THURSDAY, JULY 26  ▪  Support nurses at Providence St. Peter picket on July 30 -- The the United Staff Nurses Union, UFCW Local 141 will conduct informational purchasing at the  Olympia hospital on Monday, July 30 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. during a mediation session.

Also:  ▪  Applicants sought for WSLC Communications Director -- With the resignation of David Groves, the Washington State Labor Council is seeking an experienced, highly skilled individual (for a change) for the position of Communications Director. Apply by Friday, August 10.

Boeing news:
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing rakes in the cash -- Despite sliding the first flight of its 787 back a month, Boeing boosts its 2007 outlook after a better-than-expected second quarter.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing braces for a 787 nail-biter -- Top executives say the company's revolutionary new 787 Dreamliner is in its riskiest and most nerve-racking phase of development.
▪  In today's News Tribune -- The next open spot in the production line (brief) -- Boeing is considering how to speed up production without overrunning suppliers' ability to provide parts. The lines are sold out through 2013 for the 787, through 2012 for the 777 and through 2011 for the 737.

Local news:
▪  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Mayor plans to add police, firefighters -- In a policy reversal from five months ago, Session proposes hiring 24 police officers and 10 fire department employees.

National news:
▪  In today's LA Times -- L.A. port clerks weigh options as talks fail -- The threat of a strike hangs over every crane lift and container stacking at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The shippers and the ports' unionized clerks (ILWU) have declared that they are at an impasse.
▪  In today's Oregonian -- Unsafe food is linked to trade pacts -- Public Citizen says four free-trade pacts awaiting congressional review will expose more Americans to potentially unsanitary foods. It contends food inspections are inadequate and the pacts would empower private companies overseas to file suit if the U.S. government attempts to block imports over safety concerns.
▪  In today's Wash. Post -- Outsourcing in the dark (Meyerson column) -- Over the past six years, the Bush administration has contracted out government whenever possible. The Energy Department has 15,000 federal employees and pays for roughly 100,000 contract employees. The value of Homeland Security contracts rose from $3.4 billion to $15.8 billion in a single year. DHS reports it is unable to select or monitor its contractors with as much care as it would like. One official say contracted projects are growing "faster than we can hire managers to oversee them."
▪  Today at AFL-CIO Now -- AFL-CIO calls for energy policy to fight global warming -- Official testifies before Congress that the U.S. needs an energy policy for the 21st century “that will result in a cleaner planet, greater energy efficiency and the revitalization of our manufacturing base.”
▪  Today from AP -- Exxon Mobil 2Q profit slips -- The oil giant's profits "slip" 1% to $10.26 billion, the fourth-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company.
▪  In today's Wash. Post -- Overhaul urged in care for soldiers -- A presidential commission examining the care given to wounded U.S. service members recommends "fundamental changes" aimed at simplifying the military's convoluted health-care bureaucracy and overhauling the veterans disability system for the first time in more than half a century -- and to do it quickly.

Last Throes update:
▪  Today from UPI -- Iraq leader says Iraqi oil unions not legit -- The lone remaining law from the Saddam Hussein regime kept by U.S. occupying powers and the successive Iraqi government is the one that bans worker organizing in the public sector.
▪  Of the 3,640 U.S. troops killed in Iraq; 3,501 of them have died since Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" and an end to major combat operations in May 2003; 3,179 have died since the capture of Saddam; and 2,781 have died since the government was handed over to the Iraqis.
▪  The WSLC's affiliated unions have called for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

▪  In The Onion -- Study: Iraqis may experience sadness when friends, relatives die -- Says the study's author: "We were struck by how an Iraqi reacts to the sight of the bloody or decapitated corpse of a family member in a not unlike an American, or at the very least a Canadian, would. In addition to the rage, bloodlust, and hatred we already know to dominate the Iraqi emotional spectrum, it appears that they may have some capacity, however limited, for sadness."