The astute Wretchard of The Belmont Club takes up the question of "The New Committee for a Free World" in a seriously unserious manner. While some of his assumptions are premature, his points concerning names and the other accouterments of organizations are well taken:
This is an unserious post about a very serious subject. The American Digest understands that the battle for domestic public opinion is the decisive theater of operations in the War on Terror. It is trying to organize a nucleus of eminent thinkers -- called the New Committee for a Free World -- who can provide a rallying point for the ideas that must illuminate our journey into the perilous new century,....While I'm not ready to run over to Cafe Press and start whipping up the mugs and t-shirts, we have been discussing the name game in the comments to the original article. So far, my own thoughts as stimulated by the comments are:I had rather hoped for a more resounding name than 'the New Committee for a Free World', because it lacks the magnificence this larger than life struggle calls for.... We need a name with the sonority of the "Justice League of
America", "The Avengers" or at least "The Four Just
Men". Perhaps nothing quite so Stan Lee-ish, but a name that will bear the freight of its task.And it needs an oath, a pledge that will appeal to the heart, uplift the spirit and give us strength when we are too tired, weary and heartbroken to go further. It is said that when Chesty Puller's men walked into the relief lines after battling their way past ten times their number at the Chosin River, they pulled themselves erect, dusted off their dungarees and sang the Marine Corps Hymn, so that the Dogfaces might remember them laughing as they emerged from the jaws of death and before they marched into legend. We are their heirs must sing our own song.
"In brightest day, in blackest night,
no evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
beware my power.. Green Lantern's light!"
"That said, perhaps we can look towards a something that is not a "Committee for a Free World" That was something that made sense in the 20th Century when confronted with the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and client states such as Cuba. The first is history, the second is in the midst of a transformation to another state entirely, and the third is a museum exhibit.
"Perhaps what we need to look for is a Committee for World Freedom. A small change in terms of semantics, but a larger one in terms of potential.
Freedom, after all, is a concept that encompasses many things -- a spiritual outlook, an economic system, an evolving set of social and individual values under the rule of law, a representative republic, an enhancement of the individual, and a method and series of policies designed to insure and advance freedom on all fronts."
Posted by Vanderleun at November 23, 2003 11:38 AM
See my blog: NATO Human Rights Enforcement Group,
HReg.
For a World Without Dictators. In my lifetime.
(You know that it takes two tries to leave a comment? First write, then second add name & email, since it doesn't show up first time; even when saved.)
Posted by: Tom Grey at November 28, 2003 1:23 AMTo help you become a good Aqua citizen, Apple has created a few guidelines. I've put together a brief overview of them, and we'll be tackling many of them in the months to come.
Posted by: Roman at January 12, 2004 4:18 PMBy building an application that takes advantage of Aqua's many facets, you help ensure that your application will not only look good, but have a chance of becoming a raging success. After a new user clicks on the icon of your program, the first thing he or she sees is the application interface. I know that when I review a product, I am very critical of its visual design. I usually have a short time to learn the new software, so design and ease of use are very important. Aside from those who marvel at the beauty of the command line, most users tend to react the same way.
Posted by: Archibald at January 12, 2004 4:18 PMDrawers. Similar to Sheets, this is a "child" window that gives users access to items that do not always need to be present. But when do you use a drawer and when do you use a palette?
Posted by: Dionise at January 12, 2004 4:18 PMClicking an application in the dock should always bring forward an active window. If the user clicks on an open app's icon in the Dock, the application is active and all unminimized windows come along with it. I have found a few problems with windows behaving independently of their application.
Posted by: Mable at January 12, 2004 4:19 PMYou Must Promise. To call your mother, to help old ladies cross the road, and to turn your cell phone off at the movies.
Posted by: Susanna at January 12, 2004 4:19 PM
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