EDIT.  This happened Monday, around noonish. Uploaded document from the OPD, added image of my sidearm

Okay, this deals with guns, and the lawful possession and carry thereof. Anyone offended by this, may as well stop reading. There may even be pictures. Let it be known upfront that I have broken no laws, and always carry my sidearm legally and peaceably. I am not posting this to get into an argument about if my prefered mode of carry is a good thing or a bad thing, or if people should even carry guns, etc... This is to discuss a really screwed up stop by the OPD. The fact that I open carry (OC) my sidearm is not up for debate here. I do, and will continue to do so. In this state, the right to keep and bear arms is clearly enshrined in the constitution, and is a civil liberty. Not up for argument.

The Olympia Police Department has issued a training directive regarding the fact that OC is legal. I have uploaded it here for anyone to download.

Because OC in and of itself is not enough to warrant alarm, and there must be specific behavior accompanying it, despite complaints if I was not engaged in threatening behavior I am breaking no laws. Officer O'Neil gave me a choice to have my weapon taken from me, or to conceal it. This totatally disregarded my rights. This was all happening while his partner had a gun out. They were coercing under color of law to force a particular mode of behavior, despite the actions I was doing breaking no laws. Anyway, I'll clarify points as they arise. I also have some emails from Lt. Wilson I am going to upload. There are some disturbing statements in one of them. I will post them as a reply to this blog entry to keep the intial post as brief as possible. The topic here is how the OPD violated civil liberties, not guns, not OC, etc....

That said, here goes...

Scenes etched deep in indelible ink
of hunger and sickness and death--
In a world so marred by violence and greed,
do you wonder if life makes sense?

The headlines scream of floods and cold
as shelters bulge to bursting--
Sometimes it all seems but a bad dream
when so many are lost and hurting.

Taste the rainbow swabbed by spent storms
and savor it with your tongue--
Live hard, love well, share what you can
and make of each day a new song.

AB Christie 12/12/07

Almost daily we are bombarded by the media calling different people heros. Very regularly, at least since 9/11, the police or firefighters are labeled as heros. But are they?

Nationally, police and firefighters daily complete acts that are courageous, and challenging. But I don't believe most of those events make them heros. Really, most of the time they are just doing their jobs.

For me a hero is someone who goes beyond the norm, and way outside what the average person would do. And to make hero status for me, it should be an act of complete selflessness with great risk/self sacrifice.

Back to the police and firefighters. Yes, they can be heros too. But what they do to get recognized by Krull as a hero still needs to meet the above criteria.

Spirituality is very important to me -- I'm an active church member and do a ton of interfaith work.

I also am also a strong supporter of the first amendment prohibiting the government from supporting one religion over another. I read with interest the debates over Christmas displays in the state capitol building. But it wasn't until I walked through the building that I really saw how incongruous and out of place these displays are.

The nativity scene is accompanied by a sign that reads: "This Nativity Holiday Display was provided and erected by private citizens of the State of Washington to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, which is celebrated by Christians around the world."

Just to the left is a Jewish menorah, accompanied by an explanatory sign about Hanukkah. What's the benefit to the public of having these displays here? Is this balance?

Hanukkah, as I understand it, is a relatively minor holiday on the Jewish calendar. Will the capitol be hosting more religious displays for the High Holy Days? For Diwali? For Ramadan? For that matter, what would the "private citizens" think about adding to their sign that Jesus is recognized as a prophet within Islam? I'd love to find out!

I'd prefer to see a display at the public library, with rotating information about cultural and religious holidays from many traditions. The library is a natural place for being exposed to new ideas, and has the resources for those who want to learn more.

Anyway, have a look for yourself:

Family tree in progress... ( I've been using free Legacy Family Tree software)

Trish's last on-line test in progress...

Relaxation massage is a scenario where one might enter a drastic parasympathetic response. The parasympathetic response is also sometimes called rest and digest. It is a time of digestion, elimination of feces and urine, and conserving body energy. The conservation of energy occurs by decreasing demands on the cardiovascular system, lowering blood pressure, heart, and respiratory rates. During a massage the skin is warmed, indicating that there is no need to divert blood to skeletal muscles or vital organs. The eye pupils are constricted to protect the retinas from excessive damaging light, and the lenses of the eyes are “set” for close vision, if the eyes are opened at all during the massage. The digestive system increases smooth muscle mobility (peristalsis) and amount of secretion by digestive system glands. It relaxes sphincters both in the digestive system and also the urinary bladder and allows voiding.

From The American Prospect:

This has to change. There must be some method whereby we can become informed and inspired to action. Maybe the answer lies in retraining journalists to go one step beyond reporting. Get the story, and also seek information about how a reader might constructively respond to it. This, of course, would require increased support for the work of investigative journalists. It would also require strategic partnerships between the professional media and nonprofit worlds, links that already exist between journalism and international affairs schools like those at Columbia University.

Maybe the answer lies in citizen journalists -- folks who often abandon the old-school idea of objectivity and tackle local issues with a verve for making change, not just reporting on it. This trend is already on the rise, and while it makes traditional journalists wince, maybe it could actually serve to empower some of the country's currently disenchanted readers.

You can read about it here,

Now the homeless are a protected class in Seattle. There are laws on the books currently to deal with the crimes committed against the homeless. Just like if the same crimes are committed against you and me.

Instead of providing a special class for homeless, why not move to solve their baseline plight, their homelessness?