Today Finland officially becomes first nation to make broadband a legal right

By Chad Catacchio Follow Chad Catacchio on twitter on July 1st, 2010

Starting today (July 1), every Finnish citizen now has a guaranteed legal right to a least a 1Mbps broadband connection, putting it on the same footing as other legal rights in the country such as healthcare and education.

As we reported last year, Finland was the first nation in the world to pass this type of legislation, followed by Spain in November.

The Finish government has promised guaranteed speeds of 100Mbps by 2015 for all of its citizens, and currently about 97% of Finns already have access to broadband connections."

Bad News Even the Center Cannot Hold

Mike Antonucci

www.eiaonline.com/intercepts/

Mickey Kaus points us to the latest report from the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, titled “National Teachers’ Unions and the Struggle Over School Reform.”

I thought about excerpting the stinging barbs from CCCR’s absolute flaying of NEA and AFT, but it’s really worth your time to read the entire 36-page report, then head over to this page for a list of the organization’s commissioners. Not a conservative right-wing bastard in the bunch.

The public perception battle is over, and the teachers’ unions have lost. But will it have any effect on Congress and state legislatures? The NRA, tobacco companies, PETA, the ACLU and Big Oil all have negative public images they can’t shed, yet they are still effective in getting their way. What if NEA and AFT stop caring what other people think?

Al Frankin WINS!

Tuesday afternoon, after a grueling recount process, former Sen. Norm Coleman finally conceded defeat and congratulated Al Franken on his Senate victory in Minnesota. Franken is a longtime union member and supporter of workers' rights. Sen. Franken is expected to take a seat on the powerful Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where he will play a key role in health care reform.