Today's late Slog AM is brought to you by a reminder to always triple-check that you set your alarm!
The post-truth era may have another victim: Tacoma-based fact-checking site Snopes is barely staying afloat. And it's not (only) because facts are dead and the truth is a myth, but because its founders are in the midst of multiple costly legal fights. Cofounder David Mikkelson is entrenched in accusations that he drained company funds for lavish vacations. There's a whole drama here and the case won't go to trial until probably next year, but Snopes is suffering financially. It would have been sunk if it weren't for GoFundMe campaigns. Ah, crowdfundingâgreat for covering American health-care costs and I guess bailing out media companies. Hey, Snopes, Gawker is on the line.
Biking through the glass ceiling: According to Seattle Times FYI Guy Gene Balk, men are much more likely to ride their bikes to work, about three times as likely, in fact. A recent poll said that 9 percent of men bike commute in Seattle, while only 3 percent of women do so. According to Balk, it is one the biggest biking gender gaps in the country and experts have a few ideas as to why. Women are still more likely to do a lot of the parenting, so having to pick up kids after work can make biking impractical. Thereâs the goddamn patriarchy ruining something as benign as biking. (Edit The lack of interconnected bike lanes is the real issue, however.)
You want a weather report? Too bad, here's some history. Learn something.
We can say that June 5th, 1889 was a sunny day in Seattle as this photo shows. None of the structures in this photo would exist by the end of the following day. Tomorrow is the 130th anniversary of the Great Fire that changed Seattle forever. (Public domain photo). #wawx pic.twitter.com/GSaNU9GS2V
â NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) June 5, 2019
Microsoft pivots to "Xbox-themed" hygiene products: Branding is crazy! I hope they have a Call of Duty: Black Ops scent I can lather all over my good bits. Oh! Maybe even an A 14-Year-Old Just Called Me a Gay Slur body spray? Gosh! I can't wait. Microsoft is pumping out some Xbox-branded body wash and deodorant. It's a team effort with the people who brought you Axe body spray.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson implements policy to affirm tribe sovereignty: The policy would see his office not implement any law or program that affects tribal land, people resources, or cultural sights without first getting consent from the tribes that it affects, according to Crosscut. Theyâve started acting on it already; just last week, they asked for permission to distribute money to the Suquamish Wellness Center to improve medical outcomes on the Kitsap Peninsula. Tribes have sovereignty, but the city, state, and federal governments have been incredibly slow to implement policies that reflect that.
Alzheimer drug withheld from the world: Okay, so this pharmaceutical corporation, Pfizer, discovered that their rheumatoid arthritis drug, Enbrel, brought down the risk of Alzheimer's by 64 percent. That's huge! But it would take a pricey clinical trial ($80 million) to prove it for sure, and Pfizer decided it wasn't worth it. Not only that, but they didn't share the findings with the broader scientific community. Guess what? Scientists are pissed! Me too!
All of this man's friends are probably dead: But he's still kicking. He'd probably still kick Nazi ass if need be.
U.S. 101st Airborne paratrooper veteran Tom Rice, 97, participates in a tandem parachute jump near the Normandy coast ahead of the 75th anniversary of the historic D-Day invasion.
"I feel great," he said afterward. "I'd go up and do it all again." https://t.co/3KKlYNftTR pic.twitter.com/xYwnVSCNYu
â ABC News (@ABC) June 5, 2019
Oh Jack, you rapscallion!
97-year old D-Day veteran Jack Port had no idea where he was headed on June 6, 1944: âI was just a kid. I wanted to chase girls." https://t.co/3rRp7Ds3yg
â The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 5, 2019
Oakland hops on the shrooms decriminalization train: Oakland, California, is doing what we all should be doingâfollowing in Denver's footsteps. Also, doing shrooms. The Oakland City Council passed a resolution Tuesday night that will decriminalize naturally-grown psychedelics. They say there are health benefits to tripping. Currently, any kind of commercial distribution of the stuff is a no-go for now.
Will you be attending the Boston Straight Pride Parade? If "Straight Pride" didn't turn you off then you're probably on the wrong website. If you're still reading, maybe this will curb your enthusiasm. The organization that's planning it is called "Super Happy Fun America" and they "advocate on behalf of the straight community." It's led by three men. If you go celebrate straight pride during the one-day event, maybe you'll even catch a glimpse of the straight pride flag! I wonder what it looks like. My bet is either a Pulp Fiction poster or an intense zoom on Prince William's bald spot! Please hypothesize in the comments.
Why are we celebrating straight pride and not this man?
Not all heroes wear capes đ pic.twitter.com/UEhovEb0Ue
â Dennis Naghizadeh (@DenzBenzi) June 4, 2019
Florida man tries to rob ATM with a blowtorch: He ended up welding it closed.
YouTube moves to remove all supremacist content from its platform: It's a wonder it took this long. YouTube has thousands of channels devoted to posting racist, mostly white supremacist and Nazi views. They recently decided to purge those creators from the platform. It goes beyond just discriminating on the basis of age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status, it also extends to posting conspiracy theories about violent events. For example, you can no longer say the mass shooting at Sandy Hook didn't happen. That goes for you too, Holocaust deniers! It also will tweak the algorithm to make videos filled with misinformation not as likely to be recommended to people.
Donât clap for YouTube just yet: Theyâve been publically berated all week for failing to actually do anything to protect Carlos Maza, a Vox reporter who is gay, from racist, homophobic attacks made by right-wing douche Steven Crowder on his YouTube channel. Mazaâs tweet calling Crowder out went viral, prompting tons of support from people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other left-wing darlings. It also brought an investigation from YouTube who ultimately did nothing. Hereâs the original tweet:
Since I started working at Vox, Steven Crowder has been making video after video "debunking" Strikethrough. Every single video has included repeated, overt attacks on my sexual orientation and ethnicity. Here's a sample: pic.twitter.com/UReCcQ2Elj
â Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) May 31, 2019
And hereâs YouTubeâs response:
I donât know what to say.
@YouTube has decided not to punish Crowder, after he spent two years harassing me for being gay and Latino.
I don't know what to say. https://t.co/EFvWCNvPms
â Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 4, 2019
And hereâs a trash shirt Crowder made:
In case you're wondering what happens when @YouTube lets a bully rally millions of fans to target someone in violation of their Terms of Service, Crowder's buddies are now selling a "Carlos Maza Is A Fag" shirt, mirror the design of his "Socialism Is For Fags" merch: pic.twitter.com/qKVuqcYbQe
â Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 4, 2019
The government has no idea whether they're levying tariffs on Mexico: So they're sending in the big guns: Mike Pence. He'll clear things right up! What could go wrong? Trump threatened to impose a 5 percent tariff on all Mexican goods that would increase by 5 percent every month until ultimately stopping at 25 percent. It was meant to force Mexico to do more about immigration issues, but the Trump administration has been pretty vague about how they would do that. Mike Pence and Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's foreign minister, will meet today as both sides try to figure out what the fuck is going on. Ebrard felt confident enough to say that there is an 80 percent chance no tariffs will be levied.
Now listen here, you $#!%: Now traveling down to the very bottom of the music lineup at Bumbershoot we have i///u, a University of Washington band that has been slowly blowing up locally. They've got a cool Hiatus Kaiyote meets Erykah Badu vibe plus flute!
[Editor's Note: Timothy will share mugs on Thursday. That is his penance.]