Paleopsychologist Howard Bloom talked about the continuing threat posed by militant Islam and the desire for democracy in the Middle East. "There has been the beginning of a velvet revolution in the Arab world," Bloom explained, as people in Islamic nations around the world have taken to the streets and demanded democracy. In some Islamic nations, such as Syria, participation in street protests can carry the death penalty, Bloom said. Nevertheless, women in Syria have taken to the streets, Bloom reported, as well as in Kuwait where they have won the right to vote and run for election, and in Saudi Arabia where women are asking to be allowed to drive.
To drive the pro-democratic demonstrations from the headlines, Bloom said, militant Islamic factions have seized upon the recent Newsweek story, which reported that interrogators at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had allegedly desecrated the Quran. Bloom also revealed that "Islam now has two super-stealth submarines," each of which carry 16 cruise missiles tipped with nuclear warheads. According to Bloom, Osama bin Laden could very easily gain control of the Pakistani subs and launch a nuclear attack on the United States.
Bloom also discussed the avian flu pandemic, the coming energy crisis, and global climate change, which could leave many of the most populated parts of Earth uninhabitable. Bloom suggested that "mobile cities" like the proposed 'Freedom Ship' -- an ocean-going vessel capable of carrying 50,000 people -- could be used to deal with global climate change. "If the weather changes, we move the city," he concluded.