Pericles vs. Lycurgus - Fight!
Scoble links an awesome resume. (It sounds better in French.)#
Dave Winer comments on Google vs. Netscape vs. Microsoft:#
I agree with John Battelle that Google is not a Netscape, but what a joke to think that Larry and Sergey are the next Bill Gates. John, when Gates was younger, he was a constant evangelist, deal-maker, BOGUer. He'd do anything to win. Larry and Sergey are, by comparison, cloistered, insulated, aloof bordering on arrogant. I'm sure they're smart, but in an academic way, which isn't the same thing as being smart in a commercial way. All their second acts have been duds, they're still lookiing for another hit. Also, they pick the wrong battles to fight, ones that have no bearing on their success. And they're really shitty at building consensus behind a developer platform, something that Bill excelled at, in the old days, when he was trying.
I listend to an interview with Niall Ferguson today.#
From Part 1:
You have a real passion for history. Is that a fair statement? You live it and breathe it?
Yes. It's a kind of condition, almost a medical condition, to be obsessed with the past, because the activity of history is essentially an engagement with the dead. To be absolutely precise, a lot of historical research takes the form of reading letters written by dead people, and to spend the vested years of your life sitting in archives or libraries reading dead people's letters is really rather an odd condition. But luckily, it's not regarded as certifiable, so we're allowed to wander the streets and to even to teach in academic institutions, where in another culture we might very well be under some kind of heavy sedation.
And from Part 6:
When students, particularly undergraduates, come to me and say, "What should I be doing?" one important piece of advice I give them is to think about what languages they should learn, because powerful though the English language is, there will never be a time when the whole world speaks one language. There will never be a time when there is only one empire, in the sense that the future of not only of the world but of historical study is a future in which the weight of Asia grows, and, perhaps, the relative weight of Europe declines.
Now, back in the 1980s. When I was a student, I took a decision to learn German, because Germany still seemed to be a big deal. Sitting in Oxford trying to work out what to research, learning German and living in Germany and studying German history seemed like an extremely shrewd strategic move. I don't think it was a bad move. But now, I wouldn't advise a student to do that. I say there's a choice: You can learn Chinese, or you can learn Arabic, but you have to choose one. Perhaps, one day I'll have a student so brilliant that they can do both. But these are much more difficult languages than German.
I've just read about the horrible lifestyle of Spartans. Ick!#
The Birth of Suicide Bombings as a Popular Weapon, by David Storobin, Esq. is an informing history of the issue and particularly enlightening for someone with little knowledge on the subject.#
Today, Hizballah remains the most powerful centrally-controlled terrorist organization in the world. Al-Qaida has become a cause since 9/11, with loosely tied terrorists claiming to be part of the organization. Yet, Osama bin Ladin does not have control of many of the groups claiming to be part of al-Qaida. Hizballah, on the other hand, has a professionally-trained, extremely well-armed militia that is totally controlled by its leader. It also has access, through Iran and Syria, to intelligence information that isn't available to al-Qaida or anyone other terror group. That Hizballah is a recognized political party with seats in the Lebanese parliament only adds to its power.
David Storobin, Esq. reviews the International Criminal Court in an article on Global Politician.#
The ICC does not provide many of the most basic legal safeguards American citizens enjoy under the U.S. Constitution. Endangered constitutional protections include the prohibition against double jeopardy, the right to trial by an impartial jury, and the right of the accused to confront the witnesses against him, the right not to incriminate yourself, the right to compel a witness to testify, etc. Moreover, judges and prosecutors will be appointed and removed by member vote, resulting in a tyranny of the majority court.