Activists from Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, in Poulsbo, carried signs and banners on May 11 to the front gate of Bangor Naval base, the West Coast home port for the US nuclear submarine fleet. Bernie Meyer, Tacoma, was accosted and handcuffed by Naval military personnel, after crossing the blue line…
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Olympia’s own eco-friendly Premiere Salon and Spa—an Aveda concept salon—is furthering their commitment to cruelty-free health and beauty products while joining local efforts during Earth Month. The talented and community-minded designers have been working to raise their goal of $3000 for clean water worldwide and to aid their efforts…
I. History, memory, and pragmatism In his book One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez describes how for the people of Macondo, the most devastating consequence of the insomnia plague was the loss of memory, since a person affected by this illness sees “The recollection of his childhood (being)…
UPDATE: On Tuesday, May 28, in the pre-dawn twilight of 5 am, members of the exempt staff union and their most zealous supporters gathered at Evergreen to insure that not even the earliest rising members of the management could sneak past the union’s picket line unseen. The congregation marked the…
Danger Room comics in downtown Olympia hosted a special signing event on Wednesday, May 15. Guests Nathan Edmondson and Matthew Southworth were there to greet fans and answer questions. Both are members of the comic book community: Edmondson has written several award winning series for Image Comics and has worked…
Negative stereotypes of low-income folks are perpetuated by lopsided media investigations, which feed into the narrative of conservative lawmakers intent on destroying the social safety net. Yet most voters think that poor children deserve to eat, live indoors and go to a doctor when they are sick. Monica Peabody, POWER…
Did you know that PSE is currently trying to slam a 6% rate increase through the UTC without public or professional input/comment? Give your opinion at the open meeting—Thursday, May 16th, 6 p.m. 1300 S Evergreen Park Dr SW, Olympia; Richard Hemstad Building By John Pearce Background on the…
Despite increased educational attainment, an older workforce and higher productivity, job quality has declined in the United States over the last 30 years. And despite substantial increases in the educational attainment and age of the US workforce over the last three decades, which are reflected in productivity, the quality…
Malheureusement, once again we find ourselves with nearly no newsy new news to report regarding the increasingly strange and sinister case the State of Washington has brought against friend (and fellow WIPworker), Scott Yoos! You may recall that nearly two-years ago (on the night of June the 1st, 2011), the…
GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are a political hot topic. With a GMO labeling initiative on Washington’s voter ballot in November, we will hear a lot about it. Over fifty countries, including the European Union, either ban GMOs outright, or require labeling of foods containing them. Arpad Pusztai is a reputable…
The current threat of a major war in Korea is akin to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when the US and the USSR nearly waged nuclear war. Peaceful coexistence was assured only after an agreement was reached for Russia to withdraw its missiles from Cuba and for the US…
The following is the speech Eli Sterling, the founder of the Procession of the Species, gave when accepting the Earth Day proclamation award from the Thurston Couny Commissoners. Good day, and thank you each, the Commissioners of Thurston County, for the honor of this Earth Day Proclamation and…
On Tuesday, March 12, 2013, during the course of six-and-a-half hours, I was transformed three times. The first metamorphosis occurred the moment I stepped out onto the road at 7:30 that morning. My attire was not unusual for a cool, rainy morning on the far end of winter: all in…
Did you know that PSE is currently trying to slam a 6% rate increase through the UTC without public or professional input/comment? Give your opinion at the open meeting on Thursday, May 16th, 6:00 pm in the Richard Hemstad Building (1300 S Evergreen Park Dr SW, Olympia). PSE proceedings before the…
On April 26th and 27th, Arts Walk once again came to Olympia. The event is a celebration of local art, community, and the spirit of Olympia. A section of downtown stretching roughly from Legion Way to 4th Avenue along Washington Street was shut down for the event. Crowds gathered to…
For the past 18 years at the Olympia Procession of the Species, we animals have been silent witness to the joyful exuberance of our human counterparts. So very many of you—of all ages—have come together in playful abundance, animating the Community Studios, up to your elbows in multi-colored batik dyes,…
just uploading the photos of their poster
This is a copy of the speech Eli Sterling, the founder of the Procession of the Species, gave when accepting the Earth Day proclamation award from the Thurston Couny Commissoners. Visit the Procession of the Specie’s website here. Good day, and thank you each, the Commissioners of Thurston County, for…
The cozy interior of Traditions Cafe is almost full. The noises of people conversing fills the air as the stage and microphones are prepared. As seven o’clock rolls around, the lights are dimmed and someone gets onstage to introduce the night’s performer, Reem Kelani. She is a native of Kuwait,…
Bourtai Hargrove The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air jumped dramatically in 2012, said Pieter Tans, who leads the greenhouse gas measurement team for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The increase is due to ever-rising fossil fuel burning in the developed world as well as in China.…
“Don’t judge someone else until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes”. I don’t know who originally said that but it is usually sound advice. There will always be some over-the-top people whose shoes are best avoided—but most people are just people. About half the energy you consume goes to…
I wish to share a personal story. I was in my Thurston County courtroom as an observer. I was there to witness how my tax dollars were being used to protect the rights of my fellow Thurston County citizens. I witnessed the frustration of a defendant without an attorney who…
Hugo Chávez had been dealing with serious bouts of cancer and received many treatments in Cuba. He returned in late February, 2013 to Venezuela where his condition worsened and he died Tuesday afternoon, March 5, 2013 in Caracas of a heart attack. It is a tragic loss for the…
TO BE CONTINUED (and on, and on, and…) An angry crew of Scott’s supporters gathered twice in mid-March at our “new second home”—the Thurston County Courthouse—to hear arguments for and against an initial “Dismissal Motion” proposed by Yoos’s Attorney, Larry Hildes, of Bellingham, Washington. Lacking only Rod Serling’s cool-toned narrative…
As a participant in a few political actions after moving to the Pacific Northwest, I was very interested in learning more about this documentary that would be showing in Olympia. Who bombed Judi Bari? is a film about a young woman who was a fiddle player, lover, mother, and a…
The Procession of the Species, a yearly, dearly-loved event that happens in tandem with Earth Day and Arts Walk, has many supporters in the Olympia community. At The Evergreen State College, educators Cynthia Kennedy and Terry Setter are integrating it into their class, Awakening the Dreamer. They recently asked…
On Tuesday evening March 5, 2013, seven of us were arrested for trespassing in the parking lot of the abandoned Washington State Fish and Wildlife Building on Washington Street, near the Farmer’s Market in downtown Olympia. In addition I was arrested on the charge of assault for allegedly assaulting State…