On Saturday, June 9 from 1:00 PM until 8:00 PM the teens of the YMCA Earth Service Corps will team up with community organizations to hold the 5th annual June Eco-Jam. This amazing event, which is open to all teens and the greater community will feature an assortment of environmental and community action projects and will conclude with a spectacular display of visual and performance art, created by the teens. The June Eco-Jam is intended to: connect youth, adults, businesses, organizations, and the environment; heighten awareness of different opportunities and needs within our community; raise awareness of the environment; build leadership skills; and give youth a chance to learn, lead, help, explore, and inspire!

What: The June Eco-Jam is a blitz of community action projects followed by an evening art show, musical performances, food and fun!

When: June 9, 2007: Action Projects 1-4 PM. Evening Jam and Art Show 5-8 PM.

Where: Meet at 1:00 at the First Baptist Church 904 Washington St SE. The 7 action projects will take place around Olympia and the evening jam and art show will take place at the First Baptist Church.

Who: Youth aged 13-20. We are also looking for adult volunteers.

We are still looking for youth artists and performers who can raise environmental awareness through their art.

June Eco-Jam Project List

Looking to get to Tacoma for protest

any carpools setup? 

Timing couldn't be more perfect.  While many of you sit in the comfort of your chairs and complain to no end about The Olympian, they are out there doing their jobs and winning awards!

     The Olympian wins journalism awards

We've got Olybloggers slinging mud today.  Using ridiculous code in an attempt to not name names.  I mean, c'mon, just chill?  By the way, an award winner.  The bigger issue was how this particular poster, OlyDowntowner, went on to pass judgement based on looks and attire.  The comment is here in case you are interested in your daily dose of gossip.

P.S. I tested the link and bookmark for OlyDowntowner's comment.  The link works, but the bookmark doesn't lead you to the actual comment.  Search the page for 'Leggs' to find the actual comment.

As an activist, I think I have a responsibility to always consider whether the ends of my actions justify their means. While considering whether or not to occupy a city lot, for instance, there was much deliberation by the PPU. I also personally put a lot of deep thought into it. Being that the action was lead by the houseless folks themselves, and they would be staying there and subject to arrest that could impact whether they are eligible for housing, etc. Not for one second did I stop to think whether anyone would approve of our tactics, in fact, we knew that some people wouldn't. We took the city lot, and now there is a rotating tent city that is providing stability, dignity, and support to it's residents. Those are things not available to folks that are scattered in the woods or in shelters. To me, this means that the ends justified the means. People are better off now, and it has had minimal to no tangible affect on anyone else. I just got news that a couple, a pregnant woman and her partner, are moving on into their own place. That makes around 15 people that have moved into housing from Camp Quixote. At that rate, 15 in just over 3 months, Camp Quixote is a rival to many other housing or advocacy programs, and all they provide is a safe place to stay without the limitations placed on them by out of touch shelter systems.

My bigger point in all of this is that while it's OK to criticize direct action, we must be aware that sometimes what we see or read on the news is very shallow. How many different methods were attempted before something drastic happened? This is important. The membership of the PPU tried for months to engage the city about our grievances, yet felt shunted every step of the way. So, we organized Camp Quixote, and now we have the ears of many who wouldn't be listening to us had we not. Had some folks not thrown some tea in the water a few years back, what kind of world would we live in?

What do the Women in Black accomplish? What do they actually achieve? When I hear folks say, "I like those Women in Black, they're peaceful and don't start trouble", or things I like that, what I hear is this: "People should just accept that they have no control over their world. It's ok to voice displeasure, but don't ruffle feathers or disturb the pond."

My problem with this is that people who participate in direct actions (at least the ones that I've been a part of), are pretty hardcore patriots. They believe in gun ownership and free speech and every ink blob in the Constitution. A lot of these folks are anarchists, and they would never even dream of taking guns or rights away, yet they are labeled as violent oppressors who would control everyone if given the chance. Anarchism is about social order. Social order can only come if people are free.

Direct action, even violent direct action, is about changing the world into a place where we don't have borders, physical or mental, where we create a world without war, poverty, classism, or racism. You may not agree with their methods now, but if they were successful and we didn't have to live under the thumb of big government anymore, I think we would all be a lot happier.

Hiya All--

WOW, I just got shocked!

>bad pun I know< 

I was reading JanetB when this hit me:

"...[Olympia Cops]killed 9 Olympia residents with Tasers since February"

O-Blog Posse, OlyCop, >anyone<...is this true? I'm almost afraid to ask... :-(

Want to know how to improve Olympia? Ask we the people who live here in Olympia.

Some of those locals who know how to fix it also blog their ideas, for example:

Oly & Art -

Olympia is not an easy town to be an artist. Due to the dearth of affordable studio space, most of the artists do their thing in their homes, which contributes to the lack of professionalism, camaraderie and community, and keeps us isolated from new ideas and spontaneous possibilities

read more at Pearl on Olympia Dumpster Divers

Oly & Education-

We cannot accept the fact that hundreds of students who start 9th grade don’t finish high school and a third of our students don’t have the minimum requisite school to participate in our economy.

read more at Make the Best Better on Nafzblog