The United States is experiencing the most serious direct assault on the freedom of speech since McCarthyism:

• Broadcasters are capitulating to frivolous lawsuits meant to tame their coverage.
• Law firms are being punished for helping blacklisted clients.
• Lawful residents are being arrested for writing Op Eds.
• Science is being censored.
• US Senators are being brutalized for asking questions at press conferences.
• Press access is being restricted to fake, sycophantic outlets.
• The government is trying to control what universities can teach

My daughter will have to live in this country after I am gone. I want her to have what I had. A life where I was free to pursue the truth without fear of persecution or professional consequence. And if she does not have that, I want her to know that I worked for it.

I have not felt much need to subject the internet to my thoughts before. Despite the crisis in local journalism there has never been so much readily available high quality information. You just have to wade through a mountain of bullshit to find it. There are enumerable bloggers, journalists and thinkers that will have more profound insights and write about those insights better than I could.

This blog is mostly about holding myself accountable. I see people in our society suffering professional consequences for speech and I worry if those consequences came for me I might blink. Having my thoughts so publicly available removes that option.

I firmly believe that writing without special – if not unique – perspective is a waste of everyone’s time. While I do not care if anyone reads any of this, I will focus on areas in which I feel I have some uncommon insight. These areas include the intersection of technology and politics, software development, local Los Angeles/California politics and homelessness.