The Patriot Prayer guy got a felony charge for inciting a riot.
The Patriot Prayer guy got a felony charge for inciting a riot. Lester Black

Today, everyone's talking about Israel: As Nathalie said in Slog AM this morning, Trump encouraged Israel to block Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering the country, tweeting “they hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds.” The tweets were met with fierce criticism, but then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed through with Trump's request. Lawmakers across the political spectrum strongly denounced Israel's decision.


Shipping wars escalate: We've been talking a lot about the trade wars recently but let's not forget the ever-important shipping wars, which have been getting spicy. Walmart announced today that its NextDay shipping program, a response to Amazon's one-day delivery, now covers nearly 75 percent of the U.S. population, reports GeekWire. These shipping wars, which are notoriously bad for the environment, don't seem to be ending anytime soon.

A battle for the heavens in Hawaii: Fancy astrologers with Caltech and the University of California want to put a massive telescope on the peak of Mauna Kea because it provides the best place in the Northern Hemisphere to look at the sky. The telescope would be 18 stories tall and work as a "celestial time machine," writes the Los Angeles Times. Native Hawaiians are fighting the development of a telescope, called the Thirty Meter Telescope, because it would be a desecration to the “highest point where land touches the sky—where the two deities, Sky Father and Earth Mother, meet." The battle has gone on for years and is ramping up swiftly now that Gov. David Ige announced construction this July. Celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jason Momoa, and Tulsi Gabbard have shown up at the volcano to resist the construction. Protests continue to spring up, with Elizabeth Warren also tweeting support.

Warren is winning Iowa in a new poll: Dan's into it. I'm also into it.


A RINO by any other name would smell as shitty
: The mayor of El Paso claims that Trump called him a "RINO" after he corrected Trump about his city's crime statistics. A RINO, for those of you who don't hang out with mouthy Republicans, means Republican In Name Only and isn't a term Republicans like being called. Weird that Trump's throwing around RINO considering he was a Democrat for most of the 2000s.

Patriot Prayer founder faces felony charge: Joey Gibson, the man who founded the notorious far-right-wing group Patriot Prayer, is charged with inciting a riot in connection to a brawl that broke out on May Day in Portland, according to his attorney. Gibson told a talk radio host that he was planning on turning himself over to authorities today. He went on to say that he believes the charges are meant to prevent him from attending a far-right protest in Portland on Saturday that's received a large amount of media attention.

Pay your workers!: It's not a huge settlement, but it looks like the Capitol Hill gay bar, the Cuff, had to pay out "43 aggrieved workers" for "not paying the correct minimum wage in some instances" and "rounding paid sick and safe time accrual down to the hour."


It's ghoul versus ghoul over here in the Republican Party: Steve King, the Iowa representative who made headlines yesterday after he questioned if there would be any population left if not for rape and incest, has lashed out at noted warhawk Liz Cheney who has—surprisingly—come out and requested that Steve King resign. (Even Trump isn't a fan of King.) King is, predictably, doubling down and called out Liz Cheney today on Twitter.

ITMFA update: Impeachment proceedings are ramping up. Two former White House officials have been subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee today. Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former White House aide Rick Dearborn have been requested to testify publicly before the committee on September 17. "Corey Lewandowski and Rick Dearborn were prominently featured in the Special Counsel's description of President Trump's efforts to obstruct justice by directing then-White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire the Special Counsel, and then by ordering him to lie about it," said House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler in a statement today.

Have you caught up on the Matt Shea news?: Rich has a post here about the Shea updates. That's the buzziest Washington state story of the day.

Hickenlooper is out: As you probably head already, the former Colorado governor has officially left the 2020 presidential race. He made his announcement via a videotaped statement. As Splinter's headline aptly reported: "World in Opposite of Mourning as John Hickenlooper Ends 2020 Run."

Speaking of presidential: Something is up with my spell-check.


Trump's campaigning in New Hampshire tonight: So far he's called someone fat, called Warren "Pocahontas," and said his trade war with China is going great.


The rally is going so poorly that even Fox News is pivoting away: To Joe Biden.

BREAKING: The shrubs are thick over in Magnolia.

Spotted in Magnolia. How did they even do this? from r/SeattleWA