OK, it is time for non-lethal duels at OlyBlog-

Call out your opponent or critic and meet for honorable duel at one of many public sites in Oly (including historic Sylvester Park, the scenic waterfront district, Capital campus, and the exotic Japanese garden).

Employ high-tech laser-tag technology, traditional paint-guns, or padded melee equipment to settle disputes, before engaging in prodigious public celebration (inebriation available for those 21 and over).

"For-hire" DM services also available on request (with reasonable prices starting at $5/hour, with group pricing based on number of participants), to allow contestants the option to settle disputes with "pencil, figures, & dice" on the war-game table (the only civilized way to duel =).

On KIRO 710 today, Dori is calling for the de-funding of TESC, with all the expected "foo-fur-rah"~

I think that the topic is just an indicator of how short the big D-Man is on material., but...

...I'm part of the the TESC community, along with over ten friends from the Puyallup area that attended from 1989 on, all eventually =) earning degrees & starting businesses, buying homes & having kids. TESC is really not that "radicalized".

I fluttered around at TESC and accumulated many credits, but ended up transferring to the UW Tacoma, which is also a neat place. I had no prob transferring 120 credits from my BA at TESC to UW, and my schooling at TESC connected me with many adventure and lots of high-paying work, whereas my experience at the UW Tacoma as a commuter student from Olympia was less "complete", but I was able to access programs centered in urban studies.

I just wanted to post (almost needlessly) some stuff here to counter-balance Dori's POV.

To some extent, I wish that our state & institutional government had a team of charismatic, verbose, jocular lawyers that could & would call-in to talk shows and monitor the blog-o-sphere, just for that sake of elevating the dialog with folks like Dori...

>cheers<

OK, I am so gonna keep my camera charged-up!

I was outside in the backyard here on the eastside, and I had a bunch of bunnies traipse through the yard!

Baby bunnies are way too cute!

I'm listening to Dave Ross on KIRO 710, talking about the idea of "toll roads".

I'm amazed how many ideas come up that marginalize folks, and I'd hate to have to pay tolls to drive around the state I was born in...

...when is this escalating, classist, capitalism gonna stop?

OK, so there has been some really strong talk on OlyBlog about "lifestyle" and wealth, so I'd like to make a challenge to those that think their largess justifies their lifestyle:

If you are "rich", then don't drive your automobile for just one week (7 days).

Walk to where you have to go or bicycle. Seriously, if you can, then that is great, but if you try and fail, then maybe try cutting the "rest of us" who don't buy into the entitlement mentality some slack (...is that fair enough?)...the point is that many of us make a choice not to pollute & consume, we are smart enough to realize the benefit for ourselves and want to impact the Earth as little as possible...all these things (and more!), whether or not we are "poor" or "rich"-

-in fact, to me, it seems a bigger committment when someone without alot of cash or resources makes the effort compared to when a "rich" person does, but I digress.

Just try it, OK?

It is pretty easy to drive a car (I can), but walking & biking is harder than pushing the gas pedal, so I challenge "you" to try to "fit in my shoes"?

Ask yourself:

Can you bike to work & walk to the store? (I can and do).

Can you even get to work under you own power?

Without debating, just do it (try at least).

There should be a list of deleted threads for this blog...seems like there is more deleted content than actual postings.

DISCLAIMER: I acknowledge that alot of content is posted and not deleted, and that more content is preserved & recorded versus being deleted or edited.

I'm all for the happies =)

...by Naomi Wolf. I'm reading this book now (from TRL), and wonder if others have read this as well?

Any thoughts?

Update:

I finished last night and got a chuckle out of the "call to arms" for CJ and blogging that the author closes with-

Does anyone on the blog here have any thoughts about tax reform?

I'm focused on discovering local knowledge centered on raising funding for schools in new and innovative ways-

-perhaps there are ideas afoot in our community about how to fund schools?

Are there any local 501(c)3 nonprofits that "do" fund-raising for public schools?

Is there a place for private capital in public schools outside of the current tax-derived sources & federal input?

Any thoughts?

I caught the buzz on a recent purchase the Starbuck's company made, and reflected that my local cafe of choice is "way ahead of the curve" when it comes to taste, service, and darn good espresso.

While I don't drink coffee, I do drink espresso, so when I saw an announcement online I tracked the links down, wondering if all good start-ups are just looking to get "owned"?

I'm looking for info on organizations in the Olympia area that develop housing for low income and or "working poor" folks-

My idea is that nonprofit ownership of residential units could become a safety valve for folks that are economically marginalized, while at the same time renovating units around town that are neglected.

A type of real estate company, but one not based on capturing profits for investors/owners.

-any thoughts?