by Molly Gibbs

Having recently returned from Washington DC, and listening to House and Senate hearings on c-span, I believe our Federal government has failed. Both the Congress and the office of the Presidency are dysfunctional to the degree that the corporate system on which their power is based must be challenged.

The only people who can do that are you and I.

by Janet Blanding

Domestic partnership looks almost certain to become a reality for same-sex couples in Washington state in the near future. House Bill 1351 and Senate Bill 5336 are both out of committee and have so many co-sponsors that only a few more votes will be needed for the bills to pass. When passed and implemented, a state domestic partnership registry will be created, which will provide registered couples with enhanced rights. Both same-sex couples, and couples where at least one partner is over 62, will be eligible to register as domestic partnerships. While a state registered . . .

[Representative Brendan Williams of the 22nd District is a co-sponsor of House Bill 1351 which would protect individuals in domestic partnerships by granting certain rights and benefits. He has sent the following to constituents who email him in support of the bill:]

I am a co-sponsor of this bill. We just had a house Judiciary hearing on it January 31. Far-right lobbyist Bob Higley, a friend of Kevin Stormans (who owns Bayview and Ralph's Thriftway), railed against the 'homosexual agenda' in the most hateful language of the hearing. Higley is involved with Stormans in the far-right Daniel's . . .

[On February 6, the Olympia City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on the President and members of Congress to end the Occupation of Iraq and bring our troops swiftly and safely home. Following the unanimous ratification of the resolution, Councilmember TJ Johnson offered these comments:]

I am disappointed that this resolution is necessary.

Olympia Port Militarization Resistance (PMR), a local grassroots organization, has launched a campaign to end the community's participation in the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq. PMR seeks to prevent the US military from using the Port of Olympia to ship equipment to Iraq as part of President Bush's escalation of the conflict.

Since the US invasion in 2003, the US Army has shipped equipment bound for Iraq through the Port of Olympia. The shipments to Iraq mark the first time in over fifteen years that the Port of Olympia has accepted military cargo.

by Marco Rosaire Rossi

In Erbil, Iraq -- high on top of Mount Korek in the northern part of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region -- sits one of Iraq's dormant treasures. It's not oil, or natural gas, or any other natural resource that Iraq is known for; this dormant treasure of Iraq is science. On top of a 2,127 meter high mountain rests what would have been a first-rate observatory and the only major observatory in the Middle East. Built in 1973 for $160 million by president Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, this observatory had three telescopes, each one ranging in size from 1.25 to 3.5 meters. Its . . .

by Sergei Holmes

Let us travel back to the war-weary town of Belsec in 1940 where we see three young Polish adults standing on a street corner. The first attracts your attention with his gesticulations and comical mannerisms. The other two, a tall man and skinny woman, stand bemused looking at what you gradually assume to be the funny imitator of the three. You realize it's a Hitler imitation, so perfect that Charlie Chaplin would take notes. The other two can't contain their laughter, which is loud enough to almost supersede the roar of a train in the background carrying Jews to the death . . .

[Speech given at Ehren Watada rally by Peter Bohmer]

Growing resistance inside and outside the U.S. military, together with the Vietnamese resistance to the U.S. occupation in Vietnam forced the U.S. to withdraw from Vietnam. We can and will do the same in Iraq, hopefully sooner than later.

The Bush administration has given many reasons for its invasion and occupation of Iraq:

On March 1, 2007 thirty-one families with children living in poverty lost their welfare grants. Thus begins the most mean-spirited welfare reform policy this state has yet known: full family sanction. It means the end of a cash grant for families receiving welfare assistance who are perceived as not following the rules for WorkFirst. A steady flow of families will face full family sanction in the next 6 months, and as many as 1,269 may lose their cash income.