Five Bucks Report! Many thanks to the folks who responded to our fund appeal two issues ago. In case you missed it, the gist was that if each ETS! reader merely sent in five dollars to support the paper, we would have a year's worth of operating capital and would be free of our perpetual hand-to- mouth financial struggles.

Well, we didn't get the 2,000 to 3,000 contributions (that's how many readers we estimate we have) we had hoped for, but we did get about 40, many of them sending more than $5 with the intent of making up for "the shitheads who don't send anything" (the words of one contributor, not us). That helped a lot; it's more donations than we've ever received at one time before. But if you just haven't gotten around to sending in your check or fiver yet, there's still time: P.O. Box 85541, Seattle WA 98145. We're also open to bands or other cultural groups that want to throw a benefit. ETS! is a completely volunteer outfit, and remarkably few of us work to put this thing out every two weeks. Your support--editorial, moral, and financial--means a lot to us. Thanks.--Geov Parrish

The Clinton Administration has named four nations in the world that are key to U.S. foreign policy goals. They include: Colombia, Nigeria, Indonesia, and The Ukraine. Colombia is on the list for obvious reasons, but the other listings might seem strange, unless you think about the economic reasons. Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, is the source of enormous profits for U.S. oil companies, particularly Chevron. Nigeria, however, is disintegrating as a nation state. Several regions in the north of the country have imposed Islamic sharia laws. When Clinton visited Abuja (the capitol) recently, large protests were held in the north of the country; conservative Islamic groups view Clinton as Satan--not for his foreign policy disasters, but for the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In the south of the country, in the Niger Delta, where most of Nigeria's oil is extracted and transported through pipelines, the population lives in deep poverty. The southern population has seen none of the profits from government oil contracts, and this has sparked riots, kidnappings, separatist fighting, and ethnic strife. People routinely tap into the pipelines or take advantage of oil leaks to skim and sell fuel on the black market, braving the danger of explosions and fires in order to somehow earn enough money to feed themselves and their families. Clinton's recent visit highlights fears that the new civilian government in Abuja won't be able to ensure the safety of oil company personnel and profits. About 80% of Nigeria's oil goes into the gas tanks of U.S. automobiles.

Indonesia is another country in danger of disintegration. With the fourth largest population in the world, it is comprised of hundreds of islands, many with their own distinct ethnicities and cultures. A number of those islands contain rich natural gas, oil and mineral deposits. It's the same problem as in Nigeria. The separatist strife is strong in Aceh province, where natural gas is extracted and sold through government contracts, while none of the money is returned to the provincial government, and none of the lucrative jobs are held by local people. Likewise, in Irian Jaya, Freeport McMoran has, with the help of the brutal Indonesian military, displaced and slaughtered native people in order to dig one of the biggest, messiest gold mines in the world. In southern Java, where the population is poorer than the richer urban areas to the north, ethnic strife has erupted between christians and conservative muslim groups, much of it over access to limited public funding for services. And not long after the militia and military rampage in East Timor, Bill Clinton opened new ties between the Pentagon and the Indonesian military to ensure that Indonesia remains one big, repressive, military dictatorship, and doesn't become a score of separate island nations, demanding their own share of natural gas, gold, and oil profits.

Which leaves The Ukraine, home of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, old Soviet nukes, major coal deposits, the vital Black Sea port of Odessa, and the potential gateway for western multinationals to transport ore from the Ural Mountains and oil from Russia and the Caspian Sea. Ukraine is often referred to as a "fledgling democracy"--in other words, a nation that has agreed to cut back on social spending and open itself to foreign investment. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian mafia has made it hard to ensure the safety of western businessmen. A resurgence of communism on the political scene (sparked by shrinking social spending) could endanger access to the goodies. Add to this the proposal to ship U.S. nuclear waste to the Ukraine for storage, and it's easy to understand why The Ukraine is so important to the Clinton (soon to be Gore) administration.--Maria Tomchick