When terrorism was cool. As a new film about the Weather Underground opens, former '60s revolutionary Mark Rudd wonders whatever possessed him — and America. [Salon.com] [A blog doesn't need a clever name]

hmm, terrorism wasn't cool, but sometimes when the wheels of the machine become odious, and there is no other option, one has to insert themself unto them, and prevent their operation.

from the atlantic, through arts and letters daily:

A dependence that's so strong it's almost like a narcotic. You don't question the pusher.” It may sound like the language of drug addiction, but in fact Robert Baer, a former CIA agent in the Middle East, is describing American dependence on Saudi Arabia and its oil. In “The Fall of the House of Saud” (May Atlantic), Baer details the United States's absolute reliance on oil from a country that is deeply, dangerously unstable.

i say the narcosis is latent industrialization and desocialization. by which i mean the industrialization, and replacement of certain aspects of our life with technologies. This is combined with the growing tendency of people not talking to each other, and not being social.

The Effects of Global Aging on the Global Workforce..

The Effects of Global Aging on the Global Workforce from the Hudson Institute. A bit of depth on the formula:

Global Aging
+ Regional Factors
+ Policy Options
+ Wildcards
= Workforce Outcomes

This article, by Hudson's Gary Geipel, cites:

• Beyond Workforce 2020, coming in 2004.
• United Nations (UN) projections 
• The Aging Vulnerability Index

Sorta scary, and the choices aren't attractive. Worth scanning.

[a klog apart]

wow, handy stuff