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Posts published in “Issue: October 2019

About This Issue – October 2019

Prejudice and hostility as the official vocabulary of the nation With President Trump and other high-ranking officials of his administration, prejudice and hostility against some nations and members of specific ethnic groups have become a predictable and integral part of official White House discourse. This attitude reflects what has come…

Long-time Olympia residents forced to leave affordable housing units

In July 2019 my partner and I received notification that our home of eight years had been sold to a new owner. The new owner’s property management company told us that we had a “generous” 60 days to vacate. We were not the only tenants to be forced from our…

Homily for Sergio

Most people who saw Sergio on the streets of Olympia would only see the little man, the homeless, disheveled man, the sick man, and probably the migrant man—all labels that tend to marginalize a person and make it easier to dismiss them. Saint Michael parishioners and supporters who prepared meals…

ICE: relentless pursuer

Zahid Chaudhry, who has lived in Olympia for a number of years, exemplifies some of the ways that the US government can deny citizenship to individuals who otherwise meet all tests. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is appealing a March 2018 decision by a US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIs)…

More public resources or pay to play?

Some people who ride off-road bikes take to the trails in ways that respect the environment and other users. But larger factors are at play in modern mountain biking. A growing industry and its supporters glorify high-risk, environmentally impactful riding practices in order to sell bikes.

Port of Olympia election offers needed change

Many people don’t realize that the Port of Olympia serves all of Thurston County, that the Port levies property taxes on every property owner, and that everyone in the County can vote for Port Commissioners. Ballots for the 2019 Port election are coming in October. I would like to explain…

2019 Sierra Club South Sound local endorsements

Helen Wheatley, Olympia Port Commissioner, District 1 Helen has served on the Hanford Advisory Board, as a team leader in a U.S. Dept of Energy review process regarding cleanup along the Columbia River, and was Vice Chair of the Columbia River and Plateau Committee. Her priorities are to provide fact-based…

Rethinking everything: Lesson #5

We must reject the assumption that our built environment must become one big computer. We should erect barriers against the spread of “smartness” into all of the spaces of our lives. This proposal will no doubt be met with charges of Luddism. Good: Luddism is a label to embrace. The…

Being Christian in America in a time of crisis

The October 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” takes a fresh look at some public policy issues that have been pushed hard from conservative Christian viewpoints, showing that those are not the only voices of Christianity. Glen interviews three retired Christian ministers—Paul Wee, Melody Young, and Paul Lundborg—who share faith-based…

Dispute Resolution Center seeking volunteers

October is Conflict Resolution Month. The Dispute Resolution Center of Thurston County is actively seeking volunteers to help resolve conflict, promote civility and create peace in our community. The DRC is a community-based, volunteer–powered non-profit organization dedicated to conflict resolution and prevention in the South Sound. Volunteers can become trained…

A best friend revered in Vietnam

It was probably 14 meters long and weighed 15 tons, and towing it to land would be a challenge, but Sau and the other fishermen decided to do it anyway. It took them nearly seven hours to bring it to Mui Ne in Phan Thiet town on the south-central coast.…

Myth-busting Mexico

Do you believe Mexico is mainly a country of cartels and violence, corrupt cops and federales? A place of desperate poverty where people yearn to escape to the United States? Dusty villages with men dozing under huge sombreros against cactus trees? Or perhaps you see beautiful resorts with gleaming beaches…

Cuba’s forests thrive under socialist planning

As fires rage across the Amazon in South America, a result of exploitation by agro-capitalists, Cuba has increased the percentage of its country covered by forest in the past year. Around the world, 7.3 million hectares of land is deforested each year. Brazil is among the worst actors. From only…

Then this happened — October 2019

It helps to know people. In April, WIP featured a story on the Green Cove Park Project, a housing development proposed in West Olympia on the site of an illegal hazardous waste dump. Neighbors and environmental advocates urged the city to test the site for buried waste, including wood treatment…