The scene looking Eastward from downtown at a few minutes before 7 pm Monday evening:

The sky looked eerie. Very dark clouds in the East constrasted with bright setting Sun in the West. The storm system seemed to move from about NNE to SSW. There was thunder.

The day before, on Sunday, there was a vigorous small hail downpour. At least one person reported damage to a skylight in the house where they live.

Wild spring weather. What do you think?

Going by Capitol Lake at about 2pm today I saw the water level just about as high as I have ever seen it in 10 years.

Here's what the view of the 5th Avenue dam looked like from the 4th Avenue bridge at a little after 4pm:

Several recent videos on the OO Youtube account:

Woodchips?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLMwIQ-7I58

Action Camp Weekend Snippet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJkMy8khZVY

Pallet Import!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw-l1Xf4Bo4

OO "Evict the Evictors":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwCg_jN8hAI

PBJ and Honey Jail Support:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inaMgCG_ngg

D L Williamson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kuLBqca3Y4

Walmart "Mic-check":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA1gCSpcuKE

Thanks to Z Camp, Pizza T, Prezident O, and everyone else involved in the making of this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyEUlz7UCQ8

More videos on the way for your occupy pleasure...

Olympia Occupy Solidarity!

Force Science sends me emails.  Some of them are downright creepy.

Finally, check out this clever video on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImMBiqM62jk

Using a cartoon format, it's an easy-to-follow description of the human amygdala (the so-called "Lizard Brain"), which "regulates emotions and activates the body's earliest warning system for danger so survival actions can follow."

In particular, the narration explains how hypervigilance fostered by the impact of police training and working conditions on the amygdala can affect officer interactions on the street both positively and negatively.

"Our hope is that this video will help the public and officers alike better understand some of the police behavior they may see on TV or encounter first-hand," says Jack Colwell who, with his long-time training partner Charles "Chip" Huth, was the creative force behind the production. Huth is a certified Force Science Analyst and together they've also written the book Unleashing the Power of Unconditional Respect: Transforming Law Enforcement and Police Training.

At the moment, the video is available only on YouTube but can be downloaded for roll call training, Colwell says. Eventually he and Huth hope to have a system in place that will allow them to search Twitter and other social media for people who are expressing concerns about law enforcement experiences.

I made this playlist on Christmas Eve. It's nine songs by Joni Mitchell, REM, Culture Club, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Nick Cave, Grateful Dead, Joanna Newsom, and Kimya Dawson.

I have been listening to songs from this album, Yankee Foxtrot Hotel by Wilco, a lot the past couple days. Here's one I like.

Wilco: War on War

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbKsgaXQy2k

I found this video here.

Peace is Possible!

[updated with segment from Democracy Now! and an additional comment.]

Regarding the discussion about Capitol Lake, it seems to me that the lake is unnatural and environmentally destructive. It seems to make sense that the correct way forward - the way that it ecologically correct (and therefore in the long-run also economically correct and socially just) - is to restore function to the natural estuarine ecosystem.

[Additional comment:
I think it's understandable, considering how industrialization has divorced us, as a society, from the natural world, how it would be difficult to imagine living - to imagine life - in an environment that comes complete within healthy ecosystems, to imagine life in a stable and productive ecosystem, an ecosystem that is teeming with life. It's a real contradiction with our present reality of ecological disease; at one time this area teemed with wildlife. For my part, I believe that to restore ecological health, vibrancy and vitality is an ideal to strive for.

Democracy Now! video below]

The following is a three part video series containing a speech by Mari Margil about law, environmental protection and regulation, and corporate power. After the videos there is an excerpt from and a link to a related article by Mari Margil from Yes! Magazine.

Video Description: The associate director of the Community Environmental Defense Fund (CELDF) describes the inspiring, groundbreaking work she and CELDF are doing to recognize Rights of Nature in law in both the U.S. and Ecuador, which recently became the worlds first nation to enshrine such rights in its constitution.

Part One:

Mari Margil Part 1 (of 3)

See Parts Two and Three

FOX News Isn't News. It's a Political Operation.

I think this is a great video. Make sure to check out the part (at about 1:30) where Paul Weyrich says, "...our leverage in the elections...goes up as the voting populous goes down."

High voter turn out elections favor populist - environmental, progressive, common interest causes. So please, make sure to get your ballot in!