Berlin is getting ready for Barack Obama’s visit this Thursday.  Today's Tagesspiegel predicts what Chancellor Merkel and Obama will discuss beforehand (the economy), Germany’s Social Democratic Party has made clear they do not want any call for more German troops in Afghanistan, and the current cover story of Der Spiegel explores how much “change” Europe can expect from the popular candidate.  

Yes, if campaign officials select the new favored location for Obama's July 24th speech, the Berlin Siegessäule (Victory Column). 

Putting Obama’s speech at the Siegessäule would be a smart public diplomacy for three key reasons:

1) "Change" - After the Brandenburg Gate proved to be contentious, other ideas tossed around by the campaign were Tempelhof Airport, site of the Berlin Airlift, Checkpoint Charlie, the only East/West Berlin checkpoint through with non-Germans were allowed to pass, and Schoeneberg Town Hall, the site of John F. Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech as well as a rally immediately after the fall of the Berlin wall.  All these places evoke Berlin's Cold War History.  By picking a monument that is both symbolic of Berlin and commemorative of another history (Prussian military victories), Obama's speech would now symbolize an intentional break with Berlin's Cold War past, and, consistent with the theme of his campaign, ushering in a new era for German-American/EU-American relations. 

Check out the debate over Energy Independence at Next America!

Is Energy Independence A Myth or the Right Goal for America to Pursue?

YPFP members should definitely contribute to this fascinating discussion. Here's my response to the commentary from their website:

While energy independence is a powerful rhetorical concept, and energy security is an important strategic objective, neither phrase has very much to do with reality. It is essential for the health of our economy, the welfare of our citizens, the safety of our environment and the independence of our foreign policy that we recognize we are indeed in on the brink of an energy crisis and take appropriate correctives, but most of the solutions being discussed suffer from two flaws:

The Bold
Serchilo is a new tool that allows a user to navigate several search engines at once and quickly be taken to the final destination. The website works by allowing you to place short commands before your search to tell the engine where to look for what you want. For example, users interested in searching wikipedia will type a "w" before their search terms, and be taken directly to the wikipedia page on that topic. The simple commands don't save you much more time than going to the website itself - Serchilo really shines when it comes to more sophisticated functions.  For example, someone wanting to quickly search an exchange rate need only type in "eur-usd 115," and they will get a currency conversion.

With almost 300,000 employees, the DC area surpasses Silicon Valley in number of high-tech jobs, according to a report released by the American Electronics Association.  Adding over 6,000 jobs in 2006, the DC area also had the second-largest growth in the US after The Big Apple.  Other leading metro areas by high-tech employment were the New York City region (#1), Boston (#4) and Dallas-Fort Worth (#5).   
 
The study’s definition of “high tech jobs” encompassed a variety of fields.  While New York City’s is a hub of internet services, Silicon Valley remains the national leader in semiconductor manufacturing.  Washington DC’s tech cluster is based around computer system design.        
 
The first city-level report created since the burst of the dot com bubble, the study also warned that stringent visa requirements barring skilled foreigners to work in the United States and lack of qualified American graduates would hinder high-tech competitiveness in the long-term. 
 
Further Reading
American Electronics Report releases Cybercities 2008 
Cybercities 2008 on the Business Innovation Technology Society blog

As I've written  before, our generation of 'digital natives' is also using the internet to change public service.  Here are some innovative non-profits I’ve come across recently.     

Creative Commons
Operating under the motto of "share, remix, reuse – legally," Creative Commons seeks to further idea sharing and creative thinking by providing an alternative to traditional copyrights.  Founded in 2002 while Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig was arguing Supreme Court case Eldred v. Ashcroft, Creative Commons licenses fall between the private domain (all rights reserved) and the public domain (no rights reserved).  By selecting the degree of restriction, creators are able to maintain their rights while inviting derivative works based on their own.