If you google my name, you used to come across references to obscure computer science arguments (Tcl/Tk wars of early 1990s), papers I’ve presented, or my website. If you google me today, you’ll come across another entry that heralds my entry into official web life in my new job. A right-wing web columnist has written a long manifesto against the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

This reporter wrote an article entitled “Secret Agenda: Law of the Sea Treaty Will Provide Key Elements of World Government”. In it, he showed that he spent a great deal of time looking at my organization’s website and then he must have googled me to find my personal website. There, he read my blog and favorite links entries. He wrote his piece in order to incite fear and attach innuendo to his railing against UNCLOS. That’s his right, however, it does nothing to engage and further a discussion of this treaty. Inciting fear, either by the left, right or center, does nothing to actually address the pros and cons of this treaty and its impact on everyday Americans, businesses, the US Government, and other nations of the world. It’s time to move beyond the looney left and the radical right and engage Americans on the issues that affect Americans in a 21st century world.