With difficulty walking, and half-blinded from torture by the Brazilian military dictatorship, 79 year-old Roberto Freire continues to develop somatherapy, completing his life's work. Incorporating the ideas of Wilhelm Reich, the politics of anarchism, and the culture of capoeira angola, Soma is used by therapists organized in anarchist collectives to fight the psychological effects of authoritarianism. Nick Cooper travelled to Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Bahia, and São Paulo to find the exercises, principles, voices, and movement of somatherapy.

Download flyer here.

keep your eyes peeled for more information on the speakers

this information should be posted in the next few days!! 

Our Concerns

Using the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers as justification, Israel has launched an all-out assault against the civilian population and infrastructure of neighboring Lebanon. Hezbollah forces in Lebanon have replied with hundreds of rocket attacks in northern Israel. All civilian deaths are a tragedy and we call for an immediate ceasefire. While the US is the only party that can put a stop to this tragedy, it continues to feed the conflict by sending weapons to Israel and blocking international efforts for a ceasefire. U.S. soldiers in Iraq are at greater risk as this situation escalates.

The vast majority of civilian deaths have been caused by Israel, with its widespread bombing of cities and villages. We call for an end to US diplomatic and financial support for Israel’s killing of civilians, in both Lebanon and Palestine. We call, as well, for a halt to all Hezbollah attacks against civilians in Israel.

Our Government

Let our government know that we want an immediate ceasefire and that the US must stop providing arms that feed this conflict. We need to address the root cause of the situation--the ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Golan Heights and Gaza Strip and the billions of dollars in military aid the US sends to Israel.

Our Media

Let the media know we want accurate reporting that depicts the true situation on the ground and the extent of US involvement. We need reporting that shows the faces of ALL the victims and provides concrete historical information, as well as analysis of how United States policy contributes to the conflict. Calling up local talk shows and writing letters to the editor makes a difference in people’s perception of the issue.

The Highlander Research and Education Center has been working with youth for a number of years through "The Young and the Restless" program.

From their website: "The Highlander Center was founded in 1932 to serve as an adult education center for community workers involved in social and economic justice movements. The goal of Highlander was and is to provide education and support to poor and working people fighting economic injustice, poverty, prejudice, and environmental destruction. We help grassroots leaders create the tools necessary for building broad-based movements for change.

"The founding principle and guiding philosophy of Highlander is that the answers to the problems facing society lie in the experiences of ordinary people. Those experiences, so often belittled and denigrated in our society, are the keys to grassroots power.

"Today, that philosophy is reflected in the educational programs and services offered by the 21st-century Highlander Center. Highlander serves Appalachia and the South with programs designed to build strong and successful social-change activism and community organizing led by the people who suffer most from the injustices of society. Highlander helps activists to become more effective community educators and organizers, informed about the important issues driving conditions in communities today."

Founded by Miles Horton, the Highlander has had the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Woody Guthrie as students.  The Highlander's programs were the engine behind the CIO union sweep of the South, particularly in the coal mines, as well as for the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s.

Of course, if you want to see popular education at work with youth, you don't have to go all they way to the South.  Just check out Partners in Prevention Education right here in Olympia.

Paradise Glacier Ice Cave 1924


Paradise Ice Cave 1982

My entire neighborhood I swear was awake til about 3 am this morning. Some loud arguments were heard and someone else in a car decided they needed to experiment with laying rubber along the pavement, over and over again. Eventually everyone in the neighborhood passed out, some of us got some sleep.

Today so far is overcast but warm and uncomfortably humid. So I'm dreaming up cooling ice images, remembered the Paradise Ice Cave I visited long ago.

Apparently this particular cave shown in the 1982 photo disappeared by fall 1991. And the Nisqually glacier has shrunk. Anybody been up in that area recently? I'd like to hear what is looks like now.

Mount Rainier National Park

He wears a name tag that reads "Wells" and his license plate on white 2004 Tahoe is G62-17489.

Information here , here , and here.

Two good articles to help us understand Lt. Watada's case and the wider implications for our country:

Watada, War, and the Law
Affirmative Measures to Halt US War Crimes

From KOMO News:

State Board of Pharmacy members in June endorsed a draft rule that allowed pharmacists to refuse filling a prescription if they have personal objections.

They changed course this week, voting in a Thursday meeting to reconsider the draft at the board's August meeting.

"They wanted to have more discussion about the draft and decide if they may want to make any changes based on all the feedback they've been receiving," said Steve Saxe, the pharmacy board's director.

Women's-rights groups say the refusal policy is aimed at emergency contraception, the "morning-after pill" that cuts chances of a pregnancy if taken within a few days of unprotected sex.

Some people who oppose the pill, sold commercially as Plan B, believe its interference with a potential pregnancy is tantamount to abortion.

Current state pharmacy rules are not entirely clear on the issue, which has raised controversy in other states.

Emergency contraception is available at hospitals and without a prescription in Washington state. The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to make the medication available over the counter nationwide.

From the King County Journal:

The temperature climbed to 97 degrees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, making Friday the hottest day of the summer do far. The previous Sea-Tac record for July 21 was 94 degrees, set in 1994.

The Weather Service also reported new records Friday of 100 degrees at the Olympia Airport, four degrees above the record for July 21 set in 1994.

The weather service was calling for temperatures in the high 80s today and Sunday in most areas of the Eastside and south King County. A cooling trend was expected to begin Sunday, with temperatures dropping into the mid-80s Monday.

Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition

WROC Night Out

Monday, August 7th
First United Methodist Church, 1224 Legion Way SE
Join us at 5:30 for a potluck. Meeting from 6 – 8.
Onsite childcare provided.
Public speaking training: how to effectively talk to your community, the media.

Coffee Clatch

Monday, August 14th 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Olympia Free School, 610 Columbia Street
Single parents support group.
Join us to chat about the challenges, share information and leave feeling more empowered.
On site childcare provided

10th Anniversary of Welfare Reform

Tuesday, August 22nd
Join us at the WROC office, 701 Franklin Street SE, at 11 am to march to Governor Gregoire’s office to present our mural showing the faces of the people she might be affecting with her full family sanction policy.

Help us continue the message that the welfare reform we would like to see in Washington would include policies that support low-income parents to leave poverty, not policies that punish children and increase suffering.

Volunteer meetings are every Wednesday at 1:30

Contact WROC anytime!
360-352-9716 or toll free 1-866-343-9716
wrocoly@wroc.org

PIZZA PARTY TIME AGAIN!

Friday, August 25th 6 – 9 pm
Fertile Ground Guesthouse, 311 9th Ave, downtown behind the library
Enjoy delicious cob oven pizza, refreshing beverages, and great company, while supporting WROC!

Phil made a good point: we all have our weaknesses. I used to hide my weaknesses, but now I am confronting them so that I can be a better servant.

Thank-you Phil.