This is heart breaking.

Honor After the Fall: Informing military familes that loved ones have died in Iraq.

I listened recently to a discussion concerning crows on KUOW. John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell have put out a book In The Company of Crows and Ravens and I found the interview with the authors fascinating.

Two things especially stick in my mind:

"Mentally, crows and ravens are more like flying monkeys than they are like other birds."

And also that when crows watch us, they really watch us, they even keep track of what we are watching. They watch our eyes. Imagine.

Both my son and I have dive bombed by crows stories. Do crows come after us because we are tall? It is all a mystery.

I wonder if wearing one of Nikki McClure's crow tshirts from buyolympia.com would help.

The right to anonymous free speech

Residents are asked to voluntarily refrain from unnecessary wood stove and fireplace use and to not do outdoor burns.

This current weather pattern which is degrading air quality might continue through Thanksgiving weekend.

Olympic Region Clean Air Agency news release 11/16

Vine Deloria Jr., scholar and visionary, passed on November 13.

Indian Country tribute

Seattle P.I./Denver Post article

Deloria helped focus national attention on fishing rights in the Northwest, a battle known as the "fish wars," which led to the historic 1974 Boldt Decision upholding Indian treaty rights.

"This is like losing an elder," said Alan Parker, former chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, who is now on the faculty for Native American law and policy at The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

Deloria, a lawyer and theologian, inspired Parker and many other Native American youths of his generation to go to law school as a way "to be a warrior."

The Electronic Freedom Foundation has put together a guide to legal issues for bloggers.

I've lived in Olympia for awhile now. In an apartment complex that til recently was not a safe place.

Because of the high level of crime here, for awhile I had a lot of interaction with local police. And I have tried to keep up with community-police interactions over the years. I know there have been some challenges and I know they are being addressed. I have some not so positive stories myself.

But most of my stories are good. Here is one.

Years back, Olympia was hit by another hate mail dump. People found incredibly horrible racist and anti-semitic flyers, all tucked neatly into rain proof baggies, on their lawns, along streets, etc.

I found one in a west side parking lot. I called the police department to talk with them about it, assuming that probably I would be blown off, they would not care.

But an officer drove out to talk with me in that parking lot. We had a great conversation. We talked about how hatred destroys communities, about the history of intolerance, about the health of Olympia.

The cop didn't give me a bad time about who and what I was. He gave me a some encouragement, some praise, lifted my spirits. I had an opportunity to pass on thanks for good policing work done in my neighborhood.

And I discovered that the police did care about what I had found and they did want me to tell them about it.

Four banks robbed in a month, and a concern was that the woman responsible might escalate even further, more crime and possibly more violence. This morning a 22 year old woman was arrested on the west side of Olympia. Sounds like our police force did an excellent job.

I am dedicated to planting this into my memory.

Capital is a principal city. Olympia is the Washington state capital.

I remember a teacher long long ago trying to tell we students that the way to remember the correct spelling of principal is to remember that the school principal is our pal. Uh huh. And capital.......I forget that part.

We live in the capital city. In the capital city is the legislators' building, that is the capitol.

Okay. And the lake that is part of the plan for the capitol campus, which is in the capital city, is named Capitol Lake.

I best quit while I'm ahead. It's the principle of the thing.

I really did try to walk away from this. But look. On the Official City of Olympia Web Site, there is a link to The State Capitol Campus, it goes to the G.A. State Capitol Vistor Services. Good deal. But. Scroll down on the Oly city page and there is a link for Capital Campus, which gives us The State Capitol Campus.

(Don't even bring up Capital Theater.Their name is fine, I just don't have any mind power left after this exercise.)

Our local Crisis Clinic has an excellent web site of information, including an in depth searchable database of resources