This just happened in downtown Oly:

Join us at the Olympia Free School volunteer meeting and learn more about what you can do to help out! Free snacks will be provided.

If you can't make it to the meeting but would like to learn more about volunteering, contact us by phone at (360) 352-4165 or info@olympiafreeschool.org so we can decide on a better time for you!

It focuses on how pharmaceutical companies are gouging cancer patients with attrociously priced medicine, literally making people choose between Life and Debt. Although only Cancer is covered in the article it's safe to assume the story applies to all issues regarding medicine.

But Diekmeyer had another, more immediate, fear keeping her up nights. Because of mounting medical bills, she was worried she might lose her home. Already, Diekmeyer owed her oncologist more than $10,000, debt that had escalated since May 2005, when she started taking Herceptin, a cutting-edge cancer formula. Produced by Genentech, a leading manufacturer of biotech drugs in South San Francisco, California, the new medicine was her best — perhaps her only — hope of beating the disease.

Personally, I've never had five figures in my bank account.

The cost of cancer-fighting drugs went up 27 percent in 2006, compared with less than 2 percent for other drugs, according to the most recent Medco Drug Trend Report. And many of the new medications are being tested in combination, so patients may be faced with not one but two or even three drugs that cost $50,000 each.

....

One in 10 cancer patients is unable to cover basics such as food and housing, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, California; more disturbingly, 1 in 12 people with cancer has delayed or decided against treatment because it was too costly.

....

Diekmeyer was covered under her husband's health insurance, a plan that had always seemed adequate. Now she watched her co-pays for doctor visits, hospital stays, surgeries and drugs add up.

So, I'm going to post a link to a story, and I want you to look at the picture before you read the article. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words....those words can be false as well. Remember, picture, then read the article, and ask yourself if there might be a slight mis-representation going on.

Here's the story

All-comers Bluegrass and Old-Time roots music jams return to second Friday and Saturdays at the Black Lake Grange Hall, 6011 Black Lake Blvd., Olympia

This Friday, October 12, starts a new season of Bluegrass jams from 6 to 9 PM. Think fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, string bass and resophonic guitars. Open mic session later in the evening. Call Jim to learn more (360) 943-4406

Then Saturday, October 13, the Black Hills Pickers holds an Old-Time music jam and workshop at the grange, 11 AM to 4:30 PM. A workshop on Scandinavian-style fiddling will be lead by Jeff Anderson of Rochester starting at 11 AM. Open mic session later in the day. Call Bobbie to learn more (360) 273-8816

Both jams will continue into next Spring each second Friday and Saturday at the Grange.

All experience and age levels welcome. You don't have to play or sing to have fun at the jam. If you just like Bluegrass and Old-Time fiddle music and would like to hang out with friendly folk this event is for you.

Stringed acoustic instruments (and the occasional harmonica) invited. If you can sing, so much the better! We'll pass the hat to help pay for use of the Grange. NO alcohol or drugs allowed.

Get to the Grange: from Olympia west side or S.R. 101, go south on Black Lake Blvd. all the way past Black Lake. Grange is at sharp right-hand turn where the road turns into 62nd Ave. Look for flashing light over road at fire station. Grange is just past it on the right.

Update on Camp Quixote can be found in the comment No news is good news.

Volunteer help appreciated, email tucocamp@gmail.com if you also can help out.

• Fall is here with autumn photos and one gorgeous cat
• Skelly hearts Oly and tells us why
• Skelly also gives us a good roundup of BHR strike avoided news
• Bread and Roses suggests we read New Study about the "Working Poor"
• and South Puget Sound Libertarian has some news on The Canadian Police State, reminding us that the grass isn't always greener on the other side