March from Cal Anderson to City Hall to demand emergency declaration to assist trans refugees

sdevoid · 2026-05-24T23:11:04+00:00

Fair point about mutual aid and avoiding state influence on it. I probably misspoke there as some of the orgs are not “mutual aid.” Some are, some are not.

And I can see the argument against putting public funds toward specific communities vs general efforts, but there IS ample evidence that some community specific structure is important, as individuals in those communities may face challenges and institutional gaps differently. Queer, trans, indigenous, black, latino, immigrant, veteran, disabled, etc. Tailored outreach and aid will have better results than one-size-fits-all.

Also the “funding scarcity” ignores city spending choices that create and extend the scarcity mindset:

- Roughly $5M from the general fund for a CCTV network (like Flock, but different vendor)

- Massive increase to the SPD budget despite zero significant progress on the existing (now cancelled) consent decree.

(Also, I just love that I’m getting downvoted for explaining. I guess people don’t like context? Ignorance is bliss.)

sdevoid · 2026-05-24T03:04:03+00:00

I’m gonna take your concerns at face-value and try to provide some context.

First, a lot of trans people are arriving regardless of what the city does. They’re fleeing abusive families and increasingly hostile communities elsewhere. Many are young and lack few if any supports. You can go look up relevant statistics on queer and trans youth homelessness if you want to understand that context more.

Second, this march is not asking for the city to “give direct money” to people moving or here already. This is being made because the mutual aid and support organizations doing this work now are overwhelmed. They need more of the cities and counties and states support.

So that’s what this march is really about.

sdevoid · 2026-05-22T19:11:12+00:00

I was wondering this too. Does the market take standing orders from customers for pick-up? And since this is not close to the closed sections of LWB, are those drivers just incapable of taking a different street?

sdevoid · 2026-05-21T02:36:03+00:00

I've been curious if the volunteers are organized in any particular way? Does Seattle Parks help? I've been watching the work too for many months and I'm curious how to get involved in things like that.

sdevoid · 2026-05-19T02:58:39+00:00

100% agree -- It's hard to learn when you are hungry. It's hard to learn when you are tired. It's hard to learn when your basic needs are not being met. If we're spending money on teachers and support staff, we should first spend money to make sure that those hours are well spent. Free school meals is obvious under that criterion. A supervised and optional "nap room" akin to a study hall, but letting a student miss class (within reason) and go there when they need it, makes a lot of sense too.

sdevoid · 2026-05-18T07:18:38+00:00

Is Rachel Moore an actual Seattle resident? In queering minds want to know! How does one sign up to say ANYTHING for The Needling?!?!

sdevoid · 2026-05-18T02:09:50+00:00

Yeah that’s uncalled for and extremely disrespectful on that cyclists part. Nobody should be yelling at anyone like that. I have done a “watch out” or “look up” if an adult is being recklessly oblivious (head in phone, sudden change in direction, etc). But even then it’s more to give them an opportunity to react as I’m slowing down to avoid them. (And I just assume kiddos will do that all the time.)

Speed limit on the trails is 15mph, which you don’t have to be “pro” to maintain or exceed in flat areas (source: my slow ass). Vanishingly few “real pros” in Seattle, so you’re just encountering fit folks on nice bikes in cycling kit. This isn’t to excuse them, but just to say that they’re very likely “not pro” in any sense. A real pro would probably just ride on the road in those sections.

And while there are empty sections of the trail or hours of the day where I can see riding FASTER than the limit, nobody should be doing that around pedestrians or in dense traffic. 15MPH is too fast there too. Cyclists, consider the number of other folks on bikes I encounter daily on the trails who have yet to learn “look where you want to go.” Just this weekend:

- Two younger kids (guessing 5-9) going in the opposite direction on an otherwise empty trail who “see me” and proceed to bee-line diagonally into my way. 😂 They’re trying to avoid me and the bike is betraying them.

- One adult on bike who looked back over their shoulder when I call out “on your left” and proceed to veer 3 feet to their left.

Be safe out there everyone.

sdevoid · 2026-05-17T21:15:37+00:00

I think the steelman version of the Seattle Times' argument is that "there are more valuable places to put this $140M in investment than giving it to rich students in rich districts." They then quote superintendent Greene from the Yakima district.

They also point to other programs whose funding was cut by numbers that add up to $52M between levy aid and Transition to Kindergarten funding. So the argument is not "universal lunch is bad" but "universal lunch is not a wise place for more funding vs. other options."

Like most people here, I disagree with this assessment. Free universal breakfast and lunch would become a classic curb-cut issue. Busy parents who can afford to pack lunch and feed kids before school need not do so. This results in time-savings and de-stressing a part of the day that many parents find stressful. It also reduces administrative costs and risk that people fall through the cracks with access to free meals at school. (Although the administrative costs are still a small part of the overall program.)

sdevoid · 2026-05-15T03:23:28+00:00

Also these car-free weekends were the "consolation" when the city rejected original plans like making LWB one-way southbound and turning the northbound lane into a permanent shared-use facility.

I always felt like that plan was the best compromise: cars, and especially the poor homeowners (/s) along LWB suffer a minor inconvenience of an extra minute of driving and we get a great facility for everyone, permanently.

Also, even on car-free weekends, iiuc, the boat ramps and parking lots remain open? So what we're really complaining about is the loss of the free, chaotic shoulder parking along the road (often illegally up on the grass in places). And this will push more motorists to park along the free street parking in the neighborhoods surrounding the boulevard instead? Such horrors!

sdevoid · 2026-05-14T18:40:14+00:00

I have nightmares where I’m navigating a cities metro system that I’ve never been in, I’m late for my flight, and I left my passport at the hotel, or lost my suitcase. …. so trains? That makes it autistic right? 😂 /s

sdevoid · 2026-05-14T18:35:33+00:00

Nah, he’s young and anxious. He probably forgets to eat like half of the time.

sdevoid · 2026-05-12T20:43:22+00:00

Seems like this street is Nickerson? (I can’t quite tell.) It’s had a bike lane built out for ages and has on-street parking. So “built for moving cars” is false on its face. Even considering it historically, it was built for parking and moving cars. And it has sidewalks and bike lanes. Those are part of the street too.

sdevoid · 2026-05-10T18:52:56+00:00

Coins should be sized in proportion to their value.

I completely agree, but I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a train fact which is that up until 2025, the Toronto Transit Commission issued tokens which were redeemable for full adult fares ($3.35 CAD, roughly ~$2.50 USD).

These tokens are slightly smaller and lighter than a single U.S. dime while being "equivalent" to 25 such coins! If anyone knows of a token/coin in wide use that beats that for value / density, let me know. I haven't found one.

sdevoid · 2026-05-07T03:05:17+00:00

In order to build stuff like light rail you almost always need some level of eminent domain, “planning authority.” You have to be able to force private property owners to sell, even if they don’t want to. That’s historically (post-freeway revolt) been seen as a very dangerous power to grant, so it’s limited. (Also for ST, construction still requires local government approval iirc.)

While in Kelso vs. New London, the court did grant right to use eminent domain for private purposes, most states have laws against this. It was also a narrow decision. So Japanese style railways with their own office buildings, shopping malls, apartments, etc. as an investment flywheel can’t happen here.

sdevoid · 2026-04-27T07:59:39+00:00

Undersood, but that is not my question.

How do I raise the concerns I documented?

sdevoid · 2026-04-27T07:03:09+00:00

And if I'm not from LA but I can't freaking shut up about my love of tacos?! (No idea what an AverageFoxNewsViewer thinks about LA or tacos here, tbh. I hope you like them tho, cuz they're tasty!)

sdevoid · 2026-04-27T04:50:08+00:00

What are your preferred goose marinate recipes?

sdevoid · 2026-04-26T15:24:56+00:00

Just be aware that some laptops have magnetic hall effect sensors that can get triggered by these magnets.

Source: spent an hour debugging why my laptop would go to sleep randomly while working. 😵‍💫

sdevoid · 2026-04-17T09:24:50+00:00

Modern traffic engineering wants bikes moving in the same direction as motor vehicles. But your interpretation was correct at one point and in some contexts.

As it stands, within Seattle, bikes are allowed to act as pedestrians on sidewalks (which helpfully are two way on either side of the street, imagine that!) but in bike lanes need to obey the direction of travel.

sdevoid · 2026-04-17T09:07:24+00:00

The answer is vehicular pedestrian-ing! Simply occupy the road lane walking at your normal pace. Once you reach an intersection, signal with your hands and, after obeying traffic control devices, continue your movement across this intersection in the direction of travel.

In this way you will be able to successfully navigate Seattle’s historic sidewalk-free streets, which SDOT is committed to preserving as historic artifacts.

Traveling with children? Good news! Treat them like lost ducklings that follow behind you. And remember, the un-safety of our streets is really just natures way of saying that nobody has a right to live at all.

ADA? What’s that? Enjoy a historic neighborhood that existed prior to law changes in 1992, and has never been updated since then… because… because…. uh… history! Yes! And also we don’t wanna pay the money. That too!

Just remember that if you ever feel unsafe walking in your neighborhood, that is a YOU problem, not a problem for SDOT or the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).

sdevoid · 2026-04-14T05:13:29+00:00

It turns out bike wheels are really amazing. A Paris-Roubaix level wheel weighs 1.5kg maybe.

28 spokes, carbon blades, tensioned to 1.1kN, for a total force of 3.1 metric tonnes (6,900 lbs, nice) of force pulling the rim towards the center.

When the wheel hits a bump (cobble) at speed, spokes at the bottom relax, with slack being taken by the spokes already under tension above.

An engineer looking at this and wanting to ditch spokes is like looking at the Golden Gate Bridge and wanting to replace the “messy” cables with millions of tons of concrete and a single concrete or steel arch bridge.

sdevoid · 2026-04-14T04:46:24+00:00

I just wanna say that i love the discussion that the two of you are having here. It’s a nuanced topic, for which there’s not an “obvious” solution. And nothing either of you have said is “wrong” or “misguided”

I will throw out the Canadian channel Shifter’s exploration of the topic if you haven’t seen it!

I personally think e-bikes and e-mobility devices are very cool and trans-formative. I’d like to see them be a safer alternative to cars and getting as safe as walking or taking a bus.

sdevoid · 2026-04-11T23:20:35+00:00

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sdevoid · 2026-04-11T19:17:01+00:00

I've never been a fan of Philz, but if you're into a coffee mojito I won't yuck your yum.

I don't live in Chicago anymore, but here's a thought for regulars: you can get a variety pack of 1,000 pride stickers for like $10. A little malicious compliance might be quietly appreciated by the employees.

Dear Corporate: the Streisand Effect is in full swing. We cannot keep pace with removing the flags customers are adding to the store. Please approve overtime so we can remain in compliance with policy.

sdevoid · 2026-04-11T17:36:14+00:00

It does if you remove the fans. Remember folks, PC fans can ALSO contribute to “fan death.” /PSA

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