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...is a cute little piece of computer code you stick into your website to help you track visitor information. What they looked at, how long they stayed. The location visitors used to access your site.

I noticed I've been getting a lot of traffic from Washington, D.C. quite recently, ever since I started writing about Islamic extremists. Perhaps I've only caught the attention of the FBI, or DHS. Sigh. Maybe a Senator...or...higher?! There's always hope. I'm going to choose to interpret this as a positive sign that my government is protecting my freedom of speech. Thank you. I cherish it, and try to exercise it often.

Welcome, Washington.

While I've got your attention, I do want to share some ideas:

1. "The War On Terror" — Fighting has not solved the Islamic extremist issue. Nor will it. Fighting is escalating the problem. In fact, we are helping the extremists.

2. "This is a war of ideals" — The negativity implicit in this language is self-defeating. It is best to model ideals, and behavior. Ask any second grade teacher. Begin by honoring the Geneva Conventions. Stop eroding our civil liberties in the name of "protection."

3. Freedom of Speech — Use it, even if some take offense. This is by far our most important human right. Think. Talk. Share this post with your friends.

4. Empathy — It doesn't matter if you like or respect Osama bin Laden. Point is, he is willing to live in a cave, and fight to the death. He, and his adherents, are obviously — invested — in his philosophical position. Ask him to talk about his perspective. You might learn something. Realistically, he is a head of state: but his people are united by ideals, not geographic borders.

5. Education — Is always the most powerful tool. Share ideas. The BBC has the best idea.

6. Outreach to Islamic women — The female of our species, Homo sapiens, is the more curious sex. Internet users are predominantly female. My graduate school education class was predominantly female. In the wild, female primates are the first to initiate contact with "stray" males not of their troop. This is innate biology. Movement away from fundamentalism will come from within Islam, and be initiated by women. It is no accident the Taleban targets women. Perhaps offer scholarships to Muslim women?

7. Assimilation — Form friendships with Muslims in your community. They are people. What we did to Japanese-Americans during WWII was inexcusable. Two simple human equations:

a) Inclusion + Opportunity = Peace
b) Alienation + Stagnation = Violence

8. Stop pretending the war is "over there" — Our government is a wonderful but slow-moving institution. Hurricane Katrina. What would you do without electricity? Food? Clean drinking water? For the next six months? As Boy Scouts say, "Be Prepared." Catch my drift?

9. High-Concept Low-Technology — Our government is focused on stopping a nuke attack because it is a threat our military understands. We are Hi-Tech. In contrast, extremists think in terms of leverage: simple tools applied to the weaknesses of complex, fragile systems. Remember utility "box cutters" knives and airplanes? Next time you're driving, look around you at all the power lines and signs that read, "GAS PIPELINE: Call before you dig!" Extremists want to shut down our services and economy. Interfere with your ability to earn your living, and feed your family. We would be wise to improve the physical structure of our society...

10. Decentralize our power grid — Solar panels on every home, feeding back into the grid. Much harder to disrupt. Much less tempting target. It might even clean up our environment. We require electricity.

11. Decentralize agriculture — Most of your food is grown 1,500+ miles from your home and shipped to you. What happens if transportation stops? Support your local farmer: shop at farmer's markets, and ask your grocer to supply local produce. Change urban planning: stop building new homes on valuable agricultural land. Grow a "victory" garden in your front yard. PS: You'll eat better, too.

12. Break our oil addiction — Ethanol and biofuels are not a solution, they will create greater problems. We will destroy farmland, our food economy, and the food economies of other peoples in the process. Although viewed as "temporary," the momentum behind the mechanical infrastructure and farm subsidies will cause biofuel to be a 20+ year unproductive detour. Electric vehicles show much greater promise.

13. Legalize drugs — It is impossible to stop addicts from using: our Meth epidemic is a moonshine response to the "War On Drugs." Remember Prohibition? Legalize and tax. Just like alchohol. Create clinics to treat the addicted. Right now the only people financially benefitting are criminals. Illegal drug sales finance arms for extremists.

14. Peer-to-peer interaction — Is much faster and more valuable than waiting for political process. Once our bureacracy builds momentum in a particular direction, it is slow to change. We get distracted by the rhetoric of military leaders and politicians...remember Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction?" It turns out Saddam Hussein was bluffing because he was scared of Islamic extremists. Ugh. I think on some fundamental level we all want to feel safe and believe we are being cared for by experts who make perfect decisions. But George W. Bush, and whoever fills the blue pinstriped suit next term, is an ordinary human being. Like me. Like you. S/he has only a few short years to learn a difficult job. We — individuals — must lead this peace process...and pull our government along.

15. Enjoy your life — This process of "waging peace" will require time and patience. A generation or two. Hey...I think I might hear my bicycle calling me...enjoy your weekend.

:)

Two cents.