What Do I Know Right Now?

Some pointers to answer this question are:

State of the environment

State of my career

State of the US

Environment

There are three documents released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently. They support the view that the state of the environment is worrisome but we can do something about it. James Martin, in his book, "The Meaning of the 21^st Century", provides the necessary optimism to confront the problems ahead of us in this new century. James Lovelock, in his book, "Gaia's Revenge", presents his opinion that it may already be too late to stop the Earth from warming to the point that it will be more and more difficult to maintain the same quality of life we have today.

My opinion is that this is a real problem and I will change my way of life as I see necessary, but I am afraid I may have to change my way of life in ways I do not want to, in other words I may be forced to change, due to the diminished resources available to me now.

Career

I was not rehired for next year in my present job. I am applying to jobs, but most of all, I am reassessing my contributions present and future.

United States of America

This is a testing time for this country where I live, where I plan to apply for citizenship. The US has an important role, both to create and to solve the problems of the 21^st Century. This is the place to be.