On June 3rd, 2010 the Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) held a day-long symposium at American University featuring presentations by all 2010 finalists of a BFI ‘Challenge’ contest for architecting the future. This article provides a link to the keynote address by Dr. Michael Ben Eli.

Over the past year I have had a chance to see the spread of culture and human civilization as it has splayed itself out over the land and through the centuries, both in the Orient and in the Occidental world. Many of the places I go are way off the beaten track for American tourists; therefore, I’ve had a unique peek at the world as it is in so many places.

Jordan is a progressive forward-looking country and a beacon of light in the Middle East. This article outlines some of the most important programs they have put in place to empower women in the workplace.

There is no place to hide from the effects of the US budget binge. But, these problems are global, and considerably worse in nearly all of the rest of the industrialized world than here. Even wonderkind China is in the throes of a credit and real estate bubble that dwarfs ours. Watch out!