🤣
@66: When I first saw the vast expanse of empty space and ragged right margin of @1, I just figured it was the usual kristo’ slop. But after multiple commenters took it seriously, I knew it couldn’t be kristo’s output. Your response fits kristo’s slop perfectly, though.
Cool.
@1 Storm Trumpfer: Awwwwww, do I scare youse?
Well, good. Then I’m doing my job here as a commenter. 🙂
@22 kristofarian: +1 Agreed. I miss xina, too.
@69: …..said the Reigning King of the Slop Trough, ol’ teenieweenie.