Last year, on January 2, 2008 I posted my 318th entry titled “1st Annual Forecast – My Predictions for 2008”. Now I’m going to look back at it and see how close I was.
“Financial: A major US recession is coming due to the massive credit bubble bursting, an inability of the central banks to continue using credit to create a false sense of prosperity, and continued stagflation. Look for expanded government backed plans like the sub-prime mortgage rate freeze to combat the falling value of the dollar.”
While there was never a sub-prime mortgage rate freeze passed as legislation the rest of this prediction was, well, right on the money.
“Health: Health care costs will continue to rise during a long period of stagflation as health corporations attempt to increase profits or reduce profit loss for their shareholders.”
I guess that was pretty open ended. I don’t know that costs rose exponentially but I’m pretty certain they didn’t go down.
“Politics: My prediction is that the race will be tight. It will be a race between those who support Holy Wars against Muslims and legislating morality verses those who know that if we keep this up “Fascism will come to America wrapped in a flag carrying a cross”. – Sinclair Lewis”
Well it was close (up until the end at least) and after 8 years logic and common sense prevailed over failed fundamentalist ideology. Finally.
“Music: Look for me at any nearby shows performed by KT Tunstall or The National.”
Neither one of these acts came anywhere close to Raleigh. So sad.
“Technology: Microsoft will continue to take a beating for creating Vista and if the new 2008 Server is released it will not be embraced at any influential rate…
Look for more touch screen cell phones to flood the market in response to the iPhone rage…
Flat panel LCD and plasma TV’s will fall below $750 for a quality 42″ 1080p model…
Playstation 3’s will fall to a steady $299 this year and Wii’s will be more widely available as Nintendo increases production…
IBM Network Services Division contractors should be wary of the coming acquisition by AT&T. This could mean more layoffs in Research Triangle Park…”
These weren’t exactly predictions made on the level of Nostradamus but I nailed every freakin’ one of them… Boo-ya! Makes me a little more comfortable going into 2009 since I am suppose to be technology literate by trade.
..and legislating morality…
Sounds like that bugs you. Have you ever really thought through that critically? If government is to pass laws for the common good of the people, then “good” most be measured by some standard.
The standard determines what is good and right vs something bad and wrong. If that standard isn’t based on a set of morals, pray tell what is it based on?
“If that standard isn’t based on a set of morals, pray tell what is it based on?”
Any naturally instilled morals that don’t come from the pulpit are acceptable. It was my way way of trying not to beat up on hyper-religious Neocons as harshly as I would like to have. But now, I will…
You know what I’m talking about: Abortion, Gay rights, Stem Cell Research… and many, many more fascist, ideological agendas dictated primarily from the pulpits of the Conservative Christian Coalition, Evangelicals and Southern Baptist Convention. Ya, the Sarah Palin supporters who knew nothing about her except that she stood up and said “Gaawwd”.
Ya, the same Sarah Palin who established teenage pregnancy as a conservative Christian value. Oh, what? It’s not. Then Christian conservative support for abstinence went sideways on her daughter like it would many, many more teens if this were the only form of birth control available. I’ll let you choose which way she was wrong.
Laws should be based upon sound moral judgment. The extent into which laws reach into persons moral acumen must be measured and controlled. A vocal minorities idea of an immoral action just may be a humble majorities injustice. Be sure to watch this expose itself as the ban on stem cell research is lifted and the abortion issue is pushed so far back on the political agenda that we may not hear about it again for a decade or more.
The hyper-religious, conservative movement is not dead but scattered, confused and practically abandoned by the Republican party. Many conservative Republicans, or Regan Republicans, said publicly they felt like their party was hijacked by a fascist, Christian movement for the promotion of a multiple ideological agendas – and it blew up in their face. This movement had it’s eight years and failed. It failed miserably to the detriment of our internal national and external international relations. In fact, it failed so bad we may never see the Republican party return in it’s previous form again. Thank you George Bush and Dick Chaney.