Re: [Futurework] Ex-CIA director: U.S. faces 'World War IV' - Apr. 3, 2003

[Ray Evans Harrell]

Title: EMAIL THIS Email

Oh boy!   I was lost without a war and an enemy.   Where would I pick up my next pay check?   How about the culture war here?    Better still, did anyone get a blurb from Kurtz on the following book? Our Final Hour: The Threat to Humanity's Survival by Martin J. Rees  Editorial Reviews Book Description A world-renowned astrophysicist advances an astonishing and alarming thesis: the odds are no better than 50/50 that our species will survive to the end of the twenty-first century. A scientist known for unraveling the complexities of the universe over millions of years, Sir Martin Rees now warns that humankind is potentially the maker of its own demise--and that of the cosmos. Though the twenty-first century could be the critical era in which life on Earth spreads beyond our solar system, it is just as likely that we have endangered the future of the entire universe. With clarity and precision, Rees maps out the ways technology could destroy our species and thereby foreclose the potential of a living universe whose evolution has just begun. Rees boldly forecasts the startling risks that stem from our accelerating rate of technological advances. We could be wiped out by lethal "engineered" airborne viruses, or by rogue nano-machines that replicate catastrophically. Experiments that crash together atomic nuclei could start a chain reaction that erodes all atoms of Earth, or could even tear the fabric of space itself. Through malign intent or by mistake, a single event could trigger global disaster. Though we can never completely safeguard our future, increased regulation and inspection can help us to prevent catastrophe. Rees's vision of the infinite future that we have put at risk--a cosmos more vast and diverse than any of us has ever imagined--is both a work of stunning scientific originality and a humanistic clarion call on behalf of the future of life. About the Author Sir Martin Rees is Royal Society Professor at Cambridge University, a Fellow of Kings College, and the U.K.'s Astronomer Royal. The winner of the 2001 Cosmology Prize of the Peter Gruber Foundation, he has published numerous academic papers and books and is the author of four titles for a general readership: Our Cosmic Habitat, Gravity's Fatal Attraction, Before the Beginning, and Just Six Numbers. He lives in Cambridge, England Let's see we have the Arabs, the asteroid, technology and the creative ignorance of the Creationists, oh yes and then there is Creative Greed.    What more could we want to convince the Universe of our vulnerability.   Actually the virtual receptionist gives me hope.    If you have to figure out how to make it then you have to figure out the difference between context and culture or it will fail.    That's a good place to start. Ray Evans Harrell   ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 10:39 AM Subject: [Futurework] Ex-CIA director: U.S. faces 'World War IV' - Apr. 3, 2003 I am told that  " Woolsey is a tough, but shrewd individual, not known for “the sky is falling” pronouncements.  "  So this is especially interesting. arthur -----Original Message----- From: Cordell, Arthur: ECOM Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 10:33 AM To: Cordell, Arthur: ECOM Subject: CNN.com - Ex-CIA director: U.S. faces 'World War IV' - Apr. 3, 2003     Powered by  * Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified.    You have received the following link from [EMAIL PROTECTED]:       Click the following to access the sent link:     CNN.com - Ex-CIA director: U.S. faces 'World War IV' - Apr. 3, 2003*          Get your EMAIL THIS Browser Button and use it to email information from any Web site.      *This article can also be accessed if you copy and paste the entire address below into your web browser. http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/04/03/sprj.irq.woolsey.world.war/index.html