I predict that the predictions will be predictably way off in ways that are impossible to predict.

Considering our present situation, I'd appreciate an accurate prediction of spring '09.

I suspect the primary purpose of the report is sell members of congress on the idea that the authors and their agencies are going to be very important and necessary in the future and in need of budget, man-power and pay increases.

How would I rate against this synopsis?

1. Move inland now. Like at least 50 miles from any ocean, bay or tidal basin.
I'm within crawling distance of the ocean and on a fault line

2. Learn to grow your own food & collect drinking water. Especially water.
I eat out, my fridge is empty, but I have water (I do have my MRE's and 30 day emergency supply of food), I have no ground to grow on

3. Make sure you live in a place where you don't have to drive to work, ever.
I commute 40 miles a day round trip

4. Become Indian or Chinese and/or a member of an international crime cartel.
My wife is Chinese and I'm Amish/Irish- but we both left our communities, so nope,no luck

5. Make sure you have plenty of sunscreen.
Old and runny, like me ex-wife (bitter, too)

6. Don't expect to have much in the way of money, free time or job stability. The "Middle Class" you knew from 1950 to 1980 is never coming back.
That's me! I'm never allowed back?

7. Stop having so many children. They eat too much and use too much fuel.
Whew, 1 out of 8- I'm saved!

8. Avoid turnips.
Do parsnips count? Or mangelwurzels?

Looks like you beat me to it... It was fun enough skimming through the paper for a little while but I see little real value in the projections. At least no more than I would trust a fortune teller and a crystal ball.

Let me see. The paper was probably made by pretty much the same guys who'd have us believe there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq... And who in 1970 were pretty sure the Moon would be colonized by the beginning of the 21st century. Though only as far back as 1960 they made a very reliable prediction that the mankind was just about to perish in a nuclear war.

It makes me wonder what those predictions are all about except for some government agency justifying their existence. It also reminds me of the words of Sun Tzu: perceiving something which is perceived by all is hardly the mark of highest excellence.

I'm sure the world in 2025 will be very different from our own. But I'm also sure it will be very different from what the current projections suggest.

Hey, Dagny, welcome to the fire.

I predict that your post will be shortlisted for "best first post this week" ... but such things are predictably unpredictable of course.

I especially like the parts that hint at "keeping our Canadian buddies very happy in the future."

;-)

Will you have a small spot on your property where a southern transplant might pitch a well armed tent and sip water from your pond?

Well, if that is the case, then my wife will get her wish to move back to Canada and I'll become the immigrant!

Since we're on the topic of predictions, here is the Russian version of what will happen to us.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,457550,00.html

A Russian scholar is predicting that the United States' current financial crisis will lead to the breakup of the country.

Igor Panarin, a professor at the diplomatic academy of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the newspaper Izvestia on Monday that America will break apart into six regions following the crisis.

"Dissatisfaction is growing, and it is only being held back at the moment by the elections, and the hope that [President-elect] PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. can work miracles," according to a translation by Bloomberg. "But when spring comes, it will be clear that there are no miracles."

Panarin predicts the U.S. will split into: the Pacific, the South, Texas, the Atlantic coast, the central states and the northern states, and hinted that Alaska could be Russia's for the taking.

The professor said China and Russia will become the world's great regulators.

That professor is a moron. Therefore I predict that he could be elected to Congress from Massachusetts.

We spend so much time slicing and dicing information, with all of the resources available (I guess that's why we're on this forum to begin with), I wish I could go forward in six month increments for a few years to see what is on the mark so I knew who to listen to today.

I agree, all of these predictions are another big "what if". I liken this to diet books- everyone has "scientific data" to support their version of the "true" diet.