PREDICTIONS FOR 2011, by Victor Baines (of the Nostradamus Society of America).
Introduction: “If” you believe in God (or in the concept of the possible existence of “a higher universal spiritual power”), then consider saying a nice prayer for all of the struggling people (all over the world) who work real hard to survive, and who try to make every day the best that they can for themselves, and their loved ones, despite all of the obstacles that they have to face on a daily basis!
The lyrics of a rock song, by Elvis Costello, pose the question “what’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding”? To me, the answer is quite obvious. There is “nothing funny” about peace, love and understanding. If the world could “somehow” achieve peace, love, and understanding—it would be a better world for all of us to live in. Right? Think what “the opposite” of that would consist of—war, hatred, and misunderstanding! And who needs more of that, in 2011? No one does. So, let’s try to make 2011“the best year” that we can! Below are my “personal predictions” for 2011. Many sources were used to create them. Hey–a human-being made these predictions (not a robot or a computer program). So, here are my predictions:
1. NORTH KOREA: The leaders of North Korea appear to be “highly irrational” in nature. “Nothing” that they do, makes any common sense at all! I wonder if what they do even makes sense to them? They don’t make sense to anyone else in world (especially to South Korea, the United States, Japan, and a long list of other nations). What exactly does North Korea want? Has anyone figured that out yet? Sometimes I wonder if the Chinese use North Korea as a thorn in the side of the United States? North Korea appears to be “hell bent” on starting a war. If they do—they will lose, so what sense would it make for them to start one? None at all. It would be the end for them if they did. North Korea and South Korea should be at peace with one another, and should work together towards that goal. War should be avoided. North Korea recently made it clear that “intruding even one millimeter into their territory would consist of an act of war”. Therefore, “caution should be used” when dealing with them. Maybe it would be prudent for the leadership of North Korea to rethink their national goals and strategies, in order to be a better member of the international community in 2011. That would really make some sense!
2. IRAN: Here is another example of a nation that is failing to make much sense to the other nations of the world. How long does the president of Iran think that the rest of the world will simply sit around and wait for him to create enough “weapons grade plutonium” to field in his vast arsenal of missiles, before some type of military action against him will occur? Well, the world probably won’t be waiting too much longer!
To President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, I say the following. “Al Asalaam Alakum to you sir. Although I am merely a common infidel from far away, you should heed my advice for you and run as fast as you can to the negotiating table, and make peace with Israel, the United States, and the rest of the world! Failure to do so, in a timely fashion, might result in the destruction of your nuclear program, as well as in the destruction of your military, and the end of your government—as you presently know it today. Peace is more highly preferred than war, so please attempt to make some—as soon as you can! It would make good sense for you to do so. Please heed the prudent advice of this infidel. I also tell you—Iran—that all options are on the table, and more of them are being added every day!
3. IRAQ: Although Iraq is still in the process of creating and defining itself, as a newly liberated and independent nation, a lot of work still remains to be made there. Iraq needs to focus upon developing its own national defense forces. I’m quite sure that the insurgents will continue their assaults upon government figures in 2011. I’m very sure that bombings and other acts of terror will occur there this year. U.S. and coalition forces should anticipate the worst as they attempt to protect the freedom of the citizens of Iraq.
4. AFGHANISTAN: It is my opinion that the Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents will continue to vigorously attack U.S. and Coalition forces this year. Our troops should anticipate the unexpected!
5. TERRORISM: In today’s world –trickery, deception, and technological advances have increased the scope, complexity, and speed of potential risks to our national security, and threats can arrive from both near and far, faster, and with less warning than ever before! So, we are forced to “anticipate the worst version of the unexpected”, compelling us to create various prudent defensive scenarios, in order to counter any sneaky, unusual, or creative threats, that terrorists could utilize against our nation, military and citizens.
The United States commands “a modern, state-of-the-art, hi-tech military” who is fighting “a low-tech, highly cunning enemy”. So, when it comes to fighting Islamic terrorists, we must anticipate low-tech, low budget, asymmetric style warfare and terror–perpetrated by sneaky, cold-blooded, highly creative enemies–with extremely twisted suicidal minds (and sadistic senses of humor). However, in the alternative, we should also anticipate the possibility of hi-tech threats against us in the future as well. Aerial threats appear to be the current trend.
The United States Department of Homeland Security (and all of their various associates) appear to be doing a relatively good job of defeating domestic terror plots, however there still appears to be “various gaps” in our defensive wall. These so-called “gaps in security” should be evaluated and closed. Although I could be proven wrong in the future, presently, I don’t sense any impending doom arriving to us this year in the form of terrorism. However, we should take nothing for granted, and remain vigilant in our fight against it.
6. THE U.S. ECONOMY: Can anyone really “find the words” necessary to accurately define the bizarre state of our national economy? How in the world have we arrived at the place we presently live in? The people who are out-sourcing our jobs to other nations are receiving sweet tax-breaks, while many of the rest of us are struggling hard simply to make ends meet every month. Something seems wrong about this fact. Is it just me—or do millions of other Americans feel the same way as I do? What happened to small business in the United States? Has it been crushed by highly capitalized big business, or what?
What happened to “job creation”? The Federal government claims that our economy is slowing picking up steam. But is it really? Let’s hope that more progress will be seen this year. If you own stock in any of the businesses that have received loans or bail-out money from the federal government—life must seem sweet to you (you are the lucky ones indeed). But what about the common citizen? Where is our help suppose to come from?
7. AMERICAN POLITICS: It is a fact that the Bush Administration created the economic situation that President Obama inherited. Is it really fair to blame him for all of the economic problems that Bush and Cheney created before they left power? Probably not!
The new Republican leadership in the House claims that they are working for the average American citizen, so, if the price of gasoline rises to a price above $3.00 a gallon (bankrupting the average American worker) I want to see them fight to lower it , so that basic family transportation can be realistically affordable to everyone. That’s the “true American way”. Otherwise, it would be “extremely un-American” for the new congress to merely sit back and do nothing while– its citizens get over-charged at the gas pumps!
8. EARTHQUAKES: Earthquakes scare the heck out of me! If you have ever been in one then you know what I mean. If the New Madrid fault-line ever suffers a major quake, it could devour parts of Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. In quatrain #10-79, Nostradamus predicted such an earthquake to occur at some point in the future.
It is also possible that the San Andreas fault-line in California (which runs from south to north across the state, then westward into the Pacific Ocean) could produce some mighty earthquakes in various parts of the state (including the area in and around San Francisco)? Let’s hope that never occurs!
China, Chile, Haiti, Turkey, and Indonesia could see more earthquakes in 2011, just like they saw in 2011, but again, let’s hope that doesn’t happen. We need to hope for the best (while preparing for the worst)!
9. GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE: According to an article in the Associated Press, the top 700 climate scientists (known as the Geophysical Union) have stated that man made air-pollution is effecting our global climate. They state that “the notion that truth will prevail is not working. The truth has been out there for the last two decades and nothing has changed”.
So, let’s hope that the governments of the world will listen to our scientists and work together to combat this global problem which is only getting worse as time goes on.
A combination of heat waves, volcanoes, earthquakes, blizzards, typhoons, land-slides, floods, and droughts killed a total of 250,000 people in 2010. So, this means that “the earth itself” has killed more people in one year– than terrorism has killed in the last 40 years combined.
Flooding killed lots of people in Italy, the United States, China, Colombia, Chad, India, and Pakistan. Could the same thing happen again in 2011? Let’s hope not!
10. WILL THE WORLD END IN 2012? Let it be known that despite the rumors you might have heard, Nostradamus never wrote that the world would end in 2012. The whole idea of this originated with the end of the Mayan Calendar, which terminates on December 21, 2012. According to Nostradamus the world will end in the year 3797 (due to burning stones from the heavens bombarding the surface of the Earth. He referred to this event as “the final conflagration.”
Well–best of luck to you in 2011!
