Weather: According to the good people at the National Weather Service, Seattle can expect a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures in the low 70s. See you bitches (celebratory) outside!
All eyes on Rafah: President Joe Biden shifted his tone on Israel’s genocide on Palestine yesterday. He said, for the first time, that he would stop sending Israel certain weapons if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a major ground invasion in the city of Rafah, which is supposed to be a safe zone for the 1 million people sheltering there. This may be Biden’s toughest statement against Israel’s genocide, but it is still so very limited. He’s only taking away some of Israel’s killing toys and he’s already giving Israel leeway. Earlier this week, Israel already started an aerial and ground offensive in Rafah, but the US is okay with that because they claim it is a “limited operation.”
School closure: The Seattle School Board unanimously approved a proposal yesterday that could close 20 of the district’s 70 elementary schools to help alleviate the district’s annual budget gap, which is more than $100 million. Frankly, Seattle Public Schools should not be dealing with a budget problem at all. There’s so much hoarded wealth in Washington State, and legislators must act boldly to fulfill their constitutional duty to fully fund our schools. Do me and the students of Seattle a favor and tell your state legislators to find new, progressive revenue streams to fund our schools.
Tariq Yusuf: As I tweeted last night, the City Council candidate confirmed that an alleged Jonathon Choe groupie pushed him to the ground Tuesday afternoon in the Liberated Zone at the Quad on the UW campus. Right-wingers responded how you would expect. Katie Daviscourt said she’s glad to know a “violent extremist” is running for City Council. To which I said, “Oh shit the guy who pushed him is running too???” Like, be fucking for real. Yusuf literally walked toward Choe to tell him to stop recording Muslim students for Twitter clout and some guy pushed him to the ground. Plus, I don’t see Yusuf in the fight in the full clip.
Position 8 Seattle City Council candidate @tariqajyusuf got pushed down by someone appearing to be affiliated with Jonathon Choe. Yusuf said he was trying to stop Choe from filming Muslims at the Gaza solidarity encampment at UW yesterday. pic.twitter.com/mZKgaaq7sG
— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) May 9, 2024
Yusuf responds: In a Tweet thread, Yusuf wrote, “As someone who grew up Muslim, I know how scary it is to stand for what you believe in. For a lot of our families, our parents aren’t citizens and often are refugees from awful circumstances. We’ve been spied on, attacked, and abused by exercising our basic rights. The sheer disrespect of these people who are expressing their right to speech is oxymoronic, cruel, and offensive to the principles this country was founded on.” Fellas, is it violent extremism to shoo away a right-wing vlogger from Muslim kids who grew up in the Islamaphobic, surveillance state aftermath of 9/11?
ICYMI: I broke down what happened at the stand-off outside the Quad Tuesday night. Despite concern that Charlie Kirk’s event would draw right-wing agitators to the Liberated Zone, things remained relatively calm. I think that’s in part because the UW didn’t overwhelm the protesters with cops. But the hands-off approach sorta signals that maybe UW doesn’t want to draw too much attention and would rather the protesters fade away. After all, the UW has not responded to their demands.
Coming up: Put this march to commemorate 76 years since the Nakba on your calendar.
🇵🇸 Saturday, May 11 🇵🇸
— SamidounSeattle (@SamidounSeattle) April 8, 2024
Save the date to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba.
It has been 7 months and 76 years of genocide, ethnic cleansing, military occupation, and settler colonialism at the hands of the Zionist regime in Palestine. pic.twitter.com/PJqphBEX6M
Just Boeing things: This morning a Boeing 737 caught on fire and skidded off the runway at an airport in Senegal. Ten of the 85 people on board were injured. This comes just a day after a Boeing cargo plane crash-landed nose-first in Istanbul, not to mention the other recent incidents that make Boeing headlines all blend together. Oh, and if you forgot, two Boeing whistleblowers died in the past two months! Nice!
What a treat: We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez jumped in the race for 43rd Legislative District yesterday—twice actually. She accidentally filed for position 1 against incumbent Rep. Nicole Macri, Twitter went nuts, she dropped, Twitter went nuts again, then she filed for position 2 against lefty Shaun Scott, and Twitter went nuts again. For those of you who don’t know Suarez or her organization, here’s a good primer.
Suarez's first scandal: Suarez got some side-eye from the Chair of the State Democratic Party Shasti Conrad when I tweeted that Suarez, while running as a Democrat, will headline a GOP fundraiser next week. Conrad said "Anyone is allowed to declare themselves a Democrat and run as a Democratic candidate. We obviously don’t encourage our candidates to raise funds for the OPPOSITION PARTY." She said WA Dems will work to ensure a legit Democrat wins that seat. We’ll see if Suarez proves herself to the party.
Shake-up in the Mayor’s office: The Mayor announced some change-ups in his office yesterday. First of all, as the City faces a HUGE budget deficit, budget director Julie Dingley resigned. He also announced the appointment of Natalie Walton-Anderson as the Director of Public Safety. Recognize that name? Here’s why:
INBOX: Mayor appoints Natalie Walton-Anderson as the Director of Public Safety. Walton-Anderson is the mastermind behind the campaign to disqualify SMC Judge Pooja Vaddadi from all criminal cases. https://t.co/g2pMRmu1wG
— Ashley Nerbovig (@AshleyNerbovig) May 8, 2024
Hush money: Porn actress Stormy Daniels returned to the witness stand to continue testimony. During Tuesday's testimony, she detailed the sexual encounter former President Donald Trump allegedly paid for her to stay quiet about during the 2016 election. Trump's lawyers spent this morning discrediting Daniels, according to the AP.
Just cuz:
