The reason so many SPD cops didn't mask up is made clear in the ST article. Nobody was ever punished for not wearing a mask, in part because they couldn't get captains and senior leaders to consistently wear a mask. Chalk one more up to the incredible leadership powers and law-and-order philosophy of Best and Durkan.

Exiting an event at the Paramount last month there were two cops in the lobby. One wasn't wearing a mask, while the entire crowd was. It was clearly performative...the law didn't apply to him. The fact that SPD had his back in breaking the law is why ALL cops are bastards.

I didn't notice this April was colder than normal until the Slog whinging started. It's not like I can do anything about it.

They don’t hire cops for their brains. In fact, being too smart can lead to disqualification to the academy. Maybe we should revisit that practice.

As far as student loan forgiveness goes, Biden is in a bind, thanks in large part to the percentage of the population who are terrified that someone will receive a benefit that they aren’t getting, always position themselves as victims, and enjoy being loudly and self-righteously angry.

But also, there’s the question of the future. Do we forgive all debt going forward? Personally, I think the first two years of college should be free, and subsequent years extremely affordable, the sort of tuition you can pay for by working a summer job or something.

@4:

How long have you lived here? And do you never look at weather forecasts? I've lived in Seattle nearly 40 years and this has been one of the coldest Aprils I can recall.

@5: Indeed, doesn't take brains to pull over a drunk driver or stop a killer.

@5, there really isn't any reason to only apply this to those with student loans. In fact, as those with student loans tent to skew towards the well off, there are arguments not to. I would however say that if we're going to provide $10K in loan forgiveness, a better way to go about this would be to provide $10K towards adult education for every citizen. You want to use this to pay off student loans, go for it. You're still in college, have $10K to go towards your tuition. Want to go to beauticians school, have $10K. Want to learn to drive a truck, here's some cash to help out. Need some accounting classes to manage your small business, here's some help. This would have the advantage of helping out those who will never go to college as well as those who just graduated from medical school with $150K of debt. It'd also encourage people to build new skills instead of just subsidizing those who already have.

Cops not masking and being able to shoot you if you don't stay put to get coughed on is what they are all about.

Student loan forgiveness is a retroactive restoration of state support for public univs that have been chainsawed mercilessly since about 1990. Unfortunately, restoring that support through loan forgiveness will benefit MDs and lawyers who can earn it back just fine as well as people who went to fancy private schools that hopped onto the overadministering underfunding bandwagon since the public schools were leading the way. Small price to pay to resurrect the concept of a state-supported, rather than just a state-located, school.

To be more specific, if state support for public schools hadn't been hacked away over 30 years, the students wouldn't have needed to take the kind of loans they have and wouldn't be stuck with the debt they are.

@8 Did the cops who died of COVID get the funeral processions with all the trimmings? If they don't bring the city to a halt for an hour, what's the point really?

And you can bet your ass that if there was an uptick in crime that killed 150+ officers per year, they'd be screaming bloody murder for more protection. When it's their own damn fault, not a peep. Shows you where their priorities are.

I think it's a bit stupid to suggest that abnormally low seasonal temperatures are of no concern because it's not hot, both hot and cold extremes are symptoms of climate change. Still, my recollection (which ain't all that great) is that April is typically a fairly crappy month for weather on this side of the mountains. If it's not cold it's usually very wet. It can be a good time to take a trip to Central Washington though.

putting we the peeps
before corporate profiteering

hmm
I Like that.

an excellent Plan blip.

hey cops not wearing masks resulted in more dead cops, so, silver lining I guess.

@6: 30 years.

Sometimes I look at the forecast, but mostly I just look at the UW radar before I go out to see if it's going to rain (or if it's going to stop raining) in the next half hour. I look at a thermometer so I know what kind of insulating layer to put on.

@19 - But you wouldn't say that for anti-mask firefighters, I wonder why.

@ 23 sure I would, if that had been the topic. I'm a huge fan of natural selection. But FFs aren't really a state-sponsored gang that likes go to on killing sprees, despite the field being pretty full of backwards people.

@24 Already exists (mostly), in the form of Skills enter. It's not a standalone program in Seattle Schools, but it has a raft of different programs in different places, including construction trades, auto tech, maritime, firefighting, etc. https://skillscenter.seattleschools.org/school-year/

Skills Center [oh for an edit button to correct spelling]

@25: Natural selection is not powered by gross generalizations.

“Harvard.........."close the educational, social, and economic gaps that are legacies of slavery and racism." “
So how much of that goes to ‘white’ people who were denied opportunity because they were not landowners? Or is this just another instance where the word ‘diversity’ really means ‘just black peoples’? Is fair fair for everyone, or not?

@2, 3, “....... why ALL cops are bastards.”
Yeah, next time you need help call your local drug dealer. Let us know what favors you have to repay.

@17, and unfortunately lack of education is what’s giving us all these fools following Trump.

@24: "Students with no interest or desire for "college" education shouldn't be taking classes designed to prep them for college, and should instead have classes to prepare them for trade school or apprenticeships."

Beg to differ. Young minds really don't know what they're ultimately interested in - so an optimal curriculum is still warranted.

@29: I'm 53 years old. A cop has never helped me.

@31, has anyone broken into your house this week? How much more crime would there be if there were no police? ALL authority is a pain in the ass. But I guarantee you’d never want to see real, actual anarchy.

I’m in Bordeaux Fr. It’s Fri nite, midnight. The streets are full of people. Not loaded, but full. I’m full of wine.

Transport here is excellent. You don’t have to walk more than 4 blocks to a bus, tram, or train, and they’re all interconnected. Many ways to get to the same point. Electric bikes, scooters, all over the place. But here, bikes and scooters are faster than cars. 25MPH is top speed. It’s different.

One thing about the French: Unlike Americans, they don’t seem to care about “neat”. If it works, they don’t argue. They just let it happen.

I have a French ORCA Card, for Chrissakes.