Citizen.wired.net

Admission -- I'm basically a libertarian, with a small L. I don't support the entire Libertarian agenda, but I do believe a free and open market, while still flawed, is the best system yet devised for helping society progress. Just as I believe a representative democracy, though flawed, is the best governmental system ever devised.

I usually (not always) vote Republican because, when faced with the rather sad choice of the two major parties, the Republicans are more aligned with my economic and market ideals.

I have to say I am ashamed to have voted for this administration, and I believe history will record this as one of the darkest eras in American politics. Not since Joseph McCarthy have we seen our government so turn against its own people.

This administration has turned its war strategy inward and completely lost its way. It's disappointing, disgusting, and despicable. We have an excellent description of the suspect -- and it does not take a rocket scientist to know where we should be looking to find them.

Thankfully, not all 535 Congressmen are totally vapid (even though they voted almost unamimously for the egregious Patriot Act.) And there are even a few who aren't completely preoccupied crafting protectionist laws for their Hollywood buddies.

Some are showing the stones to stand up to the Ashcroft marionettes that appear to have taken over the White House. Is that a streak of light I see on the horizon?

TIPS gets axed. Good news. TIPS got the boot, thanks to Dick Armey.
"Mr. Armey believes there are other and better ways to involve citizens in the protection of the homeland," said Richard Diamond, the congressman's press secretary. "There are traditional ways of pitching in, helping out, like becoming a volunteer firefighter."
Link (Thanks, Tobias) [Boing Boing Blog]

Holy Sh#t! Guess Who's Tracking Your Downloads

12:44:53 AM

comment []

Gimme a C! Gimme an I! Gimme an ...

Ugh. I wish this was a surprise. But there's no conspiracy here. Really.

One thing I don't get about the EFF. Why don't they blow the trumpet on comScore? This company has tricked millions of people into "download accelerators" and other trojan horse software that tracks their traffic, credit card usage (it actually captures numbers), and more -- all in the name of so-called research. Most of the download accelerator software providers they use are front companies.
Hey, this is one of the worst violations of privacy I have ever seen and nobody knows about them. You know why they don't? Here is the address of the company:

Reston Office (headquarters):
11465 Sunset Hills Road, Suite 200
Reston, VA 20190
Telephone: 703-438-2000
Fax: 703-438-2051
Yahoo Driving Directions
If you don't get the implications of this, ask someone what government agency is based in Reston VA. BTW, comScore just bought Media Metrix and now own the online consumer data market. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] [Ye Olde Phart]