Category: Politics

Madison School Board Election Update

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School Board Candidates & Groups (PAC’s) filed their latest campaign finance disclosures this past week. I’ve added receipts, expenditure and PAC receipt data here. Highlights include:

Raised most $’s: Alix Olson $11,203.21

(Olson’s opponent, incumbent Ruth Robarts has raised $5,839.44 and has accepted no PAC money)
Received most Pac $’s: Alix Olson $2,185.00
Raised least amount: Sam Johnson $1,656.30

(Johnson’s opponent, incumbent Shwaw Vang has
raised $5,153,98 and has accepted $2,135 in PAC money)
Raised least PAC $’s: Ruth Robarts $0.00
PAC with most cash: MTI Voters
(Madison Teachers, Inc. PAC)		 $47,391.55
PAC with least cash: Get Real $289.81
     
Fund raising
Summary
Seat 3 Sam Johnson $1,656.30 Shwaw Vang $5,153.98
PAC Receipts $306.30 $2,135.00
Seat 4 Melania Alvarez $2,111.27 Johnny Winston, Jr.$9,683.93
PAC Receipts $266.27 $600 other + $1560MTI*
Seat 5 Alix Olson $11,203.21 Ruth Robarts $5,839.44
PAC Receipts $2,185.00 $0.00
     
   Learn
more here… and vote April 6, 2004

* MTI Voters Campaign Finance Disclosure shows a $1,560 contribution to Johnny Winston, Jr’s campaign on March 17, 2004, but Winston’s March 29, 2004 disclosure does not show the receipt of this contribution.

Vote! April 6, 2004 Election

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One week from today, Madison holds its spring election (school board, judges & county board). However and unfortunately, this race falls during spring break. If you are planning to be out of town, please obtain an absentee ballot from the City Clerk’s office.
Some have asked why I spent the time (and money) to put together this web page, dedicated to the Madison School Board Race. I’ve summarized a few reasons here:

  • These type of races generally don’t attract all that much attention.
  • There’s an intersting group of candidates this year.
  • Encourage Madison citizens to vote (turnout is never all that great)
  • Provide deep, convenient information on each candidate – as much as possible (four of the six agreed to sit for a video interview, as did Superintendent Art Rainwater – to his credit. I requested interviews from Mayor Dave & John Matthews, Executive Director of Madison Teachers, Inc., but never heard back from them.).
  • General disappointment with the lack of depth in local news coverage from traditional tv & print sources
    • My favorite scene: the local nbc affiliate was the only station covering a candidate forum at Cherokee Middle School – it’s great they were there for a few minutes, however the end result was a 10 second video clip on the 10 o’clock news that night.
    • The local newspapers, have two education reporters, Doug Erickson & Lee Sensenbrenner. Lee’s paper, the afternoon Capital Times, has posted most of his articles online (including one with a description of this site, but not a link on the web version), while Doug’s paper, the morning Wisconsin State Journal has posted very few (Doug’s candidate interviews have NOT been online, which is just amazing – correction, they are available on this page).
  • Support these candidates. Running and serving on the school board is a thankless job. I wanted to give them an opportunity to express their views without a filter.
  • Contribute: I contributed to four of the six (those who took the time to sit for an interview – you should, too. I’ve posted links to all 6 candidate web sites here.)

How did it work out? My election page has received quite a bit of activity. It’s also received some interesting comments. I hope other Madison residents start their own blogs…. Email me if you have questions (zellmer AT mac.com) Vote!

Leahy Shills for Copyright Cartel

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Dan Gillmor is right on the money with his criticism of Vermont’s Patrick Leahy regarding his co-sponsorship of the “Pirate Act“. One would think our politicians have more important things to do (education, health care, terrorism, the economy) than carrying water for the Hollywood cartel.

s stunning, and disheartening, to see U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who has been one of the champions of civil liberties on Capitol Hill, become a water-carrier for Hollywood and the music industry. But there’s no other interpretation for his co-sponsorship of what’s being called the PIRATE Act, a chillingly bad bill that would give the copyright cartel a gift for the ages.
The basics of this legislation are fairly simple: In a time when there are truly serious things on the minds of law enforcement, such as terrorism, Leahy and his colleague Orrin Hatch would send the FBI and Justice Department (Copyfight) after file-sharers. If this passes, look for a crackdown that makes today’s music-industry lawsuit frenzy look tame. And look for the end of most experiments in new media, because file-sharing networks are the only financially feasible way to distribute content for people who aren’t trying to corner a market.
If I still lived in Vermont, I would call Leahy’s office and ask anyone who’d listen how someone I’ve respected for years could do something so awful.

I’ve sent a note to Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl encouraging them to vote against this and any other similar nonsensical initiatives.

9/11 Hearings Free on Audible.com

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The 9/11 Commission Hearings are available right now for free at http://www.audible.com/911hearings. […] You’ll hear Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, former National Counterterrorism Coordinator Richard Clarke, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and others as they answer tough questions on blind spots in foreign intelligence that may have enabled the worst terrorist attack in American history.
Download the Hearings now from our Web site, and feel free to share this e-mail with your friends. Let them know they can download the audio for free as well. From the Online Blog.

9-11 Commission Report Online

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Read the report directly (and avoid the spinning on both sides) here:

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002, is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The Commission is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

Here’s a few links from different points of view: Time Magazine | Wonkette’s 9/11 Flow Chart | Talking Points | Instapundit

9/11 Panel Background

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I’ve been reading Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars, The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001.
Anyone interested in a deep look at how we arrived at the current situation in Central Asia should read this book. Coll follows our policies from supporting the Afghans & jihad fighters against the Soviets in the 1980’s to our complete withdrawal (the source of our problems, I believe) after the Soviets left (leaving Afghanistan to the Pakistanis/Saudis and others) through the 1990’s where a few tried to get those at the top engaged once again in the region as the Taliban rose to power (backed by Bin Laden and others) and finally, to 09/10/2001.
There’s been no shortage of discussion recently on this topic, including the recent charges/counter charges around Richard Clarke. Clarke’s White House role during the 1990’s is discussed extensively in this book. I believe Coll’s work provides a useful basis to get through the politics and discover that in reality, there was little leadership or will power to address these problems, until 9/11 (despite the Cole bombing, the African bombings and other telltale signs of what was to come).
The genesis of the problem is that we abandoned Afghanistan after the Soviets left (leaving it wide open for regional players), and did not re-engage in a serious way until post 9/11.
Fascinating read.

(more…)

Cap Times Spins Wisconsin’s MATRIX Data Mining Participation

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The Cap Times spin’s Wisconsin’s recent decision to pull out of the MATRIX (Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange) data mining project (after the Doyle (a Democrat) Administration joined it February 11, 2004!) as an anti Bush Administration move:

Luckily, the records of Wisconsinites are going to be protected from the prying eyes of the Bush administration’s security apparatus. States must agree to feed information into the Matrix database. This month, Wisconsin joined a growing number of other states in refusing to do so. According to a statement from Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager’s office, “Because of the privacy concerns, we’ve suspended all involvement.”

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Gina Barton provides a more balanced view of what actually ocurred: “Wisconsin law enforcement officials have changed their minds about becoming part of a computerized information-sharing network.”
There are many reasons to be concerned about ongoing government programs that further intrude on our privacy. However, the Badger State joined the program, under Democratic Governor Doyle’s watch, something not mentioned in the Cap Times editorial.
The best place to keep up to date on these issues (and send money) is the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
I sent an email to Dave Zweifel, Editor of the Cap Times today.
I must say that the Cap Times generally does a reasonably good job covering local news. However, the public’s expectations are clearly changing. This free subscription offer is telling (96K PDF).
MATRIX Searches: [Google] [Teoma] [Yahoo] [alltheweb]
UPDATE: Tim Porter slices and dices newspaper’s quality & circulation problems here.

TV News (contradiction in terms)?

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Dan Shafer comments on the general substance free nature of TV News

Yep. “Real” news on TV died an agonizing death years ago when networks decided that next-day interviews with stars of network shows were news when they clearly weren’t. I read two newspapers and several newsy Web sites a day and never watch TV news any more. I’m a tiny minority, but it works for me.
Being an informed participant in the democratic process should be worth spending some time and brain cycles, not just sitting dumb and dumfounded in front of a boob toob passively absorbing the crap the networks hand out.

From Doc Searls….