This is heavy.

For anyone thinking that this idea is ridiculous, I’d invite them to look at the breakdown of revenue sources for Sound Transit:

Financially it wouldn’t be that hard of a sell at all. The knock-on effects would certainly be more challenging to address.

I personally believe that the prospect of getting hassled and ticketed by fare enforcement staff is a legitimate reason we don’t see more people on the trains who are visibly suffering from addiction and homelessness. Because the state and the nation isn’t interested in helping these folks, they’re naturally going to flow into any public space that permits them to exist. And a free, climate-controlled train car with a place to sit down is going to inevitably be one. And that’s going to upset the kind of people who want to not look at, think about or much less share space with folks with those problems.

The answer isn’t to guard the trains to keep the poors out. The answer is to take care of people in need so they don’t need to loiter in a light rail car.

Sadly Sound Transit isn’t budgeted for that.

“inevitable”

One of those votes coming from unelected District 2 council-member Mark Solomon.

The city council really enjoys undemocratically appointing people to represent constituents who repeatedly rejected them during elections.

Unattractive people: never not getting screwed over.

You’ll love the bronze statue of him then.

10 PRINT BUTTS

20 GOTO 10

Because everything’s fixed now, right?

RIGHT???

There’s quite a few of those to be sure, but having been for many years and no longer going, the vast majority of people there are either going mindlessly because it’s part of their personality or folks who’ve never been before and are in search of something.

The originating ideas continue to be intriguing, but I wouldn’t say it’s much more than a pricey escape from the troubling default world. I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy it when the world didn’t quite seem as doomed as it does now.

Also, seriously, everyone there should be wearing an N99 during dust storms. The playa is full of silica dust and silicosis is a real thing and really really bad.

You were directionally evolved by monsters who resented artists’ ability to create value through pure expression. Mimicking the conjuring of that value was at once a parlor trick, then a means to undercut the livelihood of anyone not willing to explicitly and finitely explain the art they created (thus giving it metric to be measured by and value-assigned).

The wax ring and plumbers putty are set. Keep the caulk dry for 36 hours and try to not touch it or it could crack.

Say “when”…

Based take from Gabriel Bell.

The series he did for the CBC’s Understood podcast was a pretty great A-to-Z on how we got here and how to unfuck ourselves: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuMdLmjdG8dfDZ5fIBOFUyBPUitIVfsxr

Cursed content juxtaposition

Cops got a name match on a credit card that was used by the suspect at Dicks… after they swapped the first and last name, despite the guy reporting that his identity was stolen.

Also after giving the cops authentication credentials to all his personal equipment (!!!) that they could have used to confirm that he was at home during the crimes, but they didn’t.

I hope he sues the ever-living fuck out the city.

They were curious to taste them.

Saul Spady—Dick’s Burgers scion, anti-tax election activist (twice over), and KIRO radio fill-in host—has filed an initiative that would criminalize “unauthorized camping and storage of personal property” in unincorporated King County.

Something to keep in mind when deciding where to grab a bite to eat.

Real talk: there is room for some legal enforcement around street camping. I’ve got some RVs in my neighborhood owned and occupied by people who are doing it because it’s cheaper than renting and they can get away with it. They’re not mentally ill or drug users, and they appear to be fixing cars for cash, so they have means. I think there’s room to make laws against that sort of thing without criminalizing people suffering from mental illness and addiction (who need medical care, not jail).

But dopey laws like this aren’t how to get it done.

Convenience store.