End the War on Freedom

I use the Winsock Proxy Client to enable FTP, SMTP, and POP communications from my PC through our corporate firewall. Opera also works better through the proxy client than it does configured to use the proxy server directly. I use my machine from home as well, connecting via a modem, so I need the proxy client enabled at work and disabled at home. The control panel that turns this feature on and off says "You must restart Windows for changes to take affect". So I've gotten in the habit of switching state when I turn the machine off. Some nights I don't use the machine at home, however, or I forget to switch, so I end up booting twice when I get into the office in the morning. This is a pain. On my 450Mhz laptop, Windows 2000 takes a very long time to boot. So last night I did a Google search and discovered a page that claimed that the reboot is unnecessary. Sure enough, restarting the programs that do network communications is sufficient. No more reboots!

Camille Paglia at Salon - Crying wolf: Camille recommends that the democrats stop declaring every little thing that happens an emergency. She rants at Hitlary a little. Liberal arts education is on the wane. Camille thinks it's because of the waxing of political correctness on campus. She's been enjoying the reruns of "Miami Vice". Lifetime's profile of Gloria Steinem gets a big thumbs down.

Whether Ashcroft is simply an old-fashioned, Bible-toting Christian or a bloodless, puritanical inquisitor (like Roger Chillingworth in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter") remains to be seen, but I think that for most Americans trying to conduct their daily lives, Democratic activists have cried wolf once too often. The saturation point has long been reached for hysterical, rote charges about racism, sexism and homophobia -- particularly when they issue from a party that professes populist ideals but has just elected the detestable, money-grubbing Terry McAuliffe, a Clinton henchman, as head of the Democratic National Committee.

While looking at the site statistics for billstclair.com, I found 8 referers from a discussion at roadragers.com. I posted the following:

I'm the webmaster of billstclair.com. I've been collecting stories about Linda Hamilton since I went to protest in her favor in front of the North Adams court house last April. I found this discussion via "referrer" links to my Linda Hamilton page:

http://www.billstclair.com/LindaHamilton/index.html

I've talked with Linda about her experience. By her account, she was sincerely afraid for her life when the trucker three times nearly rammed her. She told me that she got her gun out, in its holster, and held it on the steering wheel. She did this so that she would have it with her when she pulled off to call the police, just in case the trucker followed her. I haven't met the trucker, so I can offer no first person account of his side of the story.

From what I've read, brandishing a firearm is often enough to avoid a violent confrontation. The attacker often backs off at the sight of a gun. Apparently, that's what happenned in this case. The trucker saw the gun, and he backed off.

I can't imagine how you manufacture an assault charge out of this case. Even if that had been her intention, which I don't believe it was, I can't imagine Linda firing through the back window of her truck through the trucker's window 8 or 10 feet up, all while driving at 30mph. He was in no danger from her.

From the other stories I've read and heard, the state of Massachusetts is not friendly to gun owners. You either place yourself at the mercy of the crooks, or at the mercy of the cops & courts. As the saying goes, "better to be judged by twelve than carried by six".

Darrel Mulloy at Sierra Times - Want Your Country Back? Here's A Start; Action Speaks Much Louder Than Words: A good idea for taking back the country. Elect a sheriff who cares about liberty, responsibility, and community. A sheriff who will keep the feds out of his county. This is the promise of the sagebrush rebellion. [sierra]

Probably the most important person you can elect in your local government is your county sheriff. Unknown to most who are serving as sheriffs in their respective counties, they have authority over any other law enforcement agency in the country, within their county. The Tenth U.S. District Court has declared that no law enforcement agency may do business within a county without first getting clearance from the sheriff of that county (2:96-cv-099-J). They still do, but only because we have sheriffs that either are ignorant of that ruling, or just don't care. There are a few, and too damn few, sheriffs that do have knowledge of that ruling and who do care, and in their counties there are no illegal intrusions by federal forces.

To make the changes that we know have to be made, we must first elect to office those that understand this important ruling, and are willing to and have enough backbone to enforce the law in their counties. Dave Mattis in Bighorn County Wyoming was instrumental in getting this ruling passed, and in his county, he is the law, over all other law. Richard Mack in Arizona, also knows his role and duty under this ruling. In Colorado, we have a Libertarian sheriff in San Miguel County Bill Masters, that, while he may not be aware of that ruling, enforces the law there as if he was. Sheriff Masters says that if he had his way the slogan on the side of each police car in America would be "Liberty, Responsibility, and Community".

Bill Masters at LibertyBill.net - Telling the Truth about Drug Prohibition: wonderful!

Let people put whatever they want into their bodies. But demand that any aberrant conduct that hurts or endangers others be judged harshly.

Paul Craig Roberts at TownHall.com - Bring Back Justice: Plea-bargaining has destroyed justice in America. And how! [lew]

It used to be that if an investigation turned up no evidence, charges would be dropped. Today, prosecutors feel compelled to justify the expenditure of funds on the investigation. Instead of dismissing charges, statutes are stretched beyond their meaning in order to create crimes where no criminal intent was present.

...

In the United States today, punishment has been separated from guilt and is the likely fate of anyone, innocent or guilty, who has the misfortune to encounter the criminal justice system. This is the real problem. It is a problem that received no attention in the Ashcroft hearings.

Linton Weeks at The Washington Post - Pat Schroeder's New Chapter : She's going up against libraries' idea that they can loan out books for free. Book publishers want pay-per-view, and she's helping them get it. [/.]

Charley Reese at The Orlando Sentinel - Hold on to your right to speak freely: a very sane discussion of why Americans should avoid argumentum ad hominem and shun those who engage in it.

In truth there is no reason why any topic, however contentious, cannot be discussed in a civil manner, except for the malice of certain groups. Whenever people reveal themselves to be uninterested in discussion, they should be shunned by civilized people. They are following the totalitarian model in which one's opponents are not bested in arguments but shouted down, intimidated and, in the end, coerced into silence.

James W. Harris at Advocates for Self Government - Shocking Truth about California's Electricity Disaster: good commentary and links on the true cause of California's electricity problems.

The electricity disaster in California is emerging as a significant threat to the ideas of deregulation, privatization and free markets.

Opponents of free markets are citing it as an example of the failure of deregulation. They're saying is proves the need for government control of utilities.

California consumers are angry, and nationwide people are understandably leery of utility deregulation as they hear it being blamed for the West Coast mess.

Yet the truth is, it's not "deregulation" or competition that's to blame. California never deregulated its electricity industry! This crisis was caused by government meddling -- and it will only be solved by TRUE deregulation and competition.

Sun Microsystems - How to .COM, Reality Check, An Open Response to Microsoft: Sun gives a light-hearted response to Microsoft's FUD about Sun's software strategy in the light of .NET. Dave Winer characterized this as "Sun and Microsoft sittin in a tree. A-R-G-U-I-N-G." [/.]

Sometimes, life's little ironies are just too funny for words. Consider an e-mail sent to reporters by Chuck Humble of Waggener-Edstrom, the long-time public relations agency for Microsoft. In his missive, Chuck (in a not so humble fashion) crows about Microsoft's .NET (perhaps it should be .NOT?) strategy for delivering "Web services" over the Internet, and lobs what he's hoping are 15 tough questions for Sun to answer about our software strategy.

We think Chuck has a dilemma. You see, he thinks the race just started and is feeling good because Microsoft sees Sun in his rear view mirror. Poor Chuck. He doesn't understand that Microsoft is about to be lapped.

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