Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Jane Lawton: A Great Loss of an Extraordinary Public Servant

(This one's personal; sorry for minimal Wisconsin content.)

Yesterday the Honorable Jane Lawton, a Maryland House of Delegates Member and the head of the Montgomery County Cable Communications office, died of a heart attack immediately after speaking at a US Justice Department symposium on telecommunications issues. Her work on behalf of telecom consumers, the environment, woman's rights, and schools had real impact locally in Maryland and nationally.

I've known Jane well from her work in NATOA, an organization I helped found. She was on its national board in the 1990s, and its president in 1998-1999. She also had served as mayor of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was a tireless advocate for local governments, and had been scheduled to be honored last night by the Maryland Municipal League for "outstanding service."

As a person, Jane was warm, personable, capable of charming her enemies, but a pistol: prepared, knowledgeable, and hard-working. She was a worthy opponent for cable and phone companies; so much so that DC-based political snark-site Wonkette created a dark humor post about her death, writing that police claims of natural causes are "suspicious" because of all the cable company representatives at the symposium and her many battles with them.

Information about her memorial service, contributions in her memory, and more details about her life are here.

May her memory be for a blessing to her family, friends, and colleagues.

- Barry Orton 

The Tragedy That is California Education and Now Wisconsin

A trip last week to Los Angeles and San Francisco served as a graphic reminder of the rise and fall of public education in the state of California since the adoption of Proposition 13. The enactment of that law after a 1978 referendum created an unfair tax system, taxing property not on its use, its present value, or its potential for development, but the assessment on the day it was purchased.

The result not only creates an imbalance in taxation but it strangles deprives government of needed revenues. The most important example is California public education. In the three decades following World War II, California public schools were the best in the nation. Now they are among the worst.

Within California, test results and rankings of their schools show a clear delineation along economic lines. Schools in wealthy communities score the best. Obviously, schools in low income areas do poorly.

Starved for adequate funding, each school is dependent upon activist parents and community leaders to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each and every year. It is no surprise that the poorest communities fail miserably at this semi-privatization of education.

One impact of Proposition 13 was, in part, to privatize the schools. Public schools cannot survive without private resources. The same thing is occurring in Wisconsin where restraints on school expenditures from public funds results in continued fundraising. Some communities like Madison centralize the fundraising for the entire district so that all schools share equitably in the private monies.

In the meantime, while some taxpayers can point to significant savings, the quality of education suffers at greater expense to all of us, particularly those dependent upon a well educated workforce.

If there are problems with the public education system, then fix it. Ensuring failure was not a wise choice.

Free Speech Is Expensive at UW Milwaukee

The price of free speech just went up at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. The Conservative Union booked Walid Shoebat, a former PLO member to present "Why I Left Jihad."  There is a good deal of controversy associated with Shoebat's presentations. Wiser minds can decide if he is a hero or snake oil salesman.

The speech may never be presented. A group of Muslim students oppose the speech saying that it will inspire violence against them. Sorry, go read the Constitution. Hateful or not so hateful speakers, whether they incite a crowd or not, are protected under the Bill of Rights. As they do not make a call to violence, the speech is protected; and even some remarks that incite violence are protected.

Of greater concern is the position of UW Milwaukee.  They are requiring the sponsors pay a fee of $2500 for extra security for the event.

Wrong.  Very wrong.

This was the tactic used against Freedom Riders struggling for Civil Rights in the South. It was used against the anti-war movement in the 1960's.  Charge for a parade permit, charge for the extra security so that those wishing to exercise their right to free speech are prohibited from gathering.

The United States Supreme Court has made it clear that fees for security or permits that prevent the public exercise of free speech are a violation of our Constitution. The Court made it clear that stopping a speech based on the fear that others will become agitated or excited is unacceptable.

I will leave to others who are more current on recent Supreme Court decisions to provide documentation to support my contention. Hopefully, I will get some help from other quarters that are more knowledgeable.

Rural Electrification, Town Roads, Grandma's Telephone, and the Packers on Cable TV

It was not Milton Friedman's free market capitalism that brought electricity to rural Wisconsin and America. It was not Ronald Reagan's dismissal of government regulation that paved roads from the farm to town. It was not some silly Neocon view of the world that installed a telephone in Grandma's living room in some poor neighborhood of Milwaukee.

All of those changes were the result of government interference in the market place through regulation, taxation, and the redistribution of both public and private resources.

After the 1936 passage of the Rural Electrification Act, bureaucrats worked to assist electric utilities to wire rural America with low-interest loans and technical assistance. Congress decided that the social value of rural electrification would mean progress for farmers and their families. It was not some invisible hand that lead to the mechanization of American agriculture.

State legislatures and county boards voted to build paved roads to small towns and farms. That was a redistribution of tax dollars, mostly coming from wealthy city folks. Some of it was self interest, some of it not. After all, getting goods to market, through these public subsidies benefited the producer and the consumer.

Eighty years ago the telephone was a luxury. Yet state legislatures and their regulatory public service commissions made it clear to AT&T that if the behemoth wished to wire wealthy neighborhoods, they would have to provide service to the poor ones as well.

In every instance there were policy makers and consumers who along with the industry, weighed the costs and benefits of the regulations.  We did pretty well.

Now comes football and cable television. The political leaders, the policymakers, and the industry heavyweights are all on the playing field.  No one is looking out for the consumer.

As for public education, fuhgeddaboutit.

Rep. Ryan Grandstands to Badger and Packer Fans

Not content to let Wisconsin state legislators meddle in disputes between cable TV providers and the NFL Network and the Big Ten Network, self-styled Milton Friedman-school free enterprise advocate Representative Paul Ryan, Republican from Janesville, has called upon the FCC to mediate the issue.

A press release three weeks ago from Wisconsin legislators Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Representative Kitty Rhoades, (R-Hudson) called for arbitration between cable providers and the sports networks so that Badger and Packer sports could be available to subscribers. We called it "political grandstanding."

Ryan, careful not to meddle too much in the marketplace, calls upon the FCC to mediate the dispute.

I understand the FCC has opened a rulemaking proceeding (MB Docket 07-42) to consider program carriage issues such as these - particularly as they relate to independent and diverse channels. I would urge the FCC to consider changing its rules to facilitate appointment of an arbitrator in disputes like the ones involving the NFL Network and the Big Ten Network, so they can be resolved more quickly (preferably through negotiation between the parties) and with consumers' interests foremost in mind.

Pete Selkowe of the Racine Post reacts:

Paul Ryan, a Populist? Who knew?

Give Rep. Ryan, R-WI 1st District, credit. He's got his ear to what the voters really care about: Not the war going badly, the stock market in free-fall again, jobs and home buyers scarce as hens' teeth -- no, it's the damn cable blocking of Packers' and Badgers' games.

Monopolies on both sides of the line, the cable companies and the sports networks (ESPN, NFL  Network), have been bilking the public for years. Consumers received little assistance from the Congress or the Wisconsin legislature.

No one protects the consumer.

While the offensive sports networks tangle with the defensive cable providers, the yardage in dispute is your and my wallets.

It is given that we will pay and pay dearly.

The only question is how will they divide the spoils.

John Helyar nails it at ESPN.com:

...Bills have been tossed recently into a number of states' legislative hoppers which would require arbitration when networks like BTN and NFL are at loggerheads with cable operators. They've been introduced in Ohio and Wisconsin and another may be introduced in Indiana. But it won't get far in the last if the legislator whose committee handles such matters has anything to say. Rep. David Crooks knows Hoosiers are frustrated and will only get more so, when they find out how many Indiana basketball games are on the BTN.

But, he argues, the state has no business getting involved with what goes on TV. He'd rather see the two sides stew in their own juices and let the marketplace sort things out.

"This is all about greed," Crooks says. "Who's the greediest?"

The solutions are simple:

• On the state level, a veto of the AT&T legislation designed to allow the cable companies to play without an opponent, since the public is relegated to the sidelines.
• At the national level, it is the end of bundling, the obnoxious practice that forces those of use who wish to get the Discovery and Animal Planet channels to also buy ESPN.

Never forget, the Ryan resolution is not about protecting your wallet, but how the monopolies will divide it.

Enjoy the game.

New York, Murder, DNA, Iraq, and Torture

Sunday's New York Times published a story, about Jeffrey Mark Deskovic, Vindicated by DNA, but a Lost Man on the Outside.  Deskovic was convicted of murder at the age of 17 and recently released at the age of 34 when DNA evidence demonstrated that another man committed the murder in 1989 of high school sophomore Angela Correa.

It appears that Deskovic became a prime suspect, when among other things, he attended her funeral and weeped profusely. In a critical CSI moment,* investigators made him a prime suspect since they were not close friends. Deskovic explained that he was picked on in school and she was one of a few students who was nice to him.

It was the Innocence Project that helped free the young man. What is most disturbing is that in this day and age of Miranda warnings, we still get CSI-type of pressure interrogations which resulted in so many coerced confessions:

• 205 men and one women have been exonerated through DNA testing since 1989.
• Of those exonerated, 53 were convicted of murder.
• And most disturbing, more than a quarter of all exonerated prisoners confessed to crimes they did not commit.

Deskovic, after a seven hour interrogation, confessed to hitting the victim with a Gatorade bottle, grabbing her by the throat, and numerous other details fed to him by law enforcement officials.

All of this was done without the benefit of water boarding and torture. Imagine how good the confessions are coming out of Iraq.

*Plots of Law & Order, CSI Feature Heroic Violations of 4th; 5th Amendments

Anyone who thinks that liberals or the left is in control of network television has a screw loose.  The writers of these shows cannot let an episode pass without coercing a confession or lying their way into an illegal search. 

No wonder only 10% of Americans understand their rights and roll over and play dead when nonsense like the Patriot Act comes up or Bush violates the law.

I enjoy these shows as much as the next person for their entertainment value. In the real world, they suck as a model for respecting our Constitution. Yes, all of these suspects could have been more forceful in asserting their rights, but what good does it do the rest of us when the wrong person is convicted, the case is closed and the real perpetrator is walking the streets?

Joel McNally on Crime: UW-M and Milwaukee

A week ago Joel McNally wrote a column, Location is everything in raising fear of crime which appeared in The Capital Times and in Milwaukee's Shepherd-Express as Panic in University Streets.

McNally's point is that a 'crime wave' is relative.  In an area with little crime, a bump up may be show a high percentage increase, but numerically is small.

But city residents need to be aware that random crime can occur anywhere and pay attention to what is going on around them...

...The UWM shooting actually occurred at a time when crime was down overall in the university area. Robberies were down 23 percent from the previous year, and burglaries were down 24 percent.

McNally is right, the problems around UWM pale in comparison to problems on the South Side and west of the river on the North Side.

He is also correct in noting that around UWM, "most complaints are about noise and litter caused by partying college students." I would go a step further and admonish the students, including my daughter, to keep it down. As in Madison, Milwaukee should not use valuable police resources to attend to campus carousing when there are neighborhoods who would benefit from more neighborhood-based community patrols.

And again I concur with Joel when he writes, "One particular target of complaints -- large groups of students roving from party to party -- may actually contribute to safety in the university neighborhood."  Going back to Jane Jacobs, and the Death and Life of Great American Cities, we know that clusters of people tend to drive away crime.

You can never have too many eyes and ears, unless it is a mob.

Where I part with McNally, and perhaps, it is more a matter of emphasis, is when he reviews the statistics around the UWM campus and concludes, after noting that assaults in the area were up 67% from 2006, "The truth is the biggest concern of residents living in the university neighborhood is not major crime."

Since the fall, I have had weekly, and sometimes daily reports from my daughter about kids in the area being assaulted. The descriptions of the details lead me to conclude that these are not the brawls associated with bar fights. My guess, like most sudden and quick rises in crime, this is the result of a handful of perpetrators. If a few culprits are apprehended, it will end as suddenly as it began. It may be the result of a gangbangers figuring that student are an easy target or some sort of gang initiation.

In any case, the assaults provide two reasons for concern, though they pale by comparison, to shootouts in other parts of the city. First the attacks are random. Secondly, it does not help UWM. Just as the school is reasserting itself as a significant economic force in Milwaukee, parents should not have second thoughts about the safety of their children.

Update 11:33am: A comment below notes, "That UWM is spending half a million dollars more than it already does on campus security. Not enough to merit mention? The argument is that it needs to spend more? Or what?"

Sorry I was too subtle. As a parent I appreciate the additional expenditure on campus security. As a parent and a citizen, I do not believe it is a good or permanent solution. The 'or what' that is needed is to address the larger issue of crime in Milwaukee that is so prevalent in other neighborhoods.

Wisconsin State Journal: "Cable Bill May Not be Boon to Consumers." Capital Times: "So What Else Is New?"

Last Sunday's Wisconsin State Journal ran a p.1 story on the "video competition" bill with the headline "Cable Bill May Not Be Boon To Consumers."

"I wouldn 't be holding my breath to see another wired competitor in Madison in less than two years, " said Barry Orton, a UW-Madison telecommunications professor and an opponent of the bill.

AT&T now offers its U-verse television services in parts of Racine and Milwaukee. But if the company decides to offer service in Madison or elsewhere, it won 't make a big announcement, AT&T spokesman Jeff Bentoff said. Rather, it will contact consumers individually through direct mail and door-to-door visits.

"When it 's available, we 'll let them know, " Bentoff said.

That approach suggests a desire to select the neighborhoods in which to offer service, Orton said, unlike typical cable agreements with local governments that require broad-based service.

"That 's what this bill is fundamentally about -- the ability to cherry-pick neighborhoods, " Orton said.

As to the headline, Vikki Kratz wrote in Isthmus, referring to the fact that the bill already passed both chambers of the legislature:

Now they tell us.

The Capital Times, on the other hand, has been all over this story both from the news and editorial sides.  Dave Zweifel reacted to the story Friday:

On Sunday the State Journal ran a front page story that suggested the new "cable reform" legislation might not save consumers money after all.

So what else is new?

The story confirmed what opponents of the legislation had been repeatedly saying as loudly as they could for months and months while AT&T and others filled campaign coffers in the state Legislature.

It's what we said in numerous editorials leading up to the final vote in the state Senate earlier this month and what several in-depth reports by our reporter Judith Davidoff revealed several weeks ago. Not only is this new law unlikely to save cable TV customers any money, it severely weakens the consumer safeguards that have been in place in Wisconsin since cable TV arrived on the scene.

- Barry Orton

 

 

Rooting for the Packers: A First

I am not a Packer fan. At least not until this week.

I grew up on Chicago's South Side so I was a Cardinal fan. The Chicago Cardinals of Ollie Matson. I lost interest in football after they moved to St. Louis.

In the fall of 1962 I came to Madison to attend the University of Wisconsin. That very first week I sat in the dormitory lounge and endured the Packer season opener against the Chicago Bears. In the opening minutes I took a lot of grief, since I came from Chicago. Before the end of the first quarter I was a Bear fan.

The timing was extraordinary.  The Bears beat the Packers in Green Bay and later that season soundly defeated them again in Chicago. I remember one Bear kickoff in that game that went over the end zone and hit the Wrigley outfield wall on the fly.  The Bears went on to defeat the New York Giants in the NFL Championship game.

After that it was pretty much downhill. The Packers went on to numerous championships and Super Bowls, and the Bears did little until they won the Super Bowl in 1985.

All along the way I rooted against the Packers in every game they played, expect for championships.  Loyalty to the league came first.

Last week after the Packers defeated the Carolina Panthers I decided to support the Packers and cheer them on for the rest of the year.

In a word, "Favre."

Given his history, his injuries, his age, he is nothing short of amazing. He plays at a level that inspires. Yes, that is hackneyed, but he deserves the accolades.

When the Packers faced  Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, it was the first time I ever supported them in a regular season game.

Things will return to normal on Sunday, December 23rd, when the Packers travel to Chicago.  But for the remainder of the season I will back the Pack.

Ouch.

A Wisconsin Locovore's Thanksgiving Turkey

For the second year in a row, our turkey is a locally-grown heritage bird, a "trendy"  Bourbon Red, from Jordandal Farm in Argyle, butchered Monday. I know Jordandal's Eric and Carrie Johnson pretty well from their participation in Madison's Westside Community Market - I serve on the Market's board.  Their meats are worshipped by Madison's locovore foodies, who sometimes turn them into the blogosphere's version of food porn.

Today, Eric and Carrie are the lead story in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Truly Homegrown Meal." There is even video of Eric, Carrie, and their turkeys, cattle, sheep and beautiful farm.

The Johnsons start their turkey flock from scratch each year with day-old chicks purchased from a hatchery. The flock includes both common broad-breasted white turkeys and trendy Bourbon Red heritage turkeys, which are descendants of America's original domestic turkeys.

The chicks stay in a brooder house under heat lamps for three to four weeks until they grow feathers. Then they're let out to pasture to roam and forage for grass and insects, a diet supplemented by grain.

The birds have shelter from rain and wind, but the Bourbon Reds, which can fly, mostly use the shelter roof for nighttime roosting. "They could fly away if they wanted to," Carrie said of the heritage birds. "But they have food and water here, so they don't."

All 42 Bourbon Reds were spoken for more than a month before Thanksgiving, though they weren't processed and delivered to customers until two days ago. The couple also raised and sold 84 free-range, broad-breasted white turkeys, which cannot fly because they are bred to be top-heavy with larger breasts to provide more white meat.

...Unfortunately, all the Bourbon Reds were sold at market, so the Johnsons were left with a common broad-breasted white turkey for their own Thanksgiving dinner. They have yet to enjoy one of their heritage turkeys for the holiday.

Whether you're eating a heritage bird, a common broad-breasted white, a regular industrial-grade chemically-enhanced job complete with pop-up thermometer, one of those tofurkies, a Turduken, or Paul's choice, happy Thanksgiving from the Waxing America editorial staff. 

- Barry Orton