Is Cheap Broadband Un-American?

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Tim Karr:

We have Big Media to thank for saving Americans from themselves. Just as the notion of affordable broadband for all was beginning to take hold in towns and cities across the country, the patriots at Verizon, Qwest, Comcast, Bell South and SBC Communications have created legislation that will stop the ?red menace? of community internet before it invades our homes.
And to think that Americans might want to receive high-speed access at costs below the monopoly rates set by these few Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Slashdot discussion

AMT Snaring More Taxpayers

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Avrum Lank takes a look at the AMT – extensively discussed here:

“It’s just another example of smoke and mirrors,” said Paul S. Wickert, owner of Acc-U-Rite Tax & Financial Services Inc., a tax preparation firm on Milwaukee’s south side. “They show you a 20 percent rate with one hand while their other hand is in your back pocket” grabbing more. The AMT tax rate varies from 26% to 28% of earned income, while regular tax brackets go from 10% to 35%.

The impact is especially great for large, middle-class families in states with high income and property taxes, such as Wisconsin. The AMT disallows deductions for local taxes, and does not take into account all of the personal exemptions allowed under the regular tax law.

Running Out of Cheap Gas to Guzzle

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James Howard Kunstler:

A few weeks ago, the price of oil ratcheted above fifty-five dollars a barrel, which is about twenty dollars a barrel more than a year ago. The next day, the oil story was buried on page six of the New York Times business section. Apparently, the price of oil is not considered significant news, even when it goes up five bucks a barrel in the span of ten days. That same day, the stock market shot up more than a hundred points because, CNN said, government data showed no signs of inflation. Note to clueless nation: Call planet Earth.
Carl Jung, one of the fathers of psychology, famously remarked that “people cannot stand too much reality.” What you’re about to read may challenge your assumptions about the kind of world we live in, and especially the kind of world into which events are propelling us. We are in for a rough ride through uncharted territory.

The Walker Reopens

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Holland Cotter:

The Walker is one of the country’s liveliest and most personable museums. It has been collecting shrewdly and imaginatively for the better part of a century. Of the several hundred works from its permanent holdings that make up its reopening suite of seven inaugural shows, many are being shown for the first time, and very few strike me as expendable. And now there is room for more.

Election Lessons from the Mainstream Media…

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Stewart Rieckman:

Lesson No. 2 from Election ’05: Yes, whether I like it or not, chat rooms and community Web sites will be a factor in politics and may even set the agenda. But it will always be the mainstream press that will be the unbiased fact checker. [emphasis added]

We certainly have no shortage of fact checking examples from the mainstream media. My view is that the true fact checkers are an engaged public working in combination with writers, whether internet only or from the legacy media.

Tractor Pulling: John Oncken Takes a Local Look

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John Oncken:

A little background on tractor Pulls. They began with farmers gathering on Sundays to see who had the best tractor. Farmers took turns pulling a flat stoneboat or sled onto which men jumped as it was pulled down a dirt track. When the weight was too much and the tractor stopped, the distance was measured. Tractor pulls took off as a sport with the advent of the modern “sled,” which gradually adds downforce weight.

The Wileman brothers started a small tractor pull in Edgerton in 1995, Kraig says. “Kurt and I built the track and ran it for a few years.”

When the 140-cow dairy herd of Crazy Acres was sold in 1998, the Wileman brothers got serious about tractor pulling.

A year later the boys were competing in local and statewide events with the Badger State Tractor Pullers Association. Their big boost came when they began using better engines.

Common Cause: Doyles Hypocrisy on Campaign Finance Reform

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Jay Heck:

There is an enormous difference between Jim Doyle, the candidate for Governor in 2002, and Jim Doyle, the Governor. As a candidate, no one spoke more forcefully or more often about the need to restore integrity to Wisconsin’s state government through campaign finance reform. As governor, no one has put more distance between his campaign rhetoric and his actual performance on this issue.