Impeachment Resolution Gets One-sided Hearing

Legislature 2007

By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter

OLYMPIA — Dozens of speakers told state lawmakers Thursday that the Washington Legislature needs to do what Congress won't — push for impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Witnesses at a state Senate committee hearing called Bush and Cheney war criminals, decried the "Bush junta" and warned of American dictatorships to come.

"The people have come here today to say to our state Legislature: 'You have the opportunity and you have the duty to do the right thing,' " Democratic activist Susan Harmon said.

The hearing was on two measures: one by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, that asks Congress to block the troop increase in Iraq, and another by Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, that calls for Congress to investigate and consider impeachment.

No one spoke against the impeachment proposal.

Republicans boycotted the hearing of the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee. Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, issued a statement calling the hearing and an earlier impeachment rally "partisan, political displays."

Impeachment and Iraq resolutions


Senate Joint Memorial 8016: Calls on Congress to investigate and consider impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Senate Joint Memorial 8003: Calls on Congress to block the U.S. troop increase in Iraq.

Democrats here and in Washington, D.C. — including state Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee — also have criticized the move.

Murray and Inslee had urged Senate leaders to drop the impeachment proposal, calling it a diversion for Democrats that could cause bitter political divides in the nation's capital.

The hearing provided a seamless blend of accusations of illegal activity by Bush and Cheney and of political cowardice by congressional Democrats. It all was met with near silence by Senate committee members. There was no cross-examination and not even a polite question of a witness.

The only lawmaker who spoke at length was Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, a co-sponsor of the impeachment measure. He defended congressional Democrats.

"Restraint sometimes is not just a political calculation, but a real reflection of the national interest," he said. "We are interested in governing a country and a state."

At the rally and at the hearing, speakers congratulated Oemig for taking on the administration and applauded Washington for being one of a few states considering similar measures.

Committee Chairwoman Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, said there was zero chance the impeachment measure would get a vote by the full Senate.

Oemig said he will try to get a vote before the Legislature adjourns April 22.

Fairley is a co-sponsor of Oemig's proposal and said she was glad people were given a chance to have their say. They did it calmly and followed Fairley's admonition that no clapping or hissing would be allowed.

About 50 people packed the committee room. An additional 230 or so spilled into other rooms where they watched on TV.

Oemig said his bill was not "directly about impeachment" but about a serious investigation of Bush and Cheney. But most speakers were clear that they saw it as a direct call for impeachment.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, a rising voice in the anti-war movement, was invited to Olympia by Oemig to testify. He said there's never been "such a compelling case for impeachment."

Many speakers said congressional Democrats are too timid in their approach to Bush.

"Even if it was true, which it's not, that starting impeachment hearings would disturb the agenda that Democrats have, so what? This is more important," said Elaine Phelps, of Shoreline.

Activist journalist Geov Parrish said that "inaction in this case is a form of action." If there is no impeachment, he said, it would set Bush's action as precedent and possibly lead to a "legal dictatorship in the United States of America."

Joe Colgan, whose son Benjamin was killed in Iraq in 2003, testified for the resolution opposing the troop increase.

"I have come to the conclusion that our troops were abused and have been abused and are being abused," Colgan said.

"It was hard to come to this conclusion because then you have to ask yourself, when you lose a son, what did he die for? I really believe my son died as a hero," he said. "But as far as protecting our country or our freedom, not at all."

David Postman: 360-236-8267 or dpostman@seattletimes.com

Bush and Iran; Deja-War All Over Again?

Craig Unger reports in Vanity Fair magazine that "The same neocon
ideologues behind the Iraq war have been using the same tactic --
alliances with shady exiles, dubious intelligence on WMD -- to push
for the bombing of Iran. As President Bush ups the pressure on
Tehran, is he planning to double his Middle East bet? ... Whatever
the administration's master plan may be, parts of it are already
under way. ... According to Sam Gardiner, by the end of February
the United States will have enough forces in place to mount an
assault on Iran. That, in the words of former national-security
adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, would be 'an act of political folly' so
severe that 'the era of American preponderance could come to a
premature end'."

SOURCE: Vanity Fair magazine, March, 2007

Drug Ads Make Researchers Sick

A new study "funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and
published in the Jan. 29 Annals of Family Medicine, claims the $4.5
billion" direct-to-consumer drug ad (DTC) industry "produces ads
that are more emotional than informational, and may be convincing
Americans that they're sicker than they really are," reports
Advertising Age. Lead author Dominick Frosch said, "DTC ads send the
message that you need drugs" for problems "that many people used to
manage without prescription drugs." Former Food and Drug
Administration Commissioner Dr. David Kessler warned that
advertising drugs "based on their emotional appeal is something that
has great risks." The study found that 95 percent of DTC ads made
"emotional appeals," 78 percent "implied that use of the medication
would result in social approval," and only 25 percent included
information about illness prevalence. The Association of National
Advertisers and the Coalition for Healthcare Communications, an
industry group, expressed reservations about the study.

SOURCE: Advertising Age, January 31, 2007

Guerilla Marketing Gone Bad In Boston

urner Broadcasting apologized "for a marketing campaign that
sparked Boston's biggest security scare since the September 11,
2001, attacks -- closing bridges, shutting major roads and putting
hundreds of police on alert." The "outdoor marketing campaign"
promoting an Adult Swim cartoon "had been in place for two to three
weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle,
Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia." Boston police
feared that the magnetic lightboards of cartoon characters might be
bombs. According to PR Week, Turner Broadcasting has "hired outside
PR and legal counsel" to recover from its "marketing stunt gone
bad." Turner "declined to name the agency" it hired for PR
assistance, and said it had not yet decided whether to continue to
work with Interference, the agency that developed the lightboard
campaign. Associated Press reports that Turner has "agreed to pay
$2 million" to local Boston and Massachusetts state agencies.

SOURCE: Reuters, January 31, 2007

Deny Climate Change, Make a Cool $10,000

"Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each" by the
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) think tank, "to undermine a
major climate change report" from the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). AEI wants
"articles that emphasize the shortcomings" of the IPCC report, which
"is widely regarded as the most comprehensive review yet of climate
change science." AEI "has received more than $1.6m from ExxonMobil,"
reports Ian Sample, "and more than 20 of its staff have worked as
consultants to the Bush administration. Lee Raymond, a former head
of ExxonMobil, is the vice-chairman of AEI's board of trustees." AEI
visiting scholar Kenneth Green sent the offer "to scientists in
Britain, the US and elsewhere," in a letter describing the IPCC as
"resistant to reasonable criticism and dissent." On February 5, the
Fraser Institute, "another Exxon-funded organization based in
Canada," launched "a review in London which casts doubt on the IPCC
report." The review is co-authored by Tad Murty and the event was
attended by Nigel Lawson and David Bellamy.

SOURCE: The Guardian (UK), February 2, 2007

My New Client is Perverse -"Be Aware"

DS-MAX
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

DS-Max ("Direct Sales to the Maximum"), or more precisely D S Max USA Inc [1] and its affiliates, is a direct sales company that originally specialized in selling discount/overstock/damaged merchandise directly to the public, and later expanded to include sales of discount coupons, telecommunications contracts like AT&T, credit card processing services and other sales packages on behalf of more service based industries.
Contents

* 1 Company beginnings
* 2 Division of DS-MAX, 2003
* 3 Offices and Distributors
* 4 Affiliated companies
* 5 Complaints about DS-Max companies
* 6 External Links

Company beginnings

Started in Toronto, Ontario ,Canada in the late 1970's by Murray Reinhardt who began selling goods directly to the public, it later expanded to become an extremely large organization, with thousands of affiliated offices and a presence in numerous countries. Murray Reinhardt recruited fellow Canadians Larry Tenebaum and Avie Roth to join the organization at the very genesis of what would become DS-Max worldwide. These three men are known as "The Big Three" in DS-Max folklore. Today, Larry Tenebaum is the most powerful man in the DS-Max network. He oversees all operations over every division. Mr. Tenebaum is also the CEO of ThreeSixty Sourcing which sources Asian based product suppliers. Avie Roth oversees all of Cydcor. Murray Reinhardt is retired from the business but does occasionally show up at DS-Max conventions to deliver high spirited motivational speeches.

As of October 2006, with provisions to allow corporate letterhead, signage, corporate name to change, etc., the Innovage Parties being Innovage Inc.(U.S.A.), DS-MAX Canada Inc., and DS-MAX International Inc. shall and do transfer to Nu-Life Inc., of Toronto, Ontario Canada, all of their rights, title and interests anywhere in the world in any trade mark, trade name, corporate name or domain name which includes the term DS-MAX.

Division of DS-MAX, 2003

In 2003 DS-Max divided into three main braches. The products division (Clearance) became Innovage.The advertising division became Granton Marketing, which has just recently been renamed Smart Circle International. The communication division became Cydcor. These three divisions are still under the DS-Max / Innovage umbrella but this connection is not promoted and even avoided if possible when discussing the structure of the business with new distributors.

Offices and Distributors

DS-Max claims to have more than 15,000 offices around the world and more than 2.2 million independent distributors. The company also boasts a presence in more than 40 countries and a net worth of 75 Billion US Dollars. However, because the company is privately held and represents a loose confederation of independent offices there is no reliable way to verify these estimates.

The name DS-Max is often used to refer to the whole distribution system that includes DS-Max USA Inc., its affiliated suppliers and independent offices. Each affiliated sales office is an independent and incorporated business. This legal separation between the DS-Max supplying organizations and each individual office insulates DS-Max from any legal or financial liability should something happen within an individual office. Because all sales offices are independently owned and operated each individual distributor and manager/owner reaps the rewards of and is both financially and legally responsible for his own business. The majority of all distributors work as independent contractors and thus are not paid a salary, receive no health benefits and are responsible for paying their own taxes.

The DS-Max system runs similarly to network marketing businesses but with several key differences:

1) Sales representatives (distributors) generally work full-time (often six days, 60 hours or more a week), relying on their sales for their primary source of income, rather than a slow transition from part-time to full-time.

2) The individual owner assumes the cost and advertises for new distributors and finds a mentor for them, rather than the distributor absorbing the cost of recruiting.

3) Distributors receive the products on consignment rather than paying for them up front and there is no fee for becoming a distributor.

The business only grows when new distributors are added. While DS-Max as a whole has grown quite large through the years the vast majority of distributors and managers have not achieved the high level of success that was promoted to them during the initial recruitment process. In the 20 plus years of operation the DS-Max business model has generated some tremendous success for a small group of Vice-Presidents, or as they are referred to now, National Consultants, but the question of how many have found success in DS-Max compared to the number who have attempted to achieve success can only be answered by analyzing accurate and detailed records of these organizations and their affiliates. This type of public financial disclosure is almost impossible to obtain because each individual office is privately owned and thus they are not required to disclose this information.

All participants begin as canvassing salespeople (door to door, both residential and commercial) and must work to build their organizations by adding more sales people to achieve higher sales goals.

Affiliated companies

Affiliated companies include Grupo B&F, IPG Imports,The Cobra Group and Happy Valet Dry cleaners among others. Innovage and Smart Circle International are participating members in the Direct Selling Association and as such are bound by the organization's code of ethics. However, the fact that each sales office is an independent incorporation and is only legally bound to the parent company through distribution contracts, makes the implementation of these strict guidelines on ethical conduct difficult to enforce.

Complaints about DS-Max companies

One of the most common complaints about DS-Max affiliated companies is in their recruiting and advertising practices. Often the position is advertised as an "entry level management position", and claims to operate in any number of glamorous, competitive, high profile, industries ranging from pro sports and entertainment to 4 star restaurants and world travel, when in reality the position is that of a door-to-door salesperson who peddles pizza coupons, discount baseball tickets, 5 dollar umbrellas, designer knock-off hand bags, and travel alarm clocks, none of which the applicant will actually discover until they are out "in the field" with a distributor on their "second interview."

A common interviewing formula used by the independent sales offices consists of:

1. A very short first round interview conducted in the office of the manager. Typically in this interview the manager will briefly outline the structure of the business to the potential new distributor. A typical DS-Max manager will interview anywhere from 10 to 30 people a day so this first interview is usually short on detail and any prolonged question and answer sessions are avoided if possible.

2. A full day "second interview" in the sales field where the potential distributor shadows a current distributor while they attempt to sell their products or services door-to-door. This full day interview is an attempt to show the potential distributor how a typical day in the field works. This full day interview, like the first interview is purposefully vague on details and most questions are not answered fully or more difficult questions get passed on to the manager/owner to handle during the final interview. This is known within DS-MAX circles as the "Day of Observation" or the "Day of O".

3. A "final interview" takes place in the manager's office when the potential distributor returns after a full day in the field. If the applicant has any problems or objections, the manager may attempt to overturn them. If the potential distributor needs some clarification in order to understand the "big picture" of this business opportunity the manager will attempt to explain the business beyond just selling products door-to-door. The goal of every manager is to encourage the interviewee to start full time the very next day.

"Defend the Press" -Support Reporter Sarah Olson, Subpoenaed in Court Martial of Ehren Watada

By John Stauber
Created 01/24/2007 - 07:40

Contact: www.DefendThePress.org [1]
Scott Goodstein, Defend The Press, (202) 256-8320
Sarah Olson, Free Press Working Group, (415) 298-5573
John Stauber, Center for Media and Democracy [2], (608) 260-9713
Email: Editor AT PRWatch.org

(Madison, WI) The Center for Media and Democracy [3] announces the launch of Defend The Press [4], a new coalition of journalists, public interest groups, academics and citizen activists. Defend The Press is asking the US Army to drop its subpoena of Sarah Olson [5], an independent print and radio journalist based in Oakland, California, in the court martial of Iraq war resister Lieutenant Ehren Watada [6]. Olson interviewed Watada in May 2006, and in June he announced he would not go to war in Iraq [7], challenging its legality. Watada's Army court martial begins February 5, 2007, at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Sarah Olson has been served with a subpoena from the President of the United States requiring her to be a prosecution witness against Lieutenant Watada. The subpoena states "failure to appear may result in your being taken into custody and brought before the court martial." Olson risks felony charges, jail and a fine if she fails to cooperate.

Sarah Olson recently wrote in an editorial column, "I stand firmly by a conviction I share with many: a member of the press should never be placed in the position of aiding a government prosecution of political speech. This goes against the grain of even the most basic understanding of the First Amendment’s free press guarantees and the expectation of a democracy that relies on a free flow of information and perspectives without fear of censure or retribution."

Defend The Press believes journalists should not be forced to participate in government prosecutions — especially prosecutions seeking to criminalize political speech. Defend The Press supports Sarah Olson and journalists like her; independent journalists especially need stronger protection of their rights in the age of the Internet.

Among the dozens of noted journalists and authors participating in Defend The Press are Noam Chomsky, Phil Donahue, Daniel Ellsberg, Barbara Ehrenreich, Diane Farsetta, Laura Flanders, Robert McChesney, Greg Palast, Sheldon Rampton and Howard Zinn.

Defend The Press was founded by the non-profit Center for Media and Democracy [8] of Madison, Wisconsin, and by Free Press Working Group [9] of Oakland, California, in the belief that the press cannot function if it is used by the government to prosecute political speech. Turning reporters into the investigative arm of the government subverts press freedoms, and chills dissenting speech in the United States.

Source URL:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5668

Links:
[1] http://www.DefendThePress.org
[2] http://www.prwatch.org
[3] http://www.prwatch.org
[4] http://www.defendthepress.org
[5] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sarah_Olson
[6] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ehren_Watada
[7] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=war_in_Iraq
[8] http://www.prwatch.org
[9] http://www.freepresswg.org