Another anniversary for today: the completion of Emperor Norton's dream 71 years ago.

Here is a great article on the backstory on some men influential to the emergence of Al-Qaeda. It is long, but rather fascinating and really drives the point that the whole issue is not black and white as many would like to paint it (Muslim = Bad/Terrorist, etc). There is tension within their own ranks and only time will really tell who has the greater influence on the Islamic peoples of the world. From a Westerner's perspective (actually from a human perspective period) it is important to learn how and why people different from ourselves process information and make the decisions they do. Only then can we learn from them and they from us.