Selections from Occupy Seattle Weekly Issue 3

Issue 3, 11.20.11 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Effective Marches, the Messy Business of Camping, and the Pepper-Sprayed Face of Dorli Rainey

The Good

This week was filled with fantastic events and demonstrations:  

• Tuesday night’s extensively pepper-sprayed and photographed march in Belltown
• Dr. Cornel West’s rousing speech at camp on Wednesday
• Thursday’s labor-led march and occupation of the University Bridge
• Fridays’ march to the Police Accountability Office with speeches by two of Seattle’s new pepper spray icons, 84-year old Dorli Rainey and Reverend Rich Lang
• and the “Rise and Decolonize, Let’s Get Free!” concert and rally hosted by Hip Hop Occupies in Westlake Park on Friday night.

These peaceful rallies and direct actions kept Occupiers and allies motivated and square in the media limelight. Keep it up everybody!

The Bad

While Occupy Seattle’s demonstrations have been effective, camp hygiene has not. Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reported on letters issued by King County Public Health and the Chamber of Commerce regarding the public health hazard they perceive that the camp has become.  The list of issues can be found here, but main groupings of concerns are: 

• food borne illness risk factors
• communicable disease risks
• unstable structures with limited fire safety planning or access
• reports of drug dealing and illicit drug use
• sewage and waste water not properly disposed of
• waste water disposal into storm drains
• no effective hygiene facilties
• uncontrolled dogs defecating and urinating
• rodent activity
• discarded/used syringes and needles on the ground

Some of these issues are almost impossible for OS to address – where else can water be poured out in a camp on a street corner but down a stormdrain? And how on earth do you build proper hygiene facilities without access to water main and sewer hookups?  

That said, there are plenty of things on that list that Occupy Seattle can take care of. It’s totally doable to create better pedestrian access into and out of camp, ensuring dogs go to the bathroom outside of camp and their poo is picked up, and do daily sweeps for trash and discarded signs.  Even though some of these issues (like needles and rats) already existed before Occupy Seattle moved in, it’s in OS’s best interest to take care of them for their own sake.

In the letter addressing the Occupy Seattle encampment, Michael Wells of the Broadway Business Improvement District and the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce writes:

“While many of the businesses are sympathetic with the Occupy movement (75% of Broadway BIA members are small, locally owned businesses) these sanitation and safety concerns are very troubling…We would like to see occupy Seattle address the health and safety concerns around the encampment immediately.” 

Occupy Seattle should also find these health and safety issues very troubling: not only are they bad for the neighborhood, they’re bad for the campers.

11/17 - Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes is preparing to file 1^st degree trespass charges against five protesters arrested during an Occupy Seattle takeover of a Chase Bank on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, November 2^nd. (Publicola, Capitol Hill Seattle Blog)

11/19 - The State Attorney General's office drafted an emergency rule that would create a 120-day window for removing the Occupy Seattle encampment from the Seattle Central campus.  The draft says the college needs to take action because of unsafe conditions at OS camp, including syringes and needles on the ground, drug and alcohol use, lack of hygiene facilities and other risk factors near the college child-care center. (Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, Seattle Times)

The Ugly (But in the end, also good)

Josh Trujillo of the Seattle PI’s now iconic picture of Dorli Rainey just after she was pepper-sprayed by Seattle police at a peaceful demonstration

Seattle’s mace sodden Wall St. March earlier this week seemed to be a culmination in local police’s willingness to use extremely painful but so far nonlethal force against peaceful protestors. However, this pain and conflict brought with it a boon – the picture of 84-year-old lifelong activist Dorli Rainey’s pepper-sprayed face, and story about police brutality so blatant, well-witnessed, and unprovoked it was impossible to ignore.

This picture was soon followed by images of a young woman being sprayed directly in the mouth with pepper-spray by the Portland PD and a peaceful sit-in of UC Davis students assaulted with mace by police called in by the dean. Images like this bring desperately needed attention to the twin crises of police brutality and the suppression of 1^st amendment rights, problems common to Occupiers across the country.

In Seattle’s case, we got another gift – an excellent spokesperson. Not only does Dorli Rainey appear to be a nice old lady, she’s also quite eloquent and has been an activist since she escaped from Nazi Germany as a girl. Thanks for that, Josh Trujillo and the Seattle Police Department.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Occupy Seattle

I am totally and unqualifiedly thrilled that Occupy Seattle is going to be my nighttime neighbor at Seattle Central Community College starting tonight. I haven't been able to interact with the Occupy movement much with being in grad school and rarely passing through downtown. But now they're going to be in MY BACKYARD! Yay, big social justice sleepover! Hot cocoa and equity for everyone! So excited!!

In the midst of my enthusiasm, I am still aware that there are logistical issues that may not make this feasible in the long-run: OC HQ is presently downtown, hiking up and down the Hill everyday isn't practical for everyone and bussing may not be affordable. Then there's the fact that SCCC is a very reluctant host.

I know it might not work out. SCCC might telling the kids to get off their lawn, SPD might flip and start teargassing right next to my window (I am right next door), and Occupy Seattle folks might not live up to their good-neighbor promises. All this is totally possible. But for tonight, I have a bunch of new fun neighbors, and I am super excited.

Nightlife: Report from August Capitol Hill Community Council Meeting and Reflections

This last Thursday night, James Keblas, Director of the Seattle Music and Film Office, came to the Capitol Hill Community Council meeting to talk about the Seattle Nightlife Initiative. Before I go on, here are the bullet points of Mayor McGinn's Nightlife Initiative:

1. Code compliance enforcement
2. Flexible liquor service hours (This links to the Report on Flexible Hours, created of the City of Seattle by the Responsible Hospitality Institute.)
3. Noise ordinance enforcement
4. Security training requirements
5. Precinct community outreach
6. Professional development
7. Late-night transportation alternatives
8. Targeting public nuisances

Ok, short explanations first. "Code compliance enforcement" and "professional development" are about the city working with nightclubs and bars to make sure they're doing everything they're supposed to to be good neighbors, like helping a nightclub figure out where they should put baffling to keep the noise down. "Security training requirements" requires clubs to send their security staff to Seattle Police Dept. security training classes at a cost of $90 per employee. "Precinct community outreach" is the SPD talking to and getting feedback from the community about nightlife. I'm not clear on if the City plans on adding to the SPD's outreach budget or if the Mayor's office just threw that one in there to remind everyone that the precinct already talks to the community about safety issues already.

As you might expect, "flexible liquor service hours" got a lot of attention; allowing some bars to stay open and serve alcohol longer is controversial here, even if it's not in other places around the country. There wasn't a lot that Keblas could concretely say, since that's the part of the initiative that will take the longest to roll out. Every other Nightlife Initiative plank can be taken care of within city government or between the city and nightlife businesses. Flexible liquor service hours is dependent upon the Liquor Control Board, who isn't beholden to the city and has the whole of Washington to worry about. What Mr. Keblas could say is below (quote courtesy of Cienna Madrid, but it's pretty much what I remember him saying, too):

I don’t want to get too far ahead of the process now...but here’s a hint of what we think would happen. It would be a privileged license with a tremendous amount of conditions attached...You have to be able to measure it, in order to do it successfully. Measure SPD calls, drunk driving issues, economic impacts. Set these measures in place, say 'here are the numbers right now.' Then we'd grant something like 200 licenses spread among numerous neighborhoods, and build it up intentionally over time.

Mr Keblas also said something interesting about the Liquor Board's reaction to the Mayor's office's proposal of flexible liquor service hours. It was that the Liquor Board will be willing to have a conversation about flexible liquor hours if the City can show they have the people of Seattle onboard. Hmm. This could be interesting.

"Noise ordinance enforcement" is about making sure that noise complaints about clubs are valid, and when validated that those complaints are pursued by warnings and fines to the clubs in question. Validation entails an enforcement official taking a noise measurement in the dwelling of the complainant with all doors and windows closed. I thought that sounded kind of weird until Mr. Keblas explained that someone wasn't going to show up on your doorstep to do a sound measurement at 3 o'clock in the morning. Complainants would need to make an appointment for the enforcement official to come by and take the measurement, presumably sometime in the evening.

"Late-night transportation alternatives" are stuff like taxi stands, drive-u-home services, and being able to pay the parking meter till 10am the next day. This all seems like commonsense to me, and really, it's weird that we don't have any of this already. Sadly, there is no money to extend bus hours til the wee hours of the morning.

"Targeting public nuisances", aka the asshole ordinance, has already been put in place; said ordinance was passed about a month ago. It lets police officers ticket noisy, stupid drunk people instead of having to wait for them to commit an offense (assault, destruction of property) and then taking an hour off the street to arrest them. On the face of it, it sounded great, because nothing sucks more than some jackass yelling their head off at 3am. I totally want those people fined for being noisy idiots.

The problem is that it can be used in a discriminatory manner, like loitering laws. I was also concerned that a ticketing a noisy jerk might also be used as probable cause for a search, like a traffic stop. While I'm happy to have someone have to pay up for being a pain in the ass late at night, I don't think it's cool for them to have their pockets riffled through by the cops in the process. I checked up on this with Mr. Keblas, however, and he said that the police wouldn't be able to use the ordinance in that way.

In case you missed it: Article and Video on CHCC sponsored Mayoral Candidate Forum

Last Saturday's Mayoral Candidate Forum went remarkably well, especially considering it was the Council's first venture into wrangling political candidates to be at the same place at relatively the same time. We had a good crowd (approx. 100) and good press: CHS blog sent along their intern and their videographer to cover the event. You can see Lucas the intern's article here and cheesecake's video here.

10/17 Capitol Hill Community Council Presents: Mayoral Candidate Forum @ Seattle U

I've been so busy putting this event together that I haven't had a chance to put up a post about it. Here's the boilerplate:

Seattle Mayoral Candidate Forum

Date: Saturday, October 17^th, 2009

Time: 4:30-6pm

Location: Pigott Auditorium
Albers School of Business & Economics
Seattle University

The purpose of the forum is to provide an opportunity for residents and other stakeholders on Capitol Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods to meet the candidates and learn more about them. More specifically, the Council will engage the candidates in dialogue concerning their vision for the city and how they will seek to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Seattle. We will discuss topics such as the relationship of city government to its residents & neighborhoods, city planning in regard to open space & land use, and transportation.

Spirit of the Hill in Pictures

I got there right at six and Poppy was packed. Luckily Hong and Razz and I found a nice little table with a good view of the room.


Barefoot Wines donated the red, white and bubbly - I was fond of the champagne and the white they served, but the red was a little too tart for me.


Everyone else had roasted black cod, but I called vegetarian so I got the salad course instead. I was only a little jealous - the vinaigrette balanced nicely with the walnuts and the figs in the salad. Though I wasn't so sure how I felt about the little berries.


Chanterelle, Leek and Chard Lasagna - the slices between layers aren't noodles, but thin little slices of parmesan. I am presently drooling just remembering it.

Herb Gnudi (ricotta dumplings) with King Bolete Mushrooms - again with the salivation. This was so very rich I was not at all envious of the meat-eaters option, Lavender Crusted Duck Breast with Lavender Sauce.

I did try a little of the mushroom majoram bread pudding and the sage roasted delicata squash. Freakin' amazing.

Dark chocolate terrine with ginger, sesame and pine nut - world's fanciest brownie. Also, chocolate nirvana. I think there was some cayenne pepper in there too.

Our lovely tablemate Lisa with her raffle winnings, six bottles of wine hand-picked by the Chamber board members.

Looking forward to fall: Events in October

According to popular belief, things slow down in Seattle once summer ends and the rain curtain falls. This is crap - all the cloudy days don't catch up with us until after the holidays. Until then, we're all still sailing on a Vitamin D high til we can coast on holiday bonhomie/grinchiness, which eventually runs out in January. This means I'm going to be socializing around the Hill for at least three more months until we all go into collective hibernation til Spring.

Anyway, I've already pitched about all the steampunk-y goodness that's coming up this month and next. I'm even more excited now that I've (only just) realized I can recycle all my new steampunk goodies for Halloween. One mad Victorian scientist, coming right up.

It's fortunate I have a relatively family-friendly costume for Halloween this year since I'll be one of the chaperones/shepherds for the Capitol Hill Community Council Halloween Walk. I know that two hours of herding small children up and down Broadway doesn't sound like a ton of fun, but little kids in adorable costumes makes me happy. Especially since the little blighters would be cheated out of all that tooth-rotting goodness if the Council didn't do the Walk on Broadway -it's kind of hard to go trick or treating at apartment buildings.

In nerdier (and consequently more exciting) event news, the Capitol Hill Community Council is going to host it's very own mayoral candidate forum on Oct. 17th at Seattle University's Pigott Auditorium. I know it's not an event venue that non-alums are very likely to see, but I can guarantee you - it's a very nice auditorium. The acoustics are so lovely you can forgive the fact the whole place is painted mauve.

The focus of the forum is on community and neighborhood activism, so the Council is inviting attendance and questions from as many Cap Hill community types as possible. If you'd like to help out with the event or just throw in your two cents, but the Policy and Planning boys at chcc.planning(at)gmail.com.

A Conversation with Friends of Seattle Public Library

A while ago I got to sit down and talk with Sarel Rowe of Friends of Seattle Public Library about how I use our public library system, what our library contributes to the neighborhood, and what libraries will look like in the future (two words: info portal). This conversation was part of a survey Friends of SPL put together for their Neighborhood Report on library value, an important subject in the light of the recent week-long library closure. I was just lucky enough to be able to take the survey in person with someone as nice and fun to talk to as Sarel. Apparently, Sarel felt the same way, so now you can see what I said in a post at the Friends of SPL blog.

My Mom vs. Tom Carr: The Last Word

To all who have been following this epic story: Tom Carr decided not to appeal the Washington State Liquor Board's decision to grant Faire Gallery and Cafe's request for an extended liquor license. In short, Faire can now serve cocktails because our city attorney finally decided to back down. The end.

Good times at the Broadway Design Charette

I know it sounds weird to say that a four-hour community meeting was tons of fun, but I had a really good time at the Broadway Design Charette this afternoon. Everybody, and I mean everybody, was there and there was a lot of excitement and energy going around. It helped that Seattle University's new Admissions and Alumni Building is spacious, light-filled and lovely. Also, there were tasty snacks :D

The whole write-up will go up on CHS blog soon enough, but there was some consensus around the community benefits that were most desired. Community meeting space, Nagle St. as a green pedestrian corridor, artist live/work or performance space and affordable housing were all quite popular as possible features in a transit-oriented development over the light rail station.

Friends of Seattle Public Library: Because Even Libraries Need Friends

If I could add a subtitle to this post, it would be: "Especially when budget cuts mean that our libraries are closed for a week". While the libraries might not have been able to do much about it, the Friends of Seattle Public Library didn't take the closures sitting down. Instead, they blogged about it. (Twice!)

"Wah, wah, more blogtivism," you might say. But getting the word out, especially word that this closure is hitting disadvantaged folks hardest, is important. Turn their word into action by donating your time or your money, whichever one you have the most of...which, these days, is probably time.

A quick way to help is to fill out the Friends of SPL's "Neighborhood Survey of Library Value". If you'd like to do the survey in person, set up an interview by emailing Sarel Rowe, Advocacy Chair of the Friends of The Seattle Public Library: advocacy(at)friendsofspl(dot)org. I recommend the latter option - Sarel's really nice and a delight to talk with. If you end up having a really neat conversation with her, it just might end up on the Friends of SPL blog :D.

My Mom vs. Tom Carr: Reprise

The recurrent theme in the emails and comments I've gotten about the epic email battle between my mom and City Attorney Tom Carr is that my mom is frickin' awesome. This is absolutely true.

However, the best thing to do in this situation is not to merely admire your newfound civic hero. You should emulate her by writing or calling Tom Carr yourself in support of Faire Gallery and Cafe getting their hard liquor license. (Mr. Carr's contact information is below.) Since Seattle is filled with smart and educated folk, I'm sure you too can achieve a level of letter-writing badassery comparable to my mom's.

Again, it's not as if Faire is getting a hard liquor license because they want to corrupt the youth of Capitol Hill. Times are hard, and they need the extra money they can make from selling cocktails and spirits to stay in business. They've been responsible the last few years while serving wine and beer, so I'm sure they can manage serving the harder stuff responsibly as well.

Seattle City Attorney's Office
thomas.carr@seattle.gov

600 4th Ave., 4th Floor
PO Box 94769
Seattle, WA 98124-4769
Phone (206) 684-8200
TTY Phone (206) 233-7206
Fax (206) 684-8284

My Mom vs. Tom Carr: Epilogue

Wow, my mom is such a badass at angry letter writing that she got Life on the Hill featured on The Slog. Oooh, and CHS Blog. Go Mom.

I really hope that the end product of this kerfuffle is Tom Carr leaving poor Faire alone and letting them get their hard liquor license. I like the place. I feel welcome when I come in and I feel safe when I walk by there when they're open late at night. I just want them to be able to stay in business.

My Mom vs. Tom Carr Continued

Faithful readers, it appears that the saga of My Mom vs. Tom Carr continues. I had no idea that our City Prosecutor had this much time in his schedule to go back and forth over email with a concerned citizen about a cafe's hard liquor license. But he does, and my mom continues her email salvo unabated. So the story continues...

(My Mom's emails are in white, and Tom Carr's are in blue)

=======================================================

I have not decided to appeal. The clerk in the department of executive administration routinely checks the appeal box to preserve our rights. The appeal deadline is September 9. I am concerned about the liquor board’s policy with respect to DUIs. We raise them as a public policy concern. What really bothers me is that the Faire Gallery’s lawyer is making this a political issue when In fact it’s a real public safety question. There is a clear effort to intimidate me. I wonder did anyone tell you the basis for our objection?

=======================================================

I read the story in the Stranger, about the DUI, and the circumstances of the warrant, yes. As to the Faire's attorney, I am not a local and am not influenced by local politics. I formed my opinion based on my knowlege of Faire, (from my visits) on the merits of the original objection, and the proposed appeal.

What you perceive as an attempt to intimidate is really a question of simply not agreeing with your position on the matter, and saying so. I simply do not view the Faire having a hard liquor license as a public safety threat. Nor does the liquor board, who had all the facts and made their decision accordingly.

That being said, I am happy to hear that you have decided not to appeal.

Thank you,

Elise Power

=======================================================

I am sorry. I am a lawyer. What I wrote was, I have not decided to appeal. That is different from I have decided not to appeal. I just received the Liquor Board decision this week. We have until September 9 to make this decision.

=======================================================

Ah, well, thank you for that clarification. My misread.

I do hope you do decide not to appeal. I think the liquor board made an informed decision, which the bulk of the local public, which you are seeking to keep safe, agree with.

I think that the appeal would be unnecessarily obstructive, and a less than effective use of the City attorney's time. There are far greater crime and public safety issues in Seattle that require your attention.

Faire is a dinky little cafe/gallery that the locals like. The public is in no more danger from their having a hard liquor license than they were in all the time they have been serving beer and wine, the owner's having married in May a man with an old DUI (now resolved to the liquor board's satisfaction) notwithstanding.

I hope you come to see it that way.
Elise Power

{and now the Epilogue}

Oh Snap: My Mom vs. Tom Carr

I posted about Tom Carr blocking Faire's attempt get a hard liquor license a few days ago, and I've been meaning to write a letter in support of Faire to our City Attorney ever since. Well, my mom beat me to it. And she has a lot of practice writing cranky letters to city officials (let's just say Garden Grove doesn't have the world's best city council...). She is so good that despite the fact that she lives hundreds of miles away, she got Tom Carr to write her back. The correspondence is below.
(picture courtesy of my mom :D)

======================================================

Sir:

My daughters live in Seattle, and I am a frequent visitor. I find your targeting of Faire distressing. They are good people, hardly the supporters of drunken louts or disruptive partying, and you are wasting your time and theirs by delaying their liquor license.

If you succeed, by your delays, in putting them out of business, you will have done no favor for the neighborhood. Cap Hill does not need, nor does its residents want, to be protected from Faire by you.

Leave them be, and let them get on with it.

Thank you for your attention,
Elise Power

=======================================================
We are not targeting Faire. They have a liquor license. They applied for an enhanced license to sell hard liquor. At the time of the application, one of the owners had a warrant out for his arrest in a pending DUI case. We brought this fact to the attention of the Liquor Control Board as is our duty. I don’t know where you live, but here, we are concerned about people who can’t control their own alcohol intake being responsible for serving others. I have a particular concern about someone who is told to do something by a court and needs to have an arrest warrant issued to get him to do it.

You have no idea what Faire Gallery will be like when serving hard liquor and neither do I. I do have questions about one of the owners, which it is my job to raise.

Thank you for writing.

Tom Carr
Seattle City Attorney

=======================================================
I read the story, I know about the DUI case, I also know about the details of the outstanding warrant and why it was issued, as do you. We here in Garden Grove CA worry as much as the next person about people who drive drunk.

Faire is a gallery, not a party venue. If a person attending such a place has a problem with drinking, they can do so on the license in place, they don't need hard liquor served to them to do so. If Faire has done just fine on the alcohol that they have been serving, they are more than likely to continue to do so.

I stand in support of them, as does most of Capitol Hill, whom I presume you are trying to protect. We are saying we don't feel the need to be protected from Faire having its hard liquor license, and want you to know.

I also presume you care what the neighborhood (and their friends and family who visit there) think, so we are here to let you know.

Thanks,
Elise
-----
In re-reading your reponse, I must agree on one point. Raising the questions about one of Faire's owners was/is indeed, your job. However, having heard all of the circumstances, the Board ruled in favor of Faire's hard liquor license.

Your intent to appeal then takes on the appearance of being merely an obstructive delaying tactic, and thus punitive in nature, even spiteful.

EP


{This post is getting long, so the saga continues here.}

Back in town

Hello, faithful readers - I'm officially back from an exceedingly mellow week on Orcas Island. Vacation slides are coming soon. I don't have any news of my own yet, but here's what other people are saying:

VOTE! (even if you don't lockstep it with the flaming liberals). I recommend supporting the bag fee, but you know that.

Dun da da dun da da dun da da dun da da da DAH!

The Northwest Film Forum needs YOU!

Referendum 1 - Bag Fee Fun

The debate on the bag fee has been going around the city for a while now, mostly prodded on by the Seattle Green Bag Campaign's appearances at big events like the Solstice Parade with their infamous mascot, the Bag Monster. On one side: eco-studs, the ever feisty People for Puget Sound and the Seattle City Council. On the other: 7-11 Inc., the American Chemistry Council (whose members include Dow Chemical and ExxonMobil), people who like using plastic bags to pick up dog doo, and those who think yet another nanny-state style fee is stupid.

Even with a line-up like this, a lean, green writing machine like myself has to sit back and think - would this fee really do what it's supposed to do, or will it be yet another token attempt at sustainability?

The thing that's been tipping the issue for me has been the bag fee's opposition. Namely, the the amount of money the American Chemistry Council has been willing to pour into opposing a fee that is sponsored by the itty-bitty Seattle Green Bag Campaign and their wee $65,000 fundraised thus far. The ACC threw in $500,000 last Friday, bringing their anti-bag fee contributions to a grand total of $740,000.

What this suggests to me is that the ACC sees the bigger picture. Even if the projected 70% drop in bag use by Seattle residents isn't enough to bother them, something else is. Maybe it's that they think initiatives pioneered in Seattle gets spread across the country. Maybe they see this as a sign of things to come, a turning against our current disposable way of life. Either way, if Big Oil and Big Chemical are willing to spend this much money to oppose it, the bag fee's probably worth supporting.

UPDATE: The ACC's contributions to the anti-bag fee campaign now come to over $1 million. Wowzers.

Saunatina Goes to Washington

Saunatina Sanchez is going to start her protest for LGBTQ rights outside the White House next Wednesday. Now is the perfect time to visit her new website and donate via the convenient PayPal link. Or even better, sign up to join her.

Keep an eye out for the lady herself and her associates at Pride this weekend - I heard talk of flyer distribution and shameless self-promotion for the cause.

"Madame President"

You are now reading the blog of the President of the Capitol Hill Community Council. I get to start tackling the Light Rail transit-oriented development and the Neighborhood Plan Status Updates with all the new officers next week. These are the days that neighborhood nerds dream of.

Iran

I haven't said anything here about the uprising in Iran because, frankly, other bloggers are doing a much better job than I could ever do (Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic is my favorite). Even more important than the bloggers are the Twitterers, the on-the-ground primary sources that supply immediate information that is often unavailable anywhere else. While the news is often raw and painful, it is still wonderful to see the refashioning of Twitter from something amusing and modestly useful to a necessary tool of the activist-on-the-street.

What made me think of writing today was Dan Savage's post about protesters armed only with rocks being shot at by the police. Since a US citizen sending armaments to the protesters would be a diplomatic faux-pas at best, I'm sending money to The Tehran Bureau instead. Andrew Sullivan and The Boston Globe have said good things about the one-woman-edited news site, plus they have a PayPal account and they're asking for donations.

(photo courtesy of daylife)