Verifiable Predictions for 2005

With 2005 arriving later tonight, the media have filled dead air and empty space with reviews of 2004. It is as pointless and tedious as it was last year, so looking ahead can’t be any worse. As with the predictions made last year, and unlike those of Nostradamus, the Oracle at Delphi, or the horoscopes in newspapers and magazines, these predictions can be verified thanks to their specificity. Humble pie will be served a year from now.

• President Bush will succeed in creating a partially privatized Social Security system;

• Field Marshall Donald von Rumsfeld will still be Secretary of Defense on December 31, 2005;

• Tony Blair will win the British General Election with a reduced majority;

• January 30 elections in Iraq will result in a Shi’ite government and continued violence;

• The American death toll in Iraq for 2005 will top 800 and troop levels will not fall;

• Cell phones will have at least one software virus outbreak that requires major repair work;

• The NHL will play ice hockey during the 2005-2006 season but the league will have serious financial trouble;

• A major airline currently not under bankruptcy protection will file under Chapter 11;

• The Washington Nationals Baseball team will finish last in their division (leading to a paraphrasing of the old saw “Washington – first in war, first in peace, last in the National League).

• Jamie Foxx will win the Best Actor Oscar, and deserve it;

• Usama bin Laden will still be a free man on December 31, 2005.