An OMJP sponsored article by Larry Mosqueda

Militarization of the Port of Olympia

Unbeknownst to the residents of Thurston County, on December 10, 2004 the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established what they call a "permanent security zone" with military control of the Port of Olympia when a military ship comes to the Port. This was done in semi-secret because the public was not informed of this action at the time it was proposed, or when it occurred. On October 12, 2004, (perhaps, appropriately, Columbus Day), the USCG and DHS published in the . . .

by Ron Jacobs

When I left high school in 1973, most of my friends were glad that the likelihood of being drafted was almost nil. Sure, the law was still on the books, but the draft itself had, for all practical purposes, been terminated earlier that year. There were a variety of reasons for this move ─ incredible discontent, even open rebellion in the armed forces, and a desire by the government to get the youth back on its side being foremost among them and the class of 1973 was all too happy to accept any of them if it meant that they wouldn't have to wear the man's uniform.

by Mike Whitney

"I do not agree that the dog in the manger has the final right to the manger, even though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America, or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher grade race, a more worldly-wise race, to put it that way, has come in and taken their place." Winston Churchill, to the Peel Commission of Inquiry 1937, defending the brutal slaughter of . . .

by Lee Sustar

Say you're expecting to rely on a modest retirement fund. Along comes a hotshot stockbroker promising that if he can handle your money; he'll guarantee you 15 or 40 percent less of a payout than you would have gotten in the first place.

It sounds absurd, but that's the essence of George W. Bush's Social Security "reform." For all of Bush's hype about diverting a portion of the Social Security payroll tax into individual retirement accounts, his proposal is simply a smokescreen for a cut in benefits.

by Dave Lindorff

The outrage and dismay over devastation and human suffering seem to have much more to do with how such horrors were caused than the actual horrors themselves, it would seem.

At least, it seems that way when it comes to our outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, whose sense of horror seems to be remarkably selective.