#72 November/December 2004
The Washington Free Press Washington's Independent Journal of News, Ideas & Culture
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FREE THOUGHTS

FIRST WORD by Doug Collins
What's Wrong With Us?

READER MAIL
Israel: not a charitable nonprofit, Bush's second big lie: social security, Good alternative to third runway was ignored, More guardianship abuses, Thanks for the Truth

NORTHWEST & BEYOND
Wild sky can't fly past Pembo, Oregon's Coos County pays in pipeline lawsuit, Poverty with a view, Roadless Rule revision postponed past election, Western Shoshone battle federal landgrab, Montana's Jewish communities embrace reform

"Just because..."
strange assertions observed by Styx Mundstock

CONTACTS

NORTHWEST NEIGHBORS
contact list for progressives

DO SOMETHING! CALENDAR
Northwest activist events

POLITICS AND ELECTIONS

9/11 Update: New York State Attorney General's office accepts 9/11 Complaint
by Rodger Herbst

Book Notice: Claiming the Mantle: How Presidential Nominations Are Won and Lost Before the Votes Are Cast
by R. Lawrence Butler

"Modern Poll Tax" is Challenged in WA: Ex-felons deserve the right to vote
from the ACLU of WA

Next Steps after the 2004 Elections
by Steven Hill

LAW

NutraSweet Hit by Lawsuits: Court action highlights health concerns about artificial sweeteners
by Doug Collins

Justice Department Manipulates Truth About Patriot Act Ruling
from the ACLU

After the Riot
anonymous account of prison conditions

WORKPLACE

Bon Macy's Fails Employees' Health-Care Needs
from SEIU Local 6

San Francisco hotel workers locked out
photos and story by David Bacon

Small Business Administration Fails in Commitment to Women-Owned Firms
from the US Women's Chamber of Commerce

IMMIGRATION AND MEXICAN LABOR

HOW U.S. CORPORATIONS WON THE DEBATE OVER IMMIGRATION
by David Bacon

Illegal Immigration: Another Way to Outsource Jobs?
opinion by Domenico Maceri

Salsa and Apple Pie
A U.S.-Mexican Union in the making
by Steven Hill

ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH

Existing Systems Do Not Protect Us
by Sarah Westervelt

Mercury on the mind: Want to avoid both autism and Alzheimers? Then forget the flu vaccine and avoid dental amalgams
by Donald W. Miller, Jr, MD

What Water to Drink? Tap water may be your healthiest option
by Seth Gordon

MEDIA

MEDIA BEAT by Normal Solomon
The Presidential pageant: "There he is, Mr. America..."

People Like This Paper! So why is it so small?
by Doug Collins

CULTURE

A New Yorker Trapped in Los Angeles
excerpt from Willaim Blum's book: "Freeing the World to Death"

Poetry by Robert Hosheit

Beatnik Books
poetic reviews by Robert Pavik

GOOD IDEAS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES by Doug Collins
Polish Jokes

NutraSweet Hit by Lawsuits

Critics of the artificial sweetener aspartame in September 2004 filed a $350 million class-action racketeering lawsuit in California against the NutraSweet Corporation, the American Diabetes Association, and other defendents, as reported by the Idaho Observer and the internet news source NewsWithViews.com.

Plaintiffs argue that patent holders and commercial promoters of aspartame have intentionally suppressed research which found serious detrimental health effects associated with aspartame, and conspired to promote false research results which concealed the bad health effects. Mentioned in the lawsuit is current secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, who helped the original patent owner of aspartame expedite the FDA approval process.

A series of three other similar lawsuits were filed in April 2004, also in California, which target 12 corporations who use aspartame in their products, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Bayer Corp., the Dannon Company, the William Wrigley Jr. Company, WalMart, NutraSweet and others. These suits charge the corporations with using aspartame in their products while knowing that exposure to aspartame can cause a variety of ill effects, which include, among others, abdominal pain, arthritis, asthma, brain cancer, breathing difficulties, burning eyes or throat, burning urination, chest pains, chronic cough, chronic fatigue, death, depression, diarrhea, headaches, hearing loss (and that's only getting to the h's!).

The Idaho Observer notes that almost all common types of chewing gum, such as Wrigley's or Dentyne, use aspartame, and that these companies may soon feel compelled to switch to sucralose, another artificial sweetener which, like aspartame, may act as a cumulative poison.

Doug Collins


The Washington Free Press
PMB #178, 1463 E Republican ST, Seattle WA 98112
[email protected]

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