Our guest columnist represented New York’s 26th District until this afternoon.

Through the Internet, with a few keystrokes and the click of a button, a young person can call up information for a research project, make new friends or discover new hobbies.

At the same time, responding to what may seem like a friendly e-mail or an appealing marketing offer can have serious consequences. Private information and images can so easily be transmitted to friends and strangers alike.

Indeed, for as much promise as the Internet offers young people in the form of educational resources and social connections, there is great concern about the dangers and unknowns associated with a medium that is growing by several billion web pages per day.

Read more »

Allen West, whom we still can’t get excited about, issues a Dire Warning:

“You look out there, you see that AOL has purchased the Huffington Post. Now all of a sudden a very far left liberal blogger such as Arianna Huffington has a huge influence in the Internet world,” he said.

“We cannot allow ourselves to be suppressed. We cannot allow them to take over the Internet,” he said, as audience members nodded vigorously and started clapping.

Set aside the Abject Silliness of Arianna Stassinopoulos being a Far Left Liberal Blogger, as opposed to a Wily Spam Queen. Instead, consider the consequences of teabaggers turning AOL into the Ogre du Jour.

Read more »

At first glance, Fort Wayne’s former Renaissance Center doesn’t look like a candidate for the next installment of the Stinque Guide to Phallic Civic Landmarks. But then you learn the ex-Ren’s secret weapon:

Despite garnering far more support in an online poll than the thicket of other suggestions, residents shouldn’t expect Fort Wayne’s new government center to be named after the city’s longest tenured mayor.

Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy said naming 200 E. Berry St. the Harry Baals Government Center was “probably not” going to happen.

Yes. Baals. Harry Baals. Pronounced just like God intended, although his kids preferred the less-embarrassing “nutsack”.

Which explains why Harry Baals is enjoying a runaway lead of 2,771-312 in online voting against his closest competitor.

And really, Fort Wayne, there’s no escaping fate. The current runner-up? Johnson Memorial.

Harry Baals building unlikely [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, via Political Wire]

We’re going to run this long, because it’s even better that way:

Benjamin Wallace-Wells is a contributing writer for the magazine and a Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation. His last article for the magazine was about the legal scholar Cass Sunstein.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 6, 2011

An article on Jan. 16 about drilling for oil off the coast of Angola erroneously reported a story about cows falling from planes, as an example of risks in any engineering endeavor. No cows, smuggled or otherwise, ever fell from a plane into a Japanese fishing rig. The story is an urban legend, and versions of it have been reported in Scotland, Germany, Russia and other locations.

Anybody who Googles “Cass Sunstein AND falling cows”, we’re here to serve.

The Will to Drill [NYT, via TPM]

Image: Gomberg Kites

“In addition to executive producing and hosting a new nightly primetime news and commentary show, Keith Olbermann will also serve as the company’s Chief News Officer and will have an equity stake in Current Media. The new show will air weeknights in primetime beginning later in 2011.” [Current TV]

Literally.

The Master Race’s Graphic Masterpiece [Design Observer, via Kottke]

Organisationsbuch der NSDAP [Internet Archive/PDF, 23mb, starting p.563]

“The Democratic Leadership Council, the iconic centrist organization of the Clinton years, is out of money and could close its doors as soon as next week, a person familiar with the plans said Monday.” [Politico]