(on Big Media's Fear of File Sharing) I Say ...

Hollywood and Network TV shouldn't be afraid of people sharing their shows for free over P2P networks ... they need to be afraid that none will want to.

Long Live IPTV

R.I.P Sam (1991 - 2005) ...

"Most people don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"

-- Thomas Hesse (Sony BMG)
President Global Digital Business

Prediction Theater ...

War in Iraq won't be the issue [for Democrats] during the next Presidential election (and if, by that Fall, Cheney is still Veep ... Hillary will win -- with less than 37% of the popular vote)

regardless, our next President will almost certainly be a woman

Gridgame ( beat 1549 !! )

(on Influence of BigMoney in Politics) I Say...

To be a candidate for office, you must have a web page -and- contributions must be posted on that site within 72 hours of receipt. Any failure to report a contribution results in an immediate requirement to return the money (even if the reporting irregularity comes to light long after and regardless of the outcome of the election)

Also, lift all campaign limits. In a world of full and immediate disclosure, I would bet candidates don't want the publicity associated with the types of Special Interests and Mr. Moneybags making the largest contributions.

(on Absentee Voting by Mail) I Say...

Force anyone who wants to vote (other than at the appointed time and place) to get a free Notary-Authenticated Digital Certificate -and- adopt an open platform for voting with said certificates from anywhere. People need to take control of their identities again. I grew up believing that I was never to give out my Social Security Number to anyone for any reason. What happened to that? Some people print it on their checks for gods' sake.

I say: re-instill that sense of individual responsibility in our citizens -- and update our election system at the same time.

Mortified, he is.

A Libertarian President (in 2048)

I consider myself a fairly hardcore free market laissez-faire libertarian (there's a mouthful !) Even voted for Harry Browne in 2000, (and soon discovered what a mistake he would have been -- Did you happen to catch his public statements post-9/11? They seemed rather creepy and Xenophobic, if you ask me).

Less than 400,000 people voted Libertarian in 2000.
(that's zero-point-three-six percent of the popular vote)

Over the course of next generation is there even a chance that we'd see some great charismatic professed Libertarian leader with the kahones to actually try to convince this country to stop being such damned dependent victims? I don't think so -- not even a hint.

The Republican party had been a signficant home for the libertarian-minded, but their Patriot Act and "War on Terrah" have highlighted a faction of Civil Libertarians (who would seem to have more of an affinity with Democrats) ... making Nolan's chart come true:

So ... I've decided to focus less on getting idealistic Libertarians elected for the time being. I would rather find and support those working from a libertarian point of view within the ranks of either majority party.

What I'm wondering is: If this approach caught on, would it represent the dawning of "party-free" era in our politics? Here's the idea:

Sow these Libertarian seeds now, then maybe some candidate in 2048 will be in perfect position to assemble a more balanced Libertarian-minded majority from the tattered remains of our current two party system.