Olympia United Against Hate is now up and running. Viewer discretion advised especially if you follow links to actual white supremacist web sites.

This Oly site serves as a repository for active links to information on white supremacists, anti-racist groups, and related education projects. Reviews, quotes, and images also posted. Blog updated frequently.

On the basis of external action, it is difficult to distinguish whether an action is violent or nonviolent. Basically it depends on the motivation behind the action.

If the motivation is negative, even though the external appearance may be very smooth and gentle, in a deeper sense the action is very violent. On the contrary, harsh actions and words done with a sincere, positive motivation are essentially nonviolent.

In other words, violence is a destructive power. Nonviolence is constructive. (emphasis added)

I think this is a good thing to consider in the violence v. nonviolence debate. It is also helpful in the "what is violence?" discussion.

With tears of deep sadness, I want to acknowledge the passing of Bill Willis. Many of you may not know him, but if you are a fan of Evergroove, you most certainly would appreciate this beautiful man. You see, this beautiful man, among his many contributions to this world, is the father of our dear Steve Willis.

Jean, Steve and Robin, Bryan and Susan, Rose, and Zac. Our love and blessings are with you through this difficult time. May you find peace, and be filled with the grace and wisdom Bill embodied. May you find solace in each other, and the gifts of your husband, father, grandfather Bill. May you live in the heart of life just as Bill exemplified.

Then Almitra spoke,
saying, We would ask now of Death.

And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it
unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind
unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death,
open your heart unto the body of life.
For life and death are one,
even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depths of your hopes and desires
lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow
your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams,
for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the
shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand
is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling,
that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind
and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing,
but to free the breath from its restless tides,
that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence
shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top,
then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs,
then shall you truly dance.

From Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet 1923

I find I am using www.olympian.com more and more.

I have the pop ups blocked and I also use a Firefox extension that helps me remove some of the ads. Makes it easier to focus on the actual articles.

I can tell the staff really works on the site. They post breaking news through out the day. Sometimes their word choice is funny, such as the breaking news that was up briefly about the whale "wandering" through London, but I realize much of that comes with the fact they are doing things quick. Corrections are made, word choices are cleaned up.

And we all can participate through the comments function.

My favorite bit is when additional online resources are posted with articles. This can help fill out a story immensely.

In a piece that cautions against hasty action, the editiorial page of the Olympian misses the point about the practice of externalizing costs. They think it must be just a mistake:

Earlier this week, the Seattle Times reported that two state studies show that more than 3,100 Wal-Mart employees in Washington were enrolled in state-subsidized health coverage as of 2004, nearly twice as many as for any other company.

Hill says the numbers could be outdated because Wal-Mart increased the number of its employee health plans from eight to 18 last year, which generated a surge in enrollment from its 1.3 million workers. She said 30 percent of the employees who go to work for Wal-Mart had no health insurance before they came to the company.

“We are taking people off the uninsured rolls and getting them coverage,

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST 'THE SITUATION':What exactly is Dorismar‘s extraordinary ability?

MICHAEL FELDENKRAIS, DORISMAR‘S ATTORNEY:Well, the INS has already considered her as an extraordinary ability, and that‘s probably her looks, her singing abilities, and her looks, I guess.

FELDENKRAIS:Well, I don‘t know if we need them or we don‘t need them. But the reality is that she is—that‘s her job. That is our job like my job is to be an attorney. Your job is to be—and each one of us has our own abilities. Her ability is to become a model that shows what men like to see in magazines like “Playboy