Okay, here goes another exercise in futility. Remember, history says you’re far more likely to be correct by taking the other side of these predictions.
1. This one is already posted elsewhere, but let’s make it official: A presidential contest between Dem nominee Barack Obama and GOP candidate Mike Huckabee ends in a landslide win for Obama (America’s second sorta black President) and Dem control of both congress and the White House.
2. The American economy will experience a recession in 2008.
3. Islamofascists will attempt to influence the US elections in favor of the Democrats.
4. A major disease will be conquered in 2008. My money is on diabetes, but it could just as easily be something else.
5. An amnesty for illegal aliens bill will be passed by congress and signed into law by President Bush. (The open borders bill has already been passed by congress and signed into law by President Bush).
6. Bonus: The Supreme Court will find that the Second Amendment protects an individual right, but won’t support that right as strongly as it does the First. Further, it’s a tossup whether they incorporate it. If they don’t, it will be an object lesson for those who think the Constitution actually protects the liberties of individual US citizens over the powers of a state government.
7. Bonus Two: The Patriots win the Super Bowl.
Okay, that’s enough. Please post your own predictions in the comments, and we’ll take a look at them next year.
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1)No Storm. The Storm Botnet will continue to seethe, but nothing will come of it.
2)Someone, I don’t know who, will produce a product or service that does what wikipedia claims to be, an authoritative info repository open to all.
repost from another thread.
1) Chargers will shock the NE Patriots in the AFC Championship, then choke on their ego in the Super Bowl, losing to the Washington Redskins.
2) Mitt Romney will win a close election victory in November of 08 over Obama. Bloomberg will serve as the new Nader, taking away the votes of all the Democrats who still cling to the historical racism of the party. Democrats that do so will be shocked into catatonic state when they discover that Bloomberg is Jewish.
3) An insurgent Tet will launch in July of ‘08, in an effort to influence the electorate, but it will be crushed by Iraqi forces intent on making sure the Americans get out as soon as possible. American forces will be pulled out of Baghdad and into their bases by November 08. Iran will sign pact with southern tribes to provide ‘military assistance’, setting the stage for Iranian takeover in ‘09.
4) China attacks Taiwanese military assets in an ‘accidental’ incident, refuses to apologize, and threatens any US naval ships that enter Taiwan Straits.
5) Russia retakes a -stan.
A major newspaper chain will be forced into liquidation by vulture capitalists (could also take the form of spinoff or fire sale of newspaper assets, in the case of companies like Gannett). Several major-market papers will be acquired by wealthy individuals, a return to Hearst-Pulitzer era journalism.
OK, I’m going to play this year. It’ll be humbling I’m sure, but what the heck…
First, I’ll start with Bill’s predictions:
1. I do not believe Hickabee will get the R nomination. I still believe Fred will catch on, but my belief is colored by desire. I suspect it will be Romney, with Fred as possible VP. On the D side, I have never believed Hillbilly was certain. However, the Hillbilly machine will find a way to smear Obama. Hillary with some military credentialed VP. The Hillbilly machine will then do everything in their power to create a conservative 3rd party candidate, the only way they can win is to split the conservative vote.
2. The American economy will experience a slowdown but no recession in 2008.
3. “Islamofascists will attempt to influence the US elections in favor of the Democrats.” Well, duh.
4. “A major disease will be conquered in 2008.” I would not bet against that or the possibility of it being diabetes.
5. I do not think “an amnesty for illegal aliens bill will be passed by congress and signed into law by President Bush.” But I do believe they will try.
My own thoughts (is it possible?):
1. Pakistan will become the major battlefield in the “war on terror”. Yes, those are scare quotes.
2. Iraq will slide out of the news, as the news will be perceived as too good to publish. There will be a troop reduction and reallocation to bases in country.
3. Nothing will be done about Iran or Saudi Arabia. Just words in the case of Iran and not even that in the case of SA.
4. There will be a successful terror attack in Europe, with none in the USA, at least not a major one.
5. A leading democrat will be implicated in a scandal that will in turn be ignored by the MSM. Well, duh again.
Really? Even if Huckabee is the candidate for the GOP, and is promising a unilateral withdrawal from Iraq as soon as he enters office?
Dan, if your SB prediction is correct, and I don’t know how I’m gong to be able fulfill this, I owe you a beer. Is your prediction colored by fanhood?
My prediction is the Jags will embarrass my beloved Steelers, then they will go on to give the Pats their only tough game on the way to their inevitable SB win against GB. Sports announcers everywhere will fight to the death for the chance to verbally fellate the two quarterbacks.
Okay — here are mine:
1. Dow will slide to an 11,500 number and then recover sharply as credit concerns ease and strong earnings, along with inflationary fed policy, a low dollar and falling oil prices drive it to the 16,000 level.
2. Hillary will lose to McCain.
3. We will withdraw from Iraq in stages, leaving behind a total mess, which is ultimately in our best interests.
4. Chavez will be assassinated or deposed by a military coup.
5. Pakistan will descend into total chaos, which is also ultimately in our best interests.
6. China’s economy will falter dramatically, but India will remain a very strong player in the global growth game.
7. Russia will reemerge as a totalitarian state, and confrontations with the West will grow more serious and more heated, especially when Russia begins supporting Iran more aggressively.
8. Africa will implode completely, and return to a 1980s level of oppression, misery, poverty and barabarism.
9. The “global warming” debate will become more nakedly
obvious as simply an economic contest over how severely undeveloped nations can hobble industrial powers.
10. New England will beat whichever NFC team manages to stumble into the SuperBowl. I would love to see the Giants somehow manage to surprise everyone and be the finalist.
Sigh. Time to dig through these duck entrails…
1. North Korea implodes, but no one realizes it for awhile. When it becomes apparent that it has imploded, there will be a mad scramble to keep the North and South separated until a gradual reunification can occur. Which will lead to…
2. China sending the PLA across the Yalu River to “stabilize” the situation in the North. They will have not thought this through. Everyone else will breathe a sigh of relief that China will be occupied with occupying North Korea for the foreseeable future.
3. Bolivia will descend into civil war, which will expand into a regional conflict pitting socialist/commie Bolivians, Venezuela and Argentina against Gas Baron Bolivians, Columbia, Peru and Chile.
Brazil will remain studiously neutral, while covertly funneling arms to anyone who’s fighting against Chavez.
The United States will be blamed for the whole mess, and will bear the brunt of the flow of refuges out of the region.
4. Russia will attempt to take back one of the ‘Stans. It will not end well for Russia. While the decrepit Russian Army gets mired in said ‘Stan, Chechnya will re-ignite.
5. Obama will be elected President. Bill Richardson will be his Vice President. The Republic will endure.
6. Between his election as President and inauguration day, some racist motherf*%ker will attempt to assassinate Obama. If successful, the event will accelerate a slide towards our second civil war.
7. Terrorists will strike successfully in the United States. I’m guessing it will involve school children.
8. With the exception of a large, heavily armed “advisory group,” US forces will complete a gradual “drawdown” in Iraq by October 31, 2008.
Afghanistan will simply be abandoned.
9. Islamists will take over in Pakistan. Having done so, they will find that the Pakistani nukes have been mysteriously “spiked.” This will save India the trouble of going to war with Pakistan. This will allow India to continue it’s ascendancy in south asia, effectively checking an economically squishy China.
Well, there we go. Let it be known that I pulled all this completely out of my ass.
Five Predictions for 2008
1.) Presidential election: Hillary will receive less than half the votes but be elected President. There will be a major increase in voter fraud complaints but it will not change the election outcome. The ‘Bread and Circuses’ cancer of our democracy will accelerate.
2.) Congress: The GOP will make up some ground but will still not have control of either house of Congress.
3.) Economy: The US economy will dip into recession. The Dow will bottom out between 10,000 and 11,000. By year end the economy, the stock market, and the value of the dollar will make healthy recoveries. But…
4.) Catastrophes: Late in the year, a nuclear device will be detonated in the harbor of a US city.
5.) The War: Increasing stability in Iraq and increasing problems elsewhere will lead to a major reduction in deployed troops.
Ouch. And with my luck, I can just guess which one.
Got any predictions as to what would be the response from us?
Oddly enough, it was Niels Bohr who said that, not Yogi Berra. As most predictions are wishful, or fearful, thinking, forthwith are a few of mine.
First, I think (hope, wish) that Fred will do better in Iowa tonight than anyone is currently predicting. And you won’t have to wait for next year to find out how wrong I am on that one! The flip side: The Huckster will fall far short of the MSM hopes and predictions for him. If this doesn’t happen I’m moving to.. Um, well I’ve already moved to Wyoming, can’t get much more removed from the lunacy of today’s politics short of Never Never Land. I really meant to do that.
Second, I suspect (fear, loath) that The Hillary will win the election. This won’t be all bad as it will put the Republicans in the position of being the loyal opposition, where they might, just might, actually work for the smaller, more responsible government they forgot about when handed the reins of power. I’ll make a longer term prediction that Hillary won’t finish two terms without resigning/being impeached in some financial scandal.
I’m with the Chef: al Queda will attempt another major strike in the US. They pretty much have to make some significant show of force to save face after getting the boots put to them in Iraq. Will they succeed? My Magic 8-ball says “Time Will Tell”. But they will try. They pretty much have to. I’m guessing Haverwilde is premature in his prediction, we won’t be nuked for at least another five years. Neither N. Korea nor Iran will have a functional nuke this year. Russia and China aren’t stone crazy enough to provide one, and I’m hopin’ we have a line on all the Paki nukes. Could be wrong on this one though and a squib would be a much needed bucket of cold water on the Polyannas among us.
We do indeed live in interesting times..
I shouldn’t think you need worry, under the theory that they won’t nuke their allies. On the other hand, no one has lost many bets betting on the essential idiocy of the Islamonutjobs. Run for it, Bill!
The “Well, duh.” wasn’t intended to be condescending. I was actually agreeing with you in a lighthearted way. And if the huckster is the nominee, and makes withdrawal a certainty, I still think the Islamofascists would like to see more dems elected, the better to ensure the promised withdrawal.
Ha, that’s a good one Swen.
1. S&P at mid 1400 at the end of 2008.
2) No recession overall, with possible exception of the financial part of the economy.
3) Fred Thompson elected.
4) Zero chance of diabetes being
conquered any time soon, much less in 2008: it’s a very complex problem.
Actually San Francisco would not be my guess. The three biggest containerized cargo ports are L.A., Long Beach, and New York/New Jersey, I would predict it would be one of those three. But more specifically if the shipment came from Asia, than L.A would be the preferred port, and if it came from Europe or Africa then New York.
I expect the nuke would be an older Soviet one that was transferred to private hands years ago.
What would the US do? I would predict a lot of dithering, muscle flexing, and then more reduction of American civil liberties.
Really? After the nuking of a major American city? I agree about your choice of ports, but these guys are nuts. Expecting logic might be expecting too much. Also, they might go after whatever they figure they can get.
WB-7, the Bussard Fusion experiment will be successful and Congress will pour money into it with the prospect of a working reactor in 5 years or less.
Some things will happen. Other things won’t. A stitch in time’ll save nine. Five’ll get ya ten. Suddenly, in a dark and stormy night, a shot will ring out, as furtive glances and wayward chances rule the day. The housing market will begin the long road to recovery.
O.k., as Pacino says in the final scene, “Here goes nothin’…”
1.) Out of desperation at their rotten-ass economic situation, a rogue group of NorK troops will engage in a short series of raids on SouK territory, thus provoking serious armed retaliation from the South, probably by air. Open conflict will be the result, with both sides being unable to inflict deep-seated damage due to ineptitude. China will attempt, in a cross-the-Yalu move, to “re-stabilize” the NorK government and halt the conflict, with only marginal success. The Taiwanese, figuring that they definitely have a dog in the fight, will aid and abet the SouK, from behind the scenes, with both arms and intelligence.
2.) Increasing pressures along the U.S. border with Mexico will result in short bursts of open, armed conflict, first between U.S. residents along/near the border and illegals of various sorts (led by coyotes and drug-runners and Salva Meretrucha hard-noses), and then between the Mexican military and the U.S. Border Patrol, probably bolstered by U.S. National Guard units. A contingent of Delta Force troops will mostly bring a fragile close to open combat, but will be unable to fully suppress cross-border sniper fire at various locations, eventually from both sides.
3.) After a hard-fought series of primaries, Huckabee will be anointed by the GOP leadership as their candidate for POTUS. He will offer the V.P. slot to Fred Thompson, who will have finished a close second in at least two of the contests and who will promptly tell The Huckleberry to stick it where the sun don’t shine; then, Huck will settle for Giuliani, figuring half a RINO is better than a whole genuine conservative anyway. Adding Rudy to the ticket will cost Hucklebuck a fair portion of the fundamentalist-Christian support that carried his early game, but by then he won’t care - with the Party’s wind in his sails, he’ll figure he doesn’t have to pander to the born-again anymore, and tell them they need to get with the program.
4.) Obama and The HillBilly will form a secret alliance, with whoever wins the most primaries to be the candidate for POTUS and the other to be the V.P. side of the ticket. They will then conspire to a.) prevent Bloomberg or any other Donk-in-Independent’s-clothing from running and b.) do everything possible to get Ron Paul to run as a conservative Independent, in order to safely split the ‘Publican vote in the general election. Neither effort will be successful, and the unholy secret alliance will be outed by the ‘Publicans’ strategists only a week or so before the November ballot, leading to a victory by Huckabee. The MSM will do everything possible to “prove” that the report of the secret alliance is a lie, devised by the V.R.W.C. (probably led by Karl Rove!), and that only massive voting fraud has allowed the GOP to “steal” yet another election.
5.) A spotty sort of recession will begin in the U.S. in late summer, mostly in Florida and California with patches in northern Illinois, southern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and New York/NewJersey/Pennsylvania and southern New England. It will begin to produce depression or near-depression effects on employment and small business for some of the larger cities, including Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and San Diego, into the fall and winter and extending well into 2009. Congress and the Bush Administration will attempt a variety of tactics to overcome this recession/depression, with little or no actual success, despite claims otherwise. MSM talking-heads will speak of a “housing-crisis malaise”, and will moan endlessly that the Government Must Do Something!! (without actually being able to specify just what should be done, of course)
6.) Finally completely fed up with the Syrians’ diddling around in too many things that keep resulting in dead or maimed Israelis, the IDF, after due warning, will convert a substantial portion of countryside at the edge of Damascus (occupied by various “peaceful” clusters of buildings being used to manufacture rockets, dynamite vests and other highly-favored instruments of terror and death) into a glassy-lined pit surmounted by a mushroom cloud - and then issue two warnings: a.) Don’t get too close to the spot, unless you want to glow in the dark, and b.) Any more support from Syrian sources for attacks on Israel, and the next one gets targeted you-know-where. The U(seless).N(atterers). will have lots of “emergency” meetings, do huge amounts of squawking and screeching and diplomatic flapping-around, pass several nastily-worded resolutions - and recess early for the end-of-the-year holidays.
I know, I know…Doom and gloom…So, sue me, already - as stated elsewhere, 2008 is highly likely to be an ugly year.
Oh, and, of course, it’s all going to be Bush’s Fault…
(Here’s hoping I’m absolutely wrong about just about all of this - well, aside from Fred’s telling Hucklebuck to stick it!…Oh, and the IDF thingy would be kinda cool, too.)
what the heck:
1. Ronald Reagan will repeatedly roll over in his grave as the RINO GOP candidate invokes his name repeatedly throughout the campaign. (unless it’s Fred but I’m worried - then he’ll smile).
2. Obama will utter during the presidential debates the immortal “I knew Ronald Reagan, well at least I read all the propaganda from the NYT and heard the sound bites from Dan Rather, but anyway, and you sir are no Ronnie Reagan.”
3. The market will go down, then up, then sideways before going down again, then up and quickly down, followed by down, down, down, up, down, up and finish exactly @ 13,300 on the Dow.
4. March will come in like a Lion, then hop around like a Kangaroo, before slithering through mid month like a snake, then growl back like a polar bear before finishing like a Hillarybeast.
5. The sun will rise in the east and set in the west all 366 days this year.
Bonus
6. Wadda ya want for nuttin’, RRRRRRUUUUUBBBER Biscuit.
1) Should Obama win the nomination a Republican will win the presidency as the party of Jefferson Davis makes it plain that they are still, very much, the party of Jim Crow.
2) The MSM, in their desperation to hide this fact, ends, once and for all, their claim to ‘journalistic impartiality’. The swift collapse of the MSM brings about a rise in citizen journalism that appears to insure that the great propaganda outfits never re-surface.
3) Something will happen in the War on Terror that will force decisive action by the US. That action will escalate the war immensely–and shorten it.
4) The economy will comtinue strangely–moving in ways that seem counter-intuitive. This is an indication of a change in paradigm and will only get worse before it gets better. On the plus side, the public ceases to expect that the president can easily affect the economy.
5) We will open ANWR
1. The New Jersey/New York Giants put a whuppin’ on the Tampa Bay Chokes in the playoffs.
2. Someone crosses the Clintons and wakes up dead.
3. A dim-a-crit gets elected to the White House..but not Clinton
4. The country led by dim-a-crits in the White House and Congress rolls over for the ragheads and offers them California
5. The ragheads refuse California..too many illegal aliens and they cannot afford to take care of them..decide they had rather have Iowa and New Hampshire
Dr O,
My SB is colored by fanhood for the Chargers, but also some recent history. The Bolts have finally decided to listen to their (jackass who keeps getting hired as a) coach, and are playing as a unit. Some good wins have gotten them on a roll that, if they win this weekend, I think can take them through Indy and New England.
The Redskins were supposed to be a top team, and ran into trouble early. The death of Taylor gave them a mission, and unlike the rest of the NFC, they really do seem to be playing out of their mind football, week in week out.
I think that the Jags hurt NE, but don’t walk out of Foxboro. But the bruising they inflict on the NE defensive and offensive lines will put a serious dent in NE for the AFC championship, where the Bolts will be playing for revenge from last year. Especially LT, who still harbors a grudge for the post game shenanigans.
But the Bolts are still young and foolish, and have a tendency to become ’superstars’ once the bright lights hit their eyes. They won’t be glorified in NE, because the Pats will suck up all the oxygen.
But they will go the SB as the ‘giant killers’ and wind up flat on their backs playing against a Redskins team that will still be playing for more than just their own glory.
Re: Bussard. Damn, M., I sure hope so.
1. New Orleans will be hit by another hurricane, not as big a Katrina but more directly. Fema’s response will not be noticibly improved from the last time.
2. Hillary-Clark ticket beats Romney-Thompson, about a 2.5% popular vote spread and around 100 electoral vote difference. The Democrats only pick up a few Senate seats, though, and actually lose a few in the House.
3. The 2008 Olympics will be a profound disaster for China, starting with a general unpreparedness and infrastructural deficit and ending with a terrorist attack, attempted uprising, or both.
4. Someone is arrested and charged for the Anthrax mailings from 2001.
5. The writer’s strike continues through the entirity of 2008, although Time-Warner breaks from the Alliance and makes a separate deal with the WGA for its networks and properties.
1) Politics - If Obama wins the Dem nomination, he will lose the election unless there is a 3rd party candidate ala Perot. The Dems will increase their hold on the Senate and the House.
2) Illegal immigration - The states will continue to lead the way in expelling II’s as the feds have publicly given up on the fence.
3) Economy - The market will hold mostly firm but continue in volatility as stock buyers attempt to massage a profit from stock movememnt. Oil will go to $125. Gold to near $1000. The government will step in to wave away all the home mortgage bankruptcies.
4) International - Iraq will continue without a central government. The war will go to a level about a 1/3 of what it is right now. Pakistan will be the new trouble spot; Mussharaf will probably have several assassination attempts. Hamas will defeat the PLO.
5) Science - 2008 will mark the year global warming will be exposed as a complete farce.
Good call!
Investing: Stock Quotes, Charts & Market News - MSN Money
So you expect the market to rise 30 points by the end of the year?
Ronald Reagan will not repeatedly roll over in his grave.
Huckabee, Obama will win in Iowa.
Politics - Obama/Edwards with moderate democrats barely taking both chambers of Congress. The Obama Derangement Syndrome will be laid at the feet of Republicans, as well as charges of racism. In fact it will be the democrats who are the problem.
Terrorism - With the democrats in control, the terrorists will mess themselves up with simultaneous attempts in Britain, Europe, Russia, the US and elsewhere. Some will succeed, some will not - and Obama will have the wit to listen to the generals. (NO Saudi Money connections that I am aware of)
Technology - Integrating Fabricators, here to fore used to make plastic parts for molds, will start to come to the fore to make metal parts, and composites custom ordered at a price that is attractive and competitive. The first age arresting medicines will be announced. Breakthroughs in both fission and fusion will cause the watermelons to go hysterical about nukes again.
Entertainment - With music abandoning DRM, the movies will get worse about it - and people will stop buying DVDs (I mean really - I am not about to replace 300+ DVDs with High Def - monthly subscription to NetFlix and Blockbuster is cheaper and faster). Online streaming movie subsciption services will start to take hold.
Sports - someone will win the Superbowl, someone will win the World Series, and someone will win the other playoffs and I will be more interesting in not working for the Swiss Nazis anymore.