This striking new mural is from the outside of the Neumos music venue on East Pike St in Capitol Hill.
Sunday/ a billion dollar criminal enterprise
The Lincoln Project is holding accountable those who would violate their oaths to the Constitution and would put others before Americans.
– The Lincoln Project
Trump used his pardon power corruptly on Friday, to commute the prison sentence of his personal advisor Roger Stone. Here is the transcript, and stills from The Lincoln Project’s political ad, made in response to it.
It’s not a campaign.
It’s a billion dollar criminal enterprise.
Donald Trump says he’s running on law and order.
Who’s he kidding?
Trump’s campaign manager is a felon.
His deputy campaign manager is a felon.
His national security advisor? A felon.
His foreign policy advisor is a felon.
His personal lawyer is a felon.
His longtime personal advisor? A felon.
Nixon was BAD.
Trump is WORSE.
Now, Trump saves Roger Stone.
Stone lied to cover up Russian involvement in Trump’s campaign, to protect Donald Trump.
Seven felony convictions.
Trump: ‘I am the law and order candidate’.
Trump is the most corrupt president in U.S. history.
There is only one way to end the Trump crime spree.
Throw him and his crooks out of office.
On November 3rd, vote for justice.
Saturday/ summer days
We have had a mild, average summer so far, with temperatures in the high 60s or 70s (18 to 24 °C). The sun still sets after 9 pm .. so even after dinner, there is still lots of time to go for a walk or to water the garden.
In the South and Southwest of the United States a phenomenon called a ‘heat dome*‘ has developed, which will lead to historic high temperatures the next few weeks. It is possible for Phoenix, AZ, to see 120 °F (48 °C).
*A heat dome occurs when strong, high-pressure atmospheric conditions trap hot ocean air like a lid or cap.
P.S. That would be .. apple juice, that the jovial guy in the apron is serving up?
Friday/ mystery bird: solved
I had to scroll through hundreds of Botswana bird photos to identify this white-crested helmetshrike, that I took a picture of long ago. (Googling ‘White bird with orange-ringed eye’ and several other similar attempts, did not do it).
We call a shrike laksman (say ‘la- ks-mon’) in Afrikaans: literally, executioner. The crimson-breasted shrikes in our garden in South Africa would find frogs or big insects, and impale them on the thorns of a bush before devouring them!
White-crested helmetshrike (Prionops plumatus), Tuli Block, Botswana, Jul. 1988.
Thursday/ hydrangea time
A lot more flowers are blooming on my hydrangea this year, compared to last year. They are as always a deep pink (which means that I have neutral or slightly alkaline soil).
A neighbor right around the corner has beautiful blue ones (acidic soil).
Wednesday/ the future: even more impossible to foretell
I see political science professor Helmut Norpoth — who has correctly predicted five out of six elections since 1996 — gives Trump a 91% shot at winning in November. (The model places an emphasis on how much enthusiasm candidates were able to generate early in the nominating process, and Joe Biden did particularly poorly in the early Democratic primaries. The Cult of Trump barely had any opposition in the Republican primaries).
Hey, professor: add in 11% unemployment/ 40 million still out of work by Nov., and therefore tens of millions with no health insurance in a pandemic, 250,000 lives lost in preventable deaths, and 4x more people needing housing & help with meals than before the pandemic.
What does your model predict for that scenario?
Tuesday/ another 4×6 ‘escape’
Here’s another 4×6 ‘escape’ photo that I found on a lamp post, of the Gullfoss waterfall in Iceland. It’s about 50 miles (80 km) as the crow flies from the capital of Reykjavik, and 75 miles (120 km) to drive out there with a car.
Monday/ bare face? please leave
Businesses in Washington State are required to turn bare-faced customers away from tomorrow, Tuesday.
No mask, no service.
*American actor (77). Walken won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Michael Cimino’s 1978 film The Deer Hunter, a movie about three steelworkers whose lives were forever changed after fighting in the Vietnam War.
Sunday/ a sunny day
It was a sunny day (70 °F/ 21 °C) and I walked down to the erstwhile CHOP (Capital Hill Organized Protest) zone.
The streets are cleaned up, but there is graffiti everywhere, that will have to be cleaned up at some point. There are still a few police cars parked on street corners to keep an eye on things.
P.S. Crude language explainer for the picture. ‘ACAB’ stands for All Cops Are Bastards. The acronym goes back all the way to the 1940s, referring to run-ins with the British police.
Saturday/ forwards! to November
It’s a muted 4th of July Independence Day here in the United States.
Here’s to hoping that Nov. 3 will bring us a president, and a government for all of We The People.
Friday/ the ‘other’ Mt Rushmore
Trump is holding another (stupid, insane) political rally today, this time at Mt Rushmore in South Dakota. In the middle of an epidemic spiraling out of control in many states, there is no social distancing and no mandatory mask wearing at his event.
Besides, noted a political commentator: Trump’s politics of hate and division must fly in those faces of Presidents Roosevelt, Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington, carved out of the granite.
I learned today that there is another giant granite carve-out that has already been many decades in the making, just 17 miles from Mt Rushmore: the unfinished memorial dedicated to the Sioux leader Crazy Horse.
Here is a 2019 write-up about it from Business Insider.
Thursday/ memories from Botswana
I cleaned up some pictures from my old 35 mm negative scan archives.
These were all taken in the nineties in Botswana’s Tuli block — the eastern tip of the country wedged between Zimbabwe in the north and South Africa in the south.
P.S. See if you can spot a second shy lizard in the picture!
Wednesday/ CHOP gets the chop
Early this morning, the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP, formerly called CHAZ) people were forced out of their turf that they had occupied for 23 days. A total of 44 people were arrested.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan had no choice. Two teenagers were killed in the last few days. and three other people were injured in shootings in or near the CHOP, since the protest began on June 8. Businesses and residents had long vented their frustration at the chaos and the noise in the area.
Tuesday/ only in Florida
I saw this old news clip from 2016 on Twitter. A 99-year old woman in Miami woke up with a strange animal sleeping on her chest: a kinkajou (Potos flavus).
Luckily, says the veterinarian that took care of the kinkajou, it was a ‘domesticated’ animal. (They did track the owners down. Kinkajous cannot really be domesticated, but the animal was obviously used to humans).
Monday/ street work
There was an asphalt truck on busy on the corner this morning, and I went to check out its handywork tonight : two new speed bumps and bicyclist sign on the road surface.
Sunday/ a rainbow bus
I didn’t make it to the Space Needle today to get a picture of the rainbow flag on it, but here is a rainbow bus.
Saturday/ Gay Pride – sans parades
Happy Pride! It’s Gay Pride weekend, and (as far as I know) there is no parade held anywhere this June, in the Northern hemisphere. These pictures are all from around Broadway here on Capitol Hill.
Friday/ flowers du jour
These flowers are from the little pumpkin patch called Thomas Street Gardens, by Thomas & 10th Ave on Capitol Hill.
Thursday/ masks: now mandatory
From Friday, Washington State residents have to wear masks in any public setting where social distancing is difficult or impossible. The governor says he trusts the public will do the right thing, and that extensive enforcement or issuing fines will hopefully not be needed.
Seattle’s King county is doing O.K., but not great. There has been a steady increase in cases in Yakima county.
Cases by age are pretty evenly spread in the 20-40, 40-60 and 60+ age brackets.
Deaths by age is dramatically different, with 90% of deaths in the 60+ bracket.
Wednesday/ a juvenile jay rescue
A Steller’s jay made such a ruckus in the tree in front of my house last night, that I had to go investigate. Sure enough, there was a second one on the ground, unable to fly. Oh no, I thought, I’ll have to do something.
I put the struggling bird in a shoebox, and left a message for the wildlife rescue center in Lynnwood. They called back in the morning. I texted them these pictures, and they said to bring it in.
They found an injury below its left eye; could have been the work of a crow. It was also a little thin and they were going to take care of it for a while and set it free. What could also be going on, is that the bird is just learning to fly, said the bird expert. Most fledgling birds don’t fly straight out of the nest. They spend a day or two on the ground flapping their wings (and hope they don’t catch the attention of predators), and then get going.
