It is unpretentious, wildly creative, revolutionary, absurd, spiritual madness. Do you have a guess as to where I am going next with this? That's right... Olympia needs a visionary arts museum! We have millions of artists, many untapped. We already have a start with the Procession of the Species. We just need a building, a curator, and about ten more projects to sustain it." See the full post at What This Town Needs.

There will be a community-wide meeting to discuss the recent port protests and a planning session for long-term actions. This meeting will take place on SATURDAY JUNE 3, at 2pm, at the FREE SCHOOL (610 Columbia St.).

Anyone interested in anti-war organizing in the Thurston County region should attend.

If you would like to contribute to the agenda, please contact Edie (shaedi@riseup.net) or Justin (porter@riseup.net).

Childcare will be provided.

The Port of Olympia Legal Defense Fund

This legal defense fund was set up to support those arrested in protest of the USS Pomeroy May 2006 visit to the Port of Olympia in Olympia Washington. Many local activists risked their freedom in defiance of George W. Bush’s illegal war in Iraq. Those facing charges are expected to face prosecution and this fund will help ensure their fair and equitable legal defense.

I know better. I know not to read the comments now on The Olympian web page but I did so anyway and I really wish I had not.

On a story of the accidental deaths of a family, there are comments basically celebrating the fact that they are dead. Mean spirited, cruel comments.

So I will email The Olympian again and I'll remind myself to not read the comments, again.

online@theolympian.com is the email address for reporting abuse. Please let them know what you think.

All the members and comments and posts and images and conversations......lovely. I found myself fussing over the fact that I cannot possibly keep up and then decided to instead just wallow in loveliness.

Surrender to OlyBlog.

Learning from other communities is helpful while thinking on how to respond when hate groups come to town. This new article out of Montana, Nazi group adds point person in Billings, has an especially useful rundown of what works:

Neo-Nazi groups tend to follow a pattern as they try to infiltrate an area, McAdam said.

First, they establish a contact person. If that goes unnoticed, they begin distributing literature. If there is again no response, they graduate to public rallies and sometimes violence.

A better option for communities that become aware of neo-Nazi activists in their midst is to respond immediately.

"What experience has shown over time is that communities that are vocal and do come together to condemn these groups, it takes away their secrecy and anonymous techniques," McAdam said. "It takes away their ability to operate under the cover of darkness. We've seen shining the light of public scrutiny on these groups work time and time and time again."

By Crusty. Found here.

Olympia has drawn the attention of the world as members of our community put their bodies in front of Stryker vehicles being shipped to Iraq, attempting to halt the militarization of our port. (Read the statement about why from the mouth of the horse, Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace.) The ship left yesterday carrying its supplies. Our fame only lasted a split second. The attention span of the world is short. The port commisioners are likely pulling out their hair, nonetheless. They still had high hopes for that sports and convention center, and notoriety just ain't selling to tourists these days. Who wants to go to a Bridal Expo at the site of a world-famous tear-gassing? I guess its unlikely they'll be erecting a plaque.

But who knows? Maybe this kind of attention is exactly what Olympia needs to jump-start that tourism industry we've been talking about for years. After all, what was Crawford, Texas before Cindy Sheehan started Camp Casey, bringing thousands of activist-tourists including names like Joan Baez, Martin Sheen, and Steve Earle? When else have you heard of a town of 705 drawing that kind of crowd?

What was New Market, Tennessee before the Highlander Center?

And what was Faslane, Scotland before its peace camp that draws thousands of internationals annually, and has existed for over 20 years? It was a "hamlet", that's what.

Phan Nguyen just posted the following anecdote on omjp:

Last evening, after the ship had already left and most of the protesters were gone, a really strange thing happened. A cameraman and news reporter suddenly showed up at the port. Also, a woman and a tiny little girl suddenly walked up to the port fence and laid down some cute signs (written by the little girl) in support of the ship -- something like, "USNS Pomeroy -- We support you" in precious little-girl handwriting. Now keep in mind that the Pomeroy was gone already. The cameraman filmed that, and then the reporter interviewed the little girl for a long time.

Afterward, I told the reporter that I thought it was ridiculous for her and her cameraman to arrive only after the ship and protesters had left and then extensively interview a precious little pro-war girl. She apologized for arriving late and then proceeded to interview Brendan, who happened to have a t-shirt over his head at the time.

I left after that and realized that it was quite possible that the whole thing had been staged.

Does anyone know who they were filming for? I was so shocked by the scene that I forgot to ask.

Could this be the "so-called liberal media" trying to create a false balance in their coverage of the anti-war protests? I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you.