The Immediate Future Explained

Paying attention to hard facts is an important element in knowing the future.

But experience has taught me that in times of confusion (like the past six or seven years) most people put little things like facts on the back-burner, and operate on a kind of blind intuition that emphasizes irrational belief over well-known, well-documented realities.

I'm not suggesting that I'm immune to this phenomenon.

Yet, I've noticed that my particular brand of blind intution seems to have a higher rate of predictive accuracy than most people's, especially when it comes to global affairs.

For example, I was telling people way back in 2001 (and people thought I was out of my mind) that George W. Bush was going to use the 9/11 tragedy as a pretext for a Caspian-centric invasion of Biblical proportions. And history has shown me to be largely correct.

No, I didn't use a crystal ball.

In 1999, I read a single Scientific American article, The End of Cheap Oil, outlining the fiscal dynamics making the energy-rich Caspian Sea basin and Central Asia the logical focal-point of worldwide politics for the next 50 years.

Though the idea of a global War on Terrorism is emotionally compelling, the truth is far more mundane.

The hard fact of the matter is that acquiring cheap, plentiful energy is the primary agenda here.

Every political power on the planet (including Japan, the EU, Russia and China) is gravitating toward the Caspian Sea and Central Asia with alarming haste, each with its own seemingly-endless supply of capital (and/or ordinance).

You could label this as godless-Liberal-anti-American trash, but that would only show how brainwashed you've become.

The U.S. overran Afghanistan and came up with nothing but a handful of frightened peasants. Why are we still there?

The Russians launched their own lightning-war in Chechnya over five years ago. Why are they still there?

Poor Krygystan, the least of the former Soviet states, is suddenly disintegrating for no apparent reason at all. What's the connection?

Why are the most energy-rich regions of the world such "hotbeds for terrorism"? When last I checked, these places barely had enough money for food, let alone, for paramilitary shenanigans.

Scam City

I'll preface this by pointing out that anything you read on this page is simply my opinion.

No statement is intended to be construed as authorititive, suggestive or even loosely knowledgeable about the alleged business practices of firms imagined or real.

Just remeber that your nose is usually the best indicator of the integrity of the kind of free-eterprise being practiced at a place of business.

1) Nobody ever needs your personal email address if they don't know you. If you plan on interacting with the public, sign up for a free Hotmail account, and give THAT out as your address.

2) You can trust a few people on the internet. Invariably they're the ones who aren't trying to sell you anything or offer you help with some complicated legal work you'd usually have to have a professional licensed attorney handle. If you need to copyright something, all the information you need is at the Copyright Office. Another handy agency is the US Patent & Trademark Office. Usually if you have a piece of intellectual property to protect, these are the places to start.

3) Scams are a dime a dozen. Don't be fooled by slick looking pages that seem to offer top-flight services at bargain-basement rates. Even well-known advertisements are known to dupe unwary viewers. The Federal Trade Commission prosecutes hucksters day and night. Take a look at their list of recent scams and you'll see what I mean.

4) There's more medical scams out there than all the rest put together. Before you buy in to some new miracle cure be sure to check out Stephen Barrett's Quackwatch.

5) What kind of monkey-business is really going on at the pump? Get the straight dope from the guys who run the show at Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections.

The old saying Caveat Emptor (may the buyer beware) is as alive and well as its ever been.

Experienced Enough to Know Now

I spent a lot of April and May trying to figure out what I could really do with my life.

1) I can't jog, or walk for that matter (my balance is too precarious for that)
2) I can barely speak those polysylabic sentences I'm known for (much less type them!)
3) With Bush and Delay putting their feet in their mouth every 20 seconds, there's nary a political brushfire worth stamping out.
4) my parents' Internet connection is so lame that I can't really host a game server (I still host a pretty tight group over at www.mtndewbuzz.com, though I haven't contributed any maps
lately.

Maybe I could be a rock star.