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I believe this is a cycle the whole world encounters during growth.

It is not only in Beijing, where we have seen the levels of pollution through pictures trying to present the beauty of the new infrastructure.These pictures also showed the price to the environment for those infrastructures.

It was a strange and surreal truth in one picture.

On August 6, 1945, in order to end the war with the Empire of Japan, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, thus launching the atomic age. The Japanese warlords did not respond with a notice of surrender, so the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered unconditionally.

That’s the way wars used to be fought. By that time, Germany had been so thoroughly destroyed with conventional bombs that its cities laid in ruins. Over a half century ago, wars were not waged with concerns for “collateral damage”, i.e., civilian deaths. It was understood that the civilian population had to be killed to the point where there was simply no capability to proceed.

For many years, perhaps centuries, the human mind is always being tested and challenged by other human minds. But the main challenge which remains is concerning the ability to discuss, share and explain thoughts and concerns. Throughout history it was found that those who would listen to those with concerns are a very small fraction than those who oppress them.

The trend of life has become let people live under your rule, not because they find in you the wisdom and wit to lead them but rather from the iron fist you possess. Including those nations who have liberty and freedom of speech.

“The Arctic may hold 90 billion barrels of oil, more than all the known reserves of Nigeria, Kazakhstan, and Mexico combined, and enough to supply U.S. demand for 12 years.” One would have thought Joe Carroll’s Bloomberg News report would have evoked some interest by the public and other media outlets. Instead, news of the U.S. Geological Survey was greeted mostly by a giant collective yawn.

“One third of the undiscovered oil is in Alaskan territory, the agency found…” Considering that the Democrat-controlled Congress adamantly refuses to let drilling occur for the oil known to exist in and off-shore Alaska, it is not surprising the public has concluded this vast treasure will remain untouched.

Just when you think the American people are awakening to the forces that have battered them like the floodwaters of Katrina in the lower ninth ward for the last seven and half years, along comes a survey concluding that a vast majority considers Senator Barack Obama the riskier of the two major party candidates vying for the presidency.

Set aside whatever misgivings you may have concerning the Senator from Illinois, this is the judgment of a paranoid schizophrenic prescribing his own medicines. Like any candidate, while Obama may present a certain measure of risk, Senator John McCain is a certain catastrophe.

As a negotiation coach it is natural for me to view election campaigns conducted between the two candidates for president and voters as a negotiation with multiple agendas, adversaries, and intense decision making.

That is why it strikes me as disturbing that both of the presidential candidates have similar positions on immigration that run contrary to the vast majority of voters in both parties. Other than the war in Iraq and concerns about the economy, the issue of immigration, both legal and illegal, and the need to bring immigration reform into our society is likely to emerge as a deciding factor.