It's a Mountain Clock.

Stewart Brand and Danny Hillis set out to visit the future home of the 10,000 year clock. This is the story of their journey.

If they build it, will you be a time pilgrim?

The Mountain and the Clock

Pakistani agents arrested seven al Qaeda suspects and confiscated weapons during an early Sunday raid in the southern city of Karachi.

Crackdown! Guess who's been reading his Stratfor lately?

Pakistan Arrests 7 al Qaeda Suspects

Do you rant about Diebold?

The New York Times hears you.

There is every reason to believe that there will be another national trauma over who the rightful winner is, this time compounded by troubling new questions about the reliability of electronic voting machines.

This is no way to run a democracy.

Fixing Democracy

... The Bush team destroyed the Iraqi regime in three weeks and has not persuaded Israel to give up one settlement in three years. To think America can practice that sort of hypocrisy and win the war of ideas in the Arab-Muslim world is a truly dangerous fantasy.

War of Ideas, Part 4

* Bringing authoritative, influential figures in world affairs to LA
* Providing an open forum for them to freely express their views
* Providing citizens of LA access to them and their comments
* Connecting local professionals with an interest in world affairs
* Promoting an interest in international affairs among LA students

This site offers transcripts of recent speakers at council events, including those of Dick Cheney (though without the Q&A session). The ranking Democrat on HPSCI spoke to the council last night. You will also find recent speeches to the council by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.

Cheney's address will be broadcast on LA36 this Sunday and Monday. See the web site for air times.

Los Angeles World Affairs Council

Included here is the full text of Vice President Dick Cheney's remarks on January 14. A few excerpts are included below, not as a substitute for reading it, but rather to convince you to do so. (I think the tone of the Chronicle story was rather distorted, as compared to the full transcript of the talk.)

Don Rumsfeld and I first met in the 1960s ... Don thought I was a detached academic type, and I thought he was a brash young politician. We were both on to something. (Laughter.)

... Terrorists were at war with our country long before 2001. And for many years, they were the ones on the offensive.

... We must do everything in our power to keep terrorists from gaining weapons of mass destruction. This urgent responsibility has required, above all, a shift in America's national security strategy.

There are certain moments in history when the gravest threats reveal themselves. And in those moments, the response of our government must be swift, and it must be right. ... The use of military force is, for the United States, always the last option in defending ourselves and our interests. But sometimes the last resort must be taken.

... Americans can be grateful every day for the skillful and daring service of our nation's intelligence professionals.

... By its very nature, freedom must be chosen ... but all who choose the path ... will have the friendship and support of the United States of America.

We cannot know every turn that lies ahead. Yet we can be certain that by the strength and character of this country, and by the rightness of our cause, we will prevail.

... [on immigration:] We think this is the right way to go. We expect it will generate a significant debate, as it should. These are important issues. They're controversial. And they're never easy for us to deal with as a government. But we think the issue needs to be addressed ...

... [on peace in the Middle East:] Arafat was in the White House and the West Wing more often than any foreign leader during the eight years of the Clinton administration. Bill Clinton did everything he could to try to put together a settlement and came fairly close. In the final analysis, Arafat refused to say yes.

Vice President Cheney's Remarks to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council

In a forceful preview of the Bush administration's expansionist military policies in this election year, Vice President Dick Cheney Wednesday painted a grim picture of what he said was the growing threat of a catastrophic terrorist attack in the United States and warned that the battle, like the Cold War, could last generations.

If a newspaper could have a soundtrack, you might expect to hear a bear growling on a windy, stormy night, with a wolf or two howling from the hills in the distance. Every few minutes, the rumble of an incoming mortar attack. And in between, the uncomfortable silence of the things you can't hear.

Cheney's grim vision: decades of war

The central fact about terrorists is not that they are deranged, but that they are not alone.

What Makes a Terrorist?

The report will be released at a one-hour public briefing on Tuesday, January 20, 2004 at 1 pm Eastern. The briefing will be available via live webcast and on demand from the archive.

Biological Confinement of Genetically Engineered Organisms

For the KC-135 tanker, it would be optimal to replace the KC-135 before the end of the decade.

Investigating Optimal Replacement of Aging Air Force Systems