It was fascinating to note the different treatments accorded the story last week of the letter, sent out by the Seattle WTO Host Committee, essentially offering access to government officials at the conference in exchange for contributions to the Host Committee. Here's the headline in the corporate-friendly business section of the 4-8-99 Seattle Times: "WTO: Access not for sale." (Taken not as an assertion of committee members, note, but as fact.) And the story it was responding to, a headline in the apparently not- so-business-friendly Financial Times of London: "WTO host accused of selling top-level access." Funny how you have to go to a newspaper in London, England to find out about the corruption of local officials.

It's more than an accusation, of course; the scam could scarcely be more clear cut. There are six levels of giving: Bronze ($5,000-$10,000); Silver (10-25); Gold (25-75); Platinum (75-150); Diamond (150-250); and Emerald (above $250,000). At the Emerald level, corporate donors get, among other things, five guests at the opening and closing receptions; five guests at the ministerial dinner; "business conference participation" for four guests; "signage and display of corporate materials"; "logo and hot button on website"; and "press event and photo opportunity."

Since the ministerial reps to the conference, the folks that the host committee is selling access to, and many of the beneficiaries in the Host Committee are all government officials, how could this not be considered the most blatant form of shakedown? And politically charged, as well, since non-profit Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that will try to exercise some mitigating weight to the socially irresponsible corporate lovefest in Seattle were not sent the letter nor offered the access. Pat Davis, member of the host committee and herself an elected official as a Port Commissioner at the Port of Seattle, defended the offer in the Financial Times story and as much as admitted the corruption: "If you're going to give more than $200,000, you might want more than a cardboard mug out of it." The point, of course, is that the perks the Seattle WTO Host Committee is offering, in order to raise the $9.2 million it wants for the late-November spectacle, aren't its to offer. One would think this would be a major scandal in local media, not the subject of a single dismissive article in the business section of our local apologist daily.--Geov Parrish

An open invitation to the Seattle City Council members who squandered tax dollars on a 1998 Singapore junket to study repressive government in action: take a break from your power lunches on Fri. April 16, and hear Dr. Chee Soon Juan, Secretary of the Singapore Democratic Party and former Minister of the Singapore Parliament. He'll be talking about Free Speech and the Political Maturation of Singapore, 12:30-1:30 PM, Thomson Hall 317 at the University of Washington. Recently Dr. Chee Soon Juan spent two weeks in a Singapore jail for giving public talks without an entertainment permit as required by Singapore law. He has frequently challenged Singapore's free speech restrictions. Perhaps Mark Sidran will attend, to speak on Free Speech, Not In My Town! Dr. Chee Soon Juan's talk is sponsored by the Southeast Asia Center, at 206-543-9606. --Valerien Jean