Ray Kurzweill's "The Singularity is Near" predicts human brain simulation within 20-30 years. His predictions are based on estimates in hardware advances (e.g., Moore's Law), advances in AI, Neuroscience, and other technologies required to crack this problem. His work was vetted by experts in those fields (he is an expert in AI) and since the book's publication in 2005, no serious objections have been raised about the underlying science and engineering required to simulate the human brain. IBM's simulation of a cat's cerebral cortex is a step towards ultimately simulating a human brain. Kurzweill's argument (accelerating change) indicates that the IBM simulation will be followed by other simulations of increasing complexity and the rate that these simulations are undertaken will accelerate over time. Perhaps Ray could chime in here and put this thing into perspective.

The FDA's unconscionable foot dragging could result in tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths in the US.

You can find AA batteries in any drugstore. Why shouldn't you be able to find them in Afghanistan?

I am shocked that the writings of Nassim Taleb have not been mentioned in this thread. His books (e.g., Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan) address many of the shortcomings of conventional financial models. He is a trader who has rejected many of the standard models used by most traders as well as the models used by economists. The arguments advanced by Neoclassical and Keynesian economists are largely irrelevant to the risks identified by Taleb.

Your employer will die. Not only will your employer fail to attract employees who prefer to work remotely, but your employer's costs will be higher than its competitors. At my firm, all employees work remotely. These knowledge workers all have broadband access, computers, printers, etc. ... all the tools that they need to work in our web based environment. And speaking of the environment, remote workers combined with cloud computing is the ultimate green business model. As the business grows, no additional office space or servers are required. Of course, as the business grows, we are consuming more resources from the hosting providers that our SaaS providers use. This lean business model will eat your employer's business for lunch.

Adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) caused much of financial meltdown in the housing market.