#78 November/December 2005
The Washington Free Press Washington's Independent Journal of News, Ideas & Culture
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TOP STORIES

Genetically Engineered Designer Politicians
When it comes to politicians, intelligent design trumps evolution
by Todd Huffman, MD

Judge: Grant County's Public Defense System Deficient
from the ACLU of Washington

The Day My Leaf Blower Became Silent
story & photos by Kristianna Baird

FREE THOUGHTS

READER MAIL
More Trust Goes to Doctors; A Plague Upon You; Can We Clean Up the Hanford Clean-up?; American Politicians: A Threat to the World; On Hunger Strike in WA Prison

Writing in an Age of Terror
by David Swanson

Somebody Up There Likes Us!
Utne Reader nominates us for best local/regional coverage
from the editor

NORTHWEST & BEYOND compiled by Sharlynn Cobaugh
Small-Town Victory in North Central Cascades; Seattleites Rally Against Military Recruitment; US Wants Extradition of Canada's Prince of Pot; Old Growth Forests Endangered by Healthy Forest Initiative; CAFTA: A knife in the back of health freedom-fighters; Dirty Kilowatts; Chavez Prepares for US Intervention

HEALTH

Dentist Gone Native: The prophetic nutritional research of Dr. Weston Price, DDS
Part 2 (conclusion): The effects of modern diet on native peoples
by Dr. Stephen Byrnes

LABOR

Work For Bush
cartoon by David Logan

What About the Rank and File?
Labor leaders are still ignoring Labor's biggest asset: volunteer members
part 2 (conclusion)
opinion by Brian King

Federal Charges Filed Against Cascadian Building Maintenance
from SEIU Local 6

Temp World
part 1
by Margie M. Mitchell

POLITICS

Able Danger: 'Something Bigger Here'
New evidence regarding prior government knowledge of 9/11 terrorists
by Rodger Herbst

Socialist Candidate Scores Well in Seattle Vote
from Advocates for Averill

ENVIRONMENT

Ford Redoubles Green-washing Efforts
Activists double over laughing
from Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network

TRASH TALK by Dave and Lillian Brummet
The Valuable Individual; Reduce Waste this Christmas

WAR

MEDIA BEAT by Norman Solomon
'The War on Terror'--in Translation

Did you know that...
from David Swanson and O'Kelly McCluskey

Iraq: Toward an Honorable Exit
by Phil Heft

CONTACTS/ACTIVISM

NORTHWEST NEIGHBORS
contact list of subscribers who like to talk with you

DO SOMETHING! CALENDAR
Northwest activist events

MEDIA

Bird Flu!
cartoon by Andrew Wahl

Washington Prisons Pay Record Censorship Penalty
from Prison Legal News

Cable-Access TV Faces Local and National Threats
from SCAN

LAW

Too Much Seatime
by John Merriam, attorney-at-law

CULTURE

Teacher; Dead Artists; Untitled
Three poems by Robert Pavlik

If God...
by Styx Mundstock

The Wanderings and Thoughts of Kip Kellogg
by Vincent Spada

PUMPKIN EDDIE'S LIGHTNING POEMS
Moody; Crazy
by Vincent Spada

EDUCATION

Weapons of Mass Instruction
by Paul Rathgeb

Cable-Access TV Faces Local and National Threats

from SCAN

The future of our democracy is dependent upon the availability of "public greenspace" in our communications system. Local Public, Educational and Government (PEG) channels, commonly called "cable-access" channels, are that space.

But new cable legislation before Congress is threatening the cable-access community channels many have come to know and depend upon. If corporate-friendly legislation passes, it could be the end of local televised nonprofit public affairs programs, neighborhood news and community events, cultural programs in various languages, local religious coverage, safety programs by your local Red Cross, high school football games, annual pageants and chorales, etc.

In Washington, there is an additional local threat to cable-access. The nonprofit organization SCAN (Seattle Community Access Network) has a contract with the City of Seattle to manage programming on cable channels 77 and 29 over Comcast Cable and Millennium Digital Media, seen throughout Seattle and King County, and parts of South Snohomish County. The SCAN contract with Seattle is being reconsidered by the city as part of contract negotiations with the cable companies. SCAN is in danger of being locally defunded.

Over the last four years SCAN has cablecast in excess of 20,000 hours. It is also streamed in real time over the internet at www.scantv.org.

For information on national cable legislation, contact Anthony Riddle, Alliance for Community Media, 202-957-5504, raiseeveryvoice@yahoo.com.

For more information on local cable issues contact SCAN at (206) 522-4758 or visit the SCAN website at: www.scantv.org. You can also send an email to Seattle politicians regarding SCAN contract renewal at www.reclaimthemedia.org.


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