Weatherrrrrr: Today really feels like November 14th—well, at least in temperature. This morning, you can expect sunny skies and temperatures in the high 30s to the low 40s. Temperatures will climb steadily to the high 40s, peaking at about 3 pm. The sun will set at approximately 4:34 pm, which is soooooo November 14th of the sun tbh.Â
ICYMI: Here's Vivian's latest installment of her "Forced Out" series:
FORCED OUT: Anti-trans laws in Missouri and an anti-trans screed met with applause prompted Jamie to start planning a move to Washington.
— The Stranger 🗞 (@TheStranger) November 13, 2023
Though a life of writing music in Seattle sounds dreamy, leaving behind a chosen family in St. Louis is hard. 00https://t.co/uRpRvosWZ8
Alexa, play "Taps:" A week ago today we endured a very tragic election. Gone are the days of incremental progressivism on Seattle City Council. Here are the days of a bunch of Sara Nelson wannabes leading our City. Yesterday, King County Elections (KCE) basically finished counting up ballots in Seattle. Some people held onto hope that urbanist father Ron Davis would surpass his conservative competitor, Maritza Rivera, but after the Monday drop he’s still 300 votes behind. KCE will count up about 1,280 votes left in the city today, so we'll see how it goes.Â
Budget: The Seattle City Council will begin to vote on amendments to the 2024 City budget. The big kerfuffle at the moment: The Mayor forced a conversation once again about controversial gunshot locator tech. Council Member Lisa Herbold, Chair of Public Safety, will definitely vote no, but others, including Council Members Dan Strauss and Andrew Lewis have expressed interest during past meetings.Â
INBOX: CM Lisa Herbold coming out strong in opposition to ShotSpotter, says implementing the technology is "just throwing away money." pic.twitter.com/P3RlZDUzV9
— Ashley Nerbovig (@AshleyNerbovig) November 13, 2023
Fire followup: Remember that big-ass fire in LA that shutdown Interstate 10? Well, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that someone set it intentionally with “malicious intent.” Kinda cryptic, considering he did not say if the cops had any suspects or leads. More to come, I suppose.Â
Oh, Clarence: The US Supreme Court adopted a code of ethics yesterday after Justice Clarence Thomas got busted for accepting undisclosed gifts and luxury vacations from real estate magnate and Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow. The new rules, according to the AP, do not add significant new requirements or any enforcement mechanism, so it's ultimately a PR stunt, but, dammit, the code puts it all in writing!Â
Teamwork: Politico reports that a majority of House Democrats look ready to bail out new Speaker Mike Johnson by passing his two-step stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown when it goes to the floor today. Read more about the deal here.Â
March for Israel: Amid a month of massive protests across the world showing support for the 10,000 Palestinians killed by Israel’s relentless attacks, supporters of Israel plan to hold a large-scale rally at Washington D.C.’s National Mall later today. The rally seems to have two goals: Supporting the state of Israel and condemning anti-semitism. The latter is totally defensible. Both Jewish and Muslim people have reported an unacceptable uptick of discrimination and hate crimes since Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israeli civilians, killing 1,400. The former, supporting an ethnostate in its ongoing genocidal attacks against Palestinians, is totally indefensible, gross in our present moment, and will certainly age like milk!
Meanwhile: Palestinian authorities proposed a supervised evacuation from Al-Shifa hospital. Israel seems poised to attack the hospital, claiming Hamas set up a command center. Hospital staff and Palestinian authorities said Hamas fighters are not hiding under hospitals, so maybe Israel should not bomb them—or at least Israel should let people leave first. Hundreds of patients reside in Al-Shifa hospital, including three dozen newborn babies who rely on incubators for survival. The hospital can no longer power such incubators since Israel starved them of fuel, killing three of the newborns since Saturday. The fuel shortage killed 40 patients as of this morning.Â
â•ď¸Ź Gaza news and translation thread for Nov. 13, 2023.
— 🇵🇸🔮 noorii | wraith 🔮🇵🇸 (@inejmydarling) November 12, 2023
Several newborns have been taken out of incubators after power outages at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Without oxygen and electricity, these babies will likely die. At least 3 babies have already died, and 36 are in danger. pic.twitter.com/0Mt0hmLs2J
Other hospital targets: Israel also claims Hamas hides underneath Al-Rantisi children's hospital and Nasser hospital. Reporters at CNN visited the "command center" under Al-Rantisi and found guns, explosives, a chair, a rope, an article of women's clothing, and a makeshift toilet.Â
Biden, Biden, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.
BREAKING: Palestinians are suing @POTUS, @SecBlinken, & @SecDef to stop U.S. support for Israel’s unfolding genocide, asking a U.S. Court to enforce the most basic & important legal—and moral—obligation in the world – preventing genocide.
— The CCR (@theCCR) November 13, 2023
Read more: https://t.co/GbdzQqH5Ty pic.twitter.com/oa5o8kTQ3a
Stop the count: As part of a plea deal, two former Trump lawyers, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, gave prosecutors some juicy insight into their old boss’ effort to overturn the election. In a private interview, Ellis claimed that Dan Scavino, a top Trump aide, told her "in an excited tone" that "the boss is not going to leave under any circumstances,” at a White House Christmas party just before Jan 6.Â
Paul Pelosi vs. Hammer: California Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, testified in federal court yesterday, accusing David DePape of brutally attacking him with a hammer in his San Francisco mansion last year. DePape pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnap of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official in retaliation for her performance in office. In state court, DePape also pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, and residential burglary, among other felonies. DePape could spend life in prison.Â
Queen of my heart: Chappell Roan’s concert at the Showbox this weekend was sooooo gay—in a good way! I know you usually follow me for news and bad political takes, but I wrote about this really cool queer artist that I love. Check it out.Â
MUNA: The way Roan got all flirty with her band reminded me of the raw, homosexual energy of MUNA. Enjoy.