On Terrorism – Part 2: How to Eliminate Terrorism Without Eliminating Liberty

We fight our so-called War on Terror as if we had only one ambition in our entire existence: to destroy terrorism at all costs. In reality, we have many goals, such as economic growth, personal and cultural development and many others, including maintenance, and expansion, of our civil liberties. So the real question is how do we stamp out terrorism without stamping out freedom?

On Terrorism – Part 1: What’s It Good For?

This will be a 2 part series. In part 1 I will look at terrorism from the point of view of the terrorist. I will ask ‘what’s terrorism good for?’ In Part 2 I will look at terrorism from the point of view of society. I will ask ‘how do we end terrorism without ending liberty and privacy, using what we learned in part 1?’

PART 1

Now that all the blathering about the failed bombing in Times Square has cooled down, I would like to ask a practical question: ‘what is terrorism good for?’

In Response to ‘NYT: Do we need a new Internet? 19Feb09’

I saw an article in this gentleman’s blog that made the case for a new internet where users give up their privacy in the name of security,perhaps, by creating a mandatory Internet Driver’s License. I will make the case against this: It would be ethically wrong, expensive, and ineffective.  I propose a better way.

On the Record? An Open Letter to President Obama

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing an open letter to you today, to ask you to renew your focus on those things that inspired the nation to elect you.

On Internet Privacy and Security: What Are Best Practices for Concerned Citizens?

Internet privacy and security are your responsibility. If you do not take sound privacy precautions, you may reveal more of your personal preferences, habits, etc than you wish, and you may find you are haunted by the ghosts of your internet usage in the offline world. If you do not take sound security precautions, you will expose your computer, and your files to being erased, locked out of, or taken over and used for illegal purposes, which you may be held responsible for depending on the laws of your country.

Presently, the threats to your internet privacy and security include the following in order of severity: various governments, organized criminals, marketers and websites who you do not want to collect your information and/or are careless with your information. Commercial tools, such as antivirus and firewalls, do not begin to protect you from all these threats.

You will be able to greatly increase your protection from all threats by following my recommendations. This paper makes the case for internet privacy, and internet security. It then lays out a procedure, in plain language, containing the practical methods that you, as a private citizen, can take to maintain maximum privacy and security online.

On Global Warming: What Is Practical?

My goal is to propose a solution to global warming that creates the greatest good for the most without in anyway undermining individual freedoms. I propose a solution that is neither of the left nor the right, but instead that cherry-picks good ideas from across the spectrum of thought, and that would make everyone better off. I propose a reasonable balance of environmental effectiveness and cost effectiveness, that we can proudly pass on to our children and their children.