Welcome to The Faster Times update. In today's edition, we bring you corruption and controversy, biomimicry, intervention in Lybia, food stamps, and coming to terms with a new economy. Enjoy!

With the announcement by the U.S. Air Force on February 24 that Boeing was the winner of its aerial tanker competition a messy, decade-long procurement saga drew to an end. The battle to see which company clinched the estimated $30-35 billion bid was one embroiled in corruption, controversy and political considerations.

In the 1990s, Janine Benyus, a natural sciences writer and the author of several wilderness guides, began to pay close attention to how various organisms adapted to the ecosystems around them. That led her to wonder if similar strategies couldn’t be applied to the human problems of the day, and whether any such strategies were already being used. Benyus discovered that while people were looking to nature for advice sporadically, it was not a formal part of any design process.

As Libya moves closer to possible civil war and what began as peaceful demonstrations against an autocratic leader have turned increasingly violent, the question of possible U.S. intervention has become significantly more real. Various proposals for U.S. action including a blockade, a no-fly zone, and a military intervention have already been raised.

I had a little blip with my Medicaid recently – because I had moved they cancelled the medical insurance for me and my two kids. So, I had to hunt down a social worker here in our new community to help us with that. While I was pursuing the Medicaid reinstatement, I inquired about food stamps. “Food stamps are harder to get than Medicaid,” said Mr. Bill, my gruff, brusque/garrulous (depending on his mood) social worker who I met over the phone.

Change happens slowly. Three weeks ago I saw a gregarious official give a pleasant slide show about the commerce on waterfronts where New York City’s artsy types live. Two days ago I got into a verbal fight with a barista (and lost, if you’re scoring by composure). Both events reminded me how sorely we need clear, public job-growth strategies to make cities really prosper.