Scandalously I’m posting these with two days of the year gone already. Still it’s a leap year.
Only four years to go
Total number of gold medals in Beijing for Great Britain: seven; one of these in athletics, either Radcliffe or Ohuruogu. The display by next hosts London in the closing ceremony is excruciatingly embarrassing and involves hundreds of pearly kings and queens.
No quarter-final exit for England this time
At Euro 2008 Germany beat Italy in the final on penalties (1-1 AET).
First first gentleman
I’m plumping for Hillary Clinton/Bill Richardson as the Democratic ticket and eventual winners. The Republicans go with John McCain/Rudolph Giuliani.
Here it is
A citizen journalist dies trying to get a story. I am truly amazed this hasn’t happened yet.
Red Boris
Ken Livingstone is re-elected as London Mayor. Boris Johnson is his usual shambolic laughing-stock self and nearly loses second place to the Lib Dem candidate, Brian Paddick.
And finally, again
News at Ten returns on ITV1 to fanfares and indifference, and is gone again by the autumn. Sir Trev retires. (Note to future self: no points for it actually returning, since that’s long-planned.)
Now the weather
Britain has a scorching summer. Temperatures reach 100 F (37.8 C) in parts of Kent. TV reporters perform the traditional compare-and-contrast manoeuvre – showing clips of themselves from 2007 standing in several feet of water then cutting to the same, baking hot location of 2008.
See p2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, yours for a tenner
Subject of a thousand Daily Mail headlies (do you see what I did there?), the house price crash actually happens. And then prices start to rise again, of course.
“General”
There’ll be a major skirmish, perhaps even a small war, between India and Pakistan. It’ll be the fault of Bush’s “ally” in the War on Trrr, President Musharraf.
Celebrity deathwatch
One point each: Richard Attenborough, Richard Briers, June Whitfield, Michael Foot, Nancy Reagan.
I look forward to your scorn in December. Or any time, really.
Avaragado's blog 
Floaty
The most recent Economist said British voters have become more “floaty”. I am extremely disappointed at your lack of use of words ending in ‘y’.
The Republicans will win the US election. More accurately they are way better at rigging it. In any event you can predict that noone will be going to jail for previous rigging, war crimes and other stunts that have been pulled during King George’s reign. The system won’t allow that.
Re: Floaty
More words ending in ‘y’ – you mean, like ‘Clocky’?
I am scared that the Republicans will successfully rig it again (has Karl Rove actually disappeared from the scene or is he just waiting for a phone call from one of the candidates?) or that the Democrats will blow it in some way – possibly by getting cold feet over a woman and/or a black man and then selecting a nobody. However, I decided to banish these negative nancy thoughts.
Of course, whatever happens the past is always forgotten. Even Nixon was rehabilitated eventually.
Re: Floaty
Yes, exactly like ‘Clocky’. All nouns should end in ‘y’.
The Democratsy have already blown it. When they won the previous congressionaly elections, it was because people wanted a change, impeachment, investigations, civil liberties restored etc. The Democrats immediately then proceeded to give more of the same. Dave Barry’s year end review as well as WW http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/current_affairs/index.html give you a flavour of the sentiment.
This is why there is so much of a groundswell for Ron Paul (see how money he has raised, all of it from individual donations). He may be a bit of a dick, but he has principles and has always been consistent with them.
So the election comes down to a combination of the least worst candidates, plus whoever is better at rigging them. I suspect there will be exceptionally low turnout (normal is pretty low anyway).
And whoever wins is going to have to do some very unpopular things. Iraq is a no win situation – staying is problematic and expensive as is leaving or any combination of the two. No matter what, the army has used up all its equipment and it will cost a small fortune for replenishing, as well as all the medical expenses for the veterans.
The economy is in a no win situation that can only be fixed by pain (interest rate hikes, tax increases). The winner gets to choose short sharp shock or dragging it out for as long as possible in order to not upset anyone (ala Japan). If whoever is in charge decides not to increase rates then printing more money to pay off the increasing deficit will get harder unless they are issued in another currency, which is unthinkable. Oh, and increasing the rates will certainly educate people on what affordable housing is, and most aren’t in it.
I don’t know how many more terms of government can happen before someone actually decides to fix healthcare. It is a massive drag on the economy as well as grotesquely inefficient, not to mention public health.