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and I bet you the Taliban leadership is "rich" by Afghani standards.

Well, it doesn't hurt that the U.S. just gave them $43 million in the name of fighting the War on Drugs. Ah, the tangled web we weave.

This war on hacking is gonna be just like the war on drugs. Suspects have no rights. The law is supreme and those who represent the law have supreme power. Speak against them and you will be branded a deviant, a criminal sympathizer, and perhaps much worse.

The War on Drugs has resulted in a much more powerful police force and much weaker rights than we previously had. The government used the War on Drugs to justify civil forfeiture laws which allows local and federal agencies to confiscate your property merely upon suspiscion that it was used in a crime--and they never have to give it back even if you are proven innocent! Here's the real kicker: The agencies (local and/or federal) get to keep your property for their own use, or sell it. In states that restrict this kind of behavior, municipalities can team up with a federal agency such as the DEA or FBI to circumvent these restrictions so they still can get a slice of the pie. In almost all cases where the person is found to be innocent the property is still not returned.

The government obviously feels the need to police the Internet, and have expressed the need for more resources to do it. A War on Hacking modeled after the War on Drugs is the winning formula for them to accomplish this.

If you want to learn the history that we were not taught, but are likely doomed to repeat, check out:

"civil forfeiture" on Google
LibertyBoard.org

Smokedot.org - Smokedot links to a lot of great articles on War on Drug issues as well as other stuff. It's not just for stoners ya'know.

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Sick of joyless fanatics who claim, "since this is a technical forum, you damned idiot, not a pulpit for you to expound your personal political views" when it is clearly not, as the point has often been made that it is "News for Nerds, Stuff that matters?"

Would you like to look up from your monitor once in a while, and talk about issues in the wide world that are destroying your Liberty, without having to focus in on computers all the time?

Well, try Libertyboard.

Of course, since it's an open board, I can't promise you'll never see a joyless, unhappy poster trying to silence political views that he disagrees with. However, he would have to come up with a better excuse for his desire to silence opposing views than "it's a technical forum."

...for lifting that submission off my site verbatim without crediting the person who wrote the words (aka me).

Not the world's biggest deal, but it would have been a nice gesture...

So who thinks the government can run health care effectively? :P

I don't. Look at Britain's government-run healthcare system.

Libertarian.org is the best place to start for an introduction to libertarianism... which is not exactly the same thing as the 'technolibertarianism' the Ms. Borsook describes, as far as I can tell. Here is a a snippet from the opening page of libertarian.org:

WHAT IS LIBERTARIANISM?

Libertarians and their ideas are often misunderstood. Libertarian.Org is here to offer an overview of the libertarian philosophy and the libertarian movement. It is designed to be an introduction to the breadth and depth of libertarianism, for the long-time libertarian and the curious newcomer.

While libertarians are a diverse group of people with many philosophical starting points, they share a defining belief: that everyone should be free to do as they choose, so long as they don't infringe upon the equal freedom of others.

Human interaction should be peaceful, voluntary, and honest. It is never acceptable to use physical force to achieve your goals. The only time force is acceptable is when you are defending against force.

This might not seem very radical. After all, your parents probably taught you not to cheat, steal or pick fights -- in other words, not to use force against others. What sets libertarians apart is that they don't make any exceptions to this principle -- not even for governments.

In the libertarian view, governments should be held to the same standards of right and wrong as individuals. As a result, libertarians believe that governments should not interfere with the interactions and exchanges of peaceful people.

At this point, a few questions might come to mind. For example, why do libertarians believe so strongly in individual rights? What about other social values, such as equality and security? Or you may be wondering about the historical origins of the libertarian philosophy and movement -- where does libertarianism come from? Who are its leading thinkers? And how do libertarians apply their principles to contemporary public policy issues?

Libertarian.Org is here to help answer all those questions, so read on.

Some other good links:

Libertarian Party

Harry Browne for President

Liberzine

Counterprotest.net

Libertyboard.org

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