About the author
Dave Winer, 56, is a visiting scholar at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and editor of the Scripting News weblog. He pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), podcasting, outlining, and web content management software; former contributing editor at Wired Magazine, research fellow at Harvard Law School, entrepreneur, and investor in web media companies. A native New Yorker, he received a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, a Bachelor's in Mathematics from Tulane University and currently lives in New York City.
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Why the war in Afghanistan? 
We're trying to trim the budget, so we have to ask the question -- why are we at war in Afghanistan?
When we started the two wars in the last decade, the government played a little trick to get us not to think about it. They cut taxes, which is usually unthinkable in time of war. And there was no draft, so no one died who didn't volunteer to risk their life.
On top of that, through 2007, we had a housing boom. So not only did we pay lower taxes, and our kids didn't have to die, we also gorged on huge windfalls as our homes fed massive consumerism.
All that, except the draft, is gone. And many of us have bills to pay for all the crap we bought.
So we have to ask, again, why?
I'm not assuming there is no answer, but I am assuming I have the right to ask it, and as a voter, should expect some kind of answer that's not insulting.
Why the riots?
I haven't been watching TV the last few days. Listening to them mangle what's going on and not going on is too hard to bear.
It's too much to expect the talking heads on TV to tell it straight, or even understand it. Or as this Salon columnist guesses, they pretend not to understand, in ways a sports reporter would never get away with.
Anyway -- why the riots?
Seems to me the young folk figured out that law and order is a mass trance. If you choose not to buy into it you get crushed. But if you can get a few thousand others to go along with you, you can break through.
If the young people of Egypt can figure out how to overthrow their government, why can't the young people of London?
Big change was brought about in the 60s and 70s by people going to the streets, and it looks like it's happening again. How and when will it happen in the US and how many people will die?
Lots of interesting stuff to think about.
PS: I added some more ideas to my request list for Heello. It occurred to me that this might be a good time to really solidify federation techniques. Let's hope the Internet stays up for at least as long as it'll take to get this stuff working. 
