compiled by Sharlynn Cobaugh

Small-Town Victory in North Central Cascades

The battle against developing the large-scale Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory is over, and small town folks in and near Leavenworth, WA are celebrating a hard won victory in keeping the lab out of nearby undeveloped mountain forest areas.

Gaining the support of the Leavenworth City Council was the key to success. Many council members initially supported bringing the project to Leavenworth, but after realizing how strong the community sentiment was against the project, the council voted unanimously to reject the project. Rob Eaton, a council member and vocal lab supporter had this to say, "The council must, in good faith, acknowledge the general will of the community."

This was not the end of the battle however. It was still up to the National Science Foundation to decide which sites were the best for the project. They were expected to choose three, but in the end, only chose two: the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota and Henderson Mine in Colorado. The Homestake Mine is an old gold mine that has recently been flooded by its owner, and the Henderson Mine is a working molybdenum mine west of Denver.

Leavenworth residents can now go back to enjoying the beautiful wilderness areas around their town.

(Wenatchee World, July 2005)

Seattleites Rally Against Military Recruitment

A nationwide anti-recruitment movement has engaged Seattle students and their parents, who have confronted recruiters on campuses and protested invasive phone calls and home visits. Of particular concern are the injustices in the war in Iraq, of military discrimination against sexual minorities, and the military's focus on low-income schools for intense recruiting efforts. In Seattle, students gathered together and hollered outside of recruiters' windows this year, protesting about the money being spent on war, and saying it should be spent on education and social programs instead. Seattle Public Schools are now allowing students to individually opt out of federally required information sharing with military recruiters.

In one dramatic instance, on January 20, 2005, some 100 students at Seattle Central Community College shouted, danced and held up picket signs calling for three military recruiters, working a table in a college hall, to leave the campus. The three men quickly departed to the cheers of the activists. The Army immediately requested video footage from security cameras. College administrators refused, but demanded an apology from a student group which they said was part of the protest. This demand received a public outcry and was soon dropped.

Since then, students have lobbied the college president to get rid of recruiters, but administrators have been reluctant to exclude recruiters due to a 1995 law, the Solomon Amendment, which denies federal funding to educational institutions that prevent recruiter's full access to students. Schools such as Harvard and Yale have fought this law in court and have won the right to exclude recruiters on the grounds that the military discriminates against gays and lesbians and is thereby not in accordance with their institution's anti-discrimination policies.

All four branches of the military are having a difficult time signing people up for their reserves. In response, they have upped their signing bonuses to $20,000 (Congress is currently considering raising this to $40,000) and have hired a private marketing firm to create a database for 30 million students between the ages of 16 and 25 which will track these students' personal information such as email addresses, ethnicities, grade-point averages, birth dates and social security numbers.

(Freedom Socialist, August/September 2005; The Insurgent, June 2005)

US Wants Extradition of Canada's Prince of Pot

Marc Emery is known in Canada as the Prince of Pot for a number of reasons. He presides over the world's largest seed sales business, edits a bimonthly journal Cannabis Culture, and can often be found supporting the antiprohibition movement in person, on the web or on TV. Emery was arrested by Canadian police at the behest of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and was charged with money laundering and conspiracy to produce and sell marijuana. Emery claims the US DEA's desire to have him arrested was politically motivated, saying "My money went everywhere, spreading a revolution through retail. It was the engine for worldwide activism against US drug policy." This is denied by the US attorney prosecuting the case in Seattle, Tom Greenburg. But Karen Tandy, head of the DEA, has undermined his claim with a statement she made on the day of the bust proclaiming they dealt a blow "not only to the marijuana trafficking trade... but also to the marijuana legalization movement" whose lobbyists, she added, "now have one less pot of money to rely on." What remains to be seen is whether the Canadian government will agree to extradite Emery to America for prosecution. Emery pays approximately $80,000 a year in taxes to the Canadian government for profits from his business as a marijuana seed vendor. Canada has legalized medical marijuana, is considering federal decriminalization, and was the first nation to approve pharmaceutical grade marijuana, known as Sativex. A recent poll found that 58% of Canadian citizens oppose Emery's extradition and his arrest.

(Mother Jones, November 2005)

Old Growth Forests Endangered by Healthy Forest Initiative

The Healthy Forest Initiative (HFI) was created and implemented this year by the Bush Administration with claims that it would help us manage our national forest lands and reduce fuel loads that contribute to forest fires. One example that was used in argument for the initiative was Oregon's "B&B fire," an arson fire that raged through the Deschutes National Forest.

But the implementation of the logging plans in accordance with the HFI has grassroots groups in an uproar, and they've begun a new Green Ribbon Campaign to keep the logging companies in check. One logging company, Boise Cascade, made an oath in 2003 that it was "turning green" and would not log any more old growth after 2004. Citizen groups are currently meeting with Boise Cascade to further define what old growth is. Boise Cascade has also recently announced its intention to log the Eagle Old Growth Reserve in Washington's Wenatchee National Forest. Leavenworth Audobon Adopt A Forest member Pat Rasmussen warns, "Until recently, the Forest Service protected Ponderosa pines 21 inches in diameter. Thanks to misleading misnomers like the Bush Administration's HFI, companies like Boise are being allowed to destroy public land for private profits. We're tying green ribbons on trees everywhere to remind Boise that they made a commitment to protect old growth, and we expect them to keep it."

(The Portland Alliance, October 2005)

CAFTA: A knife in the back of health freedom-fighters

Most Americans would be surprised to hear that the recent passing of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) could result in a need for a prescription for more than 250mg of Vitamin C in the USA. Most of us see CAFTA as a continuation of NAFTA and conditions that already exist here in the US, but that is not the whole truth. The truth is that many special interest agendas are being promoted such as Big Pharma's aversion to herbs, vitamins and supplements as ways for individuals to manage their health without prescription drugs. There is a distinct timeline and exact moments when these concessions were won, and they are outlined below:

On July 6th, 2005 the International Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted the "German Model" of healthcare, which does not allow for access to herbs and supplements or vitamins by individuals. To understand what this has to do with CAFTA, one must also know that International Trade Agreements supercede the laws of individual countries, and that member nation's laws must be changed to fall in line with international standards. Codex sets the international standards for CAFTA and requires that member nations must form a SPS Committee to come into line with the standards set.

After voting on and accepting the "German Model" of health care, committee members (US representatives included) went on to further alter international standards. Some of the changes include elevated levels of acceptable pesticides and chemicals, meat handling protocols that favor corporate farmers, maximum toxic residue limits for veterinary drugs, and dangerously higher allowed levels of cadmium in wheat, grains, potatoes, leafy and root vegetables.

(Idaho Observer, July 15, 2005)

Dirty Kilowatts

A report released in May by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) found that the 50 biggest power plants in the US are responsible for 50% of the sulfur dioxide emissions, 42% of mercury, 40% of nitrogen oxides and 35% of carbon dioxide pollution, while generating only 14% of the nation's power.

Director of the EIP, Eric Schaeffer warned that the real tragedy of this preventable pollution was the related health effects. "Power plant sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions contribute to fine particle pollution that triggers asthma attacks and causes lung and heart disease. Carbon dioxide gases contribute to the gradual warming of the planet. Mercury from power plants is a deadly neurotoxin, especially dangerous to developing fetuses and already found to be present at an unhealthy level in at least 10% of women."

The good news is that the report also states that technologies are not only available to curb this pollution, but they are affordable too. The bad news is that these technologies are not being used.

(Multinational Monitor, May/June 2005)

Chavez Prepares for US Intervention

The democratically elected president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, whose approval rating is 80.5% among Venezuelans, is using his nation's vast oil wealth to enact vast social transformation and poverty alleviation.

Recently, Chavez spoke to news released in a Venezuelan weekly newspaper which alleges that the United States has formed a cohesive plan of attack on Venezuela named "Operation Balboa" and that this attack had been planned since 2001. Author Jose Luis Carpio stated that the plan was drawn up under the Southern Command by the order of George Bush and that the plan focuses on using paramilitary groups on the Colombian/Venezuelan border to create unrest in Venezuela which will in turn "require" a US "intervention" to remove Chavez from power.

Chavez said he knew of the plan in detail, and suggested a plan he called "Counter Operation Balboa". Chavez has sworn that should the US make an assassination attempt on his life, Venezuela will not sell another drop of oil the United States.

During a recent visit to the US for the United Nations sessions, Hugo Chavez announced his plans to begin distributing oil to America's poor by cutting out the middleman and shipping directly to struggling areas. Venezuela owns 14,000 gas stations and eight oil refineries in the United States. Chavez plans to set aside 10% of the 800,000 barrels produced by Citgo Refineries and ship these directly to schools, religious organizations and nonprofits in poor communities.

(Works in Progress, August 2005 and October 2005)