Doomsday Scenario 2013

In keeping with my Realist (not necessarily Pessimist) view of things, let me predict what might happen in the U.S. in the near future - very possibly in or by 2014. First, the U.S. Federal Government will run up an unimaginably huge deficit, its credit rating will plummet, and the dollar will become nearly worthless. The government will then, of course, be unable to meet its obligations as far as pensions and Social Security payments. China, India, and Europe will come to the rescue by buying American companies, industries, and businesses and hiring Americans to run them and work in them. The U.S. will have to sell U.S. territory as well in order to survive. The American Southwest will again become part of Mexico. As a result of several natural catastrophes, American food production will shrink to well below minimal subsistence levels. Millions will starve. Violence, political chaos, and social desperation will prevail in every American city. Millions will die from simple diseases. In return for total disarmament, Russia will help out with the food shortages. America's economic and military presence all over the globe will be scaled back to zero. This will plunge the entire world into a new dark ages for a short while. Europe will then take control of all Middle Eastern countries and will become dominant among world nations once again. Prosperity will have disappeared but the world will have peace and security. I might, of course, be way off the mark. Pay no attention to me. 

Mailer

Norman Mailer said the following: "Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists." Who knows? It just might be true. Anyone who has ever been interviewed by the press probably feels it is quite true. The only book by Mailer that I've liked is the one on Picasso.

The Timid Reporter

The Timid Reporter was born in Florence, Italy, on July 7, 1777. His father is Austrian and his mother was Gypsy. He is therefore half Gypsy and half Austrian, or the other way around. In the early Twentieth Century or thereabouts, he took a comprehensive correspondence course from the Eve Ning Sun School of Advanced Photography in North Korea, a school which is now defunct. As far as he knows, he is actually an accredited Journalist. He attributes his longevity to a family secret known only to himself, his father, his late mother, and two cousins. He has a steady gig with something called the Coffee Club Newsletter. The Timid Reporter never speaks for himself except in his interviews - such as they are. If you have any questions for him, ask them of me and I will see how I can get him to respond.

Baburova

On January 19, 2009, Anastasia Baburova and Stanislav Markelov were shot to death while walking near the Kremlin (Moscow, Russia.) She was a reporter with the Novaya Gazeta (New Gazette) and he was a human rights attorney. People suspect that the murders were encouraged by political fringe groups with government ties. I would not know. Anastasia was only 25 and she used to report on government corruption and that sort of thing. I have a photo of the attorney's dead body lying on the sidewalk. It was on the front page of the Gazeta. I do not dare post it - even here. What purpose would it serve?

Newspapers

Thomas Jefferson said: "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." That’s an obvious exaggeration, of course – no?

Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte once said that four hostile newspapers were more to be feared than a thousand bayonets. How did he know? AND, how about four friendly newspapers - what about them?

Off Street Journal

The Off Street Journal likes to make fun of serious absurdities. Somebody once said that there were only two things everyone needed to be serious about - as soon as they could remember what those two things were they would let us know. You get the point. Let the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and the Christian Science Monitor and The Economist and TIME and Newsweek and Portfolio and the Chicago Tribune do all the serious stuff. We'll take care of the fluff. They might soon be extinct anyway.