Hello all,

Thanks very much to everyone who came & took part in our discussion
on the Future of War. I heard a few new ideas - such as about
non-lethal millimeter wave pain weapons (from first-time and
well-prepared attendee Beth - thanks Beth!), new guesses as to why we
went to war in Iraq (keep our war machine oiled - thanks Rob), and
reasons why we rape & pillage aren't as popular during wartime as they
once were. (Thank goodness whatever the reason!) Rob also mentioned
a statistic that globally violence is declining precipitously - some
good news suggesting the future of war is bleak.
Towards the end, Andrew waved the banner for Western Civilization &
the propagation of middle-class values. This is something I often
mention & feel gratitude about - Western Civilization. I know it's
not PC to be tooting our own horn, but I say "Yay!" for W. Civ. In
particular, as Andrew also noted, the status of women. I shudder to
think of being born as property somewhere. The thread of the
conversation was something to the effect of as the traditional spoils
of war are not something the invading country wants to take, the
allure of war for aggression's sake will also decrease. Some wars
might still have to happen. & of course, I brought "The Lucifer
Principle" by Howard Bloom to represent the idea of war being
intrinsic to how we've succeeded in the game of group evolution. (I'd
also brought "The Pentagon's New Map" by Thomas P. M. Barnett, some of
who's points were confirmed by a first-time attendee who'd been in the
army.)
We did wander off the topic of the Future of War to the present of
war, and how come we went to war in Iraq, and what constitutes
success. I am just a beginner at the herd cats I mean lead a Future
Salon discussion gig. So, I would appreciate your suggestions on how
I could do a better job. Some people like details, some prefer just
the big picture philosophizing. Ya can't please all of the people all
of the time, but I'd like to strike a happy balance. I'm pretty
omnivorous in my information consumption, but I know some of y'all are
more picky. So, please let me know. In particular, I could use some
help keeping us on topic. A couple of folks have offered to assist
with this & I will take them up on it.
I will work on getting an official speaker next month. Also I am
going to check with the bookstore as to whether we can switch to the
third Sunday. I know, we just changed the day & time, however we now
directly conflict with the L.A. group & some of them have sometimes
made the trek down to S.D. and vice-versa, so I don't want to preclude
that possibility.

-Lisa