I’ve been decidedly apolitical for the past few years. I have a few pet issues (like Net Neutrality) and am probably more Libertarian than any other recognized political flavor. I also believe in individual rights — as it relates to freedom, property, reproduction, and bearing of arms.

With that said, I must say I was quite surprised to find out more about Ron Paul, a Republican candidate for the Oval Office. With a couple of glaring exceptions, I really like his stance on most issues. I mean I REALLY like them. I don’t know if I can vote for him with his stance on those couple of issues, but I do find him pretty impressive in most areas. If I were to employ the 80/20 rule, he’d win my vote, but I’m not ready to do that quite yet.

And how did I find out about him, after deciding to be apolitical during this election? I found an article on him spending a weekend poking at his iPhone until he hacked it and installed a “tweaked” Ubuntu distribution on it. I find that impressive. Impressive enough that I went to his campaign website to learn more… and then to Wikipedia to compare him to his competition for the Republican nomination for 2008. Continue reading →