Under the new NDAA indefinite detainment laws passed by Congress, Occupy Wall Street activists could be labeled as enemy combatants in 2012 and held without trial or consul. Members may be shuttled away indefinitely, sending shockwaves of actual terror through the movement.

The housing bubble burst after millions of people who couldn't afford homes were given loans to help them buy homes at deceivingly low interest rates. Ever ask yourself how students, strapped with enormous debt from outer-worldly tuition rates, will pay back their loans with such a bleak job economy? Peter Thiel, founder of Paypal and renowned venture capitalist, has even opened a fund to pay 20 students $100,000 each to "drop out" of college and work instead. Thiel predicts the education debt bubble will result in only the rich being able to afford college.

In December of 2011, led by former POW, John McCain, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It grants powers of indefinite detention to the federal government at the sacrifice of American freedom, despite there being no act of terror on our soil since 9/11. Coupled with the Patriot Act and unchecked police violence against peaceful protestors, it's clear that as America's grip on global dominance slips, Big Brother intends to bully American citizens into submission.

All indications point to a war or bombing in the former Persian kingdom in 2012. Meanwhile, with American troops on their way out of the region, Israel seems intent on pulling the U.S. into a war with Iran, publicly calling for America to green-light an attack to curtail the Iranian regime's alleged nuclear weapon development project. Middle Eastern hostilities wouldn't hurt President Obama either; wars get presidents elected (as long as we're winning.) Regardless of the casus belli, will America get involved in an armed conflict with Iran before the elections and will Obama 2012 hitch its campaign wagon to it?

One agribusiness company has developed a drought-safe corn crop to feed the African continent. This sounded all well and good until we learned that the dry run of the program failed in 2011 and thousands of farmers lost their entire year's corn crop. If all farmers were planting non-germinating seeds and that year's batch failed, we could see famine on a global level IN 2012. Agribusiness companies wouldn't care, however, because they would still be rich.

The EU, so proud of their collective power, is diminishing right before our eyes. As nation after nation teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, the entire euro experiment is threatened. First Iceland, Ireland, and Greece — now Italy, Spain and Portugal all seem ready to break under debt pressure. On top of that the UK, with its huge political and financial power, has abandoned the concessions led by Germany and France designed to retain order and stability within the EU. Some theorists claim Germany has engineered the collapse in order regain its continental supremacy, but that seems silly, especially considering Germany has lost a fortune investing in dysfunctional countries like Spain and Greece...

Other possible beneficiaries of the collapse of the EU are Goldman Sachs employees. The company's ex-execs are presidents of Greece and Italy, and Sachs executives ran major posts in the Greek banking system before the collapse and the current head of the EU's central bank is a former Sachs executive, as well. When all's said and done, Goldman Sachs could be virtually the only entity left standing when the EU collapses, ready and willing to pick up the very expensive pieces of the shattered economy.

While the U.S. continues the intractable conflict between creationism and evolution, our European counterparts peer into the formation of life itself — scientists operating at CERN are coming closer to confirming the existence of the Higgs Particle, which is theorized to explain why matter has formed. If the Higgs particle is located it will prove that matter formed from a particle, not from the touch of a heavenly finger. If it's proven it will be the biggest scientific finding into the nature of existence this century. Religious groups could seize this opportunity to further push fanaticism across America in response to "attacks" on "family values" and religion.

It's been 15 years since Dolly, England's most famous sheep, was cloned. Today, there are all sorts of ethical and legal barriers in place to ensure we don't clone a human. We're not saying that is has happened, but with the technology available and the rising tide of global threats to American hegemony, it is possible that the U.S. army is already experimenting with cloning a super-soldier incapable of fear or pain. And if we're not making them, they're probably already being made in China. Expect a brave new world in the year ahead.

The Economist predicts "emerging markets" will buy more than half the world's imports for the first time in history in 2012. At first glance this seems like a good thing — poorer countries are becoming richer and importing better goods for their citizens. The problem is that global commerce is not engineered by the countries themselves, but by large multinational corporations (MNCs).

They have become so powerful that the economics of profit now molds the political structure of the civilized world. MNCs partner with governments and international organizations to implant their products around the globe, often to the detriment of local economies in poor, overpopulated nations.

We know Big Brother watches our every online click. It should be no surprise, then that the government is trying to push the censorship envelop even further. In late December a bill reached Congress that allowed for the immediate shutdown of websites that offered pirated content. The bill, called SOPA, was heavily influenced by the movie and music industries that have been hard hit by the ease at which content can be pirated on the internet.

The problem is that the language of the bill is so vague that it provides many loopholes for future despotic control. Luckily, the bill was put on the backburner until more kinks could be worked out, but don't expect the debate to go away anytime soon.

There are some Cold War diehards who think we are still fighting the battles of the 1980s. The thing is, now that Vladimir Putin had regained the Russian presidency, the Iron Curtain may once again blanket Eastern Europe. The 2011 elections have set off a series of unbelievable protests — unbelievable because we cannot believe Putin, a former KGB agent, will let them happen much longer. Powerful men have much to gain on both sides of the Iron Curtain when Putin is restored to presidential power.

With the biggest games of the year approaching, the incentive to win at all costs is high. Couple this with a fragile formal economy which leads to the rise of black market activities such as betting, and you have a volatile mix for the 2012 summer games in London. Think it's not possible? China was alleged to have snuck underage gymnasts into the 2008 games, and they got away with it. 2012 could see even bigger scams.

Sorry, as much as some people love to believe the unbelievable, the world will not end on December 21, 2012, nor will you spontaneously reach spiritual awakening. There is no connection to the Book of Revelations and its doomsday scenario — it could just be that the Mayan culture's timekeeping system didn't extend beyond the impending planetary alignment because it was over a millennium in the future.

- Lebron James reveals his real age of 65

- British bankers unmask themselves as reptile aliens

- Italians experience a stable government

- Alex Jones spontaneously combusts from yelling

- Parents discover that McDonald's hamburgers aren't made with 100% beef, but cardboard, allowing the FDA to proclaim Micky D hamburgers are vegetarian.

- Hollywood makes more good movies than bad ones, and manages to usurp internet freedom in the process

- Henry Kissinger will pass away and a treasure trove of Third Reich memorabilia will be discovered in his closet, along with a large bag of skeletons.

- The Chinese women's gymnastics squad will fail the age test, and be revealed as eight-year-olds.

- Jesus is revealed to have been a man born in the middle east and most likely looked like a terrorist of today



Okay, while we're kidding about the above possibilities, the prior list will most likely come true in 2012…

Gallery by Hal Stanton.