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progressive news from near and far
Democracy 'Caried' Away
by Emily E. Kalweit
In late October, the group Citizens Opposing Fluoridation in PierceCounty filed suit in Pierce County Superior Court against the TacomaPierce County Health Department regarding its plan for mandatorycounty water fluoridation. The group alleges that in adoptingResolution No. 2002-366.A-2, ostensibly to deal with "dental caries",health board members exceeded their authority, violated certain civilrights statutes, failed to follow SEPA procedures, and failed toprovide a plan for emergency relief. The complaint listed substantivefactual and procedural errors in the environmental assessmentconducted by the health department. In the area of human health, itraised questions regarding total fluoride exposure, diseases relatedto ingested fluoride, medical uncertainty of individual dosage, andhealth risks from co-contaminants such as lead and arsenic.
An official survey conducted by Pierce County water utilitiesdemonstrated that more than 80 percent of the affected citizensbelieve that people should have the right to vote on this issue.Marianne Lincoln, director of the group remarked, "In hard economictimes, the Health Board is causing a burdensome increase in everyone'swater bills for a substance with dubious credibility at best. It's badpublic policy, and it came without representation of the peopleimpacted by it." An earlier written request to discuss the issue,submitted in writing by Bob Young, Mayor of Bonney Lake, was ignored,as the department voted to mandate fluoridation for Pierce Countycommunities with 5,000 or more water customers.
Living Wage victory in Bellingham
by Jamie Newman
After months of hard work by the Jobs with Justice Whatcom CountyOrganizing Committee, the Washington Association of Churches, and theNorthwest Washington Central Labor Council, the Bellingham CityCouncil approved the first living wage ordinance in Washington State.The ordinance calls for city contractors to pay a minimum of $10 anhour to employees who receive health benefits or $11.50 an hour tothose without benefits.
The ordinance was a major victory for Washington State Jobs withJustice, an organization founded in 1993 by local community and laborleaders to unite diverse organizations in a multi-issue coalition. JWJactivists in Bellingham collected over 1100 signatures in support ofthe ordinance, made hundreds of phone calls, and showed strong supportfor the ordinance at numerous city council hearings.
According to The New York Times, 83 communities in the nation haveenacted similar living wage laws.
ANTIWAR MOVEMENT AT WASHINGTON'S 'GROUND ZERO'
The Port Townsend Peace Movement has held eight successful antiwarevents since our recent founding. We are in a lovely old Victoriantown of 8,500, nestled on the cliffs overlooking Puget Sound, wherepeople are drawn to make their homes. We live in paradise, but we alsolive at Ground Zero, across the bay from a US Navy munitions facility.Trident submarines and all manner of naval vessels are a regular sighthere. As we watch the harbor, we know we're gearing up for war, butmany feel the urge to resist this juggernaut. So we planned a seriesof local peace events. With no budget and little lead-time we easilyignited a growing local enthusiasm for peace. Ten percent of ourresidents participated. We hope our experience can serve as a modelfor other peace-minded Americans who live in small towns across thecountry. What has united us is the desire to express our resistance toa worldwide institutionalized escalation of violence. We paid for afull-page ad about our events, and word of mouth worked especially well,building broad support and participation. Two local events led to over100 of us participating in the Seattle demonstration of some 4000people. Then over 800 turned out for another event, and 900 signed theNot in Our Name Pledge of Resistance. Since then we have had manyother events with more and more people getting involved in hearingspeeches, writing postcards and the like. As America's politicalleaders push the world toward war, Port Townsend residents will begaining skills in leadership, education and nonviolent conflictresolution, while continuing to broaden and deepen our peacecommitment to each other and our fellow residents of planet Earth.
For more information go to ptforpeace.info.
INS: Murder by Deportation
by Pramila Jayapal, Hate Free Zone
Early in the first full week of last November, Hate Free Zone Campaignof Washington (HFZ) was told by several members of the Somalicommunity that some of them had been lured into reporting to the INSunder pretext of signing papers regarding "employment authorization.".On reporting, those particular members were detained. The INS statedat the time that they would be deported to Mogadishu November 14. Theday prior, HFZ and a team of pro-bono attorneys from Perkins Coie LLPfiled a habeas corpus petition in Federal court requesting anemergency injunction challenging the unlawful detention anddeportation of Somalis. US Federal court Judge Marsha Pechman granteda temporary restraining order staying the deportation of the fivenamed petitioners.
By law, the INS is required to obtain "acceptance" from the governmentof the country to which people are being deported. In a previouslysimilar case in Minneapolis, the Federal court judge ruled that, "Thesilence of a non-functioning government in a lawless territory- withgrave risks to the deported... cannot constitute acceptance." Shortlyafter that decision, the INS deported several other Somalis living inMinnesota not named in the original petition. One of them has beenmurdered, and the other has fled Mogadishu. Minnesota attorneys arechallenging the deportations, but of course, a challenge cannot returna deportee to life.
On November 26, Seattle lawyers filed an amended petition in Federalcourt for certification of a nationwide class that would include allSomalis that have final orders of removal and deportation. A letterwas sent to the Asst. US Attorney for Western Washington assigned tothe case, Christopher Pickerell, requesting the INS suspenddeportations during the pendency of the class action.
On December 10 Judge Pechman granted an emergency motion for temporaryrestraining. The Judge's written order prevents the deportation of allSomali's nationwide. This halts the deportation of at least 39 Somaliscurrently held in INS detention and may affect 2700 others.
On December 12 HFZ held a press conference addressing these recentdevelopments and also the special registration of individuals from 18countries. Only 62 people have registered in Seattle, with a deadlinefor registration of December 16th, those not registering subject todeportation.
Contact: HFZ- (phone) 206-723-2203-(web) www.hatefreezone.org
Not In Our Name Project-Seattle (phone) 206-984-6256 (web)www.notinourname-seattle.net(email) Seattle_notinourname@hotmail.com
New book on Shell Oil's Environmental Abuses
by Rodger Herbst
The new book Riding the Dragon: Royal Dutch Shell & The Fossil Fire,written by noted researcher Jack Doyle, catalogues an astounding rangeof environmental abuses by Shell Oil that contradict the company'smulti-million-dollar advertising and PR campaign to position itself asan environmentally and socially conscious oil company. Refinery ReformProject Coordinator Denny Larson said: "The new independent researchset out in [this book] confirms widespread failure on the part ofShell's managers to follow their own corporate high standards in manycountries ..." The extensively researched book identifies a number ofsteps that the world's second largest oil company can immediately taketo improve its poor record on the environment, community relations,and worker safety.
The book and its author have formed a centerpiece for communityactivities in San Francisco, as well as an internationalteleconference. Excerpts appear at www.shellfacts.com.
New Government Snoop Tool
from ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union has called on President Bush todisavow a new system being developed at the Pentagon that would beable to track every American's activities. The Pentagon's DefenseAdvanced Research Projects Agency is developing the system, which ithas dubbed "Total Information Awareness," in its Information AwarenessOffice. That office is directed by former Reagan Administrationofficial John Poindexter, who once said that it was his duty as thenational security advisor to withhold information from Congress.
The Total Information Awareness (TIA) program will be -- byPoindexter's own public admission -- the infrastructure for what thegovernment hopes will be the most extensive electronic surveillancesystem in history. That vision is encapsulated in the logo forPoindexter's office: the all-seeing eye and pyramid (prominent also onthe one dollar bill) spying from above on the entire world.
The TIA program would use the technology called data-mining -- which istotally untested in the national security context -- to ostensiblydetect terrorist threats before they occur. Data-mining, currentlyused by private industry to track buying habits and targettelemarketers, among other things, involves the computerized scrutinyof vast amounts of unrelated information in the hope of findingpatterns that can predict future behavior. But the TIA program goesfurther than any corporate cyber-snooping: it would link a huge numberof commercial and governmental databases, both in America andoverseas. These databases could presumably range from student gradesto mental health histories to travel records. "Just as he scaled backthe program that would have had neighbors spying on neighbors,President Bush must stop the Total Information Awareness program now,"said Katie Corrigan, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "And if he refusesto act, Congress should step in quickly and pull the plug on thisdangerous idea."
For further information, contact action@dcaclu.org
