This is the future the Seattle Times wants.
This is the future the Seattle Times wants. Drbouz/Getty Images

Seattle Times, what is your major malfunction? First they endorsed Dino Rossi for the 8th congressional district. Now they recommend a no vote on the carbon fee. They end their blah blah bullshit with this gem, which represents the heart and soul of big corporation rhetoric on policy they don’t like, “vote no and demand a better and more accountable plan for combating climate change.” It’s always that they care too much, isn’t it? They say consumers will bear the costs of the fee, not Big Oil. They really should be asking the question, will consumers bear the cost of pollution and climate change? The answer is inevitably, yes. Here are the endorsements that matter.

Estimates of Central American migrant caravan now up to 5,000 people: They are marching through Mexico’s “blazing sun,” and sleeping on “rain-soaked” sidewalks, because, as one of the migrant marchers says, “we have nothing else.” Trump announced over Twitter, of course, that he has “alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy.” Yes, our president does not know how to spell emergency—that is the real emergency. Here is his tweet in which he also makes totally unsubstantiated claims that “Middle Easterners are mixed in.”


BTW: Seems like a good place to sneak this in.


Trump is attacking our transgender friends and family: And not speaking out or doing anything we can to stop it is complicity. Trump wants to officially define gender, per the New York Times, "as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the most drastic move yet in a government wide effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law." Give this Times piece a read because I simply cannot do it justice in this little blurb.

The air is still nasty: What’s that haze you’re seeing? Mostly fog. But also pollution.


Texas senate candidate Beto O’Rourke walks back Trumpism: During a debate he called Ted Cruz “Lyin’ Ted,” à la Trump-lingo. In typical democratic fashion he now says it “wasn’t the best phrase for me to use.” Beto, focus, no one cares (although we clearly do, so, so much). In fact, liberals, it’s time to ask the question (it was time so, so long ago), which fights are worth fighting in a time like this? Which minor issues should we just let go? Are life and death at stake?

Which brings us to Elizabeth Warren: Warren is still equivocating her freaking DNA test. Great, you tried to get Donald Trump to pay up to charity—that was a noble cause, maybe, and that aspect hasn’t really panned out. But now she says she took a DNA test and made it public because she believes “one way that we try to rebuild confidence is through transparency.” Wrong. But more importantly, once again, is this the fight Democrats need to be fighting?

Hot, same-sex, NSFW penguin action: Err. Is egg incubation NSFW? Just wanted to be safe, in case any of our readers work in offices full of homophobic penguins. There are some risqué moments where one penguin slaps the other penguin’s butt, playfully, but otherwise all I see is just two cute lil’ penguins being all cute with each other. Also I owe you at least ten cute animal videos to make up for that elephant hunting one…


Is this something to worry about? Four decently sized earthquakes shook under the ocean off the coast of Vancouver Island last night, the largest of which was a magnitude 6.8. There were no "reports of damage or tsunami warnings," but when you live in constant, numb fear of "The Big One," any strong seismic activity in the Pacific Northwest is enough to shake out the hidden anxiety from the back of your brain, at least momentarily.

Brazil has their own Trump: His name is Jair Bolsonaro and he is the far-right favorite to win the presidency. He is stepping up his rhetoric now with threats of purging "left-wing 'outlaws'." Of his opponents, he said, "Either they go overseas, or they go to jail." For an in depth look at the upcoming Brazilian election and information on Jair Bolsonaro, I recommend John Oliver's take, here.

Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options include: A reading with Transparent and I Love Dick director Jill Soloway, a screening of a '90s Halloween classic about telekinetic wannabe witches, The Craft, and a show with pop crafter Noah Cyrus.