Last Call (Of The Year)

And we go over the fiscal cliff tonight because Republicans, who spent all of 2012 calling Barack Obama a Kenyan anti-colonialist blackity black black shiftless lazy welfare pimp daddy black person, have hurt feelings.

Republicans refused to have a vote in the House tonight.  Not Democrats.  Republicans.

That is all.

See you next year.

Zandar's 2013 Predictions

Can I do any better than 5.5 out of 10?  We'll give it a shot.  What's ahead for 2013?  Here's what I think, and I'm just some guy.

1)  The upcoming debt ceiling fight will cost America another credit notch from one of the big three agencies.  This seems like a pretty safe bet as the Republicans are already demanding Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid cuts or they'll wreck the economy as a result.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

So into the Future files you go then.  We'll see where we are this time in 2013.

Zandar's 2012 Scorecard

The tradition continues as I score my predictions for the year from last Dec. 31.

Seems I was right about 5 of 10 at least:

1. President Obama was reelected, quite handily.
2. The GOP kept at least one chamber of Congress (House)
3. 2012 broke box office records.
4. Sarah Palin was not the GOP veep choice.
5. ZVTS is still here.

Partial credit on:

1. The Eurozone nations didn't blow up into crisis mode, but they are in recession thanks to austerity as I did predict.

I was wrong about:

1. We got extremely close to a GOP candidate breaking the N-word Event Horizon, but no winner.
2. The GOP didn't shut down the government in 2012.
3. Syria's al-Assad is still in power, albeit barely.
4. No military incident on the Iran-Iraq border.  I was very surprised at this one, but glad to be wrong here.

So, 5.5 out of 10 is actually my best score so far out of doing these.   I'll have my predictions for 2013 later today.

StupidiNews!

• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has suffered "new complications" related to his treatment for cancer, according to officials, and is in "delicate health" at this hour.
• Mexico City has launched a recycling-for-food program to help reduce the 12,000 tons of trash the city produces daily.
• Even if the fiscal cliff is averted, economists believe 2013 will be another mediocre year for the economy.
• End of year Census estimates give more evidence that the US is on pace for its lowest population growth rate since the Great Depression.
• Microsoft is warning that Internet Explorer 8 and earlier are vulnerable to remote hacking exploits, and that users need to upgrade to IE 9.