Wendy Tanowitz went to the hearing in Longview Tuesday, May 24, in which officials from Cowlitz County and Ecology heard testimony on the DEIS for the proposed expansion of the Millenium Bulk Terminal. Thousands were in attendance. She took the following photos. According to Sarah Grothjan and Marissa Luck of…
Posts published in “Year: 2016”
Tacoma Author: Let me tell you a bit about my book, and why I wrote it....
What do we do when storm clouds well up and are about to wreak havoc on our lives? The ultimate storm clouds are welling up for not only human lives, but all life on this planet as we spew carbon dioxide, methane, and countless other man-created chemicals into the atmosphere…
On January 10 the world lost a "hero", David Bowie. Like the world over, I loved his music and his persona. When you search “Bowie” on the internet, it’s easy to find praise for him—but we need to acknowledge something less popular about him....
De vez en cuando, Hillary Clinton, se inclina a decir la verdad. Una de esas ocasiones dispersas fue a principios de los años 90 cuando aseguró a Larry King que políticamente “ la izquierda no existe en la Casa Blanca de los Clinton”....
Is it because I’m an idiot? (See previous poem entitled “I’m An Idiot) Key word: entitled (sic?) Or is it that I’m a racist, sexist, bigot? No, were life so simple… I’m afraid the dimple that belies my smirk Does not suggest I am a crazy jerk But that I’m…
Bryophyte property rights and pressure-washers By Liza Rognas A caution to those planning their annual trip to the chemically noisome, noxious, aisles of the nearest box-store to buy the stuff that kills-the-moss-in-lawn-grass: Don’t do it! Anti-moss chemicals poison humans, aquifers, and soil. They harm critters we see, and those we…
Roger Calhoon has been incarcerated in Thurston County since last summer and he is not your everyday person. One may not agree with what he believes, but he has his reasons. Twice he has been sent to Western State Hospital for evaluation, yet he remains in the County's jail. And after eight months of imprisonment, no trial date has been scheduled....
By Carole Willey Mental Health Awareness Month (MHAM) is followed by July 7– 15 known around the world as MAD PRIDE Week and during October the US celebrates the Disability Awareness Month and assigns the first week Mental Illness Awareness Week. Many Washington mental health consumers are totally unaware of…
By Carole Willey The 1999 Mental Health Quality Review Team Report found 68 percent of those surveyed had their rights violated in involuntary hospitalizations, known as a civil commitment—substantive constitutional procedural due process violations—civil rights violations. I founded the Crossroads to Change Campaign to expose these violations and work towards…
(with a tip of the hat to Col. Alvin Thomas, USA ret.) They said I did a felony / ‘though I weren’t the one to blame At trial I met my lawyer / she didn’t hardly know my name The jury and the judge appeared to spacerate and snooze But…
Quercetin, lovage, and eggs By Liza Rognas “Egg!!” The pride and certainty of the high, delighted, voice delivering this pronouncement demanded I lift my eyes from the Tugboat Annie’s menu in my hand and meet the triumphant ones of the young child beaming at me over the high back of the…
Sanders vs. Clinton By Emily Lardner WHERE DO THEY STAND? Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders Agree climate change is a problem Yes Yes Support a carbon tax Hasn’t said Yes Refuse campaign contributions from fossil fuel industry No Yes Oppose fracking To some extent Yes Oppose Arctic drilling Yes Yes Oppose…
In protest of nuclear weapons On August 10, 2016 the eight activists crossed the blue line onto Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, which represents the largest operational concentration of nuclear weapons in the US arsenal, in an act of nonviolent civil resistance. Some staged a die-in, spreading ashes around others’ bodies on the asphalt,…
The shadows framing the wall and slanting on the ceiling reveal more than I can see with all their revealing. The branches of the trees are stark, crisp, inviting me to reach out, hold on, ride like a trapeze artist, swing. This is my first midnight movie in this intimate…
In the summer of 2013 I wrote “The Ecology of a Police State” [EF!J Vol. 34 No.1, Brigid 2014], a polemic drawing connections between repression, bloated law enforcement budgets, and the success of the environmental movement. A year later, the country burst into anti-cop rebellion....
This is a speech Dan gave before the Washington State Council of Fighters' Educational Convention in Spokane on April 20, 2016....
It was a nice day in May 2015. It was dry outside and both André and Bryson decided they were going to the local skate park on Cooper Point Road. It wasn't far from where we lived; they left late that afternoon....
Claiming to have God on your side can be philosophically problematic, mainly because without logical evidence, you are invoking an imaginary force with extra powers and unexplained superior morality as an ally and justifier of your actions, without risking much social scrutiny....
The Thurston-Santo Tomás Sister County Association (TSTSCA) has hosted numerous community exchanges as part of our sister city relationship with Santo Tomás, Chontales, Nicaragua. Since 1988, over 150 people from Thurston County have visited Santo Tomás, and 31 tomasin@s have visited Olympia. Sometimes always they include learning about reality on…
By Erika Takeo During April 22-24, 2016, Marlen Sánchez and Nils McCune of the Nicaraguan Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo (ATC, or Rural Workers Association), will visit Olympia as part of a West Coast speaking tour. Agroecology, a form of low-input, politicized, sustainable agriculture, is seen as a key pillar to…
I was born in Kentucky on a dark and stormy night My daddy bit the cord in half and I commenced to fight And when I learned to understand, my Mama, she would say Just you be a good boy, son, and life will be o.k. Then I passed twelve…
By Liza Rognas Remember when you were a teenager in a life-sciences class where genetics was first explained to you using Mendel’s experiments with peas? We all learned about dominant and recessive genes and their manipulation, producing hybrids. Genetic manipulation explained why Mendel could produce different colors of peas and pea…
GMA’s PAC made $222,245 in political contributions at the federal level in 2014—63 percent to Republicans and 37 percent to Democrats—according to the Center for Responsive Politics. According to the Sunlight Foundation, the top recipient of GMA political contributions from 1989 through the second quarter of 2014 was Democratic Senator…