I'm not experiencing difficulty with posting any longer.

I shall leave my blog address link off.

Am I the only one that is being restricted by the spam filter?

I have had two posts denied.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters 2007 Auction, "Evening in Paradise", brought in over $30,000 to help children in the Thurston County area.

The event was hosted by Lucky Eagle Casino and featured donated items from dozens of merchants and businesses that support the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. 250 people attended the event.

Thanks to the sponsors and attendees, Big Brothers Big Sisters can provide close to 30 children with one to one mentoring for one year. A commissioned study, in the late 1990s, demonstrated that at-risk youth, when provided a mentor showed 46% less chance of school drop out, substance abuse, crime and violence.

I guess he didn't like the Scandanavian sense of humor.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=a1iNH7W9SC8

From today's Olympian editorial:

A Thurston County shooting review board consisting of law enforcement officers found no fault with Nelson’s decision to use deadly force against Moniz. Nelson fired three gunshots into Moniz as the suspect sat behind the wheel of his vehicle with four blown-out tires on a dirt road near Steamboat Island following a high-speed chase. Also inside the vehicle were Moniz’s 17-year-old fiancee and their nine-month-old son.

The board concurred with Nelson’s claim that Moniz, who was unarmed, was using his vehicle as a weapon, which justified Nelson’s split-second decision to fire at Moniz.

Colleagues of Nelson from the law enforcement community have ruled in his favor, and the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office has chosen not to file charges.

That said, it’s still appropriate for a jury of Nelson’s peers outside of law enforcement to review the evidence.

An inquest by Warnock would remove any shadow of doubt over whether or not justice has been served.

As I've written on another blog, The Olympian is quick to judge the performance of others in their work and this is a perfect example.  Read carefully and know that between the lines the editor is saying "I have a problem with police investigating the actions of a police officer".

I'll be the first to say that police officers are human, thus can be wrong or biased on any issue.  My question is, who is better equipped to make a decision on a law enforcement issue than a law enforcement officer? 

I'm not sure that, in the heat of battle, feeling threatened by a man driving a 2,000 pound weapon, that I would not have taken the same action and I'm not even a gun owner.  But I digress from the real issue of this blog.

From The Olympian editorial:

Write a story about the Lacey Police Department using a mannequin in a parked police car to slow down speeders and the responses are predictable and funny.

“Dummy police officer ... isn’t that redundant?,” one reader wrote in the The Olympian’s comment section.

Others chimed in with:

“This is too easy ... a dummy in a Lacey Police car.”

“I bet this guy outscored them all on the civil service test.”

“I bet the union wants him to join.”

And finally, “Trevor (the dummy) obviously isn’t a real LPD officer, since he visibly has hair.”

Ouch!

While it’s easy to poke fun, here’s the bottom line: Using the dummy is a low-cost, effective way to get people to slow down. Poke all the fun you want. It works!

Here is the REAL funny part - how many quotes can you get from the dummy?

The Olympian comments now do not allow you to read the other commenters if you've been sent to Banned Camp.

Berschauer Phillips Construction Company of Olympia used a fun Bowling event with employees to raise $18,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Thurston County, Saturday at Aztec Lanes. The goal for this event was $13,000.

This third annual event for the company follows the national BBBS Bowl for Kids’ Sake model but Berschauer Phillips is the only local business to host this event on its own. "You don’t have to be a good bowler, just have a heart for helping kids." quoted Wendy Smith, organizer of the event, and with Berschauer Phillips.

The top team raising money for BBBS youth mentoring programs were: Derek Boysen’s team, leading the effort with $8,696; second team led by Wendy Smith with $6,660; third was Bill Johnston's team with $2,690.Over the three years of this event, Berschauer Phillips employees have raised over $35,000 through this event that helps BBBS reach nearly 500 "in-need" kids a year. BBBS has reached over 400 kids with a mentor this year and because of fundraising events like this they can reach more kids in need of a mentor – “Big” brother or sister.

Over 50 children are still waiting for a “Big”. More Bowl for Kids Sake events are scheduled this coming spring. To donate, bowl or volunteer to be a Big Brother or Big Sister call (360) 943-0409 or email BBBS@thurstonBBBS.org.

http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/234841.html

Story about the woman that was charged in court on the kids football fight.  Read the comments about the hand sign she is giving in the picture and then someone please explain why Aaron Mason got upset at Emma, Merwyn or me.

At the risk of offending others, I won't copy and paste in Olyblog on this one.

It looks like the candidates participating in the forum unanimously were in support of Proposition 1 - increasing the sales tax 3 cents on a $10 purchase to fund prevention programs.  I personally thank the candidates, although I'm not an Olympia voter.

Unfortunately, there are some people that are so blindly opposed to taxes that they refuse to research the Proposition.  One such person has misconstrued it to a property tax in today's Olympian threads.