Sunday, January 6, 2013 at 3:01AM I mentioned last year that I wondered if I was over the line in some areas. Entertainment might be one area where I am over the line.
Humor Saturday, January 5, 2013 at 3:00AM “I wonder if the Emperor Honorius watching the Visigoths coming over the seventh hill could truly realize that the Roman Empire was about to fall. This is really just another page of history, isn't it? Will this be the end of our civilization? Turn the page.” Captain Jean-Luc Picard, “The Best of Both Worlds”
When one has training or knowledge of history, they look to the long term. I have little doubt that the US is headed for its own Visigothic episode. What my least favorite Captain was referring to was the battle that is often acknowledged as the end of the Roman Empire.
The usual date of 476 for the end of the Empire is when the Western Emperor abdicated, some sixty years after Rome was sacked by the Visigoths. Both dates have some validity. The process took over 60 years. You could even argue it took centuries.
How and why did Rome fall?
There were lots of reasons. Roman money had become debased--less and less gold. A whole underclass evolved that fled the farms because of taxation. Games were provided as a distraction to the impoverished masses. In earlier years free bread was provided from the taxes placed on Egypt. Egypt was long gone. The military of course got bigger, so big that the military could not be maintained.
The US has for over 60 years been in decline, since Johnson decided we could have guns and butter in almost unlimited quantities. Right now there are 1.1 people on various forms of public assistance for every full-time worker--just as in ancient Rome. The US 
populace seems mired in popular entertainment, like the upcoming Superbowl. Need I point out that it does not matter who wins? America divides itself into artificial groups to root for sports teams, just as in ancient Rome the reds and the blues in the games were in artificial conflict. Just as in Rome, the military is a huge expense. But even if the US military was cut 100%, the budget still would not be balanced. The Federal Reserve is printing about a trillion dollars a year, just like ancient Rome did by reducing the gold in their coinage.
Where is the US headed? How long does the US have? Do the citizens of the US see it coming? No, as long as they have their free phones, their MTV, and the occasional short victorious war.
When will the Visigoths come? Are the barbarians at the gates?
Friday, January 4, 2013 at 3:00AM 
While I do not expect a collapse, it is not impossible. I do not think most of us understand the fragility of our current economic system. The decentralization of the market has been replaced with centralized corporate control. I think the market will keep a collapse from occurring. Of course, the market may be hobbled by government action.
With this in mind I thought I would put on the blog my Amazon review of a book I just read called Collapse by Richard Stephenson. I rated this book three stars.
Because of our economic malaise there are many books on the market that portray a quite dystopian future. The popularity of such books is based in part on the fears we have that things might get worse. As we read such works we can feel thankful that such a world does not yet exist.
I find the characters interesting, especially the grizzly police chief of a small Texas town and the world's richest, smartest man who is quite dysfunctional. All the various characters were quite good and believable.
Even Video Games Are Predicting Collapse. I am perfectly willing to suspend credulity when a read a novel of the future, but you need to at least have a plausible plot to explain how society became so dysfunctional. The proposed "bogey man," Iran, is a very unlikely superpower. How does Stevenson explain the lack of response of Israel to this? He proposes that Israel only had one nuclear bomb, which Iran somehow manages to steal. In addition, five separate hurricanes hit Florida at once. Give me a break. These plot details I found so implausible that it hurt my enjoyment of the novel.
While I can live with bad editing, the editing here was very bad, especially the huge paragraph margins--large enough to hurt readability. The frequency of short paragraphs also was an issue. As a blogger who writes about economic issues at my blog at prophecypodcast, I understand the difficulties of editing. I spend almost as much time editing as writing.
Can I recommend this book even at the reduced price of $2.99? While I got it for free on a special deal, I would not pay $3 for it. I doubt I will finish the series.
Thursday, January 3, 2013 at 3:00AM Economics Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 12:00PM 
It is time to don my Criswell memorial prophetic mantle. Here are my predictions for 2013.
The reason Obama is now in favor of gay marriage will become evident. He will divorce Michele and marry Speaker Boehner.
Obama will intervene in Syria and Iran, it will not turn out well--one hundred thousand Christians will die in the Middle East.
On the British Royal pregnancy… It will be a boy.
Catholic hospitals all around the country will close, or at least not give their employees health insurance.
Obama will fast for Ramadan.
Bob Thiel will make a total fool of himself. (People outside of my own religious tradition will not know who this is, and they do not need or want to know. This prediction is almost 100% certain to occur as long as he does not die on New Year's Eve.)
All the goldbugs will continue to predict economic collapse. They will be wrong. The strength of the economic system will continue to amaze the naysayers. The dollar is headed up. In the US things will actually improve with modest growth. What do you expect to happen with the Fed printing 1 trillion dollars? Japan will implode, but not in 2013. Europe will implode as well, also not in 2013. The can will be kicked. Buy gold anyway. (Note I am not an investment advisor, but an unpaid satirist.)
Hillary Clinton will recover from her blood clots, and will host a new game show, "Win, Lose, or Drone."
The Beatles will reunite for a charity concert. Elvis will do one number.
There will be a security breach and the US moon bases will be revealed.
We will have another hot summer. This will continue for several years until the solar sun spot cycle moves on.
There is no picture of the Grover Mills incident, so this one from Roswell will have to do. An alien space ship will be discovered in Grover's Mill, NJ. The coverup and the pretending it was only a radio drama instead of a news program hosted by Orson Wells about Aliens landing in 1938 will be exposed. (Of course, most people will not believe the evidence.)
I predict that I will never again write a blog post at 11:30 PM on New Year’s Eve.
Humor 