From owner-govaccess@well.com Fri Jan 12 15:52:42 1996 Received: from well.com (majordom@well.com [206.15.64.10]) by eff.org (8.6.12/8.6.6) with ESMTP id PAA15553; Fri, 12 Jan 1996 15:52:41 -0800 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by well.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) id KAA29164 for govaccess-outbound; Fri, 12 Jan 1996 10:39:53 -0800 Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996 10:39:06 -0800 To: GovAccess@well.com From: jwarren@well.com (Jim Warren) Subject: GovAccess.243: repost GA; Vote Smart; FEC; nonukes; press; ... Sender: owner-govaccess@well.com Precedence: bulk Status: RO No, "fascism" in the dictionary where I looked it up to quote it's definition in #239 was not spealed "facism." Musta been an accidental typo by a fuzzy-headed curmudgeon ... who successfully repeated the same typo twice (at least). --blushing-jim [blushes regularly] CONTENTS GovAccess Listserv "Full"? (NOT!); Permission to Repost GovAccess? (Go for it!) *Excellent* Nonpartisan Project Vote Smart Site Has Selected Voting Records Federal Elections Commission ftp Site May Open in February! (1) Using Web to Oppose Local School Waste, and (2) Proposes Automated Exonizer Net Site Opposes French Nuclear Testing Tabloids, Talk Radio and the Future of News: Technology's Impact on Journalism Confusion About How Completely the Press is Blocked from California Prisoners Correction: Congressional Quarterly is NOT Non-partisan War Tax Refusal Listserv [Where are those govt censors when *really* needed?!] FOIAing FOIA Requesters is Very Valuable [re Freedom of Information Act] MoJo Tauts its 20 Years of Hell-Raising -- Offers Web & Email Access Arizona Legislature Comes Online Deadline 1/22: Know Nor.Californians Instrumental in Freedom-of-Info Fights? Linguistic Ambiguity Perverts Mathematical Logic in GovAcc#240 Percents &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& GovAccess Listserv "Full"? (NOT!); Permission to Repost GovAccess? (Go for it!) Date: 09 Jan 96 19:56:52 EST From: Michael Bolanos <72662.2530@compuserve.com> >I really appreciate being on your mailing list, and have learned a lot from >GovAccess. > >A few of my staff have wanted to join the list, but heard it's full. Now *that* is very strange. Although such limits probably exist somewhere, for some Internet listserv, I have never heard of them and they certainly aren't true for GovAccess. Hmmm ... wonder *who* could be circulating *that* rumor? :-) >Would you be interested in having GovAccess posted in one of our libraries? I >think distribution would widen, and I think people should be aware of the >incredible changes going on. As it says at the bottom of every GovAccess, "May be copied & reposted except for any items that explicitly prohibit it." Go for it! :-) --jim &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& *Excellent* Nonpartisan Project Vote Smart Site Has Selected Voting Records Date: Tue, 09 Jan 96 06:02:51 EST From: johnseay@world.std.com (John Seay) Some months ago I wrote to you asking about the availablity of congressional voting records. You did some checking and got back to me very quickly. At that time it seemed that our representatives didn't want to make it easy for us to find out how they voted. The answer that your contact provided was to crawl through the "Congressional Record" which IS on-line. While looking for something else, I found the web page of Project Vote Smart (http://www.vote-smart.org/about/). This appears to be a non-partisan, non-profit effort to provide FACTS to the American people on-line. Selected samples of Congressional votes are available among other things. This looks to me like a worthwhile effort, and I intend to keep an eye on their work. [Vote Smart began in 1992, funded by various grants and using student labor, as a 800-number source of independent, non-partisan information about candidates and has significantly expanded its services and access methods this year. --jim] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Federal Elections Commission ftp Site May Open in February! Date: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 10:32:57 -0500 Sender: State and Local Freedom of Information Issues From: "Kitty Bennett (BIO)" Was talking to Bob Biersa(sp???) at the Federal Elections Commission last week about some tapes we needed and he mentioned FEC will likely fire up an FTP site within the next month. Obviously all the data will be free, which I thought was pretty amazing and wonderful news. Older stuff won't be there, as it's currently contemplated, but '96 cycle will be there, and will be refreshed monthly. Kitty Bennett News Researcher St. Petersburg Times &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& (1) Using Web to Oppose Local School Waste, and (2) Proposes Automated Exonizer From: David Thielen Date: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 12:05:10 -0600 [Regarding the web], I found another thing it is good for today. I was talked into sitting on a task force for my school district to determine what should be in the upcoming bonds. I was floored by how mismanaged the district is. So I voted against any bonds until they clean up their act. Now normally, the election would move forward, 1 or 2 people would write editorials against it, and it would pass. Oppisition is minimal because it is expensive to do old style campaigning and there isn't a lot of donations to a campaign against school bonds. So, instead I set up a web page (www.thielen.com/pisd). Tremendous difference. First, the mere fact that it exists has warranted front page articles in the local papers. Second, the school district is trying to sell 43 million in technology bonds when it's the opponents who are technically sophisticated enough to put up a web page. But most important, hundreds of people have hit it and are talking to their neighbors about it. With 2 - 3 days of effort we have been able to turn the election from a sure thing to a big question in a lot of people's minds. And with new stuff going up there daily we maintain the traffic. For local elections its an incredibly powerful tool. How powerful, I will find out end of February. *** ... About Senator Exon's Communication Decency Act: The swear words are not illegal until they hit the net. So what if all the mail, Usenet, and web viewers had a Exonizer and deExonizer. Anything posted would be scanned and unacceptable words would be replaced with numerical sequences bracket by &# so damn would become #& (I reserve 4 digits because I figure Congress will legislate lots of words it finds obscene ...). Anything read in by a browser would be scanned and the sequences would then be converted back to the original words. So on the net there would be no obscenity yet people could post and view anything. And I could still use the terms I'm used to using when I describe some software . &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Net Site Opposes French Nuclear Testing Date: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 18:10:24 -0500 From: tozzi@risc.idg.fi.cnr.it (Tommaso Tozzi) [Via this homepage,] you can send an e-mail to many french government e-mail address to protest against Nuclear Tests. http://muu.lib.hel.fi/MediaFilter/nuke/nukeform.html ... Your messages are being sent via internet to French Government and Atomic research machines: Atomic Energy Commission postmaster@cea.fr roussel@albert.cad.cea.fr OECD Nuclear Energy postmaster@nea.fr Defense Ministry postmaster@mindef.fr postmaster@sga.fr French Ministry of Culture ministre@culture.fr Dr Bruno Oudet - Embassy of France, Wash DC bao@access.digex.net French Government Research Machines: root@mururoa.imag.fr root@aye.inria.fr root@h2.cad.cea.fr root@aldebaran.sct.fr postmaster@ edf . fr AdmiNet - info-centre about French authorities and public services scherer@ensmp.fr The Leading French Newspaper, Le Monde lemonde@vtcom.fr French Television Station vtcom@vtcom.fr &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tabloids, Talk Radio and the Future of News: Technology's Impact on Journalism Date: Sat, 06 Jan 1996 08:56:50 -0500 From: John Makulowich +1 301 926 4447 [Available on the web, there is] a relatively new report by Ellen Hume, Annenberg Senior Fellow, entitled, "Tabloids, Talk Radio, and the Future of News: Technology's Impact on Journalism." http://www.annenberg.nwu.edu/pubs/tabloids/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Confusion About How Completely the Press is Blocked from California Prisoners From: Joebates@aol.com Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 07:18:02 -0500 Your readers should understand that the prisons did not prohibit prisoners from communicating by telephone or letter with members of the press, only by direct video or film interviews. This limits their options for expressing themselves (and makes the interviews much less appealing to the "viewing" public), but does it violate their civil rights? [This clearly differs from the 1/10/96 San Francisco Chronicle article that begins: "The new rule barring news reporters from talking to inmates in California's state prisons is one of the strictist in the nation, and prison officials in other states, equally incenses by the notoriety of so-called celebrity inmates, are cracking down in their own fashion. "The controversial new California rule prohibits all reporters -- radio, television and print -- from seeking out individual prisoners for face-to-face interviews in state prisons." Only six decades ago, this kind of policy was part of how millions of honestly good German citizens failed to realize exactly what was going on behind those *other* prison fences. But, of course, that could never happen here. We could never have property seized and taken without trial or conviction (forfeiture). We could never have wiretap circuits installed to permit simultaneously wiretapping for at *least* 1 per 400 of the "maximum capacity" for all phone circuits in the nation (demanded last October by the Clinton administration). And we certainly wouldn't impose $100,000 fines and/or two-year federal prison sentences on people who "use any telecommunications device" to communicate any "indecent" word or image to another person in personal or private exchanges (Exon Amendment). Why ... that would be downright ... fascist! --jim] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Correction: Congressional Quarterly is NOT Non-partisan Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 09:58:07 -0500 From: freematt@coil.com (Matthew Gaylor) >From GovAccess.240: >Congressional Quarterly [offers] nonpartisan reporting ... CQ only includes information on Republicans and Democrats. They claim that they have staff limitations that preclude them from covering other political parties. They have promised to profile third-party presidential candidates sometime in mid-1996, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Congressional Quarterly Inc., is clearly bipartisan. [But, but, but ... if the mainstream press were so disobedient as to give substantive coverage to some of the other candidates -- even those who *don't* spend their personal millions on advertising in that mainstream media -- then , someone other than a Republicrat or Demopublican might actually get *elected*! Then the lobbyists wouldn't know *who* to buy. Appalling. --jim] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& War Tax Refusal Listserv [Where are those govt censors when *really* needed?!] Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 17:40:27 CST From: Karen Marysdaughter WTR-S provides a forum for the discussion of war tax refusal, redirection, and conversion, as nonviolent responses to militarism or abuse of power. Personal issues arising out of war tax refusal, as well as organizing issues, are appropriate in this list. WTR-S is not for the celebration of "right wing" tax protest or government-bashing. WTR-S is bidirectionally linked to the conference pax.wtr on PeaceNet/IGC. WTR-S is sponsored by the (US) National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC, address below). To subscribe to WTR-S, send the following command to MAJORDOMO@IGC.APC.ORG in the BODY of e-mail: SUBSCRIBE WTR-S (Note that you do not have to include your address in the command to subscribe to a majordomo list.) Owner: Robert Randall [Definition from one of my old high school students: Pacifist -- someone who is always trying to start a peace. --jim] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& FOIAing FOIA Requesters is Very Valuable [re Freedom of Information Act] Date: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 11:01:05 -0800 From: wheaton@well.com (jim wheaton) Re GovAcc#240, Freedom of Information Act Gets Wider Use by Sleuths, Snoops and Senators: ... Of course FOIA requests are themselves public records. I simply *assume* all my correspondence to a public official is public. Don't you? Moreover, we've been doing FOI requests on agencies' FOI requsts for years. It's a very telling way to measure an agency's adherence to the laws requirements. Don't just measure how they responded to you: compare the response times for all requestors for the past year; while you're at it, see if they tend to blow off individuals but respond to favored (or threatening) requestors. We used this technique to discover that scores of agencies were demanding illegal (and often unconscionable) "fees" from the public to turn over to members of the public their own documents. Stiff letters and a few lawsuits later and we've gotten rollbacks. Last, the use of an anonymous requestor is interesting, but likely to ultimately defeat any effort to get a FOIA fee waiver, where the purpose of the request and the information are required, and will also defeat any serious enforcement, since the action will have to be filed in the name of the real party in interest. [Note: Wheaton is one of my favorite people (even though we occasionally disagree on one iota or another :-) -- Senior Counsel, First Amendment Project; CoChair, Society of Professionals Journalists Freedom of Information Committee; teaches First Amendment Law at SF State University Journalism Dept; helped draft technical portions of California Campagn Finance Reform initiative. Past: Executive Director, California Common Cause; Campaign Director, Yes on 131 (Van de Kamp's campaign finance initiative); member, 1995 coalition of all reform groups to deal with corruption of California legislature; registered lobbyist for clean government and open government group; past campaign chair or director for 3 statewide campaigns; participant in many local, state and national electoral campaigns. A *dedicated* good-government activist. --jim] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& MoJo Tauts its 20 Years of Hell-Raising -- Offers Web & Email Access Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 14:23:44 -0800 From: michelse@motherjones.com (Ingrid Michelsen) http://www.motherjones.com/ Help us celebrate 20 years of uncompromised progressive investigative reporting! *A twenty year retrospective* Maya Angelou, Noam Chomsky, Camille Paglia, Paul Wellstone, Bob Woodward and 35 others help celebrate Mother Jones magazine's 20th year, with reflections on the near-past and glimpses of the yet-to-be. UPDATE: We have put excerpts from the Federal Elections Commission's investigation of Newt Gingrich on our site -- see the real correspondence between Gingrich and other key figures in their apparent efforts to circumvent election finance laws ... If you want to be on the *mailing list* for MoJo Wire lovers like you, just write to me at: mailinglist@motherjones.com [Some] latest investigative reports- "The Dark Side" - Bob Dole's nasty streak may means trouble for Newt Gingrich. "MediKill" - Inside Newt's plan to gut Medicare and enrich one of his biggest contributors. **COMING SOON: A chance to win a hemp "MoJo Wire" hat ... keep on checking our site. Ingrid Michelsen Advertising and Public Relations The MoJo Wire http://www.motherjones.com [Looks like Limbaugh or National Review needs to put up their own webpages and full articles -- just to add a little counterbalance to MoJo's leanings. No, I'm not for 'em or again' 'em -- I'm an equal-opportunity complainer. --jim] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Arizona Legislature Comes Online Date: Fri, 05 Jan 96 11:19:29 -0800 From: David Hakala Organization: Boardwatch Magazine Jim, this should be of interest to you. Brief article at http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/info/010596/info33_4413.html The actual Arizona site is at http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Deadline 1/22: Know Nor.Californians Instrumental in Freedom-of-Info Fights? From: wheaton@well.com (jim wheaton) To: "Freedom of Info Act List" Date: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 11:01:01 -0800 CONTACT: Jim Wheaton 510/208-4555 Tricia Taborn 415/487-2542 The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is accepting entries for its eleventh annual James Madison Freedom of Information Awards competition. The awards honor individuals and organizations who in 1995 have helped protect and expand freedom of expression in the spirit of James Madison and the First Amendment. The nine award categories are Citizen, Legal Counsel, Organization, Government Official, Librarian, Professional Journalist, Student Journalist, Cartoonist and Career Achievement. Not every category is necessarily awarded every year. Past James Madison awards honored the masterminds behind landmark open-government laws. Cyberspace majordomo and gadfly Jim Warren was honored in the Citizen category for his successful campaign to pass state legislation making California's legislative activities available online. Professor Roger Karraker was honored for his fight to preserve First Amendment rights under attack by zealots opposed to free expression in educational forums and cyberspace. Newspapers that have been recognized include the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times (twice) and the San Francisco Daily Journal. Last year the Committee also honored cartoonist Tom Tomorrow for his biting wit on media and government. Past government officials honored for their work to advance FOI at national, state and local levels include San Francisco Supervisor Kevin Shelley, Senator Quentin Kopp, Assemblywoman Debra Bowen, and Federal District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel. Activists and organizations include Tom Newton, general counsel of the California Newspaper Publishers Association; Terry Francke, and the California First Amendment Coalition; the Data Center; Ruth Holton and California Common Cause; and attorneys Jim Wagstaffe and William Bennett Turner. Career Achievement awards have been given to Bruce Brugmann, mover, protector and promoter of First Amendment causes; Angus Mackenzie, a legend in First Amendment and FOI circles; and Ben Bagdikian, of UC Berkeley. Nominees must come from Northern California. Nominations and supporting materials must be postmarked by January 22, 1995. Story clips, videotapes, audiocassette tapes, and other relevant materials may be submitted. Nominations for which supporting documents are not appropriate may be submitted by e-mail to wheaton@well.com. Subject line should read `James Madison entry,' and the format of the entry should include name, address and phone number of the honoree; affiliation; a thorough description of the nominee's background and contribution; name and contact number for more information (either the nominator or another knowledgable individual). Winners will be honored at the annual FOI awards dinner on March 14, 1996 at the Annual James Madison FOI Dinner at the Fort Mason Officers' Club. For more information or to receive an entry form, contact Tricia Taborn at the number above or write to SPJ's James Madison Freedom of Information Awards Competition, 520 Hampshire St., Box 3B, San Francisco, CA 94110. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Linguistic Ambiguity Perverts Mathematical Logic in GovAcc#240 Percents Date: Sun, 07 Jan 1996 04:17:24 -0500 (EST) From: Stephen Commiskey In your notice about the ISDN rate hikes, you said that raising rates from $63/mo to $184/mo was almost a 300% increase. Actually, it's almost triple, but that's only a 200% *increase*. A 300% *increase* is quadrupling. Same math error on the rate hike in Calif. Nothing like the vagaries of English expressions to mess up math. [I knew there was some reason I should have studied English while getting those two math degrees -- it contributes confusion to reason. Instead of "300% increase," I should have said that US West plans to increase Washington State ISDN rates to 300% of its current $63/month rate." Other members of the national telecomm cartel -- Pac Bell in California and Bell Atlantic's monopoly in Washington DC -- "only" want to increase their ISDN rates to 200% of their current monthly fees. (I prefer to adjust the words rather than the numbers -- which remain accurate ... e.g., 300% = 3X = "triple".) --jim] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& "Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." --William Pitt (sig-line from synergy@MCS.COM [via paul@hshuna.hsh.com]) Mo' as it Is. --jim Jim Warren, GovAccess list-owner/editor (jwarren@well.com) Advocate & columnist, MicroTimes, Government Technology, BoardWatch, etc. 345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/<# upon request> To add or drop GovAccess, email to Majordomo@well.com ('Subject' ignored) with message: [un]subscribe GovAccess YourEmailAddress (insert your eaddr) For brief description of GovAccess, send the message: info GovAccess Past postings are at ftp.cpsr.org: /cpsr/states/california/govaccess and by WWW at http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/states/california/govaccess . Also forwarded to USENET's comp.org.cpsr.talk by CPSR's Al Whaley. May be copied & reposted except for any items that explicitly prohibit it.