Predictions

The United States' intelligence chief has predicted that we'll be seeing a lot more armed conflict in the coming years. That was a tough one to predict.

The Soviet Union--er, Russia--is showing more and more aggressive tendencies toward their neighbors/former satellites. They're also instigating difficulties with us in our own hemisphere with their games with Communist-leaning South American countries, and with arms sales both here and in the Middle East.

The Middle East is cooling off in some places, heating up in others.

To top it all off, the continuing economic problems currently plaguing us are destabilizing economies worldwide, many far worse than what we're facing. And with an unstable economy, conflict becomes far more likely as people get restless, nervous, and unhappy, and more belligerent people elect more belligerent governments.

Lovely. Here are some of my predictions: watch for a catastrophic terrorist attack on our shores after the election. It doesn't matter who's elected--it will happen. Also, watch for some serious deflation to begin making itself known, and for a whole lot of jobs to disappear as it becomes impractical for businesses to continue to employ people in a goods-surplus environment, especially after the minimum wage increase. Also, look for a major shift in parties in power in the next two years as people get sick of it all.

Some predictions--like probable war, terrorist attacks, a worsening economy, and voters deciding to see if the other party can fix the problems--are easy to make. Others, like where the attack will happen, are impossible.