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precedence.
PCC Should Allow Free Newspapers
Hi. I notice in your paper [Sep/Oct 2002] you note that PCC is a
"business." PCC is supposed to be a co-op! I had a long and bitter
fight with them about their free paper policy. I still think it
stinks. Personally, I switched to Madison Market (even though we live
in W. Seattle) because of their [PCC's] very obnoxious attitude around
this issue. Is there any interest from your readership in organizing a
boycott of PCC until they allow free papers again? Just an idea.
- E.W.
Friend of Abbey
I was thrilled to read your book review about Edward Abbey! [Sep/Oct
2002] He and I were close friends at UNM in Albuquerque. At the time
we formed Students for Environmental Action, a predecessor group to
Earth First!. I protested by joining the Chamber of Commerce and
starting to talk about solar powering Albuquerque, and developing a
Rapid Transit System. The board of regents and the local electric
utility were hostile. For the record, Edward told me he was going to
write about us. It was I that coined the phrase "Monkey Wrench." My
research on rapid transit systems did not get squished. I relocated to
Seattle in 1983. I am proud of Puget Sound. Today we have built a
first class HOV/bus lane system, and we are expanding the monorail and
light rail, invented in Albuquerque, built in Seattle! Next: solar
powering Sound Transit. - Martin "Solar" Nix
Pay Cantwell Back
When Sen. Maria Cantwell unseated Slade Gorton, it appeared to be a
victory for the good of Washington State. Unfortunately, Cantwell has
turned her back on this mandate, voting in favor of giving Bush
unprecedented powers to declare pre-emptive war and invade Iraq. The
President's proposed urgency for this war is unsupported by fact and
is categorically immoral. The CIA released a report clearly detailing
that Iraq is currently a "low risk" to attack the US or our allies.
The report says that once a US attack is certain, Iraqis will have no
reason for restraint and the risk for terrorist or military attack
will become high. So, not only will Senator Cantwell's vote support
the unconscionable slaughter of innocent Iraqis and the death of US
military personnel, it further threatens the lives of citizens abroad
and in the US.
Let's refuse to vote for Cantwell when her seat opens for re-election
unless she reverses her position. - B.H., Mount Vernon
Sixty Years: Enough Bombing Already
The little island of Vieques just off the east coast of Puerto Rico
has been bombed by the US Navy for the past sixty years. Two thirds of
this once beautiful and productive island was expropriated by the US
during World War II to train the military, with negligible
compensation to the residents. It has been used as a Navy bombing
range and training ground for US military interventions ever since --
for Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and
now, no doubt, Iraq for the second time.
This activity has affected the island and its 9,000 people to a
shocking degree. Fishing, the main source of livelihood, has become
nearly impossible. The eastern third of the island is a wasteland, so
devastated by bomb craters and polluted by spent uranium shells,
napalm, etc. that it may take decades to restore. Cancer, asthma,
hyper-tension, and diabetes rates are exceptionally high.
We lived in Puerto Rico for 27 years and sailed to Vieques Island on
several occasions. On a recent visit to San Juan, we joined a silent
protest march of more than 150,000 Puerto Ricans demanding an end to
the bombing on Vieques. The resilient people of Vieques are American
citizens, as are all Puerto Ricans. They deserve peace for their
Island. According to reports, the Navy has several possible
alternative training sites.
More than 30 members of Congress, including Jim McDermott, have
written President Bush urging him to issue an executive order to cease
the bombing and return the island to the people of Vieques.
- Robert and Mildred Royce