I'm glad that this partial transcript of last night's political consultant face-off has been posted by Publicola, because it exposes what I think is the most important interpretive divide regarding this year's race for mayor.
The divide is created by this question:
Was the McGinn phenomenon simply a one-off anomaly in' [...]
But:
Obama won the Democratic nomination and the presidency with strong support from blacks and other racial minorities. In fact, according to exit polls and Gallup's final pre-election estimates, he won the election despite losing by double digits to John McCain among white voters.
Those patterns of support seem to have persisted [...]
The Literary Saloon and MobyLives are the most recent blogs to report the news: It looks as though Borders UK might be going belly-up. Their website has stopped taking customer orders, and the rumors suggest that the company is about to file for bankruptcy unless it can get [...]
Fired artistic directors of Seattle, take a tip from Larry Jones of Oklahoma's Feed The Children.
When he got fired by his board, he turned around and sued the bastards, then bitched to the press ("Do you want to feed the children or feed the lawyers?"), then convinced funders [...]
The Kentucky census worker found hanging from a tree with the word “fed” scrawled on his chest staged his own death to look like a homicide so that his son could collect his life insurance, the authorities said Tuesday.
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I haven't, but this photo alone makes me want to look into it.
Jonathan Yamauchi Rabaul, Papua New Guinea (Click to Enlarge)
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' [...]
The author of The Red Hat Club lost a lawsuit filed by a childhood friend. The friend claims that the novelist destroyed her reputation by basing a character in the book on her.
Plaintiff's attorney Joann Brown Williams had brandished a clean, white piece of fabric before [...]
First, and mostly unrelated: I would very much like it if writers stopped using the term "Team of Rivals" when they refer to cooperation between competitors.
Second, and much more important: The New York Observer says that Time Warner is working with its competitors to build an iTunes for magazines:
The [...]
New in Super Cwazy Cwistians™: The Side Hug! The CSH is especially great for Christian teens who should never be allowed to enage in a full-frontal hug. With full frontal hugs, young people risk accidently touching the fully-clothed crotch of another human. I'm glad there's a rap song' [...]
Here it is, LA7's documentary on the Amanda Knox/Meredith Kercher story...
LA7, which is "considered to be the third major network in Italy," filmed the Seattle section during our sunny summer. The soundtrack for Seattle is packed with American rock (for example, Jimi [...]
Once again, some crappy, crappy news has instigated what sounds like a great party:
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Robert UllmanMovieLine has a great post up pointing out 7 threatened fanboy reactions to the new Twilight movie. When New Moon nearly unseated The Dark Knight's opening weekend box-office record, the boy-nerds got their fan-panties in a bunch.
Not only do they have to do [...]
Music
The BooksNYC duo the Books write the kind of songs that give McSweeney's readers mindgasms; who else sings words like "therein" and "capitulate"? Beyond clever lyrics and track titles, the Books generate a distinctly arch yet oddly moving strain of folktronica. Their gently ruptured, collagist [...]
This movie is obviously terrible. That said, am I a racist idiot? Discuss.
The thing is, this actually happened. (Interesting! So make a fucking documentary, dickbuckets!) Michael Oher is a real person and so is Mrs. Benevolent White Lady, but their on-screen dramatic representations are about as [...]
It's actually factory farming that this ad condemns... so I assume it's okay with PETA if we eat an organic, free-range, non-burned, non-kicked, non-stomped turkey on Thanksgiving? Or is going vegan the only answer?
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[...]He's going to write about it.
Iranian-born Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari recounts his time (118 days, 12 hours, 54 minutes) in the notorious Evin prison, where the Iranian regime holds (and beats, and executes) political and religious prisoners. Bahari's interrogators threatened to kill him if he ever talked about what [...]
Examiner.com
Stephen Colbert took a run with the U.S. bobsled team, all of whom were upstaged by Colbert's wad o' manhood. Here's a butt shot!
Thank you, Slog tipper Grace.
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' [...]
Two readings tonight.
Amy Goodman does an early afternoon reading with Denis Moynihan at Elliott Bay Book Company today. Goodman reads from Breaking the Sound Barrier, which is a collection of her recent work. They'll be reading elsewhere in a few days, but this is your' [...]
An upsetting new commercial for heavy-duty umbrellas to raise awareness of greenhouse gasses released by plane travel.
Thanks for the heads up, WOW Report.
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After an event in the International District yesterday afternoon intended to highlight her efforts to take Washington's Basic Health plan national, Sen. Maria Cantwell sat down with a few local reporters to talk about the overall health insurance reform effort.
The house passed its reform bill on Nov. 7. [...]
Gay sex gets "equal treatment" in Dragon Age: Origins...
Man, those warrior elves—they're all bottom-for-'em-and-leave-'em types, huh? In other gay news: Lambda Legal is suing the city of Atlanta, Atlanta's police chief, and 48 officers on behalf of the patrons who were roughed up and detained at the Atlanta' [...]
Just minutes after I posted about the return of Marilyn "Mom" Raichle—the new interim director of Giant Magnet whose last nonprofit, Foolproof, died of painful debt spasms—I got a message that Raichle wanted to chat about the future of GM.
The interview—including a mysterious sojourn in Los Angeles, the Dalai [...]
At a candid post-election forum, campaign strategists for Joe Mallahan admitted last night that they hid Joe Mallahan from the press and public to prevent him from damaging his own campaign. In contrast to Mayor-elect Mike McGinn, who accepted press interviews on his cell phone and spoke at 25 town [...]
The Recession Has Eased: So why is the "problem list" of banks longer than it has been in the last 16 years?
The Decision About Troops in Afghanistan: Expected within days.
Washington's Basic Health Plan: More people on waiting list than enrolled.
Drive-by Shooting in Sunnyside (Yakima County): Nobody [...]
Mayor-elect Mike McGinn has completed his schedule for three town halls before he is sworn in as mayor. (Two were confirmed yesterday.) Probably safe to bet that these are going to be packed:
Monday, November 30
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Northgate Community Center gymnasium
10510 5th Ave Northeast
Tuesday, December [...]
The main page of The Oregonian...
The main page of The Vancouver Sun...
The main page of The Seattle Times...
Clearly, The Oregonian has the most interesting story of the day; clearly, The Seattle Times has [...]
We are still here...
The world has not been swallowed by a manmade black hole....
Alarmists take note: The planet is intact after particles began smashing into each other at the Large Hadron Collider today.
For the first time, the $10 billion machine circulated two [...]
Rom Houben has been trapped in a series of worst nightmares, including trying for 23 years to alert those around him that he was not in a coma. A new report suggests he's not alone in his experience.
In 1983, Belgian engineering student and martial arts enthusiast Houben, then 20, was [...]
Mike McGinn will hold three town halls—one in south Seattle, one in the Central District, and one near Northgate—before taking over the mayor's office in January. In a pivot from his campaign stump speeches, McGinn says he's intent on listening to residents about what they want. "I just want to" [...]
Marilyn Raichle, founder and former director of the Seattle International Children's Festival, has stepped back into the organization to replace Andrea Wagner, who was fired a few weeks ago after 13 years at the helm.
People are describing the situation at Giant Magnet (SICF's new name after a re-branding campaign) [...]
Crews for the city's Department of Transportation (SDOT) will install 57 traffic-monitoring cameras across Seattle between now and the end of the year as part of a citywide strategy to gauge and tame congestion. The cameras won't be used to ticket drivers for traffic violations, says SDOT spokesman Rick Sheridan. [...]
At 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, the canvassing board for King County Elections will meet to certify the election. Just seven hours later, Dow Constantine will be sworn in as the next county executive. (Because he is replacing an interim executive, he doesn't wait until the new year like other recently elected' [...]
Congrats to Kamala Saxton (pictured) and Roz Edison.
Seattle's Hawaiian-Korean taco truck Marination Mobile has been voted the winner of Good Morning America's Best Food Cart Challenge. The electorate? The viewers of Good Morning America—very few of whom, presumably, [...]
Nathan Bransford has a good blog post debunking certain popular e-book myths:
5. "You can't check e-books out from the library"
According to the NY Times, about 5,400 libraries now offer e-books, and more are signing up every day. Most library programs work like with physical books - you "check out"' [...]
I've walked by this brightly lit sign at Sea-Tac about a hundred thousand times and I never really noticed...
...the photo on the right. You know, the troubled teenage girl with her knees pulled up to her chest, glowering at the parents who won't let her leave the [...]
"You got the same father I got. A hobo just left on the midnight train and died, lost at sea."
The South Carolina State Ethics Commission combed through Gov. Mark Sanford’s records and came up with 37 ethics charges involving air travel and campaign funds.
The married governor, who went AWOL for nearly a week this past summer only to return and acknowledge he had been with his Argentinean “soul mate,” [...]
Earlier in the day it seemed like anyone going to the MLS Cup final at Qwest Field last night was going to be rained on and frozen solid, but then the rain cleared and everyone wrapped themselves in the Sounders scarves they wore to matches all summer [...]
In last week's Police Beat, I briefly discussed the main ideas of a contemporary and famous American philosopher I greatly admire, Graham Harman. A week later, the philosopher posted this on his blog:
This may be the least expected reference to my philosophy so far (even weirder is that [...]
I love the podcast and column and just saw you live at UBC this weekend. Loved the part about how girls come on guys' faces all the time during oral—laughed about that all night.
Anyway, I do have a question for you: I'm a hetero girl in my 20s. [...]
Still. Goldy's takedown of David Brewster's post-election analysis is required reading.
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[...]Constantine can move quickly because he doesn't face a huge learning curve.
Unlike the dingbat they endorsed.
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' [...]The family of Peter Dzioba—the 60-year-old tourist who was killed in August of 2008 after his pedicab lost control on a steep downtown hill, collided with a scooter, and threw him into the path of an oncoming minivan—says it has filed suit against Cascadia Cabs, the company that runs [...]
The family of Peter Dzioba—the 60-year-old tourist who was killed in August of 2008 after his pedicab lost control on a steep downtown hill, collided with a scooter, and threw him into the path of an oncoming minivan—says it has filed suit against Cascadia Cabs, the company that runs [...]
For lack of a better term: MOOBS. How much is too much?
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It's here! Paul Constant tells you what's up:
Here’s the short version: New Moon is a much better movie than Twilight. Director Chris Weitz’s slick, showy visuals are the antithesis of Catherine Hardwicke’s awkward adaptation of the first book in the young-adult romance series, and slickness is [...]
In The Morning News today, Jen linked to a story about a new iPhone worm making the rounds in the Netherlands.
As with most stories like this, the BBC headline and subhead make no mention of the fact that this exploit only affects iPhones that have already been massively [...]
The Seattle City Council looks ready to raise parking fines by $4 this afternoon. They've got a full docket, including several bills intended to balance the anemic budget. This bill, which raises parking infraction fees across the board, is one of the strategies to raise revenue instead of' [...]
Film
'Precious'Over the next few months, you'll be reading a lot about Precious, Lee Daniels's stylish, shocking drama about a New York teen making her way through a life of violent abuse and oppression. Don't let the "Oprah-endorsed Oscar bait" hype stop you from experiencing a [...]
Let the the admiration/judgment begin.
Thank you, WOW Report.
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Two great-looking readings tonight.
Angella M. Nazarian reads at Elliott Bay Book Company tonight. Nazarian's Jewish family fled Iran during the revolution of 1979. Life as a Visitor tells that story. If you enjoyed Persepolis, you should give this one a try, even though it's not a funnybook.
And Robert [...]
The government isn't going to cover abortion—or allow you to buy a plan that covers abortion—but it is going to pay for... prayer?
Leaders of the Church of Christ, Scientist, are pushing a proposal that would help patients pay someone like Lewis for prayer by having insurers reimburse the $20' [...]
Sentence of the day, from ABC News:
A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave for depression says she lost her benefits because her insurance agent found photos of her on Facebook in which she appeared to be having fun.
(Some of the problematic photos show the woman partying at Chippendales. The [...]
Lynn Porter at the DJC reports that Opus's shiny new office building is still empty:
Opus Northwest is offering to sell its 205,000-square-foot 7th & Madison office building on First Hill. The nine-story complex, which was completed in April and has no tenants, is being offered at' [...]
* Evangelical Christians insist that Mormons are not real Christians and fake Christians are the worst kind of Christians, aren't they?
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' [...]40 Kidnapped, At Least 21 Killed: Election violence in the Philippines.
Local Conservative Talk Radio Host's Illegal Workers: Being let go quietly to keep company from getting in trouble.
Getting Tattooed at the Altar: Evangelicals in Mill Creek.
Insurance Vs. Cash: Profile of a two-tier clinic.
No Bus Cuts: [...]
This just in...
A new study has found that almost 10 percent of people who are classified medically as obese believe they have a healthy body size and do not need to lose weight—despite the fact that many have high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and diabetes.... “Perception affects behavior,” said [...]
To be found everywhere you look are the signs of neoliberalism's doom. Here is one such place, an article Mike Davis wrote earlier this year.
Since the initial H5N1 deaths in Hong Kong in 1997, the WHO, with the support of most national health services, has promoted a [...]
The United States sends hundreds of millions of dollars to Uganda every year to combat the spread of AIDS. Meanwhile the government in Uganda and the Ugandan media actively persecute gay people—which drives the minority at highest risk for HIV infection underground, which means gay men in Uganda don't have' [...]
From The Nation:
As Barack Obama touched down in China, the American press seemed to settle on a single story line. The president, wrote the New York Times, will be "assuming the role of profligate spender coming to pay his respects to his banker." And the Wall Street Journal [...]
If you see something, say something. Others of us are braving the elements to see it in person and will hold forth later.
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Film
Burning Fuse FestivalAll this week at the Grand Illusion, it's Burning Fuse, a touring film festival composed of six documentaries, including Pussycat Preacher (a stripper turns evangelical), Sliding Liberia (Liberian surfers, brah!), Soldiers of Conscience (how we condition our children to bypass their morals and [...]
...sorry about that.
Several nurses at Jackson Memorial Hospital have personally apologized to Janice Langbehn, a lesbian from Washington state who said that a Jackson social worker wouldn't allow her to be with her dying partner in 2007. "We certainly are sorry for the pain and suffering she felt," said' [...]
Nobody's reading today.
Here is a trailer for a short story by Colson Whitehead that appears in the second volume of Electric Literature, a nifty new literary magazine with amazing authors like Lydia Davis and T Cooper in every issue:
Maybe you should think about buying Electric Literature today. Or [...]
Sixty: Senate Democrats put together enough votes to open debate on health care reform. That doesn't guarantee whatever bill the Senate comes up with will pass though.
Jesus Is Mean: An orthodox Catholic bishop has banned U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving communion—which is important to those guys—in' [...]
With Senator Lincoln's agreement resulting in the magic number of sixty, the Senate's version of the health care reform bill will proceed to debate—a key step.
This version, like the House bill that passed earlier, contains a public option. The senate's bill allows states to opt-out of the public [...]
We have several poetry readings, several boat-type readings, and a book about looking at Puget Sound like an artist today. Then there are the book events we are actually going to hear about. To wit:
Friends of the Library is hosting a Mini-Book Sale today at Magnuson [...]
The Battle Continues: The Senate votes on whether to begin debate on health care reform today. Democrats were close to reaching the 60 vote threshhold last night. Every fucking Republican still pledged to vote against it.
Shooting on Capitol Hill: A man was shot in the chest last night, [...]
Visit our film page for all your wide release needs, including Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, The Blind Side, Planet 51, and more.
Plus, Charles Mudede explores the New Italian Cinema Festival at SIFF Cinema, and I review the [...]
On NPR's On the Media. (The Stranger's story about the project is here.)
Paul Mullin accompanies this announcement with his usual broadside.
There’s a stereotype about Seattle, and especially its artists, and even more especially its theatre aritists, that we have an inferiority complex. We have trouble believing that [...]
JoanJeffryThe foundation isn't yet listing this year's winners on its site, but our 2009 Stranger Genius is now a 2009 Joan Mitchell winner, too. He gets $25,000. Here are last year's winners.
A man was just sentenced to 11 years in prison for beating his wife—with her consent.
Timothy Thompson, a former news reporter for Portland radio station KXL, will have 11 years and 6 months in prison to think about the severity of what he did to his wife Susan and [...]
Maybe this is really dumb question, but... would it be possible to save a piece of the Viaduct as a park/outdoor concert and performance venue? Kind of like the High Line in NYC? It could start at Seneca—walk out of the Seattle Art Museum and take a stroll to [...]
For Strangercrombie, we asked six local artists to donate one-of-a-kind piñatas—but we had no idea they would do it up like this. The piñatas are starting to come into the office today, and they are Seriously. Freaking. Amazing.
Here's a sneak peek at one of them, [...]
The Corner of Sweet and Bitter at Open SatelliteThis morning the video artist Meiro Koizumi got on a plane with his wife Yuka and went back home to Japan after having spent two months [...]
At last night's Post-Election Analysis forum sponsored by Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Governor Chris Gregoire announced that, unlike last year, she expects there to be at least some new revenue to soften the expected cuts to balance the $2.6 budget deficit. Political operative Nigel Herbig tweeted this from the event:
At [...]
After only a few weeks in Alaska, I'm convinced of one fact: If Sarah Palin is a racist, it wasn't from her childhood in Wasilla. (What am I doing in Alaska? This.) By most measures, the Anchorage area is more ethnically diverse and integrated than most places I've' [...]
This is pretty delicious...
I guess the Noblesville, Indiana Going Rogue book signing didn’t go very well yesterday because 300* or so of the 1000 people with wristbands were asked not to tread on Sarah Palin and then she tried to make a getaway with Baby Trig and several duffel [...]
Is this the future of the internet?
The British government has brought down its long-awaited Digital Economy Bill, and it's perfectly useless and terrible. It consists almost entirely of penalties for people who do things that upset the entertainment industry (including the "three-strikes" rule that allows your entire family [...]
Sure they do. But why do they hang low? And why don't they hang lower? Why isn't your scrotum bright red? Why doesn't your scrotum have feathers? Science has the answer.
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' [...]I met a guy about two months ago through weird and serendipitous circumstances on my last visit back home to Tucson and he's great in so many ways. We get along really well, have a lot of common interests, his friends and family that I've met so far I like' [...]
Is the subject of a profile in the NYT... travel section? The article doesn't say much about Seattle theater except that it exists, it includes/ed people like Bart Sher, Kurt Beattie, et al.
Also: "Offbeat delights abound."
In the "offbeat" category:
Teatro ZinZanni, for instance, offers a five-course meal and a European-style' [...]
Move over risky-business-underwear-girls. Little Channing's about to out-viral your asses...
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[...]
