Dear Senator Murray,
I am writing to thank you for your leadership in this difficult time. Specifically, I want to thank you for pushing for sick leave protections for all workers. I know that it has not passed yet, but I hope that you will keep pushing. We need to be in this together by staying apart.
Thank you,
Carl Ballard
(For the rest of you, wash your hands right now.)
I am very grateful that Seattle has suspended evictions for the time being. It’s not a system that can go on indefinitely, but God almighty it’s needed now. My building posted notices about working with people to pay rent. They should keep that up after the virus is over.
How is the social distancing going? I didn’t leave my apartment over the weekend except to do laundry. There aren’t many machines, and they’re all packed into a row with the laundry on one side and the dryer on the other. So there’s usually a bit of jostling. But it was all very polite and one person at a time keeping our distance. I don’t like it, but I guess it’s the next few months at least.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg guest hosts the Jimmy Kimmel Show.
Now This: Here’s why this Seattle millionaire CEO wants to be taxed more.
Roll Call: Congressional hits and misses of the week (sans coronavirus content!).
We’re All Gonna DIE!
Vice News: This woman survived a mass shooting and is working to prevent the next one.
John Oliver: Sheriffs.
The Dotard Трамп and Other Life-long Scam Artists:
Now This: Here is what the world would look like with no oceans.
The Atlantic: The world without giraffes
Jimmy Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorship.
Twenty-Twenty Vision:
Vox: How San Francisco erased a neighborhood.
Samantha Bee: America’s gig-based economy gets zero stars.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
I have switched from being a politics person to going all in on hand washing. For goodness sake, wash your hands. Right now. If there are other people around, have them wash their hands, or if they’re young, wash their hands for them. Get them all sudsed up. Make sure to get the back. In between your fingers.
It’s too close to call the Presidential primary Washington. Usually I have some idea about who is going to win. The later ballots typically break for the more liberal candidate. But the remaining ballots to count are from it being a 2 person race, and a lot of the ballots that have been counted were cast when there more people running. So who knows?
In any case, please wash your hands right now.
Today is primary election day in Washington. So whatever you do, get that ballot in the mail or stuffed into a ballot box at a drop-off location. Normally, I would then suggest that you hightail it to the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally for an evening of returns-watching and discussion over a drink.
This week we will not hold our weekly meeting. Washington state is still the epicenter of coronavirus in the United States, with 166 confirmed cases and 22 deaths. For times like these, it becomes prosocial to be antisocial (really, a-social).
Normally, we meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle starting around 8pm. With any luck we’ll be getting together again soon.
Get your ballot postmarked or dropped off by tomorrow if you want it to count. Make sure that you mark the party or it won’t count. And use a sponge instead of licking it closed.
Also, too: Wash your hands right now.
Samantha Bee: Health care sharing ministries ARE NOT health insurance!
The Atlantic: The truth about Stalin’s prison camps.
The Dotard Трамп and Other Plagues Upon the Nation:
Jimmy Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorship.
We’re All Gonna Die!
Trevor: Toxic PFA chemicals.
Vice News: The abortion Supreme Court case has high stakes for Louisiana and the U.S.
Twenty-twenty Vision:
Roll Call: Congressional hits and misses of the week.
Now This: Why bail reform is so necessary.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
I feel like a lot of the wash you hands messages are geared to children. And I get it: Teach the people who can most easily develop lifetime habits. And maybe they can teach their parents things.
That’s good, but for adults: Wash your fucking hands. Are you near a sink? Wash them now. Are you somewhere that you can’t wash your hands? Make a plan for the next time you can wash your hands, and then go do it. Also, to men and other users of the men’s room specifically, wash your hands after using the urinal. Even if you hadn’t literally just touched your penis, it’s still a good idea.
If you’re like me, yesterday’s vote was pretty rough (and if not, congrats). I will, of course, support the Democratic nominee whole heartedly. And not just because President Trump is a garbage nightmare, but because it is a million things that the President does that will be better under Biden than any Republican. And obviously the House and Senate are also important, so work on that if you can.
Please join us tonight as the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally gets together to process and discuss the Super Tuesday returns. I’m sure there’ll be lots of other stuff to discuss as well.
We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. Look for us in the back room of the pub beginning about 8pm. Stop by even earlier to catch the East Coast returns as they happen.
Can’t make it to Seattle? There are hundreds of chapters of Living Liberally, including dozens in Washington state, a bunch in Oregon and even a few in Idaho. Find a chapter near you. Or start a new chapter for your community!
As the coronavirus spreads, but I keep taking public transportation, I keep thinking about the grossest things that I have seen. People coughing or sneezing on to their hands and then grabbing the post or the strap. Food strewn about. Mystery liquid or scents.
So I’m glad to see that Metro is as in it as they can be. There are a lot of people who are doing a lot to keep us as healthy as possible right now. Even though I often times can’t see them, I will try to give them the same types of consideration as the memory of things that have grossed me out over the years.
Daily Show: Ten people making Black history
Lauren Mayer: Watergate Girl.
Now This: AOC shines a light on Black voter suppression & discrimination.
Twenty-Twenty Vision:
Taina Asili: “We Are Rising” around the world!
The Daily Show: Celebrating Black history.
Now This: How this Black woman is changing the architecture industry.
The Dotard Трамп:
Greenman: Big news from Blackrock.
Bill Maher: New Rule—My way or the die way.
Roll Call: Congressional hits and misses of the week.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
If you work in Washington State, you have sick leave protection. And if you work in Seattle, the laws are stronger. With the new coronavirus going around, it’s pretty important to take sick leave if you need it, but even with the regular getting sick, it’s a good idea to take your sick leave.
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!