A competent mayor wouldn't need to game the council with cronies to get things accomplished.

@1 This politics thing new to you?

Liz Cheney is 58? I thought she was like 68. Being conservative must be hard.

speaking of Vermeer: at a crafts show fifteen years ago there were paintings similar to Cave Drawings of prehistoric landscapes w/animals etc & superimposed over such were black metal silhouettes of human beings solo or in groups strolling across the landscape - wonderfully imagined and executed and all signed by ' [x] Vermeer.' when I asked the artist if she were related to the Dutch Master and lo and behold! she was indeed.

Genius is/can be inherited.
otoh

"Most [frazzled health care workers] attribute their workplaces being short-staffed as one of the top reasons to leave." Relax. it's just late-stage Capitalism wringing the last drops of Blood outta the American Worker but, like the 'D'NC asks you, 'Where the FUCK you gonna Go?'

speaking of late stage capitalism (and democracy): "Update on the Ohio train derailment disaster: New data shows that there were more toxic chemicals onboard the train than previously reported… "

well they didn’t wanna Frighten the Children

Max @5, there's a lot to despise about Liz Cheney, but she looks fine for her age. And even if she didn't, we have better things to do than to petulantly go after our political foes' looks.

Anyway, that item about Dick Cheney reminded me of the wonderful 2018 Adam McKay movie "Vice." What's interesting to me is, I go to Rotten Tomatoes, and I see it only got 65% on the Tomatometer and a 60% audience score. I forgot it received such a mixed reaction. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It took a bad guy and tried to humanize him while at the same time not trying to turn him into a good guy. Perhaps that was the problem with how it was received.

@5, she's 56. Math is also hard.

@1: While Mayor Durkan did get much of what she wanted, including via easy defeats of CM Sawant and other darlings of the Stranger on the Council, the sad fact remains: the Mayor of Seattle is — gasp! — a citizen of Seattle, and therefore has just as much right to recruit candidates for elected offices in Seattle as does any other citizen of the city.

"After a manhunt through the city of Lansing..."

The manhunt was centered in East Lansing, not Lansing.
They are next to each other but are two separate cities.

just remember:
Michigan State Capitol = Lansiing
Michigan State University = East Lansing

Hey, my apartment building managed to stay off the nightmare generation list! Huzzah!

Seventiesrocked @2, I second everything in that post. Democracy is better than autocracy or oligarchy, but still deeply flawed.

Chungking Express is excellent. Also started that White Noise movie (prefer the book) the same day as that train derailment and felt weird about the coincidence.

"Only a catastrophe gets our attention. We want them, we depend on them. As long as they happen somewhere else."

Politicians with railroad corporation owners caused this toxic crash in Ohio. Period.
Sick leave still needed. This is still ignored by the establishment. The Union is asking for 2
crew members instead of one to drive the trains. This would create more safety.

The railroad company continue to make the trains longer and heavier creating more danger.
So the railroad and their enabling politicians are the problem. Any thing for profit.
You can call it murder.

1 So true. Police sweeps must end. How many more deaths are ok with the city of Seattle?

We need positive solutions to end homelessness. Decent emergency housing and Social Housing which includes services to deal with mental illness and addiction. Just maybe my family member would be alive today if we had that.

Nepotism abounds with our present corporate mayor its time to end this.

15 Hi skidmark. No idea what you are talking about dear.

6 Absolutely Kris. See that happening in my family right now. They want to change jobs because of burnout.

Happy Valentine’s Day Stranger staff. Keep on rocking the boat. Thank you.

Please vote for Social Housing to save lives.

raindrop @13 The support of MAGA Republicans in primaries by Democratic organizations wasn't the reason that I stopped trusting the Democrats, but it certainly made it harder for them to earn back my trust.

Bless you, Ivy R. Nightscales & kristofarian for your spot on commentaries.

WOW--I'm older than Liz Cheney (I agree with Parah Sailin @8. I checked on Google--Liz was born in 1966, so she is 56 going on 57).
Miss Cheney is indeed, a current GOP rarity. She's courageous enough to firmly resist her party's harsh, unyielding opposition towards her determined efforts as a U.S. Representative, to keep the Orange Turd permanently out of the White House. It's little wonder she's so brave---I can't imagine having the heartless likes of Dick Cheney for a father!

Nikki Haley, on the other hand, is running for the RepubliKKKan Presidential ticket? What next? Nikki and Trump's latest cheap ho and obedient howler monkey, Marjorie Taylor Greene engage in tag team mud wrestling at the 2024 RNC? The GOP is nothing anymore but a self destructive shit show comprised of tantrum throwing toddlers.
We shoot rabid dogs, don't we? We should be able to send equally dangerous, mentally deranged RepubliKKKans, RWNJs, and MAGA tools to the firing squad, too.

Happy Valentine's Day for all celebrating! What a lovely day, today, however chilly outside.