I posted this over at Olympia Indy media:

In Olympia we have been struggling with a tiny minority committing acts of property destruction at gatherings and marches. Olympia has been struggling with politically motivated vandalism which began in the months following last November's CD resisting military shipments polarized the community.

In February a dance to raise funds for a low income rights group ended in a riot, tear gas, seven arrests and a destroyed cop car. A May Day march for immigration rights ended with windows in the US Bank building and an outdoor equipment retailer owned by a city council member smashed. A month later a small community theater owned by another city council member was vandalized by a group calling themselves the Nihilist Assault Group. A Critical Mass bike ride ended with tires slashed on a cop car, a small business' delivery van tagged and an arrest. A week or so later 22 vehicles owned by downtown residents and a small business had their tires slashed by persons unknown. The Halloween Mayhem Party is the latest in this series of property destruction.

These actions are discrediting the good work hundreds of activists while trying the sympathy and tolerance of the larger community. Worse, the property damage has sparked talk of agent provocatures among the activist community. Olympia has a well earned reputation for progressive politics but that work is becoming threatened by these tactically stupid actions. Smashing US Bank and Starbucks windows ain't doing anyone in Olympia any good.

A jury has been empaneled in the case of Shyam P Khanna, in an Olympia Municipal Court case being heard in Courtroom 230 upstairs at the Thurston County Courthouse beginning today. Opening arguments are at 2PM Wednesday, 29th October.

And what is so wrong with empire? Well, for one, it hurts people. Check out this article by Tom Englehardt:

Being in Base Denial

Going on an Imperial Bender

How the U.S. Garrisons the Planet and Doesn't Even Notice
by Tom Englehardt

Here it is, as simply as I can put it: In the course of any year, there must be relatively few countries on this planet on which U.S. soldiers do not set foot, whether with guns blazing, humanitarian aid in hand, or just for a friendly visit. In startling numbers of countries, our soldiers not only arrive, but stay interminably, if not indefinitely. Sometimes they live on military bases built to the tune of billions of dollars that amount to sizeable American towns (with accompanying amenities), sometimes on stripped down forward operating bases that may not even have showers. When those troops don't stay, often American equipment does -- carefully stored for further use at tiny "cooperative security locations," known informally as "lily pads" (from which U.S. troops, like so many frogs, could assumedly leap quickly into a region in crisis).

At the height of the Roman Empire, the Romans had an estimated 37 major military bases scattered around their dominions. At the height of the British Empire, the British had 36 of them planetwide. Depending on just who you listen to and how you count, we have hundreds of bases. According to Pentagon records, in fact, there are 761 active military "sites" abroad.

After Ron Suskind Reveals Bush Admin Ordered Iraq-9/11 Fakery, House Judiciary Chair John Conyers Opens Congressional Probe

This book, and the video series based on it, is very informative to the problems regarding the unethical and immoral practices within capitalism whereby powerful individuals take the desire to dominate to extreme levels. Human beings, human societies and the world have suffered horrible consequences as a result of power politics.

Environmental degradation is ongoing. As the world becomes increasingly polluted, it is prime time to ask ourselves what we want to leave for the children of our time, and for all future generations.

Take some time to check out The Prize videos [linked]. You might gain some understanding into why PMR activists object to the imperial politics and policies of global domination. Are power politics the way you want the world to operate?

My resistance is based in environmental and social conscience.

One of the things that is evident from all the discussions on this blog about the Port Militarization Resistance group and their activities in Olympia and Tacoma is that there is a huge difference in the underlying assumptions that people hold. Folks within the PMR use words like "empire" and "militarization," and I think that many who read this blog don't have the same context for understanding the meaning they are intended to convey. I wonder if would be possible to bring to the surface some of the context surrounding the meanings of those words through a shared set of documents, videos, podcasts, maps, etc. So, if you know of a good article, interview, analysis, or graphic, please put a link in the comments. After we've collected some material, we may be able to ground our discussion a bit more, and perhaps achieve a better understanding of the arguments, if not agreement on the positions.

Olympia activists have been very prominent in recent protests against the revolving door of aggression between our government and Iraq. To update: several protestors and demonstrators have been arrested as a result of their attempts to stop the enabling function that public ports have for an illegal military action.

I support our troops and soldiers. I support the truth. Bush lied about the threat posed by Iraq. He lied in order to take the nation to war. The war is illegal and it debases humanity.

We have the power to stop the unnecessary sacrifice of our fellow Americans. We have the power to stop an act of aggression committed by our government.

Thank you to all those heroes who stand on the line in resistance to the militarization of society as our government plunges us into the darkness of aggression, and sacrifices young folk for the sake of a vision of global dominance.

Join PMR. We can stop the war.

The USNS Brittin arrived early on July 29 in the Port of Tacoma. This is a large medium speed roll-on, roll-off ship which last visited Olympia in November of 2007. You might recall some controversy over that visit. We do not yet know if it is bringing back the 4th/2nd Stryker Brigade, or the 864th Engineers.

Olympia PMR contingency is to meet at 3PM at Media Island to decide how to handle such a confirmed ship arrival. Media Island is at 816 Adams Street, in downtown Olympia.