2013 will go down in history as the year of global insanity. The Earth isn't going crazy, but many of the people who inhabit it certainly are. Madness is about to be unleashed on many fronts: economic, social, political, financial and more. In the near future, you will look back on the Christmas of 2012 and think, "Wow, those were the GOOD times!"

Do not read this article if you wish to continue frolicking in the land of TV delusions, fake news and celebrity gossip. These are the darkest real-world predictions I've ever published, and they are not things I ever wish to see come true. But I can't deny the reality of where things are headed. If we project present-day trends into 2013, 2014 and 2015, the picture becomes a multi-front nightmare.

1. The global debt collapse arrives
2. Obama administration attempts to gut the Second Amendment
3. Martial Law declared across America
4. Extreme shortages of guns, ammo, magazines as their barter value skyrockets
5. Tactical weapon strikes target Iran
6. Massive false flag attack carried out in USA and blamed on patriots
7. DHS arms the TSA and begins insane abuses of Americans on roadway checkpoints
8. The rise of the Resistance: Secret resistance groups begin to form across America
9. Attacks on the First Amendment accelerate as government seizes websites
10. The rise of violent rhetoric among the population as disagreements turn to threats
11. Global government makes its move.
12. Accelerated mainstream media attacks on patriots, preppers and veterans
13. Disagreement with the government characterized a "mental disorder"
14. Continued rise in unemployment, food stamps, welfare as Obama accelerates deliberate destruction of U.S. economy.
15. Criminalization of preparedness activities as government outlaws ammo storage of private citizens.
16. Riots in the streets, followed by Martial Law
17. Deliberate food shortages used as a weapon of government control
18. Weather becomes even more radicalized, with droughts, floods, freezes
19. Solar weather gets nasty: Solar flares threaten communications
20. You will be told the answer to all our problems is "MORE government!"

That's the future that lays ahead for America if something doesn't change.

"The House has confirmed that clergy in civil partnerships, and living in accordance with the teaching of the Church on human sexuality, can be considered as candidates for the episcopate. There had been a moratorium on such candidates for the past year and a half while the working party completed its task," the Right Rev. Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, said in a statement on Jan. 4 on behalf of the House of Bishops of the Church of England.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard toured fire-ravaged Tasmanian townships and promised emergency aid for survivors, who told of a "fireball" that engulfed communities across the thinly-populated state on Friday and Saturday.

"The trees just exploded," local man Ashley Zanol told Australian radio, recounting a wall of flames that surrounded his truck as he carted water to assist fire crews in the hard-hit township of Murdunna, largely leveled in the inferno.

A new project being launched at Disney parks called MyMagic+ would eliminate the need for any of these loose articles. It's not an all-inclusive fee system though, but a bracelet that does everything from unlocking your hotel room door to facilitating mouse ear purchases to telling Princess Jasmine your little one's first name before they're formally introduced.

The bracelets will use RFID (radio-frequency identification) chips and would function as a room key, park ticket, FastPass access, PhotoPass card and optional payment system in the parks. Although not mentioned as a function of the MyMagic+ bands, the technology could allow for physical location tracking within a set area as well.

BiometricUpdate.com editors are extremely optimistic that the biometric industry is posed for incredible growth in 2013. The Biometrics Research Group estimates that total global industry revenue in 2013 will reach US$9.3 billion.

The U.S. government also continues to spend a large proportion of its respective defense, homeland security and law enforcement budgets on biometric applications.

Such spending, which includes the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) allocating US$1 billion to upgrade its existing criminal databases, will bolster predictable revenue sources for biometric product and service vendors

In the nation's biggest annual religious gathering, barefoot men and women crammed into Manila's streets hoping to touch the life-sized, black icon as it was paraded through the city's historic area.

In August 2012, the church approved the ceremonial use of a rite adapted from an existing blessing ceremony to acknowledge same-sex marriage. The Episcopal Church will be among the first to recognize marriage for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples.

In the Syrian city of Busra, a video shows a man gathering snow in a bucket to save as drinking water. "We don't have water, we don't have heat," the man says. "We will try to make the snow into water because they cut off the water long ago."