There are lots of jobs you could land. Receptionist might be one, or janitor, or psychic. Psychic???

     Yep, that's right. One of the employers using the program is The Psychic Network. What if you're not psychic? I mean, you didn't even know about this job till you read about it.

     They'll train you. Training to be a psychic? Yes again. The training includes how to read tarot cards among other things.

     When this story broke, New York City officials, no doubt aware of the Mayor's desire to run for the Senate, peered into the future, and decided to remove Psychic Network from the program. That's probably because they saw us all here in the future laughing. That is, all of us except the New York City taxpayers whose money paid for the program.

     And here's another neat tidbit or two. The starting salary for these quick-train, no previous experience necessary psychics is $10 plus bonuses. The bonuses come from generating long calls. See they pay $10 per hour, but they charge about five bucks a minute -- $300 an hour. Think about that next time one of the commercials for this outfit flits across your screen.

     It doesn't take a psychic to figure out who's making money and who's getting taken on this one.

- Wally Block

February 21, 2000

To: Carol Smith Mequon, WI

Thank you for the Right to Privacy Week proclamation request. I appreciate the time you took to contact the Office of the Governor. Governor Thompson asked that I respond to you directly.

As Wisconsin's Chief Executive Officer, Governor Thompson exercises authority through proclamation of time periods that benefit the citizens of Wisconsin. In order to ensure the best interests of all Wisconsin citizens, the Office of the Governor adheres to the enclosed proclamation policies and guidelines [ed. note: nothing was enclosed].

Governor Thompson has appointed a Privacy Council to look into all issues of privacy throughout the state. The Council will be presenting their findings to the Governor at the completion of their tenure this spring. In light of that information, the Governor respectfully declines your proclamation request at this time.

Again, thank you for contacting the Office of the Governor.

Sincerely,

Debbie Hochkammer
Director of Constituent Services.

I'm in quest of resolutions.

Preferably some that are already written and need only for me to get their approval from the DPDC Executive Board.

Once passed by the Board, it takes two membership meetings to announce then pass the resolutions.

I think this is a very important first step to getting our voices heard.

The resolutions then get forwarded to State Legislators, the press and the public.

Now let's focus. Here are some off the top of my head:
 

I know our collective skills can tackle this. We can turn things around here and now.

Dennis Coyier
http://www.execpc.com/~dcoy/wfa/resosindex.html

     Too much religious power in a political system It's ironic that the people of Iran, with their recent parliamentary elections, are trying to find a way out of the dungeon of religious rule at the very same time that the Republican Party, in this primary season and in the grip of the religious right, has so clearly delineated its plan to march the American people, step by step, right into that very dungeon.

     The current regime ruling Iran has a lot in common with the apparent values of Republicans these days, with an official state religion, a religious test for office, school prayer, tax-funded religious institutions, censorship of art and mass media, no abortion, no gays, and state control over the sex lives of every citizen, all backed up by the death penalty.

     Sound familiar? Money is power, and once wealthy religious interests here get their hands on our tax dollars - through schemes such as school choice -- there will be no breaking them of the tax habit, especially since lack of accountability makes the deal so sweet. Their appetites will only grow.

     Republicans fund the churches, and the churches help the Republicans - and vice versa. It's feudalism.

     I hope the Iranians succeed in curbing religious power. We may need to study their example some day.

John O'Brien 
Milwaukee

     Thanks again to Gov. Tommy Thompson, the state budget's big loser is public education.

     Let's be clear that it was tourist industry fat-cats and Thompson campaign contributors who rekindled the Legislature- and citizen-rejected school start date law, not the majority of the state's parents and educators. This new state-imposed mandate strips from school districts the independence to tailor school calendars to suit local needs.

     Worse, the governor's graduation test scheme is far more than just another hidden Tommy-tax. It fans the lie that public education as it exists isn't working, shackles teachers and administrators to one-size-fits-all academic standards, will take a chunk out of school budgets to administer and evaluate, and stands to leave late bloomers out in the cold.

     Still worse, at a time of economic good fortune in the state, any reasonable person might think the least the Thompson budget crew could manage is fulfillment of its legal funding commitment to special education.

     Funding just 34% means the governor is happy socking it to schools to cover the balance.

     The question becomes, will public education still be around when Thompson isn't?

Dennis Coyier
AAW Member