On May 1 in Olympia, WA a group of about two hundred people had a rally in solidarity with the immigrants’ rights and anti-war movements. The rally was followed with a march to the capital where activists gathered outside of the governor’s door, making their presence known and urging her to support the proposal of making Olympia a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants. After the capital the march continued downtown, where rocks were thrown through the windows of Bank of America and US Bank, two banks notorious for their social and environmental injustices. A scuffle ensued in which protestors clashed with the police. Pepper spray and pellet guns were used on the protestors and six people were ultimately arrested. The names of the people arrested are Daniel Busby, Forrest Student, Stephanie Gottschalk, Bryan Riggins, Randall Hunt and Daniel Wilson. Busby and Student were arrested on suspicion of riot and 2nd degree theft. Gottschalk was arrested on suspicion of riot without a deadly weapon and 3rd degree assault. Riggins, Hunt and Wilson were all arrested on suspicion of 1st degree malicious mischief and suspicion of riot.

Chia, in between mouthfulls of rabbit food spoke elsewhere...  "I stuff my veggie sandwiches with a good handful of spinach or other greens. Salads, sometimes, but I'm more a sandwich plus fresh fruit person."

Good call.  I'm not much of a sandwich person right now.  Part of my problem is I don't want to put a fridge on the boat.  Too bulky and uses too much energy, and I'm too dang lazy to use my icebox more than a day or two.  I'm stuck buying potatos and onions, with greens a bit at a time as I uses them.  I found a nice clumping of miner's lettuce the other day.  I think I'm more likely to get my veggies browsing style right now.

I love fresh fruit, and need to stop by the farmer's market again soon.

One of the first things I did when I bought my boat in November of '06 was discover the farmer's market.  I would pop up there in the morning and get two giant apples and a big cup of Earl Grey tea.  Nothing beats cold november apples :-)

I saw some West Bend waterless cookware demonstrated, and was amazed at how flavorful and tasty the veggies were cooked that way.  I discovered a whole new world of yams that way.  They are actually pretty dang good after all.  

I may get a West Bend skillet, but dang are those pricey! 

Well, we tried it. On a previous thread a while back regarding plastic grocery bags and whether they should be banned, I commented that I like them because we used them for garbage bags. I did commit, however, to trying to ween ourselves off of them and not use garbage bags at all (we don't throw away food or anything that I thought was stinky or smelly). We did it and I'm hear to report our failure. Yup, we're back on the bag.

First, Yoda hypothesized that going bagless would make a mess on trash day. Because of the way that the garbage trucks grab the container and empties them into the back, there was high probability of trash spillage if not contained in bags. This hypothesis was disproved, although he did just tell me he had to pick up one piece of trash. But, that particular pick-up day was calm, and I could see how a windy day might increase the change of garbage escapage and make a general mess in the neighborhood.

Second, I thought that our garbage was relatively clean. You know, the empty chip bag, unrecylable strawberry container variety. I was very wrong. We actually eat a fair amount of meat and yogurt, which often leaves "skid marks" on the side of the garbage can which will STINK if not immediately addressed.

A fair amount of stuff posted about Oly May Day at the Seattle Indymedia site, most of it is pretty angry stuff.

I found this post particularly interesting.

EDIT: Oops, wrong one, this is the post I was talking about.

How well do you know Olympia? Here's the game: Each Saturday I post a picture from somewhere around Olympia and people try to figure out its location. The first person who gets it correct is the first person who correctly got the location *yay!*.

On weekday afternoons, the Chehalis Western Trail can get quite crowded, especially when the weather is nice. And since there are quite a few residential neighborhoods up against the trails, there's plenty of pedestrians.

It's tricky, because some of the most popular walking spots are the same flat straight stretches where I can easily get going to 15 mph, and happily so. But of course I want to be both polite & safe.

People walking in the right lane, one or two abreast, steadily & evenly -- that's easy. A brief ring of the bell and then pass on the left. Depending on the speed, I may even say "good afternoon!" as I zip past.

People with dogs are a little trickier; how the dog seems to be walking influences how I alert, or whether I alert. Sometimes, ringing the bell or calling out freaks dogs out more than just getting by as fast as possible. And I am entirely not a dog person. Some people stop when I call/ring and hold their dogs close until I'm well past.

Little kids (with adults) require the same sort of caution, although a verbal warning is almost always for the best. Same with larger, more meandering groups of people.

Yesterday was entertaining, though. Just south of 37th, I encountered a huge group of kids from Komachin Middle School, either track or soccer as far as I could tell. The signal of the bell didn't mean anything to them, as it does to regular walkers, and of course there's that special obliviousness of middle-school kids.

I just learned today that the TCFB has had a 38% increase in their client caseload and a 40% DROP in donations. I would encourage anyone who can to give money or food to the foodbank. They are a very important resource and right now we as a community cannot allow them to fail in their critical mission.

I know there is a drop bin at Bayview Thriftway, I do not know of any other donation sites in Oly. (Honestly I haven't looked, I walk right by Bayview everyday so give there or at the Food Bank proper)

I would imagine the things most needed are protiens, and quality healthy foods. Vegetarian/vegan options are probably often overlooked as well.

Maybe if everyone were to buy just one extra can or box of something that would serve as the center point of a healthy meal each time they went shopping... or cut back on one latte, or whatnot. I'm doing what I can.

Okay, I've heard informed and passionate arguments on why Olympia should harbor military deserters.  A bit of rhetoric, but that seems ok in small doses.  I'm going to use a bit here myself.

Illegal aliens are by definition, in this country illegally.  They work at various jobs, and some industries seem built to depend on a certain percentage of illegal aliens.  Now I am of the "round 'em all up and deport them" school of thought.  They are here tresspassing and show no interest in assimilating into our culture.  Just witness the invaders  undocumented immigrants marching down streets waving Mexican flags and carrying signs in Spanish.  These do not seem like people who wish to be part of our culture, yet seem to be more than willing to take advantage of our institutions.  

For every illegal alien working here, that is one less job a US Citizen or documented worker could be doing.  A lot of capital flows out of this country into other countries, a good bit of it from illegal aliens.  Hospitals and other social services are often crowded by people who have no legal right to be in this country.

I spent two years in San Diego and have heard lots of arguments, and seen lots of numbers.  It still ticks me off.