Olympia Harbor in 1856

view larger: Olympia Harbor

Washington did not become a state until 1889. Washington was the 42nd state to become part of the United States.

In 1856, over 30 years prior to Washington becoming a state, the landscape around Olympia was very different than it is today, in 2010.

I imagine that the environment was much healthier back then, with great flocks of wild birds, and a bounteous feast accessible for harvest from the waters of the Salish Sea.

Redress for Grievances: Public Funds Used for Illegal Aggressive Invasion and Occupation

This "robert11" guy has something to say:

Iraq report normalizes the concept of US colonialism. I do not support a policy of global hegemony. As a tax payer, I demand redress for grievances relating to the expenditure of public funds for an aggressive invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation. The report makes it clear that Iraq is valuable because of its oil. But it is not acceptable to invade a country in order to procure its resources for our own uses. Simply unacceptable. President Bush is a criminal. He needs to be apprehended and held in confinement until evidence relating to his alleged crimes can be gathered and he can be brought to trial. This is the strategy for a new America and a process of stabilization in Iraq.

By robert11 | Dec 11, 2006 3:20:18 AM

comments on a Washington Post article regarding the cover art of the Iraq Report.

We Must Face Our Discomfort

Having the courage for own up to feelings of discomfort in the presence of injustice and wrong-doing, and not to back away, or escape the uncomfortable sensation is crucial to the development of a healthier and better society:

by Robert Jensen
...
For people with privilege in an unjust world -- whether it’s men in relation to women, the setter-colonizer in relation to indigenous peoples, white people in relation to people of color, the rich in relation to working and poor people, or U.S. citizens in relation to the country’s domination of the rest of the world -- it’s imperative that we invite into our worlds those on the other side of that privilege, not to make us feel good but precisely to challenge us to have the courage to feel uncomfortable.

If we can’t do that, there is little hope for the world -- and no hope for our own souls.

Here's a link: http://dissidentvoice.org/Dec06/Jensen12.htm