Some really great things happened in 2012. We landed a rover on Mars, with success, and we now have the potential to beam back information in real time. Images of the red planet appear more like a Southwest desert. That is absolutely amazing..
There were some other great things in 2012. But it seemed shrouded by those events that were not so great.
I wonder what amount of media influence takes place to keeps us from seeing the bright spots in life.
Yes there is war, chaos, climate change, and fraud. But there is also honesty, goodness, love, and beauty. It abounds.
People have fond memories of the past. Often their recollection isn’t 100% correct. Some people think they 80s were fun. Others recall poverty and constant fear of nuclear war. Some think the 90s were great. But others lost their jobs due to NAFTA and worried about the year 2000. It’s all relative. Before I get into this year’s predictions, I want to review last year’s predictions. I wrote,
Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. Newt Gingrich will crash. Ron Paul will run as a third party… but won’t be a major factor. Barack Obama will be the president for the next four years after his victory in November 2012.
North Korea will launch missiles to threaten the United States. Kim Jong Il dead.. Un here. Ugh.
The tension in the Middle East will dramatically escalate in 2012. Iran, Israel.. Syria.. No nation will appear stable.
Lots of people will begin to think the end times are upon us. Not only due to the Mayan calender end in December 2012 but because of strange world events Gas prices will soar.
The stock market will have major upticks and downward crashes.
Unemployment claims will continue to fall.. Maybe to 8% or lower. But the real unemployment number will surge into the 30% range. The economy will look like it’s recovery but it will not.
Not bad! Mitt Romney did lose. North Korea did try to elevate their threat level with missile launches, Israel and Syria did become crisis areas, and the real unemployment is surging. I was wrong on gas prices, and on the stock market.
2012 over.
2013 here we come.
Predictions for the new year, in no particular order:
- The fiscal cliff will not be avoided. Congress and the White House will become wreckless in their political partisanship. While economic turmoil will not be avoided, it will not be as bad as some predict. Though taxes will go up on everyone in some manner.
- North Korea will amplify their threat. They will attempt to scare their neighbors to the South and could elicit a forceful response from the world.
- 2013 is not a year of luck. March may be the worst.
- Bad weather will dominate news in 2013. Hurricanes will strike the United States. Tornadoes will be abundant. Large snowstorms will hit in the winter. But the drought will continue and food prices will surge.
- Technology will take surprisingly huge advancements in 2013. Don’t be surprised if by next December the biggest gift of the year will be something that gets implanted in the human body.
- A comet in November will be as bright as the moon. End of the world groups will latch on to it. Unfortunately some suicidal end of the world groups may go too far in their fears..
- By next Christmas we will have fewer malls, fewer stores, and fewer jobs. There are no big employment surges that will occur. Instead, state governments throughout the nation will suffer big layoffs.
The final prediction: In 2014, God willing, we will be here, judging that happened in 13. And when we do, we will lament another quick year. We will kiss as the ball drops. We will all be another year older. And we will all wonder what 2014 will bring.
Time does, after all, go by rather fast..
