#69 May/June 2004
The Washington Free Press Washington's Independent Journal of News, Ideas & Culture
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FIRST WORDS

READER MAIL
No beer with Bush, etc.

NORTHWEST & BEYOND
Instant Runoff Voting Initiative, Labor victory at Powell's, etc
compiled by Paul Schafer

POLITICS

Opening Our Electoral Process
by John B. Anderson

Fair Presidential Election: How?
Washington, like Florida, to be a "battleground state"
by Steven Hill and Rob Richie

White House Engaged in Misinformation Campaign
from the ACLU

The Anti-Empire Report #9
The Israeli lobby, Guinea Pigs Fighting for Freedom, etc.
by William Blum

MEDIA

Media Beat
How the Newshour Changed History, The Quest for a Monopoly on Violence
by Norman Solomon

LAW

Grant County's Shameful Public Defense System
from the ACLU of Washington

Legal News
from the ACLU of Washington

HEALTH

Questioning Vaccines in the Hospital
Vaccination Decisions--part 4:
opinion by Doug Collins

Pierce County Dentist Speaks Out Against Fluoridation
opinion by Dr. Debra Hopkins

Researchers Caution: Avoid Feeding Babies Fluoridated Water
from New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation

Water Protection Petition

ENVIRONMENT

Toward A Toxic-Free Future:

EPA Using Industry Insiders to Forge Pesticide Policy
Conservation groups file lawsuit to stop it
by Erika Schreder, WTC

State Amends Incinerator Rule
But the dirty, obsolete practice of Incineration continues
by Brandie Smith, WTC

Hanford Initiative Likely on November Ballot
by Gregg Small, WTC

Calculating Disaster: Accidents at Puget Sound's Trident installation cast doubt on Navy and Lockheed safety claims
by Glen Milner

The Big Drip: Glacier National Park's Glaciers disappearing
summary by Paul Schafer

ACTIVISM

Health Care: A Right, Not A Commodity
opinion by Brian King

Protest Against Medical Redefinition Of "Woman"
March Against Unwarranted, Unconsented, Unwanted Operations
from Hysterectomy Educational Resources and Services (HERS)

The Death of Humanism
opinion by John Merriam

CULTURE

QUOTE: Generation Gap
from Jean Liedloff's The Continuum Concept

The Fact is...
by Styx Mundstock

Candy Island Invades the Vegetable Kingdom
cartoon and text by Leonard Rifas

What's your library doing on September 11?
by Rodger Herbst

The Consequences of Ads
by Doug Collins

BOOKS: Gates of Injustice: The Crisis in America's Prisons
by Alan Elsner

GOOD IDEAS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES:
Europe Leaves the US Behind:
The key to national prosperity is "Fulcrum Institutions"?
by Steven Hill

The Consequences of Ads

Advertising is by far the major funding source of most newspapers and most mainstream media, but consider the consequences of this. First, advertising money is a sort of corporate bankrolling of the press, with unspoken strings attached, much like our political campaign finance system.

Ad funding can make a newspaper cheap or free for the reader, but this bargain is an illusion. The money that businesses pay for ads is passed on to the price of the goods and services that consumers buy, so the consumer always pays for ads in the end. Ads also encourage increasing consumption, which has many negative consequences for our planet.

There are also labor effects of advertising. The advertising industry is a kind of warped, privatized, make-work program which forces many artists to compose corporate mottos, shoot corporate photos, and design corporate logos in order to earn a living, at the national expense of millions of trees worth of paper (check out your Sunday paper: probably two-thirds of its weight is advertisements).

There is a better way to get information to people. It's called subscriber support. It's what this paper operates on. Noncommercial journalism needs your support more than ever. Subscribe to the Washington Free Press (see the subscription form on page 3 or on our website home page).

Doug Collins


The Washington Free Press
PMB #178, 1463 E Republican ST, Seattle WA 98112
WAfreepress@gmail.com

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