Ever wonder what astro-turf lobby groups (that is, fake grass roots) look like? In this campaign season, here's a great example. In Western Washington, independent expenditure committees have popped up with literature in 11 different legislative districts. They include: Snohomish Action Committee; The Peninsula Committee; Sea-Tac Citizens for Responsive Government; Whatcom Citizens Committee; South Western Washington Action Group; Northlake Political Action Committee; Northwest Washingtonians for Better Government; and Citizens for Sensible Government. Guess what? All 11 groups have the same mailing address: 401 NE Ravenna Blvd, Suite 151, Seattle, WA 98115. They also have the same principal officers, Bruce Boram of United For Washington and Elliot Swaney of the Building Industry Association of Washington. In other words, the sprawl-mongers, the developers intent on gutting the Growth Management Act and any limits on the drive to convert every square foot from the Cascades to the Pacific into smooth, profitable pavement.--Geov Parrish

What's wrong with this picture? Paul Schell pulling up to put in a quick appearance last Saturday at a public transit hearing in Rainier Valley, Seattle's poorest neighborhood. He arrived in his chauffeur-driven Lincoln Town Car. Can't he take the bus? Why won't he take the bus?--G.P.

44 members of the U.S. House of Representatives (that's 10% of the House!), signed the Rep. Conyers' letter calling on President Clinton to de-link the economic sanctions from the military sanctions against Iraq. However, our very own Rep. Jim McDermott showed the moral fortitude of a Chihuahua (not to mention the mental aptitude of a walnut) by neglecting to sign before it was delivered Oct. 7. After repeated calls to his office where I reached his legislative aid on foreign affairs, Michael Shannon, I found that the only reason for Jim's utter disregard for Iraq's children was his fear that his Jewish constituents would think of it as a "pro-Arab" vote. Jim, a former doctor, wouldn't even listen to his local chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, who petitioned him to sign. So if you're Jewish, please call 202-225-3106 and respectfully let Jim know that you generally don't support genocide, and that his penance for his inaction should be a bit of action on the issue. I know that Bert Sacks, a local Jew and founder of Citizens Concerned for the People of Iraq, will be calling once he gets back. Bert apparently feels so strongly for the Arab children of Iraq that he is currently risking a $2 million fine and 5 years imprisonment to deliver medicine to Iraq, which is, apparently, against the law.--Jeff Gustafson

CNN, ABC, and NBC are talking about merging some of their news operations. This was reported last Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal, a month after CNN confirmed it was discussing a complete merger with the CBS news department. What will they name this new, media mega-lopoly--CNNABCNBCDODCBS? They could merge with Reuters, too, and name it CANCR. Eat the State! editor Maria Tomchick was asked if Seattle's anti-authoritarian weekly would also be combining news operations with its former competitors. She had no comment but did point out that such a move would provide the missing "E".--Brian Dellert

In a shocking move, ABC News (owned by Disney) killed a story that was critical of Disney World! The story, being produced by Emmy award-winning reporter Brian Ross, focused on sex crimes against kids that happened at theme parks, and Disney World's especially uncooperative attitude towards law enforcement. A month after Grand Mouse Michael Eisner found out about these shenanigans, the story was killed; ABC News denies it canceled the story due to pressure from higher-ups. They also insist that Goofy does exist ('tho rumors of his sexual exploits in Greece are wildly exaggerated) and the moon really is made out of green cheese. This disturbing, shocking example of corporate media manipulation was prominently displayed only 32 pages into last Wednesday's Wall Street Journal. Rumors that the WSJ decided to bury the story when the editor-in-chief woke up to find a giant, severed mouse head in his bed (with a goofy grin) went unconfirmed as of this writing.--B.D.

Last week, the Russian government made overtures to the U.N. for a food aide package. This took the U.N., commodity traders, and agricultural pundits by complete surprise, since Russia had an average grain harvest this year, and no one expected them to experience any shortfalls this winter. At first, media reports claimed that the Russian delegation to the U.N. had not asked for grain shipments as part of the aid package; later the media back-tracked and verified that, yes, there are grain shortages in parts of Russia. The key problem isn't quantity of grain, but distribution. As the Russian national government is breaking down, regional governors are setting their own policies on food prices and food distribution. Many of the agriculturally rich regions are hoarding their food supplies to ensure that their populations won't go hungry or have to pay prices three or four times higher for food this winter (as economists have predicted). In the meantime, northern towns like Murmansk are already desperate for food supplies ... and winter hasn't even arrived yet.--Maria Tomchick