There is an interesting article in E&P called Re-Thinking Knight Ridder's Future. The discussion is about options that Knight-Ridder has for selling the company:

"This, too, is a good time to 'break up the box,' Rosen argues.

One way would be to find local owners for individual Knight Ridder papers, vet them like the pro sports league vet prospective team owners -- and charge them a premium.

'Who would be likely in this country to pay a premium for the Kansas City Star?' he said. 'People in Kansas City ... that grew up with the paper, and for whom it has a certain value that the Olympia (Wash.) paper, say, would not.'

Then, too, there's the non-profit or foundation route that's worked for the St. Petersburg Times, and The Anniston (Ala.) Star adopted more recently.

'Take a look at the Scott Trust in the U.K. that publishes the Guardian,' Rosen said. 'It's a commercial newspaper that makes money and just happens to be the most Web-savvy and forward-looking paper in England.'

We have public broadcasting, why not public publishing? Couldn't we have a local, not-for-profit, K-R franchised paper that had a busniness model like NPR? It could be a real living institution, rather than a daily annoyance.

This is heart breaking.

Honor After the Fall: Informing military familes that loved ones have died in Iraq.

I listened recently to a discussion concerning crows on KUOW. John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell have put out a book In The Company of Crows and Ravens and I found the interview with the authors fascinating.

Two things especially stick in my mind:

"Mentally, crows and ravens are more like flying monkeys than they are like other birds."

And also that when crows watch us, they really watch us, they even keep track of what we are watching. They watch our eyes. Imagine.

Both my son and I have dive bombed by crows stories. Do crows come after us because we are tall? It is all a mystery.

I wonder if wearing one of Nikki McClure's crow tshirts from buyolympia.com would help.

Terry Goetz from the Creative Dance Center in Seattle will be teaching a 2-hour nurturing baby (pre-walking) workshop -Learn fun and appropriate movements for building babies’ bodies and brains. -Experience bonding and playful social interaction while exploring dance concepts using multi-sensory props, instruments, a wide variety of music, and language-rich nursery rhymes. -Learn how to support and encourage tummy-time so baby can go through the early movement patterns that wire the central nervous system and brain. -Parents, teachers, and care givers are welcome. Pre-registration required. Contact Julie @ 570-1917 or jmalessio@yahoo.com

I guess it's only a matter of time until Skynet turns on us.

"Machines will take over from humans as the biggest users of the Internet in a brave new world of electronic sensors, smart homes, and tags that track users' movements and habits, the UN's telecommunications agency predicted.

In a report entitled 'Internet of Things', the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) outlined the expected next stage in the technological revolution where humans, electronic devices, inanimate objects and databases are linked by a radically transformed Internet."

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/17/051117122039.bk8qci9l.html

Residents are asked to voluntarily refrain from unnecessary wood stove and fireplace use and to not do outdoor burns.

This current weather pattern which is degrading air quality might continue through Thanksgiving weekend.

Olympic Region Clean Air Agency news release 11/16

Vine Deloria Jr., scholar and visionary, passed on November 13.

Indian Country tribute

Seattle P.I./Denver Post article

Deloria helped focus national attention on fishing rights in the Northwest, a battle known as the "fish wars," which led to the historic 1974 Boldt Decision upholding Indian treaty rights.

"This is like losing an elder," said Alan Parker, former chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, who is now on the faculty for Native American law and policy at The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

Deloria, a lawyer and theologian, inspired Parker and many other Native American youths of his generation to go to law school as a way "to be a warrior."

[via omjp]

This was just organised by SESAME (Students Educating Students About the Middle East) and I hope I am not duplicating posts...

Thursday Evening the 17th
The Evergreen State College
Seminar II Bldg. Room A1105
7 to 9 pm
Free & Open to the Public

There is going to be a presentation on the riots in Paris led by Rachid BenKhalti, a Olympian originally from Morocco and a former resident of France who is a prof. at PLU. There will also be short exerpts of a film called "La Haine", a very important film in this discussion. Other Evergreen profs. may be participating. This promises to be a fascinating and enriching evening. Please join us!

From The Olympian:

OLYMPIA -- Local artists and city officials are trying to resuscitate the idea of a community arts center nearly two years after a proposed arts and conference center died.

The city wants to hire a consultant to develop options for the design, financing and construction of the arts center.

That $50,000 study would look at how big it should be and whether it's better to renovate existing space or build anew. It would examine what it would cost to build and run it, how much revenue it would generate and the economic effect on tourism.

The proposal comes as officials weigh $3 million in cuts to the 2006-08 operating budget and reject funding new capital projects such as an off-leash dog park and disc golf course.