Japanese Human Art - Why Is My Girlfriend Mad? - These bloopers are hilarious

Let's just say that Andy Maris over at Thurston Pundits and enpen see the world differently.

Andy:

An aggressive stance on taking down graffiti as soon as it appears and working with law enforcement to crack down on the punks doing this is never a bad use of resources. Also kudos to the number of citizens who are starting to step up and take an active stance on this as well.

I contrast this with taking a walk through downtown Olympia. It would seem that the city and the businesses in that area have no pride, no dignity and are quite content to let a bunch of punks with magic markers and spray paint deface the entire city. Vandalism remains on the signs, streets and buildings for months and even years without ever being addressed. At least the city is nuke free and same sex partners can get health benefits. Perhaps celebrating diversity means welcoming rampant crime as well as hating conservatives?

And, if you haven't seen anything of what enpen has documented, go here, here or here. 

A few months ago I proposed to make the mountain beaver the official Washington State Rodent. That idea didn't exactly set the world on fire, even though I have not given up on making this dream a reality. But now I have another idea, let's make the giant Palouse earthworm the official Washington State worm!

The beauty of making both of these uniquely Pacific Northwest animals official state symbols is that they will represent both sides of the state, mountain beavers on the wet side, giant Palouse earthworms on the high and dry side.

Calling for the geoduck to be named the official Washington State whatever it is might be too easy, since that animal has already garnered a lot of attention, unlike my two little friends mentioned above.

Here are some recent news articles highlighting the giant Palouse earthworm!

Rare Giant Earthworm Found at WSU!!!

Giant Worm is Stuff of legends and Must Be Saved, Group Says!!!

Suit is Filed to Protect Giant Palouse Worm!!!

Olympia Men's Project Presents Drag Bing on Tuesday, October 2nd. The event will be hosted by the fabulous Nona Lisa and Dolly Parton!! (or at least, someone who poses a striking resemblance to Dolly) Expect awesome prizes and performances and of course bingo. The event is going on from 9-11pm and is open to all people 21 and up. We have got awesome prizes and performances. There is a $2 suggested donation and all proceeds go to Olympia Men's Project. This event is happening at Jakes on 4 th- 311 E 4th Ave. Let us know if you want to perform or are interested in helping out. Call OMP for more information at 352-2375. Olympia Men's Project is a community building group for gay, bi, trans and queer men ages 18-29. OMP is a program of United Communities AIDS Network. Please Repost this message to all lists you are apart of. The more people the better!

Did anyone catch this?

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday challenged a university audience to look into "who was truly involved" in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, defended his right to question established Holocaust history and denied there were gay Iranians.

When pressed about the harsh treatment of women, homosexuals and academics who challenge Iran's government, Ahmadinejad painted a rosy picture, saying, "Women in Iran enjoy the highest levels of freedom," he said.

He elicited laughter and boos from the audience at Columbia University when he said, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country."

For more  from www.cnn.com

Taken from Maximum Rock N Roll issue number 293. By Miss Radar (not to be confused with Timothy Radar)

A long time has passed since the halcyon days of the Olympia music scene. The ability to see the town’s top bands in Olympia’s 1000 seat theater one day, and in a 20 person basement show the next seems to be lost in our salad days. There is speculation by some that the era of Olympia’s reign as one of the best all ages music scenes in the country may be over; K Records has a release schedule around two a year these days… And Kill Rock Stars head-honcho Slim Moon has jumped ship to New York to work for the major label Nonesuch.

This isn’t to say that the scene in the rainy-state-capital is not as vital to its inhabitants as it once was. What may be lost in size and attention, may be found in intimacy and die-hard vitality. With the larger, mostly-famous record labels from Olympia shifting units out of town, or focusing on their back catalog, new labels have began to come out of the wood work. Olympia’s folk-punk group The Pasties (who recently were arrested by the Olympia Police Department for give a free concert during the annual lakefair) are just one of a half dozen bands on the collectively ran Na Na Na Na Boo Boo Records; and Dead End Social Club Records (started by the anti-racist skinhead crew of the same name) has just released its third single in a year by British soul group Lucky Soul adding diversity to its catalog of ska and oi singles.

Ten years ago Olympia venues were packed to the gills with touring bands, and there were no shortages of places to play. In the decade since the Capital Theater Backstage barley eeks out a show a quarter, the Arrowspace is now closed, the Yes Yes has become no no-longer, and the Midnight Sun’s constant shifts in management and focus on theater has rendered the venue useless for the most part.

It may be one of the quintessential questions of this generation as we face increasing gentrification and globalization, what do we want our community to look like? This question is also at the center of a stand-off between one of Olympia’s last holdouts of all-ages action and the city that prides itself on its arts community.

Olympia, like much of Thurston County, is a town at a crossroads. Corporate investors and real estate developers are scrambling to cash in on an area with exponential growth while Olympia’s arts community is struggling to keep the “Olympia Spirit” alive.

Proclaimed the “Hippest town in the west” in an August 2000 Time Magazine article, Olympia has forged a national reputation as a home to progressive arts and music. The music scene, built on nearly three generations of youth producing all ages music has produced bands such as Nirvana, Sleater Kenny, Bikini Kill, and even Marcy’s Playground. An essential ingredient in making this happen was involvement from people of all ages, abundant and frequent all ages shows, and an open atmosphere of creativity.

The question begs to be asked, at what point do people stop cashing in and start keeping avenues for youth involvement, creativity and cultural vibrancy alive?

Citing code violations due to their new expansion, the city has put a stop work order on the club. Concerned with not being the next “Rhode Island,” an allusion to the Great White incident that killed 100 people and injured more than 200, the city has required the Manium to add a twenty five thousand dollar sprinkler system despite the club not requiring it in the past. A closer examination puts the city and the club in a game of he said / she said regarding the real issue.

The city has asserted that the club owners are rude, and uncooperative with the cities officials.

UAW launches national strike against GM

Workers begin picketing outside plants after late morning deadline passes

By Dee-Ann Durbin The Associated Press

1:27 PM EDT, September 24, 2007

DETROIT - Thousands of United Auto Workers walked off the job at General Motors plants around the country today in the first nationwide strike against the U.S. auto industry since 1976.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said that job security was the top unresolved issue, adding that the talks did not stumble over a groundbreaking provision establishing a UAW-managed trust that will administer GM's retiree health care obligations. Gettelfinger complained about "one-sided negotiations."

"It was going to be General Motors' way at the expense of the workers," Gettelfinger said at a news conference. "The company walked right up to the deadline like they really didn't care."

[via tesccrier]

I need your help in getting some information out about an amazing speaker that we just found out will be here at SPSCC next Wednesday (September 26) at 11:00am. His name is Josh Rushing, and if you don’t recognize the name, he is the U.S. marine information officer featured in the film “Control Room” who now works for Al Jazeera. He recently published a best-selling book, “Mission Al Jazeera” and appeared on the Daily Show last month. He has been interviewed in the New York Times, Time magazine and elsewhere and is one of the most prominent critics of media spin regarding issues of war and the Middle East in the world.

He’ll be speaking in my Social Problems class at 11:00am, Wednesday, September 26, at SPSCC, Building 26, Room 101. All are welcome to attend (though students in the class get seating priority. The room only holds 100, so it’s first come, first in. Please don’t disturb the class that meets beforehand that ends at 10:50am).

This is an amazing opportunity, albeit on short notice, to see a world renowned speaker and media critic who has viewed war, the Pentagon, and Al Jazeera first-hand. Please spread the word about this opportunity. His more detailed bio is below. Thanks and feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thanks,
David Hyde
Sociology Professor
South Puget Sound Community College
360-596-5284
dhyde@spscc.ctc.edu

You may want to check in with David before going -- just to make sure there's room.