Cant wait to see who plays him on SVU.
Can't wait to see who plays this motherfucker on SVU. Kena Betancur/Getty Images

There's a new Seattle City Council president in town: And unfortunately it's not Kshama Sawant and her friends at the Socialist Alternative. Drum roll please....

In case you're not familiar with Lorena González: She's currently trying to get Super PAC money out of local elections. Last summer, Lester Black profiled her alongside Teresa Mosqueda.

It's been a bad day for Harvey Weinstein: At the same time that the disgraced movie mogul and alleged rapist was appearing in court in New York for the first day of his rape trial, prosecutors in LA County were charging him with four counts of rape and sexual assault in connection to two alleged incidents in 2013. He also seems to be having some kind of back pain? Either that or he stole a walker from a nursing home on his way to court.

Rose McGowan was in New York to deliver a message to the villain himself: Fresh off her side-gig as a political commentator, Charmed star Rose McGowan appeared at a press conference outside the New York court: “Dear Harvey, no matter what lies you tell yourself, you did this,” she said. “Today, Lady Justice is staring down on a super predator. You brought this upon yourself by hurting so many. You have only yourself to blame. I came here today to see this through. I came here today to stand side by side with these other women who you also harmed and to be a voice for the voiceless. … You thought you could terrorize me and others into silence. You were wrong.”

Speaking of Weinstein: If you read anything about this case today, make it Laura Kipnis's NYT piece on why Weinstein very well might get off and what this whole case says about bigger trends in American society. "Mr. Weinstein may be our most flagrant monster at the moment," Kipnis writes. "But what if the whole system is abhorrent? The basic acceptance of gender inequality is, to me, the subtext of his trial. It also happens to be the question our courts are least equipped to deal with."

Someone released bedbugs at a Walmart in Pennsylvania: Police in Erie County, PA, are investigating after a store manager reportedly found pill bottles with bedbugs inside tucked into a boy's jacket on a rack at the local Walmart. According to the AP, the bugs were also observed "actively crawling around in the men’s fitting rooms." The death penalty, by the way, is legal in Pennsylvania.

We're not at war with Iran! Yet! There was, however, a massive funeral in Tehran for major general Qassim Suleimani, the Iranian military leader who was assassinated with a U.S. drone last week. Thousands of mourners (all men, by the looks of this NYT video) chanted "Death to America” and wept for Suleimani. Meanwhile, Trump continued to make things worse, possibly in an effort to distract the American people from his impeachment and forthcoming Senate trial. This is pure speculation on my part, but he has seen Wag the Dog at least twice.

Iranian-Americans held at U.S. border. The Seattle Times reports that Negah Hekmati, an interior designer and U.S. citizen who lives in Kirkland with her family, says she was held at the U.S.-Canadian border in Blaine for five hours and questioned about her family in Iran by Customs and Border Protection. CBP denied holding U.S. citizens for excessive periods on Sunday, but Jorge BarĂłn, the executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, says he says he was at the border crossing and saw dozens of people being held for long periods.

John Bolton may be willing to testify at Senate trial: The human walrus/former White House national security adviser posted a rather confusing statement on his website, but the big takeaway is this: If he has to testify, he will testify. Or, as he put it, "Accordingly, since my testimony is once again at issue, I have had to resolve the serious competing issues as best I could, based on careful consideration and study. I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify." Is this guy a lawyer or what? (Yes.)

UK's "most prolific rapist" receives life-sentence: Reynhard Sinaga, a 36-year-old Indonesian national, was found guilty of sexually assaulting 48 men. Sinaga, who was a graduate student at the University of Leeds, reportedly drugged his victims and filmed the assaults, and police say there may be over 190 victims. Sinaga will serve a minimum of 30 years before he can be considered for release, which is apparently what you call a "life sentence" in the UK.

Australia fires may have killed half a billion animals in New South Wales alone: Words don't really capture how tragic this situation is so here's a video:


One of the owners of St. John's Bar: Was doxed over a bad tweet. Sigh.

Obviously cancel culture isn't real: But if it were, this would be the best analysis of it I've ever seen.

It's snowing in the mountains: So much, in fact, that Stevens Pass is closed.


Will we get some down here in the low-lands? Not this week, sorry, but maybe the next.