pryderi's already declared it the Year of the Democrats. Any others?

1/1/2006 12:08:38 AM

2006: the year of the democrats! (if the democrats build a time machine, go back about a year and a half or two years, and tell themselves to have some fucking balls)

1/1/2006 12:15:33 AM

New pope.

1/1/2006 12:16:10 AM

06 is just gonna be bad.

Especially, politically.

1/1/2006 12:21:22 AM

Pat Robertson will say something retarded

1/1/2006 12:56:57 AM

Assuming the Democrats don't botch it (and a very big IF considering their current leadership), I'd say that this year is the year of the ass.

I'm also expecting a gradual reduction of American troop levels in Iraq.

1/1/2006 1:45:55 AM

I predict that the Chicago Cubs will NOT, I repeat, NOT win the World Series.

1/1/2006 8:13:45 AM

I know what SandSanta bet $100 on, that on July 31, 2006 [New York Harbor Gasoline Futures] will close at $2.7387 a gallon or higher. For everyones info, as of December 29 it closed at $1.71.

I predict SandSanta will default on his bets in 2006.

1/1/2006 10:38:30 AM

US provides logistical support for an Israeli air strike on facilities in Iran

1/1/2006 11:33:30 AM

I predict I will unsuspend Salisburyboy today.

I also predict he will claim I sexually tortured him while in TWW Suspension Prison.

1/1/2006 11:40:24 AM

The Republicans will botch it, but a spin/distraction will recover. The Democrats will continue to simply botch it.

1/1/2006 11:45:32 AM

I predict this will be the year of the dog, interestingly Hillary Clinton will continue to gain
the support of naive moderates...

1/1/2006 12:16:55 PM

Israel vs. Iran in ultimate showdown.

1/1/2006 12:25:13 PM

i will participate in bingeful amounts of drinkery

1/1/2006 1:58:42 PM

Iraq and Palestine will remain a bloody mess.
Muslim extremists will carry on their random attacks, targeting different countries each time, in vengenace for ^
Bush will launch more and more mini attacks in vengeance for ^

And so, nothing new, the world goes round, and the stupid extremist Muslims vs. pro-Zionist Westerners violence will continue.

[Edited on January 1, 2006 at 3:14 PM. Reason : ]

1/1/2006 3:11:38 PM

why will they want vengenace for my drinkery?

1/1/2006 3:30:50 PM

Has no one told you? You are a rediculously mean drunk. Last New Years you triggered a massive tsunami.

1/1/2006 4:10:28 PM

Israel will launch a partially successful attack on Iran that stops construction of a Nuclear Reactor site for a year and that temporarily disables another reactor. Some of their pilots will be captured and never heard from again, the rest will be rescued by a US Navy vessel in the Persian Gulf. Then it'll just get real nasty from there (more terrorist attacks in Israel, probably some pretty damn serious ones).

Other things will be more flux in the insurgent activity in Iraq, along with a greater willingness by the Iraqi people to take over in exchange for reduced US troop presence in Iraq. The government will be run by the majority parties, with the minority parties continuing to claim fraud and being one of the primary suspects for harboring the insurgency. The majority parties will also benefit the most from the change going on in Iraq this year, with their sectors likely receiving more reconstruction than the minority sectors, which will continue to see raids by US and Iraqi joint forces, with the emphasis being put more on Iraqi military and police units as time goes on. IEDs will continue to cause US troop casualties, and media and opposition groups will continue to treat the casualty figures as "milestones" and whatnot.

Political pundits will continue to be extreme in their views on everything, while the mainstream public will tend to be torn between one group of assholes and the other group of assholes. The administration will try to improve its image by compromising on certain issues, namely the ones that deal with civil rights (patriot act, NSA spying on US citizens, etc). Some improvements may be made as far as the deficits go, but overall we'll still be worried about them. Gas prices will continue to do their little dance, and when the trouble between Israel and Iran comes to a fevered pitch at the end of March, gas prices might spike over three dollars again, as fears of another middle eastern war cause more hysteria than is warranted.

More unrest will occur in Africa, as another terrible Human Rights situation comes into being.

And maybe some other stuff...

1/1/2006 5:27:56 PM

My predictions:

1) Gas prices will not get any cheaper.

2) At least 5 Republican Congressmen are going to get intimately tangled up in the Abramoff probe, most of whom I expect to be indicted. The speed of this matter will heavily affect the influence it can have on the outcome of the midterm elections.

3) Domestic political front: Bush's Gallup approval ratings don't break 46-47% in the best of situations all year. In other political news, the Democrats have an excellent chance still of picking up either the House or the Senate (my guess: the Senate) in this year's elections, maybe even both--especially if the following come true:

(a) Tom Delay is convicted or if the highly publicized preponderance of the evidence in the case is against him; or if he is still on trial by October

and/or

(b) the DNC can successfully make Randy Duke Cunningham's name, party, and crime remain in people's memory

and/or

(c) I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's trial is still going and getting good press (it should be on both counts) and the news remains bad for him; bonus points if Karl Rove's position is still murky--there's an outside chance he could still be in trouble by October, but I doubt it

and/or

(d) the Abramoff investigation breaks and indictments are handed down to more than 5 Republican Congressmen, especially, if no Democrats are named, but even if 1 but no more than 2 are, each of whom the Dems would have to completely and very publicly ostracize

and/or

(e) and this is a seriously outside chance, but necessary to include: the Justice Department finds that the President acted improperly or against the law regarding the NSA tapping scandal

4) Wal-Mart will continue to expand and thrive.

5) The US begins a quiet, measured withdrawl from Iraq. At least 50,000 troops home by next Christmas, at most 100,000. Iraq will continue to be a morally ambiguous situation hanging over everything regardless. I expect the table to be set for the Civil War by the end of 2006.

6) This is the year that people will finally be given some clarity about a few misunderstandings concerning John McCain's politics they have let pile up since the 2000 elections--namely, how conservative he really is. He's going to begin positioning himself for '08, and he's already begun sliding to the right, so it'll definitely be noticeable this year.

7) Hilary Clinton wins her election handily and continues her move to the middle, raising lots and lots of campaign money.

[more to come maybe]

1/1/2006 6:54:46 PM

The usual suspects will link/post more pointless articles that are longer than most books in the Bible.

1/1/2006 7:04:47 PM

people like wolfpack4life will still use books of the Bible for their political opinions rather than news articles

1/1/2006 7:09:24 PM

I will click on SB link less and less

1/1/2006 7:29:08 PM

AMA-Z will be caught/killed, as well as OBL.

Donald Trump will be elected Governor of New York State.

Republicans will pick up two more seats in the Senate.

Sam Alito will be confirmed as a result of the "Constitutional Option" by the Republicans responding to a Democrat (read Schumer-Reid-Feinstein) filibuster.

Donald Rumsfeld will step down as SOD and will be replaced by Senator Lieberman of Connecticut.

The economy will continue to grow.

1/1/2006 8:45:45 PM

In non-sequitur order:

* Taxes will go up in North Carolina. Common sense will go down. Democrats will run this state with an iron fist, as its citizens hopelessly continue to vote against their own interests.
* Republicans will absolutely steamroll through the federal mid-term elections, just because they can.
* Larry Ellison will acquire another CRM/ERP/middleware/XXX business or ten, thus solidifying Oracle into the giantest glop of shit ever to require $500/hour in consulting fees. He will then rule the world with a shadow government from his yacht.
* Homosexuals will continue to do what they want in their own bedrooms, and you will continue to not care about it as long as you don't know (because, of course, it's possible to care about something you don't know about).
* Arnold Schwarzenegger will be dumped out of office. Tom McClintock will explode when he learns once again that, yep, Californians don't like to elect conservative Republicans (gasp!).
* Gray Davis will return to the ballot, only this time he will be made of a mercury-like liquid that can shapeshift.
* The world will get Muslimer and Muslimer. Especially Europe. Ironically because of the same government-church-industrial complex that the religious right-wing enjoys in America.
* The EU will stop thinking about thinking about thinking about letting Turkey in, and finally start thinking about thinking about it.
* Raleigh still won't get a decent hotel, worthy of a city that fancies itself a technology center. Executives will continue to not like two-thread-count sheets with mysterious stains on them.
* John Kerry will continue to be both consistently liberal and an inveterate flip-flopper, at the same time (how you can be both, I don't know).
* George W. Bush will be less presidential and more residential -- of the White House, that is. He'll promise 72 new bold and exciting visions that we'll never hear about again (Mars, anyone?). Then he'll return to keeping the sheets warm in his bedroom.
* Social Security won't be privatized, because you can't privatize a government program that has "security from market forces" as its premise. As an abstinence-based education party, Republicans are by definition not into "fucking for virginity."
* Iraq will muddle along as usual. Nuff said.

1/2/2006 12:16:28 AM

this is more of a "2006 and beyond" prediction, but...

Condi Rice will finish out Bush's presidency

the next great campaign issue will be...protectionism, especially when china floods the market with cars in the coming years

the US will treat the rest of the Western Hemisphere like children and continue to not be able to get them to go along with the FTAA, a victory for the Bolivarian Socialists in South America and protectionists here in the states. the US will then pull a Nicaragua and try to destabilize most of the continent besides Brazil, whose rich/poor gap will continue to soar. with the destabilization, Chavez will go off like an alarm and draw American allies to question the actions, further alienating possible allies.

this one goes for me as well:

Quote :

"I will click on SB link less and less "

[Edited on January 2, 2006 at 12:25 AM. Reason : .]

1/2/2006 12:24:12 AM

I was kind of hoping that a new populism would emerge from all the assorted bullshit of the past months, but I don't think that will actually happen as long as people tie their votes to hating faggits or shit like that.

1/2/2006 12:56:42 AM

I thought populism was all about backwards ass idiots trying to protect traditional ways of life:




[Edited on January 2, 2006 at 1:23 AM. Reason : ]

1/2/2006 1:22:25 AM

shits gonna go down at the olympics...i have a bad feeling

1/2/2006 1:36:54 AM

1. Feminist groups will become outraged by at least 6,000 things during the year.

2. An unexpected retirement/death on the US Supreme Court gives Bush a third nomination, which will be Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero. Feminist groups become outraged.

3. Election of 2006 causes Republicans to pick up a net of 2 seats in the US Senate. Feminist groups become outraged.

4. Washington Redskins reach Super Bowl for the first time in a long time. Feminist groups become outraged and demand the immediate banning of all male sports in a proposal they call "Title 10".

5. Athens, GA political newcomer Chuck Jones announces he will not seek state Senate seat this year; instead builds law practice. Late in the year, becomes Magistrate Judge in Barrow County, Georgia. Feminist groups become outraged and picket Barrow County courthouse, with Judge Jones taking snapshots and waving and laughing at them.

6. House Speaker Dennis Hastert begins to make noise about a possible Presidential run. Feminist groups become outraged since the Speaker is a leading advocate of Title IX reform.

7. Connecticut Democrats run primary candidate against support-our-troops Democrat Joe Lieberman. Lieberman goes on to win primary, but faces strong GOP challenger with a fractured Dem base. Election in doubt. Feminist groups become outraged.

8. Justice Sam Alito is confirmed by a divided Senate, barely over the margin for filibuster. Afterward, Supreme Court indicates its willigness to uphold more restrictions on abortion - Court rehears the New Hampshire parental notification case Ayotte and upholds the law. Feminist groups become outraged and insist that the Supreme Court be abolished.

9. Osama Bin Laden gets caught by valiant American troops risking their lives to protect smarmy little Democratic assholes' right to say stupid shit about them. Democrats blast those troops as being "like Pol Pot or a Russian gulag". Feminist groups become outraged and demand that all male American soldiers be shot on sight.

10. Athens business newcomer Chuck Jones becomes Chairman and CEO of a bar that is wildly successful. Feminist groups become outraged but get sloshed there anyway.

1/2/2006 2:15:37 AM

^

Isn't it better to invent things that work for people and businesses than to worry about the wiles of feminist groups?

I'll never understand why young people enter politics as a profession. ::scratches head::

1/2/2006 3:19:42 AM

The terrorists will win.

1/2/2006 3:21:13 AM

^^ Fine -
11. People invent things that work for people and businesses. Feminist groups become outraged.

1/2/2006 1:17:55 PM

people will still have uninhibited sex and the religious right will still oppose further birth control. wolfpack2k will become outraged, but only at the sex, which doesnt really exist outside wedlock.

1/2/2006 2:00:13 PM

Rob Christensen shared a few of my of my predictions in column yesterday, but let's see what I can add on...

State Politics:
1. The NC Democratic Party will continue to control both chambers of the legislature.
2. Jim Black will escape indictment, but will look to Rand and Basnight to help calm concerns in the House about his
3. Basnight will look for more ways to maintain his strangehold on NC Politics.
4. Fearing backlash from her CAFTA vote and worried about continuing the tradition of losing former Charlotte mayors, Sue Myrick will announce that she will not run for governor in 2008 and will keep her cushy job in the House, instead.

Congress:
1. Robin Hayes will not be re-elected to represent the 8th District. He'll be replaced by Timothy Dunn, one of several military veterans running for Congress.
2. Democrats will win control of one chamber and reduce the margin in the other.
3. The Abramoff scandal will reach its height, taking down a handful of Republicans and one Democrat.

National Politics:
1. The DNC will endorse changes in the presidential primary calendar.
2. Another Democrat will announce that he'll challenge Blanco for Governor in Louisiana.
3. Schwarzenegger will lose his re-election bid in California.
4. The excitement over Mark Warner's success in Virginia will wear off.

1/2/2006 3:00:21 PM

-people who havent taken economics will continue to advocate socialism
-people who dont work will continue to advocate welfare
-people who dont think about their true well-being and the true well-being of others will continue to vote for liberal candidates
-hostility towards our heritage will continue

1/2/2006 4:41:13 PM

that's because your heritage is wrong

[Edited on January 2, 2006 at 5:11 PM. Reason : ]

1/2/2006 5:11:29 PM

^^ All true, also:
-people who advocate low taxes and economic liberty will continue to ask for protection and subsidization
-candidates elected on the platform of reducing the size of government will continue to do the opposite
-our true heritage will continue to be subverted by everyone's respective heritage of choice

1/2/2006 8:46:16 PM

white power!

1/2/2006 9:40:05 PM

Quote :

"4. The excitement over Mark Warner's success in Virginia will wear off."

fuck that noise

1/2/2006 10:21:59 PM

Quote :

"The usual suspects will link/post more pointless articles that are longer than most books in the Bible."

winnar

Quote :

"that's because your heritage is wrong"

another winnar

[Edited on January 3, 2006 at 6:24 AM. Reason : .]

1/3/2006 6:20:10 AM

Iran, Cuba, and a city near you will be invaded and bombed with 'smart bombs' by us forces.

1/3/2006 6:33:00 AM

^ Care to place money on that? I'm sure someone on here is living in antarctica where there are no cities near them.

1/3/2006 10:53:54 AM

It will rain.

[Edited on January 3, 2006 at 10:55 AM. Reason : -]

1/3/2006 10:55:22 AM

Gays will marry, and Nazis will be riding Dinosaurs.

1/3/2006 10:56:59 AM

Quote :

"^ Care to place money on that? I'm sure someone on here is living in antarctica where there are no cities near them."

funny thing about my sentence. I said 'you' therefore anyone in antartica isn't reading that sentence so aren't thinking I'm talking about them. k?

and if he happened to read my post, it still doesn't apply simply because there are no cities near them.

[Edited on January 3, 2006 at 12:23 PM. Reason : fda]

1/3/2006 12:22:45 PM

I predict that Hamas will win the elections in Palestine.

1/27/2006 12:18:11 AM

2006 is The Year of the Dog!

Quote :

"THE EARTH DOG -Born in 1958 The Earth Dog is clever and genuine. He is rational and supportive, stable and stoic. Earth gives this Dog an element of security, for he is inspiring and confident. These characters are just, certain to hear both sides before making a decision. He makes a great leader because he is such a trustworthy, diplomatic individual. Dogs are loyal, faithful and honest and always stick to their firm codes of ethics. This Sign tends to root for the underdog and its keen sense of right and wrong makes it duty-bound to the core. The Dog's mantra seems to be, Live right, look out for the little people and fight injustice whenever possible."

1/27/2006 12:52:10 AM

Bull. There's a magazine cover I'll bet you've seen that clearly indicates that earthdogs are dachshunds. Just admit it, man. You're named for a wiener dog.

1/27/2006 12:53:46 AM

WOOF!

1/27/2006 1:21:17 AM

Oh, and, to the thread topic:

I hear that the Mexi-cans are going to take all urr jobs.

1/27/2006 1:21:26 AM