Seattle is dying

[AK47bp]

I’m talking about major purchases. Fridge, TV, washer, dryer, furniture etc. where saving 10% equals hundreds of dollars


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[goldengatestinx]

Is Seattle as bad as Denver where they ticket a business owner for not picking up bags of homeless shit on the sidewalk in front of his business?

Yea Denver Colorado.

[Timberridge]

Of course, the long-term decline in violent crime is a multi-factorial issue that gets even more complicated when parsed down to what happened in specific locales. But, it would be idiotic to claim that 40 years of population-wide low-level lead poisoning did not significantly impact the prevalence of violent crime in the US.

Now there is mercury in fog, apparently.

-----------

Marine fog brings more than cooler temperatures to coastal areas. Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have discovered elevated levels of mercury in mountain lions, the latest indication that the neurotoxin is being carried in fog, deposited on the land, and making its way up the food chain.

Concentrations of mercury in pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains were three times higher than lions who live outside the fog zone. Similarly, mercury levels in lichen and deer were significantly higher inside the fog belt than beyond it.

Mercury levels found in pumas are approaching toxic thresholds that could jeopardize reproduction and even survival, according to the researchers, whose findings appear in an article that is available free online at http://www.nature.com/articles.

Led by Peter Weiss-Penzias, an environmental toxicologist who has pioneered the study of pollutants in coastal fog, the study is the first to trace the atmospheric source of super-toxic methylmercury in the terrestrial food web up to a top predator.

"Lichen don't have any roots so the presence of elevated methylmercury in lichen must come from the atmosphere," said Weiss-Penzias. "Mercury becomes increasingly concentrated in organisms higher up the food chain."

Although mercury levels in fog present no health risk to humans, the risk to terrestrial mammals may be significant. With each step up the food chain, from lichen to deer to mountain lions, mercury concentrations can increase by at least 1,000 times, said Weiss-Penzias.

The study included fur and whisker samples from 94 coastal mountain lions and 18 noncoastal lions. Mercury concentrations in the coastal samples averaged about 1,500 parts per billion (ppb), compared to nearly 500 ppb in the noncoastal group. At least one lion studied had mercury levels known to be toxic to species like mink and otters, and two others had "sublethal" levels that reduce fertility and reproductive success.

Elevated concentrations of mercury present an additional potential threat to a top predator that is already coping with habitat loss and other risks posed by humans, said senior author Chris Wilmers, a professor of environmental studies and the director of the Puma Project.

"These mercury levels might compound the impacts of trying to make it in an environment like the Santa Cruz Mountains, where there is already so much human influence, but we don't really know," said Wilmers. "Levels will be higher 100 years from now, when the Earth's mercury budget is higher because of all the coal we're pumping into the atmosphere."

The source of fog-borne mercury

Mercury, a naturally occurring element, is released into the environment through a variety of natural processes and human activities, including mining and coal-fired power plants. "Mercury is a global pollutant," said Weiss-Penzias. "What's emitted in China can affect the United States just as much as what's emitted in the United States."

As atmospheric mercury rains down on oceans, it is converted by anaerobic bacteria in deep waters to methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury. Upwelling brings some methylmercury to the surface, where it is released back into the atmosphere and carried by fog. At high concentrations, methylmercury can cause neurological damage, including memory loss and reduced motor coordination, and it can decrease the viability of offspring.

"Fog is a stabilizing medium for methylmercury," said Weiss-Penzias. "Fog drifts inland and rains down in microdroplets, collecting on vegetation and dripping to the ground, where the slow process of bioaccumulation begins."

Top predators, an international treaty, and a foggy bike ride

Fog is present in coastal areas that border oceans, environmental "hotspots" that are also home to high concentrations of humans. Weiss-Penzias is eager to investigate mercury levels in coastal Chile, where the top predator is a lizard, while Wilmers is curious about mercury levels in coyotes, bobcats, and birds in coastal areas.

"We need to protect the top predators in the environment," said Weiss-Penzias. "They're keystone species. They perform ecosystem services. When you change one thing, it has cascading effects through the system."

As an example of cascade effects, Wilmers cited the removal of wolves from many states in the eastern United States, which resulted in more coyotes, who preyed on foxes that had historically kept the rodent population in check. The loss of foxes ultimately made way for more rodents, which help transmit Lyme disease, said Wilmers, who added, "Locally, potentially, mountain lions keep deer and small predators in check, which could reduce Lyme disease."

The global effort to protect humans and the environment from mercury includes the Minamata Convention on Mercury, an international treaty that was adopted in 2013. Named after a Japanese city that endured a dire incident of mercury poisoning, the treaty is broad in scope, encompassing the entire life cycle of mercury.

"It's important for the future of that treaty to understand all the different ways that mercury impacts the environment," said Weiss-Penzias.

As an atmospheric chemist, Weiss-Penzias said he first became curious about fog-borne pollutants about a decade ago while riding his bike to work. "I was riding through this absolute fogstorm, with water dripping off my glasses, and I just wondered, 'What's in this stuff?'" he recalled. Hypothesizing that mercury might de-gas out of the ocean and end up in fog, he collected samples and sent them to a lab.

"The lab called me, saying they'd have to re-run the tests, because they didn't believe the numbers," said Weiss-Penzias.

[AK47bp]

Well that’s just great.


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[nickwm21]

Is Seattle as bad as Denver where they ticket a business owner for not picking up bags of homeless shit on the sidewalk in front of his business?

Yea Denver Colorado.

The opposite.

Human shit in public spaces welcomed, accepted by the authorities.

But if you park your car 3” into the wrong zone you get a $55 ticket.


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[AK47bp]

The opposite.

Human shit in public spaces welcomed, accepted by the authorities.

But if you park your car 3” into the wrong zone you get a $55 ticket.


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Unless it’s a derelict RV, then you can park it wherever you want and for as long as you like.


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[Mofro261]

Silver like Mercury



nothing can hurt me

[ACH]

^^^
Thanks for posting that, used to love going to see Sky Cries Mary at the Phenix BITD.

[DaveTV]

60 Minutes is doing a piece tonight on Seattle's homeless issues. Curious to see what their take is.

[rideit]

That they all should be rounded up, and transported to Portland?

[wooley12]

Anyway, cold night to be in a tent tonight when you've been in the rain all day. The kids in the reform school adopted Camp 4 and make bed warmers for them.

[PNWbrit]

After dancer strips at Seattle conference on homelessness, agency director suspended

The director of King County’s coordinating agency for homelessness is on paid leave following a dancer’s strip show at the agency’s annual conference on Monday.

Performer Beyoncé Black St. James danced topless in a sheer bodysuit, gave lap dances and kissed attendees, according to a staffer at a local housing nonprofit who attended the conference in South Seattle.

Kira Zylstra, organizer of the conference at South Seattle College, has been placed on leave as of Thursday, according to Denise Rothleutner, chief of staff for the King County Department of Community and Human Services.

The department declined to comment further because of the active investigation, Rothleutner said in the email. Zylstra was not available for comment. Her suspension was first reported by journalist Erica C. Barnett on her website.

Zylstra has led All Home, King County’s coordinating agency homeless services, since January 2018. But her job could soon become obsolete as Seattle and King County prepare to replace All Home, which has been criticized as weak and ineffective, with a new regional authority on homelessness. Zylstra was paid about $123,000 a year, according to a county spokesperson.

The performance was in the same room as a catered lunch at All Home’s annual conference, this year at South Seattle College with the theme of “Decolonizing our Collective Work.”

The only note on the agenda was “Lunch with Cultural Presentation,” and there was no other warning or announcement about the nature of the performance, according to the staffer, who was surprised but not uncomfortable with the performance.

In a short video, St. James, a Spokane-based entertainer who identifies as a trans woman on her Facebook page, can be seen doing high kicks in a revealing bodysuit and with silver pasties.

“No one expected it,” the staffer said. “So I think some people felt uncomfortable.” The first person St. James kissed seemed surprised, according to the staffer, but the ones following seemed more enthusiastic.

WTF.....

[dunfree]

When residents don’t even know the politician in the scandal resigned days ago, what do you expect them to do? You get the government you oversee. Or don’t.

[GoldMember]

Yeeesh.... Why is she based in Spokane? FB page says she's originally from Brooklyn. She should've stayed there.

[Timberridge]

^^^Where's Booner?

"Cultural presentation" is a great term to slip in on the T&E form.

The strip clubs in Houston used to issue receipts with names like BJ's Cattle Prod Steakhouse for that sort of thing.

[PNWbrit]

When residents don’t even know the politician in the scandal resigned days ago, what do you expect them to do? You get the government you oversee. Or don’t.

Wouldn't that be city employee? And she was suspended first.

Not a resident of the City of Seattle.

But thanks anyway Hugh.

[Kevo]

https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/st...46224714829824

[AK47bp]

I’m impressed by the audacity. There are a ton of worse things to support with my taxes than paying an overweight tranny stripper. At least she’s puttin in work!

[wooley12]

So, it's all about you. .0001% of our money. .000001% of yours. And it pisses you off. You're reaction is normal, sadly.

[Kevo]

So, it's all about you. .0001% of our money. .000001% of yours. And it pisses you off. You're reaction is normal, sadly.

If everyone was more woke they'd appreciate how tranny strippers help end homelessness.

[DBdude]

When residents don’t even know the politician in the scandal resigned days ago, what do you expect them to do? You get the government you oversee. Or don’t.

This does sound hughish


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[wooley12]

If everyone was more woke they'd appreciate how tranny strippers help end homelessness.

There is some truth in what you say. Seattle success has pushed out the strip joints and flop houses where those who found themselves homeless could find a place off of the sidewalks.

[Norseman]

3 shootings in downtown Seattle since Tuesday afternoon.

[PNWbrit]

3 shootings in downtown Seattle since Tuesday afternoon.

Crazy shit.

5 p.m. one a few blocks from my office. two co-workers witnessed it.

I'd left at 4.30 only encountered a barefoot homeless guy standing in the middle of an intersection yelling at a bus. But he does that frequently.

Hey Jenny - Turning a blind eye to heroin use isn't fucking working.

[wooley12]

Users don't fight over turf. District managers of the Dealers do. I'm not saying drugs are good. Saying drugs are here. I know a guy in Seattle that was a dealer. The distribution system uses the Amway , Avon MLM model.

edit - Heroin? You must be a boomer who saw the French connection when it played in theaters.