Foreign Policy: Hating America: "There is always a market for an ideology of discontent�it allows those outside the mainstream to relate to the world. These beliefs usually form in reaction to the world�s dominant reality. So the rise of capitalism and democracy over the last 200 years produced ideologies of opposition from the left (communism, socialism) and from the right (hypernationalism, fascism). Today, the dominant reality in the world is the power of the United States, currently being wielded in a particularly aggressive manner. Anti-Americanism is becoming the way people think about the world and position themselves within it. It is a mindset that extends beyond politics to economic and cultural realms. So, in recent elections in Brazil, Germany, Pakistan, Kuwait, and Spain, the United States became a campaign issue. In all these places, resisting U.S. power won votes. Nationalism in many countries is being defined in part as anti-Americanism: Can you stand up to the superpower? "

Foreign Policy: Hating America: "But an equally important force propelling anti-Americanism around the world is an ideological vacuum. Political scientist Francis Fukuyama was right when he noted that the collapse of the Soviet Union also meant the collapse of the great ideological debate on how to organize economic and political life. The clash between socialism and capitalism created political debates and shaped political parties and their agendas across the world for more than a century. Capitalism�s victory left the world without an ideology of discontent, a systematic set of ideas that are critical of the world as it exists. "

Foreign Policy: Hating America: "Anti-Americanism�s ascendance also owes something to the geometry of power. The United States is more powerful than any country in history, and concentrated power usually means trouble. Other countries have a habit of ganging up to balance the reigning superpower. Throughout history, countries have united to defeat hegemonic powers�from the Hapsburgs to Napoleon to Kaiser Wilhelm and Hitler.
For over 50 years, the United States employed skillful diplomacy to fend off this apparently immutable law of history. U.S. administrations used power in generally benign ways, working through international organizations, fostering an open trading system that helped others grow economically, and providing foreign aid to countries in need. To demonstrate that it was not threatening, the United States routinely gave great respect and even deference to much weaker countries. "

Science: NewsFactor Network - Innovation - Computers Can Argue, Researcher Claims: "To resolve conflicts through negotiation, computers need artificial intelligence programs, which are 'increasingly being used on the Internet, in our homes, and in the workplace,' Jennings told NewsFactor. "

Edge: AFFECTIVE FORECASTING...OR...THE BIG WOMBASSA: "The problem lies in how we imagine our future hedonic states. We are the only animals that can peer deeply into our futures?the only animal that can travel mentally through time, preview a variety of futures, and choose the one that will bring us the greatest pleasure and/or the least pain. This is a remarkable adaptation?which, incidentally, is directly tied to the evolution of the frontal lobe?because it means that we can learn from mistakes before we make them. We don't have to actually have gallbladder surgery or lounge around on a Caribbean beach to know that one of these is better than another. We may do this better than any other animal, but our research suggests that we don't do it perfectly. Our ability to simulate the future and to forecast our hedonic reactions to it is seriously flawed, and that people are rarely as happy or unhappy as they expect to be. "

EDGE: THE END OF TIME: "Barbour argues that we live in a universe which has neither past nor future. A strange new world in which we are alive and dead in the same instant. In this eternal present, our sense of the passage of time is nothing more than a giant cosmic illusion. "

Gmail - Press Review for Aug. 30, 2004: Commentary: Extractive Industries Suffer From The Paradox Of Plenty: "Poor nations blessed with abundant natural resources, particularly resources related to the extractive industries, would seem to have a
head-start in the race to reduce poverty. Yet, in reality many have struggled and sometimes even done worse overall than others with fewer
resources. Why? There is nothing inherent about oil, coal, gas, or minerals such as copper, zinc, or even gold that directly destines their owners or producers toward ill ends. The real issue is how projects in the extractive industries - and their sometimes large revenues, in particular
- can dramatically alter the choices, incentives, and behavior of communities, nations, and policymakers. In short, money changes everything
- but it seems to change governance more than most. With too little ransparency, corruption becomes a threat. With too little community involvement, local community issues such as indigenous peoples and biodiversity suffer. With too much reliance on fossil fuels, the world decays, once again confronting our shared responsibility to address climate change."

NewsroomIn 2003 the number of people infected with AIDS increased to 38 million. The spread of AIDS is depleting the working-age population of some of the world's poorest regions. According to the International Labor Organization, the workforce in 38 African countries could be reduced by up to 35% by the year 2020. Women are increasingly impacted by the disease and now comprise more than half of all infections in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the disease continues its devastating impact on this region, home to approximately two-thirds of those infected with HIV, the fastest growth rate in new infections is occurring in Eastern Europe and Asia.

Scotsman.com News - Latest News - Expert Warns of Devastation Unleashed by Collapsing Volcano: "World leaders were today urged to wake up to the threat from a collapsing mountain which at any moment could unleash a massive tidal wave on the east coast of North America."

Gmail - FUTUREdition Volume 7, Number 16: "A chunk of a volcano in the Canary Islands the size of the Isle of Man is on the brink of falling into the sea. World leaders were urged to wake up to the threat from a collapsing mountain which at any moment could unleash a massive tidal wave, reaching heights of more than 500 feet at the speed of a passenger jet, on the east coast of North America and Boston, New York, Washington DC and Miami would be virtually wiped off the map and tens of millions of people killed in particular."

Gmail - Press Review for Aug. 27, 2004: - World Bank Unveils $12 Billion Plan To Cut Poverty In India: "About 2.4 billion people will likely face the risk of needless disease and death by the target date of 2015 because of bad sanitation, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said in a joint report. Most countries appear on track to cut by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water, but that still will leave 800 million people -- mainly in sub-Saharan Africa -- with polluted supplies, the agencies said. Bad sanitation -- decaying or nonexistent sewage systems and toilets -- fuels the spread of disease like cholera and basic illness like diarrhea, which
kills a child every 21 seconds. Around 2.6 billion people currently lack access to basic sanitation; 1 billion use unsafe drinking water. Taking population growth into account, by 2015 the figures will likely stand at 2.4 billion and 800 million, with the latter number considered a successful meeting of the target, the UN agencies said."

OECD Employment Outlook 2004 - Chapter 1 Striking facts: "Hours worked per inhabitant have evolved very differently since 1970 in different OECD countries, with the French working 24% fewer hours in 2002 than in 1970 and Americans working 20% more hours. Over this 32-year period, hours worked fell in the large majority of countries for which the necessary data are available to make this comparison, with most of this drop taking place during the 1970s and 1980s. After France, the largest declines in per capita hours were seen in Finland, Germany and Japan. In addition to the United States, hours worked rose only in Australia, Canada, Iceland and New Zealand."

OECD Observer: True growth: "The analysis focuses on the growth patterns of OECD countries during the last decade and identifies the fundamental drivers of growth, like human capital, R&D and innovation."

OECD Observer: True growth: “The end of World War II marked the beginning of a long period of prosperity in most countries now members of the OECD… and in many countries per capita incomes tended to catch up with American levels,” OECD Chief Economist Jean-Philippe Cotis observes in his foreword to Understanding Economic Growth.
Mr Cotis continues: “The history of the past two decades tempered to a great extent that initial enthusiasm. In the major countries of continental Europe, per capita incomes stopped converging towards American levels as of the early 1980s, before falling in relative terms throughout the 1990s. Japan has suffered a similar reversal of fortune during the past 15 years.”

OECD Observer: Healthier energy use: "Without these 25 years of energy savings, energy consumption would have been almost 50% higher. Over the same period, CO2 emissions declined or grew only modestly in most countries. In the IEA as a whole, CO2 emissions in 1973 were just under 1990 levels. Yet after 1990, many countries saw emissions increase significantly as prices eased and demand surged. Furthermore, in the EU the annual growth in emissions between 1998 and 2001 was stronger than over the previous eight years."

OECD Observer: Healthier energy use: "While energy demand in IEA countries has increased steadily since 1973, with only two interruptions, energy savings have been substantial, according to Oil Crises and Climate Challenges: 30 Years of Energy Use in IEA Countries. Compared to 1973, it takes a third less energy to produce a unit of GDP, thanks in part to improved energy efficiency"

OECD Observer: Nanotech is not small: "Nanotechnology R&D continues to grow in priority on national science agendas in OECD countries, both in terms of public and private funding. The United States, Europe and Japan each spend between US$500 million and $1 billion a year on nanotechnology R&D."

OECD Observer: Golden age: "Golden age"

OECD Observer: Golden age:How far has the OECD economy travelled in the last two hundred years? According to economic historian, Angus Maddison, GDP per capita worldwide has risen more than eightfold since 1820, compared with a fivefold increase in population, though the rate of growth has been uneven by time and by country.
From 1870 to 1913, world capita GDP rose 1.3% per year compared with 0.5% in 1820-70. Two world wars, the collapse of capital flows, migration and trade shattered the old economic order between 1913 and 1950, though by harnessing technological developments – electricity, automobiles, aviation and chemistry, etc. – the United States had become the world leader in terms of productivity and per capita income. The world economy as a whole performed better from 1950 to 2000 than at any time before. Real per capita income rose by 2.1% a year, compared with 0.9% from 1820-1950.

OECD Observer: Renewal and innovation: A condition of the health of nations: But global networks offer other benefits in terms of ideas and tapping expertise. In today’s world, marketers in Europe will collaborate with software designers in India, production plants in China and suppliers in the United States. Learning how to manage these geographically dispersed teams through a better use of IT is a major challenge, since playing too locally can cut you off from potential collaborators, whereas spreading out too finely can erode your influence and could cause you to lose your product to someone else.

OECD Observer: Renewal and innovation: A condition of the health of nations: "If innovation is a production process, then information and ideas are the raw materials to be transformed into (better) goods or services. "

OECD Observer: Renewal and innovation: A condition of the health of nations: "First, the economic landscape is changing. Globalisation, the rise of China and India as economic powers, and the geographical relocation not just of production, but R&D too, pose a major challenge for the �industrialised� world. There are new technology leaders, like Korea in the applications of broadband, or Singapore in biotechnology."

OECD Observer: Can new infectious diseases be stopped? Lessons from SARS and avian influenza: "Future efforts to stop new diseases can draw three lessons from these experiences. First, good surveillance at both national and international levels is essential. Second, since infectious diseases potentially threaten every country, it is in every country�s best self-interest to collaborate internationally. Finally, international co-ordination � whether under the WHO�s leadership or the guidance of the International Health Regulations � is needed to ensure that our collective efforts bring the best results for international health."

OECD Observer: Can new infectious diseases be stopped? Lessons from SARS and avian influenza: "The public image of SARS was a white mask. The most vivid images of its economic impact were those of empty airports and strangely quiet city streets. SARS changed the way economists estimate disease-related economic losses. Previously, such estimates were based primarily on the costs of medical treatment, absenteeism from work and lost productivity. Efforts to calculate the full economic costs of SARS are ongoing, but range from US$30 billion to $100 billion, largely measured in terms of lost trade and foreign investment."

OECD Observer: Can new infectious diseases be stopped? Lessons from SARS and avian influenzaOECD Observer: Can new infectious diseases be stopped? Lessons from SARS and avian influenza: That previously unthinkable event opened the eyes of politicians and the public to the damage that an infectious disease – whether of deliberate or natural origin – could cause in a highly mobile and closely interconnected world. It focused attention on several features of “modern” infectious diseases that make outbreaks, whatever their cause, an especially ominous threat. These include silent incubation periods that allow microbes to hide, unsuspected and undetected, in travellers, the speed of international spread made possible by the volume of air travel, and the potential for social and economic disruption amplified by electronic communications and the close interdependence of economies.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Salad oil may fuel hydrogen car of future: "Sunflower oil is light in taste and rich in vitamin E, and Valerie Dupont of the University of Leeds believes it could also prove a handy portable source for the cleanest fuel of all, pure hydrogen. "

08-09-04 SECOND HYPOXIC EVENT OFF OREGON MAY INDICATE NEW TREND: "- For the second time in three years, a hypoxic 'dead zone' has formed off the central Oregon Coast. It's killing fish, crabs and other marine life and leading researchers to believe that a fundamental change may be taking place in ocean conditions in the northern Pacific Ocean."

Twentieth Century Atlas - Top Ranked Atrocities: "Year by year death toll of the century's atrocities"

India Needs An Energy Vision DocumentThe price of US marker crude, West Texas Intermediate, surged past the $49/barrel last Friday and is set to break the $50/barrel barrier. Since end June 2004, US light sweet crude prices have shot up nearly 33 per cent. This increase has been caused by two factors. First, world oil consumption has been rising sharply. World demand has now reached 82.2 million barrels per day (mmbpd) compared to 76.6 mmbpd in 2000, registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.8 per cent. World oil consumption in 2004 is estimated to grow by 2.6 mmbpd, of which China alone is expected to contribute 0.8 mmbpd.

HoweStreet.com: "'A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.'
'The average age of the world's greatest civilization has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence. From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back into bondage.' Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University of Law, St. Paul, MN passed on that gem & provides the following 2000 election facts for consideration. Population of counties won by Gore 127 million, won by Bush 143 million. Sq. miles of country won by Gore 580,000, won by Bush 2,427,000. States won by Gore 19, by Bush 29. Murder per 100,000 residents in counties won by Gore 13.2 by Bush 2.1 (not a typo). "

HoweStreet.com“Let us be blunt about it. The US is now on the comfortable path to ruin. It is being driven along a road of ever rising deficits and debt, both external and fiscal, that risk destroying the country’s credit and the global role of its currency. It is also, not coincidentally, likely to generate an unmanageable increase in US protectionism.
Worse, the longer the process continues, the bigger the ultimate shock to the dollar and levels of domestic real spending will have to be. Unless trends change, 10 years from now the US will have fiscal debt and external liabilities that are both over 100% of GDP. It will have lost control over its economic fate.

IOL: Science & Tech: "'In 50 years' time, the ideal climatic conditions for growing Chianti will be found in Germany, while (grapes for French) Champagne and Bordeaux will best grow in southern England,' Monday's La Repubblica quoted Jones as saying."

Daily Yomiuri On-Line: "It is easy to imagine instant always-on global communication within a generation, including voice and video, available on a range of devices. Personal, wristwatch-style devices with full motion video will enable individuals to remain in constant contact, while whiteboard-sized panels will coordinate the activities of dispersed team members anywhere on the face of the earth. "

Daily Yomiuri On-LineWork is gradually but irreversibly shifting overseas, mainly to India, but also to China and Central Europe.

Foreign Affairs - "Misunderestimating" Terrorism - Alan B. Krueger and David D. Laitin: "As the war on terrorism continues, statistics on terrorist attacks are becoming as important as the unemployment rate or the GDP. Yet the terrorism reports produced by the U.S. government do not have nearly as much credibility as its economic statistics, because there are no safeguards to ensure that the data are as accurate as possible and free from political manipulation. The flap over the error-ridden 2003 Patterns of Global Terrorism report, which Secretary of State Colin Powell called 'a big mistake' and which had to be corrected and re-released, recently brought these issues to the fore. But they still have not been adequately addressed"

Philadelphia Inquirer: In 1973, the wealthiest 20 percent of households earned 44 percent of total U.S. income. By 2002, the Census Bureau reports, the share of total wages for that wealthiest 20 percent had increased to 50 percent. The share of income of every other wage group fell during that span.

People's Daily Online -- Analysis: why Bush declares military realignment: "By taking advantage of the war in Afghanistan and on the al-Qaida network, the United States has found a foothold in Central Asia. With forward operating locations in north Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, the United States has developed the capability to respond rapidly to crisis that may occur in these areas. "

People's Daily Online -- Analysis: why Bush declares military realignment: "Analysts said the new threats, as demonstrated by the Sept. 11 attacks, have prompted the United States to restructure its military strategy, structure and weapons development, so as to ensure victories in asymmetric wars.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States has deemed that overseas threats mainly come from terrorist activities and regional conflicts, and the new threats are indefinite, which makes it difficult for the US troops, which are built to handle traditional threats and enemies, to deal with. As a result, it hasbecome a priority of the Pentagon led by Rumsfeld to build an agile and flexible force, to meet the new threats in the 21st century. "

KurzweilAI.net Public and private individuals and institutions will spend more than $8.6 billion worldwide on nano research and development this year, according to "The Nanotech Report 2004," published by New York-based Lux Research Inc.

People's Daily Online -- When the end of US expansion in military expenditure: "To prevent from terrorist attack again all over the USA has been on the high alert. According to the report issued by the US State Department the year of 2003 witnessed the outbreak of 175 terrorist attacks in the world, the highest ever since 1982, causing casualties of 4271 lives and it seemed that the more anti-terrorist activities launched the more terrorist events in the world. The vehement facts express clearly that to indulge wantonly in military aggression won't do any good to solving the safety and security problem nor will it do to terrorism but will run counter to its own desire. "

People's Daily Online -- When the end of US expansion in military expenditure: "Obviously, so large an amount of military expenditure has gone far beyond the needs of the US national defence. Ever since the founding of the United States of America over 200 years ago the US continent has never suffered from any war from alien lands except the one Japanese air-raid over the Pearl Harbor during the World War II. On the contrary it is the US which has launched several aggressive wars on the lands of other countries. Geographically speaking, the US faces the sea on the east and west while the north and south are adjacent to its close allies of Mexico and Canada and the South America is taken as its 'backyard'. Under the present peripheral condition, how can a superpower as such and the only one in the world today be militarily threatened by other countries from without? In regard with catering to the non-traditional terror and threat there is no need for the US to expand so large a military expenditure. "

People's Daily Online -- When the end of US expansion in military expenditure: "Recently the US has officially issued two sets of astronomical figures, the record-breaking figures in history. One is the USD 417.5 billion endorsed by President Bush for the bill of budget for national defence in 2005 and the other the Federal financial deficit of as high as USD 395.0 billion in the previous 10 months (a conservative estimation for annual deficit to reach USD 445.0 billion). Though the couple of figures of causality seem to be dull and tedious yet there's something of great significance behind them. "

The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > U.S. Voters Show Concern Over Security and Foreign Affairs: "The Pew Center, relying in part on data from past Gallup polls, said that security and foreign affairs issues dominated all campaigns from 1948 to 1972. But beginning in 1976, a year after the fall of Saigon, economic issues took over. That trend peaked in 1992, when Clinton campaign aides were instructed, 'It's the economy, stupid.' Voters that year cited economic concerns 18 times as often as foreign and security matters. "

Herbal medicine spawns antimalarial chemical: After more than a decade of research, scientists believe they have come up with a fresh line of defence against the increasingly drug-resistant malaria parasite. Results suggest that the drug, which recently entered clinical trials in Britain, could revolutionize treatment of the disease.

Asia Times Online - The trusted source for news on Central Asia: Formerly, the predominant global view was that independence from, or even direct opposition to, the US was virtual suicide. However, that fear-based view has recently been mostly discredited in favor of one that admonishes and encourages independence from the US in the diplomatic, economic and military spheres. The new philosophy is working quite nicely for those who have adopted it, and is progressively drawing power away from the US and placing it in the hands of weaker powers, which are learning to act collectively, to form meaningful and mutually beneficial alliances, in order to counterbalance, and even roll back, US global dominance.

Asia Times Online - The trusted source for news on Central Asia: There exist forces of mutual attraction drawing Europe and Asia together, as well as external forces driving them together. Additionally, a growing power vacuum left in the wake of the United States' economic, diplomatic and military decline, coupled with intensifying opposition to its increasingly militarized and unilateral foreign policy, is fueling a widespread and accelerating realignment of states on the Eurasian landmass, where such states increasingly pursue a course of greater independence from the US and a closer alignment with their Eurasian partners.

Plastic bags Plastic shopping bags are among the most ubiquitous consumer items on Earth. Factories around the world churned out a whopping 4–5 trillion of them in 2002, ranging from large trash bags to thick shopping totes to flimsy grocery sacks.

VOANews.com: To illustrate his point, Mr. Haub points to two countries with starkly different population projections: Nigeria and Japan. He notes that, today, the two countries have similar populations: 137 million for Nigeria and 128 million for Japan. "But if we look at a projection for the population of both countries, look where they wind up: Nigeria three times the size of Japan," said Mr. Haub. By 2050, Nigeria's population is expected to reach 307 million, while Japan's population is projected to decline by 22 percent to 100 million.

VOANews.com: The Population Reference Bureau projects world population at 9.3 billion by the middle of this century, a 45 percent increase over today's tally of roughly 6.4 billion. That is despite a global average fertility rate that has dropped from more than five children per female in the 1950s to 2.8 today, and is expected to decline further to less then 2.5 in years to come.

Latest Connection: The dogma is that the two major means of organizing for economic production are the market and the firm. But Benkler uses open source as an example of peer-to-peer production, which he thinks may be pointing toward a third means of organizing for production. Then you look at Amazon (AMZN) and its recommendation system, getting users to provide free reviews, users sharing choices with their friends, users who make lists of products. They get a lot of free advice that turns out to be very useful in the aggregate. There's also Wikipedia [the online encyclopedia written by volunteers]. It has 500,000 articles in 50 languages at virtually no cost, vs. Encyclopedia Britannica spending millions of dollars and they have 50,000 articles.

Salon.com Technology | When machines breed: "Paul Layzell is a specialist in the budding field of evolvable hardware. Simply put, he helps machines design themselves, using principles borrowed directly from biological evolution. "

Amazon.com: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference: "The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life,' writes Malcolm Gladwell, 'is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do"

Amazon.com: Global Trends 2005 : An Owner's Manual for the Next Decade: "As social theorist Drucker pointed out, every few hundred years a sharp transformation occurs during which society rearranges itself in a variety of aspects--its worldview, its basic values, its social and political structure, its arts, its key institutions. At the end of the 20th century, we are living through precisely such a transformation. "

Amazon.com: Global Trends 2005 : An Owner's Manual for the Next Decade: "While Mazarr expects little to change in the developed Western world, he predicts instability in Africa, the Middle East, and India due to rapid population growth, disease, food and water shortages, and cultural conflicts. Advances in science and technology, he continues, will fuel rapid social change and create a global culture of free-market economies--unleashing instability in the process. "

The Arlington Institute: "Getting to the future is never a linear event. The ability to sense emerging trends and their cascading effects requires various forms of radar: hard data, experience, instinct and imagination. To see the shape of important trends you need to scale a variety of mountains -- political, social, religious, ecological, scientific and technological -- and consider how the trend might complement or collide with world economics, human rights, domestic & foreign policy, women�s issues, spiritual values, educational methodologies, transportation routes, government infrastructure, and on�
It is imperative that we actively pursue trends outside our small area of interest. If we do not, major events will be surprises and we won't have time to react to them. To gauge the relative importance of a trend, consider the social context within which it operates, and the groups or individuals most profoundly affected by the trend. Think systemically"

Wild card There are three general types of these wild card events: geopolitical events, technological breakthroughs, and environmental disasters.

The history of energy and major fuel transitions is the history of human evolution, innovation, and technological advancement itself. It is significant that in approximately one million years of human history1, the world has transitioned to a new era of primary energy fuel four times, all of which occurred in the last three hundred years. Indeed, three of these transitions took place within the last century. A survey of the world’s transition from wood to coal to oil to natural gas to nuclear power reveals that new fuels are being discovered and used at an exponential rate.

Canadian Christianity - Canada's Online Christian Resource: "Over the past century . . . the centre of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Already today, the largest Christian communities on the planet are to be found in Africa and Latin America. If we want to visualize a 'typical' contemporary Christian, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela . . .
Whatever Europeans or North Americans may believe, Christianity is doing very well indeed in the global South -- not just surviving, but expanding. This trend will continue apace in coming years. Many of the fastest growing countries in the world are either predominantly Christian or else have very sizable Christian minorities. "

Islam Online- Environment: "Globally, about 800 km3/a of freshwater are abstracted from aquifers. About one quarter of this abstraction is non-sustainable in the sense that it is not replaced by recharge. On the Arabian Peninsula, in North Africa, China and the arid Western United States for example, abstractions for large-scale irrigation have withdrawn large quantities of fossil water, which under present climatic conditions are no longer replenished.
Meanwhile, the conference released information showing that the global area of wetlands has diminished by 50 percent since the year 1900. This has a dramatic impact on species diversity. It is a consequence of the competition between natural and man-made ecosystems for land and water resources."

Islam Online- Environment: "Freshwater is a scarce resource on a worldwide basis. This becomes apparent by looking at the global freshwater balance. Of the 110,000 km3/area of precipitation on the landmass of the earth, 50,000 km3/area are returned to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration by the planet�s natural plant cover. Another 21,000 km3/area are used by man-made ecosystems (18,000 km3/a by rain-fed agriculture and 3,000 km3/a by irrigated agriculture). This shows that agriculture and natural vegetation are already fierce competitors for the available freshwater."

BBC NEWS Science/Nature Nature 'mankind's gravest threat': "Global Geophysical Events, or 'Gee Gee's', as they are nick-named, are not being taken seriously enough, they say. The global community needs to monitor these risks, and develop strategies to cope in the face of a catastrophe. However, we are making good progress in reducing the threat of asteroid impacts, the researchers said during a briefing at the Royal Institution, UK. "

Man and machine, between two worlds - The Washington Times: Books - August 08, 2004: "Mr. MacLeod isn't the first science fiction writer to explore the characteristics of consciousness and notice that the boundaries delineating human and artificial intelligence are narrowing."

Gmail - Worldwatch: Linking Globalization, Consumption, and Governance & Wise Back to School Buys: "By stretching the physical distance between the location where a product is first made to where it is later used and then disposed of, today?s global economies tend to insulate end consumers from the various negative environmental and social impacts of their purchases, writes Hilary French in Linking Globalization, Consumption and Governance. "

Nations Collaborate to Take Planet's 'Pulse': Vast Network Will Monitor Environment: "Much of the sensing capacity is already in place: There are 50 satellites collecting environmental data from orbit; 68 moored buoys operated by the United States and Japan monitor the equatorial Pacific; 14 nations collaborate on a network of another 1,288 buoys that constantly rise and sink over a two-week period, from the ocean's surface to more than a mile below, to measure temperature and salinity, then transmit the data to satellites. There will be 3,000 such buoys in the next three years, Lautenbacher said. "

Nations Collaborate to Take Planet's 'Pulse': Vast Network Will Monitor Environment: "Seventeen federal agencies are about to take a step toward wiring the world -- and taking its pulse, temperature and blood pressure on a round-the-clock basis.
The grandly titled Global Earth Observation System of Systems, which boasts nearly 50 countries as participants, is an ambitious attempt by governments, scientists and industry to launch a network that will continuously monitor the land, sea and air. If it meets expectations, it could transform the way farmers plant their crops, sailors plot their voyages and doctors work to prevent the spread of disease in remote regions. "

Commission for Africa Is Launched by PM Tony Blair: Panel Discusses Brandt and Sets Development Agenda - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "Current trends indicate that many African states � plagued with HIV/AIDS, low life-expectancy, and chronic poverty � will not meet their 2000 UN Millennium Development Goals for 2015. At its conference last week at No. 10 Downing Street, the Commission for Africa set an agenda for its future discussions, including conflict resolution and peace building, health and human development, AIDS, natural resources and agriculture, governance, education, culture, heritage, and participation. The commission will also focus on global trade and financial policies � like rolling back agricultural subsidies in developed nations, offering development bonds through the international capital markets, and expanding debt relief � to get Africa on track to meet its anti-poverty targets. "

Prospects for China and India in the 21st Century --By Dr. Marvin J, Cetron: "Environmentally, both China and India face a grim future. In China, air pollution already costs about $13 billion a year in lost productivity. In India, it is blamed for 2.5 million premature deaths annually. Industry uses about 15 percent of the water consumed in China, that will rise by a factor of five in the next two decades, leaving even less clean water for agriculture. In India, water shortages are common, and water pollution kills 1.5 million pre-school children each year. The situation can only get worse in the coming decades. It will be most of 20 years before India and China accept the need to clean up their environments. "

Prospects for China and India in the 21st Century --By Dr. Marvin J, Cetron: "The World Trade Organization estimates that by 2020 no fewer than 100 million Chinese will fan out across the globe, replacing Americans, Japanese, and Germans as the world�s most numerous travelers, while 50 million Indians will tour overseas. At the same time, both countries are developing new destinations for foreign visitors. China plans to train 10 million new specialists for the hospitality industry over the next ten years. "

World Future Society 2004 Conference Volume: "We are living in times of turbulence and complex changes without precedent in history. It is becoming increasingly evident that humans are an intrinsic component of nature, in that their actions affect both the biotic and abiotic environments, and are in turn affected by everything that shapes those environments. In evolutionary terms, population growth, societal restructuring, exhaustion of natural resources, and technological advancements have usually been so slow as to be indiscernible during an individual lifetime. However, in the past two centuries the global economy has shown exponential growth, transforming the character of the planet and especially of human life. If this rate of transformation is sustained without strategic planning for the future, the consequences for the long-term well-being of humanity are frightening. Anticipation of and preparation for the future are essential to achieving sustainable development. However, the potential for linking futures thinking to debates about sustainable development is very undeveloped at the global level. "

World Future Society 2004 Conference Volume: "The nature of consciousness is one of the central issues of our time. Computer power should match the human brain about 2020, setting the stage for a grand test of a paramount scientific question: Is there a substantial difference between human intelligence and machine intelligence? New evidence supports the scientific view that consciousness arises out of the physical brain alone; other evidence supports the idea that a 'spiritual' dimension indeed exists. "

World Future Society 2004 Conference Volume: "Society's increasingly intense focus on the present has led to a frenzied, fragmented world. People possess more wealth, material goods, and technological conveniences than ever before, but face chronic stress, anxiety, loss of control, deteriorating trust and connectivity, and escalating depression. Most importantly, our sense of the future is narrowing and weakening."

World Future Society 2004 Conference Volume: "The greatest issue confronting humankind in the 21st century is how we shall govern ourselves. Two powerful antithetical forces, tribalism and globalization, appear to be our only options, but there are others. Some argue that the United States can act as the world's policeman and the guardian of the new global economy, while others hope for a condominium of affluent powers, including the United States, capable of jointly assuring stability in the world order. Proposals also abound for transforming the United Nations into the leading player in a new global security system. Unfortunately, for many reasons, none of these forces and projects can save civilization from unraveling in the course of the 21st century. The only sane alternative is a democratic global commonwealth, which today seems hopelessly out of reach, but may yet become attainable in the wake of crises so potentially lethal that they leave humankind with no other choice."

World Future Society 2004 Conference Volume: "We will reengineer our biological constitutions and introduce silicon, steel, and microchips into ourselves. Some may choose to reside in computers as conscious wave patterns, while others will convert themselves into durable robots and venture out into space. Simultaneously, we will create entirely new forms of life, including artificial intelligence and perhaps even a global consciousness.
Humanity's monopoly as the only advanced sentient life-form on the planet will soon come to an end, supplemented by a number of posthuman incarnations. Moreover, how we reengineer ourselves could fundamentally change the ways in which our society functions and raise crucial questions about our identities and moral status as human beings."

World Future Society 2004 Conference Volume: "Infectious disease is not a thing of the past. Despite spectacular advances in medicine, some diseases are increasing as novel infectious agents appear, pathogenic microbes evolve, and etiologic agents expand into new geographic regions. Changing disease patterns can sometimes be linked directly to economic, medical, and environmental changes brought about by humans, but are often not foreseeable. The future challenge is to recognize and manage emerging diseases quickly to ensure they do minimal harm. Without directed surveillance and proactive mitigation efforts, emerging diseases could produce an unwelcome countertrend to hoped-for human health enhancements and projected life-span extensions."

World Future Society 2004 Conference Volume: "Change is the norm, but its pace is accelerating. Older models that help us understand change and its dynamic impacts include linear change, evolution, cyclical change, and dialectical change between thesis-antithesis-synthesis. Newer models of interest to futures researchers include step jump models (sudden shifts in a system without a prior breakdown), evolutionary spirals, series of S-shaped curves of breakdowns and breakthroughs, and chaos."

World Future Society 2004 Conference Volume: "The urban future is an essential issue today because growing numbers of the world's people are flocking into cities that are already straining to provide adequate resources to accommodate everyone."

News & Previews from the World Future Society: "'We are in the last half century of a great energy era,' said Rifkin. 'A new energy regime is on the horizon--hydrogen.' The decentralization of energy with fuel cells will lead to the Third Industrial Revolution, he argued, urging futurists to 'help us ask the right questions' about that transition."

Greater profusionHistorical studies are blossoming in greater profusion than ever before. There are more professional historians alive today than there have been in all recorded history. Ever-growing varieties of perspectives generate new journals, electronic and printed.

hegemonyBut since hegemony is never total, resistance can take non-political forms. Is it fair to see shirking, laziness, holidays, and religion as forms of resistance?

cultural and symbolic sphere"Hegemony", the control of the cultural and symbolic sphere, matters as much if not more than control of production.

DivisionsClass divisions based on relations to means of production are at least understandable, if not to be condoned, in economic terms: owners of capital in search of maximum profits will always try to beat down workers' wages and convince themselves that they don't deserve any more. Gender divisions are at least biologically relatively clear, and also have some basis in the division of labor between household and child rearing and the world of work, though of course these classifications are socially constructed, too. But racial categories are a completely political and historical
construction which invokes pseudo-scientific biology to justify them. There are interesting analogies and differences between these three forms of power relations; they are, I think, the three basic categories that social historians concentrate on. A fourth form, the nation-state, has been, however, by far the dominant one for traditional historians for centuries. Most historians still organize their reading, research, and teaching by national orientation.

The history of the warsThe history of the wars, diplomacy, and politics of the nation state, polis, or empire, which features in the classics, was challenged by a new history "from below", of the "longue durée" (long-term), of social and economic processes. The old history never disappeared; in fact, military and political history is still the predominant form of history writing today.

Soon, mobiles to run on your body's energy! - News Details, Webindia123.com: "According to The Straits Times, researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) are working on a project to see how the body can generate electricity to run mobile devices."

THE SPEAKING TREE
Mapping the Physical And Mental Universes - The Times of India: "If our perceptions of the subjective and objective universes are in a state of constant flux, it follows that theories of everything that seek to explain the A to Z in either domain will necessarily be in a state of constant evolution. And so we, too, will constantly be in search of an elusive truth... "

THE SPEAKING TREE
Mapping the Physical And Mental Universes - The Times of India: "This is the information age, thanks to the giant leaps we've made in computer chip technology. David Chalmers, of the department of philosophy, University of Arizona, raises a complex futuristic question: If the precise interactions between our neurons could be duplicated with silicon chips, would it give rise to the same conscious experience? Can consciousness arise in a complex, synthetic system? In other words, can consciousness some day be achieved in machines? "

MSNBC - What Dreams Are Made Of: "Thousands of years ago, dreams were seen as messages from the gods, and in many cultures, they are still considered prophetic. In ancient Greece, sick people slept at the temples of Asclepius, the god of medicine, in order to receive dreams that would heal them. Modern dream science really begins at the end of the 19th century with Sigmund Freud, who theorized that dreams were the expression of unconscious desires often stemming from childhood. He believed that exploring these hidden emotions through analysis could help cure mental illness. The Freudian model of psychoanalysis dominated until the 1970s, when new research into the chemistry of the brain showed that emotional problems could have biological or chemical roots, as well as environmental ones. In other words, we weren't sick just because of something our mothers did (or didn't do), but because of some imbalance that might be cured with medication."

Vicky Rossi, In Pursuit of Peace: "Governments and tax-payers should also seriously question the sense in spending enormous sums of money on military budgets when 'might against might' only addresses the symptoms of conflict, which at times may be necessary, but which cannot lead to renewed 'health' because war does not treat the underlying causes of 'illness'. Furthermore, if the reason for spending such disproportionate sums of money on weapons is not simply to fulfil perceived security needs, but is actually motivated by greed and the desire for domination, then we are faced with a doubled-edged sword, that is, the very instrument which we are told is creating the peace we are so proud of is in fact perpetuating direct, structural and/or cultural violence. "

Vicky Rossi, In Pursuit of Peace: "the average person is not aware of the structural and cultural dimensions of violence, or at the very least they have never labelled such things as poverty, unemployment (structural), censorship and sexual discrimination (cultural) as violence. "

Vicky Rossi, In Pursuit of Peace: "Furthermore, present day society, particularly in stable nations, is characterised by a vast network of information technology, which has brought us into vivid contact with the day-to-day reality of life in almost every corner of the globe. "

Vicky Rossi, In Pursuit of Peace: "The level of violence expressed in societies worldwide is indicative of the depth of disharmony within the ranks of humanity, both at the inter-community and intra-community levels. "

SIPRI YEARBOOK 2004, HIGHLIGHTS: "The free access to genetic sequence data for the human genome and a large number of other genomes, including those for pathogenic micro-organisms, is a great scientific resource, but it could pose a significant threat if misused."

SIPRI YEARBOOK 2004, HIGHLIGHTS: "World military spending in 2003 increased by about 11 per cent in real terms. This is a remarkable rate of increase, even more so given that it was preceded by an increase of 6.5 per cent in 2002. Over two years world military spending increased by 18 per cent in real terms, to reach $956 billion (in current dollars) in 2003."

SIPRI YEARBOOK 2004, HIGHLIGHTS: "Part of the response to asymmetric or other threats depends on the exploitation of relevant skills in support of research, development and production of military technology; on the efficient organization of such activities at the national and multinational levels; and on sharing the outputs with friendly states and allies."

SIPRI YEARBOOK 2004, HIGHLIGHTS: During the first years of the 21st century, at least, the northern hemisphere’s family of democratic states does not seem to have found the formula for becoming more inclusive and more united.

The Imperial Lament - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "The age of empire is over. Any attempted restoration will be bloody and is very likely to fail."

The Imperial Lament - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "Ferguson's argument for 'friction and ambivalence' in US-Israeli relations is partly based on President Dwight Eisenhower's demand that Israel withdraw from the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, which it occupied in the 1956 war. Israel, Britain and France had colluded to attack Egypt to reverse the nationalization of the Suez Canal, an imperial adventure to which Ferguson uncharacteristically objects. However, there was no US-Israeli 'special relationship' at this time. From the early 1950s until 1967, France was Israel's principal ally and the source of its advanced tanks, aircraft and, in part, nuclear expertise. The Eisenhower administration opposed the tripartite aggression against Egypt because it believed that the maintenance of French and British colonial empires was an obstacle to fighting the Cold War in Africa and Asia. It supported Algerian independence for the same reason. Israel's particular interests had to be subordinated to this primary foreign and military policy objective. "

The Imperial Lament - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "A more comprehensive perspective would consider seriously the significance of the major anti-imperial movements in Egypt and India at the end of World War I followed by rebellions against French imperialism in Syria and Morocco. Since then, the peoples of the world -- for better or worse -- have tended to take seriously the principle of the right of nations to self-determination first enunciated by both liberals and Marxists. The age of empire is over. Any attempted restoration will be bloody and is very likely to fail. The physical destruction and human carnage resulting from US or US-backed military interventions in places like Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Angola don't figure in Ferguson's imperial balance sheet. "

Continuity and Change in Two Turn-of-the-Century Wars - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "In the past, the US has always acted under the cover of legitimacy, so when that cover was exposed, policymakers had to reverse course. But what makes the Bush administration so dangerous is that after they failed in their effort to manipulate world opinion or US opinion to support their war in Iraq, they declared that they were going forward anyway. If they can get away with this, that would be a very dangerous precedent indeed. "

Continuity and Change in Two Turn-of-the-Century Wars - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "At the beginning of the 21st Century, the Bush administration continues the US policy of seeking global hegemony. But with a change. In the past, the policy of world domination was masked with all sorts of platitudes. 'Our arms will never be used to strike the first blow,' said Kennedy as he ordered the Bay of Pigs invasion. This sort of two-faced policy depended for its success on the ability to manipulate and mislead the public, with Tonkin Gulf incidents and similar deceptions. "

Continuity and Change in Two Turn-of-the-Century Wars - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "In 1898, a three-sided political struggle emerged in the United States over imperialism. The imperialists wanted a colonial empire of the sort held by the other great powers. A second group wanted instead to 'treat the Philippines like Cuba' -- that is, they were neo-colonialists, rather than colonialists. And a third group, about which Daniel Schirmer has written so eloquently, opposed empire whether of the colonial or the neo-colonial variety. Ultimately, the second group won this struggle, but the third group enunciated a position that continues to inspire us today. "

Continuity and Change in Two Turn-of-the-Century Wars - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "Being a world power can mean many things. I will consider four possible renderings of the term. It might mean, first, having global interests. Second, it could mean engaging in foreign interventions. Third, ruling over subject peoples. Fourth, seizing foreign territory. "

War, Propaganda and the Media: "Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. ... Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

War, Propaganda and the Media: "The first casualty when war comes is Truth"

War, Propaganda and the Media: "We must remember that in time of war what is said on the enemy's side of the front is always propaganda, and what is said on our side of the front is truth and righteousness, the cause of humanity and a crusade for peace."

War, Propaganda and the Media: "Propaganda can serve to rally people behind a cause, but often at the cost of exaggerating, misrepresenting, or even lying about the issues in order to gain that support."