Tacoma SDS

When we see movement, we will issue and ALERT. This is a WATCH. This load-out will likely involve convoys of Slat-Armored Strykers with markings like "5-2ID" visible on the Yellow rectangles on the (front and rear) LEFT side of the vehicle's bumpers. (more below)

What we know:

The Port of Tacoma will be the preferred Port of the 833rd Transportation Battalion. They will likely NOT use Olympia again for the foreseeable future.

The 833rd is an Army Unit which handles shipping of military weapons and vehicles and containers.

The Port of Tacoma is preparing once again to serve as the strategic deployment platform for the 5th Brigade/ 2nd Infantry Division Strykers to Afghanistan.

Preparations for this deployment are well underway and coordination between the Port of Tacoma, City of Tacoma, Regional Intelligence Group and the US Army are nearly complete.

A resource tool has been developed and will be updated as more information is collected and processed. This tool is a product of the "Action Fusion Center - Salish Sea Region" (AFC-SSR).

The permanent link is here: http://tinyurl.com/cmtdyg

ICE released the much overdue solicitation for the next NWDC contract on 20 April (Hitler's Birthday).

The current contract expires on the 23rd so a modification and extension of the current contract are required for
continued operation until this contract is let to the new operator.

The full solicitation can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/dkgkvp

The Government will conduct a Pre-proposal Conference on April 29, 2009 at 9:00A.M., 24000 Avila Road, Room TBD, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677.

At midnight April 5, 2009 contracts for most of the component groups represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) at the telecom giant AT&T have expired. After weeks of mobilizing, around 90,000 workers are poised to strike one of the largest and most profitable multinational corporations. A job action by CWA would be the largest and among the most significant labor action in the United States since the UPS strike in 1997. It would also be the first major strike under the Obama regime. The brewing confrontation could set the tone for class struggle in the U.S.

The City of Tacoma has reasserted its property rights over the traffic strip at 1623 E J Street. The activists over at the Bill of Rights Defense committee won a small victory today in a fight over "adopting" a spot right outside Tacoma's federal immigration lock up. King 5 TV did a piece on it recently.

Tim Smith forwarded me an e-mail exchange he's been having with the city and apparently the disagreement about the property has been resolved. The group will once again be keeping the strategic strip free from litter. Here are some highlights from the exchange:

A man was killed Tuesday afternoon when his pickup was struck by an Army Stryker vehicle on Highway 507 near Spanaway.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Brandy Kessler said two Fort Lewis-based Strykers were stopped at the intersection of 8th Avenue South and Highway 507. The first turned onto the highway, and as the second was entering the roadway, it struck the passenger side of a red Ford F-250 at about 4:40 p.m.

The four soldiers in the Stryker were not injured.

Critical Mass, the word in community bike rides, is happening this month, April 24, starting at 6pm at Jefferson Park!

Meet up at the corner N 9th St and N Madison St. Not sure where to go? Check out the magical Google Maps!

In the next few months, the US military intends to send 17,000 new soldiers to
Afghanistan. This will increase by one half the size of their hugely unpopular
occupation. Vice President Joe Biden himself has gone on the record to say he
expects an “uptick” in American deaths in Afghanistan. The CIA and US military have
begun bombing civilians in, and even sending in ground troops into, Pakistan, to
much popular opposition from the Pakistani people. The current administration is
already preparing to escalate and spread military campaign further into Pakistan.

View photos here.