Ed note: Hope to see you in the MBR Friday (tomorrow). Brandon is back by popular demand for his excellent presentations on sleep disorders and how we can deal with them. In addition to the common sleep disorders like sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome, he has special expertise in insomnia–an often difficult problem to solve.
Brandon Peters-Mathews, MD, FAASM, is board-certified in both neurology and sleep medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and currently practices and serves as the Section Head of Sleep Medicine at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He is the creator of the Insomnia Solved program and author of Sleep Through Insomnia and The Sleep Apnea Hypothesis. He has worked in sleep medicine for 25 years with extensive clinical and research experiences in the field.
Posted inAging Sites, Health|Comments Off on Friday, February 6 at 11:00am – Health Care Lecture: How to Sleep Better in Retirement by Dr. Branon Peters-Mathews
Mon 3/9 at 7:30PM | $10-$35 Sliding Scale | In-Person
Join Dr. Jim deMaine, a pulmonary/critical care physician, and Rebecca Crichton, Executive Director of Northwest Center for Creative Aging, to discuss our choices when seriously ill. Do advance directives really work? How can we advocate for ourselves and our loved ones? Jim draws from his book Facing Death: Finding Dignity, Hope, and Healing at the End, a memoir about helping us plan for a more peaceful, healing death.
Tickets to this event are free for ages 22 and under. Get Tickets
ICE in Minneapolis: Schools go remote as protests grow Broad daylight, actually
The Washington Post adopted the slogan “Democracy dies in darkness” in February 2017. Some found it pompous, but it reflected a widespread theory about how authoritarianism could come to America. This theory, based on the experience of democratic erosion in nations like Hungary and the work of scholars like Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, argued that autocracy wouldn’t be imposed by armed men beating and killing the regime’s opponents.
Authoritarian rule, would, instead, be installed through a gradual process of subversion. Key institutions, especially the news media, would be coopted or deprived of financing. Businesses would knuckle under so as not to be shut out of crony capitalism. Dissenters would be marginalized rather than sent to gulags.
The trajectory of the Post itself shows how that could work. The newspaper that broke the story of Watergate and brought down Richard Nixon has been Bezosified, its editorial independence destroyed and its newsroom increasingly eviscerated. Many other institutions, from other media organizations to some universities to law firms, have also become enablers of the regime. Big business has caved almost completely.
But it turns out that predictions of creeping authoritarianism both underestimated and overestimated MAGA. Almost everyone, myself included, underestimated how far MAGA would go in engaging in open violence and abuse of power against those it considers enemies. On the other hand, we overestimated the movement’s impulse control, its ability to mask its tyrannical goals until its power was fully consolidated.
As Steven Levitsky said in a recent interview, comparing Donald Trump with Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban,
Orbán doesn’t arrest journalists. And in Hungary if you walk the streets of Budapest or other Hungarian cities, you will not find heavily armed masked men abducting people. That doesn’t happen in Hungary.
The startling extremism of the Trump regime, even compared with other modern wannabe dictatorships, is obvious to the naked eye. But I always find quantification useful. So I was very pleased to see that the estimable John Burn-Murdoch of the Financial Times has risen to the occasion, producing an index of democratic backsliding that lets us compare the trajectory of the United States under Trump with those of other nations we used to view as cautionary tales. (I’ve looked at how the index is constructed, and it’s reasonable.) We’re on a uniquely steep descent, at least for modern times:
It’s a horrifying picture. Yet the flip side of the naked extremism of the MAGA power grab is that it has produced a remarkably strong backlash. The size and determination of civil resistance to ICE has been incredible and inspiring, like nothing we’ve seen since the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Republicans are being punished at the polls: On Saturday a deep-red Texas Senate district that went Trump +17 in 2024 voted in a Democrat with a 15-point margin.
I keep asking two questions as ICE runs wild. First, what is the strategy here? How do Trump, Stephen Miller, etc. think this is going to work for them? Maybe their initial belief was that a display of force would shock and awe their opponents into submission. It’s not happening, yet they just keep ramping up the threats and violence, apparently not knowing how to do anything else.
The obvious answer is that there isn’t any strategy. These people aren’t evil masterminds — evil, yes, but masterminds, no. They’re just thugs too crude and undisciplined to control their own thuggishness. They were caught off guard by the strength of the resistance because the very concept of citizens standing up for their principles is alien to them, and they still can’t believe it’s real.
The second question is, how does this end? Most immediately, what will happen during and after the midterm elections? Everything points to a blue wave in November. Yet many people in MAGA simply can’t accept losing power — among other things, their actions over the past year mean that if they lose power, many of them will go to jail.
Trump is now calling for “nationalizing” the midterms, meaning to put voting and the counting of votes under his administration’s control. He can’t do that, but his demand is a clear sign that he will not accept the public’ s verdict in November.
So it’s just being realistic to say that MAGA will try, somehow, to prevent voters from having their say. Will ICE try to prevent blue districts from voting? If that fails, will they reject the results, in a midterm version of Jan. 6? Call me alarmist, but remember: The alarmists have been right, and the people telling us to calm down have been wrong, every step of the way.
A few commenters on this video called it “woke propaganda.” And it’s true that it offers a vision of multi-cultural, multiracial harmony (literally.) I think it’s beautiful.
Posted inGovernment, Immigration|Comments Off on American Democracy Will Not Die in Darkness
On Wednesday January 28th, the House Health Care and Wellness Committee passed on to the full House an amended bill, HB 2384-S, requiring actuarial reporting for some CCRCs to be reviewed by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC).
The bill also creates a link to the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) website where registered CCRCs are listed. The list will allow residents and prospective residents to access the OIC’s report on a CCRC’s actuarial balance.
The bill was sponsored by Representatives Macri, Reed, Street, Thomas, Ormsby, Scott, Goodman, Hill, Thai, and Bernbaum.
This win is bitter-sweet as the new actuarial requirement will not apply to every CCRC. WACCRA fought to have all CCRCs that provide any extended health care services on any type of discounted basis – whether a set number of days or a discounted rate – to be subject to this new requirement. We did not prevail. The bill only calls for CCRCs that offer contracts that are considered “type A” to be subject to OIC review.
HB 2384-S represents an incremental improvement in financial transparency and potentially acknowledges in law the relevance and importance of actuarial analysis and state oversight. We have asked the committee to continue to work with the stakeholders – WACCRA, LeadingAge of Washington, CCRC management – to identify a mechanism to ensure all CCRCs receive financial reporting oversight during the coming months. Our goal is to bring financial oversight to all CCRCs in Washington.
Next steps are for the bill to be heard by the Appropriations Committee. It will be heard on Thursday February 5th at 10:30.
Posted inCCRC Info|Comments Off on Update from Olympia – House Bill 2384-S
That was Round One in the Trump boxing match against reality, and for a time, Trump was winning. The shock felt from his attacks on political opponents and institutions left them flat-footed. Some prominent law firms caved to Trump’s threats and agreed to do pro bono work for his pet causes. Universities cut deals to stay out of his gunsights. Media companies capitulated. Amazon decided to make a movie about Melania (it debuts at the end of the month at—you guessed it—the “Trump-Kennedy Center”). Trump’s power reached from the normal political realm down into the culture itself. A number of firms and universities and others fought him, but the general cultural vibe was very much in the direction of trying to stay in line—the better to avoid the tyrant’s attention—or actively trying to win it with embarrassing acts of sycophancy.
Now we’re at the start of Round Two of the boxing match, and I smell something changing. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have been impressively uncompromising—and uncompromised, which is more important—in their public statements since ICE hit town and executed a blameless U.S. citizen. Trump and the cowardly Pam Bondi (does she understand how the history books will treat her?) launched investigations into the two men. Walz and Frey responded by saying, in essence, Bring it on.Said Walz: “Two days ago, it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week, it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic. The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.” (Hey, good idea, governor: How about the state of Minnesota or the city of Minneapolis arrest Jonathan Ross?)
Over the weekend, three high-ranking American Catholic cardinals denounced Trump (not by name) and his imperial bullying in what was, for cardinals, a strongly worded statement. “Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination,” they wrote. That followed statements by Pope Leo criticizing Trump for his treatment of immigrants.
Last Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that his country had made a deal with China that would dramatically drop tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and allow nearly 50,000 of them to be sold in Canada. This is a move to keep a close eye on.
Ever watched a video about a Chinese E.V.? I have. These vehicles are good. Maybe not just good. They look amazing. And they’re cheap, comparatively. That’s why Joe Biden imposed a 100 percent tariff on them in 2024—to keep the competition safely on the other side of the planet. Then–Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed Biden’s lead and imposed the same level of tariff. Both were protecting their car industries, and this is one form of protectionism that I’d imagine most Americans support: No one wants to see Detroit die.
But Carney, with elbows clearly up, has different ideas. OK, Trump, make all the fifty-first state jokes you want. You think I’ll just let this happen? Well, try this on for size: I’m going to bring Chinese E.V.s onto North American soil.
Detroit must be in a dead panic over this. And Trump is learning that little Canada with its mere 40 million people actually has some leverage over the mighty United States that the bully didn’t think it had.
And if Canada has leverage, what about the EU? The EU is the world’s third-biggest economy, after the United States and China. Does Trump really think he can impose tariffs on the EU over this Greenland madness and the EU won’t retaliate? Trump is set to speak in Davos on Wednesday. EU leaders are scheduled to meet in Brussels on Thursday. They’re not going to take whatever idiocy he launches lying down.
So, all over the place, and in a range of realms, people have started to confront the bully. There remains, however, one group of people, or two closely related groups, that have yet to join the club: corporate America and Wall Street—the biggest cowards in the country.
Why haven’t they? We know why. They’re mostly Republican, and they voted for Trump. They want their tax cuts. They’re terrified of crossing him. They know they helped elect a president bent on weaponizing the civil service to seek revenge on his enemies—and that he’ll order the Justice Department’s antitrust division or the Securities and Exchange Commission or others to go after them in a heartbeat the moment they end up on Trump’s blacklist.
But this too may be starting to change. Detroit, as noted, has to be worried that Trump is setting off a chain of events that may put them out of business. European countries are beefing up their defense spending, which should get a gravy train rolling for American defense giants—but the EU already started freezing out U.S. contractors last fall, and if Trump tries to seize Greenland, U.S. contractors will lose billions in opportunities. And even some Wall Street figures have been critical of Trump recently over the scandalous investigation of Fed Chair Jay Powell and Trump’s proposed credit card interest rate cap.
I’m not expecting much out of these people. They don’t care about anything, really, except their bottom line. But the king’s madness is starting to affect that. If Trump drives this country into a position where most of the world—save Russia, Hungary, Chile, El Salvador, and a handful of other right-wing dys-fantasy lands—wants to do business with China and the EU, corporate America and Wall Street will miraculously find their backbones. And once that happens, Trump won’t have many friends left.
Trump’s shock troops still scare some people on the streets of our country, and tragically so. Over the weekend, I saw a heartbreaking sign posted on the door of a Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis: “WE ARE OPEN,” the sign said. “Please wait for us to unlock the door. Thank you for understanding.” It’s reasonable that those poor people should be scared. What a ghastly sight to see in the United States of America.
But those of us not facing that kind of direct threat? For that cohort, 2026 will not be a repeat of 2025. And the bully will learn what bullies throughout history have learned. Eventually, people decide they have had enough. And “eventually” is coming.
Posted inEssays, Government|Comments Off on Trump Is About to Find Out What Every Bully in History Has Found Out
Don’t miss this deeply moving documentary about courageous teenage boys and the secret magazine they dared to create in Terezín
Between 1942 and 1944, about 100 teenage boys imprisoned in the Terezín concentration camp created a secret magazine called Vedem.They filled its pages with poetry, essays, and illustrations—documenting their lives and dreaming of a better world most would never see.
Their story inspired American composer Lori Laitman to create the powerful oratorio Vedem, which we performed on Monday.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this unforgettable concert.
In gratitude for your support and in continued honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we’re extending free access to The Boys of Terezín—the award-winning documentary by filmmaker John Sharify.
The film shares the secret magazine’s amazing story and includes footage of the emotional reunion of four surviving boys – then in their 80s – on MOR’s stage for the 2010 premiere of Vedem.
Written by Woody Guthrie, performed by Eliza Gilkyson (Thanks to Ed H.)
Open your hearts to the paradise To the peace of the heavenly angels Takes away that woeful shadow Dancing on your wall Take to the skies of peace Oh friends of peace of the heavenly father Get ready for my bugle call of peace Peace, Peace, Peace I can hear the bugle sounding Roaming round my land My city and my town Peace, Peace, Peace I can hear the voices ringing Louder while my bugle calls for peace Thick war clouds will throw their shadows Darkening the world around you But in my life of peace Your dark illusions fall Think and pray along the way Forgive the ones around you Get ready for my bugle call of peace Peace, Peace, Peace I can hear the bugle sounding Roaming round my land My city and my town Peace, Peace, Peace I can hear the voices ringing Louder while my bugle calls for peace If these war storms fill your heart With a thousand kinds of worry Keep to my road of peace You’ll never have to fear Keep in the sun and look around The face of peace and plenty Get ready for my bugle call of peace Peace, Peace, Peace I can hear the bugle sounding Roaming round my land My city and my town Peace, Peace, Peace I can hear the voices ringing Louder while my bugle calls for peace I’ll clear my house of the weeds of fear Turn in the friends around me With my smile of peace I’ll greet you one and all I’ll work, I’ll fight, I’ll dance and sing in peace A youthful spirit Get ready for my bugle call of peace Peace, Peace, Peace I can hear the bugle sounding Roaming round my land My city and my town Peace, Peace, Peace I can hear the voices ringing Louder while my bugle calls for peace
In case you haven’t seen the list yet – here are the winners of the Washington Post’s Mensa Invitational (2009) which asks readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition:
Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
Ignoranus: A person who’s both stupid and an asshole.
Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it.
Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
Karmageddon: It’s like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer.
Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
Glibido: All talk and no action.
Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.
Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
Caterpallor ( n.): The colour you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you’re eating.
Vowelmovement: The inevitable verbal diarrhea that spews from ones’ mouth when they have nothing significant to say.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Add a letter and get a new definition 😂
Public outrage over the violence of federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol has given Senate Democrats a powerful lever. Tonight they forced the Republican majority to split new funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) off from five other spending bills that must pass by Friday to keep the government funded. The Department of Homeland Security will be funded separately for just two weeks while the Democrats and Republicans negotiate the conditions of funding DHS.
The funding measure passed the House before Saturday’s shooting of VA intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Seven Democrats joined the Republican majority in backing it to continue funding for other important agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), reasoning that since the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act had provided enough money to fund ICE and Border Patrol through September 30, 2029, there was no point in taking a stand against renewed extra funding.
But popular anger over ICE shootings and the administration’s lies about them made Democrats in the Senate take a stand against the measure. They demanded accountability and reforms to current ICE operations. Republicans initially said they would not split DHS funding from the rest of the package, then proposed handling the excesses of ICE and Border Patrol through an executive order or through a new, different piece of legislation. Such a plan would avoid the necessity of taking the measure back to the House, which is out of session until Monday.
Senate Democrats refused to pass the measure as it stood. They demanded an end to “roving patrols,” with federal agents required to use warrants and coordinate with local and state law enforcement officials. They wanted a uniform code of conduct for agents and independent investigations to enforce that code. And they wanted agents to use body cameras and to stop wearing masks. Senate Republicans wanted a longer period of time to consider these demands, but they settled on two weeks. (continued of page 2 or here)
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Leila Medina and Coleman Lowndes in the NYT (thanks to Linda T.)
Our reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff, who deployed twice to Afghanistan as a Marine and later was our Kabul bureau chief, looks at the battlefield technology used for an immigration arrest at a home in Minneapolis. If you’d like to see a video of the military technology used by ICE, click here.
Posted inMilitary|Comments Off on How Battlefield Tech Was Used in Minneapolis
2,870,341 views Jan 28, 2026 #1 on music Trending chart Lyrics: Through the winter’s ice and cold Down Nicollet Avenue A city aflame fought fire and ice ‘Neath an occupier’s boots King Trump’s private army from the DHS Guns belted to their coats Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law Or so their story goes Against smoke and rubber bullets By the dawn’s early light Citizens stood for justice Their voices ringing through the night And there were bloody footprints Where mercy should have stood And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets Alex Pretti and Renee Good
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice Singing through the bloody mist We’ll take our stand for this land And the stranger in our midst Here in our home they killed and roamed In the winter of ’26 We’ll remember the names of those who died On the streets of Minneapolis
Trump’s federal thugs beat up on His face and his chest Then we heard the gunshots And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead Their claim was self defense, sir Just don’t believe your eyes It’s our blood and bones And these whistles and phones Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice Crying through the bloody mist We’ll remember the names of those who died On the streets of Minneapolis
Now they say they’re here to uphold the law But they trample on our rights If your skin is black or brown my friend You can be questioned or deported on sight
In chants of ICE out now Our city’s heart and soul persists Through broken glass and bloody tears On the streets of Minneapolis
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice Singing through the bloody mist Here in our home they killed and roamed In the winter of ’26 We’ll take our stand for this land And the stranger in our midst We’ll remember the names of those who died On the streets of Minneapolis We’ll remember the names of those who died On the streets of Minneapolis
Ed note: Thought you’d enjoy the view from the other side!
Rams coach Sean McVay reacts during the third quarter of a 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC championship game Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Flawed strategic decisions at critical moments in the game by coach Sean McVay played a significant role in the Rams’ 31-27 loss to the Seahawks in the NFC title game.
McVay opting to pass the ball on the Rams’ final possession in the first half gave Seattle enough time to score a touchdown and retake the lead before halftime.
McVay never was able to completely fix the Rams’ special teams issues this season, and it cost them against the Seahawks.
Late in the mess that was the Rams’ final game of the season, Sean McVay was seen frustratingly burying his face in his play card.
That couldn’t hide the truth.
The Rams’ 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in the NFC championship game must be draped on the deflated shoulders of the Rams’ resident genius.
As blasphemous as it sounds when referencing one of the greatest coaches in Los Angeles sports history, this one was on McVay.
A day after his 40th birthday, McVay coached like he was no longer the child prodigy, but instead an aging leader who leaves himself open to second-guessing.
McVay has rarely deserved criticism in his nine successful seasons here. But in the wake of an afternoon at Seattle’s deafening Lumen Field that should have propelled the Rams to the Super Bowl, this is one of those times.
A confusing final possession of the first half. Another special teams miscue. A bad decision to pass up a field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter.
It all added up to negatively impact a game the Rams could have won, and should have won.
“I love this team and I wasn’t ready to stop working with them,” McVay said. “This was a special year, it’s hard to fathom that it’s over.”
It shouldn’t be over. The Rams gained 479 yards against the league’s top-rated defense. They only committed four penalties. The offense didn’t have a turnover. Matthew Stafford was brilliant, 374 yards, three touchdowns, countless big throws.
The Rams were great, but during the biggest moments, they got goofy, and basically handed the Super Bowl invitation to the Seahawks on a grass-stained platter.
What was McVay thinking?
Begin with the Rams’ possession at the end of the first half, after they scored a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead and their running game was rolling and they had a chance to capitalize on their momentum.
But instead of continuing to pound the ball and at least run down the clock, they threw twice in three plays, both incompletions, and had to punt after just 39 seconds, thus giving the ball back to the Seahawks with 54 seconds remaining in the half. Sure enough, the Seahawks then went 74 yards in 34 seconds, highlighted by a 42-yard pass from reborn Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba against Kam Curl and ending with a 14-yard touchdown pass to an uncovered Smith-Njigba to give them a 17-13 halftime lead.
The strategy by McVay was so flawed, it was actually criticized by Tom Brady on Fox, and Brady rarely criticizes anybody.
“The finality of all of it, I didn’t really expect this,” McVay said. “We had our chances … a couple of critical errors that ended up costing us. … I’m pretty numb.”
The next mistake occurred at the start of the second half with — surprise, surprise — more special teams struggles. This time it was Xavier Smith muffing a punt and Dareke Young recovering on the Rams’ 17-yard line. On the next play, Darnold hit former UCLA star Jake Bobo for a touchdown pass ahead of Quentin Lake to give the Seahawks a 24-13 lead.
“It was costly,” McVay said. “That was a tough one.”
Town Hall Seattle in Partnership with The Seattle Public Library Foundation is proud to present…The Process of Leaving a LegacyWednesday, February 11, 2026 12:00 – 1:15 pm Free online event Planning for the future doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Join Teresa Byers of Ogden Murphy Wallace PLLC for an engaging webinar that reviews and simplifies key estate planning concepts. From wills and trusts to power of attorney and probate, you’ll learn about the tools used protect your wealth, your family relationships, and your piece of mind. Whether you’re starting fresh or updating your plan, this session will help you ask the right questions, and ultimately create a more fulfilling legacy plan. Register on Zoom
Town Hall Seattle is pleased to offer this free webinar for supporters.
For questions about the event email development@townhallseattle.org. Registered guests will also have the option to join by phone. This event will be recorded.
We can provide accessibility options. Please contact leap@spl.org at least seven days before the event to request accommodations.
Teresa R. Byers, a member of Ogden Murphy Wallace PLLC, focuses on trusts and estates. Her work spans proactive estate planning to protect families and wealth, and guiding clients through transitions—advising agents under powers of attorney, establishing guardianships, administering probates and trusts, and litigating disputes. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), past president of the Estate Planning Council of Seattle, and an active member of Washington Women in Tax.
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