I have been listening to The History of English podcast, and it’s very strange for me to listen to a history podcast that’s still going. Usually I will binge a series once it’s done. Anyway, it has got to Edward I. The podcast hasn’t got there yet, but pretty soon, he is going to ban Jewish people from England.

As I was listening to this, I walked by Seattle Shakespeare. I see that The Merchant of Venice is coming up. It. Made me realize that the vast majority of people who the play was written for had never met anyone Jewish. It had been over 300 years, and yet the stereotypes were popularly understood.

At this point, any Republican who hasn’t actively denounced Donald Trump is trying to turn the US into a dictatorship. The McCabe firing means that a Muller firing is almost inevitable. At some point, a point that has almost certainly passed, anything but actively working against him is complicity.

I was recently cleaning out my closet, and I came across a pin I was given in October/ November 2001, when I was protesting the war in Afghanistan. On the one hand, it feels fucking futile. We’re still there, and people like John Fucking Bolton are still around along with team torture. On the other hand, it may be the protest I’m most proud of participating in. Just me and a couple Quakers on the street corner holding signs when the world had gone mad.

Come the hell on, Microsoft (h/t).

When we talk about the worst in the nation gender pay gap in Seattle, often Boeing, Microsoft, and Amazon come up. As if manufacturing and tech just have to favor men. It doesn’t. It’s choices we make. It’s systematic discrimination in our largest companies, and down the line. It’s seeing 238 internal complaints and not doing anything.

I feel like I’m more tickled by KEXP doing every Sub Pop release than I should be. I was a teenager in Seattle at a time when they were huge. I guess that may be true of any time in the last 30 or so years.

I think Netflix and Amazon (and similar subscription based companies) should start giving spots in corporate governance to members. I think there are many Prime members who would like some representation in corporate HQ. I know, they don’t need some asshole blogger telling them how to run their bidness, but I do think companies in the US ought to become more democratic.

Another day, another Seattle head tax proposal. I have supported these probably since the 1990’s. The homelessness crisis is so bad at this point we need to build more, and if this helps, great. We’re woefully behind.

The legislature banned licensed therapists from trying to torture gay kids straight. Great! It’s about time. I was glad to see a number of Republicans support the measure, although I will note that it took Democrats controlling both houses of the legislature to make it happen.

Aaaaaäaaaa!

I forgot to write something and now I’m almost at work. I guess this will have to do. Sorry.

At the end of February, I always feel like I was overcharged for rent (and an ORCA card, even though I get mine through work). This usually gets me through 30 or 31 days, but this time it’s only 28. I know it works out over time, but part of me wishes it was prorated.

Men knew: King County Democrats edition. It looks like they’re getting their shit together now, but this didn’t happen in a vacuum. People heard his derogatory comments and didn’t speak up. In the end, not calling it out didn’t do him or the organization any good.

I should also say that I see more of my past self in this bad behavior than in a lot of these. And I am grateful to the people who have called me out on these issues over the years.

I don’t know enough about the case to comment one way or the other, but morally the legislature shouldn’t be exempted from public disclosure requirements. It’s 2018, if anything we should make these records available more easily. Maybe all electronic communications go on a searchable database after a certain amount of time to ensure we aren’t giving away personal information, etc. I realize that this sort of thing can be abused, but in general it’s the direction we should be going.

Over the weekend, I was walking around suburbia. It was the day after the storm, and I passed a rhododendron that had been toppled. I wasn’t sure if I should have pushed the root ball back into the ground. I decided not to wander onto some stranger’s property to do some half-assed landscaping. But I would prefer to live in a world where people did that, and it was OK.

Seeing the coverage of the kids who survived the Florida school shooting at rallies and in the Sunday shows, I couldn’t help think of how much we, adults in this country, have failed them. However they grieve is the right way, but they shouldn’t have to be there.

They deserve better than the world adults are giving them. They deserve better than being judged on how articulate they are less than a week after living through a horror and having their friends die. The fact that they are stressing about something more than grades or sports or who to go to the dance with is our fault. Shame on us.

Once again: Please everyone reading this, don’t murder anyone. I’m sick of having to write that, but people keep murdering. Honestly, don’t.