In a long, academic, but still intriguing piece for Foreign Affairs Stephen Biddle argues that policy discussion in the United States about the war in Iraq is mistaken in advocating that, “the United States must fight the Vietnam War again — but this time the right way.” Biddle points out that the war in Iraq is not a war of national liberation like Vietnam, and that training Iraqi troops to take on law enforcement responsibilities is probably the worst approach when such strong divisions still exist between groups within Iraqi society. Most interesting from my perspective, however, is how well Biddle illustrates that being able to predict the future is really about removing the blinders of the past to truly observe the present.

Malcolm Gladwell, who first came to my attention with the publication of the fascinating book Blink, has a blog. Makes for good reading.

Any apocalyptics disappointed by the world surviving the millenium can dust off their sandwich boards again; astronomers have given the asteroid ‘2004 VD-17’ a 1000 to 1 chance of hitting the Earth in 2102. Meanwhile, another wise post at WorldChanging.com explains why the issue of potential asteroid collisions is one that we shouldn’t get too paranoid about, but nor is it one we should sweep under the carpet and ignore completely.

It seems that the business world is waking up to the profit pontential of space exploration/exploitation. This article at CNNMoney.com discusses these issues, comparing space to the Wild West, and projects like the space elevator to the railroads that opened it up for expansion.

There’s an article at Popular Science that I find absolutely captivating. It’s about Juan Lozano, a Mexican hobbyist who built his own jetpack from scratch. While the pack’s usefulness is limited by its fuel capacity, there’s a retropulp DIY feel to the story that makes the geek in me smile.