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While its nearly impossible for someone to forecast the future with absolute certainty, George Friedman (political scientist, author, and founder/CIO/CEO of private intelligence corporation Stratfor) offers the reader a glimpse of the next century based on his own research and analysis.

What’s clear after reading this is that in Friedman’s view, the United States is only in its infancy and will remain a world power, and will grow even stronger over the next century. He surmises that the United States will solidify its position as the world’s leading international power of North American as the center of gravity in the international system by 2060. He also sees the U.S. consolidating its command of space and wit hit, control of international sea lanes.

Some of the most interesting predictions are the border clashes with Mexico, and wars against Turkey and Japan (two current U.S. allies). Whether or not you believe Friedman’s forecast, whether or not you believe history reveals a pattern that repeats itself, this book still makes for a good read.

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On Tuesday evening I went with my sister to see Keane perform at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.  I’m still not the biggest fan of the venue, but had a better experience than I did the last time I saw a concert there.

At first it looked as though there was going to be a mediocre turnout, but I think people decided to arrive later since there were two opening acts (Matt Kearney and Helio Sequence). The audience was full of energy and was pretty diverse in age and nationality. Keane didn’t take the stage until 9:30 and played for a little over an hour.

Having never seen the band live before, I was blown away by the energy that Tom Chaplin exuded throughout the show. He genuinely seemed to be having a great time and appreciated performing in D.C. and the fans. The audience fed off of it, and the entire atmosphere was great. This is one of the better shows I’ve seen in a long time, if not ever. The music was great, the interaction between band and audience was warm, and the overall experience was fun. I’ll definitely see them again when they make it back to the States.

Their set consisted of a pretty solid mix of new (Perfect Symmetry – 2008) and old, with the new songs really setting themselves apart from some of their older material. I enjoyed it all, but found it most refreshing to see a band not jaded, going through the motions but living and loving every moment.

Playlist

The Lovers Are Losing
Bend and Break
A Bad Dream
Again and Again
Playing Along [Acoustic]
Try Again
Spiralling
We Might As Well Be Strangers
You Haven’t Told Me Anything
Everybody’s Changing
Leaving So Soon
You Don’t See Me
This is the Last Time
Perfect Symmetry
Somewhere Only We Know
Crystal Ball
Is It Any Wonter

Encore
My Shadow
Bedshaped

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I don’t think anyone (including Penguin fans) expected the debacle that transpired this evening as the Caps and Penguins faced off for the seventh time in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. I was still feeling somewhat optimistic during the first intermission when the Caps were facing a 2-0 deficit, but within a span of just over 2 minutes in the second period, the Penguins went up 4-0.  Facing a huge deficit, Varlamov got pulled and Jose Theodore was given the nod.

By this point it was abundantly clear to anyone watching that the Caps weren’t playing at the same level as the Penguins. They certainly didn’t look like the same team that battled through the grueling series up to this point. As far as I’m concerned, the rest was superfluous. It was not the ending to an otherwise great series that I expected. To be honest, I would have preferred that the Caps had lost game 6 in overtime (in Pittsburgh) than to be humiliated in a seventh game on home ice the way they were. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for players and fans alike after the season the Caps had.

If there was anything positive to take away from this game, it’s that the Capitals have a promising future ahead of them.  It was nice to see fans and players reciprocate their appreciation for each other after the final horn sounded.

On a side note, if it weren’t for Varly, the Caps would not have even had a chance to make it to game 7 in this series. This guy is legit and should be a bright spot for the team in season to come. I don’t know if the media was over hyping the whole Mike Green situation, because stick or no stick, he didn’t look any different tonight than he did the rest of the series.

Ah well, it is what it is. Time to move forward and focus on what can be done to make the team better next year. Football season can’t get here soon enough!

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Though fans can argue (and would be right) that the Washington Capitals were the better team, noone could say that the team was hanging on by a thread when they went down three games to one.  Even after winning game five, there was still an air of uncertainty about the challenge they faced.

From a historical perspective, the odds were against them. Prior to tonight, the Capitals had only come back from a 3-1 deficit once in 1988 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Oh, and as far as Game 7 goes, they were 1 – 5. As of tonight, we can make that two!

Fedorov sure does have good timing – getting his first goal of the series with 4:59 left in the third period to break the 1-1 deadlock. They almost added another one in the waning minutes of the game as the Rangers made their last push.

I think its safe to say that rookie Simeon Varlamov is the MVP of the series, starting in Game 2 in relief of José Théodore after a mediocre performance. Varlamov finished the series with a goals against average of just over 1.

Now it’s on to face the Pittsburgh Penguins at home in the semis! Let’s hope momentum is on our side – I suffered many a heartache watching the Pens squash the Capitals hopes of a championship in playoffs past. Go Caps!

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In light of this post, consider me surprised and very pleased. Even when the announcement was made that the New York Jets would be selecting Mark Sanchez as the fifth pick in the first round, I was still weary that some sort of behind-the-scenes deal was being worked out between the Jets and the Redskins. When it finally came time for the Redskins to make their pick in the 13th spot, they wasted no time in turning in their pick. Whether it was a response to all of the negative attention around their possible interest in Mark Sanchez, a reaffirmation to Jason Campbell that he is their quarterback, or just a message that Orakpo was the guy they intended to get all along, it was a pretty strong statement. Oh, and it made a lot of fans happy.

The Washington Redskins finally have a pass rushing Defensive End who will be a force to be reckoned with. With the addition of Albert Haynesworth and drafting of Brian Orakpo, our already great defense has added another dimension. This guy is an absolute beast and I look forward to seeing him put the hurt on opposing teams’ quarterbacks.

In the later rounds, the Redskins drafted:

Round 3: CB Kevin Barnes from Maryland
Round 5: LB Cody Glenn from Nebraska
Round 6: OLB Robert Henson from TCU
Round 7: TE Eddie Williams from Idaho
Round 7: WR Marko Mitchell from Nevada

I think they failed to address the outstanding offensive line issue. Overall, a good draft. I think their utilization of the first pick outweighs the others, but the team still has some issues it has yet to address. The team’s bungling of the quarterback situation, creating a problem where one didn’t exist (specifically with Jason Campbell) was a negative too. Let’s hope that it motivates JC to have a stellar season, whether or not he leaves town afterwards.

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At first I thought all of the discussion of the Redskins and Mark Sanchez was just hype. The more it has been drummed up over the last week or so, with insiders confirming their interest the more I begin to believe it. I hope I’m wrong. I have nothing against Mark Sanchez of course, I just don’t understand how a quarterback is our #1 priority.

If true, Jason Campbell is done in D.C. Hell, he’s probably gone after this season anyway after the whole Jay Cutler debacle and since its his contract year. Personally, I’d like to see Colt Brennan get a shot, but maybe they’ve decided to write him off as well. Maybe it all really does have to do with the meeting rumored to have taken place between Daniel Snyder and Mike Shanahan a few months back. Perhaps Zorn is a sitting duck.

All I know is that the Redskins front office has no credibility whatsoever. Surprise me just this once, I dare you.

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The Jacksonville Jaguars unveiled new, streamlined uniforms for the upcoming season. I didn’t think the old ones were necessarily in need of updating but the new ones do look a little more crisp. Unless you are a die-hard Jaguar fan, you probably can’t even identify the differences without comparing the old and new side-by-side.  Also introduced was a new helmet that appears black or teal depending on how the light hits it. The whole color shifting thing reminded me of the Mystic Cobra, which I always thought was pretty sweet. So yeah, I like it..

Apparently the San Francisco 49ers are also scheduled to show off some new duds sometime during or after the draft this weekend.

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While I was disappointed that this book wasn’t a how-to, I still found it to be a good read. In it Strauss details his journey and unexpected transformation from someone that runs from his fears to someone who seeks them out and faces them head on. In addition to Strauss’ story, scattered throughout the book are roughly ten illustrated how-to survival scenarios. I thought these were pretty cool though would have liked to have seen more. Criticism aside, if you ever wondered what would happen and how you would survive if social order broke down, this book is for you. It’s both amusing and informative.

The biggest lesson I took away from the book is that the more experience and preparedness one has, the less he or she has to fear. It also reminded me that we are in a lot of ways prisoners of our progression (and in some cases, laziness) as Americans. If we were suddenly stripped of our modern-day conveniences and luxuries, many of us would be in a world of hurt.

Neil Strauss is best known for his hit book, The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists. He is also a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and writes for the New York Times.

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A cool 3D short film on the excesses of the American housing market:

subprime from beeple on Vimeo.

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Eckhart Tolle’s message in The Power of Now is simple, yet profound: living in the now is the path to happiness and enlightenment. I found this book to be inspiring and refreshing, especially at a time when the world feels like it’s moving increasingly faster, where there is so much uncertainty (see: financial crisis) and all the news that gets reported is either negative or something irrelevant in the grand scheme of things (see: Octomom is getting a reality television show!). It helped me refocus and shed some of the stress that was needlessly accumulating and chipping away at my tolerance levels.

While it’s pretty easy to experience the profound effects of “living in the now”, it isn’t something that you can simply turn on. It will take practice and reinforcement much like anything else you might try to learn. It’s quite easy to fall into the familiar patterns that you’ve followed your entire life, so you need to be patient and more importantly observe without judging.

Below are some of the ideas and suggestions that Tolle makes in the book:

• Surrender to what is.
• Listen to the voice in your head impartially.
• Create a gap in mind stream by simply focusing on the now.
• Nothing exists outside of now.
• Separate life from life situation.
• Your mind or Ego is your biggest obstacle to enlightenment.

 And my favorite quote from the book and I think encapsulates the entire premise of The Power of Now: “Beauty arises in the stillness of your presence.”

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