Former CIA Chief: "President Should Be Able to Shut Down Internet"

Apropos to my recent post, former CIA Director Michael Hayden says President Obama should have the authority to shut down the Internet.

As is always the case, the government uses so-called "crises" and "emergencies" to create even more power for themselves.

This also shows how pathetically ignorant and self-absorbed these bureaucrats are. The Internet is not simply an appliance that has a power button - it is a system of networks with countless redundancies.

Or maybe they're just afraid that the people are waking up thanks in large part to the valuable information made available by the Internet.

Be A Skeptic For Everything

Despite its efforts to resuscitate, main stream media is dying. And thank goodness for that. Media used to be a means to counter the state's constant creep on freedom, but those days are long gone. Today's media serves as the useful idiots for the state, simply regurgitating official bureaucratic statements as "news" while seldom offering up legitimate critique.

So why am I optimistic? In a word: Internet.

Yesterday, the state could stifle and control the transmittal of information to the public very easily because of the very limited media inputs. The majority of all information bottlenecked through a small handful of newspapers and TV and radio networks.

Today, anyone with an internet connection has the means and ability to become an initiator of information flow. The members of the Old Media are painfully aware of this, hence the recent calls to bailout the newspaper industry.

This is again one of the tragedies of the state and its monopoly on the use of aggressive force. Those well-connected to the state need only to take advantage of that position and use it to strike at its competition, rather than innovate and provide a better product in the marketplace.

Solution: turn off your TV news stations. All of them. They are all complicit. I would say to stop buying newspapers but that has already happened. Recognize that when Old Media attempts to marginalize New Media, it's akin to makers of horse saddles attempting to disparage the automobile.

Be a skeptic FOR EVERYTHING.

Adam Carolla Sounds Off

Adam Carolla sounds off on several topics, including the legalization of drugs and lowering taxes. As a regular listener to Carolla's podcast, I have heard quite a few of his rants and he is by no means principled or consistent on every issue. But this is definitely a video worth watching, if for the the pure entertainment value alone.

Oh, and very NSFW (language).

Mosque at Ground Zero

There has been quite a bit of media hysteria surrounding the proposed building of a mosque at ground zero in New York. I haven't blogged in quite a while, and many of you have let me hear about it. What a fitting topic to which I make my return...

The conservative right wingers really annoy me. (That is not to say that the liberals have it right, either.) What really bothers me about the mosque at ground zero "debate" is that the so-called "constitution supporting" members of the conservative right have a perfect opportunity to put forth a consistent message instead of letting politics dictate their beliefs.

I had a conversation with someone over the weekend whose opinion I highly value and one I give a great deal of credit in starting me on my freedom-seeking journey. I asked if he would allow the mosque to be built if he were a city council member in NYC. He responded that he would need to find out all of the facts surrounding the situation and then make his decision.

I said that only one factual question is pertinent: who is the owner of the land?

Why do so many people get caught up in the minutia of this politically excited discussion, when it all boils down to property rights? Why don't the conservatives remain consistent in the supporting of property rights, especially in the context of their support of the constitution?

Could it be that conservatives have the same view of the constitution that liberals do, and that it is simply a trump card to pull out when necessary? If conservatives really wanted to remain consistent, they would support the right of a property owner to do what he wants on his land.