Slog AM: Seattleites March, Israel Spins Settler Attack, Bainbridge Brothers Win Halloween

Good morning and happy Monday to those who celebrate.

Envelopes with suspicious white powder have been sent to congressional offices ahead of the midterms, NBC reports. US Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s staff evacuated her Seattle office Friday afternoon after a similar package was found in the mailroom. It turned out to be nothing physically dangerous, The Seattle Times reported. Another letter was intercepted on its way to the state Secretary of State’s office in Olympia, KOMO reports. A similar terrorist attack happened in 2023, and the culprit was never found.

Speaking of terrorism, US officials denounced Israeli settlers’ attacks on an American journalist, a French mayor, and others over the weekend. The New York Times reports Bibi Netanyahu’s heavy spin on the assaults, which left an American photographer with broken ribs and vertebrae while she was photographing the Palestinian olive harvest. On Saturday US Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered this tepid response: “We’ve asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff,” and defended Trump’s lifting of Biden’s sanctions against Israeli settlers.

Ten Israelis arrested in connection with the attack: Al Jazeera reports that Israeli police arrested 10 people in connection with acts of violence, violating a closed military zone, and illegal construction. Well look at that! The Israeli army can crack down on settler violence when it wants to. They earned an “attaboy” from ardent Zionist and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. In the past, he’s suggested deporting Palestinians from their land to neighboring Muslim nations, to free up more land for Israeli settlers.

Trump endorsed Netanyahu, a first in US-Israel relations, Axios reports, despite misgivings behind the scenes.

“Trump is using his power to intimidate the people who run our elections,” CBS reports. Lesley Stahl broke down the efforts on a sharp 60 Minutes segment, which looks at the series of authoritarian power grabs across the US. For example, on Friday, Trump threatened California officials with prison time if they counted certain mail ballots over unsubstantiated voter fraud claims. 

Paris police arrested 855 of the more than 110,000 people who were out protesting in the city, calling for better education investments, ABC reports.  That’s more than the 600ish protesters arrested during the entire 1999 Seattle WTO protests.

Two women on opposite sides of Seattle’s 1999 WTO protests have died in the past month, the Seattle Times reports. Social justice Organizer KL Shannon died last month at 59. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico (shoutout to my 505ers), Shannon was remembered as a “warrior” by political leaders in Seattle who first met her as she protested and organized during the WTO protests. Pat Davis, then-director of the Port of Seattle, died earlier this month. She’s credited for inviting the WTO to Seattle. She was 91.

What happened to the WTO? The World Trade Organization was neutered by Trump, ignored by Biden, and basically doesn’t do anything anymore. The WTO used to adjudicate disputes over tariffs. But now it’s withering away. Trump defunded the organization, and deprived the body’s appeals court of a quorum by blocking appointments.

Nobody was arrested at the No Kings rally over the weekend. SPD told KIRO that, unlike in Portland —where protesters broke off from the main rally to attack the gate at an ICE facility — nobody ended up in the clink. The main message of the rally was VOTE EARLY IN THE MIDTERMS. Not registered to vote? There’s still time to register and vote in this election in person or online.

A Halloween installation in Bainbridge depicts Jimothy’s evil father, Grimothy. Co-creator Matt Inman, a cartoonist best known for the game Exploding Kittens and the webcomic The Oatmeal, posted the monstrosity on his Instagram over the weekend. It’s a human-height furry raccoon animatron with glowing red eyes, flailing bony arms, and a chomping and a crooked-toothed mandible. Inman told me in an email that he and his brother, Bryce, welded, wired, and “servoed” this monstrosity to something resembling life. Grimothy is on display at his brother’s house, on Cherry Avenue across from the Wing Point Golf & Country Club. Inman says it’s turned the neighborhood into a 24/7 tourist destination.  

A grass fire that started at a Canadian military base got out of control and led to four deaths and dozens of injuries. The Associated Press reports that Canadian officials were still determining what sparked the fire on Saturday, during grenade-throwing exercises. Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney described it as one of the worst peace-time military tragedies on Canadian soil. (The worst Canadian military tragedy happened in Halifax, during World War I when a French ship filled with explosives collided with another ship and exploded, killing 1,782 and injuring an estimated 9,000).

Students in Bend, Oregon, are going back to school this week for the first time since the mass shooting there. Three children and a teacher were killed by a 16-year-old with a shotgun on Thursday, and Oregon Public Broadcasting reports parents are bracing for the emotional strain of dropping their kids off there on Wednesday. The shooter was killed by a “good guy with a gun.” The shooter reportedly got the shotgun from his mom, who could face charges depending on how the investigation plays out.

Love Em or hate ‘em: Detroit’s Kid Rock and Eminem have teamed up in a pre-midterm show of solidarity, Rolling Stone reports. Their new song “Heal My Faith” is the lyrical equivalent of an unexpected animal friendship video, with Eminem’s signature inventive style recounting the duo’s bond as Detroit natives. Eminem endorsed Kamala Harris for president in 2024 and has been critical of Trump. He says guesting on Kid Rock’s track was about making music, “not about choosing sides.” Rock’s verse, in my reading, subconsciously charts his own journey from saying “fuck off” to embracing Trump and authoritarianism. 

‘Cause it’s time to bear witness, take the path of least resistance

Bow your head, hey, and pray for forgiveness

I know it’s hard to comprehend

Why evil exists and what it does to good men

‘Eminem, do you have that video of my friend’s boobs on the Interstate? Mr. Mathers, let me take you back to 2002, north of Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Interstate 25. You were riding in the red Anger Management Tour bus when we passed you in a sedan. My friend’s girlfriend maneuvered at around 75 miles per hour in front of your tour bus, where Bizarre was up front talking with the diver. One of the adult women in our sedan managed to open the sunroof, stand up, and bare her breasts into the headlights of the tour bus. Somebody on the bus (Obie Trice maybe?) was holding a camcorder, and we think we remember you checking out the action. I think of that high-speed stunt and wonder if those boobs are archived in your agent’s basement or the Library of Congress, along with my dumb teenage face starting out the rear window.

Here’s the Detroit stop of that Anger Management Tour. It was a circus.

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