DDD51

Dirt Diggers Digest No. 51

April 15, 2004

Editor: Philip Mattera

1. New coalition formed to oppose rise in government secrecy

2. Conference to address restrictions on infrastructure data

3. Keeping track of war profiteers

4. WSJ highlights Form 4 for info on executive stock options

5. Oxfam America issues report and launches campaign on farm labor

6. New tool for campaign contribution research


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1. New coalition formed to oppose rise in government secrecy


OpenTheGovernment.org is the name of a new coalition (and its

website) that is dedicated to fighting the expansion of government

secrecy at all levels of government in the United States. The

coalition--which bring together groups from the worlds of journalism,

organized labor, the environmental movement and others interested

in open government--has issued a report listing what it calls the "Ten

Most Wanted" documents, which include things such as data on gifts

from lobbyists to Senators and their staffs. (The report can be found at:

http://openthegovernment.org/filemanager/download/13/TenMostWanted.pdf)


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2. Conference to address restrictions on infrastructure data


Continuing on the issue of secrecy: OMB Watch, the Center for Public

Integrity, the American Library Association and other groups are

sponsoring a conference at American University in Washington, DC

next month on the growing restrictions that have been imposed on

infrastructure-related information since 9/11. These restrictions,

purportedly adopted to thwart terrorists, have begun to affect the ability

of independent researchers to analyze environmental and safety issues

relating to facilities such as nuclear power plants. For more information

on the conference, which will take place May 14-16, go to:

http://www.american.edu/radiowave/CII/CII_conferencehome.htm


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3. Keeping track of war profiteers


The role of military contractors in Iraq continues to be a major scandal

of the Bush Administration. Valuable information on these contractors

can be found on the new War Profiteers website launched by CorpWatch

at http://www.warprofiteers.com. Among the features of the site are

detailed profiles of companies such as Halliburton, Lockheed Martin,

Boeing and Raytheon.


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4. WSJ highlights Form 4 for info on executive stock options


An article in today's Wall Street Journal (April 15, p.C3) discusses

the importance of not relying solely on annual proxy statements in

doing executive compensation research. The article notes that, as

a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, executives now have to report

options grants within two business days on SEC Form 4 (which is

now among the forms available on the EDGAR system). Thanks to

Tyson Slocum for recommending this item.


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5. Oxfam America issues report and launches campaign on farm labor


Oxfam America has issued a new report called LIKE MACHINES IN THE

FIELDS that documents the ways in which changes in the fresh produce

industry are deteriorating working conditions for farmworkers in the United

States. The report looks at issues such as the effect of concentration on

supply-chain dynamics and the consequent impact on growers and the

workers they employ. (The sections on the fresh tomato and pickling

cucumber sectors were based on research done by Dirt Diggers editor

Phil Mattera and his colleague Mafruza Khan.) The report can be found at

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/art7011.html. For information on

Oxfam's One Penny for Workers Rights campaign on behalf of farmworkers,

see http://ga0.org/campaign/ciw/is55gdr9jwm5m3.


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6. New tool for campaign contribution research


A new website called Fundrace 2004 <www.fundrace.org> doesn't

provide any campaign contribution information that isn't already

available from other sources, but it makes it easy to search for

donors to the current presidential campaign by street address or

zip code. You can also search for contributions by your neighbors.

Unlike sites such as OpenSecrets, the individual donor entries

display full addresses, so Fundrace might also be used to find home

addresses for individuals with unlisted phone numbers.


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Philip Mattera

Research Director & Director of the Corporate Research Project

Good Jobs First

pmattera@goodjobsfirst.org

www.corp-research.org