Weighing in on "Net Neutrality" or...

... it takes a liberal to want to trade his freedoms for justice.

What a shabbily constructed piece. ABC must be awfully proud to have employed this guy. I know I promised not to write angry anymore, and I'm not. I'm not angry, just contemptuous of this guy's critical thinking skills (or rather, lack thereof.)

Silicon Insider: Go Net Neutrality
As Corporations Crack Down on Internet Speech, Net Neutrality Offers Freedom
Michael S. Malone

That does it: I am now a full-fledged convert to net neutrality.

Michael's fed up with it all. Done. Finito. It's over. Mike's not gonna take it anymore. He wasn't always so excersized about this issue. In fact, he used to be "sleepy":

It would be nice to be committed, one way or another, to all of the important issues we face, but frankly, with the proliferation of news sources from the daily paper, and a handful of TV stations, to thousands of Web sites, bloggers, cable news and satellite radio, I (and probably you, too) just don't have enough time, energy or passion to spread that far around.

Empathy fatigue has become a very real factor in our lives.

And that brings me to net neutrality. I know that, as someone who has made his career writing about technology, that I should have, long ago, taken a side in the debate over a free and open Internet. But the very thought of getting involved, like a lot of disputes over theory, rather than reality, just made me sleepy.

What, pray tell, caused Mike to awaken?

AT&T bleeped Eddie Vedder's political rant. [Hot Air had the video] Mike calls it...

Strike one.

Verizon turned down NARAL's 'short code' application. Mike calls it...

Strike two.

Comcast cracked down on file-sharing. [Which is news to me.] According to Mike that's...

Strike three.

[...] it is now patently obvious that the corporate world, and especially those firms assuming the role of common carriers, cannot be trusted with managing the Internet fairly and responsibly.

It is? Mike's solution? Take the power of individual choice away from me and you and cede it to the federal government. They have police and guns with which to enforce the rules, unlike those "irresponsible" corporations. Sheesh. Unfortunately, Mike, the feds are nothing more than the exact same flawed human beings as the evil corporations, but with police and guns with which to enforce their will!

Think about that for a hot second.

Personal liberty means that other people's actions may occasionally offend your sensibilities. It's hard being free. I hope I'm not the first person to tell you that, Mr. Malone.

(Via: LGF)

Related: Mike is the flip side to socialism's people who wish to rule. Some people also pine to be enslaved.

More by way of background: Net Neutral = Bad Idea

Multi-culti, patchwork-quilt model of America in ascension

It's come to this. We're actually begging the newly formed, Native Hawaiian government to respect our civil rights laws. I had lost track of this issue, and am now playing catch up. I'll update when I've read some more.

Good-bye, melting pot! We hardly knew ye.

UPDATE: Here's the text of House Resolution 505. I especially like the "apology resolution" clause. Let the groveling begin! Sheesh.

MORE: This is interesting:

"The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People opposes vouchers, saying they could lead to segregated public schools."

I wonder what the NAACP's position is regarding the Kamehameha Schools, the only school even worth a damn, according to parents I knew in the military while stationed in Hawaii. From the Wiki entry:

"The admissions policy of Kamehameha Schools has been a subject of controversy in recent years. Because there are far more applicants that claim Hawaiian ancestry than there are spaces available, the result is a student body where virtually all the students have some Hawaiian blood and where non-Hawaiians are effectively excluded. Non-Hawaiians can be and have been admitted to the school, although this is an extremely rare occurrence."

Two. Two non-natives admitted since 1965. Yeah, I'd call that an "extremely rare occurrence." Now to be clear, Kam is a private school system while the NAACP's objection to vouchers is clearly based on the fear that public schools may become effectively segregated. But what I heard from military parents serving in Hawaii is that because Kam is essentially closed to non-natives, and that the public school system is such a wreck, well... I have to ask...

Wouldn't vouchers allow more minority kids access to the best school on the island, as well as provide inducements for the state public school system to improve due to increased competition for public dollars? Seems to me a no-brainer.

Housing bubble explained?

The first plausible critique of policy I've yet read.

"The Dallas model, prominent in the South and Southwest, sees a growing population as a sign of urban health. Cities liberally permit housing construction to accommodate new residents. The Los Angeles model, common on the West Coast and in the Northeast Corridor, discourages growth by limiting new housing. Instead of inviting newcomers, this approach rewards longtime residents with big capital gains and the political clout to block projects they don’t like."

This and, as Rob Long recently wrote in National Review, the inevitable market correction that comes after a trend of foolish investments (subscription required):

"When the meltdown comes — and I’m not making any kind of bold prediction here; meltdowns always come — the investors are going to blame the lenders who are going to blame the real-estate brokers who are going to finger the appraisers — and a lot of people are going to go to jail."

... I think neatly accounts for our housing situation today. Regardless of the explanation though, the practical consequences are likely to be the same:

- If you own a house and want to sell, you'll likely have to wait or ask a lower price.

- If you're renting and want to buy a house, and you have substantial cash or excellent credit, prices will continue to favor your situation.

- If you have little or no cash, and your credit is bad, you'll likely have to rent for a few more months or years until you can remedy one or the other.

For any average Joe not involved in contributing to the current mess, none of this seems all that earth-shattering.

Damn you, Sir

Stop weakening my hatred for golf. I'm serious. Stop it. See this? This is my serious face.