The Capital Times :: LIFESTYLE :: C3
Friday, June 2, 2006
By Mary Bergin The Capital Times
A directory of fair trade, union-made, organic and/or family farm products has been published by the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice and Family Farm Defenders.
The new publication is "a way to help struggling family farms get the word out about their products as they face increasing financial pressures in a corporatized and globalized food market." Edible and non-edible products are listed.
A Wisconsin Community Fund grant helped pay for the project. Recipes from some of the family-owned businesses are sprinkled among the business descriptions and contact info.
The directory is online at www.wnpj.org. To get a paper copy, send $7 ($5 for the directory, $2 for postage) to: WNPJ, Room 402, 122 State St., Madison, WI 53703. Copies also are being sold at the Dane County Farmers' Market on Saturdays and the Eastside Farmers' Market on Tuesdays. (4-7 p.m. at 201 S. Ingersoll St.)
Advice about the care of stainless steel appliances will be rendered from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Kennedy-Hahn Appliance, 5356 King James Way, Fitchburg.
The class is free, but registration is necessary. Call 866-850-4100 or go to www.kennedyhahn.com.
It's a fine time to think about wine. Special options for imbibing include:
The monthly theme dinner at Harvest, 21 N. Pinckney St., will be at 6 p.m. Sunday and feature asparagus. The six courses will be matched with wines. The cost is $65; call 255-6075 or go to www.harvest-restaurant.com.
"A Fine Time for Wine," 6-8 p.m. June 16 at Milwaukee's Pabst Mansion. Samplings of wine, cheese and chocolate will be distributed while visitors tour the longtime tourist attraction at 2000 W. Wisconsin Ave. and listen to music.
Tickets are $25; call 414-931-0808 or go to www.pabstmansion.com.
A six-course Italian wine dinner at the Grandview Restaurant of the Geneva Inn, Lake Geneva, will begin with a reception at 6:45 p.m. June 16. The cost is $80; overnight packages also are available. For more info, call 262-248-5680 or go to www.genevainn.com.
A five-course Loire Valley wine dinner at L'Etoile, 25 N. Pinckney St., will be served at 6:30 p.m. June 28. The cost is $75. Call 251-0500 or go to www.letoile-restaurant.com.
Want an unusual vacation as well as good food and wine? Angela Gargano, who operates Bliss Flow Yoga and Wellness Center in Fitchburg, will be in Sonoma, Calif., Aug. 24-27 to lead a yoga and wine retreat at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and spa.
The gathering will include a five-course tasting dinner prepared by chef Ryan Fancher, formerly of the French Laundry, a five-star Napa Valley restaurant.
Prices begin at $1,599 per person, double occupancy, not including transportation. For more info, call 273-3569 or go to www.blissflowyoga.com/sonoma.htm.
\ E-mail: mbergin@madison.com
The Capital Times :: EDITORIAL :: A11
Saturday, June 3, 2006
Alfred Meyer executive director Physicians for Social Responsibility-Wisconsin Madison
Dear Editor: I was misquoted in The Capital Times' article on the Iran discussion at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center last week. At that meeting, I stated that Louisiana Energy Services was planning to build a facility in New Mexico to enrich uranium; the story erroneously reported that I stated that LES was enriching uranium there. I am in agreement with Marshall Cohen of LES, in his May 31 letter to the editor, regarding the current status of the project.
The LES project was mentioned in the context of the ongoing efforts to revive the nuclear industry in the U.S. and around the world, involving both weapons and energy production. The U.S. programs to build new nuclear weapons and to speed their readiness for use, combined with the current U.S. Nuclear Posture Review putting first use of nuclear weapons "on the table" seem much more dangerous and illegal than Iran's general compliance with treaties as it pursues the "peaceful use of the atom," as promoted by both the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Nuclear weapons, materials and radioactive pollution uniquely threaten life on earth and thus demand stringent management. To promote public health, Physicians for Social Responsibility has always prescribed prevention as the best course of treatment.
The Capital Times :: METRO :: C1
Tuesday, June 6, 2006
By Karyn Saemann Correspondent for The Capital Times\ The writer retains the copyright for this article
Monona Grove officials insist no district policy was broken and no follow-up complaints have come from district residents in the five days since a veterans group lashed out against the use of an Army National Guard climbing wall by high school gym classes.
Town of Windsor resident Will Williams, a Vietnam veteran and member of the anti-war group Veterans for Peace, said a Monona Grove High School student called him at home Thursday to let him know the climbing wall had been set up. Its use that day by students was being supervised, Williams was told, by gym teachers and camouflage-clad National Guard members.
Monona Grove administrators on Thursday allowed Williams onto the athletic field where the climbing wall was set up, to counter the military presence. In an interview Monday, Williams refused to give the name of the student who tipped him off, saying it would expose the young person to potential retaliation.
Monona Grove School Board President John Kitslaar said the board has not received a single e-mail or telephone call on the issue since a local television station aired a segment Friday. Had anyone been upset "you would have heard about it," Kitslaar said.
"I look at it as, our policy worked," Kitslaar said, referring to a policy on college and military recruitment at the high school that was revised in December. Kitslaar said it was updated in response to several complaints last fall about military recruiters mingling freely with students in the commons area.
In line with the federal No Child Left Behind law, the district's revised policy allows each branch of the military, with the National Guard being its own branch, to visit the high school three times a year. College recruiters may also be on campus just three times a year.
Recruiters have two options for how to spend their day. They may set up a table in the guidance office or in a space designated by administrators, and speak directly there with students and pass out literature. Or, they may be in a classroom helping teachers with some aspect of the curriculum.
Either approach counts as one of the three allotted days.
But in the latter approach, which Kitslaar and Superintendent Gary Schumacher said occurred Thursday, no talk of recruitment is allowed and no military literature may be given out.
Principal Paul Brost said that on Thursday students could use the climbing wall or pick from two other ways to spend their gym period.
Brost said he didn't know how many students chose the wall. He said the National Guard recruiters worked with gym teachers to show students how to use it.
Brost and Schumacher said they are confident there was no active recruiting.
"Our staff was out there the whole time. They were never alone with students," Brost said.
Lt. Col. Tim Donovan, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Army National Guard, said Thursday's visit did not result in any Monona Grove High School students enlisting.
"That was not the purpose of the event," Donovan said. "What the National Guard did was to provide a resource that the Monona Grove schools wished to have but could not afford. We brought them a climbing wall. Why that is controversial is certainly beyond me."
Williams said, however, that even though there was no active recruitment, National Guard members were promoting the military just by their presence in camouflage clothing.
"Anytime someone in uniform has contact with students it's recruitment," Williams said. "Anybody can see through that."
Williams acknowledged that he would prefer that no military recruitment took place on high school campuses.
"I feel it is a problem," Williams said. "Young people are not at an age where they can make a decision that can be so detrimental to their life."
Williams said Veterans for Peace isn't protesting the climbing walls, which have also been set up at Madison high schools, out of "self aggrandizement or for political reasons."
"It's out of concern for the young people," he said. "We've all been in combat. We know what it is. It's to make it known to the public what the recruiters are doing, and to let the public be the judge."
Unlike Madison, Williams said Monona Grove does not have a policy under which his group is automatically contacted when military recruiters are scheduled to visit a school.
In districts like Monona Grove, he said, his group counts on concerned callers to let it know about recruiter visits. Then, he said, school administrators must decide whether to allow his group on campus.
The Capital Times :: EDITORIAL :: A11
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
DIANE FARSETTA
Is the Southeast Asian island nation of East Timor a success story or a basket case?
The former view has been promoted by the United Nations, which headed a transitional government there from 1999 to 2002, and by donor governments and international financial institutions, which spent millions on foreign consultants to Timorese officials. The latter view is suggested by recent media accounts, which have decontextualized, and at times exaggerated, the current unrest in East Timor's capital city, Dili.
While it will take careful investigations and judicial processes to fully understand and address the situation, two things are clear: What is happening in East Timor is truly tragic, and truly complex.
To summarize briefly, what began as a strike and protest by members of the Timorese military in February and March escalated into clashes in Dili that started in April and are still continuing. Twenty-five to 30 people have been killed, including children. Gunfire, house burnings and other attacks led tens of thousands of terrified people to take refuge in churchyards and in the hills surrounding Dili, as was common during the 24-year Indonesian occupation.
The 4-year-old Timorese government requested, and received, military and police contingents from neighboring countries, in an attempt to end the violence.
If there is one place in the world that deserves peace, it's East Timor. The Timorese have endured a series of often-brutal foreign occupations by the Portuguese, Japanese and Indonesians. Indonesia illegally claimed East Timor as its own province from 1975 to 1999.
Mindful of Indonesia's economic and geopolitical importance, the United States, Britain and Australia provided military and political assistance for the occupation, which claimed the lives of some 200,000 East Timorese.
As a U.N.-accredited observer of East Timor's 1999 referendum on independence, I saw the bravery of Timorese who organized peacefully for an end to the Indonesian occupation -- and paid a price.
In the southern town of Suai, Father Hilario Madeira held peace forums in the weeks before the referendum. Two days after the resounding win for independence was announced, he was killed, shot by Indonesian military officers as he sought to protect the people taking refuge in his churchyard.
As a participant in delegations to Madison's sister city of Ainaro in 2002 and 2005, I've been inspired by Timorese friends who, despite scarce resources and challenging conditions, are working to realize a better future.
Elvis Ferreira leads workshops that help people rebuild their own houses. Leonia de Araujo is part of a weaving cooperative that provides a modest income to women who often have no other way to pay for their children's school or health care. Angelino da Silva works with a small band of committed volunteers to keep Ainaro's community radio station on the air.
But these grass-roots projects can only do so much. As the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. cautioned, "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."
Unfortunately, the international community has not supported justice for East Timor. This stance not only disrespects the Timorese people's tremendous past sacrifices and current struggles, it also helped create the conditions under which the recent unrest spiraled out of control.
If the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank would make economic justice a priority, there wouldn't be gangs in Dili of unemployed youths, who quickly joined the violence and looting.
If the United States would support an international tribunal for East Timor, instead of allowing war crimes and crimes against humanity to go unpunished, even rogue elements of Timorese society would have greater respect for the rule of law.
If the U.S., Britain and Australia would pay war reparations -- as called for by East Timor's Commission for Truth, Reception and Reconciliation -- there would be more funds for reconstruction.
The same would be true if Australia would stop stealing the oil reserves off East Timor's south coast, which belong to East Timor under international law.
* Hopefully, peace will soon return to Dili's streets. Then the broader campaign for justice must resume, with international solidarity groups actively supporting Timorese demands.
El Tiempo
Junio 7 de 2006
Un comité del Senado frenó el desembolso hasta que se aclaren los hechos. Otra enmieda en Cámara, busca recortar otros 30, aunque sería derrotada.
El Comité de Apropiaciones del Senado de Estados Unidos congeló la entrega de 30 millones de dólares para el Ejército colombiano hasta que se aclaren casos como el de la supuesta participación de la Cuarta Brigada en ejecuciones extrajuicio en Antioquia y el asesinato de 10 policías en Jamundí (Valle).
La ayuda había sido otorgada la semana pasada cuando el Departamento de Estado certificó el buen desempeño del gobierno colombiano en derechos humanos (DD.HH.), paso exigido por el Congreso antes de entregar hasta un 25 por ciento de los recursos militares que se le asignan al país anualmente.
Tim Rieser, principal asesor del Comité, que controla el senador Patrick Leahy, señaló: "El senador Leahy está decepcionado por la certificación. Hay ejemplos de progreso, pero la certificación ignora los enormes problemas que hay con ejecuciones extrajudiciales e impunidad de altos miembros del Ejército. Persisten casos muy alarmantes, como el asesinato de los oficiales antinarcóticos y las acusaciones contra la Cuarta Brigada".
Rieser añadió: "Mientras el gobierno de Colombia sepa que seguirá –pese a todo- recibiendo la ayuda, los problemas continuarán. En este momento la ayuda está congelada hasta que esto se discuta con más profundidad".
Enmienda, a debate
De otra parte, representantes demócratas intentarán recortar 30 millones de dólares más a los militares con el argumento de que el Ejército no es un socio confiable y usando como ejemplo el incidente de Jamundí.
El recorte será propuesto a través de una enmienda del representante Jim McGovern al presupuesto para las Operaciones Extranjeras año 2007, que será debatido desde hoy en la plenaria de la Cámara.
En este presupuesto, que deberá ser homologado en el Senado, están incluidos cerca de 640 millones de dólares en recursos para financiar la lucha contra las drogas y el terrorismo, entre otras cosas.
Varias ONG han respaldado la enmienda y han solicitado a sus activistas que inunden las oficinas de los congresistas con llamadas y correos electrónicos para que apoyen la enmienda McGovern.
La ONG Colombian Support Network señaló: "Este mes una unidad del Ejército masacró a una unidad élite antinarcóticos de la Policía en Jamundí en aparente colaboración con los narcotraficantes. Así que nuestros impuestos están siendo utilizados para financiar operaciones militares que apoyan y protegen a quienes envían las drogas a las calles de nuestro país".
¿Será tema en visita de Uribe?
Aunque se trata de una partida pequeña, pocos en el Congreso creen que la enmienda será aprobada pues existe amplio consenso entre líderes demócratas y republicanos en torno a la ayuda que se le debe dar a Colombia en el 2007.
Aun así, el simple hecho de que sea considerada habla del impacto que está empezando a causar en E.U. los recientes escándalos del Ejército en materia de DD.HH.
El gobierno colombiano es consciente de ello y sabe que el tema podría surgir la semana entrante durante la visita del presidente Álvaro Uribe a Washington para reunirse con su homólogo, George Bush, y con otros líderes del Congreso.
De acuerdo con fuentes colombianas, "se les explicará a los congresistas que el hecho que existan unas cuantas ‘manzanas podridas’ no debe empañar la imagen del Ejército como institución. Violaciones a los DD. HH. siempre habrá. Pero lo importante es que, como en este caso, se investigue y se sancione a los responsables".
‘Hay que retar a europeos’
Paralelamente un grupo de congresistas envió ayer una carta al presidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez en la que lo felicitan por su triunfo y le indican que seguirán apoyando su programa de seguridad democrática y la lucha contra el narcoterrorismo a lo largo de este cuatrenio. Destacan, a su vez, que uno de los grandes retos será el de la desmovilización de los ‘paras’ y la firma del Tratado de Libre Comercio, en los cuales también pretenden cooperar.
La carta resalta la necesidad de que Europa comience a cargar con parte de la guerra contra las drogas.
"Tenemos que retar a los europeos a que hagan más por Colombia ahora que las cifras de la ONU indican que entre el 25 y 40 por ciento de la coca va rumbo a Europa y no a E.U. Esto es un desarrollo mayúsculo y los europeos deben tomar acción", dice la misiva, que fue firmada por Henry Hyde, Dan Burton, Tom Davis y Mark Souder, todos presidentes de comités en la Cámara.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
CORRESPONSAL DE EL TIEMPO
WASHINGTON
Nuevas polémicas por muerte de civiles en acciones del Ejército
Deiber Berján, de 27 años, murió el 7 de mayo al parecer en un combate con el Ejército, en Chaparral (Tolima). En la morgue fue registrado como guerrillero. Su familia dice que "era un cafetero". Alega que salió en pantaloneta y apareció con un camuflado encima, un radio, fusil y granadas.
Tiberio García, líder comunitario, murió en otro aparente choque con el Ejército en Chaparral, el 28 de mayo, y presentado como guerrillero. El rechazo fue general, pues, dicen, era un respetado líder comunitario que en un consejo de seguridad, en abril, denunció irregularidades del Ejército.
Un menor de 13 años murió el pasado martes 6 de junio cuando un soldado de la Quinta Brigada, según el Ejército, accionó su arma accidentalmente en zona rural de San Pablo (sur de Bolívar).
Habitantes de la población, sin embargo , aseguran que se trató de un homicidio intencional.
Los casos clave
Las autoridades indagan
El 25 de enero
El pasado 22 de mayo
Día de simulacro en caso Jamundí
Uno a uno, los militares del caso Jamundí –llevados al sitio donde murieron 10 policías y un civil– pasaron ayer al simulacro en presencia de la Procuraduría y la Fiscalía. Fue la tercera jornada de la reconstrucción de los hechos, que podría tardar otros dos días.
El mal tiempo de ayer provocó interrupciones en la diligencia de escenificación e hizo que se cumpliera de manera intermitente hasta las 3 y 15 de la tarde, cuando arreció la lluvia.
Un debate jurídico y técnico, entre especialistas del CTI y la defensa de los militares ha enmarcado la diligencia. El informe de balística fue decisivo para que la Fiscalía solicitara la orden de captura contra ocho militares. La defensa sostiene que sí se produjo un enfrentamiento.
La audiencia de imputación de cargos está prevista para hoy. Sin embargo, el lento proceso de reconstrucción podría frenar la diligencia, que tiene dos definiciones clave: precisar la competencia de la justicia ordinaria y determinar si se aplica la medida de aseguramiento.
El juez natural –la Justicia Penal Militar– debe conocer el proceso, plantea la defensa de los militares. Si esto no ocurre, pedirá intervención de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos.
Si la medida cautelar se mantiene, la defensa insistirá en que los militares no deben ir a una cárcel. Un tercer tema es si los otros militares que estuvieron en el procedimiento serán cobijados o no con alguna medida.
The Capital Times :: EDITORIAL :: A12
Thursday, June 8, 2006
John Nichols
Solidarity, if it is to mean much, must extend over time. Certainly, it matters when Americans express their concern for victims of particularly egregious U.S. policies in foreign lands -- as millions of Americans did when the Reagan administration was funding Contra armies, death squads and dictatorships across Central America. But when the attention of the policymakers in Washington shifts elsewhere, it is often the case that American activists follow their lead.
One group that has refused to ignore the wreckage left behind by the Reagan administration's misdeeds of the 1980s, and the corporate misdeeds that have followed in their wake, is the U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities Network. The group provides a model of solidarity across the decades. Its 25 chapters in the United States have continued to work with the Salvadoran communities with which they partnered 20 years or more ago, promoting sustainable development, opposing free trade agreements and raising the alarm when corporations take advantage of those agreements to exploit workers and the environment in a country that has suffered far too much exploitation.
An example of how the U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities Network's solidarity model works will be seen Friday at the annual shareholders meeting of Au Martinique Silver Inc., a Canadian-registered mining exploration firm that is promoting development of a gold mine in the Salvadoran department -- roughly equivalent to a state -- of Chalatenango. The mining scheme has stirred broad opposition in Chalatenango, where farmers fear that waste from the mining operation will pollute local rivers and water supplies with arsenic and cyanide.
Fifteen mayors in the department and the overwhelming majority of parish priests in the heavily Catholic region have expressed opposition to the project, arguing that it would devastate local agriculture and fisheries. So strong is the opposition that, last year, 300 residents of remote communities in the region formed a human chain to block Au Martinique teams from entering their towns.
Unfortunately, there is little media coverage of development disputes in rural El Salvador. So Au Martinique continues to tell its shareholders and potential investors in the mining project that the company is working "hand-in-hand with the local communities to assure a partnership in economic development and good environmental stewardship." At the same time, the company is signaling that even if the locals don't want to walk "hand-in-hand" with the multinational corporation, the project will advance because, in the words of an Au Martinique prospectus, "the Republic of El Salvador has one of the lowest risk profiles for investment in all of Latin America" -- a reference to the fact that El Salvador's conservative government is more willing than most to do the bidding of foreign corporations.
In Chalatenango, sentiment toward Au Martinique's exploration project has been anything but welcoming.
"The people in the communities aren't in favor of the mining project," explains Esperanza Ortega, a nominee for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize who lives in the community of Arcatao in Chalatenango. Ortega argues that it is exceptionally "important to talk to the investors, talk to the people funding this project and tell them if they come into this zone they are going to have a lot of problems. ..." But, of course, it is not easy for residents of a mountainous region that is far even from the Salvadoran capital of San Salvador to get that message across to the investors and funders.
That's where the U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities solidarity commitment comes in. Some of the group's strongest partnerships are located in Chalatenango. For instance, the Madison-Arcatao Sister City Project has been formalized to such an extent that mayors, city council members and legislators regularly travel back and forth between the communities. Working with the University of Wisconsin and local hospitals in Madison, activists here have helped their partners in Arcatao develop clinics and a host of local services. They have also successfully lobbied their members of Congress to oppose trade agreements that would harm workers and the environment in El Salvador and other Latin American countries.
"Our relationship with Arcatao was rooted in mutual opposition to U.S. military policies in the '80s, but we have recognized for a long time that exploitation of the region by corporations that do not respect the needs of the people can be just as devastating," says Marc Rosenthal, a Madison nurse and union activist who has regularly visited the region over the past two decades. "The people in Chalatenango have real fears about what this mining project will do to the region, and everything I've seen tells me that those fears are well grounded. So we're going to make sure that they are heard."
When Denver-based Au Martinique convenes its shareholders meeting on Friday, organizers and activists with the U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities Network will be there. "Since the company has not informed its shareholders about the local opposition, we have decided to bring the Chalatenango anti-mining campaign directly to the directors and shareholders of this company," said Dennis Chinoy, a U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities Network activist from Bangor, Maine. "Investors need to be aware that this is a very risky project and that we will continue our campaign until the company has respected the wishes of the local communities and withdrawn its investment."
* For those who recognize "solidarity" as something more than a slogan, the determination of the U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities Network to make sure that the voices of protest from El Salvador continue to be heard in the corridors of corporate and political power provides an inspiring reminder that there are activists who still understand both the meaning and the duty of the phrase la lucha continua.
The Capital Times :: EDITORIAL :: A13
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Lee Brown Madison
Dear Editor: The picture illustrating "Dodging human rights?" on Page 1 of Monday's paper is not properly described. You used a similar picture on May 24, which provoked a Sound Off! call reminding us that the detainees were not simply "sitting in a holding area at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay Cuba." Instead, the caller insisted, "You have witnessed torture and not spoken up. For shame."
Again in this picture, the detainees are not simply "sitting in a holding area at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." First off they are not sitting, but are kneeling -- not as comfortable as sitting. Also the Taliban and al-Qaida detainees are being tortured by the "sensory deprivation" technique devised by our own CIA and described by Alfred McCoy in his book, "A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror."
Again the clues are the ear and mouth covers, goggles, and gloves that cut off the detainees from sounds, sights and feelings. The resulting monotony of isolation may impair the way their brains behave.
If our misguided government is going to routinely allow torture, we citizens should at least recognize it when we see it!
The Capital Times :: EDITORIAL :: A9
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Mary Ann Litwiller Monona
These kinds of atrocities by U.S. or U.S.-trained troops have been going on for decades.
Just on our side of the globe: Does anyone remember the massacre of the Jesuit priests, the four Maryknoll sisters, Archbishop Romero and 900 people at El Mozote, El Salvador, or the massacres in Guatemala and Nicaragua, the disappearances in Chile and Argentina? The list goes on and on.
The point is that the above barbaric acts were carried out by graduates of the U.S. School of the Americas, a facility for training Central and South American military, at Fort Benning, Ga. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release the SOA training manuals that exposed its teaching of torture, extortion and "neutralizing" and, in general, that it was permeated with contempt for law and democracy. That is when it closed for a brief period and then reopened with a new name, Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
But the savagery goes on, as revealed in Colombia today. That is one military training school. Why would anyone believe that others are different?
As a Christian and a U.S. citizen, I am dismayed when my government is complicit in such wrongdoings, and I cry "Not in my name!" Every November, since 1990, a demonstration at Fort Benning calls for closing WHINSEC for an investigation as to what really goes on there. And every year some demonstrators commit civil disobedience to make their voices heard and are arrested. Right now my husband, Fred Brancel, is serving a sentence in a federal prison, as are 36 others, for revealing something that the U.S. government would rather keep quiet. What a waste of human resources and of taxpayers' money! Revealing a crime is a crime?
At present in Washington, HR 1217, a bill to suspend and study WHINSEC, is being held by Republicans from coming to the floor even though it has 133 co-sponsors. You can help close this school by calling any representative (202-224-3121) and asking her/him to support the amendment to an appropriations bill that would cut funding for WHINSEC. We really need to correct this. Our citizens and our country deserve better.
Wisconsin State Journal :: LOCAL :: D5
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Hardly a day goes by when reporters at the state Capitol don't get a press release from Republicans or Democrats, accusing someone on the other side of accepting tainted money or being improperly influenced.
It's difficult enough for reporters to sort out, let alone for the average citizen. Often, the appearance of impropriety is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes, as we've seen recently, it ends up in the hands of prosecutors and a jury.
But one Web site reporters sometimes rely on also gives citizens a chance to "follow the money." You can find out who's giving how much to whom.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's www.wisdc.org offers an easily browseable and searchable database of campaign contributions for state and federal office holders from Wisconsin. You can draw your own conclusions about whether there's undue influence. But the Democracy Campaign isn't shy about offering its own opinions, which can strike either side of the political aisle.
In the past, for example, the group has questioned the timing of campaign contributions to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and Public Service Commission approval of the sale of a nuclear power plant. It also accused Republican candidate for governor, U.S. Rep. Mark Green of Green Bay, of failing to reveal the occupations of some contributors in filings with the state Elections Board.
Democracy Campaign reports are sometimes slugged with terms such as "shady donors," "graft" and "money laundering," and the site offers a "Pay-to-Play" archive. The Web site's database of more than 17,000 entries allows visitors to "find a needle in a haystack," said Mike McCabe, executive director of the group. You can search for names of specific contributors or their employment or corporate affiliations.
For example, if you want to do a little research related to the trial of State Department of Administration supervisor Georgia Thompson, typing in "Adelman Travel" will reveal a list of contributors and contributions dating back to 1992.
Without the database, you may have to search hundreds of records and thousands of pages to come up with the same information, McCabe said.
The Democracy Campaign is an officially registered lobby group that McCabe describes as a government watchdog. The database is funded primarily by the Joyce Foundation, a charitable trust based in Chicago.
While campaign finance information found on the Web site should be compared with official election filings, it's considered highly reliable. State and federal investigators have used it recently as part of their investigations, McCabe said.
The Web site is more popular than ever, and the group has an e-mail subscriber list of about 4,000 people, compared to about 300 subscribers in 2000, McCabe said.
While the Democracy Campaign has enjoyed more popularity since McCabe took over as director in 2000, he doesn't hesitate to credit others for boosting interest in what's widely recognized as a "good government group."
"Chuck Chvala, Scott Jensen and Steve Foti (former legislators convicted in the caucus scandal) have probably had a bit more to do with our growth than I have," McCabe said.
\ Tom Sheehan covers state government for Lee Newspapers in Wisconsin. Contact him at tsheehan@madison.com or 608-252-6198.
The Capital Times :: EDITORIAL :: A9
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Jean Eden, Yahara Friends Meeting
DEAR EDITOR: AS QUAKERS WE BELIEVE ALL PEOPLE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD AND NEED A SAFE PLACE ON EARTH TO LIVE. WE ARE DISTRESSED BY THE SUFFERING RESULTING FROM THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE PALESTINIAN AND THE ISRAELI PEOPLES. THOSE ON BOTH SIDES ARE VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE.
As our government places conditions on Hamas in regard to Israel, so should Israel be held accountable regarding the rights and the safety of the Palestinian people.
We urge our representatives to insist on the United States maintaining fair and just policies toward both parties in this tragic conflict.
Your Views: Nuclear Iran
Wisconsin State Journal :: FORUM :: C1
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Can the United States live with an Iran that possesses nuclear weapons?
Focus on Iran is wrongheaded
A single-minded focus on Iran will not make us safer because the real danger we face is the proliferation of nuclear weapons by those countries that have refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and by the stockpiles of the five original nuclear powers.
The focus on Iran as an "axis of evil" and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a bogeyman is not based on fact. We are being fed half-truths by the same neocons who brought us the war in Iraq.
There is no firm evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. Iran's nuclear enrichment is compatible with its stated intention of developing nuclear power and that is allowed for a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which Iran is.
Furthermore, Ahmadinejad is not the Iranian leader who makes decisions about nuclear issues. That is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has issued a decree against the development, production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons.
Instead of talking about regime change, we ought to respect Iran's sovereignty. Instead of fostering ethnic conflict and internal dissidents, we should put our own house in order. Instead of coveting Iran's huge oil and natural gas reserves, we should look to conservation and alternative energy. Instead of continuing the current U.S. economic sanctions against Iran, we should encourage fair trade and people-to-people exchanges.
-- Bonnie Block, Madison
Your Views: Nuclear Iran
Wisconsin State Journal :: FORUM :: C1
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Can the United States live with an Iran that possesses nuclear weapons?
U.S. nuke stockpile bigger threat
We need to consider the nuclear ambitions of the United States. Then ask how the rest of the world will live with a U.S. that is developing new nuclear weapons, pursuing the nuclear weaponization of space and undermining international law and arms control treaties, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Instead of fulfilling our treaty obligations to get rid of existing nuclear weapons, the U.S. is pursuing development of new nuclear weapons, uranium enrichment, a new generation of nuclear power reactors, nuclear fuel reprocessing and increased test site readiness.
The U.S. Nuclear Posture Review states our willingness to use nuclear weapons on a first-strike basis against non-nuclear nations. Iran is included in the list of target countries.
The unique, pervasive and long-lasting threats of nuclear war, radiation exposure and radioactive environmental pollution give credence to pursuing nuclear abolition rather than nuclear proliferation. We should support international treaties and the rule of law to prevent military action.
-- Alfred Meyer, executive director, Physicians for Social Responsibility -- Wisconsin, Madison
The Capital Times
Friday, June 30, 2006
By Bill Dunn
Groups concerned about government and corporate invasion of personal privacy will rally Saturday in downtown Madison.
The protest, billed as "Declare Your Independence From Government Spying," starts at 11 a.m. at the AT&T building, 316 W. Washington Ave.
"Join us to express your outrage at, and to protest, government spying on the American people, and specifically the collusion of AT&T, Verizon and Bell South telecom companies with the NSA (National Security Agency) in providing our private records of telephone calls without a warrant," says the rally notice at the Madison Area Peace Coalition's Web site.
The event includes a march around the State Capitol during the Farmers' Market to another AT&T building at 44 E. Mifflin St. Speakers will include Matt Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine, and Madison attorney Sally Stix.
One of the organizers is Barnaby Urich-Rintz, 37, who works at Regent Market Co-op. He shared his thoughts with The Capital Times:
TCT: On the Fox Network's "Your World With Neil Cavuto," the host said this: "Yes, it is not great to necessarily hear they're collecting our phone records, but it's a heck of a lot better than collecting our remains." Your reaction?
9/11 was a terrible tragedy, but how often have Americans been attacked on U.S. soil? Except for Pearl Harbor, there are almost no such instances.
This type of shameful propaganda would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that so many Americans believe the hyperbole that people like Neil Cavuto dispense.
TCT: George Bush said this recently in Austria: "We're a transparent democracy. People know exactly what's on our mind. We debate things in the open."
I can only think of one response to that, from George W. Bush himself. I'm paraphrasing, but didn't he also say something like, "This would be so much easier if this were a dictatorship, as long as I'm the dictator"?
TCT: What do you say to people who have the mind-set that "if you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about"?
One of the core problems with the current state of U.S. government surveillance programs is the language of the Patriot Act. Under that un-American law, someone can be convicted as a "perceived" terrorist threat.
Civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart was convicted of relaying information from an imprisoned client, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. The evidence in her case was flimsy at best, if not completely fabricated.
Another example: Sami Al-Arian, a Florida college professor originally from Kuwait, was accused of terrorism and has been in jail since 2003. A jury acquitted him on most of the counts he was charged with and deadlocked on other counts, but he agreed to deportation to avoid retrial. He's in jail awaiting deportation.
Ironically, Al-Arian campaigned for President Bush in the 2000 election. Ultimately, no one is safe.
TCT: To what do you attribute what seems like apathy on the part of much of the American public on the issue?
I think many people are angry, active and ready to respond. Our action Saturday is meant to be a springboard to get more Wisconsin residents to become involved. People should call the state attorney general and attorney general candidates and ask what they will do about the issue.
Change your e-mail and phone service if you use AT&T/SBC, Verizon or Bell South, which profit from people like us. If we cripple them economically, it will force them to retreat.
TCT: Do you really expect that by taking on the government you will change anything?
The government is powerful and controlled by wealthy people. What chance is there of winning? I think that in a way it's irrelevant whether or not we succeed. The point is to try.
When I see what's happening in my name and in my country's name, I must resist. I know the odds are against me and against us, but our life experiences include struggle.
Working at a job is not easy, finding people I can trust is not easy, finding time to enjoy life is not easy. How could I ever expect that social change would come easily?
\ E-mail: bdunn@madison.com
The Capital Times
Friday, June 30, 2006
Steve Burns Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice Madison
Dear Door Creek
Editor: In her June 21 column "informed debate trumps quick answers every time," Margaret Krome says that calls for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from iraq are unjustified because the "facts on the ground" in Iraq are still "unclear." She suggests our elected officials respond to the public's demand to bring our troops home by saying: "I'm still evaluating the situation. Let's debate it further."
Well, if Ms. Krome really wants some clearer facts, I suggest she read the results of a recent opinion poll taken in Iraq by the World Public Opinion organization (www.worldpublicopinion.org). When asked what effect a withdrawal of U.S. troops over six months would have on their country, 67 percent of Iraqis polled said a U.S. withdrawal would improve the security situation for the Iraqi people, 64 percent thought the level of violent attacks would decrease, and 73 percent thought a U.S. withdrawal would increase the willingness of the various ethnic and religious factions in the Iraqi parliament to compromise. And 67 percent actually thought that the delivery of basic services such as water and electricity would improve.
Ms. Krome may still be "unclear" about the situation in Iraq, but for the Iraqi people one thing is very clear: Their country would be a better place without the "help" of the U.S. military.