Read about Mollie's Extraordinary Day in Olympia, via Portland Indy Media.

My preferred way of being in the world is optimistic but I have really been struggling these past few weeks. It becomes too easy to see the glass half empty and its contents pain and suffering. The world events easily challenge my basic sense of human decency. But yesterday was such an extraordinary day in Olympia that I am once again seeing the glass filled with light and hope.

So sayeth General JC Christian about our Clown Power. His comment is in the thread The Nazis Are Coming to Town.

The best way to confront these jerks is to mock them ruthlessly. That's what they did when this same group came to Olympia, WA. The locals dressed up as clowns and mimiced the speakers. They also had music and dancing--it was a big party. It was very effective. There was a major split in the NSM a week or so later, and some of the recriminations I read at various NSM websites cited the Olympia rally as one of the reasons. The rally was also condemned as an embarassment by a number of posters at Stormfront (In one comment, a klansman went on and on about how embarrassed he was to be on the same side as the organizers--how enbarrassing it must be to embarrass a klansman?)   The people at Oly Blog put it together. Talk to them. They are absolute geniuses. I'm ccing this email to one of them.   Here's what Dave Neiwert had to say about it: nice day for nazis.

Tomorrow the NSM visits Madison, Wisconsin.

Up on the west side of Olympia, Harrison and Division, there is a now vacant lot on one corner that often hosts a field of political campaign signs. I've been watching the progress of a small home made Vote Anarchy sign (Anarchy in symbol form - not spelled out.). Sometimes the sign stood proudly amidst the others, sometimes it appeared it had been kicked over, sometimes it leaned against other much larger signs. Today I wasn't able to locate it at all, perhaps it was resting in the weeds.

Now a new twist has emerged. At least 10 of the slick mass produced political campaign signs sport a new addition, that of a V for Vendetta imaged flyer.

Anyone have any info on this?

Tomorrow, August 26 from 10:00am to 4:00pm @ TOYSrUS Westside

Next one is Sept 16 from 10:00am to 4:00pm @ Rotter’s Auto Mall

For more information call 360 753-8284

Books to Prisoners and The Gleaners Coalition will collaboratively host an intimate dinner fundraiser in the gardens of the Fertile Ground Guest House on Saturday, September 9th beginning at 5:30pm.

Celebrating the Summer Harvest at the Fertile Ground Guest House, Books to Prisoners and The Gleaners Coalition will offer a linen and candle light dinner featuring the best of our local farms and gardens as a part of a fundraiser to support their operations. Live accoustic music will be played throughout the evening and the menu will include vegan items.

When: Saturday, September 9, 2006 from 5:30 to 8:30pm
Where: Fertile Ground Guesthouse
311 9th Ave SE
Olympia, WA 98501
(360) 352-2428
www.fertileground.org

Description: Candle light, music, linen and table side service will set the tone for a magical evening in the gardens of the Fertile Ground Guest House, as Books to Prisoners and The Gleaners Coalition celebrate the summer harvest by inviting our community to join the celebration and support the work of both organizations. Books to Prisoners ships books to those behind bars who are hungry for information and literature. The Gleaners Coalition organizes volunteers to gather food from our area’s farms and gardens. Volunteers keep all the food they need and share the rest with those in need through food banks, shelters and meal programs. Dinner will offer a menu of exquisite choices including appetizers and entrees, salads and pizzas, desserts and many little treats.

For Reservations or more information please contact Barry Cannon at (360) 705-2375.

Crenshaw's observations of B&B got me to thinking about coffee houses I have known and loved. Last Exit on Brooklyn in Seattle surely is on my list.

I could hang out there when I wanted to be alone in a friendly crowd. The marble table tops (marble slabs formerly from old King County Courthouse restroom stall doors) were wonderful to write on. I'd order a pot of orange spice or jasmine tea, or some strong coffee, occasionally a slab of apple pie. I could use the din of the coffee house as warm ambient noise that inspired me.

I could hang out there with assorted friends. One worked the espresso machine and won my heart with a shy smile. Another, the man who introduced me to the Last Exit first, was often found playing pick up games of chess or go, over coffee and smokes.

One friend was a Vietnam vet then working for the Merchant Marine and running guns on the side. He appreciated the strict ban on camera use inside the establishment.

Live music happened, often spontaneously. I remember a good flamenco guitarist on a hot August night. I also remember a really really good piano player who played to transition from his Seattle job back to home on Orcas Island.

A tarot reading was usually happening somewhere inside. And any of us who felt like huddling in an oversized coat and muttering over our lone cup of coffee was allowed to do just that. U.W. students studied or goofed off. Elder philosophers and anarchists held court or hid out in public in those oversized coats.

From what I recall, the food sucked, except for that apple pie. And the service was damn slow. Somehow that was all part of the charm of the place.

The Last Exit was both a destination and a rest stop for wayfarers. The place shaped my dream of what a really good coffee house is.

Jim Ramm, the National Socialist Movement's propaganda man (camera guy at their events) is having a birthday on September 14th, according to Washington State Criminal History Indexes searched at the District Court last month.

We're not sure how to celebrate such an event, but we thought it might be nice to at least acknowledge that even Jim was a tiny baby once, back in 1964. We're not sure if they called him Matt, or Matthew, or Earnest, or Ramsey, or Rambo, or RammaDammaDingDong. But we do know he was a little poopy diapered baby, once. So was I. So were we all. Happy Birthday, Jim.

An Everett man accused of brandishing a knife and making racial slurs at a black man at a bus shelter in Seattle's Northgate neighborhood was charged Wednesday with attempted second-degree assault and malicious harassment, the state's hate-crime law.

King County Superior Court prosecutors say Jason Pinkey, 36, also showed Dallas Brazier a swastika tattoo during the Aug. 17 encounter. Pinkey then allegedly tried to punch Brazier but missed.

Brazier walked away, but Pinkey again came at him with the knife and hurled more slurs, prosecutors allege in court papers. But this time several other people punched Pinkey and took away his knife.

A judge Wednesday ordered Pinkey held in the King County Jail with $100,000 bail.

Everett man charged

Stormans to revisit Plan B after FDA ruling

Kevin Stormans, an owner of the store being targeted, Ralph's Thriftway, said his firm will review details of the FDA decision and talk about how it affects the business. The company's Bayview Thriftway is also a target of the boycott, although it doesn't have a pharmacy.

Stormans said he didn't know whether the fourth-generation company would change its policy on not stocking Plan B at Ralph's. Stormans has said he has moral objections to the birth-control drug, which the FDA describes as a contraceptive that prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb rather than acting as an abortive agent.