Let Freedom Ping

"As a working (and consuming) class hero, Ralph is right up there with Karl Marx, Rosa Luxemburg and César Chavez. No other individual has had more influence on the biggest industry in the United States--automobiles--than Ralph Nader. The man has single-mouthedly saved thousands of lives. We owe him. So why can't I listen to him? Because he has already won and doesn't know it."

Doc Searls has a fascinating essay from late 2000 in which he argues that the rise of the Free Software movement coincides with the restoration of a decentralized craft-based industrial model to the modern economy.  As a result, the control of large centralized corporations over workers and consumers is eroding.  Written at the height of the high tech bubble, this essay is fascinating but unduly optimistic.  Ultimately, Ralph Nader is more in tune with the true nature of today's economy than Doc Searls.

Google It!

Ignorance at high levels

Official cautions Canada about pot policy change - If Canadians knew how addictive marijuana is, they might think twice about legalizing it, U.S. drug Czar John Walters said Thursday during a media blitz of metro Detroit.

'We have paid dearly for knowledge about the problem of marijuana use and addiction,' Walters said while stumping for President George W. Bush's drug-fighting efforts. 'Please learn from our example.'

(From the Detroit Free Press)

[The LitiGator]

What makes us think the Canadians are less informed than we are?  We wonder why the world regards us as arrogant, and then our public officials come out with statements like this.  No wonder no one takes the "drug czar" seriously.