At last, a vaccine to stop people from re-enacting that scene from Home Alone
At last, a vaccine to stop people from re-enacting that scene from Home Alone luana rigolli / Getty Images

A handful of senators are pushing for recurring monthly payments to Americans. The group of 11 senators are asking Biden to include regular payments in his next relief package, expected later this year. Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell are not among them, oh well! The Senate is expected to start considering the current relief bill as early as today.

King County has administered a half million vaccines: Availability still might not be where we want it to be, but at least it’s been reaching the right people so far: 68% of health care workers have been vaccinated, 100% of nursing homes have been visited by vaccination teams, and 17 mobile teams are bringing vaccines to elderly residents. There are 2.25 million people in King County, so there’s still a long way to go. Mayor Jenny says we’re ready to be the first city to vaccinate 70% of its residents, a figure based on … er … ah … a very sincerely held wish?


Parler dropped its lawsuit against Amazon. If you need a good laugh, just think about all the many many many ways Parler has fucked up in the last month. Parler accused Amazon of shutting them down for political reasons in the lawsuit, which … okay, that might not have been the only reason, but it probably didn’t help? Anyway, Parler just gave up the lawsuit, and with any luck we’ll never have to think about them ever again except when laughing about how they originally said it’s supposed to be pronounced “par-lay,” like it’s French.

Texas Representative Ronny Jackson sounds incredibly gross: That’s according to a new report by the Deparment of Defense. No, they don’t use the words “incredibly gross” but you don’t have to read much between the lines: The investigation uncovered a history of drinking, sexual harassment, and taking sleeping pills. The investigation was hampered, officials say, by Trump administration officials (Jackson is a close Trump ally). Ugh, those people.

Wolf slaughter in Montana even worse than it was meant to be: A Trump administration rule-change was supposed to allow hunters to kill 119 gray wolves in a controlled fashion; instead, they killed over 200. Don’t read about the hunters’ methods unless you want to feel very sad.

They’re raiding Denny Park today: Starting at 9 a.m. today, the city of Seattle will force people living in Denny Park to go … somewhere. They say they’ll have outreach teams to help connect people with housing services, just like they always promise. But somehow, housing insecurity continues to be a problem. Weird!

The Northgate ped/bike bridge is nearly in place. Once it’s finished later this year, you’ll be able to cross I-5 to reach the new light rail station. That’s nice, but imagine how much easier this would be if we could just replace the entire freeway with rail.

Exxon Mobil is “supportive” of efforts to stop destroying the Earth. Executive Darren Woods, who took over four years ago, offered some very pretty words in support of reducing emissions. That doesn’t mean the company’s going to do anything, of course! Of all the unwanted emissions coming out of the oil industry, empty promises from executives might be the most disappointing. Oh, also, the company was just ordered to pay $14 million in a pollution case.


The Republican party isn't ALL death cult: After Texas Governor Gregg Abbott invited even more death into his state by lifting the mask mandate and allowing all businesses to re-open, various businesses and local officials — including members of Abbott’s own party — are now pleading with him to reconsider. Hundreds of people are dying in Texas every day.

More waterfront is coming to life: You might not have noticed that Pier 62 is now open and it’s apparently really charming — and probably quite safe. Descriptions of the newly-opened promenade inevitably marvel at how “sturdy” it is, and perhaps we’re all still so shell-shocked by the last year that we need just a little reassurance that it won’t collapse into the water, like its neighbor did.

Dolly Parton has been vaccinated: It is a relief to hear that Ms. Parton, one of our greatest natural resources, has been protected. Of course she had a song about it.

Are these your soldiers? Someone seems to have misplaced these charming tooters.

Strange Manikins appeared in my garage and I am looking for the owner (roosevelt) from r/Seattle

Cons are going to be virtual for a little while longer. I miss hanging out with thousands of nerds at PAX and NorWesCon, but one upside of the continuing onlineyness of conventions is that it’s easier to include fun remote guests — such as the wonderful Coopertom, who will be a guest of honor at AnthroCon’s virtual event.