21 Oct 2006
In a G.O.P. Stronghold, 3 Districts in Indiana Are Now Battlegrounds

Wow - we made the Times... and it will be an interesting election here, this year, mostly due to purely local issues. The Republicans have really stepped in it, and I expect large gains by their opponents.

Indiana, which has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, has become an unexpected battleground in this year’s Congressional elections.

(link) [NYT > Home Page]

11:47 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Patents on Tax Reduction Strategies a Problem

Well, if you can't copyright the law, I suppose the next logical thing to try nowadays is to patent it! This is just absurd ...

The International Herald Tribune has an article about how some lawyers are realising that patents on tax reduction strategies (a business method) might be a problem. The article states that there are already 50 such patents with more on the way, and at least one lawsuit. Particularly worrying is the idea of needing a license to follow the law. Fortunately, some of the laws get that this is a problem. Tax patents, the lawyers wrote, amount to 'government-issued barbed wire' to keep some taxpayers from getting equal treatment under the tax code.

(link) [Slashdot]

06:50 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Skinhead violence surging, watchdog group says

Ya know, I read a lot of news, and I've not noticed any "surge" in skinhead violence. So just to check this out further, I Googled the news for stories: 169 results, a tiny number. For comparison, the same search for "murder" yields over 70,000 hits.

I wonder which group made this claim? Who thinks skinheads are "surging"?

It's the Souther Poverty Law Center (SPLC), of course. Why am I not surprised? They must be running behind in their fundraising goals: which are apparently the only goals they have.

Violence by skinhead gangs in the United States is on the rise because of splits in the extreme right movement, a U.S. watchdog group said Friday.

(link) [CNN.com]

06:38 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link