Dr. Patrick Dixon, Europe’s Leading Futurist, Global Change Guru, and one of my personal heroes talks about 1 billion new consumers and the challenges that come with that in the following video. Of particular note is how he shows how Al-Qaeda will be the least of our problems if the urbanization of these 1 billion new consumers continues to point towards “slum living”.

I would like to pose this question/statement to those more educated than I am in “how the government works”: My state (Michigan), as you may already know, is in a huge crisis. The Big 3 automakers are now the Imploding 3. We’ve lost countless jobs and underemployment is rampant. Top that with a state government in the red, along with its largest city (Detroit) in the red and bleeding. Foreclosures so common it’s downright scary. And our governor, Jennifer Granholm, begging...

Republican presidential candidates need to make a “clean break” from President George W. Bush and the U.S. government or they will lose in November 2008… Interesting quote. Will the Republican presidential candidates listen? Newt Gingrich says they better and soon: Gingrich: Republicans need “clean break” from Bush By Steve Holland Fri Sep 14, 1:03 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidates need to make a “clean break” from President...

Some people think all technology is bad. Especially those Blackberries: English-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson once said: If we had a reliable way to label our toys good and bad, it would be easy to regulate technology wisely. But we can rarely see far enough ahead to know which road leads to damnation. Whoever concerns himself with big technology, either to push it forward or to stop it, is gambling in human lives. Cell phones and mobile devices are now big...

I’ve been a subscriber to Time Magazine since 1993. And this cover, from February 1994, is one that I will always remember. Ministry of Rage! The raging and racist leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) Louis Farrakhan with his stylish eye wear on. There was a time when Minister Louis Farrakhan and/or prominent members of the NOI were on television fairly regularly. Black people were asked and sometimes told to ignore his words and messages (even the non-inflammatory ones) by punditry and...

I support building border fences and/or walls to secure our southern border with one big yet beautiful change: We build restaurants, malls, and entertainment venues into the fence and/or wall at strategic points! Just think about it. We can get paid, secure the borders, and share our wonderful American-ness with would-be illegals. Once our lovely neighbors down south get a dose of cheap goods and entertainment (no red light districts) at the border, they won’t have any reason to come here....

Sometimes when I look at the stock market, I get awed and repulsed at the same time. Awed sometimes by the fact of pure capitalism at work. Tremendous amounts of money literally flowing between financial and corporate entities. Deals, trades, etc. The business of America is business, indeed. Repulsed sometimes by the fact of pure capitalism at work. Tremendous amounts of money literally flowing between financial and corporate entities. Deals, trades, etc. The business of America is business,...

The new design is up and running smooth. Over the next several days, there will be some minor tweaks (speed optimizations) to TMV but nothing affecting the design or uptime. Enjoy! Tyrone S. TMV Administrator

Hello TMV Readers. From 12:00pm EST to 5:00pm EST on Sunday (06/03/2007), TMV’s new design will be implemented and tested. During that time, TMV will either show a re-design in progress screen or not load at all. The new design is drastically different from what you see now yet will still retain functionality and be easy to read. The design implementation may be finished before 5:00pm EST. If so, you will see a post saying that TMV is ready again for action. Thank you for your patience...

Hello readers. There are now quicktags/buttons in the comments that allow you to do strong or bold, emphasis or italics, blockquotes, and code listing. The buttons open and close the tags. Also the overzealous comment moderation monster has been reigned in some. Please be patient as it “learns” and stops moderating legitimate comments. Comments that were mistakenly moderated have been “freed”. Happy commenting!