How's this new theme workin' with y'all? Any kinks in the system that I should be worried about? The picture is from Akameus. Go check out his flickr page -- he's got lots of other great pictures of Olympia.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, the International Red Cross, it was reported, had "its first opportunity in more than 20 months" to see hundreds of former Abu Ghraib prisoners now rehoused in a state-of-the-art multimillion dollar prison, Camp Cropper, that the Bush administration has built, almost without notice, near Baghdad International Airport. Finally (but not exhaustively), back in our growing homeland security state, "in a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law." The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007, according to Frank Morales, "allows the President to declare a ‘public emergency' and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to ‘suppress public disorder.'"

Here's a link: http://tomdispatch...

The first thing I thought of when I read this: What if the elections are a total sham? What if there is a civil revolt?

If the elections do go badly, i.e. - the powers of Rove swindle another one - then what is the best course of action? Would a mob of raging citizens help, or hinder the cause to effect justice? What might this "public disorder" look like.

I worry that a mass of people might be tempted into acts that the Nat'l Guard would be used to suppress. This is not a pretty picture. It might be important to have a discussion about how the community should, and might respond to a national emergency - one provoked say, by a stolen election, or by a president who decides to shut down the election system "for purposes of national security"...

Mike Stark: What You Don't Know | The Huffington Post

I read. A lot. About politics.

Over the summer I read about George Allen's troubles with common decency, and in particular, race. I learned that Allen opposed an official celebration for Martin Luther King's birthday, but he supported an official celebration of the Confederacy. He sought out, and posed for pictures with, white supremacists.He kept a Confederate Flag and a noose in his office. And then, who can forget, he called a dark skinned University of Virginia student "Macaca."

Well, it didn't take any great leap of faith for me to put all this evidence together and suspect that George Allen was a very bad man -- and almost certainly a racist. So when I heard he was coming to Staunton, a town about 40 miles away from my home in Charlottesville, VA, I decided to make the trip. I was appalled that nobody in the dilapidated Fourth Estate had thought to themselves, "Sheesh, he called the kid "macaca," a racial slur. I wonder what other slurs Allen has used... Hmmm... One slur has particular relevance in this country..."

If only more citizens would step up and ask the questions...

BBC NEWS

A bill of rights for the internet age has been proposed at a United Nations' conference in Athens.

The bill would update and restate rights that have been enshrined for centuries, said Robin Gross of civil liberties group IP Justice.

The proposal was made at the Internet Governance Forum, at which the future of the net is being discussed.

"The rights we have enjoyed in the traditional age must move with us to the digital age," said Ms Gross.

Online respect

An internet bill of rights has been proposed many times in the last two decades but few concrete steps to enshrine such a billhave been taken.

Professor Stefano Rodota, former head of the Council ofEuropean Data Protection Agencies, and a leading campaigner for a bill of rights said it was needed because the net was a "place of conflict".

"The internet is the widest public space in the history of mankind. It must remain the place to give citizenship and democracy new opportunities," he said.

Call to Artists

(Everybody is, or can, or should be an artist)

Join us for the Annual Olympia Holiday Tour of Historic Homes.  This program features nine homes open for public viewing throughout Olympia.  Volunteers will be on hand to answer questions and explain the history of each home. 

At the State Capital Museum, Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at NOON

Join historian Drew Crooks as he presents a slide-illustrated lecture featuring Chief Quiemuth, half-brother of Leschi and a strong Native American leader, who lived from 1800 to 1856. Quiemuth was appointed chief of the Nisqually Tribe by Governor Isaac Stevens, played an important role at the Medicine Creek Council and in the Puget Sound Indian War, and was later killed in the Olympia office of Governor Stevens. No one was ever brought to justice for the crime.

FREE with paid admission to the museum.

The Seattle Times: Local News: Promoting unity is no joke

Had enough? Had enough of the entire bollixed-up mess that is our two bickering parties?

Olympia's Rick McAlister has. He's a Republican who voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004. Last June, he decided he couldn't take it anymore.

Iraq was turning uglier. North Korea was threatening a missile test. It was one of those times, he says, when you figure national leaders will set politics aside to deal with a crisis.

Nope. Republicans spent weeks pushing bans on gay marriage and flag-burning.

McAlister, 55, a retired Intel manager, wrote the White House for the first time.

"My e-mail said: 'If you don't have anything better to work on, why don't you just quit?' "

He's voting Democrat this year. Mostly to rebuke Republicans. Not with much hope Democrats will do any good.

"They'll probably waste the next two years trying to punish Republicans for all that's happened in the last six," he said.

I found McAlister through a new group he's helping, Unity '08. It was created by Republicans and Democrats who feel both major partiesare broken because both cater obsessively to the fringes.

The premise of Unity '08 is to reclaim the middle. And in so doing, elevate the issues that matter. Like war. The national debt. Education.

Here's how it would work: In early 2008, an online primary will beheld to select the Unity '08 president and vice-president ticket. Any voter can be a delegate. So it could be our first populist,Internet-driven election. The goal is to get 20 million to vote.

The best part: Any ticket must include one Democrat, one Republican. It could be, say, Gore/Giuliani. Or McCain/Obama. The point is theparties are mired in such a polarized rut they can no longer govern. Unity offers a bridge. A way out.