My point was that even before I knew the relatives in Miami were distant, the Miami relatives had already completely turned me off. They acted in a totally reprehensible matter. Not that Fidel is or was any better, but you expect better behavior from those who consider themselves superior to Fidel.

The only thing I will say is I started out agreeing with the Miami relatives at first, before I knew the whole story. However, also before I knew the whole story, they completely turned me off with their treatment of Elian. A loving family would have shielded him from those cameras, not paraded him. Later understanding of the facts brought me more in line with the rest of America.

Since you asked, I'd mostly like to ditto the Curmudgeon's opinions on Elian, in as much as you can call them opinions.

It may be noble for the administration to be concerned about this, but solving the wrong problem is no good.

Fighting racism online: Clinton and Gore's big promise looks like a digital diversion: Regarding the Digital Divide, "'People make it seem like it's a racial issue when it's not,' Ellison says of recent efforts by the Clinton administration to address gaps in computer technology access. Rather than concentrate on race, Ellison would like for more attention to be paid to the influence of income disparity on the digital divide. 'This is about economics,' he says.

So what do you get when you allow lawyers to develop technology? Write Once, Libel Anywhere.

In reality, there is a middle ground between the mindless hucksterism of the New Economy and the mindless Luddism of the old. However, occupying this middle ground requires becoming informed and staying up-to-date not only with technology but with the people who are pushing it. It also requires constant mental exertion. This kind of effort is never easy. Thomas Jefferson said, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." When it comes to watching for technological tyrants instead of merely ideological ones, these words still maintain their value.

My tagline for the site (which used to be displayed, and now is again) is "Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Freedom", a famous quote from Thomas Jefferson. I took it out because I couldn't quite articulate what I meant by that on this site, but Tom Nadeau took care of that for me in The Trouble With Technology....

The ultimate web app: Unloading Windows.

Insert standard "showing off Manila for [person]" blurb here. :-)