Criswell predicts: Space Stations

The U.S. and Russia will, separately and jointly, during the 1970's [sic] begin to set up space stations. Progress will be slow until the late 1970's [sic] when discovery of anti-magnetism-forces will free man from the laws of gravity and make space travel without rocket propulsion possible.
--The Amazing Criswell

And he got off to such a good start on this one!

Criswell continued:

When the Earth is destroyed on August 18, 1999, these space colonists will be the only Earth-humans left in the universe.

Hmmm.



Not a perfect match, but it is interesting to note that Moonbase Alpha got blown out of Earth orbit in September, the month after Criswell's end-of-the-world prediction.

Rays tie Yankees in NL East race

It's not quite fair that I'm writing about baseball again after completely ignoring the Tampa Bay Lightning, especially since the Lightning are making a nice push for the Southern Division crown, nipping at the heels of the Atlanta Thrashers.

Unfortunately, I fear the Lightning aren't going far in the playoffs. Holmquist and Denis just haven't played well enough to produce high playoff expectations. I don't count the Lightning out, since a goaltender can hit a hot streak, but playoff wins usually go to teams with good goaltending.

It helps even things out that I'm leading off with hockey in a baseball post, I hope.

I can't stand the Yankees!
Just to get that out of the way.

The Rays beat the Yankees amid snow flurries in New York. The Rays' pitching was shaky, but New York's pitching wasn't much better plus the Bronx Bombers made oodles of mistakes in the field, including a couple of pitches that got away toward the backstop, allowing TB runners to score runs.
Nearly every loss by the Yankees is satisfying, and it's that much better when the loss comes to the hometown team, which isn't very good.

I don't want to knock the Rays too much, though. The pitching almost certainly isn't good enough as it stands to support a .500 season, but the team around the mound is pretty decent.
Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young might be head cases, but they sure are talented athletes. Dukes scorched a flat liner tonight that probably didn't get 25 feet over the field of play at its apex before leaving the park for a home run. It may have been lower than that. It was one of the flattest homers I've ever seen.
Go Rays. Boo Yankees.

The Washington Post, with a smackdown of House Majority Leader Pelosi

Pratfall in Damascus

Nancy Pelosi's foolish shuttle diplomacy

Thursday, April 5, 2007; Page A16

HOUSE SPEAKER Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered an excellent demonstration yesterday of why members of Congress should not attempt to supplant the secretary of state when traveling abroad. After a meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Ms. Pelosi announced that she had delivered a message from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that "Israel was ready to engage in peace talks" with Syria. What's more, she added, Mr. Assad was ready to "resume the peace process" as well. Having announced this seeming diplomatic breakthrough, Ms. Pelosi suggested that her Kissingerian shuttle diplomacy was just getting started. "We expressed our interest in using our good offices in promoting peace between Israel and Syria," she said.

Only one problem: The Israeli prime minister entrusted Ms. Pelosi with no such message. "What was communicated to the U.S. House Speaker does not contain any change in the policies of Israel," said a statement quickly issued by the prime minister's office. In fact, Mr. Olmert told Ms. Pelosi that "a number of Senate and House members who recently visited Damascus received the impression that despite the declarations of Bashar Assad, there is no change in the position of his country regarding a possible peace process with Israel." In other words, Ms. Pelosi not only misrepresented Israel's position but was virtually alone in failing to discern that Mr. Assad's words were mere propaganda.

It's a good read.

Pelosi blew it big-time, and so did some Republicans who visited Syria recently (though the latter apparently didn't deliver inaccurate messages on behalf of Israel).

Our friends, the wonderful U.N.

How corrupt is the United Nations?

UNITED NATIONS — As federal investigators examine how the leading U.N. agency in North Korea illegally kept 35 counterfeit American $100 bills in its possession for 12 years, documents indicate that more officials were aware of the existence of the fake currency — and earlier — than the agency has reported.

Spokesmen for the United Nations Development Program have said top officials at the agency's New York headquarters learned in February that their safe in Pyongyang contained the counterfeit bills and immediately reported it to American authorities. But several documents shown recently to The New York Sun indicate that higher-ups knew much earlier that the safe held counterfeit money.

(The New York Sun)

Criswell predicts: Medicine: 1982

Before we get into Criswell's next past future prediction, I was watching the Jamie Kennedy Experiment the other night, and Kennedy dressed up so that he could sit inside one of those fortune-telling machines for one of his hidden camera gags.

The name Kennedy chose for his fortune-telling alter-ego?

Caswell.

More than a coincidence, I think.

Now, forward to the past:

I predict that by 1982, that a full medical education will require six months of study. The reason for the shortening of medical education is simple: Everything in medicine will be automated, and a course to qualify one as a medical doctor will require only knowledge of how to operate the proper computers and other equipment.
--The Amazing Criswell

Not a whole great deal of medicine is automated even now in 2007. Sure, orthopods sometimes use robots to prepare hips and knees for a prosthesis, but that's the exception and it hasn't shrunk medical training noticeably.
I think it's worth recalling some dialogue from the film "Ed Wood" at this point.

Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Say, Cris, how'd you know we'd be
living on Mars by ... ?

The Amazing Criswell: I guessed.

Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Really?

The Amazing Criswell: I made it up.

Criswell, in his prediction about medicine, went on to say

Doctors themselves will be looked upon as merely public servants of the government, who will license the doctor and set fees for him, exactly as they will for plumbers, carpenterss, and sewer workers.

If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency in 2008, maybe.

Russian scientist: Iran should be stopped

Say what?

MOSCOW: Russia’s leading nuclear scientist said on Monday that it was just a question of time before Iran developed a nuclear weapon and it should be stopped.

The Islamic republic, facing a showdown with the United States over its nuclear ambitions, clearly has the know-how to make atomic weapons, said Yevgeny Velikhov, a leading physicist and close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(The News)

Considering that nobody helped Iran along toward nuclear technology more than Russia (unless we count the USSR separately), that's a terrific observation to make.

I wonder if Putin will have this scientist poisoned for shooting off his mouth?

Criswell predicts: Birth Control

I predict that birth control will no longer be a major problem in the United States. Placed in the water system of the country, in every city, regardless of size, will be chemicals which will act as contraceptives on the entire populace. In addition to this, the electricity that comes into each home will have certain ionic particles that cause contraception.
-The Amazing Criswell

Talk about overkill! I suppose the ionic contraception isn't completely reliable, hence the necessity of putting chemicals in the drinking water.
Criswell went on to say that the government would allow certain persons to take a pill that would reverse the effects of the twin environmental contraceptives.

One would think that he'd point out a Supreme Court decision paving the way for something like this, since Criswell was careful to emphasize that point respecting increased sexual license.

Largest tax increase in U.S. history?

That seems to be the company line from GOP politicians and blogs alike.

Sounds like a claim reliant on fine print, to me.

First, the descriptions I've heard seem to attach the label to the mere sunset of the Bush tax cuts. Is that a minor point? I suppose it could depend on your perspective. I'm frankly conservative, but I think it's worth noting, at least, that the tax increase is a passive act of the Democrat leadership.

A mistake, in all probability? I think so; we'll see.

The problem I have with the claim is that it seems to play a game with numbers. The sheer size of the tax increase in terms of dollars we can expect to be the most ever. On the other hand, the tax increase in terms of percentages is almost certainly far lower than that. It's misleading political rhetoric. On the one hand, I kind of hope it works, since the Democrats will foul up the economy. On the other hand the use of misleading political rhetoric leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Even if I'm not the one using it.

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A Criswell footnote

I was curious as to whether I am the first to chronicle Criswell's results from "Criswell Predicts," so I googled a key phrase from the amazing one's first prediction.
As a matter of fact, Stephen Thompson wrote a feature article on Criswell, touching on quite a few of the, er, high points of Criswell's book. A number of other folks have made comments about Criswell's predictions, also, but not to the extent that Thompson did.

So, I'm not the first. On the other hand, it seems like Criswell made plenty of predictions that haven't received the benefit of later commentary.
Plus I allow readers to view the incredibly snazzy book cover.