Good morning! It’s still hot. Really hot. The kind of heat that reminds us that the climate crisis doesn’t stop just because we’re dealing with an authoritarian one, too. Western Washington is under an extreme heat warning until Wednesday morning, so we’ve got two more days of this to muscle through. Don’t have an AC? You’ve got options. Most libraries double as cooling centers during heat waves. You can take a dip at one of the Seattle beaches that isn’t currently shut down for sewage reasons. Or you can do what I do: put a bowl of ice in front of a fan to create a janky, but surprisingly effective, poor man’s AC. Stay cool, stay safe, check on your neighbors. It’ll be over soon.
Speaking of the Climate Crisis: The Bear Gulch fire is still burning in the Olympic Peninsula, in one of the country’s wettest forests. It sparked on July 6, caused by humans (we don’t know exactly how yet, but that date might be a clue), and has burned consistently for more than a month and a half. According to the Seattle Times, it’s the biggest fire on the peninsula since 1951.
Balducci Cracks Down on Retail Crime: There’s nothing like a crime crackdown during campaign season. Last week, standing between Kent Mayor Dana Ralph and former interim SPD chief Sue Rahr, King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci announced that she would introduce a measure to dedicate $600,000 a year for a permanent “retail crimes task force.” Why, you might ask? Because Mayor Ralph says that organized retail crime is at least partly responsible for Kroger’s decision to shut down the Fred Meyer in Kent (a claim UFCW 3000, which represents grocery workers, strongly disputes), Balducci is running for County Executive, and nothing tickles the justice boners of moderate- and conservative-leaning voters like a crackdown on crime against multi-billion dollar companies. Balducci says it’s incorrect to think of shoplifting from a grocery store as “petty theft.” We think that if you see someone stealing groceries, baby formula, or diapers from a large corporation, no you didn’t.
The Face of Honey Bucket Breaks a Record: Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh made baseball history on Sunday with his 49th home runs of the season, breaking the record for the most homers hit by a catcher in Major League Baseball.
Feds Break International Law, a Lot: A new report from UW’s Center for Human Rights divided the Trump administration’s gross human rights violations into two categories: “enforced disappearance,” and refoulement. Enforced disappearance is exactly what it sounds like: when ICE kidnaps immigrants off the street, and puts them into the black box that is our immigration detention system—concealing their whereabouts, depriving them of legal representation, and placing them outside of the protection of the law. And “refoulement” specifically refers to the act of sending a person in government custody to a country where they will likely face grave danger. The report documents 16 cases of enforced disappearance in Washington state alone (including six that were sent to Guantanamo Bay, and Tuan Phan, who was sent to South Sudan and held in a shipping container), and says that the practice of refoulement is so broad in the Trump administration that it is “unmeasurable.”
Heard in the Oval Office Today: “I don’t like a dictator, I’m not a dictator,” Trump said while reporters were gathered in our dictator’s office, while he prepared to sign an order banning cashless bail, for some reason.
Kilmar Back in Custody: Kilmar Armando Ábrego García—who the entire country now knows as the Maryland resident and immigrant who was wrongfully sent to the notorious Salvadoran terrorism prison in March—was detained again on Monday when he showed up for an immigration interview. The Trump administration now plans to deport him to Uganda, his lawyer said, a country where he has no connection, and where the United States currently has a travel advisory for violent crime and terrorist attacks.
Flag Humper to Sign Executive Order Protecting Flags: From burning, not assault. According to Fox News, which Trump is currently using as his personal PR agency, he plans to sign an order today that directs the attorney general to prosecute anyone who violates laws “in ways that involve desecrating the flag.” Sound a little like nonsense to you? Those verbal gymnastics are trying to get around the fact that it’s absolutely legal to burn the American flag. The Supreme Court decided that in 1989. But it hurts Trump’s feelings, so if you’re caught committing another crime while burning the flag, Bondi’s going to be up your ass about it. “You burn a flag, you get one year in jail,” Trump said. Because nothing says “this isn’t a fascist state” like forced patriotism.
Trump Planning Military Deployment in 19 States: National Guard troops have started carrying weapons on the street, the Pentagon has reportedly been planning a military deployment in Chicago, another city with a declining crime rate, for weeks, and today, Trump announced that 19 states are also on his list: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. Trump’s administration claims they will support ICE’s operations and be a crime-deterring force. (I can all but guarantee he’s going to see an uptick in those flag-burning crimes he’s so concerned about.) Seattle’s not on the list, which must come as a surprise to the conservatives who are convinced Seattle is a crime-ridden hellhole.
The Woke Teacher Test: Oklahoma’s superintendent of schools, Ryan Walters, wants to require any teacher coming from New York or California to pass an “American First Test” before being hired, to try to weed out the “woke indoctrination” of the coastal elite. The test, which is designed by the conservative misinformation organPragerU, will supposedly weed out “radical gender ideology” and promote American exceptionalism. This isn’t the first time he’s shoved his nose up MAGA’s ass. He’s also tried to collect citizenship data from students, require schools to teach the bible, and open a religious charter school. Showing porn at work is fine though (actually, the local Sheriff investigated, and it’s in the hands of the local DA).
A Song for Your Monday Morning: That was a lot, so here’s something to ease you into the rest of the day. Bumbershoot is this weekend, and throughout the week, we’ll keep sharing the acts we’re stoked about. This morning, let’s spend time with one of the headliners: the delightfully unhinged Aurora. And trust me, listen to this on headphones.
For the love of God, upper 80s is not extreme heat in the summer!
Why do the “pRoGrEsSiVeS” at The Stranger simp so hard for criminals? It’s not “edgy” or cool. It’s fucking lame. Judging by your photo, you’re probably at least 45 years old, Hannah. Grow up already.
If you’re going to post paywalled articles like the NYT one about Trump, you should follow your very own “progressive morality” about stealing from “big corporations” and post an archived article. Or is “stealing” from “journalists” bad?
Moron
Hey look, I stole from the New York Times, Hannah Murphy Winter should give me a medal:
https://archive.is/7ZYFK
Why do
MAGAkunts
simp so HARD
for Felonious Maximus
thee Most Criminalest
‘human being’ in
American
History?
b. why are they allowed
to darken @tS’s
doorway?
New – Cash on hand – August
RNC – $84.3 million
DNC – $13.9 million
It’s over. President Vance is more or less guaranteed for 2028. None of the competitors even have a chance.
The most positive thing you can say about Joe Biden is that he destroyed the Democratic Party. Maybe something better can rise from the ashes.
Oh no, I bypassed the paywall and stole an article from The Seattle Times, one that The Stranger / Hannah Murphy Winter deliberately ignored, because it doesn’t fit the “progressive narrative”, it’s okay though, The Seattle Times is a big corporation:
Owner of Civic Hotel used as homeless shelter sues Seattle, King County
“The owner of a hotel in South Lake Union is suing Seattle and King County after a lease to use the building as a homeless shelter ended, claiming they violated their contracts and left rooms contaminated with drugs.”
https://archive.is/o3sts
@2: The Stranger continues hewing to long-established ideology concerning homelessness and theft. The homeless are “victims of capitalism,” whose poverty was inflicted upon them, hence their thefts are justified. No amount of evidence to the contrary, including thousands of homeless persons’ deaths from overdoses, will alter the Stranger’s beliefs in any way.
Won’t someone stop me from stealing from the Seattle Times!??!?!?
SOMEONE THINK OF THE JOURNALISTS!
Belltown shooting: 1 injured in attempted robbery, police say
https://archive.is/Ss1Mp
I think someone here might need to have the dosage on their meds re-evaluated.
Blob, sorry that my pointing out the rank hypocrisy of The Stranger and Hannah Murphy Winter bothers you. You’ll get over it though.
Or were you referring to kristofartian?
Couldn’t imagine why anyone would care if people in the comments share non-paywalled links to articles but it would be inappropriate for the author to do the same because subscribers pay for the work they’re sharing
@11 – “Couldn’t imagine why anyone would care if people in the comments share non-paywalled links to articles but it would be inappropriate for the author to do the same because subscribers pay for the work they’re sharing”
The articles I posted archive links to are paywalled, genius. If it’s okay to steal from Kroger and Fred Meyer, then it is okay to steal from The New York Times and The Seattle Times, so Hannah Murphy Winter, by her same “progressive morality”, shouldn’t post paywalled articles, and instead post archived versions.
Why are you claiming to be stealing articles if they links are paywalled? Is everything ok?
@13: I used archive.is to bypass the paywall and make an archive of the paywalled article, so that anyone who follows the links to the archives can read the paywalled articles for free.
What are you having trouble understanding? I essentially “stole” the articles from the “journalists”, not only that, I distributed the links to the free versions to THE PEOPLE, comrade! It’s just the same as if I stole from Fred Meyer or Kroger!
I stuck it to the man, man!!!!
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/22/democrats-woke-language-blacklist-00519421
Dems doubling down on Progressive ideas is going to give us JD Vance in 2028.
In the thirty states that require party registration, Dems are down 2 million voters and R’s are up 2 million since Trump came into office. Its proportionally distributed.
Play to the Progressive’s and keep a shrinking party happy and motivated or moderate and expand the tent to win? The former keeps activists motivated while JD Vance becomes President and the latter gets us out of this MAGA shitshow.
@10,
What in my comment leads you to believe I’m bothered by any of this? I actually find it mildly amusing.
14 by definition the article is no longer paywalled if the link bypasses the paywall but sure that makes sense too i guess, not sure why you’re so angry about it though
@17, barth, Hannah Murphy Winter advocated stealing from “big corporations” like Fred Meyer and Kroger. She also, in the same Slog post, linked to a paywalled article at the New York Times. In order to read it at that link, you need a paid subscription to the New York Times.
I used archive.is to “steal” that paywalled article, and then I distributed that archive link to you, so that you can read the paywalled, subscription-only link for FREE! You should thank me, comrade.
By hannah’s reasoning it’s ok to steal basic life essentials like baby food and diapers. You don’t have to agree with this reasoning to understand it but i think she explained herself pretty clearly in the post. No one is going to die from not being able to read an article.
“We think that if you see someone stealing groceries, baby formula, or diapers from a large corporation, no you didn’t.”
Yes the fuck I did, because continued theft (regardless of the reason) is exactly why corporations fuck over the rest of us and close stores. Fred Meyer started putting in separate store within a store sections for alcohol (borderline understandable) and beauty products. I’m not going out of my way in the middle of my shopping to make a separate transaction for something as mundane as body lotion and fucking sunscreen. But guess what it’s causing me to do instead? Order that shit on Amazon instead, so Kroger has just decided they’re ok with losing money either way. Theft is theft. I don’t care why you do it, but fuck off with that shit.
@15 people don’t like Democrats because they have largely abandoned the working class to become just another corporatist and imperialist party. Third Way, who are staunchly corporatist and imperialist, is desperately flailing to convince anyone that actually there’s some other reason people don’t like Democrats. Only idiots believe the problem is candidates using terms like “patriarchy.”
“By hannah’s reasoning it’s ok to steal basic life essentials like baby food and diapers. “
Well, her “reasoning” is fucking stupid.
@20 “continued theft (regardless of the reason) is exactly why corporations fuck over the rest of us and close stores.”
No, corporations fuck over the rest of us to placate shareholders and ensure obscene executive compensation. Theft is just their bullshit excuse.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2025/06/02/krogers-former-ceo-salary-typical-worker/83993572007/
“Kroger paid former CEO Rodney McMullen $15.4 million in 2024 – the final year before his abrupt March 3 resignation in the wake of a company ethics investigation. … Kroger earned a $2.7 billion profit on $147.1 billion of sales in 2024.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/kroger-albertsons-are-spending-billions-stock-buybacks-blocked-merger-rcna183829
“Kroger said it would repurchase $7.5 billion of its shares after a more than two-year pause, with $5 billion of that to be repurchased in an accelerated fashion … Stock repurchases — which reduce the number of shares available, driving up the value of those that remain — and dividend payments benefit all investors but especially those with the biggest stakes.”
@7
“The homeless are
‘victims of capitalism,’
whose poverty was inflicted*
upon them, hence their thefts are justified.”
ALL Glory to the
Vulture Capitalists
snatching up our Homes
and making Homelessness
Infucking Evitable for all but
(soon) the Very Few, seen here
whorshippied by the Wormtongue
no doubt possessor of
multiple properties
itsfucking self.
“Death &/or
Dismemberment
to any & all thieves!” he likely
Proclaims Totally disregarding the
Theft of Housing, itself a Human Wrong.
*”Also,
The Cruelty
IS THE POINT.”
wormmy the quotable,
Always. on. point.
No self-respecting mother would risk getting jailed to steal groceries, baby formula, or diapers. What a myth. What gets stolen is booze, Tide detergent, and other goods that have a better mark up value on our sleazy city streets downtown.
mark down
NOBODY is starving in the USA. NOBODY “needs” to steal diapers and baby food in the USA. If Hannah Murphy Winter really believes that starving people are stealing food to survive, or that low-income mothers “need” to steal baby food and diapers, that just proves how fucking stupid and naive and out-of-touch with reality she actually is. Grow up, naive elderly white woman.
Lots of people struggle to feed their families in this country. Of course it’s not Gaza-level starvation but it doesn’t have to be that bad for people to suffer, or for kids to underperform at school because they’re going to bed hungry. There shouldn’t be anyone struggling to eat in the wealthiest country on earth but we have one of the weakest social safety nets in the western world. The number of food-insecure households will only continue to increase as post-pandemic inflation and tariffs make our food even more expensive.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details?pubid=109895&v=57.6
Tensorna update: BLAT BLAT BLAT kill the homeless BLAT BLAT BLAT corporations are the real victims BLAT BLAT BLAT hate the unfortunate BLAT BLAT BLAT propaganda is science BLAT BLAT BLAT all Kshama’s fault BLAT BLAT BLAT beat up the poor BLAT BLAT BLAT worship the rich and powerful BLAT BLAT BLAT I share all of my political positions with MAGAts – oops! I wasn’t supposed to admit that BLAT BLAT BLAT resurrect workhouses for the poor BLAT BLAT BLAT Kshama did it BLAT BLAT BLAT I’m the only real liberal (whew!) BLAT BLAT BLAT…
@28 Yes, in this country just about everyone eats, if only by grace of SNAP, soup kitchens and food banks. But baby essentials are nowhere near as easy to come by with no money. About 15 years ago someone stole a single credit card from my wallet at the gym. They wisely didn’t take any of the $50 or so in cash, which would have immediately alerted me to the theft. As a result I didn’t notice the card was missing for about 24 hours. During that time the thief ran up about $400 in three trips to the same nearby Fred Meyer. I asked the store for copies of the receipts and it turned out that virtually everything they bought was baby stuff — diapers, formula, blankets, clothing and the like. Seeing this, I hesitated to involve the police, as this person was clearly in a desperate situation (or at least was trying to help someone who was). Ultimately I did file a police report, only because the credit card company demanded it before they would reverse the charges and issue me a new card. (I don’t know what happened after that.) Make of it what you will, but I get where Winter is coming from.
“Seattle’s not on the list, which must come as a surprise to the conservatives who are convinced Seattle is a crime-ridden hellhole” – haha, federal pols have been scared shitless of Seattle since the WTO riots. They want this occupation to go down without anyone fighting back. Keep up the good work, progressive activists – we’re counting on you!
The only people who think that shoplifting is mostly about desperate parents stealing life-saving necessities for their starving, un-diapared tots are clueless bougies whose sources of information range from Les Mis to Raising Arizona.
31: Gosh, $400 so easily dismissed. In a stretch I can kinda see your point about desperation – but not for “clothing and the like”. Must be nice to be rich enough to be a bleeding bank-account liberal.
There’s something so poignant about Vawoli citing non-existent facts in a desperate attempt to prove that they’re “smarter” than the college-educated. Poignant in the “tragico-comedy” kind of way – you don’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
re: 31: And it must be shitty to be still in the closet (see your own comments about DeSantis and Pulse rainbows). People who choose that path are prone to projecting their rage onto easy, convenient targets, like the poor and the needy.
correction: re:34
@35: “There’s something so poignant about Vawoli citing non-existent facts in a desperate attempt to prove that they’re “smarter” than the college-educated.”
Please do point out, and explain, in detail, any “non-existent fact” that I cited.
I can’t wait! This should be good!!!
@26 & 28 lolololol you both have no idea what you’re talking about regarding hunger in the US or trying to provide for a baby if you are poor. I, on the other hand, do. I facilitate a charitable fund, and we are INUNDATED with requests from food banks and small nonprofits that do nothing but support families with small children. Especially now that federal funding for food banks has been cut and SNAP and other programs have been gutted. And let’s not forget the funding cuts to Meals on Wheels! We get requests from all over Washington as seniors are no longer able to get food.
Oh and Valwoli? You should probably change you handle to Javert after that spit speckled series of comments.
@28 Baby formula is one of the most commonly stolen items from grocery stores. Maybe instead of being a weird fuck about links to articles on the Seattle Times you could try using google? lol.
34, they didn’t dismiss $400? They filed a police report so they could get their money back because it’s a lot of money for most people? Also don’t understand how there could be any shame in having enough money to essentially buy baby supplies for someone who needed them if that were the case but you seem to be resentful of anyone who’s not living in misery so maybe it’s not any deeper than that.
Almost (probably every) every death-by-starvation case in the USA, for years and years, has been caused by adults abusing and neglecting infants and children, or by adults in nursing homes being abused and neglected by their “caregivers”, or by incarcerated people who intentionally starved themselves to death.
@39: “I, on the other hand, do. I facilitate a charitable fund, and we are INUNDATED with requests from food banks and small nonprofits that do nothing but support families with small children.”
So nobody is actually starving to death. Thank you for proving my point!
39: So you’re saying the thefts of baby formula and other infant products are okay and can be ignored?
@ 40 and 41 – typical naive pollyanna twee white-guilt Seattle liberals who think that the baby supplies were used for the thief’s baby, instead of being sold for drug money down at someplace like 3rd and Pine.
I learned how to recognize facts from non-facts on my own – if you were as smart as I am you wouldn’t need your hand held to do so. You’re going to have to work harder to prove your smarts, old bean.
45 lol ok. Obviously no one has any way of knowing where the money in question went but if it makes you feel better to believe it was sold for drugs because nobody ever struggles to feed their kids then have at it i guess.
@46, so you got nuthin, I understand, old queef.
@30: Sorry, cressona’s not here today.
@4
IKR?
Those Class E felonies are pretty awful
Not at all harmless like the violent felony that GF was convicted of. Of course, progressives have a new violent criminal to champion; Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Two orders do protection for DV.
Y’all love love love violent crimes against women.
Flag burning is an interesting topic.
Depending on which flag you torch, it could be considered freedom of expression or a hate crime.