Let’s Abolish the Electoral College! (Salon story – sub req’d or sit through a quick ad). This is the the kind of stuff I wish we were spending our time examining and debating, instead of Torture: Hot or Not?
Guide to Bypassing Internet Censorship – this is an issue near and dear to my heart. In addition to being a free speech absolutist, I’m fanatical about transparency. That combination results in a deep interest in permitting unfettered communications via the Internet (I’ve even taken to running a Tor server). Check it out.
US: Switchboard to the World. Not unrelated to the previous post, Ryan Singal examines the infrastructure that routes so much of the world’s communications through the US (much to the pleasure of the NSA). (This is the subject of a project I’m working on, and hope to serialize here.)
Tom Friedman: The Clueless American? – For a couple of years, I shared a downtown parking garage with him, and often found myself standing next to him as we waited for our cars. This came well after the shine of The Lexus and the Olive Tree had worn off, but a bit before the full-blown ridiculousness of the past few years. So I never did bring myself to say anything to him. Now, though . . .
And with the usual disclaimer about DCist.com (a sad product, but the only game in town), and specific disclaimer about the actual author (he disturbs me in so many ways, his name not least among them), I present my favorite comment of the week, from Monkeyrotica:
Instead of giving DC back to MD, give it back to the Powhatan Tribe. That way, DC gets tax exempt status, casino gambling, and Sen. Brownback’s scalp.