FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The Amazing Kreskin has wowed live audiences for many years as he performed tremendous feats of what might best be described as mental telepathy. He has also appeared on CNN, Fox News, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and many other television programs, where his skills as a mentalist were showcased.

Kreskin recently chatted by phone with Gulf Coast Newspapers about his thoughts for the upcoming year. He sees us changing as a nation.

“My predictions are much more serious because we’re going through a different time in our culture,” he said. “One of the striking problems that’s going to increase is an unencumbered rudeness permeating our culture. We’re forgetting how to behave with another person because we’re becoming increasingly dysfunctional.”

Kreskin said more children will tend to misbehave in 2011, and will do so in larger settings such as restaurants, theaters and churches, eroding attendance at those venues and negatively impacting our already fragile economy.

“People (adults) are going to react differently in public with arguments and overreaction,” he added.

Divorce attorneys won’t be in as much demand in the new year though, but not because there will be fewer splits. Kreskin said couples will begin bundling legal services much like they do communication services, with both using the same attorney to save money.

“Lawyers will offer tremendous discounts, and ask couples to sit in sealed rooms (to discuss terms of the arrangement) for six to eight hours,” he said. “It is really uncanny how people without outside input settle differences. If a person conciously knows they have a time frame to acheive results, it’s amazing what they can do.”

Perhaps folks will learn to relax. Kreskin noted he believes more people than ever will move to homes along the water, and men will increasingly take up knitting and crocheting as a way to unwind. He added, “As society becomes more and more busy, with less and less time, people will be yearning for time away.”

But togetherness will become increasingly important as an aging population dies. He said wakes will again become more common as families turn to one another as they deal with grief.

Kreskin added, “People are going to look at what’s valuable to them, such as friends. People are going to reflect on friends.” Part of that newfound appreciation of friendship will be the rise of private parties where cell phones are left in the car or at home.

Kreskin expects an expansion of the drug trade because of the tight economy, where airline, bus and train employees take on second jobs as smugglers.

Reductions in school budgets might force kids to become more physically fit. Kreskin said, “With the cuts in education, a remarkable thing may take place. Children may start walking to school. It won’t kill them.”

Mental fitness might not be in the cards though. Although Kreskin believes we will see an increase in quality home-based instruction in the new year, public education might suffer. He said, “There’s going to be an increased (push) in our school system to remove the ‘D’ (grade) because it’s so close to an ‘E.’”He believes that’s the wrong action to take because, “We learn from our failures.”

Another institution will certainly have to lower its standards, if Kreskin is on target. He said the casino industry will suffer a decline in business in 2011.

He expects shoppers will carry more cash in the new year, and rely on it more than plastic. That will have the added benefit, Kreskin pointed out, of making it much easier to donate to the homeless. He also expects there will be more charity giving in the coming year, with an increasing number of those donors preferring to remain anonymous.

At least one person will be incredibly generous in 2011, if Kreskin is correct. He said, “I have this uncanny feeling that someone is going to win a quarter to a half-million dollars and turn it all over to charity.”

People will be looking for alternative ways to save some of that green. He said, “More safes will be bought because they are much safer than a mattress. There will also be a return to hand-me-down clothing as children grow up.”

Those kids will probably suffer from a lack of sufficient rest. Kreskin added, “I feel we will see increased reports of kids falling asleep in class because they’re not getting enough sleep. Parents will take the computer out of the kid’s room and move it into a common family room.” Kreskin said kids will even begin attending sessions on how to write an actual letter.

“The extent of (a child’s computer usage) is scary. There is pornography out there we couldn’t get, even if we had an older brother,” he said.

Kreskin forsees anincrease in the number of backyard chicken coops, as urban residents raise hens to lay eggs. He also sees an increase in “tiny” pigs being kept as household pets, not as food.

Kreskin addressed the ongoing discussion that a failure to use headsets while talking on cell phones is hazardous to brain tissue. He said, “It’s possible one of the owners of a company will admit it.”

Will President Obama win a second term?

“If Obama is not reelected in 2012, it will be because of one or two women,” Kreskin said. He didn’t elaborate, however, whether it might be because Michelle Obama will express a desire to return to private life, or Hillary Clinton suddenly deciding to mount her own run for the Democratic nomination and emerging victorious, or Sarah Palin garnering the Republican nomination and defeating him in the general election that November.

There will be an increase in the laying-on of hands in hospitals as part of the healing process, he said.

He turned to entertainment, saying, “In the next year or two — movie critics are mentioning this — the star factor in Hollywood will no longer be a draw.”

Kreskin, who often appears on a popular late-night NBC talk show, expects the host’s star to continue to rise, however. “A song is going to be written within the year for Jimmy Fallon. He has that spark.”

He went on to say, “Reality shows are going to start suggesting a model for behavior.” A Catholic priest will actually appear on a nationally televised talent show, the mentalist added.

The “stars” of one movie will be somewhat unusual, if Kreskin is correct. He expects a studio will remake the 1932 film classic, “Freaks,” a drama of sorts which featured circus sideshow performers in the primary roles. He said, “It will be a refreshing break from political correctness.”

For those keeping score regarding one hot-button political issue, Kreskin said it is unlikely construction will ever begin on a mosque planned for a site near Ground Zero in New York City. But a war fueled by religious beliefs will continue to rage.

“There’s not a single human being alive today that will see the end of the war,” he said. “The longest wars in history are religious wars.”

Kreskin took on highly paid athletes, saying, “They are going to have to wake up and realize the public is going to sour over the figures they are arguing over. They have a curse to live with. Around 60 to 70 percent of the players end up broke with broken families.”

Tiger Woods is expected to continue his fight to get out of the rough. According to Kreskin, “the problem of him making a full comeback is we are a forgiving culture, but golf is a slow-moving sport, giving the viewer more time to think about it. Woods could be hurt by the judgment thoughts surrounding him while he plays.” Kreskin noted he is not suggesting that’s why Woods’ game seems to be below par at present.

And, sorry me baseball maties. Much like a groundhog popping his head out of the dugout, Kreskin said there will be “two more years of disaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates.”