The Kraken has arrived.
The Kraken has arrived. Getty Images/ Bruce Bennett

Who’s in the wrong here? The González campaign posted the commercial below on Friday. Over the weekend, the Harrell campaign convened a press conference and released a letter calling the ad racist because of “racist tropes involving the insinuation of Black men as insensitive to issues of sexual violence.” Sure, those tropes exist, but are they present in this ad? And, more to the point, why did he handle the Ed Murray scandal in the way that he did? Some Black community leaders who support Harrell demanded Gonazález take down the ad. Gonazález's campaign called Harrell's response to the ad "another example of him denying the facts and discrediting a victim."

Does anyone still need help making up their minds at this point? Harrell and GonzĂĄlez held another debate this weekend. Hannah has the highlights:

Bust out the jigsaw puzzle and oil lamp. Stormy weather has knocked out power across the region, affecting several thousand homes. Utility poles have fallen over on East Marginal Way, which may remain closed for most of the day. If your power goes out, remember not to open the fridge; and use the opportunity to revert to a state of proto-human primitiveness.

Insiders claim that multiple members of Congress helped plan the January 6th attack. There were “dozens” of meetings between protest organizers and federal officials, according to unnamed sources speaking to Rolling Stone. According to these sources, some of the Trumpiest creeps in Congress helped them plan their attack: Marjorie Greene, Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Mo Brooks, Madison Cawthorn, Andy Biggs, and Louie Gohmert. Gosar is said to have offered a “blanket pardon” to organizers of the riot.

Lots of gunfire this weekend: There were at least five separate shootings across Seattle over the weekend, resulting in a couple of injuries but no deaths. Nationwide, there were mass shootings in South Carolina, California, and Georgia, with 2 killed and 17 injured.

Climate Pledge Arena is still shaking out some kinks. When I was in college, I worked at a camera store that had “one hour photo” in big letters on the sign outside the shop. The problem was that our machinery was so broken-down it usually took two or three days to process film rolls. When I told people this, they’d say, “but it says ‘one hour photo’ on the sign,” and I’d have to explain, “that’s just the name of the store, we don’t actually do it in an hour.” I bring this up because “Climate Pledge Arena” is just the name of the stadium.

Dune is why we need movie theaters. It was a pretty good opening weekend for Dune, though it’s far from assured if we’ll get a part 2. An interesting phenomenon: I saw it first at a press screening in a theater and had a fine time, but when I re-watched it this weekend, I actually found myself wishing I was watching the David Lynch version instead. I think it’s one of those movies that gets a lot of mileage out of its bigness, without which it’s just not as good as it seems to think it is.

How much has Amazon stolen from its workforce? The company is plagued by a patchwork of awkward systems to track medical and parental leave, resulting in underpayment and in some cases even firings. Amazon has 67 employees whose job is to manually transfer approved requests for leave from one database to another.

Do you suppose all those anti-vax cops are wishing they hadn’t given away their boots? Lots of rain in the forecast, so they probably could use some waterproof footwear. Then again, it’s not like they have anywhere to be.

Otters are taking over Singapore. This seems like a good problem to have.

Monsters sighted in West Seattle! The annual Kids’ Dash/Family Fun Event was this weekend and it looks absolutely delightful.