Filling in for George, Rob Simone (email) welcomed trends analyst Gerald Celente for a conversation about what he foresees as the major trends for 2012. Here are several of them that he highlighted:

• Economic Martial Law-- Considering the current economic and geopolitical conditions, central banks and world governments already have plans in place to declare economic martial law, and "bank holidays" could be announced at any time, he warned.
• Battlefield America-- With the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act in December, the military can take US citizens away without charges. As such, America has been declared a battlefield, though the mainstream media has barely noticed, he commented.
• Invasion of the "Occtupy"-- The leaderless Occupy Wall St. movement has multiplied and grown into a "giant, formless creature with tentacles that reach around the globe." Celente sees this as a successful movement, and a megatrend of the new millennium.
• Alternative Energy 2012-- A new crop of exciting energy possibilities are on the horizon. "There's a rumor going out that Home Depot has bought the rights," to a cold fusion type device, as developed by Andrea Rossi in Italy, and that could be a real game changer that lifts up the economy, he said.

Other trends he talked about included "affordable sophistication," in which even during economic hardship people crave style and quality, and "Big Brother Internet," where the government may require Internet users to present the equivalent of a driver's license to navigate cyberspace. He also suggested that the conflict with Iran will heat up, possibly turning into a full-fledged war, now that the US has imposed sanctions on Iran, with no countries being able to buy oil from them.

Secret Facilities

First hour guest, author and researcher Nick Redfern talked about top secret facilities around the world such as Area 51, HAARP, and Australia's Pine Gap facility. Lesser known is a well-guarded installation located in Zhitkur, Volgogradskaya Oblast, that has been called Russia's Area 51. There've been rumors of back-engineering of alien craft, alien autopsies, and the development of alien viruses as bioweapons taking place there, he detailed. Redfern also discussed vaults and catacombs that are said to run underneath the Vatican, and contain massive amounts of gold, priceless paintings and religious artifacts.