Hizzoner

Mayor Mike McGinn's responses to the Justice Department's crackdown on excessive use of force by Seattle police sound a lot like his responses to the waterfront tunnel battle: go slow enough to let the next mayor solve it. But then, he hasn't exactly shown a flair for handling difficult issues. This is after all the mayor who calls press conferences to announce an increase in crime.

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Linda Bremer is out of the office today. Her secretary says she has meetings -- and more meetings -- that could stretch well into the evening. If we were Linda Bremer, we'd steer clear of the office, too, at least until things simmer down.

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It's both unfair and inaccurate to call the 12 members of the Congressional Supercommittee "total failures." They're not total failures. In fact, they are succeeding quite admirably in one regard.

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UPDATE: The Seattle School Board has (wisely) just announced that it will abandon the plan to censor student newspapers, saying that it's important that schools "uphold our practice of trusting our teachers to educate our students on the rights and responsibilities that come with freedom of expression and a free press."

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Twice now I've strolled through the Occupy Seattle protests at Westlake and been forced to endure some idiot bellowing about how 9/11 was an inside job. Once a woman ranting was onstage with a microphone, the other time a dude had a bullhorn.

These people should have neither.

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Despite what you may or may not have heard, coffee shops are under no obligation to let people camp there for multiple hours, working on their laptops.

This may come as news to a certain man from New York City who thinks the law provides recourse for people who are mildly inconvenienced by a coffee shop's insistence that he move his laptop-camping ass elsewhere.

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Yesterday people around the country celebrated the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in many different ways. Some partied. Lots Tweeted. And others awaited the holy wrath of God himself.

George Nethercutt, former U.S. Congressman from Spokane, marked the occasion by calling for less gay history to be taught in schools.

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Autonomia, before it was Autonomia.

Autonomia, the Central District "radical social center" known for its anarchist infoshop, free coffee, loud concerts, and constant crowds that piss off generally everyone within a square-block radius, is finally shutting down after a long quarrel with its neighbors.

The organizers of Autonomia are, let's just say, not exactly preaching tolerance for the "whiny, rich, asshole, scum bag, anal-retentive, control-freak yuppies" who made them leave.

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New Rule: Anyone who masterminds the murder of thousands of innocent people via terrorist attack is allowed to be posthumously mocked via T-shirt.

This rule is a gentle reminder to the folks throwing a fit over a certain garment featuring a certain deceased scumbag.

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David Smith rides his bike everywhere. But unlike most cyclists, he's not fond of bike lanes. And after reading a piece on the Seattle Bike Blog penned by Tom Fucoloro, who concluded that a piece I wrote earlier this week on the topic of bike lanes sucked, Smith called to say just how much he's come to disagree with the likes of Fucoloro as their influence has swelled.

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