"In the approximately fifty years between the beginning of European trading of African slaves and the European discovery of the Americas, native [African] traders would keep the cost of slaves high by castrating the males so a natural increase of their 'commodity' wouldn't destroy their trade. With expansion into the Western Hemisphere, the need for a large labor force ended the practice."

from 'European Beginnings in West Africa', by John W. Blake

At a secret hearing the day before the 2010 election, an investigator for the Milwaukee County district attorney testified that he had uncovered email evidence that Scott Walker, then-county executive, was likely aware of campaigning by his staff on county time using laptops and a wireless internet router. That very afternoon, Nov. 1, 2010, officers seized computer hard drives and other equipment from the suite of offices occupied by Walker and his staff. The next day, Walker was elected governor.

The 127-page transcript of the John Doe hearing was part of more than 28,000 pages of documents released by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Wednesday related to the now-closed secret investigation. That probe resulted in the convictions of six former aides, associates and one contributor to Walker's gubernatorial campaign.

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The documents show how Walker, his county staff and his campaign aides were in frequent communication on policy and political matters, and tie Walker to the use of a secret email system set up in his county office.

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According to prosecutors, there were at least 3,486 emails between Rindfleisch and members of Walker's 2010 gubernatorial campaign. Most were sent and received during normal business hours while Rindfleisch was at her $59,560-a-year county job.

Splitting off functions that were once managed internally has been a successful business strategy. Large companies maintain the quality of their brand without the cost of an expensive workforce. But this approach has led to stagnation in wages and benefits and a lower standard of living for workers. In THE FISSURED WORKPLACE, David Weil proposes solutions.

Wisconsin DNR lists 33 properties targeted for public land sale


The Department of Natural Resources made public on Tuesday a list of 33 properties totaling 2,552 acres it plans to sell this year to help satisfy a directive from the Legislature that the agency sell off a portion of public land holdings.

The properties in 23 counties range from a few acres to two parcels totaling nearly 500 acres each. The land can be purchased by private parties but also by counties and other public entities.

The agency posted the properties on its website, but they won't officially go on sale until after DNR managers conduct final evaluations, ask state tribes and other government agencies to review the land and obtain final approval from the Natural Resources Board in May.

As part of budget deliberations, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee last May directed the agency to offer 10,000 acres for sale by June 30, 2017. That amounts to less than 1% of the state's land holdings.

Like most people, I sometimes feel that we live in a world where the absurd and the cruel are not only accepted but barely remarked upon. At a time when, as a result of the recent banking catastrophe, people all over the world are suffering the longest squeeze on living standards since before the second world war, when record numbers rely on food banks to survive and cuts in spending on flood defences have exacerbated the pain caused by the wettest January in 250 years, the financial sector is handing out billions in bonuses as though the economic crisis never happened.

This year the total bonus pool since the 2008 crash will break through the £80bn barrier – around three and a half times the amount banks have paid in Corporation tax and the bank levy (pdf). That's about £1,250 for every man woman and child in the UK.

These figures are alarming. Not because I have anything against bankers – who I am sure on average are no more or less agreeable than actors or biochemists – but because of the injustice that lies behind them. Having been bailed out to the tune of several trillion dollars worldwide, the current situation where huge sums of money remain untaxed is bewildering. It seems to me a fundamental question of fairness that all elements of society should be equally responsible for the protection of hospitals and the less advantaged everywhere.

Fortunately there is a simple way to ensure this happens – a tiny tax on share, bond and derivative transactions carried out by banks and hedge funds known as a financial transaction tax or Robin Hood tax.