Peeing Your Pants

Trey Smith

Back in June 2006, I shared with readers my thrill to see and go inside vintage World War II aircraft that had come to Hoquiam as part of the Wings of Freedom Tour. Glancing at the Aberdeen newspaper last night, I noticed that the tour has returned to Hoquiam.

The article in The Daily World focuses on the recollections of Hal Johnson, age 93, who piloted a B-17 Flying Fortress during the big war.

Johnson, who lives in Aberdeen, said piloting one was a terrifying experience, even after 800 hours flight time and 35 bombing missions. He flew out of England during the war, mostly over Germany.

“I was scared to death — petrified. Sixty below zero was the temperature outside, and it was just as cold inside,” he said. “Then you’d take a couple shots off the bow and you’d turn the heater off and sweat.”

One bombing mission saw 23 of 32 aircraft go down.

This is the part of the "war experience" that I feel is too often missing in the American glorification of war. Actors who portray war heroes aren't truly "petrified" and politicians who revel in our military process don't face the fear that soldiers and pilots do 24/7 on the battlefield.

It's been said that war is hell and, from my conversations with veterans, it seems that this is a massive understatement. More than one former soldier or pilot has told me that it was not uncommon at all for them to pee their pants out of abject fear and terror! Many relive this terror over and over again for the rest of their lives.

Whenever someone talks to me about the best way to honor veterans, the first thought that ALWAYS comes to my mind is a simple one: Stop making war. As long as nations -- particularly the United States -- keep attacking people, it is a guarantee that there will be more veterans and more fatalities. If war is hell, then you willingly are creating hell for tens of thousands of people or more.

In my mind, that is one of the worst legacies any of us could leave behind.

Global Warming, Maybe?

We've lived in South Bend for a little less than 1 1/2 years. Before that, we lived about the same amount of time just north of here in Aberdeen. During our relatively brief time on the southwest Washington coast, we've encounter 4 -- count 'em 4 -- historic weather events! For all those who think global warming is nothing more than liberal claptrap, I suggest you move to my region. After living here a year or two, I'm confident you'll sing a far different tune.

During our first year in Aberdeen (Spring 2006), we had street flooding that locals told me was far greater than anyone could ever remember. Franklin Park -- just down the street from our rented house -- is a sunken park used for rain catchment in the rainy season, October - March. While there had been several occasions in which the park almost filled up completely, no one could remember a time when it had overflowed into the surrounding neighborhood. And that's what it did!

Since moving to South Bend in August 2007, we've experienced the greatest wind storm on record (December 2007 -- gusts to 150 mph), the greatest snowfall on record (December 2008 -- nearly 18" over several days) and the greatest one day rainfall record (today -- currently at 10.13" and still climbing).

If these various weather events occurred over a 10 or 20 year period, then I might agree that each represents the typical ebb and flow of climatic patterns in this region. But they have each happened within less than 2 years. What are the odds of that?

Me thinks the odds are infinitesimally small, if not for GLOBAL WARMING. Unfortunately, it's beginning to look like these sorts of weather events are becoming the norm, not the exception.

Who knows? The way things are going the next weather event on our calendar may be a major tornado (we almost NEVER have tornadoes here) or a tsunami!!!

My Little Friend

I've spent quite a little space here discussing our dog Scruffy's untimely death, but, before I put the topic to bed, I realized I should write a few words about how she came to be a part of our family and what she was like when alive!

My wife & I were working as volunteers at an animal rescue organization -- PAWS -- in Aberdeen. One day a women brought in a dirty little dog. She said that they had a new dog and didn't need this one anymore -- talk about a callous perspective! She signed the necessary form, then lit out the door. She didn't even bother to say goodbye!

The little dog (who looked sort of like Benji -- a mutt with some Cairn Terrier in her) was placed in a carrier in the front office. She was trembling terribly as it was obvious that she was terrified beyond belief. When I took a break from cleaning out cages, I came out into the office to visit the frightened pooch. I let her out of the carrier and took her with me into one of the back rooms.

It took a little bit of coaxing, but I could tell that she was eager for some attention and affection. I immediately took to her as she seemed to have a serene personality and my wife agreed.

As it was coming to the end of the day, one of the other volunteers started loading up the dogs in the PAWS van to take them to Central Park -- while the cats stayed on site, there wasn't enough room to house the dogs. Most of the dogs were big and several were very rambunctious. I was worried that little Scruffy might have a coronary on the 15 minute ride, so I asked if we could take her home with us overnight. The director said that was okay.

My wife was a bit nervous about this arrangement because she KNOWS that I have a tendency to become very attached to things and beings quickly. Of course, she had a bona fide reason to be concerned!! Once Scruffy came home with us, she never left. :-) Though, in the end, my wife agreed readily that she should stay.

Because of past abuse and/or neglect, Scruffy was starved for love and stability. Since I was the first person to offer this, I became her God! From day one, she followed me wherever I went.

She loved to go on car rides with one caveat. I had to go too. There were many times when only Della was going someplace and Scruffy would refuse to get in the car if I wasn't getting in too. If I happened to go someplace and she wasn't invited to go (which was very infrequent), she let me know of her disappointment the moment I stepped foot in the house! She would sing a song of woe to me and gently nip at my hands.

In fact, she was an accomplished singer. She would sing when she was excited or happy and, sometimes, for no apparent reason at all.

When I was in a lot of pain from my fibromyalgia -- a frequent occurrence -- she was always there to try to cheer me up. She loved to sit on my lap in my living room chair, sit at (or on!) my feet in my computer room or find her favorite spot next to my sleeping mat (note: I don't sleep in a bed).

While I had to walk our other two dogs on their leashes, Scruffy rarely wore a leash. She didn't need one as she stayed very close and, if she strayed a bit, all I had to do was call her name softly and she was right back on my heel.

All in all, she was the most well-behaved dog I've ever had as a member of my family. I think I had to scold her only twice in 2 1/2 years. I've written here before that I spend a great deal of my time alone -- a common AS characteristic -- but, with her passing, I realize that statement wasn't entirely true. No, I spend a great deal of my time without direct human contact, but not alone because Scruffy was usually with me.

Now that she's gone, I am indeed spending a lot of my time alone. Maybe that's why I miss her so much right now.

Siphoning Gas!

For the third time in less than two months, gas has been siphoned from our truck leaving our gas gage on empty. The first time it happened I chalked it up to youthful pranksters. I didn't think much of it, but it's happened twice more. After the second such theft, my wife and I bought a locking gas cap; it turned out not to make ANY difference at all!

After the first incident, we've phoned the Aberdeen Police Department to report these thefts and the local police response has been negligible. Both times we've been assigned a case number and nothing else.

I realize we have a small police force and there are bigger fish to fry, but I was rather dumbfounded that the police wouldn't stop by to do something as small as dust the gas cap for prints. What if they catch a gas thief in the coming weeks? If they had fingerprints from numerous other such thefts, wouldn't they be able to match up the thief with a lot of crimes and thereby strengthen their case?

I suppose I'm more than a little irritated because, during the week of the port protests, I seemed to pick up a police tail every time I left my home. It seemed like within two or three blocks I'd find an Aberdeen police cruiser following me around town to such exciting destinations like the grocery store or the bank!

So how is it that the police had time for me when I wasn't doing ANYTHING illegal -- unless you consider free speech to be a criminal offense -- yet, when I'm the victim of a bona fide crime, they can't be bothered?

Me & My "Shadows"

We seem to live in a world in which almost everybody wants to be famous. That's about the only explanation that makes any sense out of the recent spate of so-called "reality" shows, talent contests and Jerry Springer-like clones. People from all walks of life want their moment "in the sun" and they'll try to finagle a way to get their cute little mug on camera by any means possible, be it for something positive OR negative.

I've never desired to be famous. I actually enjoy being just another anonymous face in the crowd. I can putter about my business in my own time on my own terms.

Over the past few days, however, I've seemed to have developed a following -- literally. It seems like every time I go anywhere in my truck, I soon find a member of the Aberdeen police department on my tail. They follow me for several blocks and, on several occasions, almost all the way home.

If I drive to the port, they follow me all over the place. If I'm just moseying around town -- like to the gas station or the store -- I have almost always had an "escort" for some of the time. Today, when I stopped at the bank, I came out to find one of my favorite unmarked cars waiting in the parking lot.

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but it does seem like everywhere I go these past few days, there they are.

In the end, it doesn't make that much difference. I'm not up to anything secretive. I'm not traveling to clandestine meetings. I'm just doing what I usually do each day with my little tag alongs tagging along behind.

So guys, if you want to keep playing this weird game, go ahead. After awhile, I think you're going to become very bored because I'm not headed any place special. I'm just making my rounds.

Books & Their Covers

Amongst the legions of peace activists who participated in yesterday's march, there were around 6 or 7 young people who wore bandannas over their faces and some even worse sunglasses. The police kept a very close eye on this group. Why? Solely because of the way they dressed.

When I was young, my parents taught me a maxim that I'm certain most every other parent teaches their children as well -- You shouldn't judge a book by its cover. In other words, you shouldn't allow superficial observations to color your ultimate judgment of a person or situation. Yet this is precisely what the police were/are doing.

Not jumping to quick conclusions seems to be a hard task for all of us. We take a quick glance at a particular circumstance and immediately formulate an opinion. There's nothing wrong with this UNLESS we allow our partial formulation to solidify into a hardcore final analysis. By doing this, we often cast aside pertinent information and further observation that might very well change our overall attitude about our snap judgment.

I've met many, many people who I initially disliked. The first time I encountered one of my best friends from Salem, he was berating a candidate that I served as campaign manager for. He ranted, raved and fumed about what he thought was wrong with the focus of the campaign message.

If I had allowed my knee jerk reaction to govern my final view of this man, I never would have gotten to know him. I never would have discovered his wry sense of humor, his devotion to his wife and children, his commitment to education (he's a history prof at Willamette University) or his dedication to public service. In essence, someone who has turned out to be one of my dearest friends would have remained a stranger to me!

As our march and rally wound down yesterday, I went up to thank each of these youth for their participation. With bandannas removed, I saw youthful faces not unlike countless other faces in the crowd. These young people were no more a threat to "public order" than any other attendee there.

Still, I will admit to the world that there was a time not so long ago when I made the same mistake as the police. Maybe it's a generational thing. As an organizer with Oregon PeaceWorks, I worked with a lot of the so-called street youth in Salem.

I was initially put off by all these young people with weirdly colored hair, dog collars around their necks, ball bearings stapled in their tongues and piercings and body jewelry adorning almost every inch of their bodies. Fortunately, I was able to cast off my "older guy" prejudices and work with these kids on a daily basis. In time, I realized how silly my snap judgments were. Their piercings were nothing more revolutionary than the long hair of my youth.

In this same vein, bandannas covering one's face both is a social and political statement. No more, no less. It certainly doesn't mean that such individuals are prone to violence anymore than anyone else is.

I'm glad these young people came to help us in this protest and I will welcome them with open arms at any future such event. I also hope that local law enforcement personnel will try to remember the lesson they too learned so many years ago as children -- Don't judge a book by its cover.

Thoughts On Why

Throughout the past few days, the one question many people have asked me is why? Why are you people protesting? What is it you hope to accomplish? Do you genuinely think that a few people with signs marching down our streets will cause the armed forces to quit shipping supplies to Iraq?

We protest simply because it's the right thing to do. If you believe that some action or activity is immoral and/or unethical, you have a responsibility to speak up. The oft repeated phrase is true -- Your silence will not protect you!

Protesting takes on even more importance if you are a person who believes in the worth and value of nonviolence. As a pacifist, I would not countenance storming the port and blocking the shipment with the point of a gun. It would wholly negate our mantra of nonviolent action. We would soon become the very thing we so adamantly oppose.

The act of protest most likely will not halt this specific shipment, but it still serves a most important purpose. As more and more people see their friends and neighbors in the streets, it may well motivate them to get off their butts to join us. At some point, with so many people protesting, it will become politically untenable to continue to support the continuation of this infernal war.

In the end, however, I bet my reason for protesting may be a lot different than many of my fellow comrades. I believe that a person should stand up for what they believe in REGARDLESS of whether or not they believe their actions will have much of a public impact.

In other words, even if I KNEW that these protests wouldn't change a damn thing -- now or in the future -- I'd still be out there. I'm not one of these people who believes that one should only fight potential winning battles; often times the losing battles are just as important.

If you know in your heart that something is wrong and yet you sit by saying nothing, you end up bankrupting your own soul. I firmly believe in the sentiment expressed during much of the civil rights movement of the 60s: If you're don't try to be part of the solution, then you indeed become part of the problem.

Commendations to the Boys in Blue

It had the makings of a really bad scene. On one side of the road was a line of police officers. On the other side of the road stood about 50 anti-war protesters. The police announced that the protesters had 2 minutes to disperse (because they were not in the designated free speech area) or they would be pepper sprayed. Nobody moved and the 2 minutes came and went. What would happen now?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

No one was pepper sprayed. No one was arrested. There was no physical confrontation. The protesters stood their ground peaceably and the police -- in a great example of wisdom -- realized nothing would be gained by attacking the crowd.

I know that a lot of people in our movement have a very negative view of the police. In their eyes, nothing the police do or don't do ever is satisfactory. While I certainly agree that I often vehemently disagree with many police actions, in this case, we need to commend the men in blue.

Our local law enforcement exercised great restraint. They didn't allow their emotions to get the best of them. They kept a cool head and turned a potentiality explosive situation into a very manageable and positive one.

I must say that one thing we often forget is that police officers are people too. I had a really nice chat with a Hoquiam officer before the march got underway. He said that a lot of the local officers are with us in spirit, that many of them oppose the war as much as we do. Unfortunately, they have the kind of job in which they often have to swallow their personal opinions.

I am not naive. While today was a great day and things turned out well, the same may not be true tomorrow. And while I genuinely commend people like Aberdeen Capt. Dave Johnson and Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Meyers for the way they handled the overall situation, we still have had several reports of attempts at police harassment and intimidation.

I'm just thankful that cooler heads prevailed and a tense situation did not blow up into a major fiasco.

Monday's Event
We will gather at 7:00 p.m. at the Aberdeen City Hall, 200 E Market St, for a 1 hour or so vigil. There is ample on street parking around City Hall.

I'm sure we will talk about what further actions to take as long as the ship remains docked at Terminal 4 at the Port of Grays Harbor.

Twelve Hours

In the overall scheme of things, 12 hours is like one grain of sand on an endless beach. It's a speck on the celestial radar screen. It's one raindrop in a barrel overflowing with water. Twelve hours ain't nothing...

...unless one speaks of a day. At this juncture, 12 hours takes on far greater significance. Twelve hours is one-half of one calendar day. In the workaday world, 12 hours takes on even greater meaning; it's one and one-half days of work.

For those people who toil away for a 40-hour work week, 3 12-hour shifts almost is comparable to 5 8-hour days. Five consecutive 12-hour shifts is the equivalent of 7.5 regular 8-hour shifts and, for most people, those 7.5 days are broken up by a 2-day weekend.

The reason I'm focusing this entry on the number 12 is that, according to the assigned police officers I'm working with regarding the ongoing protests here in Aberdeen, all local law enforcement are working 12-hour shifts with all vacations and leave put on hold.

Just about anyone can put in a 12-hour day without it causing too much of a problem. In fact, if called upon by extraordinary circumstances, most of us could work 2 or 3 such shifts without too much ill wear. However, once most people pass the 3 day mark, 12-hour shifts begin to take a toll.

When people are overworked -- particularly when it involves high pressure situations -- nerves begin to fray. People begin to get crabby and crotchety. Little frustrations that normally would go unnoticed get magnified. Simple disagreements can blow up into major imbroglios. And overworked individuals simply don't think as clearly and rationally as well rested ones.

It is for this reason alone that I hope the current situation at the Port of Grays Harbor doesn't drag on for several more days. Our small town is filled with a battalion of overworked and overstressed men (I haven't seen ANY female officers in several days) who happen to have a small arsenal of weaponry attached to their belts.

I don't know about you, but I don't think that frayed nerves and loaded guns are a good mixture. I realize that law enforcement personnel receive lots of training on how to deal with situations of this manner, but human nature tends to take precedence and it's these elements of basic human nature that worry me.

We've got probably 100 or more officers who have been told repeatedly to expect trouble. They've been putting in long hours day after day and the "trouble" they are so prepared to encounter hasn't materialized at all. Almost any person will find themselves in a difficult personal situation if they are all keyed up for a confrontation and then nothing happens.

You combine this overarching anxiety with a lack of sleep/down time and you've created a volatile mixture, one that could explode over the tiniest perceived incident.

Today will, undoubtedly, be a most interesting day. I hope it's not an explosive one.

A "Slow" News Day

As I was standing amongst a crowd of about 3 dozen demonstrators talking to a reporter from the local newspaper, she asked me if we were going to DO something. "Would you like us to storm the fence around the port," I asked. Smiling, she said that would be okay. It would make the protest more newsworthy.

Needless to say, we didn't storm the fence. We stood near the side of the road with our signs and banners in hand.

For the last two days the police have made an emphatic point that we must stay within the bounds of the public demonstration area. Of course, as our marchers neared this area, what do you think they found? Counter-demonstrators who were NOT in the designated area. No, they were lined up on the shoulder of the road.

Despite the overwhelming police presence, it appeared the police were allowing the pro-war faction to avoid the zone. To be fair, once we arrived, many of our folks took to the shoulder as well and we were not ordered to move. So, I can't complain that we were treated unfairly.

All in all, it was a good event. In keeping with the location and time of year, it drizzled for most of the afternoon. However, if you live in western Washington, you don't think twice about a little -- or a lot -- of rain.

Initially, I thought the police were doing a better job with not flooding the area with officers and troopers. Unlike Friday's event, we weren't continually surrounded by men carrying loaded guns. However, as I left the field to head towards my truck, I discovered that an entire fleet of state troopers were stationed behind a building next to the field. Still seems like gross overkill to me.

Sunday's Event
We will again meet at 2:00 p.m. at the 28th Street landing in Hoquiam. We're expecting a rather large contingent from out of town. Because of the expected larger numbers, many of you will be directed to the overflow parking area.

By the way, if haven't heard, the ship has docked and we expect that the loading of the military supplies has commenced.

My Other Two Fears

As noted below, the huge police buildup in Aberdeen makes this peace activist very, very nervous. However, I don't want to give readers the impression that I believe that the police are the ONLY ones to blow situations out of proportion. There are other groups that worry me just as much -- Counter demonstrators and violently-inclined anarchists.

There always seems to be at least one group of individuals who believe fervently in the cherished right of free speech -- that is, free speech that agrees with their stated point of view! If you happen to hold an opinion that does not meet their favor, then your free speech is of absolutely no concern to them!

Since those who support this immoral war don't want to hear from ANYONE who disagrees with them, many are apt to create a situation that can have a propensity to turn violent. They will try to use all forms of intimidation to provoke a reaction and, if someone gets fed up with their hate-filled message and even ends up yelling back obscenities at them, many either will resort to fisticuffs or go running off to the police swearing they've been threatened with severe bodily harm.

In either case, the police are prone to move forward in an aggressive manner and, at that point, all bets are off. A lot of peaceable people will try to protect themselves when someone is swinging a nightstick at them and the police will often perceive these instinctual movements as further evidence that the nonviolent person is attempting some act of violence.

The other group of individuals that really worries me are those violently-prone individuals who show up at peaceful rallies and put others in harm's way to satisfy their own twisted personal agendas. While I happen to be a pacifist, I would at least be lukewarm toward these sorts of individuals if they didn't use peaceniks as their human shields.

What happens too often is that a group of the violently-prone will start throwing objects or destroying property on the edge of a peaceful march or rally. When the police move forward to halt these activities, the instigators dart into the crowd which often makes it next to impossible for law enforcement to figure out who's guilty and who's innocent.

This is one kind of situation in which I bet I differ from many of my compatriots. While I do agree that the police tend to be overly aggressive in these sorts of circumstances, I concurrently understand the predicament they are placed in.

The destructive actions have stimulated their adrenalin. Their job is to stop the behavior. Since they can't be sure who is at fault in this massive sea of people, it's very hard to discriminate between the peace-minded and the violently-prone. It's almost inevitable that many innocents will be caught up in a frenzy of anger-fueled chaos.

So, if you have an idea that you want to attend our nonviolent rallies in order to turn them into violent melees, I have 2 words for you: STAY HOME. Don't play the coward's role by utilizing the conscious strategy of using peaceable people as your human shields.

If you're bound and determined to hold an event that includes a violent confrontation with the police, do it on your own time, not ours.

A Police State of Mind

Driving around Aberdeen, one might think we were gearing up for a Hell's Angels convention! At almost every turn, there's a police car. Not only are there a lot of them, but they come from all over the place. Aside from more unmarked cars than I can ever remember seeing in one locale at any given time in my life, I have seen patrol cars from Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Ocean Shores, Montesano, Elma, Grays Harbor County and the State Patrol.

I've even heard that there are some law enforcement people here from as far away as Tacoma and Seattle!!

Tonight, after picking up my wife from work, we drove over to the "designated" free speech area, if for no other reason than to see if the police presence was as high at night as it has been during the day. As soon as we turned onto the Port Industrial Road, we found an Aberdeen patrol on our tail.

It followed us as we made the turn into the Pride Oil driveway that passes by our designated marsh. As we slowed, so did the patrol car. We looped around to the nearest street to go back down the Industrial Port Rd from whence we came. The patrol car was still behind us. In fact, it followed us almost all the way home, only turning off one block from our house.

And why is this armada of law enforcement circling in and throughout this rural small town? Because of scary peaceful protesters.

(At Friday's rally, I'm not altogether certain which there was more of -- protesters or police officers.)

Having this many cops in one place at one time makes me more than a tad bit nervous. Whenever you have a large group of people EXPECTING trouble, they are more likely to be the ones to cause it. I don't say this because of inherent dislike for the police; it's human nature.

I'm fairly certain that all the various officers have been warned that big time trouble is brewing. Since police officers are human beings just like the rest of us, waiting for this supposed inevitability to happen assuredly is breeding much anxiety within their ranks.

It's very much like having a battalion of soldiers with itchy trigger fingers. As soon as one sees anything they perceive to be out of the ordinary (even though their perception is highly colored by their unreal sense of anticipation), the natural impulse is to shoot first and ask questions later.

Consequently, history has well documented that the police tend to overreact to nonexistent threats at these kinds of peaceful rallies and generate a self-fulfilling prophecy. They expect violence and, when it doesn't occur as expected, their anxiety causes them to react violently to a nonviolent circumstance and this causes the kind of violence they expected to occur in the first place.

The worst part of this kind of scenario is that, even if the police KNOW that a particular situation was instigated by a member within their own ranks, it's a natural human tendency to come to the aid of your own. So, some hot-headed officer turns a small incident into a major brouhaha and the rest of his comrades will rush to his aid with teargas, tasers and nightsticks ready.

This is my greatest fear and one of the chief reasons I've volunteered to serve as our police liaison.

Saturday's Event
People are asked to converge at the Port of Grays Harbor Public Viewing Tower around 2 p.m. This area can be reached by traveling through Aberdeen to Hoquiam and turning south on 28th Street. Go straight until you run out of road. There is a small gravel parking area there.

Free Speech & Hip Waders

I'm sure that, if you spoke to the staff or commissioners from the Port of Grays Harbor, each would tell you how much they value the exercise of free speech. It's one of those hallowed American rights. It's so important that, they believe, they have gone out of their way to create a free speech "zone" for area residents coming to the Port to protest against impending military shipments to Iraq.

On a superficial level, they would be correct. The designated patch of earth is located across the street from the service road to Terminal 4, the terminal the US military will use to load the shipments. It's in a high visibility area, since it is on the main street that runs through the Port.

If you look a little deeper than the superficial sheen on the top, you will quickly discover that free speech must not be that important to them. The designated zone is in a marsh! What appears to be a level and freshly mowed field ACTUALLY is a choppy piece of land with a lot of standing water throughout.

Working in cahoots with the City of Aberdeen, the Port is trying to make it as difficult as possible for people to gather in the marsh! No Parking signs fill all the side streets within the Port as well as several blocks deep in the surrounding neighborhoods.

I live about 1 mile from the Port and these No Parking signs start only 2 blocks or so from my house. They run all the way down Industrial Port Road to the Hoquiam city limits!

While Grays Harbor residents are treated to a very good county-wide transit system, only 5 buses go to the Port area and none travel that route on the weekends.

So, while we are being granted the right to exercise our constitutional rights in an area of high visibility across from Terminal 4, the zone itself is situated on a marshy piece of real estate that is difficult to get to.

It makes one wonder how differently this situation would be dealt with if a group of people wanted to hold a rally cheering the military equipment being brought in. It wouldn't surprise me if the Port arranged for shuttle buses and housed the rally at the Port offices, replete with refreshments!

Friday Event
If you'd like to come take part in an exercise in free speech, we will hold a vigil today at Zelasko Park from 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. The park is located next to the Wishkah River in the east end of Aberdeen.

If you're coming from the west, once you pass Burger King, you will cross a bridge over the Wishkah River. The park is immediately to your left.

Section 8.08.020

Free speech ain't what it used to be. I stopped by the local police department yesterday to find out where our fine law enforcement people plan to ALLOW protesters to exercise our cherished first amendment rights. They are providing us with a freshly mowed field. What do they think we are? Grazing cattle?

After my little visit downtown, I came home to my computer to take a look at the City of Aberdeen's Municipal Code. Under Section 8.08.020, I found the following:

Public nuisance defined.
Every act unlawfully done and every omission to perform a duty, which act or omission:
A. Annoys, injures or endangers the safety, health, comfort or repose of the citizens of the city;

That's right! You can be arrested for being annoying.

Well, the fact that the military-industrial complex has decided to use my town to ship weapons of destruction to far off lands really ticks me off. In fact, I dare say it ANNOYS me. Do you think that if I tell a local police officer that I'm annoyed, they will go arrest the military?

The War Comes to Aberdeen

When you live in a small town off the beaten path, you watch the world's events unfold from afar. You pay attention to what's going on, but you feel insulated from the effects and ramifications. You continue to feel this way until, one day, the world theater is plopped down into your corner of cornucopia and you realize that all these faraway headlines are now a reality where you live.

Because of the vigilance and dedication of the Port Resistance Movements in Olympia & Tacoma, the military has decided they don't want to mess with those folks anymore. No, they want to find more docile environs from which to ship their machinations of death and destruction.

Since the Port of Grays Harbor is not that far away from Ft. Lewis AND Grays Harbor County is much more sparsely populated than Olympia or Tacoma, they've decided that Aberdeen is now their new home for military shipments.

Here's today's a portion of today's lead article from The Daily World,

At least 24 military helicopters in groups of eight landed at the Port of Grays Harbor Tuesday as part of the first wave of cargo from Fort Lewis bound for Iraq.

Commercial trucks believed to be carrying military equipment also arrived for staging at Port facilities near The Home Deport in Aberdeen. The choppers, which were quickly secured and prepared for shipment after they landed, and equipment are connected to the 4-6 Air Cavalry Squadron that is being deployed to Iraq.

No details were released on how long the equipment would be stored at the Port or when the ship that will likely transport the cargo to Iraq will dock.

What's Left?

When you live in a rural community -- one that's off the beaten path -- things that big city folks take for granted are really neat. While talk radio seems to permeate the dial in most of the rest of the civilized world, there's not much of it in soggy 'ol Aberdeen. What little we have falls squarely to the right...until now!

Dr. Gary Murrell, a history instructor at Grays Harbor College, has launched a weekday left wing talk show here in the harbor. What's Left? airs from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. on KAYO-FM 94.3 (in Aberdeen) and 92.9 in the Olympia area.

Check it out!

Living in a Black Hole

I live in a black hole. While there seems to be a lot of doppler radar sites throughout the northwest in populated areas (e.g., Seattle, Vancouver,Portland, Eugene, etc.), The Daily World reports that this radar coverage doesn't seem to extend to most of the Washington and Oregon coast.

The lack of adequate radar coverage genuinely affects one aspect of living far from the urban corridor -- our weather forecasts are a lot more hit and miss than in other places. In fact, we recently learned that much of the forecasting for Washington's coast is nothing more than guess work.

When my wife & I first moved to Aberdeen in December 2005, we noticed on the Weather Channel that rain never seems to show up on radar. Yes, it could be raining buckets here, yet, if you looked at the radar either on the Weather Channel website or on TV, Grays Harbor appeared to be precipitation free.

It seems that the radar that purports to cover Grays Harbor & Pacific Counties actually is the Camano Island radar and said radar genuinely doesn't extend this far. It is blocked by the Olympic Mountains!

Of course, for most months of the year, it's not that big of a deal. From October through March, it rains. It rains a lot and it rains often. In fact, during the winter, it rains most everyday.

You don't need doppler radar nor to be a weatherman to figure that out.

The Low Ethics Leader

I live in a town of 16,000 predominated by Big Box stores. Want coffee? We've got 3 or 4 Starbucks outlets. Need hardware or home improvement supplies. Go to The Home Depot. Need almost anything else? Visit our "friendly" Walmart, the low ethics leader.

In fact, if you enter Aberdeen coming from the east, the first businesses you'll see on cresting the hill outside of town are chain stores. Yes, your first view of our fair city will include the following: McDonald's, Blockbuster, Taco Bell, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Staples, Ross, Dairy Queen, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Skipper's, Baskin-Robbins, and, of course, the big spiffy Walmart.

I can't even begin to count the number of times I've been at a local establishment looking for some item and the clerk (usually a high school student) says to me, "We don't carry that. You should go to Walmart." I then explain that I refuse to shop at Sprawl-Mart and they look at me like I'm from outer space.

The next time this happens, I'm going to be better prepared. I'm going to print a lot of copies of Jim Hightower's recent article, "Wal-Mart's New Marketing Strategy Hides Dirty Practices" and keep them in my truck. I can hand them out to the ignorant.

Here's a snippet from the article (which I hope will entice you to read the whole disgusting piece).

Beneath Wal-Mart's new cosmetic sheen lies the same old ugliness. The average employee toils for $8.23 an hour -- a poverty-level wage that amounts to about $16,700 a year gross (in both meanings of that word). Many don't even make that, for Wal-Mart defines "fulltime" work as 36 hours a week rather than the usual 40. It's common for bosses to hold workers to under 24 hours a week, which reduces gross annual income to only about $10,000.

Contrast this miserliness with the company's lavishing of wealth on those at the top. CEO H. Lee Scott, Jr., had a base salary of $1.3 million in 2005, plus $4 million in "incentive" payments, as well as stock and other compensation that raised his total haul to $17.5 million (including more than $100,000 for personal use of corporate jets). Also, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton's widow and their four children, who collectively hold 40 percent of the corporation's stock, are living grandly. At present, they are sitting on personal nest-eggs of $15.5 billion each, putting all five of them among America's 11 richest people.

Meanwhile, fewer than half of Wal-Mart's employees get any healthcare benefits at all -- and those who do must pay 41 percent of the cost for a lousy plan that carries a $3,000 deductible per family plus a $300 pharmacy deductible and a $1,000 in-patient hospital deductible. Honchos at headquarters keep insisting that the health benefits they offer are "competitive" with other retailers. But look no further than Costco, where a good plan covers 80 percent of employees and the company pays 90 percent of the premiums.

All Wet

When my wife & I moved to Aberdeen from Salem, people told us to be prepared for more rain. That was quite okay with us as we like the rain. Still, this year has been phenomenal. Eighty inches per year is not atypical, but this year -- even for soggy Aberdeen -- it seems we've set a waterlogged record.

We passed 100" for the year two days ago! That's a lot of rain, folks. And there's still a few days and at least one more storm to go.

The stats themselves mean nothing, but it certainly does illustrate how a difference in climate can alter one's outlook or daily routine. When we lived in Pendleton, 14 inches of precipitation for the year -- most of that in the form of snow -- was considered a deluge. We received nearly that amount -- almost ALL in rain -- last January.

Fire & Rain...And Oil

As a species, human beings are quite odd. We spend our lives trying to control everything around us and yet, the few things we're are able to genuinely control are quite insignificant. All the big stuff is truly beyond us.

In Southern California, there have been several major fires as of late. What the folks down there would do for just a scant amount of rain!

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are being inundated with a deluge of precipitation. For example, in the Aberdeen area, 12.5" of rain is the average for the month of November. We exceeded our average on November 11 (13.07"). We now find ourselves less than 4" away from the [recorded] record for the month.

Now, if we humans could control things as we like to think, we would dispatch some of our rain down south to quell the raging fires. Of course, we don't have that power, so southern Cal will continue to burn, while we paddle through the streets to work.

Since we really have no control over the things that truly matter, we seek to control lesser things...like the price of oil.

Has anyone else noticed that, since Election Day has come and gone, the price of gas has magically started to climb? In the past week, the price has risen 11 cents which reverses the pattern for the previous 6 months.

Before the election, many wondered if the appreciable decline in gas prices was the Republican's way of trying to dupe voters into believing our economy was turning around. When many suggested such a gambit, conservatives got all in a huff and denied the connection. The connection seems really clear now!