I dont know, I guess hes kinda cute.
I don't know, I guess he's kinda cute. CathyKeifer / GETTY IMAGES

Massive and sustained protests can work: Chief Executive Carrie Lam has caved to activist demands by withdrawing a bill that would allow China to extradite any Hong Kong citizen it accuses of a crime, according to Bloomberg. This is a major victory for pro-democracy protestors who've been in the streets for over three months. Activists also called for Lam to step down and for better police accountability laws.

Google and YouTube stole data from kids without asking permission from their parents and then sold them shit they didn't need: Now the tech giant owes the Federal Trade Commission and New York $170 million for the privacy violation. The fine is "the largest civil penalty ever obtained by the F.T.C.," according to the New York Times. And yet:

Is Google in for another fine? But this one courtesy of Washington state? Eli has the details of an investigation into "dark" ads targeting Spokane.

Oi, oi, oi! What the fuck is going on with Brexit?? Everyone is calling Boris Johnson's bluff, according to the New York Times. Yesterday Johnson called for a general election in the hopes of proving there's a public mandate for a No Deal exit, which would probably destroy trade and travel between the U.K. and Europe and also ignite The Troubles: Part II. The Labour party and a coalition of "Tory rebels" that Johnson kicked out of the party for insubordination are seeing this call as a yet another delay tactic, and so they're putting the kibosh on his general election call until he passes legislation that would allow lawmakers to continue negotiating with the E.U. past the October 31 deadline. Very simple, very easy to understand, not complex at all, and I'm sure I got all that right.

I, too, am not looking forward to this new JOKER movie:

Dorian Update: Yesterday evening the New York Times reported that Hurricane Dorian, now a Category 2, was poised to threaten Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina with "a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline." This morning CNN reports five dead in the Bahamas, with the death toll likely to rise. Their airport is flooded, most of the country is flooded, people are stranded on their roofs, and the rain is still coming down. Rescue efforts are underway.

In case you forgot: Mitch McConnell is a perfect coward who won't champion popular and bipartisan gun safety legislation unless the president gives him permission.

Why is Gannett confiscating the phone of one of its reporters? Oh, because they're union-busting fucks. This seems totally legal:

Two boaters missing on Lake Washington: "Officers found the boat — a red, 20-foot ski-type boat that was still playing loud music — but no one on board," according to our local Fox affiliate.

The spiders are here to fuck: "My usual advice to someone who sees a house spider walk across their floor is to just wave as it goes by," says some psycho in this King 5 article. Happy spider season, you freaks.

19-year-old hiker falls to his death: A man died while hiking in the Three Queens area of the Cascade Mountains. The sheriff's office says he fell 150 feet.

This mayor says she feels engaged to a train: During the groundbreaking for light rail to Lynnwood, the city's mayor said she feels she and the light rail have "been engaged for many, many years" and now it's time for the wedding, reports the Seattle Times. As someone in a polyamorous relationship with the proposed Ballard and Bellevue stations, I can totally relate.

Someone shot and killed a panhandler in front of a McDonalds: According to King 5, "a carload of men who 'had a beef' with one of the panhandlers" pulled up to the McDonalds. One of the car guys got in a fistfight with one of the panhandlers, and then the car guy allegedly shot the panhandler. Oof.

City Council passes weak tea bike lane legislation: If the Department of Transportation doesn't build a bike lane they said they'd build, they'll now have to write the city a nice letter explaining why they didn't do it. It seems insane to me that the law did not until yesterday obligate them to do that before. Anyhow, the council also passed a resolution that "asks SDOT to plan new on-street parking for free-floating rentable bikes and, eventually, electric scooters," which is good for disabled people who are tired of banging into bikes in the middle of the god damn sidewalk.

Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options include: A chance to learn how beer shaped Seattle's history at Brew A Fair! Dinner + Discussion, a show with the Mountain Goats, and Can Can's The Legend of El Dorado.