Former Silicon Valley computer scientist William Stickevers is now a full-time astrologer specializing in archetypal, financial, and geopolitical astrology. In the first half, he shared his forecast for 2024, including AI developments, the presidential election, a rise in UFO disclosure, economic turmoil, and more. The Jupiter-Uranus alignment cycle will dominate in 2024 and by the spring of the new year, we'll see "rapid innovation, political upheaval, major breakthroughs, and significant changes in markets and business," he said. We'll see the convergence of AI and robots and quantum computing, which will prove disruptive to existing paradigms, and challenge people's job security, he continued. Though stocks are currently on a high, he believes the economy is precarious and in 2024, "we're going to see a replay of the too-big-to-fail happen" particularly with regional and small banks because they're all connected with corporate real estate.
The Millennial generation is really coming into their own and their votes will decide the next election results, Stickevers suggested. On the Democratic side, he foresees Biden getting the nomination in the primaries, but somewhere between April to May "something will occur where he will either be medically compromised, or there will be a decision where he'll make a statement that he's not going to accept the nomination," and then the DNC will struggle with whether to put forward Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom. Whoever wins in the states, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia will determine who will be the next president, he added. On the medical front, thanks to AI innovations, Stickevers predicted a leap forward with treating certain diseases and the ability to diagnosis conditions more accurately. During the second hour, he gave readings to callers.
---------------
Having gone through the tunnel and made it out the other side, Howard Riback is a gambling survivor who has seen it all. In the latter half, he detailed his recovery from compulsive gambling and how he now helps others overcome the addiction as a motivational speaker and counselor. While the majority of people can enjoy recreational gambling now and then via casinos, lotteries, or online betting, around 6-8% of them develop an out-of-control problem, he reported. Sometimes called the "silent addiction," the condition isn't always noticeable by others, but in Riback's case his family eventually staged an intervention.
During Riback's addiction, he couldn't pay back debts and was physically beaten by loan sharks. "The first thing that I do when I meet someone with a gambling illness is I show them a picture of me after I was beaten up and left for dead," he said. His bruises were so severe that he was unrecognizable, and he tells his clients, "this could happen to you if you let the world of gambling get out of hand." He explained that his strategy is similar to the smoking warning PSAs that show people with lung cancer and related ailments. While the addiction confronts men and women about equally, he has noticed that women seem more drawn to the machines like slots and low level betting, while men tend to congregate around larger stakes games like craps.
News segment guests: John M. Curtis, Charles Coppes