An important, and (our great prediction) totally ignored by mass media, milestone comes up this week: the 100th anniversary of the U.S. invasion and annexation of Puerto Rico. P.R. remains this country's last major colony, and is recognized as such by any number of international bodies. Traditionally far poorer than us mainland anglos, Puerto Rico is now being used as a corporate haven thanks to some generous loopholes in tax and labor laws shepherded through Congress by the usual suspects. For confirmation of Puerto Rico's status as a second-class citizen, look no further than the deafening media silence in the last month as the island was paralyzed by labor unrest in response to a privatization scheme (ETS!, July 8.) There will be demos in support of independence--and independista political prisoners in U.S. prisons--in Washington, Boston, New York, Chicago, and other cities to mark the date, but nothing in Seattle that we know of.--Geov Parrish

John Hughes of the Associated Press reported in June that Senator Fishsticks is a millionaire and the richest politician in the state of Washington. Disclosure forms filed by local politicians show that Slade Gorton is worth between $1.3 million and somewhere over $5 million. The wide difference in estimates is due to the nature of the disclosure forms, which don't require politicians to report the value of homes, cars, furnishings or the exact value of any of their assets--they're only required to place each source of income within a broad and nonspecific range. What details we do have are intriguing and indicative of how Sen. Fishsticks is divorced from the everyday needs of the majority of people in this state. Gorton's share of his family's Boston wholesale fish packing company, Gorton & Co., makes up his main source of wealth, valued between $1 million and $5 million, and it pays him dividends of between $15,000 and $50,000 per year (more than most folks make at their 40 hour per week jobs). He also owns a blind trust that's worth at least $100,000 (and probably much more than that) that pays him an extra $5,000 to $15,000 per year (thanks, Dad!). His house in D.C. is valued at between $250,000 and $500,000, and he earned nearly $150,000 last year in pay as a senator.

Patty Murray's assets were much smaller, but still nothing to sneeze at. Her largest asset is her husband's retirement plan of at least $100,000, and possibly as high as $500,000, which paid out between $15,000 and $50,000 to the Murrays last year. (Her husband Rob works as a computer consultant for Stevedoring Services of America, the welfare queen who got $300 million in Port of Seattle money to upgrade its pier in Seattle.) Senator Me Too takes home an annual salary of $133,600, boosting her well above her fictitious "mom in tennis shoes" constituency. In total, her net wealth could be as high as $490,000.

No wonder Congress believes that the "middle class" are people who make $50,000 or more per year, when median income in the U.S. is about $25,000, with (by definition) 50% of the population making less than that amount. When carried to its logical conclusion, a false inflation of middle class income (up to the $50,000 level) nevertheless squarely places most politicians well within the ranks of the "upper class," and defines the U.S. as a "plutocracy," ruled by the rich. Just don't expect anyone in Congress to admit it.--Maria Tomchick

The AFL-CIO celebrated one of its biggest victories in the past decade last week when the 18,000 employees of United Airlines voted to organize under the International Association of Machinists union. It may be a step forward for the union, but for the company, it was keenly ironic: United Airlines is majority-owned by its own employees, not by outside shareholders. In 1994, after failed attempts to sell or restructure the bankrupt company, its board of directors voted to give the majority share to its employees. Of course the company was worth almost nothing at that time, laden with debts, and extremely unprofitable. In exchange for shares in United, the company's employees accepted wage and benefit cuts and changes in work rules. Since then, United Airlines has gotten back on its feet, but its employees are still working for less and working harder and longer hours. It's a strange day when employees need a union to negotiate pay increases, benefits, and shorter hours from its own elected board of directors. On the other hand, it also shows where the IAM's priorities lie: in organizing easy targets.--M.T.

After six years, anybody doubting that Clinton/Gore are as fundamentally hostile to human rights as Reagan and Bush ever were quite simply has their heads up their asses. The list of examples of Clinton-sanctioned human rights atrocities is way too long to delve into here, but includes treats like fighting a landmine ban, sponsorship of abusive counter- insurgency campaigns in Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and many others, the free trade mechanisms that have brought untold misery to hundreds of millions, cutbacks in foreign aid, Cuba, Israel, Haiti, China, Indonesia, nuclear weapon development, and endlessly on. Any of these war-crime-eligible stunts are far better grounds for impeachment than the tedious and seemingly endless Beltway media and pundit fixation with who Bill Clinton sodomized and when. The answer is obvious: anybody he can, as often as possible.

The latest demonstration of true Clinton/Gore colors, however, may be the most graphic yet. Over strenuous U.S. objections, last week a U.N. conference in Rome created, for the first time ever, a permanent world court to try war crimes--but the U.S. said "it could not join and would have to remain vigilant about its commitments on the world stage."

Chief U.S. delegate David Scheffer made a last-ditch attempt to rewrite the statute, fearing that American troops could be tried in a "kangaroo court." Crimes the U.S. didn't want anyone to be tried for included rape and torture, something presumably our humanitarian guys are in danger of accidentally perpetrating (call it a "cultural misunderstanding"). Happily, delegates threw out U.S. amendments by an overwhelming 113-17 majority, leaving the U.S. isolated from its allies and voting with other human rights felons like Libya and Iran. Reportedly Clinton's henchmen leaned heavily on European allies to break ranks, but failed. Sometimes the innocent, obvious questions are the most pertinent: what is the United States afraid of?--G.P.

Reminder: August 1 is the deadline for you to get your original artwork in for the 1999 Eat the State! Wall Calendar. It'll feature our usual great artists and cool historical tidbits, but could also include you! Send your submissions to Ron & Emily Austin, 6519 128th Ave. NE, Kirkland WA 98033; for questions, call Emily, or Ron, at 425-889-7851.