I am glad that King County is down to an r of 0.5. As frustrating as the last year has been, that’s definitely a great sign. I am glad that the Puget Sound region is doing well enough to get into the phase 2, but I worry an early reopening is going to reverse some of those gains.

Anyway, wash your hands right now.

Generally speaking, I believe 2 contradictory things. That we need more gun control, and that law enforcement needs a lighter touch.

So I am a bit pensive about the bill in the Washington State Legislature to ban open carry guns at the state Capitol and at demonstrations writ large. I am fine with the Capitol (and would be fine for a full open carry ban). But it seems like just demonstrations could be abused. I don’t know, maybe I’m overthinking it.

Anyway, wash your hands right now.

Thank you to William “Stacey” Cowles for rescinding your Trump endorsement. Not after he refused to conced. Or after he inspired a violent white supremacist attempt to overturn the election. But eventually.

Better way, way, way late than never.

Anyway, wash your hands right now.

In case you missed it, the Washington vaccine phase finder is now up. It seems to have been giving people trouble right as it launched. If you think you are, or might be, eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, go make sure.

And wash your hands right now.

We’re almost done with the Trump Administration. By the end of the day, we’ll have a better President. Joe Biden will be better than Trump, and that’s a low bar. I hope we end the plague and end the death penalty. I hope we can get the economy going again, and that it’s more fair. Mostly, it will be less anxiety making.

Anyway, you should still wash your hands right now.

All things being equal, I would prefer a tunnel from Ballard to West Seattle (item 1). But if we can’t get federal money, it probably makes sense to do elevated. I guess. Cost estimates for above ground seems more volatile, but still probably lower.

Biden is proposing a lot of money for public transportation, so I hope Sound Transit can grab some of it.

Anyway, wash your hands right now.

Hello you lovely people. I hope you survived the storm last night. I still have power here in the urban core. It looks like a lot of the rest of the area does not. If you have to be out in it, stay safe.

And wash your hands right now.

There’s so much important state and local stuff going on. I want to write about it, but I am just still so pissed off about what happened in DC everything else seems trivial. I generally think that local issues affect people more than national ones, but Trump in general and the last week in particular has really tested that.

Anyway, wash your hands right now.

I don’t know how any Republicans who supported stealing the election, at any time but especially after the riots, can still have a job. They should all resign in disgrace. And if they don’t, they should be removed. From the President down to state legislators and local officials.

And you should wash your hands right now.

Man, what the fuck Cathy McMorris Rodgers. The only Washington State Congress member voting against receiving the electoral college electors. The election isn’t contested. The violence is on her. The delusion people have is on her. The fraud is redistricting. The fraud is vote suppression in Black parts of town, in cities, in college towns. To imply fraud when there isn’t evidence is disgusting.

And she witnessed Rossi’s grievance filled campaign, so she knows it’s not a winning electoral issue. Like, a candidate feeling aggrieved doesn’t help people in a material way.

Anyway, wash your hands right now.

And a happy first day of the legislature in Washington. If you have some pressing concern, you should contact your legislators. The session will probably focus on COVID-19. So you might want to push them to make sure that funding doesn’t fall on the poorest people in our lopsided sales tax heavy tax system. Maybe you have some issues that you’re afraid will be overlooked in a probably narrow focused session.

Also, wash your hands right now.

What is going on East of the Cascades? First the attempted bombing in Spokane. Now Leavenworth bomb threat. Scary stuff.

Anyway wash your hands right now.

I am glad that the action of Governor Inslee meant that Washington’s unemployment system still worked during President Trump’s delay. No missed payment. No reapplying. It would be better if President Trump had not fucked around, but at least we mitigated most of the damage.

Anyway, wash your hands right now.

The oil train derailment and fire in Bellingham is scary stuff. Fortunately, if you can call it that, it wasn’t an explosion. The environmental damage is still going to be pretty gross. And these trains running through our cities is going to inevitably be derailments.

Anyway, this is the last post before Christmas, so have a good one if you celebrate it.

Anyway, anyway, wash your hands right now.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but since the city cleared out Cal Anderson Park, it seems like there are more tents popping up in the rest of Seattle’s urban core. Not getting people the help they need — starting, but very much not ending with housing — is just shuffling them around. Shame on us, in the shadow of Amazon and other large companies, we can’t find the resources to help.