Prophecy, n. The art and practice of selling one's credibility for future delivery.
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary In a characteristically dire report, the Central Intelligence Agency has just warned of potential global upheavals "almost beyond comprehension." The cause of the chaos: climatic change that will trigger massive crop failures, drought and widespread famine (see ENVIRONMENT). In contrast to this augury of doom, Herman Kahn, ebullient director of the foresighted Hudson Institute, has just looked at the future and found it good. His new book, The Next 200 Years, offers a plausible...