I expect that the year 2010 will witness a full transformation of Benjamin Netanyahu's personality, who after having been a criminal fraud, will become a fraudulent criminal. I had heard a lot about Nostradamus and his predictions, to the extent that I almost believed what I heard. Then I read his book and was shocked, because what was written was mostly very symbolic and vague, and each prophecy can be both interpreted to be either about a rooster in a dump or a minister in a cabinet, or even about a chicken coop or a government. Nostradamus was succeeded by many astrologists in all countries, and perhaps the name astrologer, derived from “astron” meaning constellation or a star, also means that these individuals live in space or come from outer space so we can believe the nonsense that we read. At any rate, I will go past the gentlemen astrologists, and will content myself with our countries. I read that the Tunisian astrologist, who once predicted the death of Princess Diana in a traffic collision and the death of Abu Ammar after her, predicts that in 2010, George W. Bush will be tried and Osama bin Laden will be proven to have died in 2006, while the CIA had been releasing statements in his name all along. I believe that neither this nor that will happen. While George W. Bush is indeed a war criminal, convicting him will be an indictment against the entire system that spawned him, and there are 12 upcoming months that will show, which of his predictions were the most accurate. To be on the safe side, however, a poor journalist should not challenge a famous astrologist, and I continue thus with the Lebanese numerologist Mohammed Fneish. I read, among his predictions for the New Year, that Syria will witness economic and social recovery, while Saudi Arabia will suffer ruin and calamities. It seems that Mr. Fneish is predicting his own wishes. While I personally wish that Syria indeed witnesses prosperity and success at all levels, I find the predictions related to Saudi Arabia to be wishful thinking, and the calculations and equations on which these predictions were based– as the astrologist claims – to be myths that are likely to be Iranian. Meanwhile, Michel Hayek remains the most famous astrologer in Lebanon, and has many predictions which materialized, and which covered up a thousand other predictions that did not materialize, as is the case with all astrologists in all countries. This time, I read some of Michel Hayek's predictions for the year 2010 in the fields of politics and in what regards the economy. Some of these were specific while others were “Nostradamian” in nature. While many of these predictions centred on Lebanon, I will content myself with two specific ones; the first is about a coup plot in Syria and the arrest of its masterminds, while the second is about the discovery of a substance that is as important as oil itself. I want to say here that there will be no coup attempt in Syria, and that no substance equivalent to oil will be discovered. The 12 months ahead of us will judge between the poor journalist and the famous astrologer. I can predict that “the sky will rain flour and the ground will gush out with gasoline”, like Omar al-Zaani one day predicted on behalf of a candidate in the elections in Lebanon. However, I will not do so, because the sky and the ground will produce no such wonders, and the person who really predicted that was hoping that the people would forget what he predicted, not because he expected it to actually happen. If I were an astrologer, I would have been able to give my predictions, expectations and speculations for the New Year, which are all substantial. For example, I predict that: The global financial crisis will endure; That one percent of Arabs will keep their wealth, while 99 percent will remain poor; That al-Qaeda will carry out more terrorist attacks, that Arabs and Muslims will continue being in further denial, and that the occupation will endure; That Iran will continue its nuclear program, while proclaiming it to be for peaceful purposes, and that Israel will insist that it is a military program, while there is no conclusive evidence to either claims; That Arabs will continue to sell more oil than they need, and to buy unneeded weapons that will not be used against an enemy; That strife will continue among the Palestinians, while I personally find it likely that this strife will be exacerbated both in depth and in breadth; That Israel will continue its policy of murder, destruction and targeting women and children, while the Arabs continue complaining to God; That settlements will be expanded, while Israel continues to deny the fact that any settlement is taking place, and that what is left of Jerusalem will be lost. In other words, I predict that Arab failure will increase many folds in the new year. Indeed, how would it not when failure has been a second nature of Arabs for years, decades, centuries and even millennia. At any rate, I will leave Arab despair to its other champions, and I advise the reader not to leave the walls of his home, where he can easily predict that his wife will not shut up in the new year, since she never did in any previous years; for this reason, he carries in his pocket pictures of his children and a record of his wife. [email protected]
