We've had a lot of good feedback from readers about running our newest feature column, Nature & Politics, written by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair. Now, Cockburn and St. Clair will be coming to Seattle to read from their new book "Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press," which details the U.S. government's covert support for drug-dealers and the worldwide drug industry. On Tuesday, October 13th, they'll be at the University Bookstore at 7:00 PM. Then on Thursday, October 15th, they'll read and sign books at the Elliott Bay Book Co. Cockburn is a regular columnist for The Nation, and co-edits CounterPunch, a bi-weekly, muckraking newsletter out of Washington, D.C. St. Clair also writes for CounterPunch, whose subtitle is "Tells the Facts and Names the Names." The same can be said of Whiteout, which predictably has garnered no mainstream press coverage, almost no publicity, and not many reviews. In spite of this media blackout, it's a great book--well-written and full of juicy facts. Highly recommended.--Maria Tomchick

Several weeks ago we wrote about the medical waste incinerators at the VA Hospital and Northwest Hospital, and the efforts of community groups to get them shut down as environmentally hazardous.

Now comes the good news: the VA has decided, in the next 30-60 days, to shut down its incinerator, replacing it with a less toxic method of waste disposal.

One down, one to go! Congratulations to all the community activists who've worked on the issue, and kudos to the VA for doing the right thing. Sometimes speaking out does pay off, and sometimes even seemingly intractable bureaucracies are staffed by people who care.--Geov Parrish

More good news: the imminent release of Washington state's longest-running political prisoner. The Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board (ISRB) has announced that Mark Cook will be paroled in 9-15 months, depending on how soon he completes a re-entry program at Airway Heights Correctional Facility. Cook is an African-American jailed for his role in an anti-war, prison solidarity bombing in the early 70's. He has been caged a quarter century, for a crime that ordinarily would only fetch a few years, because of his race and his unwavering commitment, inside prison walls, to the same radical politics that got him there in the first place. The transition to civ life will be rough; if he can negotiate it, we'll be gaining an articulate and inspiring voice for the revolution. Welcome home, Mark.-G.P.

What would the U.S. government do if our major banks began to collapse? To find out, we can look to Japan, whose government has just proposed new legislation to bail out corrupt and failing Japanese banks. First of all, the new plan calls for stripping the corrupt government Finance Ministry of all financial policy-making powers. Members of the Finance Ministry were partially responsible for the collapse of the Japanese banking sector, since they took bribes from bank officers to sign off on audits that were never performed. Instead, the bill would set up a new body, the Financial Revival Committee (kinda sounds like a cross between the IMF and the 700 Club). This committee would nationalize failed banks, assume their bad debts, and sell off the "healthy" assets--ostensibly to solvent Japanese banks (if there are any left)--again, nationalizing debts and privatizing assets. This will "rescue" failed banks, compensate their shareholders ... and put a very heavy debt burden on the Japanese government and Japanese taxpayers (which is exactly how the Russian government got into trouble). The new bill would require the Japanese government to come up with $222 billion for the new bailout fund. Keep in mind that, when Russia defaulted on its domestic debt in August, the sum it couldn't pay was only $40 billion.--Maria Tomchick

Speaking of billions of dollars, the obvious question comes to mind: where did all the money go? We don't have to look very far--only to the pages of Fortune Magazine. The cover of its September 7th issue shows a pig wearing a business suit and wire rimmed glasses, proclaiming proudly: "Has This Market Gone To the Pigs?" Underneath the headline are the subtitles: "Wretched Excess! Wild Stock Swings! Program Trading Madness!" followed by "If this isn't the top, what's next?" The inside story is entitled "Spoils of a Pig Market," which is obviously what we now call a bull market that's rewarded the richest one percent of the world's population beyond their wildest dreams. The article goes into disgusting detail about what the richest of the rich have been spending their loot on: whole-house sound systems for $250,000 each, live-in nannies ($1,000 per week--not counting apartment and car), $2,300 Oxford suits, yachts, luxury cars, jewelry, gourmet chocolates, travel, etc., etc. It even has a "what's In and what's Out" section, comparing the accouterments of today's wealthy pigs with 1987's wealthy pigs ("minimum qualification for nanny: 1987, English language; 1989, English accent). Clearly, this is where Russian workers should go next in their search for something to eat. Pork stroganoff, anyone?--M.T.