On New Year's Eve, amid the personal fireworks demonstrations in my neighborhood, a neighbor discharged a gun.

I don't know much about machine guns and such but this sounded like a small machine gun. I base this opinion only on TV, Movies and Video Games but it sounded like a small machine gun firing a 16 round clip (that is just my guestimate).

The neighbor shot off a clip or whatever, twice that night, amidst the fireworks.

Here's the thing. Guns going off in my neighorhood make me feel uncomfortable. I realize it was new years but hey...I'm kinda freaked out by my neighbor.

I don't live in a bad neighborhood. Eastside...near the top of the hill...

So here's my questions:

Do I "report" my neighbor? Isn't shooting any gun off in the city illegal? Was that really a machine gun? That would make me feel even more uncomfortable if it was. I want to be a "nice" neighbor but I'm a bit freaked out.

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BEIJING—Chinese authorities have been forcing Tibetans to sign a petition opposing the Dalai Lama's return, a London-based group said, in apparent retaliation for the award of a high U.S. honour to Tibet's spiritual leader.

President George W. Bush gave the exiled god-king the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington in October, infuriating Beijing. It came on the heels of the Dalai Lama's reception by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in September.

The Dalai Lama, 72, has lived in exile in India since fleeing his predominantly Buddhist homeland in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule. Closed-door talks between Beijing and his envoys have made little progress.

"The Chinese authorities are really stepping up their anti-Dalai Lama rhetoric and propaganda," Anne Holmes, acting director of the Free Tibet Campaign, said in an e-mail on Sunday.

During a public meeting in December in Lithang in the Kham area of Gansu province, which is populated largely by Tibetans, residents were asked to raise their hands if they opposed the Dalai Lama's return. No one obliged, the campaign group said.

Residents were then asked to raise their hands if they did not have weapons at home. As it is illegal to possess firearms, everyone raised their hand. A photo was then taken and sent to state media, claiming residents were opposed to the Dalai Lama's return, the Free Tibet Campaign said.

Also in December, secretaries and accountants in townships in Gansu were invited on a nationwide tour paid for by the government, the group said.

Forced to Sign

Before setting out, they were called to a meeting in Lanzhou, capital of the northwestern province, and forced to sign a petition on behalf of the people they represent opposing the Dalai Lama's return, the Free Tibet Campaign said. The meeting was apparently broadcast on local television.

I'm taking a break from Blog Local and invite folks to create their own form of this beat. You can follow the Favorite Olympia Blogs list here on the OlyBlog sidebar and report back to us, you can follow Oly Bloglines, or you can create any process and means of expression you like.

You might want to sharpen your focus on particular themes - there is a wide variety to choose from. You might want to regularly do more general surveys of the current local blogging pulse. You might have some ideas to share on how local blogging works or you might want to focus on what you find quirky and intriguing.

I've found it very rewarding to share link love and highlight the work of local bloggers.

The greatest Americans have not been born yet
They are waiting patiently for the past to die
Please give blood
Those crumbled tablets were to share a story with a burning bush
Where is that voice from nowhere to remind us that the holy ground we walk on, purified by native blood, has rooted trees who�s fallen leaves now color coat a savored list of demands
Who among us can give translation of autumn hues to morning news?
The anchorman thrown overboard has simply rooted us in histories repeating cycle.
A nation in its saddened years that wont acknowledge karma
Where is the voice from nowhere, the ones your prophets spoke of?
There are voices from fear disconnected from their diaphragms, dangling from coffee covered teeth that spill into our laps and scorch our privates
There are voices from the sides of necks, some already noosed, dangling participles pronouns running for sentence
Serving life in corner offices and ghetto corners, their voices are the same
Dead to themselves, numb to the possibility of truth existing beyond that which they can palm in their hands, period
There are voices of elders, which seem to do no more than damn us to our childish ways
For in many households, wisdom no longer comes with age
So where is that voice from nowhere, that burning bush, that passing dove?
I hear the voices of generals calling for ammunition, presidents calling for arms, women calling for help
Where is that voice from nowhere, that god of Abraham?
Can he be heard over the gunfire, the whiz of passing missiles, the crash of buildings, the cries of children, the crack of bones, the shriek of sirens?
Or is that his mighty voice
Your angry god craving the sacrifice of early generations sons degenerate
Your holy books written in red ink on burning sands

Photographer Jeff Dykehouse, whose non-profit business provides free portraits of terminally ill children and their families, was working in his shop when the sound of breaking glass interrupted his labor of love.

The photographer grabbed a firearm and went to the front of the shop, where he found an intruder had broken through the glass door.

According to police, Dykehouse announced he was armed, but the intruder ignored the warning and charged, forcing Dykehouse to shoot him. The intruder died at the scene.

(The Grand Rapids Press, Ann Arbor, MI, 10/09/07)

Tammy broke her wrist last Monday, and she has surgery coming up to repair it soon. When the Orthopedic nurse wrapped her splint a few days ago she told her that it was safe to unwrap it briefly for showers etc.

So Tammy did, and that's when we realized we really don't know squat about rewrapping splints. We didn't think it'd be any big deal until early this morning when Tammy woke up in severe pain. She hadn't felt that terrible since the initial accident a week ago. She was sure the wrapping was too loose, we tried searching for DIY websites but couldn't find what we needed.

It seemed like returning to the hospital for an ER visit just to rewrap a splint would be overkill which we'd be charged for, yet waiting until the clinics opened wasn't a desirable option either. Her work has been giving her grief over all the time she missed while sick on chemotherapy, in fact they had cut her hours after her final treatment with the reason that "they couldn't risk her leaving them in the lurch again." She missed work last week while sitting in the hospital being fixed. To wait until the clinic opened would mean not being at work (she works in Shelton and depends on the limited bus service since she doesn't drive)

Since she already wasn't going to risk missing work completely, and that no matter what I'd end up driving her into work, we decided to drive to the firehouse in downtown Shelton which was only a couple blocks from her work. We figured someone would take 90 seconds to show us what we're supposed to do.

The roads were icy (in fact, I briefly stopped because someone had crashed on the Mud Bay Hill, but other people had already called 911 so there wasn't anything I could do.)

We got to the station which wasn't opened, we considered the Civic Center which houses (among other things) the police and EMTs.