<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1> <STYLE></STYLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=MailContainerBody style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; PADDING-TOP: 15px; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; TEXT-DECORATION: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none" leftMargin=0 topMargin=0 acc_role="text" CanvasTabStop="true" name="Compose message area"><?xml:namespace prefix="v" /><?xml:namespace prefix="o" /> <DIV> <DIV>I was in the Powell's bookstore in Portland today selling some books (I keep my book collection to a minimum now that I move around so much).  The clerk looked them over and said, "Are you a communist?"  I said, "As a matter of fact, I am."  He said, "Good for you."  I asked if the workers at Powell's had settled their contract yet?  I told him that I had been on their informational picket lines twice and had donated two of my books to the union's library (The workers are in the the ILWU).  I gave him the names of the books, and he said that he had read "Why Unions Matter."  He told me that he had helped to bring the ILWU in to the store and that they had reached a tentative agreement just this week.  I got his name and we shook hands.  It was an interesting and amusing exchange. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Michael Yates</DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>