This article was originally published in PeaceVoice I’ve been thinking about power, and people who use their power to be kind to others. A mediator friend described a case in which a tenant lost her job, got behind on rent, and started using drugs. Happily, she had an epiphany, turned…
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This article was originally published in PeaceVoice After World War I, Germany became a constitutional democratic republic for the first time. The country was in desperate circumstances subsequent to the war and the early years of the Weimar Republic were laden with grave problems, including hyperinflation and political violence. By…
This article was originally published in PeaceVoice The US invaded Iraq and Afghanistan as illegally as Putin invaded Ukraine, a bad place to begin “democracy building.” It taught its young troopers how to take over neighborhoods, conduct door-to-kicked-down-door searches and seizures of homes, no warrant needed—grab folks for “interrogation,” no…
This article was originally published in PeaceVoice Amongst the worst things I have been exposed to as a Doctor of International Conflict Management is the abuse of children. I am not so naïve as to have forgotten that US Presidents have participated in human bondage, starting with George Washington, who…
Workers Over Billionaires – We are over it! – Banner & Sign Wave – Sleater-Kinney I-5 Freeway Overpass and Street, 525 Sleater Kinney Rd SE, Lacey – September 1, 11am-12:30 PM – Labor & community are planning to stop the billionaire takeover through collective action in 1000’s of communities across…
Local News & Environment From What Is to What If – Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want – by Rob Hopkins From What is to What If – Unleashing the Power of Imagination To Create The Future We Want – Part 2 Tree Ambassador Project…
This is part 1 of a two-part article. View part 2 here. To all the dystopian gloom and doomers out there. Things can turn out OK. That’s the message of Rob Hopkins’ book, “From What Is to What If -Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want.”…
The Tree Ambassador Project of Restoring Earth Connection has completed a 5-month project canvas of the neighborhoods of Olympia to find its largest trees. This was a project sponsored by the City of Olympia’s Inspire Grant. Volunteer “Ambassadors” shared with neighbors a handout listing the many benefits of their trees:…
The American farmer is a very rare being; threatened for sure, but on the verge of going extinct. Less than one percent of the population is now engaged in farming. This is not just tragic, it is frightening and dangerous. As of 15 years ago the average age of…
I appealed two stormwater discharge permits to the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB). Stormwater permits are supposed to limit the amount of pollution that drains into lakes, rivers and marine waters. I became concerned when I saw how Oregon Spotted Frog egg masses would dry out and kill thousands of…
AR6, the Sixth Assessment Report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was released on March 20, 2023. Forster, P. M., Smith, C., Walsh, T., Lamb, W. F., Lamboll, R., Cassou, C., Hauser, M., Hausfather, Z., Lee, J.-Y., Palmer, M. D., von Schuckmann, K., Slangen, A. B. A., Szopa,…
There has been a lot of recent talk about the level of government debt. The City of Olympia had a 2024 debt of $85 million. Governor Ferguson inherited a Washington State debt estimated at $13 billion. And the One Big Beautiful Bill will balloon the federal debt (currently $37 trillion)…
The following infographics were obtained from The Poster Project, “an all volunteer group of concerned citizens who are researching, fact-checking and designing these graphics. The information they have gathered is from “non-partisan, publicly available data sources” and includes a hyperlink to a page listing the sources for the graphic’s content.…
Green Amendments are a monumental step forward for nature, but they are different than rights of nature in that they focus on the rights of citizens to a healthy thriving environment rather than giving the environment its own right to exist and thrive. Green Amendments tend to focus on the…
Originally Published by PeaceVoice Congressional passage of Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” provides the latest evidence that human greed, despite its primitive nature, remains alive and well. Perhaps most noticeably, the legislation provides for over $3 trillion in tax cuts that disproportionately help the wealthy and their corporations. This largesse is facilitated…
Originally Published by PeaceVoice After spending months firing federal workers, slashing public services, gutting healthcare, and raising taxes for everyone but the rich, our country just wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on a detention center in Florida. Dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, it’s nothing more than a collection of tents…
Originally Published by PeaceVoice Why are we still screwing around? I mean, come on, it’s time to bite the bullet and get ‘er done! Why are we spending so much time and money on rounding up immigrants, then more money on shipping them overseas and paying other countries to jail…
The following photos are from the No Kings rally at the Olympia State Capitol on June 14th. Photographs are by LionKats unless otherwise noted.
This is part 2 of a two-part article. View part 1 here. There are SO many What if questions we can ask. What if residential streets could be play streets? What if there were food forests in every neighborhood? What if our public buildings were powered by renewable energy? What…
Sign Waving Rally – Park at the Park&Ride at Martin Way, I-5 exit 109. We will sign wave along Martin Way – July 17, 5-7pm – Sign wave about any issues that are troubling you as part of the Good Trouble Lives On national day of nonviolent action. Organized by…
Forty years ago when I first read Milton Mayer’s “They Thought They Were Free – the Germans 1933-45” I wanted to learn the history – how one of the most civilized countries in the world devolved into the most barbaric. What drove me to read it again was an overwhelming…
Thurston Regional Planning Council 2411 Chandler Court SW Olympia, WA 98502 Members of the Thurston Regional Planning Council, The League of Women Voters of Thurston County is providing comments related to the current Draft Update to the Regional Transportation Plan as presented by the Transportation Policy Board. The League is…
On January 23, three East Coast Quaker groups were the first religious bodies to bring a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, challenging a Trump administration decision that would allow immigration enforcement (arrests, etc.) at houses of worship. Soon after, the Olympia Friends Meeting (Quakers) made the following statement…
Reader 1 – We stand today in the long tradition of prophets, spiritual leaders, and freedom fighters from our sacred traditions who have, also, stood up to the empires, kings, and unjust rulers of their day. Today we are taking to the streets nationwide with a clear message: No Kings!…
A decentralized grassroots movement to organize a general strike in resistance to the federal government is taking shape online at generalstrikeus.com . (GSUS) Their website states “We’ve voted, we’ve protested, and still, they ignore us. Our government refuses to meet our basic needs while the billionaire class hoards wealth and…