Ken WIlber and Andrew Cohen Live in their first ever virtual seminar. For those of  us interested in tracking the emergence of a new synthesis of science and spirit, integral stages of development, and the evolution of enlgihtenment itself, it doesn't get any better then this.  Information here, and love to hear people's thoughts after the broadcast.

This is pretty cool.  Shows immigration into the U.S. in what Thomas Barnett refers to as "inverted globalization". 

News just keeps getting worse for the McCain camp, and their "Hail Mary", as many in the press are calling it,  isn't looking good.  This recent exchange on CNN kinda sums it up.

Senator Obama delivered a historic speech tonite, and if you think he was going to roll over and let McCain paint him as weak, unpatrotic, and unfit for command, think again. He hit back, and he hit hard.

More importantly, it was an historic moment at a historic time recalling another historic moment 45 years ago, when another Black man said "I have a dream".

Tonite, we were all proud to be Americans, because Obama lifted us above the petty partisinship of the last years, and placed us together on the pedastal of common purpose.

And for a moment, even the press had to step back and say: wow.

Except for Brian Williams of NBC who tried so hard to stay objective he ended up saying almost nothing.  Come one Brian, the only "objective" response was "wow"! 
(Enter the irony of  "objectivity": trying so hard to not have your own authentic response interfere with your discrimination that you end up sounding, well, biased against the obvious!)

But even that can't spoil the extraordinary speech delivered from Denver tonite.

The energy crisis and the looming spectre of peak oil is hitting the suburbs pretty hard, which is what makes this question so interesting: what will the suburbs look like in 40 years?  This question gets to the heart of our current economic challenges, and depending on how you see our current situation, you might think things look good, or bad, or somewhere in between. 
Several experts tackle the question here, like  Lawrence C. Levy, executive director of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY,   and Gary J. Gates, a Senior Research Fellow at the Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, and others. Interesting reading, primarily because the answers vary wildly: from "the suburbs are doomed" to  "the suburbs will evolve in smart and desireable ways" and everything in between.

Which means someone has to be wrong.  Very wrong.

Question: Guess who the #1 Supplier of oil to the United States is? 

Answer: The United States!  
We supplied ourselves with 1.64 Billion barrels of oil last year.

The Middle East is a lowly 5th with 805 Million barrels per year. 

 

A war that nobody wants but everybody needs

Interesting article from military strategist Thomas Barnett on Iran and the upcoming election. I appreciate his thinking on the Middle  East,  refreshing given the media's tendency to polarize the issue.

The world heads for another war in the Persian Gulf that nobody wants but everybody seems to need. Looming behind the most crucial dynamics is the possible presidency of Barack Obama, suggesting that war may become inevitable due to the fear of peace. After eight years of Bush-Cheney, such is the state of our world.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency has been a disaster for the Iranian people. Despite all the oil wealth, inflation is raging and the economy goes nowhere. Add in a stunning birth dearth, the world's worst brain drain, plus Iranian prostitutes headlining European brothels, and this is clearly a society in a death spiral. With restless students chanting in public for Ahmadinejad's death, little wonder the man pines for a splendid little war

Read the entire article here.

In April, CNBC interviewed several leading economists, asking them to predict the price of oil at the end of the summer. Get this: the range was from $70.00 - $120.00 per barrel. Today, midway through the summer the price is hovering around $140.00. 

To emphasize the point that economists may not be the best judge of where we are heading, here is an interesting video interview with Dr. Robert Hirsch, of Management Information Services Inc. (Interestingly, Dr. Hirsch was the author of a little publicized 2005 US Dept of Energy report, called The Hirsch Report, that warned of the consequences of the US ignoring the looming energy crisis. You can read a brief summary of it here).  He points out that no one really knows for sure what the price is going to be in the future, but it sure ain't going down.  He predicts $500  per barrel within 3-5 years.

Dr. Hirsch Discusses Peak Oil on CNBC

People sometimes dismiss peak oil discussions assuming that we aren't likely to run out of oil soon, so what's the fuss? The issue, of course, isn't running out, but the fact that at some point in time, demand will exceed production/supply and never go back.

That's when things get interesting, and why exorbitant pricing in the next few years is not out of the question.

Peak Oil anyone?

I think most of us had a relatively positive impression of McCain prior to this election season, which is why it is all the more mysterious how he seems to be so intent on doing one thing and saying another.  He said he would run a clean campaign, and then attacks Michelle Obama.  He said we would fight for the enviroment, and then advocates offshore drilling most experts agree would have liitle long term impact on soaring energy prices. He says he respects the rule of law, and then panders to the right on Habeus Corpus. And most mysterious of all, he trots out Rudy Guliani, someone McCain himself dismissed as having no credibility  on national security, and tries to paint Obama as weak on terrorism.  Huh?

But it ain't working, as the swing states are swinging decidely, at least for now, in Obama's favor.

 

My favorite military strategist, and one of a breed of modern optimists thinking of global solutions to the problems we face is Thomas Barnett. Author of The Pentagons New Map, he's loyal to neither the right or left.  You may recall his highly publicized recent article in Esquire Magazine that predicted Admiral Fallon's departure from his command at CENTCOM. (Fallon announced his resignation and retirement from active duty, citing administrative complications caused in part by the article which described him as the only thing standing between the Bush Administration and war with Iran.)

Here's Barnett on McCain.

We get McCain and we get far worse than Bush III. Bush was sensible if unambitious on globalization. McCain's worldview could easily destroy globalization unless he becomes more realistic and informed on global economics.

Otherwise it'll be just a bevy of advisers who see the world strictly in pol-mil terms blundering about far worse than Bush, who clearly knew his ass from his elbow on Russia and China.

I thought that was interesting, since he's been decidely more pro McCain in the past.    You can read more of his thoughts here.