cc @democrats.org 👀

Hey @kenmartin.bsky.social! Check your texts and reply to @zeetothehill.bsky.social immediately! 😁 Let's win these pesky elections.

A UW professor recently called Washington State “a tax haven like the Cayman Islands.” What did he mean? Let’s get into it!

This is unacceptable. We can do better.

Also, as mayor I do absolutely want to support and partner with community-led food system efforts - like Rainier Beach Action Coalition’s Food Hub and Farm Stand, and their longer term plans for a Food Innovation Center near the Rainier Beach Light Rail Station. /

In sum, I would love to do this in principle, but wouldn't want to do it just because it sounds good and then have it turn into a major drain on City time, energy, and resources without real measurable benefits for Seattle residents.

I think a public grocery store will be most successful if it grows out of community organizing and coalition-building within a specific neighborhood. People need to be all-in on making it work, and making it into more than just a grocery store.

One cool thing a public grocery store could do is subsidize some staple goods (bread, milk… eggs, anyone?) and raise the prices of higher-end items to compensate. A co-op near my hometown does this and it seems to work, but obviously depends on an affluent customer base.

Of course, a public grocery store could operate at a loss. But then we need to be clear-eyed about the fact that we’re choosing to subsidize it—and measure the benefits against other ways we might subsidize food costs for low-income households.

Margins in the grocery industry are low. In a food desert, a public grocery store will have the same struggles a for-profit store has.

You’d need multiple stores to be able to buy wholesale, and even then wouldn’t achieve other economies of scale enjoyed by large chains like Kroger or Albertson’s. So it’s not going to be easy to offer lower prices.

To the extent that high prices represent monopoly power in the food industry (not at the grocery store level but further back in the food chain, so to speak), publicly owned stores aren’t going to get a better deal.

I’m sympathetic to the municipal grocery store idea and certainly open to it. But I don’t think we can assume this is an easy solution to high prices or food deserts. 🧵

More from Katie’s conversation with @lobbingscorchers.com about the World Cup and Seattle’s role in creating a safe and connected community. Full Pod: www.sounderatheart.com/2025/05/lobb...

Katie’s statement on the events in Cal Anderson Park:

The City must fully investigate what happened yesterday, including the decisions that led to the event being held at Cal Anderson, preparations or lack thereof, and the actions of SPD. We have so many years of experience with demonstrations in Seattle, there’s no excuse for this. We can do better. /

As it is, we have 23 arrests, multiple injuries, countless people pepper sprayed & traumatized.  No one from the mayor’s office appears to have even been on-site yesterday during these events. To be absent and to blame all this on infiltration by “anarchists,” as the mayor did, is to pass the buck.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the mayor’s office should have been paying attention. They should have directed the Parks Department to steer the rally to a less contentious spot, and they should have worked with SPD on a plan for crowd control focused on de-escalation and keeping everyone safe.

Mayor Harrell’s statement acknowledges that the rally was held in this location “to provoke a reaction” — although a Mayday USA spokesperson is quoted in The Seattle Times claiming their first choice was Victor Steinbrueck Park, but the City said no.

It was entirely predictable that this would lead to heated confrontations between protesters, counterprotesters, and SPD. This would be a bad idea at any time, but it is especially dangerous when members of our community find themselves under attack from the right-wing forces in Washington D.C.

The mayor’s primary job is to keep people safe, and that means taking action to prevent danger & violence before it starts. A fundamentalist Christian, anti-trans “family values” demonstration never should have been permitted for Cal Anderson, in the heart of Seattle’s historic LGBTQ neighborhood.

I’ve heard from so many people about yesterday’s events at Cal Anderson Park in Capitol Hill. It’s clear this situation was seriously mishandled by Mayor Harrell’s administration, resulting in unnecessary arrests, injuries, and loss of trust in our city government. 🧵

@hasanabirepeater.bsky.social lied about the whole thing. What an actual loser.

@hasanabirepeater.bsky.social lied about the whole thing. What an actual loser.

Happy May Day! Today we honor the victories won by workers who organized, advocated, and stood together. The fight for fair treatment continues — and with solidarity, we can win. Join us. WilsonForSeattle.com

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 NEW SUBSTACK ARTICLE 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 Stop Falling for The Bait We need to save our energy. openbrainresearch.substack.com/p/stop-falli...

Carney: When I sit down with President Trump, it will be to discuss the future economic and security relationship between two sovereign nations and it will be with our full knowledge that we have many, many other options than the United States..

Encampment removals, a.k.a. sweeps, have risen to record levels under Harrell’s administration. If you’re not paying close attention, you might notice fewer tents and think “wow, Harrell’s really cleaning up the streets.”

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 NEW SUBSTACK ARTICLE 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 Project 2025 Is Slowing But why? openbrainresearch.substack.com/p/project-20...

Dawg.....read a book, I recommend The Sleepwalkers of History. This was a surprise, multiple people in key positions prior to the war and even leading up to the war could have made different choices that would have changed the course of history drastically.

It was in fact a surprise to many of the leaders who declared it, who escalated specifically out of a belief that a major war was unlikely to occur

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 NEW SUBSTACK ARTICLE 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 A Strange Hill To Die On At least we can count on incompetency. openbrainresearch.substack.com/p/a-strange-...

BREAKING: Kaitlan Collins just blindsided former ICE director Tom Homan on live TV over his MS‑13 smear of Abrego Garcia: “But I don’t see any of that made in a court filing. I haven’t seen any of that in court, not the court of public opinion here.”

DOGE is a criminal conspiracy to defraud the people of the United States

Big business is eroding the very essence of our community. Corporations have turned to abusing the levers of power, for personal gain. Disentangling and asking them to pay their fair share is the way forward. Join us: WilsonForSeattle.com

A bunch of folks showed up to the Bothell City Council tonight to speak against a potential resolution affirming Bothell as a welcoming place for LGBTQIA+ people. Here was Bothell Mayor Mason Thompson's response.

In Russia, Kadyrov displays a teen’s corpse and expels his family—Moscow stays silent. 🧵 1/5 ⬇️

Big fundraiser guys! For very important people, 113 territorial defense brigade who shoot down Shaheds drones terrorizing us daily in Kharkiv. Drone strikes have increased by 40-50% since Trump's "ceasefire" started. We need $5000 for the new van. PayPal in the bio. As always, thank you 🇺🇦

No shit. That's what Signal is for right?

The economic collapse will destroy the social safety net. States cannot deficit spend by law. As revenues nosedive, they'll be forced to cut back on education, healthcare, and vital programs. They'll also be more dependent on federal funding giving Trump more leverage.

What a reversal in the markets

Two months ago during the last trade scare. Trump walked back then, he isn't now. This still holds true.

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 NEW SUBSTACK ARTICLE 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 Helldiver II's Managed Democracy is Dangerously Close To Reality. The Neo-Reactionary pipedream and how it's made its way into the White House. open.substack.com/pub/openbrai...

Subscribe to our Substack! More articles coming soon! openbrainresearch.substack.com

begging internet leftists to explain how this section in the attached screenshot from the entry on imre lakatos (he's the one quoted) in the SEP isn't fundamentally correct about marxism

The brutal, unavoidable truth about Marxism, imo