The People's Choice: Carnegie Council Top Ten 2009

2009 was a hard year on many fronts and this feeling was reflected in the Carnegie Council audience favorites. Concerns include making sense of the financial crisis; predicting future risks; and coming up with new strategies for the 21st century.

No. 7 on the list, "Top Risks and Ethical Decisions, 2009," was so popular that on January 13 a similar panel will predict their "Top Risks" for 2010 (with live webcast).

1. The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
Niall Ferguson, Harvard University (video, audio, transcript)
The economies of China and America are so entwined that neither can afford to let the other fail.

2. The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century
George Friedman, Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (video, audio, transcript)
Which nations will be the winners and losers? These predictions may surprise you.

3. Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery
Siddharth Kara, Free the Slaves (video, audio, transcript)
The biggest illegal business after drugs, sex slaves generated profits of $35.7 billion in 2007.

4. On Promoting Democracy
Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study (article)
States are not the only, or even the most important, agents of regime change.

5. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa
Dambisa Moyo, Economic specialist, Sub-Saharan Africa (video, audio, transcript)
Decades of international aid have only made things worse in Africa.

6. The Balance between Risk and Return Is Everybody's Business
Ann Rutledge, R&R Consulting (article)
Risk has shifted from corporations to individuals, and many ordinary Americans got burned.

7. Top Risks and Ethical Decisions, 2009
Ian Bremmer, Eurasia Group; Art Kleiner, Booz & Company; Michele Wucker, World Policy Institute; Thomas Stewart, Booz & Company (video, audio, transcript)
This expert panel predicts risks for what they agree will be a very tough year.

8. The Crisis of Islamic Civilization
Ali A. Allawi, former Iraq government official (video, audio, transcript)
What caused the decline of Islamic civilization and how can it be revived?

9. The Crisis of American Foreign Policy: Wilsonianism in the Twenty-First Century
Anne-Marie Slaughter, U.S. State Department (video, audio, transcript)
Who's right, the neocons or the liberal internationalists?

10. Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?
Michael Sandel, Harvard University (video, audio, transcript)
A lively debate with the audience on what we owe to society.

Done some History today!

Finally had time today to sit the fuck down, and do some of my long-needed History internal. And by 'some', I mean 'get started'. So I'll just start doing some every day until I catch up and not such a paranoid mess about it all. I'm off to the movies this evening, and getting dinner in town too which will be good. Well not really, cause my diet and exercise plans have failed and died and I look like Star Jones in like, 2003. Or whenever it was she was fat.

Anyway Friday was good, went to the variety concert and did my little skit thing for our Shakepeare performance. Then Nick Pittar's mum gave him and I a ride to Rianna's birthday at '623 on the Rocks', which had a nice set-up but the stuff seemed pretty unorganised and half the ordered things never arrived. And it was expensive as hell too, definitely won't be rushing back there I don't think. Saturday I worked all day, fairly fast day thank God and worked til 6pm again (an extra hour) so that extra pay will be nice. Straight after that Dad picked me up and took me to Shakespeare rehearsal until 8pm and then Miss Tomlin gave me a ride home! I slept in til like, 11am today (which was a dream!!) and dithered around eating too much for the rest of the day.

Anyway, I beleive Dad is ready to drive me into town. Byee!

Monday Every Day

Sure has been a lot of Monday's lately, more then usual I'm pretty sure. Loosing Saturday sure does funny things, but the time goes by so quickly at work and then you get paid like $80 so it's worth it, not saying I don't miss my Saturdays, but if $80 is the reward for loosing Saturday's, I'll take it.

I'd probably take it for $50!
Not that I'm offering.

Swore to go to bed by 10pm, and it's like 9.50pm now so better go wash my face, brush my teeth, moisturise, pee, drink water, pee again (probably) and then finally go to bed. Which will more then likely take me longer then 10 minutes.

Fuck sake. Goodnight!