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Faces of War
feature wonderful and informative photographs by Doug Hostetter of the Afghani people coping with the effects of the war. The National Coolition for Peace and Justice has picked the "human face of war" as a theme for early Spring. Through these photos we may get a sense of the real costs of war.
Enron's board should have known better
by W. Michael Hoffman and Dawn-Marie Driscoll
It is amazing that most of the pundits and politicians writing on the fall of Erron haven't raised these questions about the board.
Scientists for Population Reduction, that has come up with an economic model which will deliver prosperity across the board with declining population.
Bin Laden
Stirs Struggle on Meaning of Jihad
The New York Times has been running an interesting series on Islam around the world. You can get to links to various articles.Whether jihad is armed or a more personal duty of conscience is a question causing consternation in the world's 1.2 billion Muslims.
Commentary and web links by kevin reference the many key studies online about climate change and its causes.
The Patriot
Registration a satirical gem is the best laugh I've had in years. And
Astronomy Picture of the
Day are forwarded by web designer Michael Kemp.
The Scout Report highlights are forwarded
by Friend Palmer:
© Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2001.
MENALIB: Middle
East Virtual Library
A collaborative venture of more than a half dozen international libraries, MENALIB is coordinated by the University and State Library Saxony-Anhalt, Halle in an attempt to combine contributors' resources into a virtual library of materials on the Middle East and North Africa. The library's primary goals are to create a subject guide for electronic resources in the areas of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, a current contents service for scholarly journals, a virtual catalog, and databases for dissertations and conferences. The site currently contains ALMISBAH, a searchable and browseable (by source type and subject) database of Internet resources, and the classification scheme of the special subject collection (in German and English). [TK]
After September 11: Perspectives from the Social Sciences
This new site from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) contains essays by well-known social scientists on the events of and following September 11. The site aims to "provide the public and academic community with a deeper level of analysis than can be found on Op-Ed pages or talk shows." Among the more than 35 pieces currently posted are essays by Seyla Benhabib, Olivier Roy, and John Hall. Wide ranging in scope, essays are grouped into seven topic areas -- Globalization, Fundamentalism(s), Terrorism and Democratic Virtues, Competing Narratives, New War?, New World Order?, and Recovery. The site is regularly updated with more material as well. Future plans are to add a teaching guide by mid-January, to help instructors use the essays in lesson plans, and to use some material from the site in a book series that SSRC will launch in 2002. [TK]
Afghanistan: Land in Crisis -- National Geographic [RealPlayer]
This new special feature from National Geographic collects information on Afghanistan, including articles, maps, lesson plans, current news, and more. Some of the site's notable features include an archived Webcast of an October 22 screening of "National Geographic Explores a Changing World" and panel discussion on the Middle East and Afghanistan; a bibliography of National Geographic's print resources related to the topic; and a regularly updated interactive map of Afghanistan displaying cities and attacks, ethnic groups, drought and vegetation, and more. Teachers will want to check out the four lesson plans, which are geared to various age groups K-12. [TK]
Criminal Enforcement Against Terrorists
Syracuse-based Transactional Records Clearinghouse (TRAC), a non-partisan group monitoring federal staffing, spending, and enforcement activities, recently posted this report covering referrals for prosecution in international and domestic terrorist cases. It is difficult for the American public to monitor the federal governments efforts to find and prosecute terrorists because of the necessary secrecy that surrounds the feds' anti- terrorist activities. With this in mind, TRAC obtained (under court order) 131 computer tapes "with data that offer the American people the most up-to- date and complete view ever available about how the government is enforcing the law against international and domestic terrorists." The data graphs, tables, and text available at this site are a sampling of findings about the 1,338 referrals classified as domestic or international terrorism-related from October 1996 through September 2001. These findings reveal that, during the years 1997-2000, there were between 40-60 referrals for prosecution involving international terrorism, but in 2001, this number jumped to 204. It also shows that federal prosecutors declined to bring charges against more than two out of three of the criminal suspects who they classified as being involved in domestic or international terrorism. The investigative agencies included the FBI; the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the US Marshal Service; the IRS; and many others. [HCS]
The
Campaign against International Terrorism: prospects after the fall of the Taliban
[.pdf]
The library of the United Kingdom's House of Commons has published this research paper entitled The Campaign against International Terrorism: prospects after the fall of the Taliban, available for download in .pdf format from the Parliament Website. The authors are Tim Youngs, Paul Bowers and Mark Oakes of the International Affairs and Defence Section. Contents of the text include details of fighting and bombing in Afghanistan, the Bonn Agreement and future political arrangements in Afghanistan, the Al-Qaeda in other countries, and measures by the United Nations to counter terrorism. The 65-page report includes the text of the Bonn Agreement and a nicely detailed color map of Afghanistan. [HCS]
History in the News: Middle East History, Society, and Culture Resources
The Department of History, University at Albany, SUNY (last reviewed in the January 21, 2000 Scout Report) has put together a useful and straightforward metasite covering resources on the history and culture of the Middle East. History in the News focuses specifically on Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen. Resources are easily browseable by topic (History, Religion, Economics, Maps) or by country. This is a nice place to start one's reading on this newsworthy region of the world. [DJS]
From PBS: may be dated. Online NewsHour EXTRA: Student Privacy, Ramadan
Middle/High School Check out this by-teens for-teens online publication from the NewsHour that brings current events into the classroom with a fresh perspective. This week, hear about upcoming Supreme Court trials that could affect American students, and hear from one American Muslim teen about Ramadan traditions. Plus, check out Online NewsHour Extra for Teachers to access resources for your classroom.
PBS TeacherSource: From the Field -- "Teachers Without Borders"
Elementary/Middle/High School In this article, Fred Mednick, founder of "Teachers Without Borders," argues that educators should be considered members of a team addressing terrorism, along with the military, diplomatic, and food-relief approaches.