This morning, we posted "In Assange Asylum, Ecuador Stands Against Neo-colonialist Policies" (authored with Roger Burbach) and I have received a broad range of seemingly contradictory reactions:



Thank you. Good article that touches on some important and current topics.

When as a young 23-year-old working with Witness for Peace in Nicaragua our photographer Paul Dix went through a bit of a midlife crisis because he was turning 50 years old. All I could think was that I sure hoped that I was as cool as Paul when I turned 50. Well, that time is here and I'm no where near as cool at Paul. Last week I ran into Paul at LASA where he was selling copies of his book Nicaragua: Surviving the legacy of U. S. Policy. He is now 76 years old, and all I can think is that I sure hope I'm as cool as Paul when I'm 76.

I haven't had many complaints about American Airlines lately, but that is just because I haven't traveled much lately. Unfortunately, I'm traveling to a conference next week. Last month when I attempted to book my flight on aa.com it gave me an error message that said to try again later--which I did, only to receive the same error message again. The third time I called AA to see what the problem was, only to find out that despite the error messages the first two tickets had already been issued--one as an electronic ticket and the second on paper. Coleen Ward told me I would have to wait for the paper ticket to arrive and then return it for a refund. Ten days later the ticket finally arrived, and I returned it as instructed. Now, almost a month later, I received a letter from "Customer Service Representative" Pat Reeves telling me that AA will not refund the ticket because it was a non-refundable ticket.

So, please explain to me again what's so great about capitalism? All I see happening is corporations running roughshod over people with the singular purpose of making a profit irregardless of its consequences to people. As I've said before, American Airlines is not particularly worse than any other airline company; I've just had more opportunity to be abused by them. The less I travel with American the fewer opportunities they have to screw me over. And I'm not traveling much lately--it looks like this might be the first year in about a decade that I lose my elite status. Oh well.

Coda (May 30, 2012): I received a request for feedback from AA on this flight, so of course I complained about this problem with the reservation system. This morning I received a call back from customer service concerning my complaint. The representative offered me 5000 AA miles as compensation. When I pointed out that if our roles were reversed that American would be charging me $150 and that I thought that is what they should pay me that amount, the representative unceremoniously hung up the phone on me. I guess we're not supposed to question corporate america's largess.

It's like they say--capitalism is a good idea in theory, but not so great in practice.

We signed up for phone service with ATT and it turned into what has been a typical interaction with Corporate America:

* When we signed up on the phone on the ATT website it gave us a choice of 6 numbers. We selected one and naively assumed that would be our number. It was only after we started giving out that number that we found out that ATT has assigned us a different number--and never let us know.
* They gave us a date by which service would be connected, but it was not connected until the next day.
* We signed up for a $14 rate, but when we got our bill we were charged $17 a month.
* The bill also had an unexplained "Mileage-Outside Base Rate Area" charge of $1.94.
* We were to receive 20 free local phone calls, but instead we are being charged for local calls by the minute.

So, we get thrown into an endless loop with ATT customer service personal who either do not care or are not able to address these questions, and end the call reading from a script: "We hope you are completely satisfied with the service you have received today," which just leaves us screaming: NO! Have you not been listening to what I have been saying??

Last week I finally talked to Account Specialist George who said that the rate had increased in July and the 25 free calls only applied in TX, that there was absolutely nothing that ATT could do to solve this problem, and he strongly recommended that I contact the Public Utilities Commission to solve the problem.

So, I filed a complaint with PUC, BBB, and the FCC. The PUC called me back and told me that they did not have regulatory control over ATT, and suggested that I call the ATT executive president instead and perhaps file a complaint with the Attorney General. It was the Better Business Bureau complaint, however, that elicited a call back from ATT. Deidre said that the base rate had been raised in July and that now they had corrected the website, read from a script to explain the "Mileage-Outside Base Rate Area" which really makes no sense, and told me that ATT does not keep track of the local calls for which I am being billed and that I would have to subpena them to gain access to that information.

Yet this morning the ATT website still features an AT&T Measured Rate Service for $14.00 a month including 20 outgoing local calls.

So, remind me how corporations that treat us this poorly and just randomly charge us whatever they feel like without having to explain or account for it make our lives better? Why are we giving these monsters huge tax giveaways when they are not being held responsible for their actions?

I saw my last Broom Street Theater play tonite. I have seen some of the best plays ever and some of the worst plays ever at Broom Street, but this was definitely one of the best. The Lamentable Tragedie of Scott Walker Governour of Wisconsin is the story of a conservative governor who uses immoral means to create an upward redistribution of wealth in order to benefit a few wealthy corporate backers at the cost of the rest of citizenry. But the story is not done, and it pains me deeply to have to leave before the work is complete. We remain optimistic that before the final curtain falls that Scott Walker will be recalled.

I'm leaving in a couple weeks and only now am I finding some buried treasures.

Early this morning I loaded the canine, breakfast and the newspaper into the car and drove out to the Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area. A short climb up an old road brought us to the top of an escarpment overlooking the Wisconsin River Valley. It was gorgeous on top of the cliffs, even if they did give me vertigo. I wonder how many more hidden areas remain for me to discover?

Steve Earle played tonite in Madison. I'm going to miss these overtly political expressions in favor of people and our rights.

The Revolution Starts Now

I was walkin’ down the street
In the town where I was born
I was movin’ to a beat
That I’d never felt before
So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written ‘cross the sky
The revolution starts now
Yeah, the revolution starts now

The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Where you work and where you play
Where you lay your money down
What you do and what you say
The revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now

Yeah the revolution starts now
In your own backyard
In your own hometown
So what you doin’ standin’ around?
Just follow your heart
The revolution starts now

Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered ‘round
They all brought what they could bring
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing
The revolution starts now

Located on the edge of a glacial moraine, Madison is surrounded with fabulous hiking opportunities. Six of my favorite hikes include:

1. The Table Bluff segment of the Ice Age Trail winds up to a very nice view from a high bluff. It's my favorite birthday hike. In season, berries and other fruit are available along the trail.

2. Indian Lake Park includes a dog run and a trail up to a chapel overlooking the lake.

3. The Wisconsin State Journal says that Devil’s Lake State Park would have no problem qualifying as a national park. My favorite part of the park is Parfrey's Glen State Natural Area, but it is currently closed until a new, permanent trail can be constructed. The best way to return to Madison from the park is on the Merrimac Ferry, enjoying a moose tracks ice cream cone while waiting for the ferry to arrive. Most people would rank this park #1, but it really is only my third favorite.

4. Governor Nelson State Park is not particularly unique, but it is close and it has Indian burial mounds.

5. Blue Mound State Park was the first state park we visited in Wisconsin. We sneaked in on the Military Ridge State Trail when they wanted to charge us non-resident rates because we didn't have Wisconsin license plates on the car yet.

6. Natural Bridge State Park features a natural sandstone arch.

In the continuing expressions of citizen democracy in Madison, we had a rally today against Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser who not only is a rightwing republican ideologue who thinks that republican governor Scott Walker's upward redistribution of wealth is a good idea, it also turns out that he also creates a hostile workplace environment for women. In terms of recent protests (that can range up to 150,000 people) this was on the small side, but still it was nice to have our voice heard.

And speaking of making our voices heard, after the Prosser protest I went into the Capitol for the solidarity singalong. We have now had over 100 of these daily events. Such sustained energy and political engagement is truly inspiring. It was quite nice once again to be able to enter the building without having to run a gamut of police (ranging from nasty state troopers to nice DNR officials).

The Wisconsin State Assembly debated today pushing through a bill to end collective bargaining, the same proposal that led to massive protests starting in February. In response, thousands of people yet once again descended on the capitol.

I've attended a couple protests since coming back from Ecuador--last Thursday at the Fluno Center where Gov Scott Walker and Rep Paul Ryan were talking to realtors, yesterday at the Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce that writes much of the Republican's most oppressive legislation.

But today was one of the largest that we've had in a while. It felt good to go back to the positive energy we had earlier in the year.

Two stories from today rather illustrate what these ongoing protests are like:


1. As I was taking pictures, a very Republican looking woman walked in front of my camera only to inform me that she was not sorry she had done so.

2. A solidarity sing along in the Capitol Rotunda included the song "Solidarity Forever" ending with a chant of "Thank you! Thank you!"

The evening rally ended with us surrounding the capitol, linking arms, and singing "We shall overcome." Pardon the militaristic expression, but while we lost 2 more battles today we will win this war.