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Journal (The Ember Update)

Tuesday, June 25

Combating terrorism

I've been listening to a conversation on the Al-Qaeda terrorism network with Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, Former Principal Investigator of the UN Terrorism Prevention Branch, and Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews. On the outside chance you want to hear the program, click on the link above.

What follows is the summary of a lecture given by Dr. Gunaratna (from an NGO Report from the 2001 UN General Assembly):

6. Symposium on Terrorism and Disarmament, Sponsored by the DDA...

...Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, University of St Andrews:

Four trends in the combination of small arms and terrorism:

1. Increased procurement and employment of rockets, grenades, light artillery, anti-tank weapons, surface-to-air missiles and small caliber mortar.
2. Asian and Middle East export international to acquire and use chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material- heightening phenomenon in the post-cold war period. As a result of the Middle East peace process, there has been a move eastward in terrorism centers, from Middle East to South Asia and the Southern belt of former USSR republics.
3. Financial, technological and ideological cooperation among terrorist organizations has increased and broadened its geographical scope.
4. Use of improvised explosive devices- low cost and high impact.

Dr. Gunaratna noted that during the cold war, terrorism was primarily sponsored by states. However, since the cold war, states are less likely to sponsor terrorism for fear of international sanctions, and therefore many terrorist networks have found alternative sources of finance. These include legitimate trade, investment, business, and exploitation of Diaspora communities and migrants. The extensive international network disseminates propaganda , raises money, and provides operational support for their cause.

Democratic states such as England, Australia and Canada are often conducive for the formation of these international networks, taking advantage of freedom of speech values. In addition, procurement of weapons often occurs from governments of states where proper controls are not in place.

Dr. Gunaratna therefore recommends some counter-terrorism measures:

1. The most valuable and irreplaceable measure is that of human intelligence, because terrorists have found ways to evade many other types of intelligence.
2. High quality intelligence should be generated to infiltrate and disrupt these networks.
3. Legislation and judicial measures should be harmonized- beyond monitoring of these networks, but actually disrupting their actions.
4. Financial assets should be confiscated.
5. Harsh punishment should be instituted to deter terrorists in procurement of weapons.

The Professor's conclusion stated that the terrorist threat is driven by intention, capability and opportunity, and therefore a multiple approach to the problem is the only way to eradicate terrorism.

On a "lighter" note, it made me burst out in laughter today to hear that some Palestinians responded to Bush's call for the replacement of Arafat, by suggesting maybe the US should think about replacing Bush.

Wednesday, June 19

Moving III

Thanks for putting up with my recent absence and coming back anyway!

Rash and I are moving in together. We've signed papers for a two-bedroom apartment in Mountain View. It's half of a nice one-story duplex in a quiet neighborhood, just a few blocks from downtown Mountain View's Castro Street (photos). Castro offers ethnic restaurants, a Sunday morning Farmer's Market, bookstores, and numerous opportunities for window shopping. Mountain View is located in the center of Santa Clara Valley, CA, once known as the "Valley of Heart's Delight."

The City enjoys an average of 106 days of clear skies each year. Daytime temperatures are moderate, often in the fifties and sixties in the winter and the seventies and eighties in the summertime.

With this move my rent is going to drop by about $500/month (woo hoo!), and there will be a LOT more space, even with sharing. And we'll actually get to have a couch to sit on. I haven't had one in almost a year (not even a comfy chair!), and I sure have missed that particular luxury. And speaking of luxury...

Simplicity

I recently stopped to think about the saying "Live simply, so that others may simply live."

While reading about the financial straits of Kuro5hin I came across this comment by a person who is both frugal and happy while living on $8,700 to $9,400 USD/year.

I refuse to own a car. I share the rent on a house with two other room mates. I have modest tastes. I don't own the latest & greatest computer stuff. I know how to cook and eat healthy, inexpensive food. And despite the fact that I draw perhaps a quarter the income other people in my age category might, I nevertheless manage to live a very comfortable, very satisfying life; indeed, a life which many people envy.

I, like you, also have one of the coolest jobs in the world; I am a professional fiction writer, painter and cartoonist.

Hmmm...

[I wrote the following last week but never got the time to post it, so here it is with last week's date...]

Tuesday, June 11

What's happening

I'm groovin' to the jazz sounds of KFJC. Gee, and just as I was typing those words the station signal suddenly went from clear, cool jazz, to nothing but a wall of static. I've been gyped!

Been very busy, what with working hard (and enjoying it immensely), looking for a place to live, and devoting a significantly increased amount of attention to evolt.org. Managed to finally see Attack of the Clo(w)nes. Beautifully excruciating.

Also, for the last three weeks my dear friend E has been in and out of the hospital twice. First, a heart attack, followed by a double bypass, a defibrillator installed, and some very sad scars. I love him and don't want to lose him so soon. He'll turn 86 the day before I turn 35. He's like the grandfather I never had, and he makes me miss the grandmother I never knew. So then he came out of the hospital, but despite the devoted care of his sons, especially Michael, his medications and conditions were hard to stabilize, and his legs swelled suddenly after a week and he landed back in the hospital. Thankfully he's home again now. Try as I have I can't help but worry about him.

Another thing I've had to do is wipe and completely reinstall everything on the hard drive of my new Mac. Something I'd installed first time 'round was causing the Unix shell to crash. I think it was the driver for my Flash card reader, which I've never managed to get to work on the new computer. I have so many pictures I want to download and share! Well, I guess I'll have to figure something else out...

Monday, June 3

Things recently noted and remembered

"You're like Paul, wanting to be John."
   - Rob's description of me

Seen on a menu at the Peninsula Fountain and Grill, under "Hamburgers":

On this weekend's L.A.-based broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor featured Taj Mahal (the singer, not the place). I've heard of Taj Mahal for years, but this was my first exposure to his music. He sang an unusually arranged version of "Stack-O-Lee," which I know from Dave van Ronk and Huddie Leadbetter, and the delightful, "Lovin' In My Baby's Eyes." I wonder how Taj sounds in a studio as opposed to live? Amazon says, "Taj Mahal has consistently made great records that combine his extensive knowledge of roots music with a refreshingly non-elitist sensibility." That lack of elitism came through in his singing today.

By the way, a couple summers ago I interviewed with a guy whose last name was Leadbetter. He was white. I said, "Now that I've met you I can see that you're not related to Leadbelly." He winced a little and said, "Well, my ancestors might have owned his."
(I got offered that job, but accepted another that seemed a better fit.)

Here's how I rate the movies I've seen lately:

IMO, the one not to miss is obviously Monsoon Wedding (though the trailer doesn't do it justice).

I came across my first notice today that Father's Day is coming up soon. Sometimes I sit and remember listening to my father play the piano, and I want to get a piano so I can teach myself those same tunes. I would take what remains of that old, now coverless (by numerous pages front and back) book of pieces by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, and learn the special ones.

Social-Political Observations

My friend Rudy Limeback (another evolt.org co-founder) sent me a link today which by exploration eventually led me to Andrew Sullivan's, "Bush In Europe: Is he wobbling?" The article includes a transcript from a speech by George W., which ends with Bush saying:

"We believe in the value and dignity of every life."

Sullivan responds:

"This, we are told, is the kinder, gentler, more multilateral Bush, guided by the Obi Wan Kenobe of the State Department, coached by his father, educated by experience and reality. I don't buy it."

In another article, "The Overclass: What do we do with the mega-rich?" Sullivan ruminates on the fact that despite the US economic crash of the last year, the housing market has remained strong. That is just one of several key indicators that our fabulously wealthy population has mushroomed. Sullivan explores both the challenging and positive aspects of this population change:

In America, the concentration of wealth at the very top is getting far more intense than at any point in recent times. In 1990, the average CEO of a public company earned $2 million a year. That number is now closer to $11 million. The real bigwigs earn far more. A media mogul like, say, David Geffen has a net worth in the billions. In fact, there are now close to 300 Americans with net worths of over a billion dollars (compared to a mere dozen or so in 1980). Over 150,000 Americans have incomes of over a million dollars a year (again compared with only 13,000 twenty years ago). That's a decent-sized city. More than five million Americans now have a net worth of over a million dollars - even with the stock market crash.

Having experienced the last 5 years—including moving from a very rich (per capita) political center (DC) to a very rich (per capita) creative center (SF)—I can personally attest to having witnessed the boom of wealth, especially young wealth, in this country. I look forward to seeing if Sullivan's suggested, and already somewhat observable, solution continues to bear fruit.

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