In a recent article posted in the Huffington Post, Alfred W. McCoy, Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin, describes how the United States could face a quicker demise as a global superpower than anyone imagines by referring to earlier examples from other empires

“Portugal unraveled within a year, the Soviet Union in two years, eight years for France, 11 years for the Ottomans, 17 years for Great Britain and 22 years for the U.S.”

He also refers to four scenarios mentioned in Global Trends 2025, a futuristic report by the U.S. National Intelligence Council (made available by Cosimo Reports). The future scenario’s include: economic decline, oil shock, military misadventure, and World War III. This is serious reading, but maybe something everyone should do to ensure that these scenarios do not happen. Also available from Cosimo Reports, the more imminent: Global Trends 2015: A Dialogue about the Future.

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Danny Schechter, author of Plunder, describes in a recent blog that, unlike our current situation, in the “good old days” of the 1930s Washington actually did something about the abuse and fraud on Wall Street. He refers to “the Pecora Commission that grilled financial executives and blamed Wall Street abuses for the collapse of the Stock market in 1929 that led to the Great Depression.”

Recently released by Cosimo Report: The Pecora Investigation: Stock Exchange Practices and the Causes of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. Its new back cover states “It reads like a news report from 2009, not 1929: investment practices that favored rich insiders, collusion between Wall Street and Washington DC, the repackaging of bad loans to get them off the books of offending banks, and numerous other financial crimes the impacts of which reverberated through the world economy…”

The current Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission which has been passive at best with coming up with any consequences to our 21st century financial crisis could learn something by reading that report and apply its lessons today.

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City Critic Journalist Ariel Kaminer (for the New York Times) was skeptical about cleansing rituals for the new year. OK, she still is. But she did consult Cosimo author Barbara Biziou in her quest for spiritual purity for 2011. In her NYT article, Ms. Kaminer goes through her process of learning and attempting ritual, including the process Barbara Biziou takes her through. In any case, it’s an interesting article for skeptics and believers alike, and it should give you a good idea of what to expect when you go for a consultation or attempt a ritual of your own.

Below, Barbara explains the Winter Solstice Celebration and talks a bit about her new book, The Joy of Family Rituals.

You can find out more about Barbara Biziou and her workshops at joyofritual.com, and you can follow her profile on Twitter at @BarbaraBiziou

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Documentary filmmaker Peter Byck has produced a new documentary about climate change solutions: Carbon Nation. Instead of focusing on the negative aspect of carbon footprints and the modern impact on the climate, he has approached the problem from a proactive point of view. What can we do to solve climate change? How do these solutions affect (and improve) other areas like the social scene, economics, and national security? The answers to these questions and others are in the film, along with a host of entertaining characters to take you along for the ride. You can watch the trailer below, and find more information on the movie’s website.

Screenings: (one week in each city)
2/11/11–New York City, Cinema Village
2/18/11-Los Angeles, Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatre
3/4/11–Portland, Regal Fox Tower Stadium
3/4/11–Seattle, SIFF Cinema
3/11/11–Austin, Regal Arbor Cinema

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