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More Trust Goes to Doctors

Many are fortunate to have been healed or helped by a Washington hospital, nurse, and physician. Unfortunately, no medical outcome can be guaranteed because we are all too human and medicine is an art. As a friend was being wheeled into the surgery suite, he told his surgeon, "Don't worry, I never sue someone who's trying to help me."

But this is not what most of Washington's 29,000 attorneys want you to believe. If no one was suing, many would be out of a lucrative job. While healthcare aims to help mankind, injury lawyers aim to profit from the perceived or real misfortune of others. At a 30-50% cut, it's an outlandish--but profitable--game, even if some cases are settled or lost.

The Washington State Bar Association and Supreme Court do an appalling job disciplining unethical attorneys. Lawyers can accumulate numerous complaints and malpractice claims while they continue to practice law. In fact, unlike Oregon, the Washington bar does not require attorneys to hold malpractice insurance. Ironically, the bigger the malpractice limits are for physicians or hospitals or anyone, the more appealing they are to lawyers.

According to a 2004 Gallop Poll on honesty and ethical standards, healthcare professionals were rated highly and attorneys were rated amongst the lowest. Nurses for several years running have been at the top of the list.

In a 1972 survey by the American Bar Association, 70 percent of Americans did not have a lawyer, nor did they know how to find one. These days it's almost impossible to escape the salty ads of lawyers on TV, radio, newspapers, bus stop benches, and full-page Yellow Pages ads. Although there are a host of respectable attorneys in Washington State, we see healthcare as vastly more important, healing, and comforting than the goals of attorneys. Whether it's from the radio or a huge bill board, don't let the legal profession try to persuade you that they are the answer to your problems.

Brian Shute, Ph.D., Communities For Lawyer Ethics, LawyerEthics.org

A Plague Upon You

While corporate media continues to give us daily reports of the spread of avian influenza and the possible coming pandemic, there is a much more serious pandemic coming to Seattle and surprisingly it's being brought here on purpose. On October 6th US scientists completed the reconstruction of the deadly 1918 influenza virus. That'd be the one that killed 50 million people right at the end of WWI (killing more people than the "War to End All Wars" that preceded it). But that's not the half of it. What should be particularly disturbing to readers is the fact that the next stage of work on the 1918 strain will be happening right here in Seattle. The University of Washington will soon begin experiments spraying the virus on monkeys at one of its laboratories in Belltown. Located on heavily trafficked Western Avenue and just a few blocks from Seattle Center, the lab is in the final stages of being upgraded to accommodate more monkeys and a higher biosafety level. Unfortunately for us however, the biosafety level will be below international standards for working with this particular virus. Add to that the significant additional problems associated with working with monkeys (not the least of which is the numerous escapes from labs in the last couple years) and you have the perfect formula for a complete disaster of epic proportions.

But all is not lost. Seattle citizens recently rallied and got the UW to back down from building a large regional bioterror lab on campus. Efforts are now underway to curtail this regions bioweapons work, to put a stop to the dangerous experiments at our universities and to create meaningful citizen oversight of the existing local biosafety labs. I encourage readers to get involved with this issue. You can keep up to date on these issues via our website at www.nobioterrorlab.com.

Mike McCormick, NW Appropriate Research & Technology

Can We Clean Up the Hanford Clean-up?

Last year (with more than 70% of the popular vote) Hanford Clean-up Initiative 297 passed into law against objections that it was just another ploy by "special interest groups" to create more business for lawyers.

One year later, the new law has yet to be implemented, as stealth riders piggy-back their way into law, and money designated for cleanup is being used to tie the process up--you guessed it--in court.

The Department of Energy is suing to have the Initiative overturned! On what basis? Why is it so important to bring radioactive waste into Washington State (or any region) to store inadequately--refusing even to clean up old waste in the first place? Who stands to gain? No one that I can see--except some enterprising individuals who (doubtless) would profit handsomely with a ready supply of raw cake in free markets focused around proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Kathleen Allen

American Politicians: A Threat to the World

First of all I must tell you that I am a true friend of the USA. I am a man in my late fifties, and I am from Norway. I'm a teacher in grammar school there, and history is one of my subjects.

I deeply acknowledge the great job the USA did to help Europe fight Nazism, and that American blood was spilt on European soil. I also know that the Norwegian people, as well as the peoples of other European nations suffered a lot (the Germans included).

I grew up during the cold war (born 1951), in the northern part of our country, not far away from the Russian border. I also know that civilians and soldiers of the Soviet Union offered a lot during WWII.

After the war, Norway--as a small nation close to the old Soviet Union--always nodded and did what was expected from Washington.

Most of my family on my mother's side live in the USA (emigrated from Norway to Calumet, Michigan in the year 1900). Contact between the two "branches" faded little by little. After contact was re-established 10 or 15 years ago, the USA has been kind of magic for me.

I try to teach my pupils and my grandparents to behave well and to be kind to each other. As a true friend I therefore claim the right to speak out when the one for whom I have warm feelings acts in "an unwise way". In the so called "War on Terror" I feel that the American politicians have really gone astray. Their misdeeds are a real threat to the world. In spring 2002 the US ambassador in Oslo, Mr. John Doyle Ong, stated that nations that did not support the upcoming plans to invade Iraq caused serious harm to their relationship to the US. (Actually I think he was quoting President Bush: "Either you're with us, or you're with the terrorists".)

Mr. Bush is repeating his mantra that "the good" will prevail in the war against "the evil". I'm afraid he is deadly wrong. This war can never be won. The American war on terror has an opposite effect on the American nation than Bush and the other hawks in Washington have led the American people to believe. The USA, and in fact, the whole world is more vulnerable to a growing wave of terrorism due to this resentment.

In that respect recent threats from Muslim activists against Norway and Denmark must be considered as clear evidence.

Democracy and freedom lose in both the USA and the world, while evil and terror spread, having the direct opposite effect of all the presidential rhetoric about the glorious victory over evil.

Trond H. Karlsen, Norway

On Hunger Strike in WA Prison

I am contacting you because I need to get the word out that starting Sunday September 25 I am refusing to eat while I'm confined in Washington State's Department of Corrections, because officers abuse prisoners and there is nothing inmates can do. On July 16 I was assaulted by a correctional officer, then I was put in an isolation cell. When I went to an infraction hearing, the hearing officer told me I don't have the right to have evidence at my hearing, which is a violation of due process of law.

I filed a grievance and the grievance officer basically covered for the other officer. I expected that. I am not going to file a civil suit because I know that the officer is represented by the attorney general and the state, and will press charges on me just to stop me from winning the suit.

I've been in prison since I was 16. I'm 21 now and I have 20 months left in prison. I feel like the system is fabricating all these charges just to keep me in prison. Washington state is a police state. Its biggest monetary source is the security union, so by keeping people in prison, it keeps the taxpayers paying. That's why the government's getting a few million dollars so it can expand the Pierce County Jail and hire more prosecutors.

I'm going to be starting an anti-government newsletter when I get out of prison. I'm going to need supporters who will stand by me. I'm going to suffer for every victim of the government by refusing to eat. Anyone who wants to know that I am standing firm in my protest can contact the Secretary of the Department of Corrections at PO Box 41101, Olympia WA 98504. Anyone who wants to visit me can contact me directly. My name and address is

Justin Barnes, DOC 820894
Unit 1 B-17, WA State Penitentiary
1313 N. 13th Ave, Walla Walla 99362