Journal of Futures Studies
Epistemology, Methods, Applied and Alternative Futures
The Journal of Futures Studies (JFS) is published by the Graduate Institute of Futures Studies, Tamkang University, Tamsui, Taipei, Taiwan. The editors invite contributors in the areas of foresight, forecasting, long-range planning, visioning and other related areas.
To date we have identified over 80 and mapped 50 such Black Spots and begun to assess the types of interactions going on in these areas as well as the various kinds of insecurity that they are exporting and the directions in which it is or may be going. We continually scan the globe for other areas where conditions seem right for the presence of a Black Spot. Using published materials, news-scanning software, formal and informal interviews, and, where feasible, visits to the areas, we piece together a picture of the Global Black Spots, their nature, and their interactions with the outside world.
A good example of why learning from the past can be useful.
Full Story Online
October 31, 2009
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Chimera of Victory
By GIAN P. GENTILE
If history is a guide, then the recent suicide bombings in Baghdad show that the insurgency in Iraq is far from over. Contrary to much of what is written and said, victory is not near and the notion that the āsurgeā of troops was some great, decisive military action that set the stage for political reconciliation is a chimera.
It was a chimera for the French in Algeria that their bloody counterinsurgency there defeated Algerian nationalists. After the war, which lasted from 1956 to 1961, a myth started to build in the French Army and then found its way into American Army thinking, where it lives on today, that the French military operations defeated the insurgents.
Paul Kawika Martin, Political and Policy Director for Peace Action, said:
I think the question should be:Ā How much U.S. credit should we use on the war in Afghanistan? As it stands, the over $230 Billion we have already spent has mostly been borrowed money adding to the U.S. deficit.Ā Of course, just like buying a car or home, sometimes it's good to do things on credit.Ā But this isn't the true cost.Ā As Noble Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda Bilmes points out, that figure fails to include interest on debt, veterans benefits and other costs to society.Ā They estimate the costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could top a staggering $5 trillion to $7 trillion.
Phi Beta Iota: Other “pundits” can be read within the full story.Ā The cost is far more than the “tangible debt.”Ā It includes the hollowing out of America–the loss of integrity, the failure of paradigms, the cheating culture, and on and on and on.Ā We have in essence sacrified the Republic in the name of partisan politics and corporate greed, enabled by civitas minimus.Ā America is less safe and less prosperous today than it was on 9/12.
I must note that normally I would reduce one star–Virgin Books evidently has no clue–or no interest–in using the many Amazon tools provided to publishers (I am one) and therefore we are not seeing so little as a Table of Contents and the Index (always huge for me in evaluating a non-fiction book for possible purchase) or even better, “Look Inside the Book,” which is no harder than uploading the book pdf via Amazon Advantage. Bad dog.
Federal Reserve Policy Audit Legislation āGutted,ā Paul Says
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) –By Bob Ivry
Representative Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who has called for an end to the Federal Reserve, said legislation he introduced to audit monetary policy has been āguttedā while moving toward a possible vote in the Democratic-controlled House.
The bill, with 308 co-sponsors, has been stripped of provisions that would remove Fed exemptions from audits of transactions with foreign central banks, monetary policy deliberations, transactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee and communications between the Board, the reserve banks and staff, Paul said today.
Inspirational and Practical as Well
