Pope Benedict is bringing back the Latin Mass—because, you know, it’s traditional and mysterious and batshit crazy Catholics like Mel Gibson fucking love the Latin Mass. And not just for the poetry:

Jewish leaders and community groups criticised Pope Benedict XVI strongly yesterday after the head of the Roman Catholic Church formally removed restrictions on celebrating an old form of the Latin mass which includes prayers calling for the Jews to ‘be delivered from their darkness’ and converted to Catholicism.

This is quite a shift. Sit down, it’s a long editorial, and it begins with this:

It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit.

•

Like many Americans, we have put off that conclusion, waiting for a sign that President Bush was seriously trying to dig the United States out of the disaster he created by invading Iraq without sufficient cause, in the face of global opposition, and without a plan to stabilize the country afterward.

At first, we believed that after destroying Iraq’s government, army, police and economic structures, the United States was obliged to try to accomplish some of the goals Mr. Bush claimed to be pursuing, chiefly building a stable, unified Iraq. When it became clear that the president had neither the vision nor the means to do that, we argued against setting a withdrawal date while there was still some chance to mitigate the chaos that would most likely follow.

While Mr. Bush scorns deadlines, he kept promising breakthroughs — after elections, after a constitution, after sending in thousands more troops. But those milestones came and went without any progress toward a stable, democratic Iraq or a path for withdrawal. It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost.

The political leaders Washington has backed are incapable of putting national interests ahead of sectarian score settling. The security forces Washington has trained behave more like partisan militias. Additional military forces poured into the Baghdad region have failed to change anything.

Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of American soldiers is wrong. The war is sapping the strength of the nation’s alliances and its military forces. It is a dangerous diversion from the life-and-death struggle against terrorists. It is an increasing burden on American taxpayers, and it is a betrayal of a world that needs the wise application of American power and principles.

A majority of Americans reached these conclusions months ago. Even in politically polarized Washington, positions on the war no longer divide entirely on party lines. When Congress returns this week, extricating American troops from the war should be at the top of its agenda.

That conversation must be candid and focused. Americans must be clear that Iraq, and the region around it, could be even bloodier and more chaotic after Americans leave. There could be reprisals against those who worked with American forces, further ethnic cleansing, even genocide. Potentially destabilizing refugee flows could hit Jordan and Syria. Iran and Turkey could be tempted to make power grabs. Perhaps most important, the invasion has created a new stronghold from which terrorist activity could proliferate.

The administration, the Democratic-controlled Congress, the United Nations and America’s allies must try to mitigate those outcomes — and they may fail. But Americans must be equally honest about the fact that keeping troops in Iraq will only make things worse. The nation needs a serious discussion, now, about how to accomplish a withdrawal and meet some of the big challenges that will arise…

It ends this way:

President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have used demagoguery and fear to quell Americans’ demands for an end to this war. They say withdrawing will create bloodshed and chaos and encourage terrorists. Actually, all of that has already happened — the result of this unnecessary invasion and the incompetent management of this war.

This country faces a choice. We can go on allowing Mr. Bush to drag out this war without end or purpose. Or we can insist that American troops are withdrawn as quickly and safely as we can manage — with as much effort as possible to stop the chaos from spreading.

Columbia City

The Columbia City Cinema—a decently sized, single screen, independently owned theater in southeast Seattle—has applied for a beer and wine license and will begin serving a variety of craft brews in the fall.

Columbia City Cinema (CCC) will become the third Seattle theater—along with The Big Picture and Central Cinema—to serve booze, which still leaves us behind Portland, which has 7, I think.

CCC started selling beer earlier this year but due to a bizarre paperwork mix-up, patrons were allowed to drink in the lobby but couldn’t take drinks into the theater.

Full disclosure, CCC is owned by my great uncle, Paul Doyle . However, this post was prompted by Erica C. Barnett, who sent me an excited text message about CCC’s liquor application, earlier today.

Doyle, who operated the Grand Illusion before Wigglyworld bought it back in the 90’s, says CCC will be serving beer for late night movies and special events but it won’t be available when the theater is running family films. “We aren’t selling it during Ratatouille,” he said.

I’ll be on 710 KIRO tonight at 7pm for the weekly edition of the Stranger News Hour.

I’ll be talking about what’s in this week’s paper including: Dino Rossi’s shadow campaign committee, the Belltown shooting, and more on embattled SPD Chief Gil Kerlikowske.

“Residents of Oregon town say shape of traffic posts is offensive,” reports KOMO.

(Thank you, Slog tipper David.)

‘Shaft’

(BLAXPLOITATION NOIR) I love Central Cinema—home to beer, pizza, old-school previews, and DVD-projected flicks—so much I’d suggest going there to watch paint dry. So I doubly suggest going there to see Shaft, Gordon Parks’s 1971 blaxploitation classic featuring one smooth black detective, the Italian mob, and a classic Isaac Hayes soundtrack. (And don’t be scared to drink lots—at Central Cinema, there’s always a pee-friendly intermission.) (Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave, 686-6684. 7 and 9:30 pm, $5, late show 21+.) DAVID SCHMADER

by Rebecca Tapscott

Freedom of surveillance: Federal appeals court gives the okay to the government to wiretap the international communications of certain Americans.

Airline preview: Tomorrow (7/08/07), Boeing unveils the 787 Dreamliner. Although the date has symbolic meaning, analysts remain unconvinced that the plane will fly.

The joke’s on France: Everyone is making fun of Sarkozy for jogging.

Casualties of war: Suicide bombings are still taking their toll in Iraq.

Victory for Venus: Venus Williams wins her fourth Wimbledon title.

Eyman measure: I-960 is likely to make the ballot in November; opposition groups are already at work.

“Noticias Noroeste”: KOMO takes advantage of Seattle’s growing Hispanic population to launch a Spanish language news show and cash in on commercials.

WASL disasters: Sunday is the last day for high school students in the class of 2008 to sign up for WASL retakes.

Shush: McDermott will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on his disclosure of an illegally taped telephone conversation involving house Republicans nearly a decade ago.

Suit about suits: Renton based attorney, Lee Rousso, sues the state for the right to play internet poker, calling the ban a direct infringement of the commerce clause.

Kathryn Olson, the director of the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA), will be releasing her review of OPA’s George Patterson investigation, conducted by former OPA director Captain Neil Low. Last month, Mayor Nickels asked Olson to look into allegations - made by the OPA Review Board - that Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske had interfered in the original investigation.

Either way, it’s going to get ugly. If Olson dismisses OPARB’s findings, then she gets called a stooge and a puppet and we’re back where we were after the initial investigation, with reporters and activist groups up in arms over the lack of police accountability in this town.

If Olson comes out and says that Kerlikowske(her boss) interfered in the investigation, Nickels is going to eat crow for coming out in support of the Chief. Then there are the legal ramifications of the Chief’s interference: what happens to the cops? What happens to Kerlikowske? The Seattle Police Guild says the investigation is closed and that the officers can’t be disciplined but if the investigation was tampered with, how can they not face any consequences?

My money’s on scenario number one, howbout you?

Any way you cut it, I don’t envy Kathryn Olson.

Sorry about the delay, but it’s finally up. (Technological problems abounded; they did, they abounded.)

Meet the inimitable Mr. Bruch.

I just wandered up to the third floor (to get an afternoon snack and talk to our design staff), and I saw Aaron Edge’s new screen saver. Edge is our Managing Art Director.

Well, leave it to a design guy to have the best desk top image in the universe.

I just got a copy of the Seattle Police Guild’s (SPOG) monthly newsletter, The Guardian. It’s a doozy.

In a spectacular show of poor taste, a quarter page of this month’s Guardian is devoted to this:

That’d be Officer Michael Tietjen, one of the two cops accused of beating and planting drugs on George Patterson during his arrest last January. Tietjen was exonerated and transfered to a sought after job at SPD’s harbor patrol.

Meanwhile, in an interminably long editorial (abridged here), SPOG president Sergeant Rich O’Neil blasts the media, OPARB and Nick Licata for daring to suggest that police accountability because, well, the Chief isn’t accountable to anyone.

Despite the fact that Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske faced a vote of no confidence from SPOG following the 2001 Mardi Gras riots, the union has - in the last few months - cozied up to Seattle’s top cop. SPOG is going to bat for the Chief when no one else will. Could it be because, according to a report released by the Office of Professional Accountability Review Board (OPARB), Kerlikowske has let a number of egregious cases of officer misconduct slide?

The past few weeks our local news media have continued their fanatical obsession with the unfounded allegations from an eight-time convicted, drug dealing felon.The OPA Civilian Review Board, chaired by Peter Holmes, continued to stoke the fire with their heavily slanted, agenda driven, review of the investigation. In their biased and leaked report, they slammed the Chief of Police for being too involved with the investigation.

Continue reading "The Spin at SPD" »

It’s a slightly sluggish weekend at the movies, because the big’uns (the tolerable Transformers and the execrable License to Wed) opened early for the Fourth. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (I saw it yesterday, and it’s pretty bad, except for Imelda Staunton) opens next Tuesday.

But that’s cool, because SIFF Cinema is launching this week with fourteen noirs of various shades and cross-genre pollinations. It should be awesome, and you should be there. Buy tickets at the SIFF website.

In On Screen this week: Transformers (“Transformers is loud, extravagant, and void of logic, but for the most part it lives up to what we expect from a Transformers movie—which is to say, it has giant robots crashing, puny humans scattering, and Optimus Prime preaching,” says Bradley Steinbacher), You Kill Me (Andrew Wright: “No matter how played out the introspective hit man concept feels by now, though, the film often still runs like a dream, courtesy of director John Dahl’s knack for finding room for such dependable heavies as Phillip Baker Hall, Bill Pullman, and (especially) Dennis Farina to shine.”), the Robin Williams-meets-The Office disaster License to Wed (“Sorry,” writes Lindy West, “but I don’t even understand what this movie is about.”), Fido (“worthwhile for the less demanding horror fan,” admits Andrew), and a quick preview of my picks for Noir City.

In Film Shorts this week, check out Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern at Northwest Film Forum, where the local filmmaker Linas Phillips’s excellent doc Walking to Werner is also holding over for another week. There’s another batch of killer monster double features at Grand Illusion this week: Stop in Friday through Sunday for Troll and Troll 2 or Monday through Thursday for Swamp Thing with The Gate. Plus, Sigourney Weaver as an autistic lady in Snow Cake at the Varsity, and some hot summer Shaft at Central Cinema. Enjoy.

Les Claypool & Two Gallants: Live Photos.

Disco Swellings: TJ Gorton on the Idjut Boys’ Phantom Slasher.

Streaming Pile of Rock: Stream Against Me!’s New Wave.

Periscope Down: Black Daisy’s Voltage Periscope.

Touchscreen, I’m Sick: iPhone: The Musical

Make a Wish: David Schmader Stricken with a Fatal Case of Hulkamania!

Sweaty Pedal Battle, pt. 1: Jeff Kirby on Battles.

What is Wrong with the English: Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”

Sweaty Pedal Battle, pt. 2: Christopher Hong on Battles.

Sweaty Pedal Battle, pt. 3: Eric Grandy on Battles.

Swoon: Megan Seling’s starry Eyed Crush on Siberian.

Schlock Rocker: Dan Paulus on Dave Navarro, Celine Dion, and Shakira.

Sweaty Pedal Battle, pt. 4: Donte Parks on Battles.

It’s Just a NOFX Song: Or is it the Best. Song. Ever. (This Week)?

M*therf*cking: Kelly O on the Black Lips.

The first two paragraphs of a lovely review of AK47: the Story of the People’s Gun:

At the beginning of Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), in which Sylvester Stallone takes on the entire North Vietnamese army with an AK47, an American colleague regards the weapon with scepticism: “A beat-to-shit AK? Every 12-year-old in ‘Nam’s got one of those.” Rambo looks pleased, slowly nods his meaty head, and laboriously masticates his reply: “Exactly.”

Unlike practically everything else in the film, Rambo’s choice of gun is historically accurate. American soldiers in Vietnam were equipped with the M16 rifle, invented by Eugene Stoner, which tended to malfunction if it was even sneezed on. When they came across the Chinese AKs of the fallen Viet Cong, they discovered that they still worked, even if they had been lying in the rain for weeks, so at every opportunity they abandoned their modern capitalist gun for a 25-year-old socialist one.

Power to the people! Our guns or our votes! When they knock down your front door, how are you going to come? With your hands on your head or the trigger of your gun?

The Battle Begins: New Mexico’s medical marijuana law took effect Sunday—and it’s picking a fight. A key provision requires the state to implement a marijuana cultivation and distribution program to supply authorized patients, and officials at the department of health have already put the wheels in motion.

Enter the federal government. If they turn a blind eye, it will set de-facto precedent that states may grow and sell pot in clear defiance of federal law. The DEA won’t stand for that. A showdown will inevitably end up before the Supreme Court.

There are essentially two possible outcomes. While I hate to bet on the opposing team, my money is on a ruling terminating the pot program. That would send a sobering message to the public that federal drug laws trump local laws—even though, legally speaking, the laws for patients would be no worse than they are now (medical marijuana is legal in certain states as long as patients don’t grow so much pot they get prosecuted in federal court). But even if New Mexico loses, watching two government bodies publicly duking it out over how to distribute marijuana to the sick and dying will draw a lot of attention. In the other scenario, a ruling in New Mexico’s favor would have enormous implications. If they establish a model for authorized patients to legally obtain marijuana without risk of federal prosecution in that state—they create a pot distribution model for every state. In other words, the battle for medical marijuana would be won.

Sticky Slope: Study shows medical pot laws have no effect on pot usage rates.

Rocky High: Restrictions for Colorado pot growers briefly suspended.

Great Breaks: Wisconsin town decriminalizes pot possession.

Trojan Horse: Oregon “crime fighting” initiative would repeal medical marijuana law.

Shirk the Third: Little Gore out on bail.

What more can I say?

WASHINGTON — Threatened abroad, U.S. diplomats have been hit with unprecedented security restrictions, confining many to fortress-like compounds and frustrating Bush administration efforts to get out and counter anti-U.S. sentiment.

Hey, all you left wing/right wingers: Ron Paul (who Eli wrote about in this week’s Stranger) reportedly has more money on hand than John McCain.

So you’re weary of hearing about Capitol Hill’s fresh splendors in the realm of drinking/eating/having-of-fun—I would submit that you are one billion times better off at Smith, Cafe Presse, the new Cha Cha, or the old Cha Cha, a.k.a. Pony, than at downtown’s new Daily Grill (it’s now open!).

However, one billion new bars are now open in other neighborhoods as well for your fresh drinking/eating/having-of-fun pleasure, e.g.: The Local Vine, a new wine bar at Second and Vine brought to you by two women who attended Harvard Business School (oddly, much is being made of this fact, while it seems more salient that Jason Wilson of Crush created the menu); Saké Nomi, a premium sake bar in Pioneer Square (open for business, officially grand-opening in a few weeks—meanwhile, endearingly, they say: “we’ll greatly appreciate your patience…if it appears that we don’t know what we’re doing”); the new incarnation of the Lobo on Eastlake, called Victory Lounge (which looks, unfortunately, cleaned up—my primary memory of the Lobo involves a bartender wearing a frilly apron that lifted to reveal a large set of male genitalia crafted out of stuffed pantyhose); the behemoth Tap House Grill in downtown’s retail core (160 beers on tap, sibling of Bellevue’s behemoth Tap House Grill); and, in Wallingford, Babalu: The Mambo Room (in the former Wonder Bar space and, according to myspace, a single 26-year-old Leo female, occupation: bar).

Soon, also: Kurrent on Pine, grand-opening on July 21, bringing (at last) an ice bar to Seattle—formerly, one had to journey to the Eastside’s The Parlor for a frozen stripe of water upon which to rest one’s drink: no more.

Bar Exam will dutifully be covering all this hot bar action in the coming weeks, even though Bar Exam’s liver hurts just thinking about it.

And P.S.: In the chow category, note that Matt’s in the Market has at last now re-opened.

A reader named Justin just wrote in to say:

Dear Editor,
Why has the Stranger never covered an in-depth story of the 9/11 Truth movement? Reading the weeks paper, I found such irony in coverage of Wilderness Search n Rescue—wedged between full page ads for beer, furniture, and cell phones…

The story he’s talking about is Chris Weeg’s awesome piece about people who get lost in the mountains and, well, either die or don’t die before search and rescue teams find them. After the November storms, Western Washington’s trails are massively fucked, which means we’re probably going to see more deaths out there than usual this season.

But anyway, back to Jason’s letter. What “irony” is he talking about?

The irony being of the Stranger’s supposed representation of ‘alternative’ culture… What you’ve offered is generic news and advertisement! Mr. Savage, as Seattle’s skyline builds upwards, please find decency in keeping strong the disappearing guts of the city… Give us the funk-beat, we’ll give you the disco!!

9/11? Funk beats? At first I wasn’t sure, but this similarity is striking:

Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott is taking his long-running legal battle, which I wrote about here, all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

From his office:

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) announced today that he will petition the U.S. Supreme Court (called a petition for certiorari) to review his First Amendment case.

McDermott’s decision comes after a split decision recently by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Boehner v. McDermott. Hearing the case en banc, the nine judge court voted 5-4 in favor of First Amendment protections in one aspect of the case, but voted 5-4 against Rep. McDermott’s First Amendment protections.

“With all due respect to the Court of Appeals, the constitutional issues involved here are much too important to be confused by a split decision,” McDermott said. “The protections afforded all Americans by the First Amendment have been placed on a very slippery slope by this decision. By taking away my First Amendment protections, the decision endangers freedom of speech and the press across America,” McDermott added.

Posted by Sage Van Wing

Google account planner Lauren Turner wrote on the company’s health care advertising blog last week that Michael Moore’s expose of the health care industry was one-sided and failed to note that the industry has also contributed to philanthropy and raised awareness of patient care. Turner suggested that health care companies buy Google ads to counter the negative portrayal.

Later, she wrote another blog post explaining that her comments were her opinion—not Google’s. As a company, she explained, Google doesn’t have an opinion either way on healthcare in America. Google’s opinion, instead, is about marketing. The company believes that:

Advertising is an effective medium for handling challenges that a company or industry might have. You could even argue that it’s especially appropriate for a public policy issue like healthcare. Whether the healthcare industry wants to rebut charges in Mr. Moore’s movie, or whether Mr. Moore wants to challenge the healthcare industry, advertising is a very democratic and effective way to participate in a public dialogue.

Note, first, the irony: Michael Moore accuses the industry of throwing up a haze of marketing, P.R. and lobbying to hide its practices, and Google tells Healthcare to respond by buying up more ads. But the biggest problem is this idea of an ad-based “democratic” discussion. An ad-based policy discussion rewards folks with deep pockets, not those with better ideas. It’s like Turner’s taken democracy lessons from the Supreme Court; free speech is for folks who’ve got money to buy it.

By Rebecca Tapscott

South Seattle

In national surveys, Seattle has consistently been ranked with the lowest rate of pedestrian-motorist collisions per capita among major metropolitan U.S. cities.

However, we’ve still got our share of reckless driving. Rainier Avenue—four to five lanes, 8-miles long, and a straight shot—saw 1,743 collisions between 2002 and 2004, and subsequently has been designated a “high collision street” by the City. The only other Seattle road that compares statistically for collisions, according to Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Spokesman, Gregg Hirakawa, is Aurora, a likely location for a future safety project.

SDOT has received a grant for $126,000, for a traffic safety campaign along Rainer Avenue.

There are four different versions of this billboard, which will be placed at different intersections on Rainier for four weeks each. The project is currently on its third billboard, which is located at the intersection of Rainier Avenue and 42nd Avenue South. The billboards aim to keep the message simple, counseling drivers to “slow down” with an image of the universally understood car wreck.

Although speed has not been identified as the primary reason for crashes on Rainier Avenue, this scared straight tactic may remind drivers to be attentive.

Hirakawa also emphasized the role of driver and pedestrian alertness, saying, “[ SDOT does] not believe there is any such thing as an accident. Motorists involved in negligent or reckless behavior cause [collisions] to happen.” Negligence is constituted by behaviors ranging from conversations in the car or mechanical issues, to alcohol consumption or vehicular homicide. Although vehicular homicide sounds mysterious and thrilling, it describes any collision in which a pedestrian or passenger dies and the driver survives. In such a case, charges are often pressed and the driver can face time in prison, regardless of malicious intent. The three most common types of collisions on Rainier are rear-end, angle and sideswipe. Vehicular homicide is rare.

Prior to the billboard campaign the SDOT took other measures to increase safety, including increased signage, a red light camera on Orcas, pedestrian countdown symbols in five locations, including McClellan and Orcas, and 400 new and more easily legible regulatory signs. These measures are not a part of the current 126,000-dollar campaign.

Since the implementation of the safety measures, there are no new collision statistics for Rainier Avenue. Although this is the first time that Seattle has used billboards to increase road safety, the U.S. Department of Transportation cites similar programs around the country that have resulted in a 25 percent decrease in serious accidents.

On a slightly less gay tip, another compelling reason to get down to The Pioneer Square Fire Festival: HOT DOG EATING CONTEST. As of now, the field is wide open, so go here to register. I will be there to cheer on the binging and gluttony and investigate the sport of competitive eating, my new obsession.

Let’s crown our local Joey Chestnut!

Posted by Sage Van Wing

Desert Locust swarms from Ethiopia and northern Somalia are expected to cross the Indian Ocean and could reach India and Pakistan in the next days, says the UN. Two recent tropical cyclones have caused heavy rainfall in Pakistan and western India that will create unusually favorable breeding conditions for locust (yikes!). The governments in India and Pakistan have been warned and they are mobilizing field teams, equipment and resources (what can these teams do? what equipment?).

A Desert Locust adult consumes roughly its own weight in fresh food per day—about two grams. An average swarm eats as much food in one day as about 2,500 people. This is where most of our cotton comes from, people! Buy your American Apparel now!

The Pioneer Square Fire Festival. This fan of the firefighters, who happens to have my email address, also takes this week’s Stranger Suggests to task for ignoring his beloved event:

No stranger recommendation for fire festival? In terms of hot guys, it’s better than gay pride.

The firefighter fan gripes, I Slog, you decide. Here’s his photographic evidence from last year’s festival:

And here’s the description of what to expect this year:

The highlight of this year’s festival will be the Firefighter Combat Challenge. Often featured on ESPN, the Firefighter Combat Challenge pits over 70 teams of firefighters against one another in what is often billed as “the toughest 2 minutes in sports” … Competitors must climb a 5-story tower, hoist, chop, drag hoses and rescue a life-sized, 175 lb. “victim” as they race against themselves, their opponent and the clock.

Schmader,

As you may know (cuz I’ve told you every personal story I have), my mom’s and my claim to fame is that we walked out of E.T.

In my precocious youth, I went in believing (thanks to the review I’d read in Time) that E.T. was going to be the 2001 of my generation.

About halfway thru the movie, I thought my mom was crying during one of the sad parts. I checked, and it turned out she was laughing. I nudged her and said: Let’s split. We did. Giggling as we hurried up the aisle.

Yes, it makes me a traitor to my sex or humanity as a whole or whatever, but chocolate is not my favorite thing. It’s good and all, but it’s way down on the list of what I want to put in my mouth. For those who are not criminally insane in this particular manner, voilà: The Chocolate Box, a whole store made of chocolate (not really, but that’d be neat, wouldn’t it?) near the Pike Place Market, replete with high-end, often locally made cocoa-based indulgences. Per the inevitable suggestive accompanying verbiage: “See the store that leaves you begging for more” and “get your fix” of “the decadence within”!

‘Interactivity’ (ART) Interactivity isn’t just a temporary art show for McLeod Residence, it’s the young gallery-bar-hangout’s entire reason for being. Hell, some members get so interactive, they legally change their names—so the McLeods have extra reason to do this one right. With digital prints and “biomimetic butterflies” by the Barbarian Group, textiles that respond to touch by Maggie Orth, a laser installation by Joel S. Kollin, and mixed-media work by Felix Livni. (McLeod Residence, 2209 Second Ave, 441-3314. 6—9 pm, free, 21+.) JEN GRAVES

KJ Sawka CD Release Party (MUSIC) The origins of KJ Sawka are unclear—it’s said that this human/drum hybrid was first encountered after a meteor collision in the Nevada desert. Now he calls Seattle home and makes music as inscrutable as it is unmistakable: liquid synth washes; dubby, reverbed samples; and shape-shifting beats perfect for jacking dance floors. Cyclonic Steel, Sawka’s second LP, came out last week, further documenting the development of this evolutionary anomaly. (Neumo’s, 925 E Pike St, 709-9467. 9 pm, $8, 21+.) JONATHAN ZWICKEL

In his column this morning, Joel Connelly flags a supposed contradiction in the Stranger’s coverage of the police accountability scandal. He writes:

The Stranger is denouncing Kerlikowske and “Gil’s boys” while, at the same time, latching onto a Seattle police report to exonerate a Belltown club outside which the latest street shooting took place.

Connelly is correct that we cited a glowing review of Tabella in a recent SPD report as evidence that Tabella doesn’t deserve the shit its getting in the press for being the cause of last week’s shooting. We also, btw, “latched onto” video evidence, which Connelly forgets to mention. In other words, the cops appear to be right about Tabella.

Connelly is also correct that we’ve reported on the series of Office of Professional Accountability (OPA), Office of Professional Accountability Review Board (OPARB), and Court findings that have condemned officers. The courts, the OPA, and OPARB appear to be right given things like video evidence.

If our two doses of reporting are contradictory (I don’t think they are), Connelly has to either believe (A) The cops who filed the Belltown report are lying … or (B) the courts, the OPA, and OPARB are lying. Which is it Joel? Are you willing to say the police fabricated a report from Belltown? Or are you willing to say that judges in KC Court, Municipal Court, the OPA, and OPARB fabricated their work.

I’m not.

I believe there are good cops and there are bad cops. The evidence is strong that there have been gross cases of police misconduct, and I think something should be done about it. That doesn’t mean I think all cops are liars. Our paper has zoomed in on cases where the courts, the OPA, and the OPARB have singled out specific cops. And we’ve reported on those cops. I have no reason, however, to believe the beat cops lied about Tabella. Again, there are good cops. And there are bad cops.

Connelly, here’s a suggestion: rent Serpico.

Meanwhile, the point of Connelly’s column is that us “loudmouths” should settle down and let the Mayor’s investigation run its course. Spoken like a true journalist, Joel.

Does Connelly believe Nickels is actually in earnest about his review? Not only did Nickels undermine his own credibility by working behind the scenes to secure letters of support for the chief—even as Nickels called for a “review” (p.s. he got turned down)—but as Nickels office told me, the point of their “review” was to slap down the “axe to grind” OPARB and dispel the criticisms of Kerlikowske. Looks like Connelly is comfortable with his position as PR guy for Team Nickels.

Yesterday the Chicago Tribune took on a topic near and dear to my heart: Movies that make you flee the cinema prematurely. The Trib’s reject roundup is curated by film critic Michael Phillips, who quickly earns my affection by admitting to fleeing one of the first films I ever fled: Billy Bob Thornton’s career-making Sling Blade. (Phillips admits to wandering out of Sling Blade “more or less subconsciously,” while my exit was purposeful and passionate. We only have so many years on this planet, and God can go fuck himself if he thinks I’m going to spend two hours of that time watching an uppity, artsy variation of an Adam Sandler-retard flick that you’re not even supposed to laugh at.)

The follow-up list of rejects supplied by fellow critics and readers is also interesting, name-checking two of my personal-favorite terrible films (Empire Records and Under the Cherry Moon) and introducing me to a lot of new horrors. (Who knew so many people went to see the Richard Gere/Winona Ryder death drama Autumn in New York, much less walked out of it?)

Enjoy. (And thank you, MetaFilter.)

Across the street from this wonderful Asian market in the Oak Tree Village…
…is a small store that sells small things. I went into this store a few nights ago to buy a packet of cigarettes. My habit for some years now has been to smoke one cigarette before going to sleep.

On that particular night, however, I failed to find my cigarettes in my bag, and I was spending the night at my cousin’s house, and my cousin doesn’t smoke anymore. (The friendship with my cousin goes all the way back to my very first memory—me, age three, crossing with him, age five, and his brother, age ten, a train track in a township in Salisbury, Rhodesia: across the tracks is a shop that sells, among other things, candy.) Anyway, I left my cousin’s house, crossed Aurora, and entered the small store to buy a pack of cigarettes.

Inside, a Korean woman sat in a chair behind the counter. She was framed by a variety of cigerrette packs. She was somewhere in the middle of her forties. She was dressed to kill. Her heels were high, pants tight, shoulders exposed. I looked at her and then looked around her. I failed to locate my brand—Export A. But I did find the next best thing—Parliament. I asked for a pack. She looked at me oddly, and then looked oddly at the packs of Parliament: “You are the first black person who has ordered that kind of cigarette from me. Always, blacks order Kool Menthol.” She handed me the Parliament Lights, and I said something dumb, like: “Someone had to be the first.”

But for a quick moment I did feel like changing my order and buying a pack of Kool cigarettes, just so that the order of her universe was maintained and there wasn’t this annoying rupture, this break. I felt like saying: “What was I thinking? Thank you for bringing me back to my senses. It sometimes happens. You just forget who you are.”

Later, as I inhaled a Parliament on the door step of my cousin’s house, I had the feeling that I was smoking against the rules of my race. But a part of me pointed out that I was a black African and not a black American. But another part of me pointed out that, on the other hand, shouldn’t I adopt the habits of those I’m most like in appearance? I resolved nothing.

My sleep that night was not deep or heavy.

Image from espn.com

NBA Summer League starts today, which is great news because I am growing a little weary of all this talk talk talk and missing actual ball action. Get excited: Today at 3 p.m. is your first chance to see Kevin Durant (and Jeff Green!) in action in a Sonics uniform and 7 p.m. will be the first opportunity to see Greg Oden in the red, white, and black. All games are available for viewing on nba.com’s live video webcast; full schedule here. My friend informs me that the games won’t air until 9 p.m. here on NBA tv, so I’m trying to find a place to watch. Sport at Fisher Pavilion, anyone?

In other related news, the Sonics officially hired P.J. Carlesimo as head coach. I have little to say about this and can’t pretend to have any real insights on what this means. I am also trying to remain hopeful. When I asked my friend Brian for thoughts, he mumbled something to the effect of “sucky.” Like most people, the only thing I really know about P.J. Carlesimo is that, when coaching Golden State, he was choked by an angry Latrell Sprewell (one of my favorite players from my all-time favorite NBA team, the 99 Knicks) in reaction to Carlesimo commanding him to “put a little mustard” on a pass. I also know Carlesimo has never won an NBA playoff series.

To me, the most disturbing aspect about hiring Carlesimo (who has spent the last five years as an assistant coach to Gregg Popovich) comes from the mouth of our GM Sam Presti:

“What we’re trying to do here is create a team in Seattle that will pull from some of the core values of San Antonio…”

Shudder.

The drama continues…

And: What happens when you key it, smush it, and drop it on concrete? PCWorld finds out.

Penalties: In the U.S. corruption gets you a promotion. In China it gets you a death sentence.

Erosion: GOP lawmakers are starting to flee from Bush’s Iraq debacle.

Double Down: Three people wounded as nutjob walks into New York New York casino in Las Vegas and opens fire.

Speaking of Vegas: It reached 116 degrees there yesterday. But that was relatively cool compared to 125 degrees in Baker, California.

Red Ring of Death: Microsoft set to lose $1 billion repairing faulty Xbox 360s.

Weight-Loss Pill: Would you risk shitting your pants to drop a few pounds?

Meanwhile: Scientists suspect global warming may be to blame for scrawny grey whales.

Fair & Balanced: Rupert Murdoch has reportedly succeeded with his bid to purchase the Wall Street Journal.

Nightlife: After hearing complaints from angry Belltown residents, Councilmember Sally Clark submitted her committee’s proposed nightlife regulations. Though the votes aren’t yet there to pass it, the council wants “some regulation in place as soon as possible.”

Revelry: Fireworks, gunfire at a 4th of July celebration in Skyway.

Copping a Feel: Pat-downs will continue at Qwest Field before Seahawks games.

Godfather of Gore Fact of the Day: In 1965, Herschell Gordon Lewis released Monster a Go-Go. Here’s how he descibed the making of the film to John Waters in 1980:

HGL: A fellow I know had filmed something called Terror at Half Bay—he shot eighty thousand feet of film and had no picture. As often happens, he ran out of money. We shot some other footage and bought his uncut negative. Out of his eighty thousand feet, there was no action at all. He had hired the tallest man in the world, Henry Height, who just died last year. Henry was a real sweetheart. He was so big that his ankles cracked—he was simply too big for his ankles. Henry played an astronaut who went to outer space and came back doubled in size. They put some pizza or something on his face to give him a strange look. I shot a couple of thousand more feet of film—close-ups of hands holding telegrams, feet walking, anything to make it come out—there was no sense to it.

JW: Did it turn out to be a success?

HGL: Oh, yes. Mostly in the South.

Here is the original trailer of Monster a Go-Go.

In a July 4 editorial, The Olympian, the daily out of Olympia (the paper that serves the community around Ft. Lewis), officially came out against the war.

Publisher John Miller explained: “It is a particularly important and local issue for us because we are a military community with Ft. Lewis and McChord Air Force Base in our area. We seen too many of them killed, so many that Ft. Lewis considered stopping individual memorials. Our men and women have done their duty with honor. It is time to honor their sacrifices by ending this ill-conceived mission.”

And his paper (circulation 32,000) wrote:

On a day when Americans are supposed to celebrate the freedom and liberty won by the blood of our forefathers, most Americans instead find themselves disgusted with the trillion dollar war being waged in their name with their tax dollars.

On a day when Americans are supposed to wave the flag with honor and respect, many Americans are disheartened and embarrassed. They are fed up with an arrogant president and an ineffective Congress and their inability to extract this nation from the ill-conceived war that has alienated U.S. allies and unnecessarily sullied the reputation of this great nation.

This year, our day of national pride feels more like a day of national shame.

There’s a beautiful picture of a grow operation on the cover of today’s Seattle Times. And you gotta love the caption…

A bud bonanza in Seattle: More than 950 marijuana plants were found in this South Seattle home in October 2005. Grow lights were powered by pirated electricity tapped from an electrical mainline and fed through a power panel shown at right rear. The panel was specially created to bypass the home’s electrical meter. The home’s occupant was convicted in federal court for growing marijuana and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Apparently it’s big news that people are growing pot indoors around here—which people do because growing pot outdoors is a hell of a lot riskier—and the Seattle Times lets us know that B.C. Bud has “a new cousin”: King County Bud. And the Seattle Times wants us to rest assured, of course, that the feds are on the case…

Since 2005, federal and state agents have raided more than 100 large-scale grow houses in the Seattle area, yielding a bumper crop of more than 41,000 plants, according to the White House drug czar’s office. Police last month found the biggest yet, a 1,500-plant grow that consumed most of a 3,800-square-foot house.

The story in today’s Seattle Times details—no, it glorifies—the work being done to root out grow operations in our area. The busts, the people going to jail, what we’ve learned, how we can fight this scourge. The effort has, of course, eaten up massive amounts of local and federal law enforcement time, landed a bunch of poor motherfuckers in jail, and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. And no where in the piece does the Seattle Times mention, oh, the sheer ridiculous futility of all of this.

Oooh! The police busted a 1,500-plant grow! And sent some poor bastard to jail for three years! Guess that means no one’s gonna be smoking any of that marijuana ‘round these parts for a long, long time, huh?

How many times can daily paper run the same fucking credulous piece of shit story about brave DEA agents busting pot grows? Hello, Seattle Times? Are you in the business of informing your readers or are you in the business of disseminating anti-pot propaganda for the White House Drug Policy Office? We’ve wasted decades and billions of dollars busting pot farmers, dealers, and users, and what do we have to show for it? Marijuana is the most widely available drug in the country. It’s fucking everywhere—and it’s cheap and it’s potent and we will never “successfully” eradicate it. Never.

Credit where credit is due, Seattle Times: You do mention, late in the piece, that pot is $1 billion per-year crop in Washington state, worth more annually “more than wheat and potatoes combined.” But you sandwich that happy fact between quotes from brave DEA agents, leaving it to the reader to infer that their efforts are a waste of time.

Where are the quotes from a pro-decriminalization organizations? Local pot smokers? The large and growing number of Americans who, despite decades of slanted and biased coverage like this, have concluded that the war on drugs is a waste of time, money, and lives? If I wanted to read White House Drug Policy Office press releases I could go to their fucking website. Do I really need to read them on yours?

Block Party Band of the Day: Eric Grandy on the decade-old (!) Blood Brothers.

Just Give it One More Try: Donte Parks asks you to give Ma Fleur another shot.

The Most Important Question You Will Ever Be Asked: Vote in the Line Out poll.

Endfest Line-Up Announced: Pumpkins will rock the parking lot.

Burning Down the House: Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott is on fire.

Worst Song Ever: There’s too much focus on the positive, I say. What song do you hate?

Unbelievable!: Andrew Dice Clay? Really? I never knew…

I know this shit is so last week, but c’mon… kitties… cuddling… in a sink! (Thanks to Matt Hickey for the photo hook up.)

Holy crap. It was my first July 4 in the Rainier Valley, and DAMN do they shoot off a lot of illegal fireworks down there. Seriously—it sounded like Kosovo until at least 1 in the morning. Just walking around the neighborhood, we saw hundreds of awesome DIY fireworks displays—really professional-looking stuff, shot out of schoolyards and traffic circles and the middle of the street. It made me proud to be an American.

A report released this week by the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics ranks the severity of penalties for pot convictions in each of the 50 states and D.C. Is our Northwest pot-jungle in the bottom ten? Not quite. Washington is number 36. Oregon, which has decriminalized marijuana possession, is surprisingly at draconian position 15.

The ratings are based on both the sentences from judges and the subsequent penalties resulting from a conviction—including ineligibility for food stamps and student loans, voter disenfranchisement, employment discrimination, and barring adoption.

In most cases, a felony marijuana conviction (for example growing marijuana) triggers the same collateral sanctions as those triggered by a conviction for murder, rape, or kidnapping. In many cases, the collateral sanctions for a marijuana-related conviction actually exceed those for a violent crime.

A few states stand out:

• Florida is the worst place to get nailed. In general, if you’re popped for pot anywhere in the South, you’re as fucked as you’d expect to be (and maybe more).

• Massachusetts is also in the top tier, despite its pinko reputation and sweet dreams of neighboring Vermont’s munchie pushers.

• New Mexico is the grooviest place for ex-pots. Washington D.C., New York, and Missouri are also among the kindest to the kind.

• Washington State bustees may be prevented from adopting a child, cut off from federal student loans, barred from public housing, and denied cushy, do-nothing, smoke-pot-all-day jobs.

As I Slogged earlier today in the news section round-up, we got ahold of security camera footage from inside Tabella (one club that’s being scapegoated for a shooting earlier this week) that shows the club isn’t at fault.

Well, Jonah just turned up more evidence to douse the witch-hunt: An SPD incident report from last week about a call to help Tabella. Tabella security asked the police to help them trespass a patron who had been told he was not welcome at the club two weeks earlier for flashing gang signs. The agitated, drunk, and threatening suspect was back, and at Tabella’s request, he was taken into custody.

The SPD report notes:

This nightclub does a very good job of patrolling the area just outside the club. They do their best to maintain order and have their customers disperse the area when the club closes.

When City Attorney Tom Carr and the City Council predictably go after Tabella to take away its liquor license, they probably won’t be citing this report from the city’s own police department.

Thanks for all the input yesterday on finding the perfect vanilla bean.

Didn’t get to make the Thomas Jefferson Ice Cream, but there are now plans afoot to make a Thomas Jefferson Ice Cream Milk Shake. (This being based on my own secret milkshake recipe!)

Anyway, here’s what I ended up eating at a July 4 BBQ yesterday:

I had nothing to do with making these super veggie kabobs. But I did take this picture of my foodie friend’s masterpiece.

GOD

Editor: One day all of the denying you people are doing is going to hit you like a ton of bricks. Or maybe gnashing of teeth. That’s what happens to you when you deny GOD. You might think it is cute but He doesn’t. I pray He has mercy on us all.

Chris Maye

HOMELESS

Hello Seattle: Seattle needs to admit that it has a serious homeless problem. As a community we continually turn our eyes and cheeks to the human melodrama that is the homeless. We avert our eyes in public when we are being repeatedly begged for change or subject to harassing comments. Seattle-ites talk about compassionate and caring responses to homeless: more shelters, more beds, more food and on and on but is that really the best and kindest response?
I propose that the problem is not a lack of services but an overabundance of them. This city should consider tough love. Our acceptance, and support of the occupation of being homeless is hurting everybody by enabling a bad situation. I ask Seattle to look at the homeless issue and ask if it wants to be like the (SF) bay area and overrun with acceptance and homeless and crime or be a little more like New York and Chicago; harder yes but much more livable for the rest of us who want to live and pay our own way.

Aram

1. These actually exist. (Safeway on Roosevelt, for the foolhardy)
2. They come in a swank bag, rather than the usual low-rent Pringle can.
3. They really, honestly, taste exactly like Chinese Food.
4. Seriously. MSG and soy sauce and all.
5. No, I’m not high.

As my fellow convenience-store shoppers are undoubtedly aware, Doritos has launched a new chip with a new gimmick: the X-13D Flavor Experiment, in which consumers are invited to name the company’s new brand of flavored tortilla chips, with one lucky chip-namer awarded a year’s supply of Doritos.

I love taste tests, and like Doritos, and so I was happy to give the new chips a try. Among my group of taste-testers, the predominant identifiable flavor seemed to be tartar sauce, while a quick scan of Doritos-related message boards found others noting a distinct Whopper/ready-made-hamburger-with-all-the-fixins taste.

After eating a half-dozen of the chips, I scanned the list of ingredients, and was mildly icked-out to learn that Doritos X-13D contain both “natural beef flavors” and beef tallow. Thank you, Doritos, for raping my vegetarian face. (That’ll learn me to not read the ingredients list first.)

(If any Stranger officedwellers are interested in sampling Doritos Beef Tallow n’ Tartar Sauce Crunch, the remainder of the bag is on the corner of my desk….there aren’t many, but trust me, a little dab’ll do ya…)

Everyone in politics always talks reverentially about Bill Clinton’s Sister Souljah moment, so much so that “Sister Souljah” has become a political verb, meaning: To repudiate the actions of someone who people don’t expect you to repudiate. Now might be a good time for Hillary Clinton to Sister Souljah her husband.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House on Thursday made fun of former President Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, for criticizing President Bush’s decision to erase the prison sentence of former aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

“I don’t know what Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case of it,” presidential spokesman Tony Snow said.

Rep. John Conyers ( D-Mich.) has scheduled hearings on Bush’s commutation of Libby’s 2 1/2-year sentence.

“Well, fine, knock himself out,” Snow said of Conyers. “I mean, perfectly happy. And while he’s at it, why doesn’t he look at January 20th, 2001?”

In the closing hours of his presidency, Clinton pardoned 140 people, including fugitive financier Marc Rich.

If Hillary came out strongly against Bush’s Scooter Libby pardon and her husband’s Marc Rich pardon she could look tough-on-crime and tough-on-Bill at the same time. Talk about crossover appeal.

I really would like to believe that Hadid’s ballet, Metropolis II, is something wonderful…
But my instincts tell me it’s probably bad.

Set on a futuristic landscape drenched in shifting hues of radiant blue and green light, the high-energy work elegantly synthesizes video with the dancers’ moving bodies and Hadid’s interconnected silver sculptures.

A couple notes on this week’s news section (which will get its regular airing on 710 KIRO this Saturday at 7pm during the Stranger News Hour.).

Scoop:

First off, Jonah uncovers yet another case where egregious conduct by SPD officers (indicated by a court decision and an internal investigation) results in vague consequences from SPD leadership. For example, the implicated cops are still working the same elite team beat. As we write in the caption to the unsettling photo of the SPD victim: “How many more are out there?”

Ron Paul:
Eli Sanders continues our 2008 coverage with a piece on Ron Paul’s popularity in Seattle. Eli’s story is already generating a big batch of letters that all seem to read like this one:

Thanks for covering Dr. Paul in your article titled The Iconoclast. Supporters, like myself, believe that his message of a limited Constitutional government deserves to be heard. He is the modern day Thomas Jefferson, and I am sure that the Founding Fathers would be proud of his noninterventionist message. He is a true statesman. Thanks again

…which underscores the point of the article: Paul’s got his local organization organized and active.

Reality Check:
Meanwhile, the news team got ahold of security video which indicates that Belltown club Tabella is being scapegoated for this week’s shooting.

Interestingly, City Council Member Sally Clark—who, our story notes, gave a thumbs up to Tabella security on a recent Seattle Channel feature—got on KUOW this morning and conveniently changed her tune about Tabella. Luckily, Erica C. Barnett (who wrote this week’s article) was also on KUOW this morning and set the record straight.

Ugghhhh. And Ugghhhhh:
In Michael Hood’s behind-the-scenes story from the right wing Minuteman meeting in Everett—we incorrectly identified Hood’s blog. The correct address is http://blatherwatch.blogs.com/.

Hood, of course, tracks talk radio at his great blog, again—here. I regret the dumb error. Still: Hood’s scary peek is worth reading.

Also in the section: Charles Mudede’s Police Beat column (scary teen ultra violence at Golden Gardens); my CounterIntel colum (on Dino Rossi); and Barnett offers another reality check—this one on Mayor Nickels’s environmental record.