On the internet, skinheads are linking to me from a skinhead forum. I can't tell what they are saying though. I assume it's about knitting. Skinheads, for their famous bad dress sense, knit lovely socks and toaster cozies. Bet you didn't know that.

Washington Mutual went under in the largest bank failure in US history. The next day I received what I hope will be the last letter from WAWU trying to sell me a loan. It is a time honored tradition that WAMU in particular must beg repeatedly and insistently for my business. Often my recycle bin has been filled almost exclusively with their offers. And not just for me, but my dog, my cat, and my dead father. Lack of humanity and lack of a pulse has never stopped WAMU from relentless pursuit of short term profit. That's why the head of WAMU will be paid millions from this failure.

The European Union is concerned that the melamine tainted milk powder that has sickened and killed scores of Chinese babies, as it did pets who ate tainted food last year, has made its way from China to products imported for consumption in Europe. Aren't you glad you don't eat processed foods, or milk. Oh, wait, that's me. Never mind.
When asked the FDA said, "What, me worry?" Which is what it says on the dollar bill, after all.

I shot a wedding with stormtroopers in attendance, the kind from Star Wars. I am the leading videographer for stormtooper attended weddings, perhaps in the whole world, excluding New Zealand. And the Moon.

The Park Foundation recently turned in around 5,000 signatures on their initiative to the City; the required number is something just over 3,800, so I thought this was definitely done. But the Auditor's supposed to finish counting today, and apparently they're going to be around 175 signatures short. They've now got 10 days to get the rest - and that's it, no third round.

The people running the signature gathering think the big problem with the 1,200 signatures they didn't accept was ones from people who have Olympia street addresses on their mail, but aren't really in the city proper. (This is apparently mostly a problem with the signatures people got at the Farmer's Market and places like Harbor Days; the ones from doorbelling are a lot more reliable. The Auditor's Office does a number of things to try to be sure they find the person if they are registered, including updating their address if they sign with a different one than the one on the records, so it doesn't sound as if it's a matter of a lot of signatures being thrown out over picky technicalities.)

Best,
Thad

Via email:

Last night the Timberland Board of Trustees voted to move forward on going out for a levy lid lift on February 3, 2009, to raise the current amount of 34.5 cents per one thousand dollars of assessed value of a property to 50 cents per thousand dollars. If the levy lid lift passes it will go into effect January, 2010.

...the TRL Board has (also) adopted the following: starting Sunday, October 5, all TRL libraries will be closed on Sundays; a hiring freeze is effective immediately, the materials budget will be decreased by $367,000; and the substitute budget will be drastically reduced

More info on the levy lid lift here:

In the 40 years Timberland Regional Library (TRL) has served the public, it has never asked the voters to increase its levy rate. Approximately 80 percent of TRL’s revenues come from property taxes. But since its passage Initiative 747 has strongly impacted TRL by mandating the limit of a 1 percent annual increase. This has resulted in the library levy rate dropping from 50 cents to 34.5 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. Inflation, 4.5 percent this year, has also impacted TRL as it has impacted other agencies, businesses and individuals. For the last two years, TRL has had to use its reserves to maintain library services. At the current service level, the reserve fund will be depleted by 2011.

In my short time at the Friends of the Olympia Library meetings, I've learned so much about how the library operates, most especially about how little they actually get by on. So many of the extras that the library provides are actually provided by groups similar to the Friends. The levy lid lift, in my opinion, is very important to ensure that the library services we get continue.

Presidental debates can certainly be entertaining.

see photo

Liu Ning, a engineer, has been riding his bike to work along the waterfront for the past year during the morning commute in San Francisco, California. (Tony Avelar/ Special to the Christian Sceince Monitor)

Treading lightly: How to gauge my carbon footprint?

First, find out how big it is by using a free online calculator.

By The EDITORS OF E MAGAZINE| September 26, 2008 edition

Q: How can I measure – and then reduce – my overall “carbon footprint”? What are the major ­areas of one’s daily life that one measures?
– Andy Fusco, Passaic, N.J.

A: With global warming dominating so many headlines today, it’s no surprise that many of us are looking to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases our activities produce.

By assessing how much pollution each of your individual actions generates – be it setting your thermostat, shopping for groceries, commuting to work, or flying somewhere for vacation – you can begin to see how changing a few habits here and there may significantly reduce your overall carbon footprint. A number of free online carbon footprint calculators can help you figure out where to start.

One of the best, in our opinion, is the University of California at ...

read more

More than 50 years ago, the Washington State Supreme Court played a small but significant part in the historic trials at Nuremberg, Germany following World War II. Now some of that history is making its way back to the Court, and will be on display in the Washington State Law Library from October 2 through the end of November.

The library will launch its display with an open house on Oct. 2 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The library is located in the Temple of Justice on the Capital Campus in Olympia.

press release with details

via Lights & Sirens

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

The Fall (Sept. 27-Oct. 2):

From OFS: "The Fall won a prestigious award at The Berlin International Film Festivall ast year. In Los Angeles, circa 1915, a silent movie stunt man has his legs paralyzed while performing a stunt. He convalesces in a half-deserted hospital, its corridors of cream and lime stretching from ward to ward of mostly empty beds, their pillows and sheets awaiting the harvest of World War I. The stunt man is Roy (Lee Pace), pleasant in appearance, confiding in speech, happy to make a new friend of a little girl named Alexandria Roy tells a story to Alexandria, involving adventurers who change appearance as quickly as a child's imagination can do its work."

The Edge of Heaven (Sept. 27-Oct. 2):

From imdb: "Nejat seems disapproving about his widower father Ali's choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But he grows fond of her when he discovers she sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. Yeter's sudden death distances father and son. Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, a gesture not particularly pleasing to her conservative mother Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea is denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Lotte travels to Turkey,where she gets caught up in the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten. Written by omayra73@yahoo.com "

Find the OFS Calendar here.

Ralph Nader is scheduled to appear on the Bill Maher show on HBO tonight. Also scheduled to appear is Chris Rock! Sounds like it will be a good show.

Nader Gonzales '08

Corporations are "stealing all the money." - Chicago Alderman Mays Gilliam (played by Chris Rock)

Head of State: That ain't right!

Nader says no to bailouts for Wall Street crooks.