Camera, 4 MP Nikon point and shoot

From the East side of Priest Point Park at about 5:30 P.M. on June 15th of this year.

This one is from the end of a tree that had been cut to make way for the path it fell across. I love the texture of the moss and the bark. From McLane Creek, last week.

I spoke with Mark for about an hour. We covered a lot of topics that OlyBloggers were curious about. I'll be posting more video as time allows.

The NFZ Ordinance

My first question for Mark had to do with the Nuclear Free Zone Ordinance that recently passed the City Council. I asked him why he opposed it. The following clip captures the kernel of his rationale.

Click on Picture to Play

Quicktime Required (free download)

[update 9/8/05]

Mark emailed the following today:

As often happens in an interview there's one thought I forgot to add, or another way of putting it, one important connection I failed to make:

In the twin discussions of (1)"political capital" and the "cost-benefit" analysis of controversial/less-than-necessary initiatives,and(2) Olympia's already-solid reputation as a progressive community and Council, I should then have concluded (3) that spending political capital on marginally-beneficial issues that deeply offend a fair proportion of the community can lead in the long run to changes on the Council that might reverse some or all of the progessive policies I mentioned:

• Environmental commitment including climate change issues.
• Land use regulation especially design review and infill/historic properties compatibility requirements.
• Transportation alternatives especially bike lanes.
• Civil rights for all including sexual minorities, e.g. equal provision of city services.
• City employment policies including comparable worth, equal benefits for domestic partners, efforts to have city staff resemble the changing demographics of our community.
• City contracting policies requiring equal treatment for all employees of major contractors, and "clean (work) clothes" (i.e. non-sweatshop) purchases for/by City employees.
• Unionized work force providing family wage jobs with benefits,compensated at about the middle of the range for comparable Washington cities.
• Most City services provided by City employees rather than contracting out.

For example, I understand that at least one current Council candidate is not supportive of the City's protection of sexual minorites. From reading the voter pamphlet, I'd conclude that the candidate was motivated to run at least partly because of the USS OLYMPIA and Nuclear Free Zone issues.

Mark

Urban planning in Olympia

Chris asked a question about how urban planning happens in Olympia, and what role the people play in that process.

Click on Picture to Play

Quicktime Required (free download)

Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater

Mark describes how Lacey got to be the town with no downtown.

Click on Picture to Play

Sorry for the non-local news, but this is important to me.

–Rob

–We are in Jefferson Parish, just outside of New Orleans. At the National Guard checkpoint, they are under orders to turn away all media. All of the reporters are turning they're TV trucks around. Things are so bad, Bush is now censoring all reporting from NOLA. The First Amendment sank with the city.–

I found this on DailyKos

Which came from here

Which gives me a Forbidden message, are you guys able to access it?

This is covered by the media here

To me, this is an embarassment. It's not enough that the government won't allow the media to talk about what's really going on in Iraq, but now this. All I can say is that I am outraged. This is happening on our own soil. Americans are dying because of the Bush Adminstration's "Inarguable Failure", as Jon Stewart so eloquently stated on The Daily Show last night. To those who would point the finger elsewhere Stewart offered, "No. Shut up". From what these folks are saying, it sounds like media suppression. Authorities don't want the people, you and I, to see what they caused. Most notably, the thousands and thousands of deaths that were caused by the woefully inadequate and delayed response and the budget cuts made over the years, by both Bush adminstrations, to money that would have gone towards prevention of a catastrophy of this magnitude.

I was given great hope by the media's reaction to Bush's nonreaction to Katrina, and they deserve praise for their return to pull-no-punches journalism. I just hope that journalists will find the guts to either sneak past the checkpoints and risk prosecution or make enough noise about this that authorities have no choice but to let them in.

–We are in Jefferson Parish, just outside of New Orleans. At the National Guard checkpoint, they are under orders to turn away all media. All of the reporters are turning they're TV trucks around. Things are so bad, Bush is now censoring all reporting from NOLA. The First Amendment sank with the city.–

I found this on DailyKos

It came with a link to this site.

Which gives me a Forbidden message, are you guys able to access it?

This is covered by the media here.

The Longhouse staff would like to invite you to attend the ten-year anniversary celebration on September 24th. Attached is the draft agenda; all participants are confirmed. It is a free, public event. If you're interested in volunteering, please respond to this email. Thanks! Longhouse Ten-Year Anniversary Celebration Potlatch

Emcees: Wade Greene, Nytom (Makah) Delbert Miller and Patrick LaClair (Twana Seowin Society)

1pm: opening ceremonies: Twana Seowin Society Les Purce, TESC President Siyaya Intertribal dance group David Whitener, Sr. Edie Hottowe and Jean Vitalis Pauline Hillaire Colleen Jollie Cagey Family singers Dedication of major art works: Transformation panels and Soul Recovery Series: Twana Seowin Society, Michael Pavel (lead artist) Vi Hilbert Billy Frank, Jr.

5 pm: dinner preceded by a traditional acknowledgment of the foods 6:30: Premiere Longhouse video documentary

7:00: Gordon James, Skokomish tribal chair Kuteeya Suzan Shown Harjo Quinault Indian Nation Dancers Native students/ native alumni share brief remarks (Maia Bellon and Bill Kallapa) Potlatch songs: Hottowe Family dancers Gifting