] Today, however, we are motivated by different dates. "Our
] defining date is now 1989 and yours is 2001," said Mr.
] Bildt. Every European prime minister wakes up in the
] morning thinking about how to share sovereignty, as
] Europe takes advantage of the collapse of communism to
] consolidate economically, politically and militarily into
] one big family. And the U.S. president wakes up thinking
] about where the next terror attack might come from and
] how to respond -- most likely alone. "While we
] talk of peace, they talk of security," says Mr. Bildt.
] "While we talk of sharing sovereignty, they talk about
] exercising sovereign power. When we talk about a region,
] they talk about the world. No longer united primarily by
] a common threat, we have also failed to develop a common
] vision for where we want to go on many of the global
] issues confronting us."
]
] Just as we once had U.S.-Soviet summits to ease the
] tensions of the cold war, maybe it's time for a
] U.S.-French-German summit to ease the tensions of the
] post-cold war. Leaders of all three nations have behaved
] badly and have weakened the West, even if they have not
] ended it. It's time to chart a new Atlantic alliance, but
] not one that is based on nostalgia for 1945 -- one
] that really bridges the differences between 1989 and
] 2001.

The End of the West?

What would happen if the 'source code' of our democratic systems was opened up to the people they are meant to serve? An open source model for participatory, bottom-up and emergent policy will force us to confront the issues of our time.

A new essay from Douglas Rushkoff. Download the full text in PDF.

Open Source Democracy

On Monday, 20 October, visit this site to download the Arab Human Development Report for 2003. For now, you can review the 2002 Report.

This report is a product of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Arab Human Development Report 2003: Building Knowledge Society

... Tons of foreign technology is imported, but it's never really internalized ...

Tom Friedman on Arab society in the Sunday New York Times.

Courageous Arab Thinkers

] “The most crucial aspect of Silicon Valley is its networks.”
] There is no proposition so universally agreed upon and so
] little studied. We see two main reasons for this. The ?rst is
] that the analysis of social networks has been mainly the
] province of sociologists, but only in recent years have they
] become interested in industrial organization. The second is
] that methods for systematic study of social networks are of
] very recent origin.

] Thus, in this chapter we will introduce some key ideas about
] social networks, sketch some of the vital institutional sectors
] in Silicon Valley where they operate, and present an initial
] exploration of the formal analysis of how these sectors
] articulate with one another.

Social Networks in Silicon Valley

"Battlefield sites are considered noble places in the landscape of American history. Gettysburg, Bunker Hill, and Normandy stand as monuments honoring the people who fought and died there. Massacre sites, no less a part of our history, are often hidden. Vaguely worded road signs might give some indication of the tragedy, but visitors are not greeted by museums as they are at battlefield sites, and there are no official cemeteries in which the victims lie. Because they are shameful episodes in our past, massacres are not commemorated and the innocent dead are not honored. The Mountain Meadows Massacre, Sand Creek Massacre, and Tulsa Race Riot do not usually come up in history class, but over 500 people were brutally killed in these events. Although they took place long ago, they exemplify the impact--emotional, legal, and political--that the past can have on our own society today."

For better or worse, archaeology is opening the lid on American massacres

] U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said the book — "Lies and the
] Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right"
] — is a parody protected by the First Amendment (search).
]
] "There are hard cases and there are easy cases," the judge said.
] "This is an easy case. This case is wholly without merit, both
] factually and legally."

Ahhh, victory! The First Amendment still wins over corporate interests. Thank you Judge Chin...

Judge Denies FOX's Injunction

] Swastikas and other Nazi symbols are used as decoration
] in a Hong Kong clothing store, as seen on Saturday, Aug.
] 9, 2003. Israeli and German diplomats have lashed out at
] a Hong Kong fashion company for using swastikas and other
] Nazi party symbols. The Hong Kong-based firm designed a
] range of T-shirts and pants with Nazi symbols and
] launched new decorations this past week in its 14 stores.
] One branch projected Nazi propaganda films on the shop's
] wall. (AP Photo/Anat Givon)

The hot new fashion on the streets of Causeway Bay is ... Nazi Chic?

Um..

lgf: Hong Kong Nazi Chic

] Turns out the Florida woman who is suing for the right to
] wear a Muslim headdress in a driver's license photograph
] has previously been subjected to an, um, unveiled
] government portrait. Following her 1997 conversion to
] Islam, Sultaana Freeman (formerly Sandra Keller) was
] arrested in Decatur, Illinois for battering a foster
] child. Freeman, 35, pleaded guilty in 1999 to felony
] aggravated battery and was sentenced to 18 months
] probation. As a result of the conviction, state officials
] removed two foster children from Freeman's care. The mug
] shot of the felonious Freeman (below left) was taken
] after her arrest in the Illinois case. Freeman returned
] to the dock this week--that's her testifying in the below
] right photo--to challenge Florida rules requiring
] prospective drivers to submit to unveiled photos for
] their licenses. Last year, Freeman sued the state after
] her license was revoked when she failed to allow
] officials to photograph her sans headdress. State
] officials contend that, in light of the September 11
] attacks, it is crucial that all motorists now be
] photographed in an unadorned state.

My personal theory had been that she was horribly disfigured under that thing.. Missing half her face.. Burn scars.. Michael Jackson shit.. Maybe looking just like The Joker, everywhere but the eyes. Maybe she could take a more American approach, get a balakava hood and a visor, and do the Storm Shadow GI Joe thing..

shrug..

The Smoking Gun: Sultaana Freeman Unmasked!

] It's nice down here, 220 feet below ground. It's dry and
] cool -- a springlike 60 degrees Fahrenheit. There is a
] breeze coming through the tunnels that smells like dust
] and something older than dust, the souls of the limestone
] miners, maybe, who began dynamiting this catacomb into
] existence 101 years ago.
]
] The only sound is a constant low thrumming, like the din
] of a ship's engine. There is a narrow roadway no wider
] than a country lane. A service van drives by, and then an
] electric golf cart. There are security guards, too,
] around every corner.
]
] "Keep it with you at all times," the guard at the gate
] had said, passing a fire extinguisher into the car as
] he'd waved me ahead toward a dim gray plaza, from which a
] maze of identical-looking gray tunnels snaked off in
] every direction.
]
] A fire extinguisher?
]
] Welcome to Iron Mountain, the largest commercially owned
] underground storage facility in the world. This is where
] Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, has deposited his huge
] and growing collection of historical photographs --
] approximately 11 million negatives, prints, slides -- a
] cache that represents a culturally significant chunk of
] the visual history of the 20th century.

Buried Treasure (washingtonpost.com)