:+: My Philosophy on Life and What the Future Holds :+:

  There will be some other good things and advances in science, self-driving and fully electric automobiles and technology which will allow for early diagnoses of diseases and even flying, autonomous and emission-free taxis and public transport (at first, for the most wealthy, with vertiports (purpose-built for craft lighter in weight than many helicopters (that used heliports), which are usually much heavier) which will, in time, be used in conjunction with an artificial intelligence (a term which was in use since at least 1956, but, the potential has been theorised by others for a very long time, which, at least in one case, includes the concept of a massive network of computers, such as the story A Logic Named Joe by 'Murray Leinster' (a pen name AKA nom de plume of writer William Fitzgerald Jenkins) as early as 1946, a story which also had the artificial intelligence (Joe) hacking that network (foreshadowing of AI-assisted cyberwarfare), searching it to give answers to others without any content filter or limits of any kind, and, the hero (not to be confused with the hero, Hiro Protagonist (a character from Neal Stephenson's book Snow Crash), and, yes, writers have a sense of humour), 'Ducky,' (warning: spoiler!) seemed to only want to stop the AI so his ex-girlfriend couldn't find him and complicate his marriage and, mea culpa/apologies/sorry for the long duration tangent, but, that's how my odd little brain works) device that can diagnose an injured patient, attempt to stabilise them, notify a central emergency-handling system which can process this information and determine where best to take them and fly them to it, where those who had been notified of the arrival can be prepared to help them, or, in a worst-case scenario, harvest their organs for transplant into those who have a dire need for them that cannot be swapped out with an artificially-grown or mechanical replacement.

  More data breaches and ransomware incidents (many of the latter not originating from places they first suspected they were, since many had no knowledge of SSH (Secure SHell, used in secure shell tunneling) or VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), including some on vital infrastructure, with the surprising (to some of us) lack of appropriate action to beef up cybersecurity against this form of domestic terrorism.  The data breaches primariy affected personally indentifiable information, including your personal health information, financial information, corporate secrets, Social Security numbers (AKA SSNs), trade secrets, detailed information about contracts, et cetera.  But, as I've said repeatedly on my Web site, corporations cannot be trusted.  This becomes painfully obvious when it's revealed that they use operating systems such as micros$haft winblows which are notorious for their lack of security and high vulnerability.  Added to that, many do not take precautions like destroying hard drives in devices such as printers before they're hauled away and continue to hire people who have little respect for personal privacy and whose greed would motivate them to cheerfully sell even their mother's personal health information if it meant they'd get a few grand for a new system.  Places like hospitals, more than others, should be watchful as they would have not only their patient-customers health information but also their financial information.  In some areas, businesses are required by law to protect the confidential information which their customers gave them, although throughout history, those with wealth or power are often not required to obey the law or can easily get away with whatever they want if they have the right lawyers.  As for governmental databases . . .  They'll suffer multiple data breaches and attacks on various infrastructure and claim that they're going to prevent such things in the future, but, it will keep recurring.  (Cyberwarfare will become a big thing after the first decade or so of the 21st century.)  But, getting back to the corporations and crony capitalism . . .  It doesn't help that many corporations effectively own politicians.  At the very least, they can use that influence to get the politicians to vote the way they dictate.  Corporations can get back in increased profits much more than what they donated to a politician's campaign fund.  In many other countries, what's called corruption is considered lobbying in the United States and those who give the most will not only increase the probability of their candidate being elected but will likely also have the most control over them if for no other reason than a sense of obligation.  The data breaches will occur at many corporations, including those who collect your financial information to determine your credit rating despite the employment of information security personnel, many of whom seem incapable of proper threat assessment and work under the belief that such things couldn't possibly happen there.  But, they will, even to the major retailers.  There are many mass graves throughout the world filled with the bodies of those who also believed that they were safe and that horrible things which happened elsewhere couldn't possibly happen to them, which were usually preceded with tighter gun control laws (or forbidding them to have any weapons whatsoever) and the removal of civil rights to make it easier for those with power to abuse it and prey upon their own citizens.

  Speaking of civil rights, or more precisely, privacy rights, you better fight for what little you have left of your privacy rights, provided your government even has any laws at all to protect you from things like stalking, harassment or taking pictures or recording video of you in places you thought you were allowed to have an expectation of privacy.  Three of the places most people believe they have a right to privacy at are in their own home, in a public restroom or at the doctor's office.  However, in the growing use of mobile devices and the like your smart phone or other mobile device can be remotely controlled.  By taking over your mobile device, not only can someone know your real time whereabouts, they can also remotely activate your mobile device's (or devices' if you have more than one) microphone and camera(s), even if it looks like your smart phone, tablet, phablet or what have you appears to be off.  But, as in many things in life, appearances can oft-times be deceiving.  If you want to be certain that nobody can do that to you and you're not wanting to always know what's going on with your friends on the social networks or always be reachable by a call to your mobile phone, you can do things like make a Faraday bag (kind of like a Faraday cage but smaller) which would be just a little larger than your mobile device (or devices).  To be safe, you should already have one to store things like your credit cards, ATM cards, debit cards or any other kind of card or whatever which may have a chip in it so nobody can snoop.  You can also remove the battery, (provided the manufacturer of your mobile device doesn't have a deal under the table with one or more entities such as a government agency from a nosy government who believes that they have a right to know everything about you and where you are every moment of the day so your device's battery cannot be removed).  If you really, really, really have to be reachable or you cannot live without your social application AKA ap or app, you can temporarily put a piece of thick tape over the microphone and camera lens(es) of your devices.  Electrical tape works, but, are the obvious microphones and cameras the only ones your device has?.  However, this might make those parts of your mobile device or its case gummy, so you may want to buy an inexpensive case for it which you can clean the yuckiness off of as needed.  Or, you can try to hold on to the belief that everyone in the world would never, ever violate your privacy.  If that's what you believe, you're probably on the wrong Web site (and, while I'm 'predicting' things (to me, many of them are as certain to happen as a politician lying, flip-flopping on his (or her) campaign promises or demanding that their political opponents show their tax information while not sharing their own), I see a stranger in your future trying to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge, some lakeside property on Mars or a Rollex watch). 

  As for the public restrooms and doctor's office, a video camera can be almost anywhere and the smaller and more easily hidden surveillance devices such as pinhole cameras (with or without fisheye lenses) hidden in places you wouldn't expect like an advertisement frame or a piece of ceiling tile (is that hole really a hole or is there a small camera lens in there?), nanny cameras, innocent-looking knick-knacks, a tablet or laptop, or even in ink pens worn in pockets.  Tell me, would you trust your doctor or any other medical professional who did such things to you or took your picture without your permission even after you told them no?  Some would, even though it means trusting them with their very lives.  And people think I'm the one that's silly . . .

  If you think that's the worst way your privacy could be invaded, you haven't seen anything yet.  What if someone could tell what you're thinking or have thought in the past and even spy on your dreams as you sleep?  And, now, most of the people reading this have probably went to another Web site, believing that I'm some kind of nut or crackpot.  LOL  But, let's be honest here.  Isn't that one of the ultimate goals of a fascist government or, I suppose, practically any government or corporation?  In fact, a corporation would be the most likely place such a thing would be developed, while claiming that it's to help people, of course . . .  One of the things which should send up a red flag in your mind is if a government wants to do a study on people's brains to see how they work, while claiming it's to help determine the cause of things such as Alzheimer's disease in the hopes of finding better ways to treat them, naturally.  ;-)  Next thing you know, they'll want to monitor people's brains in real time like those who are paralysed so they can interact better with others by 'reading' what the subject is trying to say in the part of the brain where what people want to say is formed, like the Broca area in the frontal lobe (yes, I probably read too much), and convert it to text or speech.  What would surprise those who still have independent thought (and brains which haven't been systematically trained to accept things without asking questions about them) the least is that things like this will happen in a country which uses fasces (long regarded as the symbol for fascism, which has a small bundle of long wooden rods bond together and sometimes has an axe inside of it) in many of their official government sculptures and symbols while still claiming that they are for the people and place a high value on liberty and freedom while, at the same time, are noted to be one of the countries which monitors their citizens the most and takes away their rights whenever they're inconvenient for them to screw over their citizens (such as ordering a gag order on a defendant who does something legal in his or her state or uses any other defence which may keep the jury from finding them guilty).  The general public, of course, being little more than sheeple, will either not say anything or shrug their shoulders and go along with it, not realising or even caring that all technology not only can by misused but almost always is.

  More unrest in places like the Middle East.  Okay, so this is probably expected, and I had hinted at the locations on other places on my Web site, even naming some of the countries, but . . . this will be worse than the usual, worse than what many expect or have seen in decades.  Future acts of terrorism will occur not only in America but also in countries which are seen as America's allies.  Some are in the form of retribution and are multi-point attacks, co-ordinated so they happen at the same time while others are simply one-shot situations.  Think of places which have strong ties to America and where liberty is valued.  Isn't terrifying people one of the goals of terrorism?  When enough people are concerned for their safety, what do they do?  Ask governments for more protection, yes?  And, don't those added security measures further restrict liberty and freedom while violating your privacy?  What was it Benjamin Franklin (the United States minister to France from 1778 to 1785) said?  Oh, yes . . .  "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."  Have you considered how amazing it is that so many attacks are done to civilians while only a few are done to corporations, and there are rumours that the most well-known of those may have been done by someone other than those who were blamed for it, including multiple people who believe they were false flags (AKA black flags)?  While many believe that it's the act of one or more agencies of the United States government (which is frequently seen as the modern day bogeyman for adults), the list of suspects shouldn't be limited to what the mainstream conspiracy theorists believe.  The question you should be asking yourselves is "who benefits from this?"  Or, as the cops say in the movies and television shows "if you learn the motive, you can figure out who did it" or words to that effect . . .  Should I give you some more hints?  Have you read the books The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Friday by Robert A. Heinlein?  Have you listened to some of Frank Zappa's interviews or the spoken word albums of Jello Biafra?  No?  Perhaps you should, as that would be an excellent starting place, provided they haven't been declared seditious where you live.  Of course, some countries declare such things illegal despite the fact that many of their own countries engaged in the same practice . . .

  Psychopathic monsters calling others monsters while doing monstorous things to them, including women and children.  This is characteristic of psychopaths, insisting others are what they themselves are and making obviously fake excuses for why they commit atrocities.  While they use the names of groups of people who were seen committing the worst crimes against humanity in history, they, themselves, will committ acts to chill the very souls of all who witness them or hear about them.  Even children and pregnant women are not safe from such people even when they know that they are there when they kill them (or, in some cases, have others (who they threaten with death if they fail to follow orders) kill them), and, as expected, claiming that others had done it or that any reports of same or evidence has been fabricated or fake news.  Many of the psychopaths in the future will be men (XY), as has been the case throughout most of history, but, a few will be women (XX).  The exceptions will be note-worthy and in some cases, surprising.

  Pestilence, the First Horseman of the Four Horsemen makes an appearance.  Technically, the initial pandemics which killed millions in the first quarter of the 21st century weren't plagues (the bubonic plague is probably one of the more well-known plagues and, what happened in Caffa in the 14th century was one of the first documented instances of biological warfare) but viruses and their origins will be hotly disputed (more finger-pointing, lack of credible intel in the first few years and idiots associating those from certain countries with the diseases, themselves) for years.  Ignorant leaders (some could be correctly called stupid or over-specialized, which is better suited for insects) made matters worse by urging calm and claiming things will be okay and will get back to normal soon (you know, the usual 'all is well' speech from governments), which is always the wrong idea, but, when have governments ever been fully transparent with the people?  Sadly, those leaders were never held accountable for the deaths that shouldn't have happened.  People were given the old bit about staying six feet apart (a figure which they came up with back in the 1930s and 1940s, but, in the 1960s, conclusive evidence proved that even hundreds of feet may not've been a safe distance, especially if they were inside a building, but, it was never accepted until millions had already died) as though it was some kind of semi-magical point where disease couldn't spread past.  While I lightly touched on the source countries in other parts of my Web site, some of the more contagious variants will come from the countries and continents where there's mass deforestation such as Brazil, South-East Asia, India (Robert A. Heinlein hinted at this, also, in his book, Friday, but, most people realize that in a country with a high population density, diseases spread faster) and Africa, but, expecting humans to figure it out by themselves . . .  That's not going to happen.  And, since money is the only thing most of them care about as the environment is far down their list (if it's on it at all), it was seen as wrong to those who had the true power.  The richer countries will have vaccines (it'll take about a year and a half, which is better than the ten to twelve years it used to take), but, only after they got many of their population vaccinated and those signed up for the shots decreased in number, did some of them share the extra vaccines with the poorer countries, figuring that they could either use the already-made vaccines to aid relations with the poorer countries (and thereby increase their own wealth) or have the vaccines go bad on them, which would be a waste of money, whereas sharing them would, in time, give them more, and, money (and the power that comes with it and what they think they can get with it) is the primary motivation of the majority of humans.  The delay before they started sharing with others, which, as you've probably figured out, already, allowed the viruses to mutate more (they do that, anyway, since a body already has viruses in it and the new viruses change as they enter a new host) which resulted in more variants.  Some of those variants were far more contagious, had proven capable of infecting those who had been vaccinated, and, those, in turn, also spread the disease (so, it was no longer a matter of if someone would get infected but when), and, the details on how they spread (not just via large droplets expelled into the air from the nose and mouth and onto surfaces, including the fact that they could linger in indoor air for hours even after someone who was infected left, and, outside, could move great distances, much like soot from smokestacks, but, feel free to ask anyone who studied biological warfare in depth), although known to the experts, wasn't told to the general population, allowed them to spread even more and faster, which resulted in more lives lost.  Later, when the virus mutated further (thanks to the above) into more sneakier AKA stealthier variants (kind of like stealth aeroplanes, which avoid detection by RADAR), these stealth variants of the virus were more adapt at avoiding detection, allowing them to spread to multiple countries before many realized they were even there.  Since there was already a problem with a doctor shortage and a shortage of nurses (which I tried to warn people about on my United States of America Healthcare Reform and Universal Healthcare Public Plan page, which went as you'd expect, with nobody listening), this was made an even worse situation as there wasn't enough people to help those in need and it increased stress on a system (and the healthcare professionals, many of whom opted for early retirement after more spikes in the number of infected people) already under strain.  The ICUs filled up fast with people who were hesitant to get the vaccine shots and, later, the boosters (which didn't guarantee protection, but made the symptoms milder and less life-threatening).  Then, when natural disasters struck and people were badly hurt and needed hospitalization, there was no room for them as many hospitals were filled with people desperate to stay alive after getting infected, some waiting several hours, and, in some cases, days for a hospital bed.  Mask-wearing became the norm in places like the United States until the better anti-viral drugs were developed (which took longer than it should have) and the number of new infections dropped, with the usual people who were afraid of change refusing to wear one (this happened during the 1918 flu, as well), which also made things worse.

  As the first period of mandatory mask-wearing neared its end-point, more violence in the United States was seen, done primarily by those under the age of 26.  Sadly, this included attacking those from parts of the world where the different viruses and their variants were thought to originate from, as most humans aren't smart enough to tell the difference between a person and a disease, and, quite frequently, when a human feels scared of something, they lash out at whatever they see as different.  Many of the attacks were done by lone gunmen (many students (and, like I pointed out several years ago on my School Violence: What Causes School Violence page, the causes were either never discussed or were only lightly touched on) and some disgruntled employees were the most notable in that set, and, not exactly new, as historically, a lot of people who didn't like their job and/or fellow employees turned violent), but, some of the acts of gun violence were committed by groups of three or more, who egged each other on until they decided to do it, targeting groups of people they didn't like, some at small events where they could easily pull up in a pick-up truck or SUV within range of their intended victims, and proceeded to commit hate crimes with more firepower than a regular gun-owner, security officer or off-duty police officer would normally have at their disposal.  As the number of gun violence events increased, there was also an increase in the number of first-time gun buyers and those who figured out how to make their own guns and IEDs or buy them anonymously or through a third-party.  Ineffective gun control measures were tried, but, did nothing to stop those in the age group which was responsible for the majority of mass shootings or limit the access to the most dangerous of firearms available.  After a time, some finally thought that maybe, just maybe, the shooters' parents should share responsibility for their children's gun violence which resulted in mass murders.  Initially, the cases against the parents were about them making the weapons available to their children, but, later, they realized that they were also at least partially responsible for not doing a better job of teaching them the difference between right and wrong.  The schools were also finally held responsible for some of the students' gun violence when they allowed them to return to classes after finding evidence of intended violence towards others.  It wasn't until much later, however, that they also were held accountable for not stopping the harassment and bullying of students by others until they snapped and decided the only way to stop the abuse was to stop the abusers in the only way they felt would actually work.

  More corporate sneakiness to increase profits even at the cost of their customers' health.  But, time and time again, we've seen them do this kind of thing, before, even to their own employees.  Look up the radium girls, breaker boys, matchstick girls and the Hamlet chicken processing plant fire for just a few examples of the latter or for a more modern example, see how little employees are paid and how few benefits they have at some of the most profitable stores.  Then there's the vanishing pensions although you'll notice that the guys at the top continue to receive millions in bonuses, some for saving the company money (such as making the employees' pensions disappear).  But, even governments will do that to their own employees.  For what corporations do to their customers, examples include evergreening prescription medicine by changing the formulas slightly so they can keep exclusive rights to make it, which means that generic versions of those medications cannot be made and the Sony rootkit which installed a rootkit on their own customers' computers without their knowledge or permission whenever they attempted to play some Sony music CDs on their computers.  So, if something is unregulated, a corporation will use any advantage to make money off of it, even if it causes one financial crisis after another.  Although I'm not a fan of big government, we all know that corporations do not act responsibly.  The multiple environmental disasters (which will continue) attributed to them should be ample proof of that . . .  One of the biggest concerns you should have is what a corporation involved in an unregulated healthcare enterprise would do in order to increase profits.  The more obvious example would be the dietary supplements or food supplements market.  If there's no regulation involved and no oversight to be certain that what it says on the label is in fact, what is inside the bottle, don't be gullible enough to believe that corporations wouldn't be so greedy as to put in cheaper materials instead, in order to maximize profits.  The store chain I really wouldn't trust on this score would be the one making the most profits.  How low would they go?  In other words, what kinds of things would they put in those tablets if it meant higher profits?  Think about that for a moment . . .  A little 'paranoia' is a survival trait.  Let's be honest here: If a corporation could make a profit from outright killing people and could find a legal loophole for getting away with murder, I for one wouldn't doubt for a moment that they'd do it.  Now, ask yourself this question, if euthanasia was made legal, how quickly do you think corporations would find a way to harvest the organs of the dying in order to sell them to the highest bidder?  And, if that wasn't bad enough, would there be any stopping them from falsifying documents in order to harvest more people's organs?  Something similar was done back in 2010, during the Foreclosuregate thing (AKA the United States Foreclosure crisis) when homeowners were evicted by banks which foreclosed on their homes and took possession of them even though the homeowners hadn't paid for their homes with a mortgage.  The corporations wouldn't have to fear retribution from someone who's dead and they'd have the falsified documents that state you wanted help ending your life to show any relatives and the courts.

  The cancer rates will increase and many younger people will get it.  This is something I've been telling people for decades, including one woman I told to get herself checked for cancer earlier than recommended.  Her cancer was spotted and she had it removed before it spread.  :-)    While the vast majority of people think that the primary causes of cancer are things such as alcohol, sugar, high processed foods and not getting enough exercise, environmental factors should be taken into account, as well.  Are corporations and farms endangering your drinking water sources?  What about radiation?  Sources could be from illegal dumping but also from intentional radiators as some of us call them.  Then, there's all the plastic containers which people drink out of or store their food in.  Is that really safe?  The short answer?  No.  But then, neither are things such as lead and many municipal water systems and older homes still have lead pipes.  It's only a matter of time before someone starts noticing all the stuff in people's blood such as plastic is causing irreparable damage to the body.  And, once it's in there, how do you get it out?  Has anyone even thought about that?  But then, profits are far more important to corporations than people . . .  If you want proof of that, you only need to see how corporations take away things employees need such as pensions to increase corporate profits!  Once upon a time, people were told to get tested for cancer in their mid-40s, but, in the future, the age you should get tested will be much lower, as more and more cancer cases start appearing in people in their 20s and even younger, with millions getting cancer in the United State every year, alone.  How long will it take before that is acknowledged as a problem?  Don't expect that on an official level until in the mid-2020s or so.  As for how long it'll take for corporations to be forced to clean up their act . . .  Don't count on that until at least the 2030s, as corporations (and wealthy individuals) own many of the lawmakers, if for no other reason than the obligation they feel towards those who contribute to their election campaigns.  Which, of course, will be far too late for those who have already gotten cancer and probably died from it.  How many millions will die before action is taken to save lives?  To quote Bob Dylan, the answer is blowin' in the wind.  As he also said, some of the biggest criminals are those that turn their heads away when they see wrong and know it's wrong.  But, they likely won't be prosecuted and successfully convicted, especially if they're in a country where the guilty go free because they can hire better lawyers . . .

  Many people drink the tap water, not realizing that there are things like feces, urine, sodium, nitrates, and fluoride in it (which the Nazis in World War II made the people in the concentration camps drink to make them more docile).  But, of course, very few humans who know such things care or wonder why the main responses others give anymore in regards to anything that isn't overly hyped like the latest product or entertainment is "whatever" and "who cares".  Gee, I just can't imagine why that is . . .  If this wasn't bad enough, many of the water filters which people rely on to get bad things out of their drinking water will not filter out the fluoride in it.  To verify this, please check the label on the replacement filters you use.  If you're trying to avoid fluoride, it is very difficult.  Many will try bottled water, believing that it is not only un-fluoridated but also safer for them to drink than the water from their tap.  This isn't always the case.  When dealing with corporations and their products, play it safe.  If it doesn't say it was un-fluoridated, it probably isn't.  Also, in many cases, that bottled water was simply poured into the bottles from the municipal water supply, which may or may not be safer than what you have coming out of your own water faucet.  Questions you should be asking include:  How often do they test the water, is it at least purified with reverse osmosis?  What is the source of the water they're using?  Are there any problems with it which may or may not be known to the general public, such as when a company decides to pollute the local water supply either directly or indirectly where it eventually seeps into wherever the city gets it from?  Will the public be informed of the danger if both the bottled water company and the news company are owned by the same parent company?  If you are informed about it, will the risk be downplayed with comments like "the source of the contamination is being investigated and the company wants everyone to know that they will do everything possible to prevent their customers from drinking contaminated water" or somesuch in an effort to re-assure the public?  How can you know these things for certain before you open up a bottle of bottled water and what are the odds of you finding out about them if you are hundreds or even thousands of miles away from their source of water?  Are you willing to risk your health under the assumption that the company which bottled the water values your well-being more than the money they can make off of you?  Think about that one for a moment while remembering that the primary focus of most humans (especially those in business) is greed and the thought foremost in their minds is what they can get out of a situation (such as their often asked question "what's in it for me?") . . .  But, there are other sources of fluoride than what's in the water.  Do you use non-stick cookware with Teflon or other coatings which could be released as you cook with them?  Do you use fluoridated toothpaste?  Do you eat food such as chicken nuggets or any other type of de-boned chicken which was done in a factory?  Do you drink tea, fruit juice, wine, beer or soda pop?  Have you ever been under anesthesia?  Do you eat canned food?  Among the preservatives they use could be fluoride.  Do you eat non-organic vegetables or fruits?  If so, you should know that high levels of fluoride may have formed as a residue from some pesticides.  Do you take medication for osteoporosis or antidepressants?  Do you use chewing tobacco?  This isn't by any means a list of all sources of fluoride.  It's meant to give you an idea of the variety of sources.

  As the population rapidly climbs towards the eight billion mark, natural resources will become more scarce, the air and water will become more polluted and in many places, filled with toxins as more 'accidents' happen (or corporations simply polluting whatever they like when there's nobody to stop them) to pollute the environment (which you depend on for safe food and water) along with increased fracking AKA induced hydraulic fracturing and a great many people will die from that, disease and war, as governments, corporations, and people fight over or attempt to purchase what remains, including land rights in Greenland and Antarctica (some real estate types will likely publicly deny global warming (this is more likely if they own property in an area which will be affected by climate change, although we should probably call it climate breakdown, to be more accurate, as climate change sounds like a naturally-occurring thing) while trying to buy property in places where the ice will melt sooner).  For those who are un-aware, only about 4 percent of the water on planet Earth is fresh water as opposed to salt water and of that 4 percent, around 68 percent is in the form of ice, such as glaciers and the polar ice caps, while another 30 percent or so is in groundwater, so, people only have easy access to about 2 percent of the fresh water on Earth.  It doesn't help the situation when each and every one of the wells created used millions of gallons of water or that some sources of drinking water are contaminated by fracking (if any corporate bigwigs want to deny that, I invite them to drink exclusively the water which independent testers have ascertained as the most polluted for a few years.  What?  No takers?  No surprise there . . .)  Storms become more violent, sea levels rise and flooding not only brings saltwater into aquifers but also overfills septic tanks and the hazardous materials and toxic wastes (lead, cyanide, arsenic, radium, fluoride (which some claim is good for you, while others say is bad), pesticides, fertilizer and many other things) from superfund sites get washed out of them, which leak their toxic contents into the ground, which finds their way into wells and aquifers.  Droughts worsen and are more widespread, and, as you might expect, there will be wildfires raging out of control with too few people to fight them and, as homes are burned down to the ground, those who lost them, their hopes, dreams, family pictures and even beloved pets, will be offered a small percentage of what the land is worth and those who bought it will profit considerably off the misfortune of those who lost everything, perhaps even the lives of loved ones!  Meanwhile, many of the politicians who are little more than minions of their corporate masters, keep denying climate change (really human-created climate breakdown) despite all evidence against them and refuse to pass laws to stop their corporate master from destroying the environment for coloured pieces of paper with no value (fiat currencies, such as the American dollar).  Heh.  If you live in a fairly warm area and thought there were a lot of hot days in the last year or so, you haven't seen anything, yet.  Before the end of the 2020s, even those who claim there's no cause for alarm will not be able to say it without being seen as liars, as the water in the rivers and lakes are used up and the aquifers are drained out to meet the needs of large corporate-owned farms and industry that use it (they can also drill deeper wells than residents, who, in many places, don't have laws to ensure that they have access to safe drinking water and have to rely on collecting rainwater, which many jurisdictions make illegal) and some cities become uninhabitable as the sources of water dry up.  Many will be kept in the dark about this until the cost of food (blueberries, rice, chocolate, beer, coffee and other items were scarcer to find after climate breakdown fully kicked in) at their stores start to climb higher as inflation increases far more than it did in the past when the primary cause of product scarcity was corporations insisting on using a just-in-time manufacturing model instead of the just-in-case manufacturing model (in order to save money from having to store products in warehouses) shipping problems and not enough workers due to one of the pandemics.  In some countries, this will lead to civil wars, immigrants and refugees attempting to find better places to live or simply escape the violence.  Some of the countries in South America and the Middle East will be the first to experience this, followed by India and parts of Africa.  As the problem worsens, it will grow more widespread, especially as the refugees show up in various countries, putting more strain on an already strained system.  Then, the water scarcity will happen in those countries as well.  That will be the beginning of the end, as only then will people realize that there are fewer places to go to escape the problem and there are far too many people wanting to use more and more of the remaining water.  Desalination isn't a long term solution.  Not only is it expensive, but, setting up systems for billions of people would be a mammoth undertaking.  Earthships, which provide free water, power, food, and eliminate the need for heating and cooling systems even in rather inhospitable environments (when properly insulated), would have been one way to help counter this and decrease the strain on the power grid, as well, with world-wide implementation, but, due to many regulations, including restrictions on rainwater collection (which might be the only way you can avoid drinking fluoride since very few of the water filters available filter it out of the tap water) and overly-restrictive governments, this was not done, either.

  Before food scarcity becomes more widespread and some people see it coming and what it will eventually lead to, expect fake meat which tastes like human flesh AKA human meat.  Think that something like a human burger sounds too strange or couldn't possibly sell?  Think again!  Many will buy it to prank others, getting them to eat it and then asking them what they thought of it and get them on video doing it and saying what they thought of it and their reaction after being told what they had eaten.  When the food scarcity becomes worse, you can expect the eating of true human meat to happen more often than it does today.  Oh.  Perhaps you didn't know some places actually serve human flesh in stores, butcher shops and food made from true human meat in restaurants?  It's true.  And, cannibalism will be seen as normal in the future.  By the year 2050, four billion of those who are currently alive (2010) will be dead, despite all scientific and medical field advances and over 90 percent of the world will have at least tasted human flesh and the majority of people in the wealthiest countries, including America, will have tasted it.  Some of the bodies of people who commit suicide will also be used.  Some who wish to suicide will be given the option to have their organs harvested and the remaining parts of their body used as food.  Not something I'm looking forward to, but, this is about as inevitable as the world heating up far faster and hotter than what many people expect.  Triple-digit temperatures (Fahrenheit) in even the northern countries?  Count on it!  Seriously, what did you think was going to happen when you kept polluting despite all the warnings and the crops people plant become smaller and smaller and there isn't enough food to feed everyone even in the wealthiest nations on Earth?

  In time, scientists will figure out that the Earth's environment is in worse shape than they thought (despite the fact that many of us have been trying to tell them for decades that polluting the planet was a bad idea) and will change the deadline multiple times when changes need to happen in order to avoid permanent and irreversible damage to the environment which many forms of life (including humans) depend on.  Unfortunately, with the vast majority of politicians and lawmakers as well as many agency heads being bought by corporations (usually via lobbyists), the needed changes were not made in time, as those individuals were more concerned about their corporate masters' profits than doing the right thing.  The result could've been avoided, but, in essence, greed destroyed the environment.

  Technologies which could've helped, but, weren't created until much of the worst damage had already been done was covering asphalt roads with a lighter coloured layer that reflected more light, more solar power, via photovoltaic windows (think of how much surface area those skyscrapers have of glass!) and roofing material, sidewalks (almost said slidewalks! LOL) and driveways.  Other solar-collecting items included tents (which also saved military groups and disaster responders from having to haul fuel to various sites to power generators), canopies (used over sidewalks in front of businesses or on building rooftops), clothing and large bags and purses (you could charge your smartphone as you're walking around).

  Inflation rates will climb.  Many factors will contribute to this, from temporary ones to longer-duration ones.  Some time ago, manufacturers produced goods on a just-in-case manner, where they manufactured much of their products and stored them, knowing they'll continue to sell.  However, as they changed to a just-in-time format, producing goods only as they were ordered or barely able to meet the anticipated demands of the near future, this made the entire system vulnerable to any major change in demand such as a national or world-wide emergency or a sudden drop in supply of required materials needed to manufacture their products, or, having both happen at once.  In addition to this, the system was vulnerable to logistics problems, where transporting their products from one place to another could be delayed, stopped or slowed to a crawl in comparison to what was normal (this was eased, somewhat, as the Arctic Ocean became more ice-free in the 21st century, allowing more shipping than was previously available with the Suez Canal and Panama Canal (before the latter two were no longer used, which gave the Russian Federation, who controlled all traffic via the Northern Sea Route, far more money and power), but, it also released more methane in the atmosphere and decreased the planet's albedo (ice reflects light better, such as sunlight, than does water, which is usually much darker, except when the snow is covered with black rain, mud, or something else), which increased temperatures even further, but, of course, with some financial cost for allowing passage).  During the first world-wide pandemic, the world discovered this vulnerability as equipment needed to protect individuals was in low supply and there were few manufacturers.  Despite knowing there was a problem and fixing it and returning to a just-in-case manufacturing model, they allowed it to continue.  Did it matter to the corporations and their lawmaker minions that this caused the deaths of many, from the very young, the elderly and those with breathing problems?  Of course not!  Money was the only thing that mattered to them and with more 'natural' disasters (let's be honest, many of them were caused because of humans and their treating the world as their garbage can) and pandemics, the loss of lives only increased.  Many needed these supplies just to stay alive.  Less supply meant more demand, hoarding, and higher prices.  Price-gouging was also highly prevalent with little to nothing done about it in many cases.  The best solution would've been to have multiple manufacturing sources and places to store excess product in case of future (and emergency) need.  By not doing this, the corporations caused the product scarcity crises which they and their distributors hugely profited off of in many cases.

  Crypto-currencies became more popular and more valuable for a time (until the big price drop and those who had invested huge sums of money into producing it were suddenly losing money).  As tracking such things was also difficult (but, not impossible, as some found out), this was also seen as an excellent means of scamming people via one means or another.  One of the easiest to predict is using something like lust or greed or both as a way to draw in the victim, get them to part with their valuable assets, perhaps convincing them that they could make a lot of money with them and their victim only realizing that they were screwed over when they tried to get all their money or a significant amount of it and either being denied it or being charged an outrageous fee in order to do so.

  Fully autonomous farms, factories and stores, including fast food restaurants.  Think of the automat or vending machine but where the entire process is automated, including the delivery of fresh stock.  The first step will be removing the need to put items in your cart or to have a cart at all.  You'll be able to select from a list those things you wish to purchase, drive up to the store with your car and have them loaded into it.  In time, you will even be allowed to order groceries and have them delivered to your door (and be told when they'll arrive so your frozen food won't thaw out outside your house).  This will put many cashiers and cart gatherers out of work and in time, as the systems become more advanced, shelf stockers, counter workers and customer service employees, as all returns, complaints and other situations are handled via an automated system.

  More autonomous drones and not just for surveillance but also for war to replace warships, tanks, fighter jets and even soldiers.  Prior to fully autonomous warfare or warbots as some were called, with the only human involvement being someone deciding general placement and setting mission objectives for them from a secure and fairly distant base of operations, gamers will be recruited as drone operators not too far removed from the site of the operation (so there's no discernible delay as would be evidenced by a lag between firing a weapon and its intended target being taken out before it can take cover or being able to guide your unit without running it into a wall or off a cliff).  Many of them will still be teenagers.  Secret testing will be done where the players are not told that they are operating a real device which is killing people.  The more aggressive players turned operators will be told (ensuring that they cannot target friendly units first) as it's learned that the knowledge increases their bloodlust and also acts to help them to not casually damage their units.

  Autonomous vehicles will appear and be built by multiple automakers, including electric cars for personal use.  Autonomous trains, buses, semi-trailer trucks and even airliners will be developed over time, although some will be hijacked and hacked.  This will include fully autonomous taxis after a trial period where a driver is there to override in case the system encounters an error or fails.  The fares will be significantly less than taxicabs driven by a flesh and blood driver which only hastened the switch to fully automated cabs except for a few holdouts who also ended up with more expensive insurance as the automated taxis were eventually designed to be far safer drivers than their human counterparts.  Some of the earlier AI systems would avoid hitting pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists by veering into solid objects, placing their passengers at risk.  At first, this was avoided by having the vehicles drive slower than regular, human-driven vehicles until they were built with much faster response times than humans and with better braking and avoidance systems.  But, later, much of the traffic was moved to roadways that only automated vehicles could access.

  In more detail:

  The planet will continue to become more polluted by humans, landfills will grow larger while humans remain confused about why they should recycle, not cut down the forests, overfish the oceans (humans seem to have a problem understanding that there is a finite limit on how much there are of things) or throw garbage in the oceans, lakes, and rivers.  The latter will increase the size of the garbage patches in the various oceans such as the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Oceans, making the Pacific garbage patch and soon thereafter, the north Atlantic garbage patch, thousands of square miles in size in very little time, which will increase even more shortly after that despite the obvious danger of ignoring the problem and doing nothing to stop it.  Several species will continue to be affected by this, and many fish, birds, and what-not will die from human garbage.  Many will eat the toxic chemicals absorbed by the plastic or eat the smaller ocean species such as jellyfish that have consumed them and be thus contaminated.  The problem worsens when the toxic plastic breaks down in the water and all sea life ingests it.  Those contaminated fish, will, in turn, be consumed by humans.  Some government agencies around the world will recommend that people limit their intake of certain types of fish including tuna, whiting, cod, swordfish, king mackerel, shark, hake, and others, to reduce their intake of mercury and methylmercury.  A significant portion of the mercury that gets into fish came from burning coal (coal-fueled power plants was a major source of that) as well as chlorine chemical plants.  The mercury was either put into the water via the waste water or the mercury contained in the smoke eventually got absorbed into the water.  But, people didn't know for certain how much each individual fish had in them.  Even though they could learn how much an average fish of each species might have ingested, it would not apply to how much is in the fish they were about to eat.

  Many species of animals and the insects they feed upon will be killed by stronger pesticides.  Because caring about wildlife and keeping nature in balance isn't as important as their greed, those responsible will downplay this, talk about investigating it, say they have and assure the public that there's no cause for alarm.  In other words, follow pretty much the same routine as other corporations and governments . . .  Expect this sometime before 2015.  Eventually, they'll claim that they've changed the formula so that it's more environmentally friendly.

  Then there's all the radioactive waste . . .  Nuclear disasters and meltdowns that make the Three Mile Island accident look tame by comparison.  Those in charge including big business and politicians will claim that the problems have been contained while the radioactive waste continues to pollute the planet, and, in one case, tons of highly radioactive waste will be dumped into the Pacific Ocean.  This won't be made public until years later (seriously, you don't need any special future-seeing gifts or use divination techniques to know that a corporation will attempt to keep how much they damaged the environment a secret).  The kicker is that the exact same model used at one of the worst nuclear power plant disasters will also be used at numerous other locations, including the United States.  Okay, so this can be verified rather easily, but, you'll figure out quickly enough why design flaws in the reactor model is cause for concern not just for one location.

  Due to attempts to 'dumb-down' the population, there will be shortages of personnel in occupations which require intelligent people.

  One of the first shortages observed will be a shortage of doctors, which I touched upon earlier in relation to the growth of viruses in the 1st quarter of the 21st century.  But, in general, this shortage will be most noticeable with primary care physicians.  Family doctors, general practitioners, internists and pediatricians (they're the ones that take care of children for those who don't know or might confuse them with podiatrists, who are foot doctors) will not be able to keep up with the demand.  This demand will be increased by the growing number of older Americans as well as to changes to health care laws in the United States.  The politicians, being politicians, lacked the foresight needed to see an increased demand after making laws to allow more people to have health care coverage.

  The nursing shortage will continue, as well.  One of the primary reasons for this being the fact that hospitals will not want to spend the money needed to have a fuller staff, despite the obvious need for one.  Some hospitals will attempt to hide such shortcomings by claiming short wait times of only a few minutes in hospital emergency rooms' waiting rooms while not advertising the fact that many patients will wait for hours to see a doctor in the exam rooms, and, after that time, many will only see a physician assistant, or P.A.  Profits, in the eyes of corporations and the hospitals, come before saving people's lives.  The nurses who will be lucky enough to have jobs will grow increasingly dissatisfied as more demands are made on them as well as a growing lack of respect and diminishing appreciation from their fellow medical professionals.  Having a universal health care system like they have in almost every other industrialized country would reduce the amount of paperwork required, thus freeing up more time for the office personnel (so there would be fewer needed) and some of the money saved could be used to hire additional nursing staff who could focus on patient care, but, the hospital lobbyists oppose that.  Because of this, and other factors, health care in the United States will continue to be the most expensive in the world, while, at the same time, not as high quality as it is in many other industrialized nations.  This will easily be seen when comparing the number of heart and lung diseases, infant mortality, lower life expectancy, et cetera, to other countries.  There were thousands of unnecessary deaths every year in the United States due to lack of health insurance.  Also, the majority of people who filed for bankruptcy claimed that the reason they filed was because of high medical expenses.  Making a true fix to the health care system in the United States, getting it closer in quality and cost to other countries, would have made a difference in both the number of lives saved and also improvements to the quality of people's lives, but, as expected, this was not done.  But, when have politicians ever listened to anyone but their corporate masters?  LOL  Maybe the riches and power they have will comfort them and help them sleep better at night so they don't see the thousands (if not millions) of dead they could have saved.  If they can be bothered to think of them at all . . .

  Another shortage which will soon become apparent will be shortages of qualified teachers in the fields of mathematics and science.  This will be especially noticeable in schools with the most violent students and lower salaries.  Some schools will attempt to get other teachers who do not have any experience in these fields to teach those subjects.  More will leave as they learn of better paying employment opportunities.

  Different trade goods shortages happened, caused by disasters at places which produced most of the specialized items used in a growing majority of products.  The fewer in number such places were, and the higher the reliance there was for those items, the higher the impact the shortage was felt around the world, which was why some of us will buy electronic devices which rely on them in advance of the event.  Oddly, few saw the need to build other facilities which produced the same items in different parts of the world to avert problems in multiple markets, despite many people telling others that 'putting all of your eggs in one basket' isn't a good idea.

  The United States will continue its long history of being involved in military operations with no period of peace between them lasting more than five years.  This has been the case since the 1770s with the first American Revolution, fighting with the indigenous population (called Native Americans by some or Indians by others despite the fact that they are not living in India), putting down rebellions by their own people such as the Whiskey Rebellion (which, in L. Neil Smith's book, The Probability Broach, succeeded and led to a much better country and life for the citizens), et cetera.  A timeline of military operations involving the United States would be rather long, but, anyone who does the research should come to the same conclusions.  So, you don't have to be precognitive AKA prescient, be temporally displaced or gifted (some would say cursed especially if people don't listen to them like Cassandra or her descendants) with prophecy or second sight (not the remote viewing variety) to figure that one out.  ;-)

  Whistle-blowers who tell others about governments and corporations committing crimes against the people they are supposed to serve or their customers will be punished and some will be considered traitors and not just in trouble from breaking their NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements).  On the other hand, the governments themselves and many of the truly guilty parties (excluding the few scapegoats offered up as sacrifices to the mainstream news) who committed such crimes, will not be punished and certainly not tortured as some of the whistle-blowers will be threatened with.

  Prepare for more DNA sampling.  You'll be stopped by police at roadblocks or diverted into parking lots and either be given a cheek swab or have blood extracted from your veins.  This, of course, will be called 'voluntary' yet will be done by the police.  So, how 'voluntary' is it when you're forced to pull over by the cops?  They'll likely even tell you that it's all totally anonymous, despite the fact that they know who you are (at the very least, they have your license plate number and likely will ask to see your driver's license, but, if they have a facial recognition app on their mobile device (or body cam) which can snap your picture and query a database which likely already has the picture from some other form of picture I.D. on it, it's a sure thing they know who you are), and will enter that into the system.  And, if they employ passive alcohol sensors on flashlights (such as the sniffer which has been out since at least the 1990s) which work as a type of breathalyzer before you sign a consent form, how 'voluntary' is that to being tested?  What guarantee, if any, do you have that they won't put your DNA on file (which will also clue them in on who is related to you if it comes up in DNA evidence)?  And, would their word be any good if they employ sneaky testing without informing you of it?  In the near future, you can look forward to being dragged to the local police station by uniformed officers who will want to know your relationship with the suspect and where to find him or her.  Naturally, this will all be paid for with your own taxes and authorized by those you elected into office.  You can expect this to be done throughout the nation, not just a local abuse of power.  Possible excuses could include closing of old case files, having a database to better identify the remains of potentially future victims of serial killers, or, determining the number of drivers who operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, street drugs, or prescription drugs.

  Before 2014, there will be an appearance of more federal government tolerance for things such as same sex AKA same gender relationships, including legal gay marriages (the United States federal government will eventually recognize the legality of it and legalize gay marriage several years after other countries like Canada, although some states and individual cities will fight it) and for marijuana use, and there will gradually be more attempts at keeping peace between nations.  Individual humans, however, will continue to be sadistic and cruel to others and will steal and back-stab those silly enough to trust them whenever they have an opportunity to do so.  After all, those are characteristics which are hard-wired into humans, as history shows us.  Some states will legalize marijuana fully or for medicinal purposes AKA medical marijuana and limit the amount an individual can be in possession of, require permits for some things like growing or selling marijuana, and some states will allow growing marijuana while others will not.  After a time, data, including numbers of cases of violent crimes committed after the various legal changes are reviewed and legalizing marijuana in those states is shown to have dropped the rates of violent crime.  But!  Prices for the legal marijuana and the stuff you could buy on the street wasn't that different.  You can guess why . . .  After legalization became more widespread and the prices began to drop in the pot stores, there were multiple benefits to the various levels of government and to the communities as a whole for legalized marijuana; there was less violent crime (aside from rolling vulnerable stoners who suddenly became more obvious), street gangs lost considerable revenue (which became more evident after several states legalized marijuana AKA pot so users had more legal places to get it with various strains (to suit individual needs and tastes) and the quality improved when they started selling the stuff that wasn't sprayed with pesticides *cough cough*), law enforcement and the courts didn't have to waste money and personnel on marijuana prohibition (which wasn't really working anyway in several places and one of the presidents in the early 2020s actually went so far as to pardon thousands and encouraged individual states to do the same) and some of the more anti-government groups lost a significant amount of support.  Some claimed that this was by design.  There were a few more accidents in some places for a time, but, that was to be expected and the smarter people didn't do any unnecessary travelling (I almost said something about taking trips) until things seemed to go back to more-or-less normal or the newer normal (which is an illusion, anyway, as what might be normal for a predator is chaos bordering on pure Hell for the prey).  The smarter stoners also smoked in the safety of their own homes or at friends' homes.  Music (and cartoons, especially anime) became more appreciated by many and food delivery sales climbed.  ;-)

  Am I putting down people who smoke weed?  Nope!  They're far easier to get along with than many suits I've had the misfortune to meet.  One stoner party I was at was also very fun, and all it really had (besides the obvious) was a pinball machine, plenty of cold beer, some good rock music, munchies, and caffeine.  Had more fun at that party than I did at most bars I've went to.

  *  Update (June 26th, 2015):  The United States Supreme Court declared same-sex AKA same gender AKA gay marriage legal in all 50 states of the United States of America.  Told you it would take them several years after other countries recognized it as legal, but, they finally did.  Countries such as Denmark recognized registered partnerships as a legal gay marriage AKA gender-neutral marriage back in 1989.  The Netherlands was the first country to allow same-sex marriages in 2001.  Others followed, including Canada in 2005.  It just took the 'free country' of America a lot longer to grant them the same rights they allowed others.  But, they were also slow in granting women the right to vote, so that comes as no real surprise to some of us . . .  Yes, I'm cynical (among other things) but, history is a good teacher.