Batteries run a world of devices, from wristwatches to electric cars. But they store relatively little energy, often are made with rare or toxic metals, and most can’t be recharged more than a few times. Alcoa and battery maker Phinergy have developed a feather-light battery that uses aluminum and air as the electrical poles with a water electrolyte. The partners...
For this couple, a trend arrives ahead of its time
With an ease and certainty not easily challenged, 94-year-old June Blum remarks, “aging has come of age. I am skipping old age, but I’m certainly not skipping life.” She would know. To spend any time with June and Stanley, her painter/poet husband of 73 years, is a deep journey into how dramatically different the concept and reality of aging, particularly...
UNTITLED ARTICLE
REGISTRATION Space is limited, so don’t delay. Registration is open only to Trends Journal subscribers until November 14. After that, non-subscribers can register. Cost: If you register by November 14, the cost is $300 per participant. After November 14, the cost is $350 per participant. Fees are due at registration, and are non-refundable. Meals Your fee includes breakfast and lunch,...
Top Trends for 2015 Forecast at Conference
Global forecaster Gerald Celente and his Trends Research Institute have announced an exciting one-day conference this December during which the institute’s trends forecast for 2015 will be unveiled, discussed and examined to determine how these trend lines will affect individuals, families, communities and businesses in the year ahead. The event will be held Saturday, December 6, from 9 a.m. to...
Can postal banking deliver?
In 1911, following yet another financial panic, United States banks had a dodgy reputation. So, the trusty U.S. Postal Service began offering savings accounts and other financial services, backed by the government’s full faith and credit. Deposits reached $1.2 billion during the Great Depression. But the teller windows closed in 1966 when banks were offering a combination of insured accounts,...
Look back to see what’s ahead – it ain’t pretty
“Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.” Few people aren’t familiar with this quote from philosopher George Santayana. But does history repeat itself because we fail to learn from it, or is it because history follows an unbreakable pattern we are doomed to repeat? The answer is crucial since, by all indicators, we are...
Trends forecaster looks back on Iraq predictions; fears history is repeating
It was in 2004, with Washington trumpeting the forthcoming Iraqi elections that would put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in power as a means to establishing democracy, when then-Vice President Dick Cheney declared the Iraq War to be “behind us,” and Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno predicted “we have six to 12 months left of this insurgency.” It was also in 2004, before those elections, that...
The propaganda of war
“Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a dying solider on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.” — Otto Von Bismarck, first chancellor of Germany, 1867 We have to keep asking. There has to be an answer. Why is it so easy to fool the majority of humankind into war? Why is it that...
Want to see an end to the madness?
The new independent film, Zizi and Honeyboy, based on my book, “What Zizi Gave Honey Boy: A True Story about Love Wisdom and the Soul of America,” has just been completed. I’m thrilled and honored. My dear, wise and loving Aunt Zizi, may her soul rest in peace, is played by Doris Roberts, who starred as Marie Barone, the Italian-American...
Hardly a peep for peace
Look at the people ruling the people. The people who we, the people, allow to lead us and who the masses look up to and bow down to: Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Herr Chancellor, His Excellency, His Majesty, The Queen. Such lofty titles, such big egos and with nothing to show for them but track records of abject failure....