Protesters at Sea-Tac airport tell it like it is.
Protesters at Sea-Tac airport tell it like it is. Charles Mudede

Light Rail and Protests: What did we learn this weekend? That cars are no good for protests. Trains, however, are. They can transport lots of people to a place of political resistance. This appears to be the reason why the Port of Seattle Police requested that Sound Transit not stop at the airport on Saturday night. It was rapidly supplying the Muslim ban protest at the airport with more and more bodies. Cars could never be that efficient. In fact, an airport employee explained to me that cars are unsuitable for large protests at a place like an airport because parking, if found, is dear. Without Link, it could be argued, the protest at the airport would have been much smaller and less diverse.

Citizens in Edmonds Protest the Ban: Yesterday, people gathered on the corners of 100th and HWY 104 in Edmonds and demand that "No Human is Illegal and ALL Refugees are Welcome here."

Protesters in Edmonds, a suburb of Seattle.
Protesters in Edmonds, a suburb of Seattle. Courtesy of Julie Shayne


The Shameful Pepper-Spray Incident at Sea-Tac Airport on Saturday: Has made national news.

Trump Is Attacking American Citizens: The fact of the matter is that the executive order to ban Muslims from "terrorist-prone" countries does not in any way protect Americans but, by the rushed manner it was implemented, exposes them to attacks. One can consider Trump's executive order to be an attack on Americans, and particularly Americans in urban areas (terrorists do not blow up barns) for two important reasons. One, as the philosopher Graham Harman pointed out in a Facebook post, Trump could "have ordered US Embassies in those countries not to issue any new visas for 90 days. Still shortsighted and mean, but probably within the President's executive powers, and at least not a crippling inconvenience to those already en route to the US who may have saved up for months or years to be able to afford the trip." But if Trump had not crippled the airports, then there would have been less noise, confusion, brazen tweets, and bold-sounding barking at the press this weekend. And it's now reported by CNN that some in Trump's administration did want to implement the Muslim ban in a more orderly manner. But this approach was overruled by Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller. The desired racist spectacle ensued. Next, the executive order repeatedly mentions 9/11 as one of the reasons for the ban, but none of the terrorists that participated in that major crime came from the countries listed in the ban. And the inclusion of Iran in the iffy list is just bizarre. That state does not produce terrorists or is terrorist prone. It is a stable state. Indeed, the last time Iran had a major episode that involved American citizens was the hostage crisis between 1979 and 1981. But after that crisis, the country spent more time fighting Iraq than the US. Put these two together (the suddenness of the ban and the huge holes in its coverage), then you have a policy that by its racist excitement does nothing but expose urban Americans to danger.



Holocaust Denial: Is now official in the US.


The US Is In the Middle of a Coup? The argument not only sounds plausible but will provide fuel your coming nightmares...



More Nightmare Fuel:



John Kerry Died: In a nightmare I had last night. We were trying to cross some steep and rocky mountain path. Kerry was right behind me. His foot landed on a loose rock, and he slipped and he fell backwards and he fell down, down, down to his death. The source of the nightmare? Two things that I read on Sunday afternoon: The report that Trump is deliberately trying to destroying the State Department, and the Alps section of William Wordsworth's poem "Cambridge and the Alps."


Why Are Progressives Now In the Same Trench With Neoliberal Corporations like Lyft, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Starbucks, and Facebook? Part of the thanks for this situation has to go to those who, during the presidential race, argued that Hillary is the same as Trump. These people called Hillary a neoliberal, which is correct. She is just that. But they failed to understand the other side of neoliberalism—its cosmopolitianism. If seen in this way, a big difference between Clinton and Trump would have appeared to progressive voters. It concerned the kind of confrontation they wanted to have with the next president. A productive one with neoliberalism, which has no problem with civil rights; or an unproductive one with Trump (banning Muslims, building walls, pussy grabbing, and the like). This is why Apple and other corporations are siding with protesters on the Muslim ban. These companies are neoliberal and also cosmopolitan. In their thinking, everyone has a right to be a part of the market. Indeed, Starbucks has pledged to hire 10,000 refugees.


This Week In Crazy:



Six Killed In Shooting at Quebec Mosque on Sunday: The province's premier, Philippe Couillard, has called it an act of terror.


23-Year-Old Renton Woman Arrested For Homicide That Happened at Beaver Lake Park: From an email I received from Sergeant Cindi West of the King County Sheriff's Office:

Detectives believe she is the driver of an SUV that struck and killed a 22 year old man at Beaver Lake Park on Wednesday. Detectives are asking for the public’s help locating the vehicle that was used in the homicide. Police obtained video of the suspect vehicle leaving the scene of the homicide by a citizen that caught it on a dash camera.
The vehicle is believed to be a mid 2000’s Gold Infiniti mid-size SUV with 5 point chrome wheels.