Good news for King County: In 2014 there were 61,191 new voters registered for the midterms. This year there have been 91,239 new voters registered. Thatâs an enormous increase! And there will be more stillâwhile online/mail registration is now closed, people can still walk-in and register in-person, and the information for where can be found here.
Obama dismantles seven common excuses people give for why they donât vote: This is great, because trying to figure out the most effective way to convince someone they should vote is the most frustrating dance there is. Next time Iâm in that unfortunate, but inevitable, position Iâm just going to show them this.
President @BarackObama doesn't have time for these 7 excuses not to vote. pic.twitter.com/2Etpm6taTq
â ATTN: (@attn) October 17, 2018
Another Trump lawyer bites the dust: Although it was a planned departure, Trump and his lawyer Don McGahnâs accord together is described as a ârelationship beset by mutual fatigue.â That sounds bad, but itâs almost certainly an understatement since McGahn was considered to be a âmoderating influenceâ on Trump.
Trouble in e-paradise: Yikes, e-commerce giant eBay is claiming that e-commerce giant Amazon has been illegally trying to poach their top sellers, reports the Seattle Times. The illegal part would be if eBay can prove that Amazon was using âeBay member accounts and messaging for purposes other than buying and selling products,â considered illegal by California law. Based on their own preliminary investigation, eBay "found at least 50 Amazon representatives had sent hundreds of solicitation messages over the past several years."
Please excuse thine balls: Truck releases metal balls in West Seattle for unknown reason. Man films. This totally validates my beliefs about the kind of funny business going on over yonder, in our far West quadrant. I guess it's not all long beach strolls and fancy new restaurants, is it?
đ˛ WHOA: A load of steel balls bounced down a West Seattle street today, striking cars as they rolled down >> https://t.co/wY5ZbZpxu1
Footage by Mark Gunlogson / @mountainmad pic.twitter.com/Hg1kbJiYd8
â KING 5 News (@KING5Seattle) October 18, 2018
Gotta pay the toll to get into the SR-99 hole: Tolls for the new SR-99 tunnel have been set! Woo! Never been so excited for a toll announcement in my life. If you're really interested in what all the tiers of tollage are, you can check that out here, cause lord knows I ain't listing them.
Sports leagues real game of choice is parting us from our money: According to a "casino industry survey," US sport leagues are set to see an additional $4.2 billion annually from revenue through legal betting. Leagues have been apparently demanding portions of the betting proceeds, arguing that without their sport there would be no bettingâthe MLB for example, is asking for 1 percent of the money bet as a âintegrity fee.â As the Reuters article says, "in May, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a federal ban against sports betting, paving the way for any state to legalize, regulate and tax the activity."
Kim Schrier and Dino Rossi debated last night: And while I love a good local debate, having been actively following Washington politics for this long, I can't willingly subject myself to having to listen to Dino Rossi spout any more of his greasy lyrics. Luckily for people who haven't made up their minds yet, The Stranger's Rich Smith watched it for you. But seriously, if you want to know about Rossi and why he has been dubbed "The Loser," go ahead and give this Smith piece a gander. Rich's livetweets were a gift:
Rossi pivots on question about whether abortion should be legal, says he "laid down on railroad tracks to protect the most vulnerable" when in the Senate in 2003. His initial budget proposal would have kicked off 46,000 from Medicaid.
â Rich Smith đĽ (@richsssmith) October 18, 2018
Threat level Trump: President Trump called the central bank his âbiggest threat.â Ah, it must be nice to constantly be able to find a scapegoat the second things start to appear a bit dicey (think stock market). Now that he's targeted his scapegoat in Trumpland, if things go south, it isnât his fault, and if things pick back up, well, he was able to succeed even despite his arch-nemesis, the central bank! What a wonderful paradigm to live in.
Extending his discontent beyond Fed chairman Jerome Powell, Trump calls the central bank his 'biggest threat' https://t.co/pytgw4oRGq via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/iUPQ1wqf8d
â Reuters Top News (@Reuters) October 18, 2018
Sometimes, a good tweet: Sometimes there is a presentation of some sort of news, that is so beautiful, and so odd, that you donât even want to find out any more information than youâve been given. For me, this was one of those moments.
"When youâre going down the pendulous breasts fly up like wings," said one organizer of the Skywhale hot air balloon's newest journey. "It's really got a life to itself." https://t.co/JchEHcCp3V
â The New York Times (@nytimes) October 18, 2018
What I see and what I know is that thereâs a hot air balloon, shaped like a whaleâand for some reason, a reason I will must never find outâthe whale has a toupee of skinny breasts dangling off either side, that apparently float upwards as the balloon descends. Australia, thank you for this gift.
OK but why's this sign so low? What's this Frelingford sign supposed to be indicating? That I look out for speeding snails? Is it some sort of dog-pooping scarecrow? In any case, SDOT, this sign may not be at an effective height to be visible for cars.
Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options include: A chance to hear Ben Fountain read from his 2016 essays on the US elections, the opening of Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India, and "ridiculously staged readings of your favorite screenplays" at Ian Bell's Brown Derby Series presents: Halloween.