MURDER MOST FOUL

So more miners have died.  Their deaths were entirely preventable but the Bush administration did nothing to ensure that miners could safely exit dangerous situations, and gutted funding for governmental oversight of mines.
I ask where is the sanctity of life when miners or other workers are labouring for their families’ future are denied a safe workplace? It is imperative that labourers who work in dangerous conditions, for their families and for the country’s economic prosperity, not be excluded from lifesaving equipment and work practices because of niggling corporate accounting concerns. A government or a company that cuts development of safety equipment and practices comes close to being guilty of bureaucratic homicide. Mining and other labour concerns should be a priority in America’s and any country’s economic plan. The deaths of the miners make the lives of their children more precarious and the deliberate ending of worker safety through budget cuts exposes the hypocrisy of the “pro-life” Bush government.

GRATITUDE

Thank you, Ed Murray for stewarding the legislation in Washington State that banned discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing, insurance, and employment. As a native to Washington through my First People ancestors and my Oregon Trail pioneer forebears, to me you are a true example of Pacific Northwest tolerance and moral progress.  
Thank you also to Governor Christine Gregoire  for signing the law.
But most of all, thank you to the late Cal Anderson. His vision and inspiration remains a guiding light against the forces of homophobic bigotry and prejudice.