I know I used this graphic recently in "Twisted Conundrum, Be the Veep," but I thought it was so powerful it was worth posting a second time. If you don't know who this gentleman is, then time is passing faster than I care to accept.

We did have a President named Steve, by the way. Grover Cleveland was actually named Stephen Grover Cleveland. Our 2nd largest President, he was known as "Big Steve" to his pals.

And the secret woid for the day is "fetid"-- won by Sarah!

[via omjp]

Dear Friends,

Local, long-time labor and media activist, Clint Burelson has spent the past few months researching a very disturbing national trend: the privatization - through outsourcing - of our public mail system. This trend is about to escalate as part of an extensive plan to consolidate US Postal Service facilities nation wide. Locally, outgoing mail - which is currently processed at the "Olympia" facility in Tumwater - will now be sent to Tacoma for processing.

The media, including today's Olympian, portray this plan as an improvement in cost-saving and efficiency. This, despite the fact that Clint has provided to them (including the writer in today's Olympian) ample documentation that the trend, in fact, constitutes corporate profiteering which reduces efficiency, and increasing costs to the average citizen while reducing service to that citizen.

To learn more, listen to KAOS, 89.3FM tomorrow, Friday, March 24 at noon on Free and Fair with John Ford.

There will also be an article by Clint on this topic in the April issue of Works In Progress. But WIP will not have space to cover the issue nearly as in-depth as Clint will do on Free and Fair tomorrow. So, be sure to tune in if you can!

In Solidarity,

Sandy

The State of Washington is rewriting the Capitol Master Plan for the first time in 15 years. 

State government is the big mover and shaker in Olympia (and Thurston County for that matter) in terms of what our community looks like and where many of us work. My post from yesterday, how parking might be helped downtown by opening up some state office parking, has to do with this process of planning the impacts of state offices on our communities.

From email:

Good Government, Good Neighbor: Envisioning the Future of State Facilities in the Greater Capital Community.

The 2006 Master Plan for the Capitol of the State of Washington describes the state’s vision for future development of state owned and leased properties in Thurston County.

The state Department of General Administration is hosting two opportunities for the community to review and comment:

March 29, 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Tumwater Timberland Library
7023 New Market Street, Tumwater

March 30, 7:00—8:30 pm
The Olympia Center,
Room A 222
Columbia Street N, Olympia

Find the draft Master Plan online at http://www.ga.wa.gov/campus/MasterPlan.htm

For additional information or accommodation, contact Marygrace Jennings: 360/902-0973

The Afgan government better get this under control, or the US better tune them up! Seems some of the Taliban BS is still in effect. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188903,00.html

From the Daily Zero.

Russian Animator Nina Shorina will be presenting her films as part of the Spring Evergreen Expressions series on Monday night, April 17th (week 3) at 7pm in the Recital Hall. The event is free and is also part of the Artists' Works Series for the program Animated Visions: Allegories of Resistance taught by Pat Krafcik and Leonard Schwartz.

From 1976 to 1994 Shorina worked as an animator for the Soyuzmultfilm studio of Moscow, producing several films that examined or critiqued life under Soviet rule. These include "Door", a study of the collapse of boundaries between public and private wrought by Perestroika, "Dream" , a critique of nostalgia infused views of Soviet society and "Alter Ego", a study of the relationship of art to everyday life via self-portraiture.

I don't know if this is an absolute first, but it is the first time I've noticed it: The Olympian has a link in the sidebar to wikipedia. Now, it isn't a very high-minded article (actually, it is about Bar Code), and the link isn't exactly that informative (about "Girls Gone Wild"), but nonetheless, I want to note that it is a step in the right direction.