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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"<FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3> Why in the
Age of the Internet, when anyone could have determined in an hour or two of
Internet research, that the claims of the Bush administration in 2002 that
Saddam had WMD that posed a credible and immediate threat to the national
security of the USA, and had ties to Al Qaeda, were very doubtful
propositions, did this not result in strong hesitation in the US Congress and
the US public, about invading Iraq?"</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm not sure why Mr. Moffett attaches such an
inordinately large amount of time to the necessary research. A quick look see at
The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, or Moooveon.org and you'd have had your head
straight in about twenty minutes tops!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>g</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=starbliss@gmail.com href="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com">Ted Moffett</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=godshatter@yahoo.com
href="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com">Paul Rumelhart</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, April 08, 2008 1:31
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Open source and
related concepts</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Paul Rumelhart wrote:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There is a site called metagovernment (<A
href="http://www.metagovernment.org">http://www.metagovernment.org</A>) which
is<BR>starting to ramp up that aims to garner community involvement in
every<BR>aspect of governing ourselves. I don't know a lot about it yet,
but I'm<BR>excited about the idea. From what I gather, you basically
band together<BR>into small communities based on geographical area (presumably
Moscow<BR>would be one such area), and you work as a group to write the laws
as<BR>you want them to be. There is a mechanism where the best ideas
float to<BR>the top, and there are forums where every aspect of the law is
hammered<BR>out. The idea is that these laws, and the discussions that
are involved<BR>in them, can be held up as a template for our legislatures to
use to<BR>create local laws. There is no real power there, all there is
is an<BR>example that in all likelihood will be a much "better" law than
that<BR>which our politicians would come up with, since it was developed
by<BR>those who would be most affected by and who are most knowledgeable
of<BR>the topics.<BR> </DIV>
<DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> When
this project gets off the ground, I'm going to follow it and see if<BR>it
works. My gut instinct tells me that it will. It's the same
reason<BR>that Firefox the browser is better than Internet Explorer (at
least in<BR>my opinion) - the community knows what they want and that drives
the<BR>design. A monolithic company, just like a monolithic
government, is<BR>limited - whereas a group of intelligent individuals with
like interests<BR>and whole ranges of expertise to draw on can be nigh
unstoppable. It's<BR>the difference between having to accept what
is shoved down your throat,<BR>and choosing to use what others have built
together for you to use as<BR>you see fit.<BR><BR>If this takes off, I'll be
hoping to get some of the people on this list<BR>involved in the
project. It is basically what Vision2020 purports to<BR>want to
be - a place where our vision of the future of our town can be<BR>expressed
in a positive way.<BR><BR>Any thoughts?<BR><BR>Paul</BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Your "gut instinct tells me that it will?" Wow! Your faith in
the ultimate goal of this effort is admirable. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But do you think this effort will stop fundamentalist religious
congregations from voting in lock step to control local or state government in
Idaho? Do you think they will join in, or oppose, this egalitarian
anarchist vision of law making? They use the Internet to promote their
version of dogmatism and thought control. Consider the Idaho Family
Values Alliance, well known for promoting Idaho's 2006 Super DOMA.
Moscow's support for domestic partner benefits is mentioned on their web
page:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.idahovaluesalliance.com/">http://www.idahovaluesalliance.com/</A></DIV>
<DIV>---------------------</DIV>
<DIV>I do have a thought, now that you asked, that relates to the often
heard claim that the Internet is a democratising egalitarian liberation
technology. Why in the Age of the Internet, when anyone could have
determined in an hour or two of Internet research, that the claims of the Bush
administration in 2002 that Saddam had WMD that posed a credible and
immediate threat to the national security of the USA, and had ties to Al
Qaeda, were very doubtful propositions, did this not result in strong
hesitation in the US Congress and the US public, about invading Iraq?
How were so many misled into believing these fabrications, exaggerations and
distortions about Iraq WMD, and Saddam's ties to Al Qaeda, when credible
sources on the Internet could have shed doubt on Bush's claims?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It seems that the Internet is only as useful as the critical and/or
investigative thinking skills of those using it; teaching critical independent
thinking is fundamental to the education of the citizenry in a democracy,
no computers or Internet required. How did the greatest thinkers in
human history achieve what they did without computers, after all? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Which is not to say that the Internet is not a wonderful tool; but it is
merely a tool, that can be used to control and mislead, as well as enlighten,
educate and liberate. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It is well known that porno is one of the dominant activities on the
Internet. Now there's egalitarian political liberation for you!
What a diversion from the responsible investigations that should have
concerned every citizen about Iraq WMDs and ties to Al Qaeda, during the
2002 run up to this disastrous and cruel war!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ted Moffett<BR> </DIV></DIV>
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