compiled by Sharlynn Cobaugh

Hatchery Fish Same as Wild?

A property rights group in Oregon filed a suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service this December in US District Court. The landowners assert that the Fisheries Department is doing its job wrong by incorrectly tallying the number of fish in Oregon streams and rivers.

The error, they assert, lies in the fact that the Fisheries Department excluded the number of fish in hatchery stocks when tallying total fish numbers to determine whether protection was warranted from Endangered Species legislation under US law.

If the Court rules that a hatchery fish equals a wild fish, western rivers would be subject to less restriction. According to the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation--which represents the property rights group--Chinook, Coho and Sockeye Salmon are wrongly listed as endangered in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California.

(Capitol Press, November 2005)

Dousing Wilderness with Pesticides

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to apply massive amounts of pesticides to forests, rangelands and aquatic areas to reduce the risk of fire and slow the spread of invasive weeds in 17 western states. National Monuments and National Conservation Areas would be included in sprayed areas. The pesticides that would be used include persistent and mobile chemicals, including known developmental and reproductive toxins.

(Organic Consumers Association, December 2005)

Open-Source Software Movement Growing

According to the Multinational Monitor, Washington-based Microsoft Corporation has been able to control 90% of the world operating system market because it has quickly met competitive threats by either copying and then displacing competitors' innovations, or simply by buying competitors and incorporating them into Microsoft.

The largest competition Microsoft may face, however, isn't coming from another corporation, but from a global network of independent programmers who have been creating what is known as the Open-Source Movement.

The open-source network has created an alternative operating system to Microsoft, known as GNU/Linux. The alternate operating system has not been too widely adopted in the home computer arena in North America but is widely used in other countries, and controls a large share of the high-end computer services, with its open source web server Apache.

More than one million programmers in North America today are working on some free and open-source projects. The open-source model of development completely rejects the proprietary model of information ownership, and its structure lends developmental advantages. Namely, better and more stable products are being created through the benefit of being looked at by so many people. The products are given constant scrutiny and are openly improved and shared.

Software that people make is available free of charge for use, and for modification and improvement. This process has been formalized through the GNU General Public License (GPL). Explains open-source pioneer, Richard Stallman, "When a program is GPL-covered, you are free to publish a modified version, but your version must also be free, meaning that I can use your improvements just as you can use mine."

(Multinational Monitor, "The People's Triumphs Over Corporate Power," July August 2005)

Loopholes in the recently enacted Washington state anti-smoking initiative.

Department of Peace Proposed in Senate

Senator Mark Dayton of Minnesota is sponsoring S-1756 the Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act. The bill, a counterpart to Representative Dennis Kucinich's HR-3760, marks the first time this proposal has ever been before the Senate. Kucinich's proposal was introduced in 2001 and again in September 2005, and has now gained 60 co-sponsors in the House.

Presenting his bill on the senate floor, Senator Dayton said, "If we are to remain the world's leader, and if we are to lead the world into a more secure and more prosperous future, we must become better known and more respected for our peacemaking successes than for our military forces."

Specifically, the legislation calls for a Cabinet-Level Department to "research, articulate and facilitate nonviolent solutions to domestic and international conflict." The newly created department is proposed to be run with at least two percent of the Defense Department's budget, which at today's spending levels would mean eight billion dollars per year.

(Yes magazine, Winter 2006)

Genetically Modified Alfalfa Deregulated

This past fall American farmers for the first time had the right to plant genetically modified Herbicide-Tolerant Round-Up-Ready Alfalfa. The fourth largest crop in the US, alfalfa is the first perennial crop to be deregulated by the USDA/APHIS for genetic modification. Alfalfa is currently raised in all 50 states, with heavy production coming out of Oregon and California.

Because alfalfa becomes feral quite easily it is feared that it will cross-pollinate and create "superweeds". People who care about organic agriculture are concerned that this may eliminate organic honey production because bees will cross-pollinate alfalfa with other plants. Thirty percent of honey production in the US relies on alfalfa.

(Growing For Market, October 2005)

Biotech Industry Seeks to Reverse Local Bans on GE Crops

In 2004, Mendocino County, California became the first county in the United States to ban genetically engineered (GE) crops. Since then, two other California counties have also banned GE crops. Over 100 town meetings in New England have called for strict controls or moratoriums on GE crops. Worldwide, 100 agricultural regions are GE-Free. One third of the world's population, now requires mandatory labeling of GE crops and the European Union, the largest agricultural market in the world, has said "no" completely to GE foods in their grocery stores.

The Biotech industry in America (driven by Monsanto and the Farm Bureau) is responding to this rising trend by trying to pass legislation in individual states that would make it illegal for counties in the United States to prevent GE crops, and assert local control over agriculture in their communities. Already 14 states have adopted laws which make it illegal to ban GE products. California is next on the list, and bills AB1508, and SB1056 will be coming into the legislature this session. If passed, GE-free victories in Mendocino, Trinity and Marin county would be overturned.

(Groundspring, October 2005)