claytoncubitt:

Will Blanche, ?The Newly Constructed Towers of the World Trade Center Seen From the South Side on West Street, May, 1973? (via These Americans)

See also: Mitch Epstein, ?West Side Highway, New York City? [looking towards World Trade Center] 1977

Seriously, if I were 12, this would have melted my brain. I love this trailer.

Short Answer:  divide it.

It's long been my contention that Iraq was stabilized at an acceptable level of controlled chaos due to a happy accident by al Qaeda (in an attempt to expand/lead the loose insurgency in a new direction).  What did they do?   They blew up the Golden Mosque in Samara in 2006.  This act of symbolic terrorism did indeed disrupt social networks as anticipated, however the consequences were ultimately disastrous for the Iraqi open source insurgency.  

The reason for this is it broke the dynamics of the open source insurgency in ways the US and Iraqi government's COIN efforts could not.  First, it created a permanent split between Sunni and Shiite insurgent groups/militias.  Coopetition ended.  Second, it motivated large Shiite militias to start an ethnic cleansing of Sunni areas.  This put acute pressure on Sunni guerrilla groups who were too small (by design to avoid US counter-pressure) to defend themselves against large militias operating in the open.  The result was an opening, very close to the one I described in my 2005 NYTimes OpEd, that allowed the US to convert Sunni guerrilla groups into militias that were not loyal to the central government (in direct contradiction to its COIN manual).   

It's a nice example of the dynamics of many to many conflict, social network disruption, and the development open source counterinsurgency.

See this excellent description at the blog, "Musings on Iraq" for more detail on the ethnic cleansing operations.  It also includes this money quote: "the majority of the Sunni insurgency gave up and switched sides to align with the Americans rather than face annihilation at the hands of the Shiite militias, Al Qaeda in Iraq, or the United States."

NOTE:  it's pretty clear from the above that social network disruption (either through attacks on symbolic targets or blood and guts terrorism) is like playing horseshoes with live hand grenades.  It's ultimately a losing strategy for advancing an open source insurgency.  Social network disruption is very likely to break standing order 6:  don't fork the insurgency.

• @ibrill That podcast was fun. Thanks for the link. in reply to ibrill #
• @Alejandrobot TEASE! in reply to Alejandrobot #
• Well I didn't spend the day on the work I'd planned, but it was a productive day nonetheless. Best to be grateful for that much, I guess. #
• @dustinharbin Oh, you are not kidding, my friend. in reply to dustinharbin #
• @ivanbrandon Remember that screechy "READ THE BILL!" woman? I just DL'd it. It's TWO THOUSAND PAGES LONG. #
• @ivanbrandon Here's what concerns me: has ANYONE read it? in reply to ivanbrandon #
• @ivanbrandon Awesome. in reply to ivanbrandon #
• @BrianReed I'm tempted to do a search for that string. in reply to BrianReed #
• And sometimes a cat pees on your kid's blanket and beloved sheepskin rug. #
• @laurennmcc I like this plan. in reply to laurennmcc #
• I don't remember what I was going to say. #
• @JHickman Pluck or wax! in reply to JHickman #
• RT @JHUniverse …On Black Friday, from 7:00am to 9:00 am at both JHU Locations, EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE will be 33% off! #
• Depressing news of the morning: Jobless rate for African-American men is 17.1%. SEVENTEEN PERCENT. #
• RT @mtvsplashpage: 'Wire' Star Idris Elba Joins 'Thor' Cast As Heimdall http://bit.ly/6NTSGc #
• I want a lime green tablecloth, 120" rectangular and NOT PAPER. Why is that hard? #
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• @Karajo Ariana may have found one for me. I'm also told to check Crate & Barrel and Pier One. in reply to Karajo #
• RT @SteveNiles: Fangoria Interview http://twurl.nl/1y2ulh #

Some random items of interest:

• Vigilante militias in Rio are displacing the drug gangs -- favelas under the control of militias has grown from 108 in 2005 to 400 in 2008 (out of 965).  Why?  They have a better (albeit parasitic) conflict/business model than the drug gangs since they act as a substitute for missing public goods/services normally supplied by the government.  First, they provide a minimal level of security and conflict adjudication.  Second, they make more money than the drug gangs by "taxing" everything from propane to cable TV to the gray market.  
• US gray economy estimated at $1 Trillion (not including criminal, outside of the evasion of taxes and regulation, activities) and growing faster than the "legal" economy.  
• Proposal and wiki for an open source fabrication lab.
• Somali pirates are expanding operations into the Indian ocean.  The combination of positive feedback loops (maritime insurance + rapid payoffs by crisis negotiators) and legal ambiguity (the biggest fear of a western navy and governments is that they might arrest a pirate -- prompting a massive/expensive legal tussle with few certain penalties and the forced extension of a visa to the former pirate once he is released from his short incarceration).  Is a franchise model for other locales possible?

• A business group in Ciudad Juarez asks for UN peacekeepers.  Hilarious. "Ciudad Juarez, population 1.5 million, has an average of seven homicides a day, with the total at 1,986 for this year through mid-October."
• Seccession.net.  County based secession effort.  

Beautiful (and simple) site design featuring the illustrative work of Yorifuji Bunpei. Via Paul Baron.

Coming up at the Kakitsubata gallery in Nakameguro is the show “Kodai,” running from November 25 until December 6.