Slog AM: Bronze Bandits Strike Again, Australia Bans Kids from Social Media, Entrepreneur Eats $6.2 Million Banana
Nov 29, 2024
The Stranger's morning news roundup.
by Nathalie Graham
Forget Black Friday: We should call today Rainbow Friday. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to stock 24 lakes across the state with 65,000 rainbow trout for holiday weekend fishing. Black Friday fishing facilitated by the DFW has been a thing for more than a decade. Isn't it lovely what government funding can give you? Like, the gift of thinking you can provide for yourself.
Don't cross the picket line: For the fifth year in a row, Amazon workers are striking this weekend, from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, to protest "anti-worker and anti-democratic practices." Workers in 20 countries, including the US, will be striking.
Statue thieves strike again: In the last five months, thieves have stolen two bronze statues and 10 bronze plaques across Seattle. The most recent hit happened in Ballard when the bronze bandits plucked the historic plaque from the Ballard Bell Tower. Council Member Dan Strauss says his office will fund a replacement, though that could cost upwards of $10,000.
Goats detained: Kent Police detained two goats because they were chasing people. They are now in custody at the King County Animal Shelter.
Zuck comes to dinner: Lest you fall for any creative rebranding of tech billionaires who now wear chains and do jiu jitsu, here is a bucket of cold water to dump over your head. On the eve of Thanksgiving, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg broke bread with president-elect Donald Trump at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
The weather: It will be colder than you want it to be today. Rain isn't supposed to fall, but sometimes it does anyway.
Were you thankful for this? I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. If you're reading this, I'm thankful for you. If you're reading this and you comment on Slog regularly, I'm only thankful for those of you who aren't mean to me. What we can all agree on is gratitude for a beautiful sunset and a beautiful city. What a life!
Beautiful Orange Sunset on Thanksgiving Evening in Seattle 🦃😍 pic.twitter.com/lCeQigUyKZ
— 🔱Seattle Chris⚾ (@CjWieringa17) November 29, 2024
Australia thinks of the children: The Australian Parliament just passed a law which will make it illegal for children under 16 to have social media accounts. It makes platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars if any kids younger than 16 are found to have accounts. Meta said the legislation was "rushed." Both major parties in Australia supported the ban, but child welfare orgs are concerned that it could further isolate kids who use social media to find support—like LGBTQ+ kids in rural areas.
Entrepreneur eats $6.2 million banana: Justin Sun, a Chinese-born cryptocurrency engineer, purchased that famous conceptual art piece, the banana duct taped to a wall, otherwise known as “Comedian,” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. Sun purchased the piece and then ate it at a press conference in a Hong Kong hotel. “It tastes much better than other bananas. Indeed, quite good,” he said.
Read this first-hand account of what it is like to be homeless. Journalist and recently-homeless person Patrick Fealey penned a stunning essay about being a homeless man. Fealey was an award-winning journalist before a manic depression caused by Bipolar I upended his life.
Another thing to be thankful for: Five years after the historic Paris cathedral caught fire, Notre Dame's interior is finally restored.
5 years after, the miracle continues: #NotreDame is reborn. https://t.co/4rEAVvL5Dd pic.twitter.com/oAp76jgpRt
— 𝑨𝒙𝒆𝒍 𝑹𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒖𝒅 🇺🇦 (@areinaud) November 24, 2024
British Parliament passes assisted dying: In a 330 to 275 vote, lawmakers in the House of Commons voted to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill patients in Wales and England.
Stowaway: A woman made her way without a ticket onto a Paris-bound flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport. She somehow bypassed ticket checks at TSA and at the gate, though she scanned her luggage and went through a body scan. She hid in bathrooms on the plane for the whole flight, which caught the flight attendants attention. She was apprehended upon landing in Paris. What does TSA even do?