Minnesota 6th District: An End to the Michele Bachmann Legacy of Lunacy?

by Nomad

For seven years, Michele Bachmann has held Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District seat. In that time she has unintentionally amused and often horrified the rest of the country with her antics. Since her announcement that she would not be seeking re-election this year, the field is now wide open now for the state's most conservative district. 

What chances do Democrats candidates like Jim Read, have?  A glance at the Republicans in the race tells us that it all depends on whether Minnesota voters are looking for a change or just Bachmann's clone. 

Reading Jim Read

On January 24th, Jim Read, 55, from Avon, Minnesota, declared his candidacy for Michele Bachmann's district. The district, the most Republican-leaning of Minnesota’s congressional districts, is up for grabs ever since Bachmann announced she would not be seeking re-election. For years, under the Bachmann, the district has been under Republican Tea Party control. (Some might call it a form of witchcraft.)

Jim Read is, without much exaggeration, Bachmann's polar opposite.  With a solid middle-class background, Jim Read wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth. In high school, Read worked as bus boy and dishwasher and later on a paving crew for the National Park Service in summer. That work record is the kind of thing that appeals to Minnesotans. 

On the other hand, his educational background is nothing to snicker at (unlike Bachmann's Oral Roberts University degree.) He then went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago and then went on to earn a Ph. D. in political science from Harvard University.

Since that time, Read has taught political science at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University.
In addition to that, Read is the author of three books, including Doorstep Democracy: Face to Face Politics in the Heartland, an account of his door-to-door campaign for the Minnesota Legislature in 1992. 

The crux of that book reveals Read's idea that "conversations between citizens concerned about their communities can get us beyond the television ads, mass mailings, and sound bites to rejuvenate American democracy."

Professional campaign organizers might not agree. The verdict is out but it's a nice thought. Relying solely on the common sense and maturity of the voters of District 6 could be a risky proposition.  I mean, just look how they've voted in the past (an' stuff). 

On Anniversary of His Death, New Documentary on Life of Aaron Swartz Premieres

by Nomad

This month marked the first anniversary of the tragic death of Aaron Swartz, internet activist and programming pioneer. Swartz ended his life, facing a possible prison sentence for downloading millions of academic articles from servers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Buffalo Creek Flood of '72: Why Environmental Disasters are Nothing New In West Virginia

by Nomad

Next month marks the 42nd anniversary of one of West Virginia's worst man-made disaster, The Buffalo Creek Flood. We take a look back to learn what did and what did not happen and why it is important for the people of West Virginia in the aftermath of the recent chemical spill.

A Man-Made Disaster

On an early Saturday morning on February 26th, 1972, West Virginia was the scene of one of the worst man-made disasters in this country's history. Without warning, a retaining dam wall built by a local coal mining company to hold the immense coal-waste refuse pile gave way. The coal slurry rolled down from the nearby hill and thundered down into the long narrow Buffalo Creek Valley. 

The black wave of rainwater, black coal-waste water, and sludge from a coal washing operation- an estimated 130 million gallons of it- created a deadly a 20 to 30-foot tidal wave, catching the residents completely unaware. The tsunami traveled at a speed reaching 30 miles per hours and ended up devastating sixteen small communities. 

The slurry was deadly in another way too. Here is a list of the chemicals typically found in coal slurry and sludge. 

According to one source:

Chronic exposure to the metals found in coal slurry can damage virtually every part of the body. Health problems caused by these metals include intestinal lesions, neuropathy, kidney and liver failure, cancer, high blood pressure, brittle bones, miscarriages and birth defects among others. Studies of the effects of coal slurry on human cell tissues have found evidence that coal slurry causes cancerous proliferation, cell death and damage to kidney cells.

Of course, the victims had more to worry about than the long-term effects of exposure to toxic waste. Over 125 people died immediately, of those most were women and children unable to extract themselves from the sludge and debris. There were over 4000 survivors and in the end, 1000 of their homes and all of their possessions were destroyed.

Washington District Court Judge Landmark Ruling: You Are Not Your IP Address

by Nomad

A Washington judge's ruling in a copyright infringement case may have profound implications on the ability to prosecute cybercrime and to issue surveillance warrants by the NSA.

According to Judge Robert Lasnik, a United States federal judge, on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, evidence made up purely of IP addresses does not meet the legal requirements of pleading standards for pursuing the case against online pirates. He has ruled that IP address alone do not provide a sufficient means of identification.  

According one source:

The fact of the matter and the law is that it is almost impossible to associate piracy based on the IP address and the IP address alone. The actual culprit might have been a family member, guest, or even a hacker. At the very least, the subscriber with that IP address can be scolded for not safeguarding his or her home computer.

In other words, the evidence may show that a particular IP was used but that doesn't mean that the accused in the courtroom is the one who used that IP address. 

That's really not news. The big law firms who have made a fortune bounty hunting for large media giants, have been successful using this prosecutorial method for years. 

Courts have been not questioned it. But they are starting to wake up, it seems.

FATCA Repeal : Tax-Avoiding Super Wealthy with Secret Bank Accounts Find a Friend in GOP

by Nomad

Once again, the Republican Party has demonstrated which side it supports. Between the average taxpayer or the 1%, its call for a repeal of Obama's anti-tax haven law of 2009- before it has even had a chance to be put into effect- provides us with a clear answer.  

Some Facts on FATCA

Reuters is reporting that the Republican Party is expected to approve a resolution this week, calling for repeal of an Obama administration law that is designed to crack down on offshore tax dodging.

The law, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires foreign banks to find any American account holders and disclose their balances, receipts, and withdrawals to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or be subject to a 30-percent withholding tax on income from US financial assets held by the banks. Owners of these foreign-held assets must report them on US tax returns if they are worth more than $50,000.

It was always going to be controversial and not beloved by banks, libertarians and some Americans living abroad. Another example of Big Government overreach, they howled. Lobbyists have been successful at delaying the law in operation. Its effective date has been pushed back repeatedly, with enforcement now set to start on July 1. 

If the Republicans have their way- and there doesn't seem to be much chance they will- FATCA would never start at all.