Fascinating article you surely missed--Seattle media certainly did--in last Wednesday's LA Times business section, on a Senate hearing exploring the music industry's online efforts. In it, our own Maria Cantwell is cited as follows:

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said she was encouraged by the licensing deal reached Monday by AOL Time Warner, EMI, and Bertelsman, which announced a joint venture called MusicNet that will offer digital music downloads by the end of the year. "There's been a lot of progress here," Cantwell said...

Sadly, the LA Times didn't explain why Maria was happy. The deal presented to the Senate, featuring some of the world's biggest music companies, uses streaming technology from Real Networks--Cantwell's former company, in which she still has extensive stock. RN's spectacular NASDAQ plunge left Cantwell so strapped that a fundraising letter was recently sent out on her behalf, begging supporters to help bridge the gap between what she loaned her campaign and what she's now worth.

The LA article also described the presiding senator, Orrin Hatch, discussing, with Cantwell watching, possible tax breaks to help these huge entertainment goliaths "speed development" of the deal. It also said Hatch himself is "a part-time songwriter." (Mother of God.)

Cantwell's predecessor, Slade Gorton, worked for us. (Assuming we were a Fortune 500 company.) Who, exactly, is Maria Cantwell working for? --Geov Parrish

Although we scored a great victory for Hanford Clean-Up with the decision to shut down the FFTF reactor, the Dept. of Energy is pursuing another plan that will add to Hanford's nuclear dangers. By importing over 60,000 truckloads of nuclear waste to Hanford, the DOE would make our region a dumpsite for the nation's entire low-level and mixed radioactive waste. Hanford is already the most contaminated nuclear site in the nation, and one of the worst in the world: we need to clean up the contaminated soil, groundwater, and corrupt contractors wasting millions of tax dollars designated for cleanup. Contact Gov. Gary Locke, and urge him to protect our region from this threat to our health and environment: 1-800-562-6000 or Governor.locke@governor.wa.gov. For great Hanford activist info, contact Heart of America Northwest: 206-382-1014 or www.heartofamericanorthwest.com. --Valerie Jean Rose

The laundry list of questions about the ACORN strike I ran through last issue were questions that I was reporting--not generating. I haven't commented on the strike itself in ETS! (though I have on the radio), but let's be clear--for me, the issue isn't the IWW, but the strikers and ACORN. ACORN's behavior started out as inexcusable and has gotten far worse. There's a good letter on this printed herein, but it's only the surface. According to striker Julia Fitzsimmons, ACORN Seattle head Doug Bloch has informed strikers--who've offered to return to work pending negotiations--that they are locked out and won't get their jobs back. Even more chillingly, the happy "ACORN News" e-mail sent out to its usual list last Thursday, crowing about accomplishments of the last two months (with scab staff), didn't even mention the strike--doubtless counting on the fact that many ACORN supporters haven't heard about it, and therefore ACORN can do what it likes to its workers with no community accountability.

That's unacceptable. ACORN absolutely must not be supported here any longer, no matter how sympathetic its professed mission, because of the utterly indefensible and despicable actions both its local and national offices have taken against its workers--essentially firing them, in both Philadelphia and Seattle, for union organizing. It's time for progressive activists in Seattle to put our beliefs, and wallets, where our mouths are. The Seattle ACORN workers' strike fund is running low; to contribute, checks can be made payable to IWW (strike fund), and sent to ISS, 5215 Ballard Ave. NW, Seattle WA 98107. --G.P.

Iraq has been ridiculing the US for dropping leaflets telling Iraqi soldiers not to shoot at US and British warplanes. An editorial in a leading Baghdad weekly calls the leaflet drops a "futile act which shows the aggressors' great frustration and fear as a result of Iraq's strong air defenses." The US military said only one such drop took place, on February 16. The weekly reproduced a copy of one of the dropped leaflets. It showed an anti-aircraft missile unit firing at an allied warplane. "Do not fire at allied warplanes and do not chase them by radar," it read. The Iraqi paper called on Iraqi soldiers "to tear up those stupid leaflets and to open fire on hostile warplanes."--Troy Skeels

China Syndrome: In the recent collision of a US spy plane with a Chinese interceptor, US media has been awesomely lame. First is the notable lack of any mention that China is one of the most ruthless, totalitarian, and murderous regimes on earth. ("But they're our friends!") Secondly, what would the reaction have been had the situation been reversed? If a US military plane were cut down by a much larger Chinese spy plane off the coast of Oregon? The country, of course, would be incensed. And it would be asking what the hell a foreign spy plane was doing invading our territory. Pity nobody has thought to ask that of the US. Seems like, especially with the creation of Iraq's "no fly zone," the US now feels that it has the right to fly anywhere and do anything to anyone at any time it likes. When the Soviets shot down our U-2 spy plane 40 years ago, the USA was embarrassed that it had been "caught." No more. This sort of arrogance is a big reason why so many people despise the USA.--G.P.

Back in high school a long time ago I did a TV Guide-type parody listing a bunch of satiric TV shows, including "Monday Night At the Executions." It's taken only 26 years, but we're there. The upcoming execution of Timothy McVeigh will reportedly be webcast. I can't think of many things sicker than McVeigh's original crime. This is one of them.-- G.P.

A Monsanto seed depot was set afire near Milan, Italy on April 3. The agribusiness giant was discovered recently to have had "accidentally" shipped genetically modified corn and soybeans into the country, in violation of Italian law. The words "Monsanto Killer: No GMOs," spray-painted on one wall, indicated arson. "Today's events are the result of a campaign of disinformation launched by some environmental groups and representatives of the political world over the last 10 days," said the chairman of Monsanto's Italian branch. Monsanto insists that any genetically modified seeds found during routine inspections were below the level at which they are considered genetically engineered. Agriculture Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, who has called for the suspension of Monsanto's import license, described the incident as "mysterious." For more info: www.ezln.org, www.narconews.com, www.chiapas.indymedia.org.--T.S.

Recently, the US Supreme Court ruled the state of Missouri couldn't discriminate against the Ku Klux Klan when it wanted to participate in the adopt-a-highway program. While the name of the Klan is aesthetically disgusting, this is, surely, a victory for free speech and equal protection under the law. Some day anti-FTAA groups may want to do the same thing. But for the Klan, Missouri's DOT--showing rare imagination and decency for a bureaucracy--got its revenge. The KKK is now cleaning up a stretch of the newly-christened Rosa Parks Freeway. --G.P.

Seattle's Assholes Don't Give Up. On March 23, Robert Ruth, a N30 2000 protester caught in the SPD's absurd trapping and arresting of the final crew of WTO anniversary celebrants (and anyone else in the neighborhood), was convicted of two misdemeanors: pedestrian interference and failure to disperse. Ruth, 40, of Okanagan, Wash., had the temerity to take his charges to court when most protesters facing identical charges and evidence had their charges dropped as untenable. Ruth then had the bad luck to face both extraordinary prosecution efforts for simple misdemeanors, and a judge, one Judge Mamiya, who essentially functioned as yet another prosecutor and made his sympathies obvious. Ruth was sentenced to 365 days in jail and fined $6000, both of which were suspended, and ordered to perform over 100 hours of community service, all for the "crime" of standing on the street and presumably having political beliefs the city of Seattle doesn't like.

Both Robert Ruth and the National Lawyers Guild believes the convictions were political. Ruth intends to appeal, and the NLG is also considering a lawsuit- -an all too common (and, for taxpayers, expensive) recourse these days for victims of the city's war on dissent. Don't yawn--you're next. --G.P.

The Northwest's Smallest Regional Paper! ETS! primarily focuses on the immediate Seattle area for its free distribution, but at any given time a handful of folks in other cities in the region help distribute ETS!. The current roster includes David Potter (Portland), Jackie Wolf (Lopez Island), Gavin Rider (Sound Music, Everett), and Gabriel Murray (Mobile Magazines, Port Angeles).

This is somewhat hit and miss, depending on folks' availability; in the past we've had distributors in places like Eugene, Olympia, Tacoma, and Spokane, but, well, they've moved. So...if you, or anyone you know, in those cities-- or places like Kitsap County, Bellingham, Yakima, or Vancouver WA--would like to either distribute 20-100 copies a week, or stock them in your cool business, let us know! Please bear in mind that we're usually essentially broke, and this is a money-losing proposition for us; we make very little money off of any new subscriptions we get, because we try to keep sub costs low. So if you also have any way to help us pay for those shipments, that would be groovy. But the important thing for us is to get the paper out--if you can help us, call our non-toll-free number--206-903-9461--or try ets@scn.org.) --G.P.

And farther south...all three ETS! co-editors will be in San Francisco, tending a booth and meeting friends at Project Censored's April 27-29 alternative media conference at S.F. State. If you're there, stop by and see us. Coming south, we're also gonna stop by to see our friends at the Anderson Valley Advertiser, so if anyone happens to have a glassy-winged sharpshooter plush toy, we'll pay premium price. --G.P.