Speech Isn’t Power. Never Was, Never Will Be.
Jefferson enslaved hundreds and supported free speech to stabilize elite rule.
Read moreCategory Archives: Freedom/Privacy
The 5th of July Proclamation
We are neither bound nor guided…
Read moreThe only way to defeat Trump and his supporters
It’s about tribalism. You cannot work with Trumpists. Period. You must defeat them and then fix the problems that handed them control. It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into. – Jonathan Swift Since the moment of Campaign 2016 when it became clear that Donald Trump actually had a chance,
Read moreHB2 cost NC a lot more than $3.76B
The AP says the “bathroom bill” cost North Carolina $3.76 billion. The real damage is likely much, much higher. The AP yesterday released an analysis indicating that reaction to North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 – the “bathroom bill” – cost the state a staggering $3.76 billion in lost business, projected over 12 years. That’s a remarkable hit to economy, but as I
Read moreLyft's anti-Trump letter and ACLU support illustrate how American companies ought to behave
#deleteUBER: When we use them we directly support anti-competitive and unconstitutional behavior. Uber is a douchebag company run by douchebags. I first realized this when I learned of their willingness to play really, really dirty with competitors. Uber employees allegedly posed as customers ordered and then canceled rides from Lyft, decreasing Lyft drivers’ availability, wasting time and gas, and possibly sending real
Read moreThe LL Bean/Trump row: time for (another) free speech lesson
You have the right to speak. You have no right not to be disagreed with. Let’s start with a brief quiz. Bob says X. Fred says no, X is wrong. Has Fred: a) infringed Bob’s free speech rights, or b) engaged in free speech the way the Framers intended? Answer below, in case you don’t understand how freedom works. This isn’t
Read moreExamining a cynical, fake-patriotic Facebook meme
Instead of making yourself a tool for those whose agendas run counter to the best interests of the nation that flag represents, how about stepping back and asking who’s playing you, and why? This meme came across my Facebook feed earlier today. Obviously somebody has an issue with Colin Kaepernick (and other black athletes) protesting injustice in America by refusing
Read moreDonald Trump is a pig, and Megyn Kelly is neither a journalist nor a feminist
These things are not mutually exclusive. I want to show you two pictures – ones you may have seen recently – and ask you a simple question: what is being communicated? What are the subject, the photographer and the publisher saying to you?
Read moreSecurity vs privacy: RadioLab and the case for the surveillance state
We all love freedom and the Constitution. But is it really that simple? I’m a huge fan of a good debate. And by “debate” I don’t mean the sort of ginned-up scream-lie-and-spinfests we have come to associate with the term in the past few decades. No, I mean spirited, intelligent, thoughtful exchanges between parties with honest, good-faith disagreements. Lucky me, I tripped across
Read moreIt’s time we stopped worshipping our “founding fathers”
For our founding fathers, “people” was a euphemism” that meant “rich white men.” Sadly, the same is true for many of our current leaders.
Read moreAllen West defends Donald Sterling; sadly, he doesn’t even understand his own conservative ideology
FOX News contributor and former GOP Congressman rides to racist Clipper’s owner’s defense, ignorance in hand. If you’ve been paying attention for the past few years, the idea that Allen West is wrong about something is hardly news. His latest public opinion, though, is more than a little baffling because in this case he seems not to understand how conservativism
Read moreBrendan Eich case raises free speech issues for people who don’t understand how free speech works
No, Virginia. Intolerance of intolerance isn’t the same as intolerance of human beings. When it became public that recently appointed Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich had donated to the controversial anti-gay rights Prop 8 initiative in California back in 2008, things – as we used to say back home – blowed up. Rarebit yanked an app from the Mozilla marketplace and
Read moreEdward Lucas “Snowdenista” piece in the Wall Street Journal is the most dishonest thing you’ll read today
Snowden, Assange, Greenwald, and anyone else who believes that NSA spying on American citizens is wrong is a tool for Mother Russia. Makes sense. I just read Edward Lucas’s Wall Street Journal piece entitled “A Press Corps Full of Snowdenistas.” I can’t honestly say if Mr. Lucas is a liar, an idiot, or simply a guy who’s a little too
Read moreThe New Constitution: did I miss one?
I saw a Free Bradley Manning sticker on a car as I walked my dog this morning and it got me to thinking. Some months back I produced the New Constitution series, which set forth the principles upon a more just and workable American government might be based. The final “deliverable,” as we say in the business world, was 20
Read moreDear NSA: I need a little help with this Obama/Putin Nobel Peace Prize post
Dear NSA. You probably saw Russ’s piece yesterday on Vlad Putin being a possible for the Nobel Peace Prize. Yeah, I know, what a hoot, right? And you saw my comment on how they might as well give it to him because they jumped the shark when they gave it to Obama in 2009. Anyway, this got me to thinking
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lullaby pit 