Seen Downtown:

Andrew and Ayub after the panel discussion
Wednesday 3 November 2010
Olympia, WA

More information about this event here

This was a great discussion about the topics of Anti-Semitism, Anti-Jewish Oppression and Jew-Hating, Islamophobia, and Anti-Arab racism in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as the greater global environment of (waning) US and Anglo-American hegemony.

Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and Anti-Arab racism panel discussion in Olympia

The SPSCC student group BRICK (Building Revolution by Increasing Community Knowledge) brought social critic and activist Glenn Greenwald to town yesterday for a speech about civil rights and terrorism in the era of the Obama Administration. Greenwald is a regular contributor to Salon.com, and there is more information about his current tour there, and more information about him, and his visit to SPSCC on the BRICK website here.

Greenwald was trained as a constitutional attorney, and practiced as a litigator in New York before giving up on the courts to become a writer. He has written articles for The New York Times, LA Times, Harper's, and other noteworthy publications.

Greenwald talked about popular conceptions of civil liberties and terrorism, and detailed how these are often false. For example, even though the definition of civil liberties is quite simple—it's basically the set of rules that protect people against government intrusion (e.g. freedom of speech, and protection against unreasonable search and seizure)—that a lot of people don't understand what civil liberties are about. When you think about civil liberties, think about the Bill of Rights.

And terrorism, in contrast, is something that people popularly think they know and understand, but in reality, the definition is really nebulous and popularly misunderstood.

Some recent photos, including from the peace vigil at Percival Landing, art on exhibit at Caffé Vita, the new City Hall, and the Moon!

Here is some of the regular crew at the Friday evening Oly FOR Peace Vigil. This group photo also includes members of the Artesian Rumble Arkestra.

A somewhat random assemblage of eight photos from the past week or so, including topics of Landscape, Moon, flowers, military helicopters, the Salish Sea, and astronomy +.

Moon disappearing behind Tumwater Hill. As the world turns.
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Why not love?
Monday 4 October 2010 Heritage Park Olympia Washington
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here's another version: Why not love?

Yesterday at Heritage Park I helped set up the large letters spelling out the sentence, "Why not love?". This message was in concert with the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers Journey to Smile project in the Bamiyan Provence of Afghanistan. More information about Our Journey to Smile here: http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/

Here's a video produced by Our Journey to Smile:

Olympia, for all of its oddities and eccentricities, really does have a lot of beautiful and wonderful aspects. Like the fog rolling in last night.

Warm today, and humid.

Here are a couple recent photos. One of City Hall, the other at Percival Landing. In the one of City Hall, I was interested by the lights on the lower story, it was the first time I noticed them.

In the photo from Percival Landing, the log transport ship, Lavieen Rose, is visible alongside the Port of Olympia Marine Terminal.

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There were many sights, sounds, and smells around downtown Olympia last night!

For example, while walking down the hill I could see a strange cloud wafting over the Westside. It was kind of surreal, ethereal. And although it was dark at 8:30 PM much earlier than it was three months ago, the air stayed relatively warm.

Here are some photos from a walk to and around Capitol Lake (aka FLOD, that is, fetid lake of doom—which it did smell like in places,) and then also a few others from the past week, including Percival Landing, and Coffee Strong—with information about how to support Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning, plus a letter to Governor Gregoire about why it is incorrect to cut social services and supports during a time of great need.

Have a great week!
From Berd

South Capitol Lake from Marathon and Heritage Park Pedestrian Bridge at Night September 2010
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http://www.flickr.com/groups/opal/pool/with/4469344204/