Dear reader, we too are in the business of expressing our opinion. And we too hope that your opinion is influenced by our writing. This means that Hitchens’ admonition is for us just as well as it is for the cognoscenti who writes for the New York Times. Being small and insignificant is no excuse, we too should make a call. In no particular order (except the last, which is deliberately where it is), here are ten predictions for 2006.
- Despite the heat on the Bush administration, and regardless of what happens in Iraq, the Democrats won’t win the mid-term election.
- Iraq will continue to be a very violent place.
- The economy, here in the United States as well back home in Desh, will continue to grow at a brisk pace, shrugging off high oil prices or concerns about the dollar.
- There will be high level corporate failures, and protectionist pressures will rise as the election season nears.
- The economists’ governments will muddle through across Desh, but Mrs Zia will lose office.
- More top Al Qaeda operatives will be caught, but the top guns will remain free.
- Tendulkar will score lots of runs, but Ponting will score even more. And India will not win the series in the Caribbean.
- Brazil will dazzle everyone in the early stages of the World Cup, but then will bomb out in a crucial match at the finishing stages.
- The remake of Amar Akbar Anthony will be a great hit, but RGV’s Sholay will be a dud.
- Many of these predictions will be wrong.
