Tired Road Warrior

Number 2 on Time Magazine’s list (22 Mar 2010, p 42-3) of important ideas for the next 10 years is:  “Remapping the World.”  According to Parag Khanna:

“Political borders remain among the most fundamental obstacles to human progress around the world.  And yet while a borderless world could be a great thing, we can’t assume it inot being.  We have to actually build it.  Nothing would make a great contribution toward removing justifications for armed conflict and toward economic development.  In the next decade, drawing a new map of the world won’t be just a worthy goal, it will become a moral, economic and strategic imperative.”

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On Tuesday of last week, I traveled to the legendary (modern) settlement of Gaviotas in southeastern Colombia.  Our group left Bogota in a small military transport, and one hour latter we landed on a grass-covered runway.   Gaviotas, located in the watershed of the Orinoco River, is a massive forestation project that is designed to support a self-sustaining populous.

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When I was growing up in the 60s in East Lansing, Michigan, I had a friend whose parents were alcoholics.  My friend was a bit of a nerd.  He loved movies (this era was pre-tapes and pre-DVDs) and he would rent full-length movies on reels.  He would show them in his house for anyone who was interested.  We ended up spending a lot of time at his place.

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On April 18, 2006, Carl T. Wittwer was a guest speaker at USU.  (Carl was the the 2006 recIpient of the Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry’s Alumni Achievement Award.)  In his talk he reminisced about the academic experiences that shaped his professional journey.  Carl earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a doctorate degree in biochemistry from USU.  According to Insights (a publication of the College of Science):

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In twelve days, my Mother turns 90.  All her children (and their spouses), all her grandchildren (and their spouses), and all her great-grandchildren will be getting together for a birthday celebration in Zions National Park.  On my Grandmother Rees’s side (the Munk family of Benson, UT) of the family, it is not unusual to be a nonagenarian and more.  Grandmother (Mother’s mother) lived to 101.  My Mother has an older brother who will turn 97 this year (his wife is also in her 90s).  Her older sister, Aunt Alda, is 93.

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