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January 2007
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by Janet Blanding
The boycott of Ralph's and Bayview is working. Financial losses at the stores are putting pressure on Stormans Inc. to change their discriminatory policy against stocking Plan B emergency contraception. While the Pharmacy Board investigates complaints filed by Olympia women who were unable to fill prescriptions at four local pharmacies last summer, three out of four of those pharmacies are now stocking the morning after pill. The sole holdout: Ralph's Thriftway.
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by Wally Cuddeford
On Wednesday, Dec. 15, sexual assault survivor Suzanne Swift appeared before a hastily assembled court-martial. She was charged with going Absent Without Leave from her unit at Fort Lewis, on the eve of their deployment to Iraq. Swift's court-martial wasn't going to happen until January, but it was hastened when she agreed to make a deal with the military. The terms of Suzanne Swift's deal are as follows:
Swift will spend up to 30 days in the brig.
She has agreed to stay in the military until January of 2009.
She has been reduced in rank from Specialist to Private.
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by Peter Bohmer
The anti-homeless sidewalk ordinances passed [on] Nov. 28 are one more pinprick in the war against the poor, against homeless and street people. It is part of the ongoing attempt to criminalize the poor rather than to determine causes and solutions to poverty, racism, homophobia, the lack of affordable housing and the lack of meaningful work at livable wages.
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by Rochelle Gause
The six month old teacher's strike turned popular uprising in Oaxaca has continued to face incredible government repression throughout the past month. The repressive acts began in the hands of the state government death squads, composed of plainclothed police and PRI supporters, and grew through the arrival of the Federal Preventative Police in Oaxaca at the end of October. The illegal detentions peaked on Nov. 25, in time to clean things up in preparation for Felipe Calderon's inauguration as the fraudulently elected new President of Mexico. Of the 150 detained on the 25th, . . .
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by Ralph Nader
The lack of citizen-consumers' involvement in the recently passed postal reform legislation has highlighted the need for a public dialogue about the future of our postal system. Christopher Shaw's book, Preserving the People's Post Office, provides a starting point for that conversation.
When I was growing up in New England during the 1940's, the symbol for reliability, punctuality, and efficiency was the United States Post Office. Indeed, people could almost tell the time of day by the postman's twice-a-day delivery rounds.
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The "Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of US Actions in Iraq" will be held on January 20 -- 21, 2007, in Tacoma, Washington, two weeks before the Feb. 5 court martial of 1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada at Fort Lewis. Organizing Committee members Rob Crawford, Associate Professor at the University of Washington, Tacoma says that the national event "will put the Iraq War on trial, in response to the Army's trial of Lt. Watada, the first US military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq."
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Lieutenant Ehren Watada's pre-trial hearing is set for January 4. Local supporters will hold a vigil on the bridge at Exit 119, I-5 at dawn and dusk.
Watada takes the position that the war in Iraq is illegal, and that the conduct of the war and occupation is directed illegally, from above. At least six generals have spoken out against the direction of the war. The Lieutenant is not alone in expressing concern for the innocent people of Iraq and the lives of US soldiers caught in a bloody civil war. 1,000 soldiers just submitted a petition to Congress resisting service in Iraq.
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Appeals include emphasis of international law, depleted uranium use, crimes against humanity
On Sept. 23, thirty-seven people were arrested sitting outside the gates of Naval Magazine Indian Island as part of a nationwide campaign called the Declaration of Peace. Among the arrested were Olympia residents Molly Gibbs and Bernie Meyer.
Protesters were also arrested at the port of Olympia and in Representative Rick Larsen's office in Bellingham.
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[In our December issue, Works In Progress published an article by Norman Finkelstein in which he challenged Human Rights Watch for the statement addressed in this press release from HRW.]
Human Rights Watch press release, December 16, 2006
We regret that our press release, "OPT: Civilians Must Not Be Used to Shield Homes Against Military Attacks," gave many readers the impression that we were criticizing civilians for engaging in nonviolent resistance. This was not our intention. It is not the policy of the organization to criticize non-violent resistance or any other form of peaceful protest, . . .
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by Marco Rosaire Rossi
Polls have continually shown that the two issues that Americans have been most concerned with this past year were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the state of the domestic economy. Not surprisingly, the two issues are remarkably connected.
The New York Times has reported that, despite on-going corporate scandals, the past few years have been "the age of profitability" for American corporations -- surpassing all previous record in the post World War II age. Meanwhile, the American worker is in the worst position she has been in that same stretch of time. Since Bush . . .
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by Aleta DeBee and Dave Zink
The time to change our society is now, says David C. Korten in his newest book, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community.
World domination and exploitation for narrow, short-sighted purposes is failing, because it has the seeds of its own destruction built into it. This "empire" system, developed by the economic elite and amoral corporations, needs to be replaced by another system, which Korten calls "Earth Community." We need to choose to do more supporting and helping other nations, as well as making the economy within our own country more equitable. . . .
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[Printed with permission]
by Joseph P. Kennedy II
There's been a lot of controversy lately over whether Citizens Energy Corp. should distribute -- and the poor should accept -- discount heating oil from Venezuela while that country is under the leadership of President Hugo Chávez.
But those who have no problem staying warm at night should not condemn others for accepting Venezuela's oil. Rhetoric means little to an elderly woman who has to drag an old cot from her basement to sleep by the warmth of the open kitchen stove or give up food or medicine to pay her heating bill.
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Olympia Community Free School is proud to announce our Winter 2007 class catalog! Our classes are offered free of charge. However, we strongly encourage you to register prior to attending a class. You can register online at http://www.olympiafreeschool.org or stop by the Free School (610 Columbia, across from the Olympia Supply Company) during our business hours to fill out a short form. All classes will be held at the Free School, unless otherwise noted. Please also stay tuned to our website for any class updates. Our classes begin Jan 8th, 2007 and will continue through the month of March.
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On December 22, the website Wonkette exposed a booklet prepared by the National Rifle Association (NRA), entitled Freedom in Peril: Guarding the 2nd Amendment in the 21st Century. The booklet, with several large -- almost comical -- illustrations, warns, "Second Amendment freedom today stands naked in the path of a marching axis of adversaries far darker and more dangerous than gun owners have ever known. Acting alone and in shadowy coalitions, these enemies of freedom are preparing for a profound and foreboding confrontation...We'd better be ready."
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Works In Progress still needs more help
If you would like to join the all-volunteer WIP worker collective, there will be at least one more public recruitment meeting where you can meet with collective members and figure out how you can plug in. Join us on Sunday, January 14, 4:30 -- 6 pm at Fertile Ground Guesthouse, 311 9th Ave SE, Olympia (in the "studio," the small building behind the main house).
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Suzanne Swift Support Rally
Wed., Jan. 3, 11:30 am
Bangor Naval Base, Ground Zero, 16159 Clear Creek Rd, Poulsbo
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