Sunday, February 7, 2010

Generation XX - Women Rising To Greater Power and Influence (From THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter, 02.07.2010)

Note: The article which follows was originally published in The National Networker Newsletter on 02.07.2010.




Douglas Castle Rants

Generation XX - Women Rising to Greater Power and Influence.

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

During the course of the next five years, I have forecast a growing propensity for collaborative entrepreneurship as a replacement for traditional corporate career paths, solopreneurship and the now-ineffective camouflage of non-working or "expendable" middle management. I speak about this frequently in THE GLOBAL FUTURIST and in THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE.

What I had neglected to mention was that this transitional wave is going to become increasingly dominated by the feminine gender. Here are just several of the reasons why:

1. Women now read more than men and retain more of the essence of what they read;

2. Women, physiologically and psychologically are much more flexible, adaptable and adventurous than men;

3. Women are comprising an increasing percentage of the workforce, especially following the growing acceptance of the "Mr. Mom" and "Stay-At-Home-Dad" labor shift;

4. Women are more inclined to trust their instincts, intuition and to avoid rationalizing in matters of business;

5. An increasing number of women (presidential candidates, Supreme Court Justices, professionals and other high-achievers) are being seen as role models. It's not just Rachel Ray, or Oprah Winfrey, or Sarah Palin, or Hillary Rodham Clinton...it is a geometrically increasing number of exceptional women who are proving that women are not necessarily the exception (what a terrible sentence I've constructed);

6. Women are quite comfortable at working in cause-based groups, on projects, and on committees -- they are natural networkers and gracefully integrate socializing and conducting business. The founders of Mary Kay, Avon, and (the legendary) Tupperware were truly visionaries;

7. Women tend to be better planners and organizers than men. This is largely environmentally encultured, but might even be a genetic/ gender advantage;

8. Women have a greater facility for retaining a great deal of personal and detailed information, and they generally have a better ability to recall seemingly small but nonetheless critical nuances or words said offhandedly;

9. Women are accomplished users of non-verbal communication, and superior interpreters of body language...they read their quarry with greater accuracy than men;

10. Women enjoy the relationship-building aspects of selling, presenting and sharing. They are, generally speaking, more socially mobile than men;

11. Women bond through compassion, which leads to cooperation;

12. An increasing number of women have become trained and conversant in technological areas of expertise, infused with the quirky spirit of problem-solving and inventiveness;

13. Women tend to be better at multi-tasking, evaluation, moderation and budgeting (despite the prevalent and stereotypically-reinforced perception amongst males that women are manic spenders and are "foolish with money");

14. Women are more inclined to be vigilant and efficient utilizers of resources (including their female employees);

15. Women (with certain exceptions, of course) tend to identify with other women as an oppressed and underestimated group. This creates a magnetism and a subconscious connection among them which far surpasses the "business friendships" of traditionalist males;

16. Women who also happen to be Baby Boomers are possessed of a spirit of adventure and rebirth through career change that younger, less seasoned women cannot quite match.

The trajectory in female entrepreneurial ventures during the course of the next two or three years will tend to be more horizontal than that of their male predecessors and counterparts, but they will tend to be more persistent and consistent in their attentiveness and achievements. Once a foundation of examples through exemplars and a level of the expectation of success have been built during that timeframe, expect this curve to become more vertical. Women will not only rise to power and influence, but their access to affluence will become more direct and expedient.

As a member of the male gender, I would advise others similarly constructed to look at women not only as adventurous and enthusiastic consumers, but as entrepreneurs, business owners and thought leaders. A few examples of WTWF ("Women To Watch For") follow, as examplars. Bear in mind that these individuals have already achieved a great deal in their careers, but they are not even close to being at the peak of their rise.

------------


*Bonnie Ross-Parker: The Founder of The Joy of Connecting, a brilliantly-conceived program which empowers women to prospect and develop their businesses in a non-threatening, social environment. Ms. Ross-Parker's methods are unique in that they 1) eliminate the "hit-or-miss" superficial frenzy of traditional networking and business events, while they 2) actually create a potent, time-tested interpersonal means of truly bonding on a deeper, trust-engendering level with the added factor of shared intimacy. At present, there are 70 Joy Of Connecting licensees in 19 states...a number which is expected to grow geometrically over the next two years. The licensing fees are incredibly inexpensive for the tremendous benefits generated by the licensees and all of the professionals and businesswomen who attend these gatherings. Going well beyond mere networking and connecting, JOC is, perhaps, one of the most cost-effective ways of developing immediate local business. She is a published author an award-winning speaker, and has her own radio program which may become the nucleus of a women's media empire. A JOC license is one of the best and surest investments that a any female professional, executive or entrepreneur can make. Watch her.

- Bonnie Ross-Parker -
CEO/Founder - The JOY of Connecting
bootgirl@TheJOYofConnecting.com
770-333-7923
www.TheJOYofConnecting.com
www.BonnieRossParker.com
www.42rules.com/42rules/bonnierossparker
www.twitter.com/joyofconnecting
www.ideamarketers.com/experts/networking.cfm
www.quoteactions.com/a/profile/222
www.WINonline.com (radio)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Sandra Levitin: The Founder, CEO and Editor-In-Chief of Kalon Women, a social and business website which directly addresses the special needs and interests of women 40 years and older [which is a growing and increasingly active segment of the marketplace], with a newly-launched ezine, interactive forums, product and service reviews, and enormous treasure chest of resource, articles, news, and special product and service reviews. In only two years, Kalon Women has built up an emedia subscribed readership of in excess of 60,000 persons, and that number is growing rapidly. Ms. Levitin's captive audience is a powerful, active consumer group, and I would anticipate that her organization will become a publishing and advertising conglomerate. The content is not only relevent and exciting, but it is thought-provocative and virtually radiates a call to action. Watch her.


Sandra Levitin
Founder/CEO/Editor
editor@kalonwomen.com
www.kalonwomen.com
www.google.com/profiles/sandralevitin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Ann Barczay Sloan: Ms. Sloan, a published author, interviewer, speaker and a Connectrix Vortex [a lingovation which describes Ann's role as being a catalyst who brings very well-accomplished, successful and powerful women together], is also a Featured Columnist for The National Networker Newsletter. She has unique access to virtually anyone whom she choose to access - I am reminded of Barbara Walters or Larry King, both of whom were incredible in their ability to get interviews with some of the busiest, most important and often controversial people in the world...many of these interviewees who were notable in their elisiveness and reticence, opened up with amazing candor to these interviewers. In sum: If Ann interviews you, it is highly likely you are either already enormously successful, or on the trajectory for great achievement and recognition.

Ms. Sloan is in the process of writing two books -- one, a book about the success secrets of winning women ["The Power of Passion; Winning Women Reveal Their Success Secrets"], and the other, a volume of poetry. She is currently at work on putting together an e-forum and organization (The Winning Women's Vortex) which has two game-changing objectives on its agenda: The first is to build a Women's Venture Capital and Business Financing Fund, and the second is to build a Credit Union which caters to the special interests and requirements of female entrepreneurs. My projection is that she will succeed at both. Watch her:

Ann Barczay Sloan, M.A.
Author & Editor / Creative Writing Coach
Featured Columnist,
Author of the forthcoming book:
"How to Use the Pieces of a Broken Heart:
Recipes for Rebirth"

I would suggest that you Google the three leading-edge female luminaries mentioned above, and click on their links to see what the face of achievement and progress looks like. These are three people to watch. But bear in mind, they are slightly ahead of a wave that is fast coming to shore. And as I have said before, when the tidal wave comes, you can either learn to surf or be crushed in its immensity and force.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

A Brief Note About Nuclear Energy.

Rare Earth Elements and Thorium advocates. Champions of atomic and nuclear power. The only good news that I offer you today is that fact that US President Barack Obama is coming out strongly in favor of nuclear energy. Windmills, solar panels and other "green" alternatives are excellent, each in its own way. The first difficulty is the time required to convert our entire infrastructure and technological interface to utilize wind and solar power. The second is the amount of work which must be done, and the amount of time that work will take to complete, in order to produce and harness sufficient stored supplies of these types of power (think of the example of a battery) to be free of the yoke of fossil fuels and Big Oil. - Douglas Castle



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"When the unconscionable becomes the norm, we stand at precipice of socio-economic extinction." - Douglas Castle

"When the unconscionable becomes the norm, we stand at the precipice of socio-economic extinction." - Douglas Castle

The article which follows was written by Douglas Castle, author and advocate of the Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community (GICBC), a new form of entity based upon a collaborative paradigm of shared contribution and shared rewards which may provide a vehicle to save the fast-fading notions of democracy, government by the consent of the governed, government by and for the People, advancement based upon merit, and a form of industrious capitalism where currency is a means of exchange and store of value, but not a mountain of scrip standing between the entrenched and protected "ruling class," (a small minority of persons controlling in large part the fate of everyone) and the dispossessed, disillusioned and desperate masses who no longer experience a quality of life that gives them cause to live. Please do consider becoming a member of The National Networker Companies, an organization which is Humankind's first GICBC in the making. Become a member for free by clicking on http://twitlik.com/IN . I am honored to be the Vice-Chairman and Director of Strategic Planning for this instrument of change.

Dear Readers:

Two articles are re-printed for your information below. The first is labelled People's Exhibit A, and the second, People's Exhibit B.

The first article is the now-commonplace whining (with no actual question, answer, or opinion provided, at all -- very dry stuff, like cayenne pepper) about AIG awarding giant bonuses to a horde of unscrupulous, compunction-free gamblers who have all but stolen money from the ever-thinning wallets of the American People, and will, with great encouragement, continue to do so. The article is really just there to rile you up a bit. You'll be more receptive to Exhibit B when you are infuriated to the point of screaming until your vocal cords are bloody.

Exhibit A should get you you there. If it does not bother you, or if it makes you shrug your shoulders like Oscar Madison and say something along the lines of "So what else is new? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I'm going to get a coffee. Want some?" then don't read Exhibit B.

If what you might instead be looking at is. "How has it come to this? That here, in what used to be called 'The Land of Opportunity,' the poor, or even the middle class are no longer permitted a chance at becoming rich? That's not opportunity -- that some kind of trap. We need to pull this poisoned tree up by its roots, and plant something fresh and new in its place. The existing system is so convoluted and conflicted that trying to "fix it" is as futile as raising the dead by singing a song to a worm-riddled corpse. This has to be scrapped and replaced. This is like a 20-year old car that needs so much work every month that it would be cheaper to junk it and buy a new one...in fact, I could have bought three news ones by now with all the money I've thrown into that depreciating hunk of crap! Let's dump this vehicle and shop for something that works!"

If this reaction comes out in you, I heartily encourage you to read Exhibit B.


Message:
Author and Commentator Robert Reich is looking in the right place. Instead of complaining about "Big Government" he is concerned, and rightly so, about our shrinking Democracy. This is truly the core issue. I will be adding the Huffington Post to my Twitter resource and news update list, and I feel a blog post coming on...Google the term "GICBC."

Please stick around for the read...er....the ride.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle
People's Exhibit A
Reports: AIG to pay out $100 million in bonusesAP
Wed Feb 3, 7:05 am ET

NEW YORK – American International Group Inc. is set to pay out about $100 million in a fresh round of bonuses to employees of its financial products division, the unit whose risky bets helped sink the company leading to a $180 billion government bailout, according to reports published Tuesday.
AIG agreed to cut the retention bonuses by $20 million but will still hand out $100 million Wednesday, The New York Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the negotiations.
The Washington Post, also citing people familiar with the situation, said the retention payments are for employees at the division who agreed to accept 10 to 20 percent less than AIG had initially promised them two years ago. In return, they are getting their money more than a month ahead of schedule.
AIG is still due to pay out tens of millions of dollars more in March, mostly to former employees who did not agree to the concessions, the Post reported.
A message was left with an AIG spokesman seeking comment.
New York-based AIG faced intense public and Congressional criticism last March when it paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in retention bonuses to employees months after receiving the government bailout.
When the credit crisis hit in the fall of 2008, the U.S. government rescued AIG from the brink of collapse in exchange for an 80 percent stake in the insurer. AIG's near collapse was not due to its traditional insurance operations, but instead risky derivatives contracts written by the financial products division. ####

People's Exhibit B

The item which follows was written by Robert Reich, and I happened to stumble upon it while glancing over the Huffington Post.

Robert Reich

Robert Reich

Former Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley. Posted: February 2, 2010 06:24 PM

Our Incredible Shrinking Democracy

A version of this column appears in the current issue of The American Prospect.

I wish conservatives would stop complaining about big government and start worrying about the real problem -- small democracy. I wish we'd all worry more about our incredible shrinking democracy.
It seems as if more and more decisions that should be made democratically are being shunted off somewhere to a few people who make them in back rooms. Which programs should be cut, which entitlements pared back, and what taxes raised in order to reduce the long-term budget deficit? Hmmm. Let's convene a commission and have them decide.
Commissions are a default mechanism when politicians want to hand off difficult issues to "experts." But reducing the long-term budget deficit has almost nothing to do with expertise. It's about our nations' values and priorities. Nothing could be more central to the democratic process.
Democracy requires at least three things: (1) Important decisions are made in the open. (2) The public and its representatives have an opportunity to debate them, so the decisions can be revised in light of what the public discovers and wants. And (3) those who make the big decisions are accountable to voters.
But these principles are in retreat, and I say this not just because of the proposed deficit commission.
The notorious Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) began with a virtual blank check from Congress. Treasury officials then secretly decided which companies were to receive hundreds of billions of dollars. Why these particular entities were chosen and not others remains a mystery. For months, the Treasury didn't even disclose the identities of the major banks that giant insurer AIG repaid with its bailout money -- 100 cents on each dollar AIG owed them.
The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, has gone far beyond its traditional role of setting short-term interest rates. It has bought up massive amounts of debt -- mortgage debt, Treasury bills, and debt instruments emanating several public agencies, many of them supporting a wide range of private entities. No one outside the Fed knows the ultimate beneficiaries of all this government backing, the criteria used by the Fed for making these commitments, or even how much debt the Fed is buying.
Even if the economic emergency justified such secrecy -- and it's hard to see exactly why it would -- the emergency is over, and yet closed-door decision making continues. Will Treasury use what's left of TARP to help stimulate more jobs and, if so, how? Will the Fed stop buying mortgage-backed securities? No one knows.
The same pattern is evident on other issues. Congress can't decide whether or how to limit the pay of financial executives. So where does the issue end up? The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Fed both say they're going to look at whether pay levels are appropriate. The House and Senate can't agree on what to do about climate change. Who decides? The Environmental Protection Agency concludes it has authority to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.
The debate over health-care reform looked like democratic deliberation until you realize the key negotiations that framed the deal occurred behind closed doors, between the White House and Big Pharma and Big Insurance. The Administration promised these industries some thirty million new paying customers. In return, they agreed not to oppose the plan. Big Pharma even placed a firm limit on how much it would cut its costs over the next ten years -- $80 billion, and not a penny more. How do I know this? Not because this crucial deal was made in public, but because it was leaked to the press.
Personally, I want the government to limit the pay of financial executives, regulate greenhouse gases, and reform health care. And no one wanted a financial meltdown. But I'm appalled by the process that's been used to reach these objectives.
A big piece of the problem is this: Washington is now so overrun by lobbyists representing moneyed interests that it's become almost impossible to make policy in the open. If the Treasury and Fed tried to decide publicly which industries and firms should get hundreds of billions, they'd be inundated. Wall Street lobbyists are blocking real financial reform. The energy industry has filled the House's cap-and-trade bill with special subsidies and exemptions. Big Pharma and Big Insurance would have killed off the health-care reform if they hadn't been bought off. When it comes to the long-term deficit, Congress is incapable of acting because so many special interests have their hands out.
But the answer isn't to give up on democracy. Back-room policy making can succumb to private interests just as easily as lobby-infested legislatures (much of the public suspects the Treasury of being too cozy with Wall Street as it is).
The real answer is to recommit ourselves to cleaning up democracy. Yes, I know: The Supreme Court's recent grotesque Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which decided corporations are people entitled to First Amendment protection, complicates this. But the goal is still possible to achieve with more public money for congressional and presidential candidates who refuse private funding, more constraints on lobbyists, tighter rules for who must register as a lobbyist, fuller disclosure, and tougher rules on the revolving door between public service and private gain. Yale's Bruce Ackerman recently came up with another good idea: A $50 tax credit per person, which they can send to the candidate of their choosing.
Yet nobody seems to be talking about these sorts of reforms. They don't appear on Obama's agenda. True, they don't generate lots of public excitement or appreciation, and they're murderously difficult to enact. But without them our democracy doesn't stand a chance.####

Please stay with me. Follow me on Twitter, The National Networker, Linked In, the blog reviewers. Don't be afraid to get in touch with me directly.  If you are as ambitious as you are angry, then we are not merely destined, but obligated, to meet. I can be emailed at DouglasCastle1@live.com.  Thanks.


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Friday, January 29, 2010

Douglas Castle Explains the Economic "Boom" in the US

Douglas Castle Explains the Economic "Boom" in the US.

Dear Friends:
As a rule, I enjoy poking fun at the news, and people's interpretation of what it means. Especially when I read something like what follows in the New York Times:

Breaking News Alert
The New York TimesFri, January 29, 2010 -- 8:48 AM ET
-----

U.S. Economy Grew at Annual Rate of 5.7% in Fourth Quarter, More Than Expected
The United States economy grew at its fastest pace in over
six years at the end of 2009, but a sluggish job market is
still souring economists on the sustainability of the
recovery.

Gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 5.7
percent in the fourth quarter, well above analysts'
expectations. It had grown at an annualized rate of 2.2
percent in the previous quarter.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/business/economy/30econ.html?emc=na
####
Folks... it sounds good, but what it might actually mean is that:
1. Businesses had run so low on stores of inventory, and that inventory prices (because of depressed demand) had actually fallen, so some businesses bought some things -- it's better than having empty showrooms and shelves.

2. Some business profit margins actually did grow (at least temporarily) because they had cut down on their costs -- often, by firing loads of "dispensible" employees. They might have lowered their cost profiles by tossing out some employees. Sadly, this contributes to growing unemployment, decreases disposable personal income, and diminishes consumerism, which ultimately destroys sales. It is rather like throwing the walls into the fireplace to heat the house - temporary.

3. Statistics are funny. Note that if my sales of last year were $50.0 million, and this year they were $52.5 million, my sales grew at a rate of 5% during the year. But what if (ooooooooooh.....) my sales had dropped to $25.0 million last year (and they had previously been at a pre-recession level of $50.0 million), and they had grown to $27.5million this year? That would appear to be an increase of 10%. Yet, despite the increase, my sales hadn't grown even close to earlier levels. In statistics, the smaller the selected starting number, the easier it is to evidence "growth."

In the words of a great American philosopher, "and that's all I've got to say about that."

Think about the implications behind the percentages, folks. And if you are just a tad mistrustful, think of the motives behind the sources presenting those statistics.

Global Futurists - I do not see a recovery in the United States economy for quite some time to come. I wish that I felt differently.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle
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KEYWORDS, TERMS, LABELS AND ORGANIZATIONS:


globalism, internationalism, cartels, CFR, NGO, UN, EU, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, cooperation, peaceful cooexistence, a world without walls, The National Networker, Artificial Intelligence, AI, symbiosis, Interworked Cooperative Business Communities, ICBC, Lingovations, commerce versus combat, trends, analysis, imagination, innovation, introspection, exponentialism and the mastermind, exponentiality, predicting the future, shaping the future, adaptation, evolution, twitter, google, social media, networking groups, tendencies, statistics, joint venturing metrics, prediction, strategic interdependence, communications technologies, skype, New World Order, The 1% Rule, Mutually Assured Destruction, imperialism, fuedalism, freedom, peace, prosperity, demography, allocation of wealth, Digg, Zimbio, TNNW BUZZWORKS, Articles by Douglas Castle, search engines, entreprenership, business tools, networking, relationships, convincing, negotiating, energy, parapsychology, systems, chaos, complexity, perspective, entropy, behavioral psychology, systems of government, sovereignty, ethics, objectivisim, subjectivism, relativism, multidimensionalism, perspective, inflation, recession, valuations, intellectual property, trust, balance of power, balance of trade, balance of trade, gross domestic foreign investment, indexing, growth industries, commodities, options, exhanges, control strategies, risk evaluation, survivalism...


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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Visionaries and Experts Needed. - From Douglas Castle

Subject: Collaboration Experts and Visionaries Needed.

 

Dear Colleagues:

I am aggressively seeking collaboration experts, advocates and thought leaders who are interested in writing (brief entries as part of a cooperative forum) and promoting their views about any of the topics below:

·         Collaboration software and technology;

·         Collaboration ideology, theory and philosophy;

·         Breakthrough thinking through collaboration;

·         Equitable sharing of the efforts (costs) and benefits (profits) of  intellectual property and other assets developed through the collaboration mechanism;

·         Trends and future predictions regarding the expansion of the practice of collaboration and/or the technology associated with it.

This effort is being undertaken in conjunction with The National Networker Companies (http://www.TheNationalNetworker.com), and has the promise of being high-profile.

Should you have an interest, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this project with you in greater detail. The Group will be called "Accelerated Breakthroughs," and will be working under the auspices of TNNW’s GICBC (Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community). We already have a substantial readership and prospective market base upon which to showcase our group, and to whom we can intelligently and tastefully promote the services of each of our principal forum participants. There exists a tremendous opportunity for participation in the ownership of valuable intellectual property, publication and promotion.

You can find my profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/douglascastle, or at http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com .

Please send your inquiries and expressions of interest directly to http://twitlik.com/Collaboration. (a pop-up instant email form). Please write the word “Collaboration” in the subject line of your correspondence. 

I hope to hear from you very soon. Thank you for your consideration.

Best Regards,                              

Douglas Castle

----------------------------------------------------------

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Away Message From Douglas Castle

Away Message From Douglas Castle

Dear Friends:

I will be out of town from 18th January, and returning on 26th January. During this interval, I will not be accessing or responding to any emails, telephone messages or posting any material to blogs or social media. I look forward to being in touch with you soon after my return.

All the best, Respectfully,

Douglas Castle
Primary e-mail address:douglas.castle@yahoo.com,



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Monday, January 11, 2010

When Life Falls Short of Our Dreams - An Emerging Trend With Frightening Implications For Our Species.

COMMENT On This Article!
When Life Falls Short of Our Dreams - An Emerging Trend With Frightening Implications For Our Species.
 
 
 
Dear Friends:
 
A great friend of mine who is an excellent writer herself and is not generally given to profanity, but who has a wonderfully dry sense of humor (and a fabulous sense of irony as well) forwarded the following email to my attention. It appears uncensored and unedited in an manner -- please accept my apologies in advance if I have offended your sensibilities by printing this; but I do so with sincere educational intent:
---------------------------------------------------------
Due to the current financial situation caused by the slowdown in the economy, Congress has decided
to implement a scheme to put workers of 50 years of age and above on early retirement, thus creating
jobs and reducing unemployment.

This scheme will be known as RAPE (Retire Aged People Early).

Persons selected to be RAPED can apply to Congress to be considered for the SHAFT program
(Special Help After Forced Termination).

Persons who have been RAPED and SHAFTED will be reviewed under the SCREW program
(System Covering Retired-Early Workers).

A person may be RAPED once, SHAFTED twice and SCREWED as many times as Congress
deems appropriate.

Persons who have been RAPED could get AIDS (Additional Income for Dependants & Spouse)
or HERPES (Half Earnings for Retired Personnel Early Severance).

Obviously persons who have AIDS or HERPES will not be SHAFTED or SCREWED any further
by Congress.

Persons who are not RAPED and are staying on will receive as much SHIT (Special High Intensity
Training) as possible. Congress has always prided themselves on the amount of SHIT they give
our citizens.

Should you feel that you do not receive enough SHIT, please bring this to the attention of your
Congressman, who has been trained to give you all the SHIT you can handle.

Sincerely,
The Committee for Economic Value of Individual Lives (E.V.I.L.)

PS - - Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas and oil, as well as current
market conditions, the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off.
 
----------------------------------------------------------
I believe that the foregoing letter, intended to be humorous (and it is -- I am a big fan of acronyms), makes a very serious statement regarding the sentiment of the times in which we live. It speaks of cynicism, skepticism, disillusionment, hopelessness and deeply-ingrained sorrow. The global economic recession (as well as the very deep US recession) is far overshadowed in its severity by the cloud of emotional depression that has engulfed our home planet. I am personally prone to depression, and know what steps I must undertake in order to keep it from overwhelming me; but there are altogether too many souls who are neophytes to deep, heart-wrenching depression and who are experiencing it full-blown now.  It is a killing thing, and it is highly contagious. Take a look (after you have read this article) at LINKS 4 LIFE, a public service blog site which is loaded with articles, information and resources about depression. It can be found at http://lifelinksiep.blogspot.com , and I would strongly advise that you make it a favorite.
 
The growing disparity between the reality which we experience and the dreams we have harbored and run off into since chidhood has widened and continues to widen. As this disparity between infinite possibilities and barely-tolerable realities grows, we are being drawn into a deepening well of depression. Prophetically, this is beginning to lead us to a potentially lethal mindset: the mindset of the automaton, merely existing, but not functioning as a Human Being, with all of the imagination and dreaming that makes joy possible, and joyous innovation more probable.  We are becoming more animal and less divine. We are wounded, and we are surrendering to sorrow and self-pity. At stake are our Humanity and the very future of our species. Deprived of hopes, faith and dreams, we die. This poverty of spirit should not be permitted to continue.
 
Through my affiliation with The National Networker Companies, I have promulgated the notion of the GICBC - the Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community as the Next Business Entity...a sort of entrepreneurship-driven synergy generator for the sustainable financial support of all Members. I am part of a growing movement to make the GICBC a successful reality. You can join the world's first by becoming a Member of The National Networker Companies' GICBC at http://twitlik.com/IN . It is free, and Members who contribute to its success will ultimately be stakeholders and annuity recipients - it has the advantage of being a self-fulfilling Meritocracy, without insurmountable capital requirements (there are none), and no birthright privileges or bigotry. Simply put: Contribute more. Own More. Earn More.
 
What I had not thought about was the GICBC's potential to be a viable emotional support system -- a vessel of hope, of reinforcement, of camaraderie, of spiritual synergy. I was trapped into the "survivalist" limitation of thinking of only financial security for myself, and for all Members. I had underestimated my own idea and its potential. You see, I too, can be all too easily sucked into the black hole of negativity, and of negative thinking. This adaptation of Adam J. Kovitz's original (albeit somewhat ethereal and a tad amorphous -- Adam is still a philosopher and a rocket scientist at heart) notion of "Relationship Capital" has turned out to be much greater, and much more significant than I thought.
 
We had better start getting together. We can save ourselves by saving each other.
 
My friend and colleague, Yossi Feigenson, forwarded the article (courtesy of CNN) which follows. It makes my case. And disturbs me beyond my ability to express. Read on:
---------------------------------------------------------  

Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues

By Jo Piazza, Special to CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Some fans say James Cameron's "Avatar" may have been too real
  • "Avatar Forums" has a topic thread discussing depression over "Pandora being intangible"
  • Cameron's movie has pulled in more than $1.4 billion in worldwide box office

(CNN) -- James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.

On the fan forum site "Avatar Forums," a topic thread entitled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope. The topic became so popular last month that forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian had to create a second thread so people could continue to post their confused feelings about the movie.

"I wasn't depressed myself. In fact the movie made me happy ," Baghdassarian said. "But I can understand why it made people depressed. The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don't have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed."

A post by a user called Elequin expresses an almost obsessive relationship with the film.

"That's all I have been doing as of late, searching the Internet for more info about 'Avatar.' I guess that helps. It's so hard I can't force myself to think that it's just a movie, and to get over it, that living like the Na'vi will never happen. I think I need a rebound movie," Elequin posted.

A user named Mike wrote on the fan Web site "Naviblue" that he contemplated suicide after seeing the movie.

"Ever since I went to see Avatar I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na'vi made me want to be one of them. I can't stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it," Mike posted. "I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in 'Avatar.' "

Other fans have expressed feelings of disgust with the human race and disengagement with reality.

Cameron's movie, which has pulled in more than $1.4 billion in worldwide box office sales and could be on track to be the highest grossing film of all time, is set in the future when the Earth's resources have been pillaged by the human race. A greedy corporation is trying to mine the rare mineral unobtainium from the planet Pandora, which is inhabited by a peace-loving race of 7-foot tall, blue-skinned natives called the Na'vi.

In their race to mine for Pandora's resources, the humans clash with the Na'vi, leading to casualties on both sides. The world of Pandora is reminiscent of a prehistoric fantasyland, filled with dinosaur-like creatures mixed with the kinds of fauna you may find in the deep reaches of the ocean. Compared with life on Earth, Pandora is a beautiful, glowing utopia.

Ivar Hill posts to the Avatar forum page under the name Eltu. He wrote about his post-Avatar depression after he first saw the film earlier this month.

"When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed ... gray. It was like my whole life, everything I've done and worked for, lost its meaning," Hill wrote on the forum. "It just seems so ... meaningless. I still don't really see any reason to keep ... doing things at all. I live in a dying world."

Reached via e-mail in Sweden where he is studying game design, Hill, 17, explained that his feelings of despair made him desperately want to escape reality.

"One can say my depression was twofold: I was depressed because I really wanted to live in Pandora, which seemed like such a perfect place, but I was also depressed and disgusted with the sight of our world, what we have done to Earth. I so much wanted to escape reality," Hill said.

Cameron's special effects masterpiece is very lifelike and the 3-D performance capture and CGI effects essentially allow the viewer to enter the alien world of Pandora for the movie's 2½-hour run-time, which only lends to the separation anxiety some individuals experience when they depart the movie theater.

"Virtual life is not real life and it never will be, but this is the pinnacle of what we can build in a virtual presentation so far," said Dr. Stephan Quentzel, psychiatrist and Medical Director for the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. "It has taken the best of our technology to create this virtual world and real life will never be as utopian as it seems onscreen. It makes real life seem more imperfect."

Fans of the movie may find actor Stephen Lang, who plays the villainous Col. Miles Quaritch in the film, an enemy of the Na'vi people and their sacred ground, an unlikely sympathizer, but Lang says he can understand the connection people are feeling with the movie.

"Pandora is a pristine world and there is the synergy between all of the creatures of the planet and I think that strikes a deep cord within people that has a wishfulness and a wistfulness to it," Lang said. "James Cameron had the technical resources to go along with this incredibly fertile imagination of his and his dream is built out of the same things that other peoples' dreams are made of."

The bright side is that for Hill and others like him who became dissatisfied with their own lives and with our imperfect world after enjoying the fictional creation of James Cameron, becoming a part of a community of like-minded people on an online forum has helped them emerge from the darkness.

"After discussing on the forums for a while now, my depression is beginning to fade away. Having taken a part in many discussions concerning all this has really, really helped me," Hill said. "Before, I had lost the reason to keep on living -- but now it feels like these feelings are gradually being replaced with others."

Quentzel said creating relationships with others is one of the keys to human happiness and that even if those connections are occurring online they are better than nothing.

"Obviously there is community building in these forums," Quentzel said. "It may be technologically different from other community building, but it serves the same purpose."

Within the fan community, suggestions for battling feelings of depression after seeing the movie include things like playing "Avatar" video games or downloading the movie soundtrack in addition to encouraging members to relate to other people outside the virtual realm and to seek out positive and constructive activities. ####

----------------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends, again:

Please give what I have said some serious thought. Then take some serious action. Become a recruit in the battle to save our species. Join me at http://twitlik.com/IN . Bridge the gap between the greatest, happiest dreams and The Human Experience. We need a critical mass of positive minds. Now. It is never to late to become the person you once dreamed of becoming.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

 Yes. Really me. As I still am inside. - DC

 
 
 
 


Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.
The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.
The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.
Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.

Join us! With your free membership, you'll receive THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter and The BLUE TUESDAY Report. Click on: http://twitlik.com/IN. You'll also want to get your free RSS feed or Daily email delivered to your inbox -- just click on http://twitlik.com/Daily and make your selection.







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Thursday, January 7, 2010

Questioning Motives, Benefits, Costs and Ultimate Effect

Questioning Motives, Benefits, Costs and Ultimate Effect

Note: This article was written by Author Douglas Castle for publication in BRAINTENANCE, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST , TAKING COMMAND! and THE NATIONAL NETWORKER RSS and Daily email feeds (which are available to the public at no charge). This article may be reprinted, re-published or transmitted without the consent of the author provided that the article is published intact, unedited and in its entirety, and that all links contained herein are left live for the reader's reference. You may become a Member of The National Networker Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community and receive our publications (free) by clicking on http://twitlik.com/IN.


Dear Friends:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is about to set down some new, strict, health standards for companies which generate any type of waste products. My preliminary analysis (in brief) of this policy is set forth below a reprint of the article which happened to inspire me to say "I told you so." But I'm not going to do that, as appropriate as that may be. Analyzing this bit of news about a governmental agency policy is a wonderful intellectual/ brain-building and policymaking/ strategic planning exercise. For those of you who are new to this, here's how we play the game:

Firstly, read the article excerpted from THE NEW YORK TIMES which follows; secondly, click the back button and take a look at my findings and see how yours compare. Remember: No peeking at my answers until you have had an opportunity to form your own opinions!
And now (cue drumroll), the article --

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Thu, January 07, 2010 -- 11:44 AM ET
-----

E.P.A. Announces Strict New Health Standards for Smog

The Environmental Protection Agency's new limits -- which are
presented as a range -- will likely put hundreds more
counties nationwide in violation, a designation that will
require them to find additional ways to clamp down on
pollution or face government sanctions, most likely the loss
of federal highway dollars.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/07/us/AP-US-EPA-Smog.html?emc=na

####

Okay. Now that you've had an opportunity to preview the policy, compare your findings with mine:

1. MOTIVES - A power-grab by the EPA to further regulate industry under the guise of environmental protection and being green-compliant. A money-grab by the federal government to fund its burgeoning deficit by making counties pay a ransom to the federal government -- it's a sort of reverse federal-aid program to save the federal government money, and to actually collect more tax, penalty and compliance dollars from the counties in every city and state. The federal government is grabbing the near empty wallet of a fellow (metaphorically) already walking to bankrupcy court. [The fellow is walking because he has lost his job and cannot afford cabfare, and because his own automobile is excreting too much CO2, the deadly greenhouse gas that is integral for photosynthesis....but that's another tale].

2. BENEFITS - The federal government, the EPA and scores of attorneys will benefit. The environment (and the people who choose to continue living in it) will benefit by a reduction in potentially toxic factory emissions and cleaner air. Ahhhhh! 

3. COSTS - All borne by the taxpaying public and businesses (the costs of regulatory compliance are generally quite high). There will be increased incentives for businesses, jobs and talent to go overseas. There will be reduced industrial output in the US, decreasing employment, and other additional hardships to numerous to list. Service businesses, which shouldn't be as immediately and precipitously impacted, will feel the pinch as county tax bases are reduced and greater tax burdens are placed upon them.

4. ULTIMATE EFFECT - Negative for all US residents employed (or unemployed) in the private sector. Economically contractionary.

Now: How does your analysis stack up beside mine? You can comment on this article by clicking on:
Please remember to put the words "EPA POLICY" in the subject line of your message.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle


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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The Forecasting Dilemma: Predicting the Future Versus Creating the Future.

The Forecasting Dilemma: Predicting the Future Versus Creating the Future.

*** Auto-Propagating Paradoxes;
*** Castle's Law of Predictive Bias.


Dear Friends:

The information which follows was excerpted for a bulletin which I received from Timothy Mack, the President of The World Future Society, regarding the WFS' predictions for the next 25 years. I enjoy reading the WFS' insights, and they are one of many selected providers of information from which I derive my own insights and draw my own conclusions. Should you have an interest, you can visit their website at http://www.wfs.org/, and become a member. While I do not always agree with their views and I do not endorse them, their material provide some fine food for thought.

The reason for my request that you read the excerpted piece that follows is to prepare you for some observations which I have made in terms of some curious and challenging dilemmas and auto-propagating paradoxes (a lingovation) which all futurists face in rendering forecasts. Please read on:

7 Ways to Spot Tomorrow’s Trends Today

In the more than 40 years since the World Future Society was founded, futurists have developed a range of techniques to study the future. Here are a few techniques futurist use to spot new opportunities and potential problems. These methods give individuals and organizations an edge to help them succeed in a fast-changing world:

1. Scan the Media to Identify Trends—Futurists often conduct an ongoing and systematic surveys of news media and research institutes. These surveys help spot significant trends and technology breakthroughs. Futurists call this environmental scanning.

2. Analyze and Extrapolate Trends—After the trends are identified, the next step is to plot the trends to show their direction and development into the future. Trend analysis and extrapolation can show the nature, causes, speed, and potential impacts of trends.

3. Develop Scenarios—Futurists often describe the future development of a trend, a strategy, or a wild-card event in story form. These scenarios can paint a vivid picture that can help you visualize possible future developments and show how you can prepare effectively for future risks and opportunities. Scenarios help you to blend what you know about the future with imagination about the uncertain. Scenarios help you move from dreaming to planning and then to accomplishment.

4. Ask Groups of Experts—Futurists also conduct “Delphi Polls” which are carefully structured surveys of experts. Polling a wide range of experts in a given field can yield accurate forecasts and suggestions for action.

5. Use Computer Modeling—Futurists often use computer models to simulate the behavior of a complex system under a variety of conditions. For example, a model of the U.S. economy might show the effects of a 10 percent increase in taxes.

6. Explore Possibilities with Simulations—Futurists create simulations of a real-world situations by means of humans playing different roles. For example, in war games, generals test out tactics they may later use on the battlefield, or corporate executives can explore the possible results of competitive strategies.

7. Create the Vision—Futurists help organizations and individuals systematically develop visions of a desirable future. Visioning creates the big picture of the possibilities and prepares the way for goal setting and planning.

####
The short piece above is interesting for several reasons. The numbered items that follow are my thoughts:

1. The first three points made in the excerpt are classic. We must observe. We must analyze and extrapolate. We must describe scenarios (some call these "futurescapes," a terrific term which I did not get to invent). Every futurist who is serious about this prediction business must do all three.

2. The Delphi Poll (a poll where a selected sampling of experts are asked what they feel about the likelihood of something occuring or not occurring) is a rather statistically "fuzzy" approach but is generally very predictive in terms of the median results (of those experts polled) and their correlation with future events. But correlation does not imply causality -- Simply stated, are the results accurate because of the expertise of the respondents, or were they accurate because: a) these experts, collectively, were in a position to "create" the future through their influence and policymaking; b) these experts, upon hearing the findings of the study made the prediction into a reality through the very Human phenomenon of a self-fulfilling prophesy? The issue is whether these experts, through either means, were able to (whether deliberately or unconsciously) influence the outcome... to create the future by their conscious or subconscious will.

I am not speaking about creating the future through some arcane means of visualizing it and bringing it forth due to the Law of Attraction or through any such mechanism. I am speaking of the same phenomenon which occurs when major institutional investors start making "predictions" about stocks which become true as investors follow their lead.

When I spoke earlier about auto-propagating paradoxes, I meant that the experts influence the trends which they are observing, and then, having observed the effect of their own influence (perhaps unbeknownst to them), further steepen and sharpen those trends by further action of the self-fulfilling prophesy.

From this notion of auto-propagating paradoxes a general rule appears: Honoring myself, I'll call this Castle's Law Of Predictive Bias:

"The more influential the person or group making a prediction, the more likely it is that the prediction will be accurate or fulfilled."

As simple as this sounds, its ramifications are amazing. To an extent, it means that authority and power dictate the future, barring certain foibles of nature and other intrusions into the plan by the Laws of Physics or Physiology. This also explains why today's dream can be tomorrow's reality -- if the dreamer is influential enough.

3. As for statements 5, 6 and 7 in the excerpted text above, they are all really related tools: simulation, sensitivity analysis and model algorithms or result-generating programs are all just means of seeing how a change in a particular variable can change the outcome of an event. The issue here is still one of Human bias: Who chooses the variables? Who writes the original program? Who frames the study? The answer is "Humans."

Summing it all up, Prediction is:
  • Always going to be influenced by auto-propagating paradoxes;
  • Always going to be subject to questioner's bias;
  • Always going to be subject to respondent bias;
  • Always going to be part prognostication and part creation;
  • Always going to be a fascinating sport.....
Thank you for letting me stir your imagination.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle




COMMENT On This Article!
________________________________________________________
KEYWORDS, TERMS, LABELS AND ORGANIZATIONS:


globalism, internationalism, cartels, CFR, NGO, UN, EU, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, cooperation, peaceful cooexistence, a world without walls, The National Networker, Artificial Intelligence, AI, symbiosis, Interworked Cooperative Business Communities, ICBC, Lingovations, commerce versus combat, trends, analysis, imagination, innovation, introspection, exponentialism and the mastermind, exponentiality, predicting the future, shaping the future, adaptation, evolution, twitter, google, social media, networking groups, tendencies, statistics, joint venturing metrics, prediction, strategic interdependence, communications technologies, skype, New World Order, The 1% Rule, Mutually Assured Destruction, imperialism, fuedalism, freedom, peace, prosperity, demography, allocation of wealth, Digg, Zimbio, TNNW BUZZWORKS, Articles by Douglas Castle, search engines, entreprenership, business tools, networking, relationships, convincing, negotiating, energy, parapsychology, systems, chaos, complexity, perspective, entropy, behavioral psychology, systems of government, sovereignty, ethics, objectivisim, subjectivism, relativism, multidimensionalism, perspective, inflation, recession, valuations, intellectual property, trust, balance of power, balance of trade, balance of trade, gross domestic foreign investment, indexing, growth industries, commodities, options, exhanges, control strategies, risk evaluation, survivalism...

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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

SUICIDE: Being Proactive Can Save a Life.

Public Service Announcement:

The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention Programs. Help save a life. Learn more - http://twitlik.com/AFSP   Every life is precious. Know how to help. Know how to access emergency treatment. Always take any discussions or thoughts of suicide seriously. Don't ever leave a suicidal person alone. An hour of conversation while waiting for emergency help to arrive can make all the difference.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call for emergency treatment (there are some excellent resources at LINKS 4 LIFE), and then call a friend or family member. Keep calling until you connect. If you can't get anyone, get to a place where there are people and some activity. There's hope... and there's help. I promise.

Douglas Castle,
THE NATIONAL NETWORKER COMPANIES


Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.
The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.
The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.
Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.

Join us! With your free membership, you'll receive THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter and The BLUE TUESDAY Report. Click on: http://twitlik.com/IN. You'll also want to get your free RSS feed or Daily email delivered to your inbox -- just click on http://twitlik.com/Daily and make your selection.
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