Milwaukee Bucks walk out of Game Five to protest police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Milwaukee Bucks walk out of Game Five to protest police shooting of Jacob Blake. ASHLEY LANDIS-POOL/GETTY IMAGES

The Milwaukee Bucks are striking: The team did not play its NBA playoff game today, choosing instead to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake. "This is a legitimate moment in sports history. An entire team electing as a unit to not play a playoff game, to effect change," tweeted sports anchor Mike Leslie. The NBA announced that it will delay other playoff matches and reschedule them. "Some things are bigger than basketball," the Bucks VP said today in a statement.

We've got a sports strike! The Bucks strike had quick ripple effects. The Mariners have postponed their game against the Padres tonight in solidarity with a growing number of teams across the United States striking in protest. "The Mariners have eight Black players on their active roster and 11 on their 40-man roster, more than any other team in baseball," notes the Seattle Times.

You know what time it is: It's RNC time, baby. After last night's snoozy second episode, the Republican National Convention's Trump Show returns for its penultimate episode this evening. Mike Pence, the human equivalent of a bag of expired oats, will deliver tonight's headline speech. I might skip this one. Here's the full speaker line-up:

  • Vice President Mike Pence
  • Second lady Karen Pence
  • Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
  • Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa
  • Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota
  • Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas
  • Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
  • Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y.
  • Former acting Director of National Intelligence and current RNC advisor Richard Grenell
  • Senior White House advisor Kellyanne Conway
  • Keith Kellogg, national security advisor to the vice president
  • Retired NFL player Jack Brewer
  • Sister Dr. Dede Byrne, a surgeon and member of Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
  • Republican congressional nominee Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina
  • Scott Dane, executive director of the Associated Contract Loggers and Truckers of Minnesota
  • National Association of Police Organizations President Michael McHale
  • Republican congressional nominee Burgess Owens of Utah
  • Lara Trump, campaign advisor and wife of Eric Trump

    • An AP fact check on last night's RNC episode: Let's seeeeeee... No, Trump did not inherit "a stagnant economy on the front end of recession," as Trump's economic advisor claimed. And it was misleading to state that "the president has held China accountable," as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed. Those are just a teensy sliver of last night's lies and misleading statements...

    If you're horny for mistruths, here's the link to tonight's show. It starts around 6 pm Pacific.

    A Seattle startup shifted to a four-day workweek due to the pandemic: What happened? "Higher job satisfaction and the same, if not higher, productivity levels," reports Geekwire. The startup, Volt, said in a blog post that “less time working + more productivity = happier employees. It’s not rocket science, but it sure is music to my ears.”

    I thought this was interesting: Tan Vinh, a food critic with the Seattle Times, said on KUOW's Seattle Now podcast this morning that he is no longer dining indoors because it just can't be safe enough. (Gov. Inslee, I hope you're listening!!) So he and the Seattle Times are focusing instead on great take-out and pantry programs. It's an interesting chat, based on this piece Vinh and Bethany Jean Clement recently wrote for the Times: "Why our restaurant critics aren’t dining in—plus their expert advice on what food makes the best takeout."

    The "Quick Bites" format has failed Quibi: The confounding, ridiculous streaming service has shifted to the big screen, jumping on "the drive-in bandwagon" by screening its thriller series The Stranger (👀) at a drive-in theater Tuesday night. To make the series full-length, the company stitched together its 10- to 15-minute quick-bite episodes to create a 13-episode movie. “There will be so much more to discover in the Quibi format," the show's creator said, calling this ~130-minute film "a radically new way to watch story and to interact with story." Hm.

    Local conservative media joined a Seattle police official in framing the Monday night fire outside the East Precinct as "attempted murder": Capitol Hill Seattle blog has more on the claim here. The Stranger's Rich Smith was there on Monday night and followed the 200 to 300 direct-action demonstrators. The demonstrators were with the Every Night Direct Demonstrators, protesting SPD and the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

    It appears the person arrested Monday night in the arson investigation, Desmond David-Pitts, was being transferred to federal custody on Wednesday: CHS Blog reports that the King County Prosecutor’s Office "was preparing to ask a judge to hold David-Pitts on bail on probable cause for first-degree arson." The case will now likely be handled at the federal level. We've requested an incident report from the evening.

    "Attempted murder" would be a charge determined in court: Q13's Brandi Kruse, a stan of the criminal justice system, knows this, but I guess Brandi is the prosecutor when cops are endangered.

    Rich found that Alaska’s KTUU interviewed a man named Desmond David-Pitts after an Anchorage cop shot and killed his 16-year-old brother, Lufilufilimalelei Polu, last February: Cops said Polu shot at them during a traffic stop, and they produced a badge hit by a bullet during the altercation. The Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions said the officer who shot and killed Polu was “justified” in doing so, according to KTUU.

    Hurricane Laura may bring an "unsurvivable" storm surge: The surge could be as high as 20 feet and "capable of sinking entire communities," notes the AP. It's on track to hit the Texas and Louisiana coastline late tonight or tomorrow morning and will be the strongest hurricane to strike the United States this year. A University of Miami hurricane researcher described Laura as being in "full beast mode."

    Washington state reported 456 new COVID-19 cases today: and four new deaths.

    A reminder from Jasmyne: I'm submitting some of my pics tonight.