It has been a busy week. I hope to write more about life in the camp, where I have been staying for the last 5 nights. I am cross-posting the following from my other blog, Peace is Possible!:

The following is in response to a letter I received from someone in the local Olympia Occupy Wall Street solidarity encampment/ village:

Many of you know Scott Yoos. Scott is an active community member who has been around for quite a few years. Last week, Scott had an encounter with some local police officers that left him bruised and battered. After being beat up, Scott was hauled to jail, and now is being charged with crimes. There's an arraignment scheduled for next Wednesday, the 8th, at 9am at the city courthouse. On Tuesday, people will gather to picket in front of City Hall at 6pm, then have an opportunity to comment during the City Council Meeting (which starts at 7pm.) If you know Scott, then you know how harmless he is. Please support this effort to hold the police accountable for their behavior.

Warning graphic content:

The US Military Doesn't Want You to See

To think of the abuses that have occurred in Iraq. And to think that the war was unnecessary—unrelated to legitimate national security prerogative. There was no immediate threat of attack from Iraq. It is a war of choice. An act of aggression. A crime against the peace. An immoral and illegal occupation.

Why aren't more people infuriated about this.

I want to remind everyone again about the great coverage from Copenhagen provided by Democracy Now! - Please consider checking out the last two week's of shows.

Here's a segment from an interview with Vandana Shiva, by Amy Goodman, from a few days ago.

Democracy Now! December 14, 2009 with Vandana Shiva

VANDANA SHIVA: I think it’s time for the US to stop seeing itself as a donor and recognizing itself as a polluter, a polluter who must pay, a polluter who must pay compensation and pay their ecological debt. This is not about charity. This is about justice.

I had a great time celebrating the election at the Citizens for a Responsive Local Government party tonight: more about that later. Right now I want to share an interesting bicycling related interaction that I had on my way home.

The following story is made all the more interesting because of a conversation about bicycling I had at the Election Party. The person I was listening to had just returned from a visit to Europe, and she told a wonderful story about the friendliness toward bicycles in the area she visited. She told of not riding in a car for the whole duration of her stay. She said that car drivers customarily expressed an attitude and behavior of respect toward bicyclists. It sounded to me like car-drivers made a general point to give bicyclists the right of way.

Now, what a contrast that is to here in Olympia, where every time I get on my bicycle I feel like I have to fend for my life. And I worry about those cyclists amongst us who are less defensively minded. And I really strongly wish we had a safe environment to ride bikes around here.

After having a delicious cup of Sleeping Universe at SIZIZIS ($1 off tea on Tuesdays...) I stopped by the new City Hall in order to graph some photons (pictured). After that, la-dee-dah, I got on my bike and started riding East on 4th Ave toward home. I was on the left side of the street, and since I turn left off of 4th Avenue, I stayed in the left hand lane the whole way from Cherry Street until my turn-off. One-half block from where I turn off 4th (on Quince) I heard a loud voice behind me saying "Get in the bike lane." So I yelled back, "what am I supposed to do if I am turning left?"

Turns out the loud-voice was that of an Olympia Police Officer.

I was pissed. I mean I could understand it if was a private citizen. Someone just trying to give a guy a hard time - after all people do need ego reinforcement, and our society doesn't provide a whole lot of healthy ways for people to boost their self-esteem. But this was a cop.

So I stopped.