Year of the Rat in Preview

Predictions 2008, the Year of the Rat

I know it's a bit late in the year to be making 2008 predictions as we're already in Mid February but many of my scrying rituals are based around Chinese New Year and take over a week to complete. As a result, my predictions for 2008 and early 2009 are only now ready for release. I'm still interpreting various portends, so there will be more news to come in a few months.

This is a reposting of my predictions, as the web site formerly hosting my insights has been sold to a fundamentalist interest. This fundamentalist sees all forms of prognostication as "From the Devil" and had all my content taken down. This was originally released in February of 2008. These predictions are for the Year of the Rat as defined by the Chinese calendar. All references to the "End of the Year" are referring to the time until the Chinese New Year in 2009

US Politics

There will be a fresh Republican scandal as another high ranking official is outed for what they themselves had previously described as "Sexual deviancy."

The fact that Rush Limbaugh took Viagra on an "All Boys Fishing trip" will not result in rumors of homosexuality. His wife however already suspects him of intending to use it with hookers and will initiate divorce proceedings before year's end. She will try to keep the pending divorce secret for as long as she can in the hope of reducing the time Limbaugh will have to mount his own legal assault. What she does not know is that ever since his first divorce Limbaugh has kept close tabs on his wives through private detectives. He'll know of her intentions before she even consults a lawyer.

2008 US Presidential Election

Hillary Clinton will, in her fervor beat Obama, use tactics that will cause a major rift in the Democratic party. This rift will result in Obama struggling to unify the party. The rift will be so severe that many Democrats will shift to the Green and Libertarian parties. This will not strengthen either party enough to make them a major player in the campaign, but it will severely deplete the Democratic base.

The actual election is too close to call at this time. There are too many undecided voters muddying the ether to see a clear outcome. While there's reason to believe a Democratic victory is in the offing, I still see a strong possibility of a Republican in the White House.

Hucabee will sit in the Oval Office before 2016, It's uncertain if it will be in the next administration or if he'll be the vice president instead of president.

Mitt Romney will attempt to get Vice President nomination, but Huckabee will be a better choice for unifying the Evangelical base.

The rumors of a "State of Emergency" being declared to cancel the elections are false. The election will not be delayed and will begin as scheduled.

There will be an increase in reported terrorist activity in October and November, causing many people to vote for McCain out of fear.

Celebrity

Brittany Spears will NOT die this year, but she will have at least one more period of confinement sparked by her mental problems. Her finances will begin to decline due to mismanagement and she will be too preoccupied with her mental problems to do anything about it. She will continue to flirt with Scientology. The nature of this involvement will only add to her financial problems. She will not understand the full extent of the financial damage she's doing to herself during the year.

Brittany will begin a new sexual relationship this year that will prove to be the most destructive she's ever had, in both its mental and physical toll. This new lover will record a sex tape that he plans to release AFTER her death, counting on her to die within five years. If she puts him in her will, she'll learn that he is not above helping her towards her passing.

Brittany is highly unlikely to see any of her children finish puberty.

The rift between Dr Phil and Oprah is permanent. They will stage a public reconciliation but it will not be genuine. It's uncertain how long they'll be able to maintain the fiction of having resolved their differences.

The Internet based activist group "Anonymous" will not have a lasting negative impact upon the Church of Scientology. Anonymous will have an increasingly negative portrayal in the media with the COS being seen as a victim of religious persecution by a hate group. Before the year is out there will be charges filed and members of Anonymous will stand accused of terrorist acts and hate crimes. The conflict between the mainstream media portrayal of Anonymous and the blogger community's support of Anonymous will drive a rift between proponents of "old" and "new" media.

Weather

The polar ice caps will continue to retreat. A Northwest passage will open, but for now it will only be navigable by small boats during warmer months. As a result it will not have a significant impact upon commerce.

Law

Waterboarding will be declared legal before the leaves have fallen from the trees.

Les than 1,000 kilos of the Afghanistan bumper crop of Heroin will reach the USA. This is due in part to the high cost of smuggling from Afghanistan to the USA and part to the tight control of the Columbian drug cartels over the US market. Many people hope the Afghani bumper crop will force Colombian drug lords to increase the quality of their product to compete. This will not happen.

Government agencies will continue to drastically under estimate the amount of drugs being smuggled into the USA. Their inflated claims regarding the value of seized drugs will also continue.

No major changes in the legal status of Marijuana will occur this year.

Economy

The stimulus packages being pushed by the US Federal government will not be successful. The economy as a whole will continue to decline in the Year of the Rat. Some economic indicators will experience a brief upswing and politicians and economists will use these brief burps of isolated prosperity to claim the economy is resurging. Sadly, it will not.

US War

US Troops will not leave Iraq this year. Day to day violence will decrease for a pref period, but a major series of attacks in mid Summer will drive violence back to a fever pitch.

A new tribal leader will rise up and unify many of the fractured groups that are currently battling the US forces. This will result in a fresh surge of violence. The Pentagon will allow this initially, in the hope that the insurgent forces will become dependent upon their new leadership. This will be a tactical error and will cost them control of Baghdad in a Christmas day attack.

A covert war against Iran will begin before the last frost. The political maneuvering is already underway. An outright commitment of US troops will not happen until Iranian forces find proof of the US involvement. This covert war will include several carefully constructed "malfunctions" at Iranian centrifuges and a full blown meltdown at a small test reactor.

The terrorists responsible for the Post 9-11 Anthrax attacks will remain unidentified and unpunished.

International

The "humanoid figure" AKA "Sewer Zombie" reported in Eastbourne, East Sussex, UK sewers is not a paranormal aspiration. It's a homeless man. He is a military vet suffering from Shell Shock (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for the PC crowd). Sadly, the authorities are not taking the case seriously and are treating this like a case of jittery workers with overactive imaginations. Th vet's life and health are in danger. Despite his poor physical condition his military training makes him a threat to the sewer workers. Unless he receives help or dies before April, he will attack one of the sewer workers.

Russia will increase its campaigning for control of the North Pole. Their desire to control the thawing region will eventually escalate into a violent conflict before the end of the decade. If Putnin does not back down military personnel will become involved and the President will threaten the use of Nuclear Weapons. If Putnin does back down then the death toll will remain under 50 people.

US News

I see a total of five major school shootings this year. I live on the Western Calendar, but my predictions are based on the Chinese Calendar. As a result, it's difficult to tell if the school shootings that happened in February are among those for the entire year.

There will be an additional eight school deaths in Michigan, but none of them will receive major media attention as they'll be in poor neighborhood high schools. It's unclear how many incidents will be involved, but three of the deaths will be related.

At least two counties in the US will ban the teaching of Evolution in public schools. The efforts to teach Intelligent Design will pick up but books teaching the topic will be introduced to less than 1,000 classrooms.