Global

submitted by Albert Gomez

ibm.com

Science fiction becomes reality. Worlds collide. The future is now...or within five years, at least.

At the end of each year, IBM examines market and societal trends expected to transform our lives, as well as emerging technologies from IBM's global labs, to develop a multi-year forecast called The Next 5 in 5.

IBM predicts that over the next five years technology innovations will change the way we work, live and play in the following ways:

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December 21, 2011

(CNN) -- The devastation in the southern Philippines left by Tropical Storm Washi has created "huge" humanitarian needs in the area, the United Nations said Wednesday, estimating that nearly a half-million people are in need of assistance.

"The first priority is to help those who are displaced as a result of the floods," Valerie Amos, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, said in comments published on the organization's website. "People urgently need shelter and clean drinking water, as well as bedding, food and basic household items."

Amos called on other countries and international organizations to increase relief efforts for the stricken region. A number of U.N. agencies, including the World Food Program and the World Health Organization, have stepped up humanitarian measures in the past few days, she said.

The storm, known locally as Sendong, plowed across the southern Philippines over the weekend, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless and aid agencies struggling to deal with the aftermath.

The United Nations estimated that about 285,000 people had been displaced, with many of them are finding shelter with relatives or in makeshift structures.

submitted by Samuel Bendett

by Spengler - atimes.com - December 13, 2011

(The essay below appears as a preface to my book How Civilizations Die (and Why Islam is Dying, Too). [1]

Population decline is the elephant in the world's living room. As a matter of arithmetic, we know that the social life of most developed countries will break down within two generations. Two out of three Italians and three of four Japanese will be elderly dependents by 2050.

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Ruth Greenspan Bell and Barry Blechman

Published by the Council on Foreign Relations

Foreign Affairs - December 13, 2011

Why more of the same could be dooming the planet.

The outcome of the recent Durban climate conference represents a victory, of sorts, for a particular vision of how the community of nations might eventually gain control over greenhouse gases. But that vision is flawed, perpetuating an approach that, after more than 20 years of negotiations, has not reversed warming trends. Of particular concern is the continued insistence on a comprehensive deal negotiated by all nations through a UN process. The degree to which the meme of a "legally-binding" agreement has dominated thinking is likewise troubling.

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