Reset all, what is wrong with us and a see breeze

I've just finished reading this book: The Big Reset by Willem Middelkoop.  The author is Dutch and I've been following him for a while (on twitter) and was eager to learn what he had to say in his latest publication. The book was first published in English (so good news for you all) but I waited for the Dutch version to appear (lazy as I am). It has the benefit that it was already slightly updated as it includes some reference to the recent tensions on the Crimea. This may make you wonder what the book is about. Well it is about finances and more specifically about the Dollar as the world's reserve currency, how this has given the US a major advantage over the rest of the world, how the US has and is doing everything to keep their status and - this is the interesting bit - how this is all coming to an end. Hence the title 'The Big Reset'. Whilst I did not learn much new, it is still enlightening to read it all in one book which connects all the dots and makes you look at some events in a different way. If you think this book is about some wild complot theory you'll be disappointed. If you think you'll read about the upcoming financial armageddon, you'll be disappointed too. It does present you with many facts and does point to what may happen next. It is not so pretentious that it gives you a scenario of the world financial future, nor does it give a timeline of what will happen when. And that's good, if the author would have done that, he would have lost all credibility. But the facts do lead to a certain direction our financial future will take and understanding this is of utmost importance for our (individual) financial future. And, not unimportant, it is an easy read as it is written very fluently avoiding financial speak.

Look at this mind boggling infographic. Things like these are often used to show the speed of development and technological progress. But to be honest, it scares the hell out of me. Millions of people don't have access to drinkable water but we do have an average of 3 connected devices per person on this planet. What is wrong with us?

In the mean time, researchers found for the first time an Earth-like planet in a habitable zone around a star (see here). And it is close by, only 500 light years away which is neglectable in the infinity of our universe. The atmosphere seems to be all CO2 so breathing for us might be a problem. But as it will take a while before we get there, we'll probably have mutated by that time so that CO2 will smell like a fresh see breeze.