After a thorough search of this morning's headlines, I am convinced that the world is taking a short break from idiocy to enjoy our last moments of Spring before the heat wave of summer makes us all irritable.
Let's see--in the news this week we have looked deep into the heart of Notre Dame to see if the great modern orator could change the Catholic school's position on abortion. I suspect not. He should have spent his time having them pass a donation plate to buy out Charlie Weis' contract.
News from the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit. President Obama asked Mr. Netanyahu to begin peace negotiations with Palestine and Iran. Mr. Netanyahu merely stated that any country coming to the table must acknowledge Israel as a State. He did not mention that they must change their half century stance as a precondition to negotiations, but I suspect that is what he was implying. I suspect that there will be "momentous" peace talks in Europe or at the White House and in the end all parties will give each other the finger, go home and fire up their war machines. Netanyahu is a man of action and will not sit through another round of talks where Israel gives in to 99% of the Palestinian demands only to be snubbed in the end.
With summer just over the horizon, what are my predictions? I believe the war in Afghanistan will turn extremely violent this summer. The allied coalition will begin pounding Taliban main supply routes while Pakistan lays waste to its border region. This summer will be the defining moment in this theatre of war. If we do not succeed before next year's winter or come very close to succeeding, we will stalemate and the war will drag on.
In Iraq, the status quo will prevail. The people will nervously sit by and count the days until our withdrawal while the insurgency will quietly blend in with the populace. There will be a few bombings and attacks on coalition troops, but with an imminent withdrawal in place, they will wait for their moment to seize the state once we leave. I suspect a calm before a terrible storm in Iraq.
On the home front, I suspect that the economy will slowly start to grab some momentum. The credit card crash has yet to arrive, but it is on its way. However, banks should start relaxing their grips on their money and offering crucial business loans to help jump start the economy. The banking system will finally stabilize and we will see an upturn in jobs over the next 6 to 12 months. However, the housing situation will not change. We have just about hit bottom, so that means the over inflated housing and mortgage industry is about to reach equilibrium. It was a house of cards that many in the industry predicted would collapse. Although, the rate of foreclosures will decrease, housing costs will still be bottom dollar and this time around, home ownership will remain low for the foreseeable future. I suspect times will remain tough for most Americans for at least another two years or until a new technological break through in the automobile industry or the computer industry brings about a major worldwide economic upturn. Just think in less than a decade, the keyboard I am using will be obsolete. The whole world will be using touch screen technology. That means thousands of new computers to be sold. The question is, will we lead the change or will it come from Asia? I suspect both, since we cannot manufacture goods cheaply in the United States.
On the entertainment side of things, I believe there will be a whole host of adopted children entering Hollywood. High priced baby snatching is all the rage amongst the Hollywood elite. I suspect that it is too much to ask them to adopt a needy American child. Also, we will continue to see a decline in the movie industry as more people stay at home and rent movies through their cable or satellite provider. I hope that the theater industry remains strong, but like music stores I suspect their days are numbered.
Well that rounds up my daily list of garbled thoughts. There simply is nothing to talk about, but I'll keep my eye out there and I suspect something of real interest will come along.
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