FREE SPEECH ZONE | MDH warns of deceptive sales of water treatment systems; Tactics use bogus tests, misrepresent agencies and standards

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The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is reminding Minnesota residents to beware of false claims, deceptive sales pitches, and scare tactics being used by some water treatment companies to sell expensive and unnecessary water treatment systems. High profile investigations of groundwater contamination in Washington County and elsewhere in the state have resulted in a noticeable increase in the number of complaints regarding such deceptive sales activities.We usually don’t publish press releases — but this one is a particularly timely public service on a slow news week.Recently Richfield police issued an alert after residents reported getting green bottles left on their doorstep with a request for a water sample. After providing a sample, a homeowner received a visit from a salesman with an aggressive sales pitch for a treatment system costing more than $6,000 and had difficulty getting the salesman to leave. Officials in Falcon Heights also alerted residents after complaints of water testing kits and personal information requests being left at people’s doors. The city directed residents to call 911 if they saw anyone dropping off testing kits. Several cities have complained about a website containing misleading information about municipal water suppliers and what tests are done on drinking water. The website has been used to try to sell treatment systems to homeowners.While the pitch varies in these situations, the salesperson nearly always:Recites a list of recent groundwater contamination problems across the state, regardless of whether the contamination actually affects the resident or not.Conducts a series of water quality “tests” that the salesperson claims indicate the presence of contamination, when in fact they may simply indicate the presence of naturally occurring minerals in the water.Misrepresents state and federal drinking water standards, claiming the resident’s water exceeds those standards, and implying the water is unsafe to drink.Offers a “one-time only” offer of a water treatment system at a “greatly reduced” price, when in fact the systems are being sold at grossly inflated prices.In some of the worst instances, the salesperson has implied or said that he is working with the city’s water utility or the state health department. In most cases, the systems are being sold for thousands of dollars more than they would cost if bought through a reputable water treatment company.Even legitimate water treatment systems can be very expensive and if poorly operated or maintained may have limited effectiveness and, in some cases, make the water quality worse. Water treatment systems should be installed only if actually needed and selected to address the specific water problem.If you use city water, it is safe to drink unless you are notified directly by the city that the water is not safe to drink. The United States Environmental Protection Agency sets standards for public water supplies and the water is tested regularly to ensure that these standards are met. You may find out the results of tests on a public water supply by contacting your water utility.Water from a private well should also be free of unsafe levels of man-made contaminants if the well is properly constructed, is drawing from a safe aquifer, and has not been flooded or otherwise compromised. Continue Reading

Clyde Bellecourt arrested while drinking coffee at IDS Crystal Court on Christmas Eve

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UPDATED 6:20 p.m., 12/25/2012 – Christmas Eve — a time of peace, a time of good will, a time to handcuff and carry off to jail a 75-year-old American Indian leader who came downtown to shop and have a cup of coffee? I wasn’t there, so I’ll refer you to the video (above) and to a blog post recounting the arrest:  A peaceful Flash Mob Round Dance, organized to bring attention to the Idle No More movement from Canada, ended today with the arrest of Clyde Bellecourt. The Flash Mob Round Dance lasted less than 20 minutes at the IDS Tower in downtown Minneapolis, MN. Bellecourt was uninvolved with the organizing of the event and was informed of the Round Dance only moments before it happened. Bellecourt arrived late to the event and stayed to watch the dancing.According to the post, police told Bellecourt to leave, and he told them he was not involved with the protest, but was just there to shop. The police insisted, he left, and then he returned to sit on a bench and have a cup of coffee. Continue Reading

What you need to know about chained CPI — a (relatively) simple story

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I admit it — when I read that the latest fiscal cliff debate was over chained versus unchained CPI, my first reaction was to hide my head under a pillow until it all goes away. I’m a policy wonk, but I don’t like economic esoterica, and I did not want to have to learn about a whole new concept in order to follow the budget debate.Let’s face it: I would probably be perfectly safe with the general assumption that anything the Republicans propose will take money from the middle class and the poor, so I’m agin it.On the other hand, that’s precisely the kind of simplistic, knee-jerk reaction that I fight against all the time in all kinds of arenas. So I sighed and set about unraveling the mysteries of chained CPI. Luckily for me — and for you — it’s not nearly as complicated as it sounds.First, there’s CPI — the Consumer Price Index, which measures the cost of living based on the price of a fixed basket of goods. (Think groceries, but also the cost of housing, health care, transportation, etc.) The CPI is used to determine the amount of cost-of-living increases for many things, including social security payments. Continue Reading

Photos, ethics and what we should be talking about

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Today, a lot of national attention focused on a front-page photograph of a man trapped in the path of an oncoming subway train. Was publishing that photograph good journalism, ethical journalism? Or does the question of the ethics of publishing the photograph miss a larger point?Stephen Mayes, one of the panelists on NPR’s Talk of the Nation noted that the debate over ethics seemed to keep journalists in the role of patriarchal gatekeepers, making judgments about what other people should or should not see. Moreover, Mayes pointed out, the single-minded focus on the photograph meant that, “the discussion becomes one about vilifying the Post rather than thinking of the issues that it raises — around public safety, mental health, things we should be talking about.”Mayes makes a good point — those are hugely important issues, and they were not part of the national discussion. In effect, the loud debate over the ethics of photojournalism meant that the “gatekeepers” effectively prevented discussion of other issues raised by the death of the man in the subway.Here’s another story: This week the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest Jewish movement in the United States, adopted a resolution publicly denouncing Israel’s decision to increase settlement activity. Continue Reading

Following the Minneapolis Public School debate

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Julie Landsman’s Follow the Money blog post about the Minneapolis school board election sparked heated debate in the comment section, and a counter-argument in a blog post from Chris Stewart, an education reform activist and former Minneapolis school board member. The passionate argument arises from the failure of Minnesota (and, specifically, Minneapolis) schools in educating children of color. I know and respect both Stewart and Landsman, and think that commenters also made important points. I’ve summarized the discussion below. I hope that more readers join in. Landsman’s primary point was her concern about “how Josh Reimnitz can move into a district weeks before filing and find $37,000 dollars in his pocket for a school board election,” compared to the more typical $5,000 that the losing candidate raised. It astounds me that Reimnitz’s money and outside corporate connections poses no problem for those who profess to care about the democratic process. Continue Reading

Bad news on graduation gap

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The Education Department released new high school graduation data November 26, and the news isn’t good. Overall, Minnesota doesn’t do well, with an overall 77 percent four-year graduate rate placing us in the lower 50 percent of all states. Even worse, Minnesota has the biggest graduation gap, with 35 percentage points separating the African American graduation rate of 49 percent from the white graduation rate of 84 percent.  Only Nevada has a lower African American graduation rate than Minnesota.That’s really depressing news. It’s also inconsistent with previous years’ reports on overall graduation rates. I’m not sure what that inconsistency means. Continue Reading

Vote in November, protest in February?

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Cornel West, a very smart man and vehement critic of politicians and governments said he would vote for Obama in November and protest his policies in February. I agree — and here are three issues that are at the top of my list.Reform the filibuster rules. Unless and until the rules are reformed, the minority Republicans in the Senate will still hold every bill hostage. Under the current rules, Republican majority controls the House and a Republican minority effectively controls the Senate.Filibuster rules affect every single piece of legislation that your administration tries to pass. As Ezra Klein writes:Today, the filibuster isn’t used to defend minority rights or ensure debate. Continue Reading

FINAL election returns: Reimnitz wins Minneapolis school board seat

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November 9, 2012: The final three Minneapolis precincts have been counted and reported, and the winner of the District 4 school board seat is Josh Reimnitz. The unofficial but complete count came in on Friday, after a hand count of three precincts where a defective border on the ballot prevented machines from counting the ballots. The tally was 12,241 for Josh Reimnitz and 11,512 for Patty Wycoff, as posted on the Secretary of State’s unofficial results page. According to the Secretary of State’s website, state and district vote totals reported on the site “are unofficial until the state canvassing board meets on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 . County results are unofficial until canvassed by the county. Municipal and school district results are unofficial on this site.” x x x x x x x xNovember 7, 2012: In the Minneapolis school board contest, while initial results on the Secretary of State website showed Teach For America alum Josh Reimnitz winning, that may not hold. Continue Reading