(If you aren’t familiar with the background of this story, here’s some background.)

First, of course, I wanted to be on the “inside” of the story and really see the play-by-play of what was happening.  I tried to go to the publicly announced planning center, a chat room on irc.anonops.net.  Unfortunately, this domain name had also been the target of the volley of attacks that was transpiring.  However, a nice gentlemen in the #wikileaks channel of irc.freenode.net directed me to the server by IP address: 88.198.224.117.  Do have a visit with your IRC client if you are interested.

Upon arrival, I was prompted to check out #operationpayback, the central meeting spot for these hacktivists.  Once in the channel, I was astounded at the pace of the conversation – about 5-7 comments EVERY SECOND.

Most were updates on the state of the LOIC (Low-Orbit Ion Cannon), the tool of choice for taking mastercard.com down from the Internet (LOIC is, or at least was, a fairly mainstream tool for testing server defenses).  The tone was absolutely jovial – mastercard.com was down, and the mainstream media regarded the events of this chatroom as headline-worthy.

Yet, I did not get a sense of constructive, radical civic duty.  In fact it seemed to me that the average age (judging by comment maturity and grammer) was probably about 14.

I do understand how a person of a different bent might derive a bit of glee from the spectacle of the denial of service attack being coordinated.  I, however, noticed a very different sentiment unfold in my gut:

Mere destruction of existing power structures, without contemporaneous (or, for that matter, preceding) construction of alternatives is unlikely to ever result in sustainable positive change.

May I suggest to all the people who are distressed about Amazon, Visa, Mastercard, and whomever else abandoning Wikileaks that their mission needs to be to build peaceful, sustainable alternatives to Amazon, Visa, and Mastercard?

May I further suggest that this is the only truly radical use of information technology?  Destruction has been possible (and in fact normative) since the beginning of time.  Only now, however, is parallel construction possible.

Stop the temper tantrum.  Stop the blame game.  Instead, just work toward an information age where the the quasi-censorship that has characterized the industrial age is mathematically precluded at the infrastructural level.  I suspect that thanks for this work will come not only from Wikileaks (and all those who are spiritually motivated by its basic premises) but in fact also from governments and corporations too.  Everybody has an interest in the tech infrastructure working more efficiently and smoothly, and this will naturally translate to lower costs and increased availability in disadvantaged communities.

Make no mistake: I’m not happy about the treatment wikileaks is getting. But is this really the best that we can come up with as a response? Have we really run out of civil, ethical, and constructive ways to deal with these kinds of issues? If so, doesn’t that make us as bad as “them?”

I urge the young, tech-savvy people who are concerned about technological freedom: shut down LOIC, start up Eclipse and Miro, and get to work – there’s plenty to be done.

I have emailed Mercy for Animals, the publisher of the video, asking for the names of people involved.

UPDATE:One of those featured in the video is Billy Joe Gregg Jr., who has been charged with 12 counts of animal cruelty. Each carries a measly maximum sentence of 90 days in jail. I can’t find a phone number for this scumbag, but if somebody does, please post it so we can be sure to let him know how we feel.

It’s not really a name worth remembering, as the person who is identified by that name is not worth the oxygen that he removes from the atmosphere during respiration.

Paul Schene is the criminal scumbag who beat the shit out of a 15-year old girl and dragged her around by her hair in Seattle (warning: shocking video). He also happens to be a police officer, suckling on the public teet to feed himself between abusive episodes. Oh, and he’s possibly also a murderer, as I discovered (and put the Huffington Post onto) a year ago today.

As far as I know, he hasn’t yet departed the mortal coil and departed for hell yet, so I’m wondering: does anybody know where he is now?

I just emailed Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, the media relations director for the Seattle PD:

Hello there – I’m a journalist from New York. I’m just wondering – what ever happened to Paul Schene? Is he still on administrative leave? If so, is it paid or unpaid? Has the case against him progressed at all?

I’ll let you know if he responds. Sgt. Whitcomb had this to say:

Hey Justin,

I work for the Seattle Police Department. Paul Schene formerly worked for the King County Sheriff’s Office. I believe he was fired, charged, acquitted by “hung jury” and awaiting retrial. Call either KCSO or check the Seattle Times for the latest updates.

Best regards,

Sean

…..so, I’ve emailed the only email address I can find for the KCSO (sheriff@kingcounty.gov) and asked the same question.

Another Update:

Sgt. Jim Laing of the King’s County Sheriff’s Office says:

Paul Schene was terminated for cause by the Sheriff on September 9, 2009 after an internal investigation. He was charged with assault and tried in January, 2010. This resulted in a mistrial. He is to be tried again on June 1, 2010.

Also:

I am getting quite a lot of traffic for the search phrase “Paul Schene.”  I have checked and in fact this page is the #1 search result for that phrase.  I surmise that Paul has now read this article.  So, Mr. Schene, what say you?  I want to offer you the opportunity to be seen as a human being and begin to clean up your tarnished name.  I’ll post whatever response you have – front, top, and center of this post – if you send it immediately.  If, on the other hand, you wait until the end of your trial in an effort to “decline to speak while legal action is pending,” an excuse I find detestable, you will lose this opportunity to control the content that is most strongly associated with your name in the world.  I suggest starting with a sincere apology.  Email me at justin@justinholmes.com.

Several of “the usual suspects,” including myself, spoke. There’s no doubt, though, that Eric Sterling stole the show. I have seen him speak 10+ times, and he is one of the best and most engaging public speakers I have ever been exposed to. Fortunately my camera was rolling:

….now before you jump on me about the “order of magnitude” comment with encryption – I fully realize that with increasing strength that decryption becomes several orders of magnitude more difficult, but as this was not a technology conference, I didn’t want to belabor the point.

This is one of the best sit-in videos this year.

That said, I understood how and why many of my intelligent friends were inspired by this man’s powerful words.

Finally, now, a year after the election, people are really realizing that Obama is, at least in the worst ways, as bad or worse than Dubya Bush was.

But why? Obama’s support for warrantless wiretapping, torture, wars of aggression, bank bailouts, and all the rest of this dreadful administration’s crimes are scarcely printed in the New York Times or the Washington Post. When a tiny flashlight is shone on one corner or another of these facts, the context is always “The Obama Administration, continuing the Bush Administration’s policy of….” as if their hands are tied or as if they are somehow less culpable for the murder and torture that they commit each day.

One source, however, has consistently, without fail, continued to break the news and place it in a wide, intelligent context each and every time Obama tightens the vice-grip of totalitarianism that people more readily associated with Dick Cheney. That source is Salon.com and particularly Glenn Greenwald’s column on Salon.

Today, Greenwald writes an awesome expose on Obama’s use of the “State Secrets” privilege to cover up the shadowy wings of the White House, one of the many skills he has learned and improved upon from his predecessor.

Of course the (captial-R) Republican Party has been a miserable failure in representing (small-r) republican views in my lifetime, so I’m not sure why in this instance I expect anything more.

The problem is that in this instance, the statist / socialist perspective is fundamentally correct about one thing: The health care system of the United States is poorly designed for efficiency and efficacy as a system.

Imagine, if the current system were invented as a full system, the kind of conversation leading to its invention: “Let’s base health coverage around employment status – most of the people who are employed can have a product we’ll call “insurance” but that will really be a buffet-style hodgepodge of health services. We’ll have a whole slew of different plans and practices so as to avoid large-scale negotiation for the benefit of the consumer. People who are self-employed or not-employed will be kinda screwed, as will those who happen to be sick the day before they get a job – pre-existing conditions are a liability, you know. People who are young and destitute or people who are over a particular arbitrary age will be covered by a mix of their home state government and the federal government. All the while, no solid block of informed consumers will exist to challenge the status quo as a market force.”

Now I realize that’s an oversimplification, but my point is that, while pretty much everybody sees the need for a massive change to the health care system, only the statist / socialist perspective has risen up with a really great sounding alternative:

“Every single person will be required to pay into a collective hold, for which on their behalf a single entity will negotiate the best prices and practices. Each person then will be entitled to coverage with a fraction of a percent of the system’s resources leaving as overhead or profit.”

It’s not hard to understand how a person can find this alternative compelling!

Making it even more difficult to resist, proponents are able to point to many nation-states around the world where such systems are deployed effectively and to the delight of the citizenry.

Now, on the other hand, look at the narrative of reform offered by the anarchist / republican perspective. I don’t know of one. I can’t think of one! Instead, we merely point out the many (and scary) inevitable pitfalls of asking the most powerful military hegemon in history to take care of our health. We sound terribly academic and disconnected, and we offer no systemic perspective on what our ideal system will look like.

This is the problem.

Thus, henceforth, I’m suggesting that we stop or at least curtail all criticism of the current “reform” proposals. We take Obama (and the curious word “Obamacare”) out of our lexicon and out of our cross-hairs. Instead we relentlessly espouse our vision for taking care of people – all people – without the heavy hand of government.

I don’t know all the details, but just to get us started, it goes something like this:

We start by ending all criminal liability for the act of putting anything into one’s own body. We restore and strengthen the notion that, across the system, each person is the sole owner and operator of their own biological organism.

We restore and re-examine the role of plant-based medicines, making coca, poppy, hemp, and all other plants legal to cultivate.

We repeal those laws which create the artificial concept of “intellectual property,” at least as far as psychoactive compounds are concerned. We thus end government protection of pharmaceutical companies who inflate their prices by thousands of percent. Medicines of all kinds become affordable again, and lo and behold! More, rather than fewer, enterprising young scientists become interested in open source medicine.

We create a rich, comfortable, and easy-to-use wiki-like environment, in which people can list the symptoms of any malady from which they may be suffering. They can also list the remedies which have helped them in the past, and together, as a community, we can create a massive database of trends for all sorts of diseases.

In this online environment, people in similar biological conditions can talk to one another in a live environment and have occasional support meetings and form consumer support-and-wellness groups.

Practitioners of medicine, both conventional and alternative, can advertise their services and be hired as advisors by these support groups, being paid directly instead of through a convoluted coverage system. If, for example, they want to make $50 / hour, they can charge a 10-person group $10 each for a two-hour session, and answer all of their questions.

The concept of “insurance” can be re-introduced and distinguished from buffet-style comprehensive coverage. Most people will likely opt-out of insurance, realizing that the act of purchasing insurance is actually a bet that they will become sick or die sooner rather than later. On the other hand, some will purchase policies to cover unlikely catastrophic events. Such insurance will be very cheap.

People can once again choose for themselves which tests and procedures are important, and the incentive structure will be one of conservation, as they’ll have to pay for each one.

As overhead and systemic costs are reduced, people who currently find themselves spending outrageous amounts on “coverage” for themselves, their families, and their employees can instead invest in medical centers or charities in their communities which can care for people who truly need complicated and expensive procedures but can’t pay for them.

Support groups can also use their presence to help doctors help the poor. In the example above, if each participant pays $11 for the session, the doctor will have an extra $10. Assuming the doctor is willing to work for half price for charity, she needs to administer only five such sessions a week in order to administer a free one for people who cannot afford the $10 fee. Surgeons can work the same way, albeit on a larger scale, just as they did before government regulation got us into the mess we are in today.

Some doctors and other medical professionals will make long-lasting relationships and be able to charge a bit more money as they get older and more trusted. Some of them will make very good money practicing their art, and that’s OK. In fact, that’s great. Young people will again have a reason to follow their passion for caring about people instead of studying pharmaceutical patent law or insurance adjustment expediting.

Of course none of us has all the answers, but I think that most people have never stopped to think about what kind of alternative the republican / anarchist perspective has to offer in the health care debate. It’s time to change that.

Also, and perhaps most importantly, the open-source movement and the progress of technology make all of these ideas (and lots of even more innovate ideas!) not only possible, but inevitable. So it’s time for us to become optimistic and take some pride in our ability to help each other and keep each other well.

Keene is a BS conservative who sold himself out to Arlen Specter and then tried to solicit Fedex to give him millions to write a positive op-ed.

Ziegler was supposed to be on a panel at the conference where this encounter occured, but got booted after putting the tough questions to Keene.

I’m not by any stretch of the imagination a Ziegler lover, but this video is absolutely sick.

Check it out: