On January 1, the Social Security payroll tax cap rose from $110,100 in 2012 to $113,700. This means that annual income up to $113,700 per year became subject to the 6.2 % payroll tax, but not applicable to anything above that. If just the wealthiest 1 in 20 workers (top…
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Above: Protester bangs on a the FDC sign at a noise demonstration in solidarity with the grany-jury resisters. Grand Jury Update: Three Olympia activists are being held in solitary confinement at the SeaTac Federal Detention Center despite that they have not actually been charged for a crime. Kteeo Olejinik, Matt…
US citizens suffer from poorer health than nearly all other industrialised countries, according to the first comprehensive government analysis. Of 17 high-income countries, the United States is at or near the bottom in at least nine indicators. To read the rest of this article, follow the link here.
The trafficking of foreign ESL teachers in China It was not until Christmas that I fully realized I was one of many foreign teachers being scammed in Beijing, China. A dream of going to China with the pure intentions of teaching English while exploring another culture has turned into an…
How do you keep consumers in the dark about the horrors of factory farms? Make it an “act of terrorism” to investigate animal cruelty, food safety or environmental violations on corporate-controlled farms that produce most of our meat, eggs, and dairy products. To read the rest of this article,…
The decision by a federal appeals court not to block the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent corn ethanol (E15 ) is a setback for consumers and the environment. The US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC on Tuesday rejected a request that it reconsider an earlier decision that…
Greetings, my Relatives and Friends! It has come to my attention in the last week or so that a lot of our young people and women especially are standing up in support of our Indigenous Brothers and Sisters in Canada. It really does my heart good to see the…
Wed., January 23, 2013, Tacoma—Jurors in the Backpack Six trial returned verdicts siding with the City of Tacoma. The jury was composed of 8 people (all of whom were white). Out of the original jury pool of 33 people, only one person was identifiable as a person of color, and…
Description, clockwise from upper left and spiraling inward: 1) The Backpack Six (Patrick Edelbacher, Sarah Dunne-ACLU of WA Legal Director, Liz Rivera Goldstein, Phan Nguyen, Leah Coakley, Charlie Bevis, and Tom McCarthy) stand outside of the Tacoma Union Station United States Courthouse on the first day of their trial against…
Three of the Coal Export Action 23 as thy were arrested in August 2012. Photo courtesy of Coal Export Action. You already know about the plans to ship coal through your communities and on to China. The Montana coal export activists tried to stop the coal at its source—to keep…
A corruption scandal and validity at heart of refusal to administer MAP The news was every kid’s dreams. In a unanimous decision the teachers at Garfield elementary in Seattle—whose alumni include Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Lee, and Debbi Armstrong—voted to boycott the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test. The decision was…
Our Pluckiest Protester Award was snatched late in the year by a teenage animal rights campaigner—attacked by KFC eaters whilst dressed as a giant chicken. Wanting to raise awareness about poultry welfare, Olly Tyler—a 16-year-old from Westwood, Wiltshire—arrived outside his local KFC branch on December 22, bearing a placard…
Activists from a local peace group blocked the main gate and staged a die-in at the Navy’s West Coast Trident nuclear submarine base for more than a half hour in an act of civil resistance to nuclear weapons. Nearly fifty people participated in Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action’s annual…
In the wake of Idle No More and the AFN’s calls for blockades, peaceful protests and a stall of the Canadian economy Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) has made waves with talk of potential long term blockades in Northern Alberta. To read the rest of…
Unlike its preceding month, October did see some action in the courtroom regarding our long-fought battle for justice! For those readers who are raw newbies, wholly unfamiliar with the traumatic, year-and-a-half old case brought by the Olympia Police against our friend and fellow WIPworker, Scott Yoos (in which they tackled…
The trafficking of foreign ESL teachers in China It was not until Christmas that I fully realized I was one of many foreign teachers being scammed in Beijing, China. A dream of going to China with the pure intentions of teaching English while exploring another culture has turned into…
What happened in a nutshell and why it’s important Ed. note: This article is a summary of a report by the author. In April 2012 Superior Court Judge Lisa Sutton reversed the City of Olympia’s approval of a project proposed for the southeast corner of Harrison Avenue and Division…
Monica Hill Since we’re talking Catholic Church here, let’s begin with a confession. I was raised and educated a Catholic. But I long ago concluded that religious institutions, of whatever make or model, are not too helpful in building a better world. I am a Marxist feminist, immersed in organizing…
Is their purpose to protect the consumer—or their bottom line? I was interested in the Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating for our monopolistic, highest per kilowatt rate in the country electric company who silently tyrannizes people, Puget Sound Energy (PSE). Their rating was A-plus. What the ??? The BBB…
1. Public Participation Require the Community Planning and Development Department (CP&D) to comply with the law that defines “party of record” as someone who has submitted substantive comments on a proposal prior to the decision on that proposal. Require CP&D to maintain a record of public comments, accessible by members…
Sidebar Susan Griffin’s A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War (Anchor Books, 1993) is a bold leap into the mostly-unknown—the subjective lives of a number of historical figures caught up in war or in the development of nuclear weapons. The book made the short list for the Pulitzer…
A dozen South Sound community members gathered in Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia to participate in a national day of protest against police brutality, just one of over 30 planned events held across the country, including Seattle. Olympia’s event was sponsored by the Green Party of South Puget Sound,…
A few days before the elections, a friend from the states wrote me: “Hi Lisa, all the main stream media down here has Chavez losing and ready to die. Can you give me a more accurate update on the elections?” My inbox began to fill up with similar inquiries,…
Photo by STEVE WYANT, from the Olympia F.O.R. Confronting the Climate Crisis rally at the Washington State Legislature, opening day 14 January 2013, Olympia. The HUMAN MURAL was composed and organized by ROD THARP
The vote on public power (Thurston County Proposition One) is quite simple, really. All registered voters in Thurston County get to vote on this measure. There is much confusion I’m hearing from people. Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has bombarded citizens with their deceptive, fear-mongering PR campaign, doing the residents of…
There are lots of Free Skools around the country offering classes like ‘Yoga 4 the people”, “Crazy Quilts”, “Capoeira Basic Aerobics”, “feminism is for Everybody,” and “Community Cinema”. The Free Skool movement offers free classes to all people. Anyone can address their needs affordably and find solutions to their everyday…
[Speech] Peter Bohmer Ed. note: The following is a speech given by Peter Bohmer on October 7 at the Localization not Globalization event held in Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia. The wars I remember one year ago being at Sylvester Park on a Friday evening, October 7, 2011. It was…