From Top Stories - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington:

George Bush cannot protect democracy by destroying it.

Every American should be outraged by the president's attempt to justify domestic spying. It's wrong, and the president should acknowledge that fact. He must be held accountable.

Congress should immediately launch a truly bipartisan investigation into the administration's spying campaign. If the Constitution and laws of the United States were broken, Congress should censure the president. And if the lies, the deceit and lawbreaking continue, Congress should take even more drastic action.

Either we are a nation of laws and moral values or we are not. We cannot pick and choose which laws to abide by and which to ignore for the sake of convenience or expediency.

George Bush is not above the law.

Go read the rest. The comments are also interesting. The paper is going to take some heat for this stance. Some have suggested that this might be a good time show your support for this kind of editorial by subscribing to the Olympian.

In a story titled: "Mixed sales reported from local retailers," Business editor, Jim Szymanski, filed the following in The Olympian:

Despite national reports of tepid holiday sales, a sampling of Olympia-area merchants evoked generally upbeat responses Monday.

Though merchants declined to discuss sales in specifics, many said sales were running at least a little ahead of last year.

It turns out that all of the stores that reported good sales this Christmas season are downtown (Wind up Here, Whodunit Books, Popinjay, Bartel's men's store), and all of the stores that reported not-so-good sales were at the mall (some guy with a kiosk and NW cutlery). This seems like it might be an important fact to mention. Evidently not.

Also, why the phony balance? Four major shops say that they've already done better than last year, while 2 (1 and a kiosk, really) say they could do better, and that adds up to "mixed sales"? What gives?

I looked up at the sky and was hit by a profound realization. I was looking at a classic "leaden grey sky". I've read that description many times and it had become just cliché noise in my mind, to be skimmed over. But this was the real deal. Leaden grey. Which I suppose ultimately could mean grey grey. Or heavy grey. 

How do we talk about light here in the N.W.? When I lived in Santa Fe, N.M., I was exposed to a whole other way of talking about light than what I experienced here at home in the N.W. Everything seemed so very different in New Mexico. The earth was red and glittered with mica, the trees were small, I could see rain come from miles away. And everyone raved about the light. They painted it, wrote poems about it, sold photographs of it. They still do of course, but I am now back in the N.W. Wondering about what light we have here.

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Rep. John Conyers introduced a motion to censure President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Another motion called for a panel to decide whether the offenses are impeachable.

Is the house of cards beginning to fall?

TESC Facilities Director Jerry Schillinger had one last controversy to enjoy before his departure from the College in 1976. He had authorized the spraying of herbicides along the ditches of the Evergreen Parkway. That alone was enough to cause a political storm. But to makes matters worse, a bank of lupine, plentiful and beautiful the previous year, was now reduced to only a single flower. This became a major issue on campus.

Two anonymous signs popped up along the Parkway. Both of them, at first glance, had an official look about them. The now-dead ex-lupine spot had a long sign that read, "Where Have All the Lupine Gone?" and elsewhere we saw, "The Evergreen Corps of Engineers Schillinger Memorial Ditch."

Every now and then I'll hear an Evergreen oldtimer proclaim, "Save the lupine!" Not quite as esoteric as "All hail Jobbo Bonobo!" but it does serve as sort of a code for being on a particular campus at a particular point in time.

Jerry Schillinger, the TESC Director of Facilities, probably didn't imagine his job would be so political when he signed on to the College, but in the mid-1970s he had to match wits with a guerrilla artist. The Evergreen Parkway served as the venue for this show.

In 1973-74 or so, the College added two entrance signs at both ends of the Parkway. They were consistent with the original design of the school-- concrete. An anonymous person, later identifying him/herself as "The Mad Painter," added color and design to the sign. Jerry had it cleaned off. The Mad Painter returned. Jerry had it cleaned off again. After the third enhancement by the Mad Painter, the College started making legal threats since the cost of cleaning the signs was starting to strain the sign-cleaning budget.

The Mad Painter sought a pardon through a third party, and a meeting was arranged. As a result of these negotiations, a contest was held for the design of a new sign. In short order the concrete version was replaced with a new wooden sign. The identity of the Mad Painter remained a mystery.

Years later, long after Jerry left Evergreen, an artist decided to enhance the freeway overpass that connects Evergreen to Highway 101. The design and color was much like that of the Mad Painter. But unlike the previous case, this artist was caught red-handed and the State of Washington was not as forgiving as Jerry Schillinger.

As Evergreen became more traditional and connected with the town, the term "Olympia's revenge" became common on campus. And as Olympia revitalized and took on a more progressive face in the process, the locals called it "Evergreen's revenge." But in the early years, when the cultural borders were more distinct, there were a few of us local products who sided with the College.

Except on one issue.

Fortunately, this particular negative aspect of TESC influence seems to have gone away with the 1970s. But it was quite a problem not only in downtown Olympia, but also on the College campus as well. All of us had at least one encounter with one, an experience that went beyond annoying. There is no doubt they came here because of TESC, and their impact on the College's public image has never been documented.

I am talking, of course, about street mimes. They are gone, and, in the fervent hope history does not repeat itself, not forgotten.