Show for March 30th, 2008

The Last Show

Guests will include TJ Johnson and Geov Parrish

Local/Regional:
* OlyBlog City Council Report: New fire station and new fire stuff on the ballot in August?, Emmett O'Connell via Olyblog.net
* Residents urge vote on rezoning Maytown site; change would prevent industrial use of property, Olympian
* Olympia council to vote on cleanup, Olympian
* Scientists: Puget Sound species in decline as pollution increases, Olympian/John Dodge

National/International:
* Countrywide CEO to get $10M, AP
* Gap in Life Expectancy Widens for the Nation, New York Times
* Dems Consider Mini-Convention to Pick Nominee, McClatchy Newspapers via TJ
* US Air Base Tied to Colombian Raid on FARC Camp, InterPress Service
* Watchdog Group Names Top Corporate Abusers, OneWorld.Net
* Dick Cheney (channeling Abe Lincoln) doesn't care what you think and other disturbing bits, Washington Post via TJ
* Iraq Implodes As Shia Fights Shia; another tragedy as the Shia majority turn on each other, Independent/UK
* Pakistan’s New Leaders Tell US: We Are No Longer Your Killing Field, Guardian/UK
* Giant Antarctic Ice Shelf Breaks Into The Sea, Guardian/UK

Show for March 23rd, 2008

Guests to include TJ Johnson

Local/Regional
* Residents wary of proposals to raise skyline height limits, Olympian

About 130 people, including some who hissed and booed when shown newly unveiled images of how downtown's skyline could change, gathered at a meeting Saturday about a proposal that could allow for taller buildings on the narrow strip of land between Capitol Lake and Budd Inlet.

Angela Ruiz of Olympia asked, "Why does the city think we would have changed our minds?" Ruiz was referring to a meeting nearly six years ago in which an overwhelming number of residents voiced their opposition to a City Council plan to raise building heights.

* Military shipment earns at least $400,000 for port; job was nearly 40 percent of revenue made by marine terminal in ’07, Olympian
* Money cleared for City Hall art, Olympian
* Council OKs raise in parks impact fee, Olympian

National/International
* Dalai Lama: ‘I am prepared to face China. I will go to Beijing’, Independent/UK
“As a Buddhist monk, it does not matter what they call me,” he said with a chuckle. “The outside world doesn’t believe that I am [a] devil,” the Dalai Lama.

Could the Chinese kidnap him and detain him while he is on his visit? I suppose that's probably not likely, considering that would look really bad before the Olympic games start.
* Global Warming Rushes Timing of Spring, AP
* Spring's sprung earlier, warmer; climate change puts the greening season ahead of schedule for many species in the Northwest, Seattle PI
* Grain Farmer Claims Moral Victory in Seed Battle Against Monsanto, The Globe and Mail (Canada)

Show for March 16th, 2008

Guests to include TJ Johnson, Geov Parrish

Local/Regional
* E-mails, then apology from Port of Tacoma; document request reveals private criticism of Olympia port, Olympian via TJ
* Lacey council stalls on rules for tent city, Olympian
* Camp Quixote to return to familiar territory this month, Olympian
* Complaints persist at Cooper Crest, Olympian
* Port to pay city $70,000 for protection, Olympian
* Old Griswold's Bldg: Structural work planned on burned-out building; future remains hazy for downtown Olympia structure, Olympian

National/International
* Bear Stearns Closes in on Deal To Sell Itself to J.P. Morgan, Wall Street Journal

On Friday, Bear sought and received emergency funding backed by the federal government. Both the Fed and J.P Morgan stepped in to keep Bear afloat following a severe cash crunch as investors moved to pull assets from the firm.

In stepping in, the Fed was trying to move aggressively to prevent Bear's crisis from spreading to the broader economy. The lifeline gave Bear access to cash for an initial period of 28 days -- but it was widely believed Bear would be sold within days to stop it from going under.

* Wall Street fears for next Great Depression, Independent/UK

Wall Street is bracing itself for another week of roller-coaster trading after more than $300bn (£150bn) was wiped off the US equity markets on Friday following the emergency funding package put together by the Federal Reserve and JPMorgan Chase to rescue Bear Stearns.
One UK economist warned that the world is now close to a 1930s-like Great Depression, while New York traders said they had never experienced such fear. The Fed's emergency funding procedure was first used in the Depression and has rarely been used since.

* US West Coast Braced For Ban on Salmon Fishing As Stocks Collapse, Independent/UK
* Collapse of Salmon Stocks Endangers Pacific Fishery, NY Times

“This is the largest collapse of salmon stocks in 40 years.”

* Winter Soldier: former soldiers, Marines share their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, broadcast live on KAOS, 89.3 FM, kaosradio.org
* President Weakens Espionage Oversight, Boston Globe via TJ
* New analysis finds alarming increase in expected growth of China CO2 emissions, UC Berkeley News via TJ
* It’s the ‘Oh Shit!’ Moment on Iran, Dave Lindorff via TJ
* British Teachers Told to Rewrite History of Iraq War; MoD accused of sending propaganda to schools, The Independent/UK via TJ
* US Public Losing Interest in Iraq As News Coverage Wanes: Report, APF via TJ
* Bush Intervened For Weaker Smog Rule, AP via Common Dreams
* Chinese Forces Say They’ve Secured Tibet’s Capital, NY Times
* Violence in Tibet as Monks Clash With the Police, NY Times
* China clamps down on unrest as riots spread across Tibet; 80 deaths reported in the capital, Lhasa, during major anti-Chinese protests. Buddhist monks take leading role in pro-independence demonstrations, Independent/UK
* Free Tibet Campaign New and Pictures
* China to take Olympic torch to peak of Mt. Everest (in Chinese-occupied Tibetan territory) as an Olympic stunt., video on YouTube by Free Tibet Campaign
* The Gormo-Lhasa Railway Project - one example of how China tries to tighten it's group of Tibet and the Tibetan people, Free Tibet Campaign

Thanks . . .

Put these all together and what do you get?

A pretty damn fun night! Thanks to KBill, JD and beer for their selfless support of No Talking Heads - these are the best engineers you could ever want to get your back; listen to them every Sunday at 6am on KAOS, 89.3FM for "Out on a Limb" - the best in alt-country.

And thanks to Gavin for being a media-active inspiration to us all!

Show for March 9th, 2008

Guests scheduled: TJ Johnson, Geov Parrish

New Works in Progress OUT - March 2008 Issue!

Local/Regional
* Local Sidewalk Discussion, OlyBlog.Net
* Tumwater Council OKs warehouse limits, Olympian
* Lawmakers' message to Air Force: 'Our national security is at risk now', Olympian
* Many unhappy with cluster subdivisions, Seattle PI
* Waters guilty of arson in UW case; accused lookout facing 5 to 20 years in prison, Seattle PI
* Street of Dreams homes burned, eco-terrorists suspected, Seattle PI
* Hunt is on: Who torched the Street of Dreams?, Seattle Times

Monday's fires, reported about 4 a.m., had reverberations hours later at the Tacoma trial of Briana Waters, 32, who testified last week that she had nothing to do with the UW arson. Her attorneys asked the judge for a mistrial, arguing that news of the fires could influence the jury. If convicted she faces 35 years in prison. Jurors were called in as a group by U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess and told there was a news story that could potentially influence their deliberations in the case. They were asked whether anyone felt they could no longer continue as jurors. No one spoke up, and Burgess denied the defense request.

* Olympia Port Militarization Resistance meeting attended by local pro-military supporter, Jeff Brigham; Jeff then posts his notes of meeting on OlyBlog.Net, interesting discussion takes place
- there are a lot of comments on this one but the discussion gets interesting in some spots.
* Report: Utah, Virginia and Washington tops in state government effectiveness

- The Pew Center on the States ranked the states based on how well they manage their budgets, staffs, infrastructure and information. The states with the highest scores have made accountability and innovation a priority, the report said . . . Washington, for example, holds public meetings led by the governor to monitor how its programs are working . . ."

* Lacey needs to pass law on homeless camps, Olympian Editorial
- Very suprising coming from the Daily Zero; I'm inquiring as to who at the Olympian wrote this since I'm very dubious if this came from Mike Oakland.
* Unitarians (OUUC) to host Camp Quixote for 2nd time

National/International
* Foreign Policy Increasingly Flows Through Pentagon, InterPress Service
* Bush explains veto of waterboarding bill, Boston Globe
We know Bush likes torture but what about Congress? Why isn't there a large enough group of Senators and House Reps to turn the veto around? The House vote was 222-199 and the Senate's was 51-45 . . .the president has rejected the Army Field Manual, which recognizes that harsh interrogation tactics elicit unreliable information . . .
* War profiteering by tax dodge, Boston Globe
* Top Iraq Contractor Skirts US Taxes Offshore; Shell companies in Cayman Islands allow KBR to avoid Medicare, Social Security deductions, Boston Globe via Common Dreams
* MIT expands financial aid, Boston Globe