The Aligning of the Souls gathering was great. Many stories, prayers - and jokes - were shared amongst the participants. The gathering kicked off last night (Wednesday night) with a potluck meal and the sharing of prayers and stories relating to the topic of healing and peace in the wake of the horrible events of September 11, 2001. Some people sang songs or read poems, some people told stories and shared wisdom, everyone listened.

This morning the gathering continued at dawn (Thursday morning, September 11, 2008) with the commencement of a day long continuous heart beat drum rhythm. We prayed for peace and healing as the cool and foggy air and mist of dawn gradually gave way to a brilliantly blue sunny and cloudless September Eleventh day. A ceremonial fire was lit in a very special outdoor fire place. The fire burned throughout the day, carefully observed, attended and listened to.

The following two movies will be playing this week at OFS:

Hellboy II (Sept. 13-19):

From imdb: "The mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so as Hellboy and his team returns they must save the world from the rebellious creatures. Now, as the creatures who inhabit the spiritual realm gear-up for an all out attack on the human plane, the only one capable of saving the Earth is a tough-talking hellspawn rejected by both worlds." (Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com})

The Wackness (Sept. 13-19):

From imdb: "It's the summer of 1994, and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip-hop. Set against this backdrop, a lonely teenager named Luke Shapiro spends his last summer before university selling marijuana throughout New York City, trading it with his unorthodox psychotherapist for treatment, while having a crush on his stepdaughter."

Find the OFS Calendar here.

1. Afternoon Delight

2. Moonlight Feels Right

3. Fooled Around and Fell In Love

4. Long Tall Glasses

5. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

6. Love Will Keep Us Together

7. Thunder Island

8. Cruel to be Kind

9. Dancing Queen

10. Kung Fu Fighting

11. The Things We Do for Love

12. You Sexy Thing

13. Why Can't We Be Friends

Edit: I changed the title thanks to Laurian's observation.

Thad Curtz’s letter to the editor of the Olympian, published in this morning’s paper was composed of errant facts, unfair qualifications, and a misleading conclusion.

After citing quantitative facts about turnout at the planning commission hearing being numerically in favor of opposing the rezone, Curtz concluded that “people don't want the Olympia City Council to give Triway a big tax break.”

First, an incorrect fact: this rezone decision has nothing to do with giving tax breaks. This abatement is not unique to this project or rezone. All downtown multi-family housing is getting a tax break: low income housing has a permanent tax abatement; low cost housing is enjoying a 12-year abatement; and market-rate housing qualifies for an 8-year abatement. The State Legislature adopted this policy enabling cities to use abatements in recognition of the high cost of housing development.

The city council passed this abatement years ago, and any downtown housing project proposed would qualify for it. So, unless the goal is to impede any and all housing in the urban core in order to keep these abatements from serving their purpose (including low income housing), this is not a valid reason to reject this rezone. And it has nothing to do with the rezone decision faced by the council.

The Capitol Park Foundation has launched an initiative which would require the City Council to study the feasibility of turning the unoccupied parcels of the isthmus into a park. The idea is to partner up with state, federal, or private funding sources, to turn this into an attractive public space and lay the issue of high rise development on the isthmus to rest forever. That eyesore, the Capitol Center building, would be torn down in order to create this park space. Volunteers from Friends of the Waterfront who have been doorbelling in voting precincts in Olympia report that 80-90% of the people they find at home respond enthusiastically to this effort, and are happy to sign the initiative. (So much for the silent majority!) In just a few weeks, over 3000 of the required 4000 signatures have been gathered. This is a city inititiative, so only registered voters in the City of Olympia may sign.  

Want to learn more?  Check out the Capitol Park Foundation's website.  

Want to sign?  The initiative will be available for signatures at the Farmers Market all weekend.  There will also be a group at the Law Enforcement Memorial on the Capitol Campus on Saturday, taking pictures and gathering signatures from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Or stop into Anne Buck's spice shop at 209 5th Avenue, across the street from the Capital Theater and sign it there.  

From The Editors Weblog:

A number of US newspapers have submitted cancellation notices to the Associated Press (AP), announcing that they are dropping their contracts with the news service. Reasons range from the recent changes that the AP has made to its fee structure to its diversion from regional news. The Wenatchee World of Wenatchee, Washington, The Yakima Herald-Republic of Yakima, Washington, The Spokesman Review of in Spokane, Washington and The Post Register of Idaho Falls, Idaho, spoke to the Editors Weblog about their decision to cut back on AP content and future plans that they have.

Despite the horrendous events of September 11th, 2001 here in the US - it might be easy to forget another horrendous historical September 11th. 35 years ago, on September 11th, 1973, the democratically elected government of the popular President of Chile was violently upended in a coup d'Etat. Salvador Allende, the democratically elected President was overthrown when subversive elements within the Chilean military stormed and bombed the La Moneda Presidential Palace. Many dissidents were rounded up and they are alleged to have been been killed. The incoming dictator, Augusto Pinochet, is known to have practiced torture in the execution of an authoritarian and harsh, militaristic rule over the people of Chile.

I've been thinking about sharing some of my perspectives on poverty and some possible solutions based on my own experiences. This is not to say that my experiences would work for everyone but perhaps there are some out there who can relate.

A concept that I've had a lot of difficulty grasping because it seems so "blame the victim" is that, although we start with uneven playing fields (and that needs to be remedied), those playing fields sometimes stay uneven because of the choices we make. The unfair aspects, from my perspective, are that environments in which "good" choices are made are so inaccessible to people who most need exposure. We are segregated into waiting lines for a few minutes of time from someone who may be able to alleviate a crisis, but we aren't integrated in the sense that we can see that there can be a multitude of ways to approach a problem, and each way may have its own consequence. Another extreme unfairness is that we are often left with a choice of whether to take care of ourselves or to help a peer who is in crisis...and there's always a peer in crisis. Always. There's no time to focus on self when we are taking care of others that the system (i.e. our community) is neglecting. It's not fair to be faced with the choice of neglecting someone we care about and taking care of ourselves. The community must step up.