.................................CONGRATULATIONS dkt ON REACHING 26,000,000 MOT POINTS !!!.................................

RT, there's always doom-and-gloom scenarios out there. They just change over time. I admit I didn't follow your link but the dni.gov part sounds to me something like Defense National Intelligence or some sort. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find someone like that extrapolating possible directions current trends could go in. In fact, that's quite likely a good thing. By considering what might happen, we can be better prepared for what does happen. I heard a while back about the military considering thje possiblities of what could happen with climate changes and the effect on different parts of the world as things like food production change for example. Back in the 60's when I was a kid, the local newspaper ran a series of fictional stories written by various big names about what the "end" could be like if certain issues at the time went to the extreme. I still remember the one Issac Asimov wrote. We had polluted the world to the point that what was left of humanity lived in domed cities and oxygen was in short supply. Humanity went out with a whimper. Since then, environmental laws have changed significantly. Folks will argue about different aspects of those changes but the important point is that we reacted. We didn't ignore the problem and do nothing about it. Back in the 30's, the American military was far from the first-class power that it is today. Yamamoto planned the Japanese attack on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor fearing what would happen if the "sleeping giant" awakened. It did and we ended the war a world superpower, far different from before it. Much of the technological momentum we have today began in the US reaction to Sputnik in the 50's. I forget exactly when but back in the past decade, I remember reading a report projecting the future that had China breaking up "Soviet"-style into 15 separate republics before mid-century. Ever since China went communist, we've heard scenarios about how it will come to dominate, how the sheer numbers of its military posed such a major threat. Well, the communist government has and continues to face the same thing in the numbers of the general population. The economic growth of the China of today was a necessity. The capitalistic elements of that growth would never have been possible in Mao's time but, without them, what is now never would have been. What gives the Chinese goverment nightmares at night is the fear of the people rising up en masse. You see that fear in their intense suppression of any kind of mass protest or revolt like the ethnic tensions in western China and in events like Tienamien Square. Back in the days of twenty cent a gallon gas, you never would have seen the development of hybrid and alternative technology cars. The gloobal flow of information today would never have been possible in the days before the net. Totalitarian states nowadays expend huge effort and resources to restrict and "control" the net and that is their Sysiphus fate. It seems that every generation has found much to worry about in the fate that awaits in the future, and yet the next generations have faced the challenges that have come. That today's generations can argue about how well that was done is a hidden blessing. As for the US, it seems to be part of our nature to be a giant who, in at least some way or another, sleeps. In time, we awaken and the power and potential we have shows itself. It's not all that unique to us either. The worries and concerns we face are, in some ways, a good thing. They are legitimate and valid but also a part of the nature of things, I think. Perhaps it is their very existence that is responsible for the fact that we eventually address them and have the luxury of debating the "correctness" of how that was done. It would seem that there are elements of Newtonian physics that are applicable to much more than just physics and that is a very good thing!

New topic that matters.....pray for Newtown tonight.

How horrific. I can't even imagine someone being so twisted. Prayers for all the families hit by this tragedy.

MyOnlineTeam Daily Statistics for 12/14 - Active Members

Active team members report
==========================

                                                     Current          Points
Active member name            Rank      Change       Points        This Period
=========================     =====     ======     ===========     ===========
RT                                1          0     278,750,432       1,307,214
GeraldRube                        2          0     143,373,717         260,215
judson Somerville MD              3          0     138,605,162         237,384
Coingames                         4          0      87,747,643          63,816
xroule                            5          0      50,454,361          73,121
David Autumns                     6          0      46,141,063         161,921
parmesian                         7          0      45,209,641          11,433
NiceMedTexMD                      8          0      44,964,285         115,969
brown chris                       9          0      36,242,660          76,370
finman                           10          0      26,795,107          47,288
dkt                              11          0      26,075,810          75,286
keithhenry                       12          0      25,698,587          23,979
Vuj                              13          0      25,088,841          33,927
Blueprint                        14          0      17,979,618           7,452
nl59056                          15          0      17,806,728           6,334
darth_vader                      16          0      16,430,796          21,923
Fanie                            17          0      15,138,197          15,779
Esteban69                        18          0      14,747,778           3,650
lawrencehardin                   19          0      11,424,783          15,664
pramodp                          20         +1      10,933,913          62,502
PohSoon                          21         -1      10,904,988           3,564
smcclarigan                      22          0       7,954,952          11,558
frans6nl                         23          0       7,628,865               0
Tomwp                            24          0       5,872,325          20,508
johng                            25          0       3,959,837           2,709
Mechanical                       26          0       3,270,912           7,343
SteelDragon                      27          0       2,374,643          33,539
largethunder                     28          0       1,945,408          13,579
elpe                             29          0       1,762,407               0
Lanscader                        30          0       1,495,308               0
newtod                           31          0       1,154,028               0
CCH                              32          0       1,152,610           3,607
Jean-Guy Germain                 33          0         507,584             397
sz2000                           34          0         410,075           2,177
cht!                             35          0         391,440           1,789
pauldarleen                      36          0         147,311           4,098
- dc                             37          0          79,283               0
sm217144                         38          0          57,869               0

Note: Active members are those who earned points in the prior 30 days.

Top Twenty active members returning points today:
01: RT - 1,307,214 points
02: GeraldRube - 260,215 points
03: judson Somerville MD - 237,384 points
04: David Autumns - 161,921 points
05: NiceMedTexMD - 115,969 points
06: brown chris - 76,370 points
07: dkt - 75,286 points
08: xroule - 73,121 points
09: Coingames - 63,816 points
10: pramodp - 62,502 points
11: finman - 47,288 points
12: Vuj - 33,927 points
13: SteelDragon - 33,539 points
14: keithhenry - 23,979 points
15: darth_vader - 21,923 points
16: Tomwp - 20,508 points
17: Fanie - 15,779 points
18: lawrencehardin - 15,664 points
19: largethunder - 13,579 points
20: smcclarigan - 11,558 points

Total points returned today: 2,726,095
Active members returning points today: 32
Average points per member active today: 85,190.4688