When English Fall

It has been a little while since I finished Bob's latest book about the Amish people in an apocalyptic world. I really enjoyed it and it raises many interesting questions concerning living a simple life, our dependence on modern technology, the role of faith, law and order, and the complexity of the world we live in.
I admire the Amish people and I doubt that anyone of us could live life the way they do. God and faith are not enough to deal with the threat of the outside world (just look at Las Vegas). On the other hand they deserve to be left alone.

Fourth Industrial Revolution

Interesting observations and projections packed in a short read with a really big appendix. Felt to me a little like a text book that I may be quizzed on later. Overall a positive take on technology solving our future challenges like the book Abundance. On the other hand, it does address the responsibility of leadership to protect the earth, make the technological advances accessible to the masses, and warns of the potential threats. The Fourth Industrial Revolution feels to me more like a continuation of the Third (Computer/Data/Internet) on steroids.
The two email links sent out by Dave M and Bill were timely takes on the potential treat of monopolies in our future https://pocket.co/xMn8wE?cta=1&src=ph and the state of our current corporate environment https://charlierose.com/videos/30816. I am in agreement with Grantham in the importance of the climate change issue.

My kind of book. What is the future of the human race? What is our individual environmental legacy? 102 tons of waste? I hope not.
So many indirect references to other books including Upsizing, Abundance, Collapse, even Inferno. Are we in a decadence stage and is that a bad thing? Should we not be transitioning from extravagance to frugality? Can we transition from conspicuous consumption..i.e. large houses, SUV's, bottle water, obesity and substance abuse...to less waste.
Half of the world does not even practice waste disposal, what happens when they start generating our level of trash? Much of the waste problem is rooted in plastics, can we break our addition?
There are many sites dedicated to the cause of reducing waste including Zeri.org, zerowastehome.com (Bea Johnson), Wastelessliving.com (Christine), and Surfrider.org to name a few. What can each of us do, or, more importantly, what are we willing to do?

Plot against America...when should America go to war?

According to fivethirtyeight.com today, in May of 1940, 62% of Americans in a national poll said the US should stay out of supporting the allies in the conflict in Europe, even if Hitler was about to be victorious. What if Roosevelt was not reelected?

Zanzibar Chest referred to the value of one American to the number of Israelis and Africans. What about Bosnia, Somalia, Darfur...Syria? 

Should the decision be based on national security, national interests, war crimes, genocide?

Is there ever a good time to use force? Now that we are cutting back on international aid and diplomacy (state department). What is next?

I haven't quite finished the current book, but it does not look good for the alternative universe.

Link to The No Name Book Club Book on Blurb

The completed book is now publicly available through www.blurb.com/bookstore. You can search the book on the Blurb site by title or author. The paperbacks are $25.49 and the hard copies are $40.49. It is also available free as a download on Kindle. Thank you all for your great contribution.

Significant Numbers verses Alternative Facts

Dave's current selection of Strangers in there own land talked of the deep story and the great paradox. It got me thinking about what I thought I knew verses what many others believe. The author outlines a few things in Appendix C (Fact-Checking Common Impressions) that inspired me to look up a few facts for myself. Luckily there are some great government sponsored sights for fact checking that are still operating.
1. usgovernmentspending.com - Good site for checking the total government spending (7 trillion) by category.
2. usdebtclock.org - This is a great up to the second sight for monitoring the budget deficit (592 billion) and the national debt (20 trillion).
3. census.gov/popclock - This is a fascinating sight monitoring population growth (7.35 billion).
4. earthtimeline.com - This is a fun sight to check the ages of the earth (4.54 billion years).
5. climate.nasa.gov/evidence - Good site for climate change facts (15 of the 16 years since 2001 are the warmest on record).
Although the recent wave of alternative facts is very concerning, I believe there eventually will be a reality check for the deep stories.