Fancifulfloyd's Bold Predictions.
(Not prophecies; only guesses based on trends, history and experience.)


The next 25 years: 2010-2035


Marijuana


Legal in California by or before 2015

Legal in other states (a few holdouts; Idaho, Utah, etc.) by or before 2020

Taxed like cigarettes creating a black market run by drug lords (dl)

In the meantime, violence escalates along the U.S.-Mex. border. U.S. border guards and ranchers and other citizens killed/kidnapped by dl, forcing our president to finally take military action. Bush is blamed. (Only kidding)
Drug gangs unite; they assassinate Mexican president in plan to take over Mexico.

Drug use will continue in the U.S. Stupidity cannot be wiped out. Besides, too many powerful and not so powerful people have financial interests in the continued flow of drugs.


TV and Movies

No limit on obscene language and full frontal nudity on TV (10 p.m. and later) and on R-rated movies to occur before 2025. Explicit sex acts will be allowed to be portrayed by 2035 on "premium" channels.
If you are thinking it could never happen you may not have noticed how those responsible for tv shows are constantly pushing back the borders of decency. If you're over 70 just think back to when toilet paper was advertised as 'bathroom tissue" because the word "toilet" was not allowed on tv. Jack Paar, host of the "Tonight Show" quit the show temporarily because he was not allowed to use the word "commode" in a skit. Young people, used to the coarse language of today, would not believe these restrictions ever existed. More recently, comedian George Carlin made a list of obscene words that he said could not be used on tv. He didn't live to see he was mistaken.
When I was a youngster I went to see "Gone With the Wind" when it first came to our little town. I can still remember the collective horrified gasp that came from the audience when Clark Gable said, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Damn was not to be said in public.


Medical


30 million (or the real number) people who will receive med insurance under Obamacare will get care equal to Medicaid. There are not enough MD's now, nor will there be, to provide a higher level of care. There will be a dramatic increase in the number of Nurse Practioners (NP) in a ratio of at least 3 NPs for each physician. Patients will be seen by NPs; physicians will limit themselves to the more acute cases. Only very sick or injured patients will be allowed hospitalization. Cuts in Medicare, increases in premiums, will be made to help finance Obamacare, so Medicare patients will fare only slightly better. Patients will pay full cost of elective surgery.

More predictions next week.
* * * * * * ** * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * *
A recently ordained minister was scheduled to perform his first wedding. He consulted an older minister for advice. After going over the mechanics the older minister offered a word of warning. "Sometimes it happens that even the most seasoned minister will suddenly go completely blank during the service and forget what goes next. It helps to say a passage of scripture to get your mind get back on track."
Sure enough, it happened. While trying to reassemble his thoughts, the young minister spoke the first scripture passage that came to him, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."
I don't know about others, but those words applied to me at my first wedding. I didn't know what I was doing. Still in the Navy, pitifully small savings, 20 years old, etc. My plans were to go to college and become an architect when I left the Navy. I had never even met an architect and had no realistic idea about what an architect did. Talk about clueless. I liked to draw so I felt that was all I needed to know. (After we know it all, what we learn becomes our real education.) Nothing prepared me for the reality of architectural practice: dealing with clients, budgets, contractors, deadlines, building committees, codes and government regulations, etc.
There are other areas of life where we comfortably believe we know what we need to know. I recently listened as a friend gave her testimony as part of the Sunday school lesson she was teaching. She had been raised in a Christian home, faithfully attended ss, church services and youth activities. When she became an adult she felt, she said, that she knew what it meant to be a Christian and was comfortable with her beliefs.
But then, still quoting her, she and her husband attended a Life in the Spirit seminar in our home and met the real Jesus. She gave me credit but I can't change anyone. I credit it completely to the work of the Holy Spirit who caused the spiritual life of she and her husband to change.
The reach of the Spirit is not limited. He can work anyplace to deliver an epiphany to us. Church, Sunday school, living room, at the kitchen sink (as happened to a friend of mine,) at a bar, while driving, reading, walking, etc.
God knows I don't mean to challenge anyone's Christianity. If you've confessed Christ as your savior and believe it in your heart, you are, according to scripture, a Christian. What ever is the state of your relationship with God is your business. I'm saying some people bop along thinking they have this Christian thing nailed and then, because they are prompted by the Spirit to know more of Jesus, their spiritual eyes are opened. There is always more of Jesus for us to know. All we need is the desire.
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4