Topic - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Slog

Chairman of the House Homeland Security Oversight Subcommittee Rep. Jeff Duncan, a Republican from South Carolina, appeared on a radio show and said that we should "go back and revisit some of these things because Americans have questions about not only the IRS scandal but also about the president’s validity." Meaning, he thinks President Obama was born in Kenya. Meaning he thinks over half of America is so stupid that they voted for an illegal immigrant in the last election. Sure, it sounds ...

Thank you, Criterion Collection Twitter feed. [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

The newest Leonardo DiCaprio/Martin Scorsese pairing has a trailer, and it looks like it's all about wretched excess: Something weird to think about: Robert De Niro and Scorsese made eight films together. DiCaprio and Scorsese have now made five. I think Leo's going for the record. [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

(The author is a Seattle native who moved to Istanbul in January of 2006. This is his sixth posting; find all of his reports on his author page.) Ned Entrikin People get ready: Protesters gathered on Siraselviler Saturday night, Taksim Square in the distance. This weekend the situation in Istanbul changed dramatically. Around 8:45pm on Saturday my wife called me to let me know that Gezi Park was being cleared by the police. I packed our breathing masks, goggles and bandanas, plus a pair of he...

Don't mess with Texas [witches]. I love her husband Charles in this video when he says: ""She's my hero. I'll take her anywhere. I'll take her anywhere twice on Sunday..." [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Happy Father's Day! A grandfather accidentally shot his grandson on Father's Day, because America! Good morning, Megan! Multiple reports have the NHL moving the Phoenix Coyotes to Seattle for the 2013-2014 season if the Glendale, Arizona city council doesn't come to terms on an arena subsidy deal by July 2. Bad morning. A 16-year-old Vancouver BC boy was killed in Snohomish County when he fell into oncoming traffic during a charity bike ride. No doubt just a cultural misunderstanding. Russian...

The emperor writes:"Like seeing roasted meat and other dishes in front of you and suddenly realizing: This is a dead fish. A dead bird. A dead pig. Or that this noble vintage is grape juice, and the purple robes are sheep wool dyed with shellfish blood. Or making love—something rubbing against your penis, a brief seizure and a little cloudy liquid.Perceptions like that—latching onto things and piercing through them, so we see what they really are. That's what we need to do all the time—all th...

BBC:A China-based supercomputer has leapfrogged rivals to be named the world's most powerful system. Tianhe-2, developed by the government-run National University of Defence Technology, topped the latest list of the fastest 500 supercomputers, by a team of international researchers. They said the news was a "surprise" since the system had not been expected to be ready until 2015. China last held the top rank between November 2010 and June 2011. Tianhe-2 is twice as fast the second fastest sup...

Posted by news intern Callan Berry Pennsylvania's Priorities May Need Retooling: This week, after laying off thousands of Philadelphia teachers and other school employees (claiming budget concerns), the state of Pennsylvania has wrangled together the money to build a $400 million prison right outside of the city. Just Enough Time For Another Drink: The normal time to file a DUI charge in Washington is 3 days. In King County the median is 84 days, leaving offenders plenty of time to drive drun...

(The author is a Seattle native who moved to Istanbul in January of 2006. This is his fifth posting; find all of his reports on his author page.) Mid-day Wednesday, after Taksim was again inundated with gas Tuesday night, the remaining barricades which had made Gezi Park and Taksim Square briefly impenetrable by large vehicles were removed in the name of returning automobile traffic to the area. Ned EntrikinProtesters' barricades being removed on Wednesday on the street behind Gezi Park, Ista...

Things Seem to Be Getting Worse: Our Istanbul correspondent wrote two reports for Slog this week. The first one was about getting used to the new normal after the protesters took over Taksim Square, and the second was about what happened when the government decided to crack down on protesters. Why Would Anyone Harass a Street? Anna Minard explains why street harassment matters. Megan Seling asks what you're going to do about it. How Does Greg Nickels Feel About This? The City Council wants Ma...

Posted by news intern Ansel Herz And So It Begins: Lawyers for Terrence Brown, accused of robbing a bank in South Florida, want the NSA to turn over mobile phone surveillance records to help them prove his innocence. Vladimir Putin Says We're Allright: Speaking of NSA surveillance, crackdowns on Occupy demonstrations, and the use of drones, the Russian prez told an interviewer: "That’s the way it’s done in the U.S., and that’s the way it’s done in Russia." Thank God It's Not Raining: First re...

It's not one of President Obama's grand, sweeping speeches, but it's still nice to see a president addressing these issues in the White House: [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

This morning, Jeb Bush said this to an evangelical Christian conference: "Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans over the last 20 years," he said, adding that immigrants also have more "intact families." "Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families," he said. This is a failure that makes Jeb's brother George look like the greatest orator of our time. He managed to piss off anti-immigration evangelicals at the exact same moment that he referred to immigrants a...

This week’s short film is “Put A Rainbow On It,” a fine piece of comedy by two local directors, Sid Jordan & Selma Al-Aswad, who are members of the group Reteaching Gender and Sexuality. We all know that the rainbow flag stands for gay pride. But is the flag enough? Or, more worrying yet, is it in danger of becoming meaningless—what you get is just the flag as the beginning and end of gayness? Inspired by Portlandia's "Put a Bird on It" skit, the short provides answers to these questions with...

So they've finally made a sequel to 300, and here's the trailer: Meanwhile, Arnold Schwartzenegger has announced that filming on Terminator 5 starts in January, and that he'll be starring as the Terminator. And! If Man of Steel does as well as expected—read my review here—Warner Bros. wants to immediately follow with another Man of Steel, then a Justice League movie, and then Aquaman and Wonder Woman movies. I just don't think an Aquaman movie can be good. And while I'm interested in the idea...

I got an e-mail yesterday from a conservative I know who asked if I thought the NSA spying was okay now that President Obama has done it. And of course it isn't. It was wrong when Bush did it, and it's just as wrong now. Do I think we'd be in a better place if we elected Mitt Romney or a third party candidate in 2012? Of course not. Do I think Barack Obama is evil? Nope. But I think this decision to spy on everyone is evil. It is not something I want my government to do, no matter who's in ch...

Posted by science intern Madeline Reddington Today, science uses a virus to help restore sight to the blind, learns something new about thought-controlled technology, joins Seattle’s Infinity Box Theatre Project in exploring the future of artificial intelligence, and, after May’s 400 ppm milestone, closes Seattle’s Science Festival with an earnest discussion of climate change—and an opera. A relatively easy new gene therapy shows great promise for restoring sightUC Berkeley researchers have d...

But let's go back to a story, which had some heat at the end of last month:Apple set up some Irish subsidiaries a mere four years after it was founded. Foreign sales, which account for 60% of Apple’s profits, are routed through these Irish subsidiaries and taxed nowhere. How is this possible, when the intellectual property that supports the value of Apple’s products is in the United States? Apple has an Irish holding company with no operations or employees at the top of its foreign operations...

In Seattle, we have turned some of our empty shops into temporary galleries. In Northern Ireland...Local councils... have painted fake shop fronts and covered derelict buildings with huge billboards to hide the economic hardship being felt in towns and villages near the golf resort where G8 leaders will meet this month.Northern Ireland's government has spent £2m (€2.3m) tackling dereliction over the past two years, the environment department said.Some buildings have been demolished and others...

According to Right Wing Watch, Glenn Beck says that immigration reform is the death of America and worse than universal health care. Beck most recently declared America dead in March of this year. In Beck's defense, he does try to explain the opposing side's viewpoint this time around. Here's what he says is the case for immigration reform: "Oh, no, well there's no. No! There's no um, uh, you know, benefits, and there's no this, there's no that. There's, there's, no! They're not gonna be... W...

Megan, here are some suggestions for what those guys (and women) could say at the goddamn bus stop. Thanks, Greg! [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

We've already done one poll in the last hour, so I'm not going to clog up Slog's bandwidth with a poll for your reaction to the Snowpiercer trailer. And, honestly, the Snowpiercer trailer needs no poll, because this is pure, uncut awesome. Chris Evans vs. Tilda Swinton on a world-circling train that for some reason carries all the survivors of a wintry apocalypse? Directed by Joon-ho Bong? Um, yes! Yes, please! I cannot wait for this thing to sweep the Oscars next year. [ Comment on this stor...

Maybe we live in a world with a little too much social media? Girl, I think you just blew *YOURSELF* up on the internet, instead of any of those poor, polite donut employees. Enjoy your Coolatta! “This shit’s about to go live, bitch. Right on Facebook,” Chapman announces. “‘Cause I already posted what your dumb ass did last night. So I hope you’re happy with your little fucking sand nigger self. Cause I’m about to nuke your whole fucking planet from Mars. You think ya’ll are tough big fat Ara...

(The author is a Seattle native who moved to Istanbul in January of 2006. He has previously published reports on Slog last Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.) Things have gone from bad to worse in Istanbul. Here is a brief account of my experience of the events here on Tuesday. 7:30 am: From the taxi on the way to work, I saw a group of 20-30 riot police heading up the hill from their permanent camp—a collection of ten or so regular city buses where the police sleep—towards Taksim. Something was ...

Posted by news intern Ansel Herz #Turkey #TaksimSquare #OccupyGezi #Istanbul Nice one lady twitter.com/Anon_Online/st…— ÅnØn_Ønlïnë (@Anon_Online) June 11, 2013Thousands of demonstrators are currently still in Gezi Park, even after riot police spent the day trying to drive them out with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets, the BBC reports. "There was little suggestion that authorities will manage to douse the fury of protesters anytime soon. Deep into the night, the demonstrators—youn...

As Las Vegas 8 News Now reports, a woman who went into a Nevada family court with her two-year-old daughter for a routine divorce hearing was allegedly sexually assaulted by a court marshal. But that's not even the truly awful part! When the woman—Monica Contreras—tried to complain to the family court judge Patricia Donninger about this alleged assault, she was first ignored and then arrested by the same man who had just allegedly assaulted her. Her tearful, increasingly hysterical protests w...

I really dug the uncomfortable Chilean comedy Crystal Fairy, and it turns out that it was the first part of a two-pack of movies made by director Sebastián Silva and star Michael Cera. The second movie in the twofer is titled Magic Magic. It also stars Cera as a creepy American traveling in Chile, but this one looks like a horror movie. Cera seems to be playing a dim-witted sadist this time around: Magic Magic will be released on video on August 6th. What do you think? [ Comment on this story...

You've maybe already seen this not-new TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, but since 'tis the season for the Stranger Genius Awards, I want to bring it out again. Gilbert proposes that the older version of genius was not being one, but having one. Having a genius is far better for your health than being one. And for the health of a society, she says. Sometimes, she adds, you just need to tell your genius to come back at a more opportune time. Tom Waits, for instance,...

Waste does not exist in the biosphere but only in the limited view of things that exist in the biosphere... [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Tonight at Re-bar, the mighty Collide-O-Scope offers a night of gawk-worthy fashion and fitness videos. 7 pm-11 pm, $6 (plus free popcorn and Red Vines), 21+. [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Holy shit! Did you watch the Kings/Blackhawks game this weekend? It was the perfect playoff hockey game. The Kings tied it with 15 seconds left in the third period, the game went into double overtime, and then, with about eight minutes left, Patrick Kane won it with a goddamn hat trick. The more I hate Patrick Kane, the more powerful he becomes. It was an insane, intense game. It was everything I love about playoff hockey. And with that! The Stanley Cup finalists are decided—it'll be the Bost...

Edward Snowden, the former government contractor who leaked top-secret documents about the NSA's extraordinarily broad digital surveillance program, intended to release his identity all along. Here's an interview he conducted with journalist Glenn Greenwald—about why he did what he did—at his current refuge in Hong Kong. You can read the transcript here. An excerpt: Snowden: You can't come forward against the world's most powerful intelligence agencies and be completely free from risk... But ...

I completely forgot this story...These purple tomatoes will also have benefits for capitalists...Tomatoes could be made tastier and stay fresh for twice as long, according to a new study. Scientists say that the antioxidants found in purple GM tomatoes can more than double their shelf life from 21 days to 48 days. And the natural pigment slows down the over-ripening process that leads to rotting and softening - creating a better taste. I'm against Monsanto, but I'm not against GMOs. It's conf...

Posted by science intern Madeline Reddington Today, science takes one more crucial step towards Star Trek's transporter. Then it’s on to tracking down ivory smugglers, investigating the mysteries of life on Earth, and peeking below the ice of Antarctica. Researchers at Niels Bohr Institute made a breakthrough in quantum teleportationFor years, physicists have been able to demonstrate what Einstein called “spooky action at a distance” by using quantum entanglement to teleport information from ...

As the Slog drone discovered back in May, it's against the rules for an off-the-shelf drone to fly around inside a Seattle park. However, the parks department has said that if it becomes "clear there is an emerging public desire for the activity," then it might be possible to allow personal drones in some part of some city park. And so I submit this video, taken last week when I randomly happened upon a citizen flying a drone around in Volunteer Park: Emerging public desire! [ Comment on this...

(The author is a Seattle native who moved to Istanbul in January of 2006. Find his first report here and his second report here.) HrothgarPolice face off against protesters last Saturday, Istiklal Street, Istanbul. Although the area around Taksim Square has had no police presence for a week and an air of carnival reigns at the epicenter of the pro-park, anti-government movement, the protests have spread to dozens of cities all over Turkey, where the protesters (who number far fewer than they ...

Posted by news intern Callan Berry In Chafed Gooches: Portland was greeted last night with miles and miles of nude bicyclists for the 2013 World Naked Bike Ride. Police urged the riders to at least wear a helmet. No word yet if Stranger intern Ansel Herz told them to fuck off with one middle finger, or two. Super(power)friends? Obama and Chinese president Xi Jingping ended a two day summit, agreeing to battle climate change and that North Korea shouldn't have nukes. However the rainbows quick...

Wild Turkey: Have you read our Istanbul correspondent's first-person accounts of the unrest in Turkey yet? You should. Here's his report from the protests. And here he is taking a trip through the Occupy Gezi camps that popped up this week. Our Government Is Creepy and Bad: So you thought the NSA's blanket spying of everyone's phone calls was bad? Along comes PRISM. The tech companies are denying taking part, and President Obama has some very unsatisfying answers about it. So This Is a Real C...

Posted by news intern Ansel Herz Pink Mustache Cars: Have you been wondering what those are about? Turns out those cars are part of a ride-sharing service called Lyft, one of several new companies offering ride shares that rankle local cab drivers who say it's eating into their business. C'mon Now, Don't Be Evil: Those strenuous denials by Google, Facebook et. al. that they know nothing about huge government surveillance programs? Mostly bullshit. Heroin Deaths Up in Washington: "Three differ...

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Here's the trailer for Woody Allen's next movie, Blue Jasmine, which features a cast including Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Louis C.K., and Andrew Dice Clay: [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

(The author is a Seattle native who moved to Istanbul in January of 2006. Find his first report right here.) Ned EntrikinAn overturned police vehicle in Taksim Gezi Park has become a sort of message board. Since the city government yielded control of Taksim Square to the protesters on Saturday, things have changed remarkably. While Siraselviler Street in Cihangir, which was a battleground on Saturday, has returned to complete normalcy, Taksim Square and Taksim Gezi Park have changed in ways t...

W. Kamau Bell addresses Lindy West and Internetrapethreatgate, makes me love him. [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

In a press conference just now, President Obama addressed the NSA surveillance programs, saying "we're gonna have to make some choices as a society" to examine how we deal with privacy issues and terrorism. Here's the whole exchange: (UPDATE 10:11 AM: This post has been updated to include a video that contains the question and all of President Obama's answer. This is the video that was here before, which was a hastily edited version of the exchange.) [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to t...

Man... they don't fuck around, the Brits. (Via Towleroad.) [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

This year's Venice Biennale has the greatest African participation in history, five countries hosting their own pavilions over the last edition's two. (Angola won the Golden Lion for best national participation with this exhibition of takeaway images.) But according to London-based Asian art specialist Wenny Teo, the Kenya display is "a frightening manifestation of neo-colonialism vulgarly presented as multiculturalism." While we are generally on the subjects of wrongness and African nations ...