What: Student Walkout
When: Friday, Nov. 14

10:00 AM: Meet at SPSCC campus, between buildings 22 and 26.
11:00 AM: March to Sate Capital Building.
12:00 PM: Rally at the State Capital Building.
For more information: walkout2008.blogspot.com/

Power Substation, this is in between 5th and Legion on Cherry Street, almost kitty corner to the site of the future Olympia City Hall.

Razor wire protects military hummer vehicles (humvees) from intruders.

Solidarity with Women's Resistance to War!

26 participants in a nonviolent blockade of military cargo between Port of Olympia and Fort Lewis are being charged by the Thurston County Office of the Prosecutor. The first of those being charged will be arraigned tomorrow. Of the 26, 25 are women. The 26 are part of an action that is commonly referred to as the Women's Blockade, or Women's Action.

43 people in all were arrested in the November 13th, 2007 Women's Blockade. 39 of those who were arrested are female.

Last Friday, supporters of the Oly 26 vigiled at Percival Landing. Turn-out was good. About 40 people showed up.

The first arraignment of members of the Oly 26 is scheduled for tomorrow morning at the Thurston County Courthouse, up on the hill above Capitol Lake. Proceeding's are scheduled to start at 9:30 AM.

see more on the flipside: photos from Capitol Forest, more from the vigil, Percival Landing, and an Olympia Alley in Autumn

Antonia Juhasz at the Capitol Theater at 7 PM on Monday, October 20th, 2008 will present her new book The Tyranny of Oil: The World's Most Powerful Industry, and What We Must Do To Stop It.

Link to event details: Antonia Juhasz at the Capitol Theater October 20, 2008

Juhasz will also appear at SPSCC earlier in the day at 2 PM. More details about that event: Antonia Juhasz at South Puget Sound Community College

more about the book on the flipside:

On September 9, The Olympia City Council voted, and passed on first reading, to ordain the repeal of the city's 2005 Nuclear Free Zone Act. A decision was also made to pass a noise ordinance for downtown Olympia. Higher quality video is available at the city website (www.ci.olympia.wa.us). This video has some audio/video synchronization issues, but it works especially well for purposes of leaving it to play in the background.

Here's the video as posted to the Google Video:

Photo from Arlington Northwest
Poetry by Iraq Soldier, Brian Turner

More information about Turner's collection of poems on the publisher, Alice James Books' website: Here, Bullet, a collection of Iraq war poems by soldier-poet Brian Turner.

Ashbah
by Brian Turner

The ghosts of American soldiers
wander the streets of Balad by night,
unsure of their way home, exhausted,
the desert wind blowing trash
down the narrow alleys as a voice
sounds from the minaret, a soulfull call
reminding them how alone they are,
how lost. And the Iraqi dead,
they watch in silence from rooftops
as date palms line the shore in silhouette,
leaning toward Mecca when the dawn wind blows.

I posted a couple of comments on Peter Alden Stroble's OLY 2012's Final Position Paper Endorsing the Urban Waterfront Rezone post (about the Isthmus rezone.) I want to separate them and post them here. The first comment is in response to my effort to deepen the discussion about OLY 2012's advocacy of Smart Growth in regard to the furtherance of sustainability. Can "Smart Growth" further the goal of "sustainability?":

Deepening the Discussion

Yes, I would like to deepen the discussion. It's not easy for me. This is really difficult. I don't want this to get personal, because I know there are good people on both sides of this issue, and most people on both sides are honest and genuine when they think their way is the best way.

I would love to respond to every point in your paper. I would love to respond to every point in your above statement. I just don't think that I have it in me. I don't right now. I might not anytime soon. Maybe it will be easier for me to approach these points one by one after Tuesday's Council Meeting.

I just looked up Smart Growth today. I don't know all the details. I just know what it said on wikipedia - my understanding of which is that Smart Growth basically is a meme that seeks sustainability through dense urban living. That sounds great to me. And I am glad that we don't have any disagreement here.

I have been thinking about the concept of perpetual war. What are some of the consequences of the perpetual war economy? George Orwell's classic novel, 1984, speaks directly to that question. I urge you to read it, or to remember it if you have already...

The following is something that I wrote up a while ago, after seeing the Actor's Gang performance of "1984" at the Washington Center for Performing Arts:

An adaptation of Orwell's 1984 for stage, it was a great performance.

Let Ralph Nader Debate!

I went to Arlington Northwest at Heritage Park today. I helped set up headstones and did some photography too. I am going to post some of those photographs, and set up a flickr embed to display some more. The whole set can be found here: Arlington Northwest Iraq War Memorial 2008

Arlington Northwest

There were many hands to help set up the memorial, but it still took about 5 hours just to get all the markers in place. Here's a statement published by the Veterans for Peace Rachel Corrie Chapter (VFP 109) about the Memorial:

WHY WE PRESENT THE ARLINGTON NORTHWEST MEMORIAL



Veterans for Peace presents the traveling Arlington Northwest Memorial Display and Vigil to support our troops, their families, and our community.


I heard a rumor that 600 people have been arrested!

Wow!