My last column discussed the movie Imperium, about the infiltration of white supremacist groups by FBI agent Mike German. The commercially available disc of this movie has some extra features, one of which is an interview with the producers and German. They make the crucial point that many white supremacists…
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Wild Grief is an Olympia-based non-profit whose mission is to facilitate peer groups for teens, young adults and families who are grieving a death by creating the space for sharing, connecting and healing in nature. We do this because we know and have witnessed that nature heals.
POETRY: Blackbirds carry tear filled carnations wrapped with green fern leaves, twisting together memories...
In late May, artist Kathy Gore-Fuss brought to fruition an idea that had been building in her mind for months – an outdoor art installation addressing the physical and emotional losses of the pandemic. Gore-Fuss and other artists wrapped thousands of flowers onto the surface of a large stone sculpture…
Master Gardener Plant Sale ♦ Wild Grief Teen Day Hike ♦ Solar panels at Farmers' Market ♦ Restoring watersheds ♦ Estuary Explorers ♦ Big Brothers/Big Sisters ♦ Abolish Nuclear Weapons ♦ Stonewall Youth 30th! ♦ Washington: Easy to vote! ♦ Glen’s Parallax Perspectives ♦ Music at West Central Park
On a given Tuesday morning last month, anyone traveling on or around Franklin Street in downtown Olympia would have beheld a curious spectacle.
Over the past seven years or so, the city of Olympia has offered a variety of incentives to several developers to invest in “market-rate” apartment buildings downtown. One of the most lucrative offers is an 8-year exemption from property taxes for the building’s owner.
Our city leaders keep telling us that building more market rate housing will help moderate real estate prices. More supply brings prices down. Thousands of new housing units have been built in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater in the last year or so—including many of the sought-after single-family homes. It won’t be long until…
The news lately is that businesses just can’t find people to fill the jobs they’re offering. But it’s not a sign that people don’t want to work, it’s a sign that something is wrong with the American economy. Businesses have become addicted to a low-wage economy—one that contributes daily to…
In Thurston County, the need for advocates for children who have been relinquished to the foster care system is intensifying. Local volunteers who work with children in foster care report that the pandemic has affected children’s welfare in ways that may be unseen.
On Friday, May 7 —just five days ago, though it seems like an eternity—public attention in Israel was totally riveted to the complicated dance of party politics. Prime Minister Netanyahu, facing three serious corruption charges at the Jerusalem District Court, had just failed in his efforts to form a new cabinet.
BOOK REVIEW: Women Who Rock is a celebration of, and a tribute to, 103 female musicians throughout history who not only shaped music, but used their voices, their instruments and their songwriting to fight for human rights, civil rights and societal change.
In an interview on Democracy Now, Zaher Wahab makes it clear that current claims that the US needs to stay in Afghanistan to keep women safe ring hollow.
MOVIE REVIEW: The Present, a short film shot in the West Bank, just won the 2021 British Film Actors’ Award for Best Short Film along with an Academy Award nomination and dozens of prizes around the world.
We were told that the “COVID session’’ was to be limited to one bill passed per issue. Think again. What we accomplished was perceived in January as impossible, but it is true what Nelson Mandela said: “They will say it is impossible until it happens.”
BOOK REVIEW: Stalinist Plutocracy was never going to be a pleasant social arrangement. But now that Red China is the world’s most influential power, surveillance technology so cheap and artificial intelligence software so widely deployed (accurate or not), Stalinist Plutocracy is amplifying there.
Are you a prospective Wipster? WIP is evolving! Along with a new Managing Editor who will oversee production (beginning in October), WIP is expanding our editorial team to include new volunteer Section Editors.
THOUGHTS ON THE THEME: When we established this theme, we were thinking about the Big Lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 election and the Democrats stole it. But the more we talked about it, the more we realized that there are a lot of big-ish lies out there, not just one Big Lie.
...crabs are coming back... ...an observant local man wondered why.... ...Los Angeles took a different approach
Earth Regenerators Study Group ♦ Haki Farmers’ Collective. ♦ Olympia Mutual Aid ♦ Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons ♦ Whole Washington ♦ HOST Homes ♦ Student Art at Capitol ♦ Prayers for World Peace♦ GRuB & GRAVITY ♦ 2021 Meet the Beach ♦ Capital City Pride
Everyone has something to contribute; Everyone has something they need The COVID-19 pandemic response in the US has challenged communities, as local food banks experienced shortages and shelter beds became even more restricted. Confronted by an uncertain and under-resourced governmental response, many communities countered with energized “mutual aid” organizing. People recognized…
There’s a lot of talk these days about how polarized “the country” is. The talk fixates on Trump voters vs everyone else, or Democrats vs Republicans or liberals vs conservatives...
A February report from Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson reveals that the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) refused to cooperate with an AG inquiry into whether law enforcement agencies are complying with Initiative 940. Among other mandates, the law created by 1-940 requires that investigations of police use of deadly force be conducted by an agency independent of those involved....
...left at the altar—again …housing prices aren’t “filtering down …‘trickle down” doesn’t work either! ...the City was not convinced, item 1. ...the court was not convinced, item 2. ...the judge was not convinced, item 3.
The volunteer Managing Editor of Works in Progress is stepping down after five years. Unless someone volunteers for the position and is in place by August 1, the last issue of the paper will appear in September. To support a new managing editor (if one is in place) we are…
Regarding Tom White and Bill Moyer’s article about passenger trains, I understand that it was focused on a comparison between improving current N-S Cascades service and the proposal for Ultra High Speed Rail that would essentially parallel the current Cascades N-S route but on “dedicated” track....
We will run issues monthly with a maximum length of 750 words. We currently have reviews scheduled through June, so there’s plenty of time to read a big book! Moving the Bar: My Life as a Radical Lawyer—Michael Ratner (Autobiography “taking the law to places where it had never been”)…