The tens
When last year (and decade) ended I did a kind of summary, wrote down what I felt had mattered that decade. It was terrorism, war and environmental angst but also promising sign of cultural and technical evolution. And when we passed into the tens, this pristine new decade which isn't even a month old, I've begun to figure what I want to see happening over the next ten years. OK peace on Earth is utopia; there will always be some war or another going on somewhere. And peace in itself is not always good. It can be the cruel peace of suppression and tyranny, and if some people then take arms to reclaim their freedom, like in former Jugoslavia they are fighting what I might call a 'decent war' rather than accepting to be pushed down. Still I want to see less conflicts and more acceptance. I would love for the conflict in Gaza to end and for the people of Iran and China for instance to taste real democracy.

And then there are some other wishes I have of this decade (listed in no particular order):

• A permanent cure for AIDS, one that kills the virus before it can do any damage.
• A working fusion reactor. Fusion energy uses hydrogen, an element which there is an almost limitless supply of, as fuel and the 'waste' is helium, another element which is harmless and can be used as fuel too. In cars for instance. We would have electricity and heat in an almost endless amount, and we could skip the coal and oil that pollutes the atmosphere and accelerate global warming.
• Last year the Church of Sweden became the first Christian church to accept same sex marriage. I'd love to see all churches in all religions to follow. Al right, I'm convinced that it'll take more than a year, but now there's a decade available. After all, what is wrong with two people loving each other?
• A cheap and simple way to turn salt water into fresh water, that would help a lot of the developing countries around.
• A price level where artists and consumers of culture can accept to pay the price for a song, a movie a game or whatever and stop downloading illegally. After all the artists and actors et cetera do also need to eat and if people stop paying for their work they have to stop producing, and start to drive busses or something instead, and the world of culture would be so much poorer. At the same time, the way the record companies, movie and gaming industry et cetera have been acting has not contributed at all to the understanding of the creator's need to earn money on their art. Stop running to court and start talking instead. Start finding a price level and a technical platform where creators and consumers can meet over a reasonable price for the products!
• Global free trade! Free trade will do more to fight poverty than any aid in the world. It will help people to help themselves and it will gain both consumers and producers in the long run.
• Batteries for cell phones, MP3 players, cameras and bluetooth products which last longer!
• Intelligent nano clothes which can modify themselves according to temperature. I mean I read about this in 1997, it's time to make it start happening.
• Washing machines and fridges connected to the internet, so you could check what you had in the fridge using the cell phone and know what to get in the grocery store, or start the laundry back at work so it's done when you get home. I read about that too in the 90ies and I'm still waiting!
• Printer ink which doesn't cost a fortune.
• Real democracy in China, Iran and a lot of other countries.
• Less racism, homophobia, bigotry and intolerance in general. Live and let live!
• Chocolate which doesn't make you fat

   

That's what I can think of right now. Not simple wishes, but still hopes. A decade is long and perhaps I can tick some of it off in 2019. Then I'd love to see a man walking on Mars and a movie or a TV play based upon Asimov's Foundation Thrilogy but it's not really necessary

I also wonder - will we find signs of intelligent life out there in space and how will it affect us? We've been listening now for more than 60 years, perhaps we'll start hearing something finally…



Thanks
On a more DA related level I don't have the time at the moment to thank all ppl personally for favs and watches, so just accept a bundle of to share equally between yourself

Nooooo - don't fight over them - here's some more!

The feature
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Mature Content

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Special feature with beautiful and interesting faces
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