|
Gifts for all occasions in the Galleria! Subscribe to the "What is the Deal?" mailing list. January 4, 2004 What is the Deal with Predicting 2004? By Jan A. Larson Now is the time of year when pundits and prognosticators start making their predictions for the next 365 (actually 366) days. There is no reason for me not to do the same. After a three-year bear market, shareholders enjoyed a banner year in 2003. This will continue in the next 12 months as the economy continues to gain momentum. Unemployment will continue to fall and while currently low interest rates increase slightly, they will remain at historically low levels. The difficulty in Iraq will continue as that nation struggles with a transition to democracy. The opposition to the war in the United States will continue to be vocal and the opposition in Iraq will continue to be violent. The situation for the US in Iraq will remain "messy" and will be the number one issue in the Presidential campaign. The transition of sovereignty in Iraq, currently scheduled for June, will not occur as planned or hoped by the administration. There will be much infighting with regard to the drafting of a constitution and it seems unlikely that six months will be enough time for a transition to occur. Osama bin Laden will remain at large as 2004 comes to a close. In the world of entertainment, Hollywood will put out some more disappointing blockbusters and television will degenerate even further with more inane reality shows and titillating sitcoms. None of which I will watch. Scott Peterson will walk. Kobe Bryant will walk. Michael Jackson will (moon) walk. Martha Stewart goes to the big house. The NFL will crown a new champion and as is pretty much the case now, virtually every game will be a toss up. The Los Angeles, favored to win the NBA championship, will not. Instead the Sacramento Kings will reign. The New York Yankees will, once again, be in the major league playoffs, but will not win the World Series. Neither the Boston Red Sox (1918) nor the Chicago Cubs (1908) will break their long World Series droughts in 2004. The weather will be bad in some places and good in others, but we will only hear about the bad weather. Obesity will continue to be a topic of conversation around the nation's dinner tables. Young people will continue to dress strangely and adorn their faces and bodies in bizarre fashion, horrifying their parents, but providing a small modicum of amusement for the rest of us. Boorish and inconsiderate people will continue to drive erratically while carrying on meaningless cell phone conversations thereby endangering themselves, their passengers and drivers around them. Current Democrat front runner Howard Dean will not maintain his early momentum, especially after his act wears thin with mainstream Democrats in some of the later primaries. Gen. Wesley Clark will win the Democratic Presidential nomination and will oppose President Bush in November. Hanging chads and butterfly ballots will be a thing of the past and George W. Bush will have no need to turn off the electricity or water in the White House until January 20, 2009 as he wins reelection by a substantial margin. You read it here first. -- Send feedback to the author. The "What is the Deal?" column will appears weekly on the Pie of Knowledge website. Guest submissions are welcome and encouraged. To submit an article to "What is the Deal?" click here. To subscribe to the "What is the Deal?" mailing list and receive early notification when a new column is available, click here. The Pie of Knowledge will never, ever divulge email addresses to any third party for any reason unless so ordered by a court of law. Contributions to the Pie of Knowledge are greatly appreciated. 
Visitors:
|
|||||||||||||
