by Carl Ballard — ,
– Protections for free speech are awesome, but I don’t think they covers threatening to murder your estranged wife.
– It strikes me as strange that we didn’t know who would be the GOP leadership if they’d won the state Senate, but now we know.
– While I fully admit that I don’t understand all the technical issues, I would like quicker Internet in Seattle, pleez.
– As sad as the perpetual closing/almost closing of neat theaters in Seattle is, maybe it’s the market speaking?
by Darryl — ,
Mark Fiore: Congressional Turkeys.
Young Turks: People love ObamaCare, so long as they don’t know what it is called.
Puppet Nation: U.S. News:
White House: West Wing Week.
Richard Fowler: Sen. Elizabeth Warren takes her fight to Walmart.
Young Turks: Governor insists food stamps come with drug tests.
Roll Call: Congressional hits and misses of the week.
David Pakman: Republican Koch House passes bill muzzling EPA scientists.
Sam Seder: Solyndra turns out to be the opposite of a scandal.
Ferguson, Goddamn:
Thom: Is Walmart playing “Hunger Games” with its employees?
Farron Cousins: Net Neutrality battle rages on.
David Pakman: Director of ex-gay conversion clinic ends up marrying his same-sex partner.
Sam Seder: How Republicans ran from their right wing victory…
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
by Carl Ballard — ,
– Happy Thanksgiving and Shopping Day.
– Shorter Cathy McMorris Rodgers: The President’s immigration executive order is the democratic process on the rocks. Not the last 4 years of House leadership that I’ve been a part of.
– Does sadness have levels? I guess so. I’m not sure what “more than sad” feels like so I keep quiet.
– The today’s Uber versus future Uber is an interesting lens for policy debates.
– West Seattle scenes: Sea-star sighting, and a video review
by Carl Ballard — ,
– (a) Uber seems nice, I’m glad the city caved to everything they want. (b) Seems like a solid arrangement, press.
– The Town Hall on Gender Pay Equity is happening December 2.
– It’s strange because every war is also the Cold War for the GOP.
– What Fair & Balanced Would Look Like
– How come Obama never cites scripture? How dare Obama cite scripture?
– Now that Obama is an emperor for doing something other presidents have done, how does it feel living in a not free society?
by Darryl — ,
Mental Floss: Misconceptions about pets.
Sam Seder: Tommy Chong smokes FAUX News.
Executive Action:
Matt Binder: The KKK does some “rebranding”.
Lawrence O’Donnell: Why the 2014 election spells disaster for Republicans in 2016.
Stephen: Assholes for Freedom.
Sam Seder and Dahlia Lithwick: What’s ruining the Supreme Court.
Liberal Viewer: FAUX News politicizes ISIS beheading.
WaPo: Sentenced to death without all the evidence.
David Pakman: Libertarian “champion” Rand Paul helps kill NSA reform bill.
Lawmaker asks about a moat for the White House.
Sam Seder: Bill-O-The-Clown kicks off the 2014 War On Christmas Season for FAUX News.
Political Keystone:
Olbermann: Bill-O the Clown is BACK as Worst Person in the World!
http://youtu.be/KDFzLm8I-HY
Sam Seder: The funniest public service ad ever.
Puppet Nation: U.S. News of the Week:
White House: West Wing Week.
Lewis Black breaks down FAUX News’ relationship with Black Friday.
David Pakman: Court rejects challenge to contraception rules.
Stephen does Jon.
Chris Hayes: More deceptive FAUX News propaganda.
Neutrality Confusion:
Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.
Mental Floss: 62 last name meanings.
Maddow: What we want and who we elected to do it.
Jon: Who is Jonathan Gruber?
Thom: More Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
by Carl Ballard — ,
– Good on Councilwoman Sawant for getting arrested in protest of the $15 minimum wage.
– No nominee is above criticism, of course, but liberals shouldn’t be reflexively anti-Loretta Lynch.
– The more the merrier in primaries, I say. But I don’t think I’ll be supporting Jim Webb for President.
– Mr Cosby – you don’t have to talk. Maybe it’s time for women to talk instead.
– I’m a sucker for a good science story, and this one about finding out the cause of the Pacific Northwest starfish die off is pretty interesting.
by Carl Ballard — ,
– You always hope for a speedy resolution to labor strife, but I support the Longshore workers.
– Slow down on Rainier Ave, pleez.
– This year’s Seattle city budget looks pretty good.
– Sidewalks should never be ‘closed’ for construction projects
– Astronomical Sexism: Rosetta #ShirtStorm and Everyday Sexism in STEM [h/t]
– Agreed that Santarchy is The Worst Fucking Night In The Bars
by Carl Ballard — ,
– I’m sold on Donna Edwards to head the DCCC
– Looks like Pronto is starting out pretty strong.
– Don’t deport parents of citizens. I know an executive order isn’t the perfect solution, but it’s the one that’s available. And yeah, let’s blame the right people.
– Go watch some of these bike movies.
– What a map of Africa might have looked like without European colonization
– I am 12 years old, but Mann’s Seed Store cracked me up. Also, the post itself is interesting. I haven’t lived in Olympia for a long time, but I feel like I should have been able to identify more buildings.
by Darryl — ,
Jon: The retirements of Shrub and Jimmy.
Climate Change and Pseudo-controversy:
Young Turks: Nobody showed up for the media Ebola orgy.
Chris Hayes: Outrageous FBI letter to Martin Luther King: “KILL yourself”:
http://youtu.be/kjEruTBBljk
SlateTV: How a crossword puzzle is created.
John Oliver: State Lotteries.
Election Aftermath:
John Oliver returns to the Daily Show to interview Jon.
Thom: The Good, The Bad, and the Very, Very Ugly.
White House: West Wing Week.
Chris Hayes: KKK is ready for ‘war’ in Ferguson .
Mental Floss: Misconceptions about technology.
Stephen: Outraged at only two million?!?
Latest Health Care Pseudo-controversy:
Thom: George W. Bush killed Seattle resident Tomas Young.
PSA: It’s on Us…Don’t be a bystander.
Jon: List of innocent things black people do that look suspicious.
Young Turks: Undeniable proof that the media isn’t liberal, at all.
Maddow: Arizona votes to nullify federal law…and biology textbooks.
David Pakman: Veterans troll Sarah Palin on Veteran’s Day.
Thom: More Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.
Puppet Nation: U.S.A News of the week.
Net Nude Trail It Tea:
Jon explains his style of activism.
Pap: Bush’s real legacy—The 5th Circuit Court.
David Pakman: Democrats, NOT Republicans, are the party of freedom & liberty.
Maddow: Conservative media creates parallel universe:
http://youtu.be/D5FLOR1nUvc
On the Rhodes: An Update from Burma.
Michelle Obama’s greatest video hits.
Political Jesus:
Batman: Republican or Democrat?
Stephen: Breitbart’s “corrected” story.
Mental Floss: 25 things you might not know about Harry Potter.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
by Goldy — ,
Alison Holcomb, who has been called the architect of marijuana legalization in Washington state, and who is criminal justice director of ACLU Washington, has been named national director of the ACLU Campaign to End Mass Incarceration, according to a release from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Holcomb wrote Initiative 502, the measure that legalized recreational marijuana in Washington state, and led the successful campaign to pass it.
Holcomb had been publicly mulling a city council run against Socialist Alternative incumbent Kshama Sawant, but recent polling reveals Sawant to be in a much stronger position than the establishment types imagined. This new job is a much better fit for Holcomb, and if successful, more impactful:
“We’ve had 40 years of widening the criminal justice net too far and have relied too heavily on punishment to address social and health problems,” Holcomb said in the release. “We’ve drained coffers and cut people off from jobs, housing, and family stability – the very things they need to succeed in society.”
More than 2.2 million adults are in the nation’s jails and prisons, according to the ACLU. The organization says it hopes to cut the nation’s adult jail and prison population numbers in half by 2020.
Congratulations, Alison, and best of luck.
by Carl Ballard — ,
– Anyone doing anything on election night? I’ll probably mostly be at the I-594 party since they’re the people most likely to be having fun on what’ll probably be a depressing night.
– I wonder how much of the various museums’ collections are as problematic as what the Burke is returning to Peru. Still, good on the Burke for actually returning the skulls and artifacts.
– How do we deal with problematic, but still wonderful, artifacts from the past like the work of Hitchcock?
– There may be some rose colored glasses in this piece, but how Democrats and Republicans in the Washington delegation work together is going to be an interesting question going forward for DC.
– I would not have guessed some lady writing a novel would be an attraction, but I have walked by Gabriela Denise Frank writing at the library and watched her go for a while. It’s oddly inspiring, even though I’m no novelist.
by Carl Ballard — ,
– I know y’all know this but since it’s my last open thread before the election (depending on how late Tuesday’s is, but most post offices will probably be closed), hey everybody vote please. Our trolls are voting, so, you know at the very least cancel them out. But if you need a reason, here are some Spine-Chilling Reasons to Vote in These Midterms.
– The Koch Brothers spending money on knocking out Jeff Merkley this late in the game seems a bit strange, especially in Oregon where most of the ballots should already be in.
– You guys, I’m really sad for Mars Hill
– #ILookGoodOnAPronto looks like a fun little event.
by Carl Ballard — ,
– I don’t know why we’ve developed a system where Microsoft gives any money to anyone.
– OMG look at all the ferrigners votin’ in R elektionz. Oh, wait, what? Facts?
– I cannot tell you how much it warms my heart that K Records is getting involved in the Thurston County PUD race.
– The sunset was pretty spectacular last night.
by Carl Ballard — ,
– Join Mayor Murray on a vigil walk for 7-year-old struck on MLK
– I don’t know why you would want to be Ray Rice for Halloween this year, but don’t.
– Wait, some people don’t mark their ballot based on how they feel about the undead?
– The background checks initiative looks like it’ll pass, still vote, for goodness sake.
– Oh, but I like their tofu.
by Carl Ballard — ,
– What’s broken about Mars Hill is the misogyny and homophobia more than the way one guy wrote about it, or even the money stuff.
– Downballot races like County Crank deserve more attention.
– There’s all sorts of Halloween stuff. I don’t think I’m going out this year, but if I do it’ll be as sexy Carl Ballard.
– All the best to Kevin Drum
– Did You Know about cities are some of my favorite Tom The Dancing Bug.
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