Vote harder: I’m gonna start with a brief disclaimer. I am in a mood. And it is not a mood that tolerates fuckery. Today President Joe Biden met with some Democratic governors, including our man, Jay Inslee. Biden, who has been an elected official for like two of my lifetimes combined, is out here not just begging for votes, but making threats. If we don’t vote for Democrats, apparently Republicans will pass a federal ban on abortion. Looking back to recent history, it seems we are screwed either way. We voted for Democrats. We’ve been voting for Democrats. And yet, so many people do not have abortion access. 

In case we don’t vote hard enough once again: We can do this ourselves. 

We can have meaningful access to abortion whether the Supreme Court likes it or not. Here’s how: https://t.co/NQXK15VVcl

— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) July 1, 2022

Back to Inslee: The Governor (or King, depending on your politics) sent down a directive to continue mandating COVID-19 vaccines for state employees. If the Democrats buck up and call a special session to deal with the reproductive rights crisis, then I’m sure the Republicans will want to talk about this, too.

Law and order: As I mentioned earlier this week, a whole slew of laws go into effect starting today. KOMO wrote up a list of them. As of today, you can no longer sell ammunition magazines with more than 10 rounds, and you can no longer manufacture, assemble, sell, transfer, or purchase an untraceable “ghost gun.” Additionally, the new Amber Alert for missing Indigenous people launches today, and you might get a hefty discount at Washington hospitals.

And in Seattle, if you move after your landlord raises the rent by 10%, then your landlord may have to pay you relocation assistance. 

Air travel? In this economy? The Associated Press said that we are seeing pre-pandemic levels of air travel this weekend. Not only that, but car travel will hit a record high in the coming days, even though gas is like $6 a gallon. 

That said: Some Americans will boycott buying gas from July 3-5 to protest the rising prices. Experts say this kind of thing can affect prices, but it would have to be sustained for a longer period of time. 

Forecast: We will certainly have some weather this long weekend (can’t believe it's Pride Weekend Part 2). The Seattle Times has a detailed forecast to help you plan. 

Wanted to flag this: Saturday night could be a rough one...

But in the case of sun: It’s July. We gotta get in the water. Here’s a comprehensive list of where to swim in Seattle. The article is from 2015, which is very vintage and cool, but the spots are still there.

Resisting the urge to say “doggo:” Our friend from Real Change, Guy Oron, went to Seattle Humane — and not just to see cats! There’s news even where there are cute animals. 

Happy Birthday! Deception Pass, the state’s most popular park, turns 100!! 

That thing that's happening: The committee overseeing the Jan 6 hearing can't criminally charge the former president, but the US Department of Justice can. The Guardian breaks down how likely that is. 

Fuck Jordan Peterson: One of many terrible Petersons (Pederson, Pedersen, Petersen, whatever spelling) dead-named actor Elliot Page and said some really weird, transphobic shit on Twitter. He got his account suspended. 

In other Twitter news: After getting hacked – er, uh, after giving some random person who direct-messaged me my password – I got my account back. Sad to see that not many of you posted about missing me while I was away, but that's okay. You can make it up to me. 

Speaking of me: Today, the good people at KUOW invited me on Week In Review with Brian Callanan from the Seattle Channel and Isabella Breda from The Everett Herald. We talked about the many, many awful SCOTUS decisions, and also about Breda’s excellent series on the detention camp the U.S. forced Indigenous children into in Tulalip. Also, my mini fan fell down and broke my lava lamp during the first few minutes of the show, I encouraged people to break laws, and I had some choice words for Starbucks. Check it out!

For your listening pleasure: This Minion’s soundtrack is about to be lit.