progressive news from near and far

compiled by Paul Schafer

Health Care Workers Struggle to Unionize

In Spokane, nurses and techs atValley Hospital, and techs at Deaconess, have recently voted tounionize. Nurses at Deaconess voted not to unionize by a margin offourteen votes, though that vote is being challenged.

According toemployees of the two Spokane hospitals, the root problem is the generallack of communication with administration, characterized byadministrators' overriding of physicians' advice. Pay is also an issue.On April 4, 2003, a nine percent company-wide pay cut was imposed.

Hospitals all over the country are in the red for a number of reasons.An additional factor in the recent pay cut seems to have been the needfor Valley Hospital to move into the black to qualify for bonds tofinance a $17 million expansion. (Pacific Northwest Inlander, 5-29-03)

Oregon: Warfare State

A modern twist of the US empire is the increasedrole of private military contractors, and Oregon's are no exception.Oregon has eleven major military facilities, including the sprawlingUmatilla Chemical Depot, and several industrial suppliers such asSymantec, which provides computer virus protection for the Department ofDefense (DOD). The Portland area has seven major military industrialsuppliers, nine military facilities, and several Homeland Securityoffices of various kinds, including FBI, DEA, and INS.

Why is this aproblem? During the Napoleonic Wars, the French diplomat Talleyrandremarked that Napoleon, having built the new French state aroundmilitarism, had to employ military solutions to all his problems. "Thelong list of his enemies would never permit France to enjoy lastingpeace." The challenge is to find ways to replace military-related jobsin ways that cause the least economic dislocation. (Portland Alliance,6-03)

Montana Dams Sold, Citizens Locked Out

For most of the last century,Montana Power Company (MPC) granted access to more than 36,000 acres ofrecreational lands that surround the rivers and reservoirs on which arelocated the dams it used to generate electricity.

But in early May,Montanans were shocked to discover that they had been locked out ofthose lands. MPC's successor, Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL), gave"homeland security" as a reason. However, many doubt that the increasedsecurity (in one case, a single chain holding a gate shut) might detereven a moderately motivated terrorist.

The lockout is largely a resultof the 1997 deregulation of Montana's electricity producers, duringwhich PPL bought the dams. A 2002 citizens' initiative, I-145, wouldhave let Montanans buy back the dams, but PPL defeated this initiativeby using profit gained during the manufactured "electricity crisis" of2000. Montana governor Judy Martz, along with the Bush government,continues to push to privatize state and national public resources.(Missoula Independent 5-15-03)

Axis of Peace

In the summer of 2002, Seattle's Nonviolent ActionCommunity of Cascadia and the Portland chapter of the War ResistersLeague met to shape a new income-tax "redirection" campaign. They hopedto encourage large numbers of citizens to "redirect" small amounts ofincome tax toward pursuits worthier than military funding. They choseamounts ($9.11 or $91.11) that symbolize the date on which militaristicU.S. policies came full circle and caused the violent deaths of over2,000 non-combatants on U.S. soil.

But the redirection campaign has sofar not reached the level of mass participation, being responsible forthe redirection of about $1,500 in Seattle and $2,500 in Portland. Thoseinterested in joining, helping to shape the campaign, or creating alocal Axis of Peace movement are encouraged to visit the campaign'swebsite (http://axisofpeace.info) or to contact the NACC office.(Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia Spring 2003)

Congress Debates Forest Thinning Bills

George W. Bush announced his"Healthy Forests Initiative" in August, 2002, a plan to prevent"catastrophic" wildfires by "reducing unnecessary regulatory obstaclesthat hinder active forest management." In other words, the plansidesteps environmental laws to let loggers thin forests.

A relatedbill, introduced by Rep. Scott McInnis, R-CO, would reduce "hazardousfuel" (i.e. trees and bushes) on 20 million acres of federal lands.According to Sean Cosgrove of the Sierra Club, this bill would exemptforest-thinning projects from administrative appeals, drasticallyreducing both environmental law and citizen involvement. The WildernessSociety and the Sierra Club have supported a different bill, by Rep.George Miller, D-CA, which is focused on protecting human communitiesfrom forest fires. (High Country News 5-26-03)

Next U.S. Targets

Iraq and Afghanistan have already fallen to the new US"empire", but who might be next? Economic factors come into play. The USdomestic economy has been in decline since 2000, because of bothcompetition of the dollar with the euro and the overproduction andvolatility of our current deregulated economy.

Iran: Iran is consideringmaking the euro its "currency of choice." [A huge threat if itinfluences OPEC to make the change, causing the value of the dollar toplummet. - ed] The U.S. may choose to use covert operations to changethe Iranian regime, or to actually invade Iran, which would fulfill thewishes of Ariel Sharon. Iran has good cause for fear. First, Iran feelsthreatened by the strategic ties between the U.S. and the GulfCooperation Council, an organization of the six Persian Gulf monarchies,and by the stationing of U.S. troops in all six of those countries.Second, the U.S. military is present in next-door Iraq [as well asAfghanistan and Turkmenistan].

Venezuela: Venezuela is vulnerablebecause it is the world's fourth largest producer of oil and it is anOPEC nation considering switching to the euro. Venezuela has alsoangered the US for its giving oil to Cuba in exchange for Cuba settingup health clinics in rural Venezuela. This bartering effectively cutsthe U.S. dollar out of the monetary cycle. Moreover, Venezuela hasrecently exchanged some of its dollar reserves for euros. VenezuelanPresident Hugo Chavez has already endured two coup attempts, which arewidely believed to have been backed by the U.S.

Saudi Arabia: With onefourth of the world's proven oil reserves, Saudi Arabia is the largestsupplier of oil to the U.S. It is also the largest market for U.S.weapons and the source of up to $600 billion of investments in the U.S.It is a long-time U.S. ally, but that might be changing. Tensions rosewhen it was found that most of the 9-11 hijackers were Saudis. The RANDCorporation urges a policy of "Taking Saudi out of Arabia" byconfronting the House of Saud (for support of terrorism), using U.S.troops to seize oil fields, and eventually installing a Hashemitemonarchy.

Syria: The U.S. has several goals for Syria, starting with thesevering of its links to the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, and IslamicJihad. Another goal is the restarting of an oil pipeline through Syriafrom Iraq to Israel. According to an article in the Asia Times, "regimechange in both Iraq and Syria is the prerequisite for the [pipeline]project."

North Korea: North Korea has also dropped the dollar and hasbegun trading in euros. Tension between the U.S. and North Korea haveescalated for months, but it is unlikely that North Korea will be thenext U.S. target because it has enough military (perhaps even nuclear)strength to threaten South Korea and Japan. "North Korea has more than amillion-strong military and an arsenal stocked with missiles that coulddestroy much of Seoul or Tokyo." (Works in Progress 6-03)

The Church: a Means to Peace

Given that Pope John Paul II condemned boththe war on Iraq and the preparations for war as "illegitimate andimmoral," and the U.S. Catholic bishops have stated that the church mustguide its members in the development of their conscience, what steps canthe Catholic Church take? Tom Karlin, an honorably discharged Navyveteran and eventual conscientious objector, urges church leaders tosuspend all ROTC programs in Catholic schools and to establish peacestudies programs to teach nonviolent resolution of conflict. (TacomaCatholic Worker 5-03)

WWW Washington Free Press