TO JOSH FEIT: Thank you for saying what needs to be said [CounterIntel, Jan 6]. As a lifelong liberal who's totally frustrated that the Dems have rolled over and gone limp over the last four years while we're being force-fed a diet of the Republicans' hatred, lies, and hypocrisy, your article summed up what those of us at the labor level have been trying to tell Democratic leaders who just won't listen. Obviously, Americans would rather vote for someone who's strong and wrong than someone who's sort of nice and kind of wants to do the right thing. It's time for the Dems to take off the gloves and fight; they've got to play Elliot Ness to the Republicans' Al Capone. That means telling Dino Rossi and company to stop lying, it's OVER, and Christine Gregoire IS the governor of Washington.
Andrew Moseley
FIRED UP
ERICA C. BARNETT: I am frustrated by remarks council member Drago made in your most recent column [In the Hall, Jan 13]. First of all, Seattle firefighters do work the shortest workweek of any major city on the West Coast, but we put in 45.23 hours per week, as opposed to the reported 42. She would like to point out that we occasionally sleep while at work. That's true. But, sometimes we don't sleep, because we are going from one 911 call to the next, and the next.
Also not mentioned by Drago is that Seattle is the only major city on the West Coast to employ three people per fire engine. In fact, of the 33 largest cities in America, Seattle is the only city with any three-person companies whatsoever.
"Ready4Rescue" only threatens to become an initiative because Seattle city government has consistently placed the public's safety and the safety of its firefighters too low on its list of priorities. The safety standard set by the National Fire Protection Agency requires at least four firefighters per fire engine. Mayor Nickels suggests that we work an extra three hours per week to pay for these firefighters. The city appears to be hoping that it can escape providing safe working conditions, and a minimum level of service to it's citizens, by making it's firefighters work extra days for free.
It is clear to us that Seattle, no matter how "cash-strapped," is growing. The city council restored millions of dollars in proposed budget cuts this year at the same time firefighters were being taken away from the Greenwood and Phinney Ridge neighborhoods. Our volume of alarms has increased by over 800 percent, and in that same timeframe, seven Seattle fire engines have been shut down.
Alan Goto
Seattle Firefighter
DIME DROPPED
TO JENNIFER MAERZ: Thank you for dropping a dime ["Regrets, They Have a Few," Dec 30] on the fact that there are too damn many cocaine unicorns running wylde in Seattle and making a bit of a mess of parties and shows--hell, even book signings--that could be much more fun without all the crazy stares/bleeding out/whiny bitching about their fucked up dealers and low supply.
Non-Coked Quarter Note Lover
DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: In "Counter-Inaugural" by Amy Jenniges last week, a pink flier with the phrase "Start a fire, blow up a bank, block a street… converge at Westlake Park," was credited to NION-Seattle. While the flyer uses the national NION organization's web address and rally slogan, and urged people to attend NION-Seattle's rally at Westlake Park on Thursday, January 20, NION-Seattle did not sanction the poster. The group does, however, encourage independent actions by activists, and multiple posters and flyers went up around town to promote NION-Seattle's J20 protests. After The Stranger went to press last week, NION-Seattle brought the misattribution to our attention, and we promptly corrected Jenniges' story on our website. NION-Seattle also released this statement:
Not Our Poster, Not Our Politics!
Our mission is to build, strengthen, and expand resistance to stop the U.S. government's entire course of war and repression being waged in the name of "fighting terrorism." Not In Our Name is opposed to ALL terrorism. Period.
Not In Our Name's only flier for the inauguration-day protests is on our website (www.notinourname-seattle.net) and calls for "No Work, No School, No Business as Usual" and suggests that people "have a rally, plan a teach-in, perform street theater, present an art show, put on a concert, put a sign in your window, walk out of school, declare your church a sanctuary for resisters, wear a T-shirt with a message, march from your neighborhood." The flier's call is endorsed by Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace, Rally for Change Student Movement, reBirth Arts Collective, Radical Women and ACTION-Northwest.
We believe the flier quoted by Amy Jenniges ("start a fire, blow up a bank…") to be the work of an individual or government agency with the intent to sabotage the protests and set up Not In Our Name for political attack. We call on anyone posting these fliers in NION's name to cease immediately. We call on all journalists to think more critically and double-check their facts in this climate of government lies and suppression of dissent.
Let's not be intimidated. We hope to see you at Westlake Park at 2:00 p.m. on January 20th.
