President Donald Trump says he’ll hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT.” Then, “at some point in the not too distant future,” he claims he’ll seize Kharg Island, which handles about 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports, and take control of the country’s energy infrastructure “much like we have with Venezuela.” Trump lies constantly, especially in wartime, but we might be back to escalation.
Following US strikes on Iran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted US bases overnight for the second consecutive day, CNN reports. Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed. The US military says it isn’t. A Qatari delegation left Tehran after talks with Iranian officials that lasted into the early hours while the US was bombing Iran. Some ceasefire.
The Knicks are one game away from the NBA title. Last night, the Knicks made the largest comeback in Finals history, coming up from 29 points down and beating the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 after a putback layup by OG Anunoby with 1.2 seconds left. Trump, mercilessly booed during Game 3, did not return for Game 4.
Regarding balls on the ground, I’m not sure we’re going to see a wave of World Cup tourists after all. Of the World Cup’s 16 host cities, Seattle is seeing the “least growth in demand for short-term rentals around game days,” writes The Seattle Times. According to AirDNA data released Monday, demand on the game dates is down two percent year over year, and total bookings are down 4.4 percent from last year. Other host cities are seeing more demand, not less. Booking for short-term rentals is up 16 percent year over year. The only other host city with shitty short-term rental numbers is Vancouver, B.C. Do the tourists hate the Northwest?
While tourists are somewhat of a question mark, ICE is not. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are expected to take security roles alongside federal and local law enforcement agencies during the tournament. The Department of Homeland Security says this is standard for a major sporting event, and City officials have been told there are no “specific planned civil immigration operations” during the games, reports KUOW. Though why trust ICE, or this federal government, to keep its word. Labor groups and immigrant groups are worried the Trump administration will seize this moment during the most-watched single sporting event in the world and “double down on their harmful narratives about chaos, about safety, and about who deserves care and belonging,” the co-director of organizing for labor advocates Working Washington told the radio station. The organization has been canvassing the International District and Capitol Hill for weeks, and training workers how to respond to ICE.
Speaking of The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Union has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the paper. According to an Instagram post from the union, management has refused to respond to its wage proposal for over two months. “Stalling is unacceptable. Members are struggling to make ends meet now,” reads one slide. “Management told us we should settle all other issues before they make us a wage offer,” reads another. Wages are the union’s number one issue. The union says one in three union members supplement their income with outside work, and one in three spend 50 percent or more of their income on housing. Nearly half of the union’s members have looked for another job because of what the Times pays, the union says.
A Government by, and for, the Pre-Teen Boys: In what can only be described as even more awesome than a first boner, googling boobs.com, or drinking a two-liter of Mountain Dew to stay up super late on a school night, the same federal government that slashed medical coverage for the old and poor is spending $60 million to stage a UFC fight on the White House lawn for Trump’s 80th birthday on Sunday. This most important task will require seven federal agencies to pull off. Just 16 percent of Americans think this is appropriate.
Who put 2,400 eco-blocks in Georgetown? Well, the University of Washington researchers who mapped the thousands of anti-homeless barriers to limit RV parking have no idea. The city generally does not permit eco-blocks in the public’s right-of-way, but it can be difficult to enforce if they don’t know who put them there, SDOT told The South Seattle Emerald. According to the researchers, “no other city in the country has experienced the same issue with illegal eco-blocks.”
Testing Negative for Good Vibes: COVID-19 testing provider GS Labs will pay nearly $1 million to Washington residents in a settlement after it was accused of overcharging for tests and failing to deliver timely results during the height of the pandemic, reports The Seattle Times. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company, which set up testing sites across the country, was charging up to $380 for individual tests. In Washington, about 11,000 residents are expected to qualify for restitution payments between $5 and $20. People in 18 other states will receive a total of $3.6 million.
El Niño is here, and scientists are concerned. The natural warming of the Pacific Ocean near the equator on an already overheated planet will likely “turbocharge extreme weather,” writes the Associated Press. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there is a 63 percent chance that it “would rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record going back to 1950.” Meteorologists worry it will exceed the record El Niño of 1997, which resulted in billions of dollars of damage in heat waves, droughts, floods, tornadoes, and wildfires. Oh my.
Dorks Weep: The BBC has cancelled the greenlit Doctor Who Christmas special, showrunner Russell T Davies and producer Bad Wolf have jumped ship, and the show might be off the air for years.
