Monday, December 30, 2013

Zandar's 2013 Prediction Scorecard

With 2013 almost over, it's time to revisit my predictions for 2013 and get my picks for 2014 in order, and well...my score wasn't too good.  Not good at all:
1) The upcoming debt ceiling fight will cost America another credit notch from one of the big three agencies. 
Nope, this didn't happen. Thankfully. It may still happen in 2014, but I was pleasantly surprised here.
2) Bashar al-Assad won't be Syria's President by Dec 31, 2013. This also seems like a pretty safe bet, as the end of 2012 sees him barely holding on as leader.
Not only is he sill in charge of Syria, but with Russia's tacit and in some cases overt support, Assad and the Syrian civil war will last for years.
3) President Obama will have to make a recess appointment for a Cabinet position. That's unprecedented as far as I know. But that's really the next step in Total Republican Opposition, isn't it?
Wrong again, but only because Harry Reid finally changed the rules on presidential appointments in the Senate.  And thank God he did that.
4) Chris Christie will be re-elected as Governor of New Jersey with Cory Booker holding out for Senate...but don't be surprised if Christie doesn't finish his term.
Nailed this one.

5) As more Obamacare benefits kick in, it will gain majority approval by Americans. I honestly believe this will get better as more benefits come due.

The jury's still out on this one. Some argue that the program will never have a majority approval, some argue it will, but it will take years, and some predict it will be repealed completely by scared Democrats in 2014 or 2016. But as far as 2013 went, no, the program doesn't have majority approval. Yet.

6) Republicans will muster enough votes to split the electoral vote by Congressional district in at least one state that went for Obama in 2012. Ohio would be the biggest prize.

I thought this would happen, then Republicans realized how hard this would be, and that it would bite them in the ass later on.

7) The Leap Motion controller turns into one of the big tech successes of 2013. I'm feeling pretty good about this one, enough to put my money on one.

Nope.  The Leap Motion faded into one of yet another also-rans of 2013, but it was overshadowed by much larger tech failures:  Blackberry's near-death disintegration, Target's massive credit care breach, the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch phone, and yes, the first month of healthcare.gov.

8) Kim Kardashian's baby with Kanye West will be the story we're all sick of by the end of the year. I'm already sick of it.

Maybe.  Lord knows I'm still sick of hearing about North West, but it was Kanye's videos that really made me want to pull my hair out.

9) Lincoln takes home the most Oscars. Tall order, I know. But I just see this being the big Oscar flick in 2013's awards.

Nope.  Lincoln lost to Life of Pi and Argo for most Oscars.

10) ZVTS makes it to the end of another year. I still plan to be around, and Bon is concentrating on her writing these days, but you'll see more of us. Still plenty of Stupid to fight.

Yeah, still here, technically.

So, final score, 2 yes, 2 maybe, 6 wrong.  I'll have my 2014 predictions up tomorrow.