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A Look Back at 2013 Predictions

Man, I wish I could get a job as a psychic.  Those guys get paid good money for making up crap.  psychic1

Here’s a web page that was posted last year with a summary of predictions made by professional psychics for 2013.  I could only find a few that actually came true, and these were all the kinds of predictions anyone could have made.  For instance:

Daniel Day Lewis nominated for an Oscar for Lincoln.

In a quasi shake-up, Jimmy Fallon is named host of NBC-TV’s Tonight Show, replacing Jay Leno.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo re-elected; Gov. Chris Christie wins re-election in New Jersey.

College students will find it harder and harder to find jobs.

Shocking, I know!  Who would have predicted any of these things, other than everybody?

Some psychics decided to go against the obvious and predict things like “the Red Sox will not be in the World Series” or “Surprising upsets at the Academy Awards: Bradley Cooper for best actor over Daniel Day Lewis. Sally Field for best actress. Lincoln for best picture and Quentin Tarantino for best director.”  (None of which happened.)

Here are top stories of 2013 according to Yahoo News:

  1. Jodi Arias trial
  2. Obamacare
  3. Boston Marathon bombing
  4. Royal baby birth
  5. George Zimmerman trial
  6. Syria Civil War
  7. North Korean Nuclear Threats
  8. New Pope
  9. Death of Nelson Mandela
  10. Paula Deen’s lawsuit

The only mention I could find of any of these was absolutely wrong:

Prince William and Kate will have a baby girl, whom many will believe is the reincarnation of Princess Diana.

Nothing else.

Man, how do I apply for this job?

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New Year’s Resolution

I don’t usually do New Years resolutions, being practically perfect in every way*, but there is one I think I need to make.happy-2014-new-year-3D-Images

I resolve to avoid insulting my political opponents.

Oh, I may very well insult their views.  There are indeed members of the Tea Party that believe in absolute nonsense.

I need to refrain from saying “That idiot twit Sarah Palin believes that taxes have gone up under Obama!”  I can attack her views without attacking her personally. There is enough ammunition for pointing out her mistakes without having to point out the person behind the mistakes.

This may be a difficult resolution to make, because sometimes it is hard to separate the stupid thing from the person saying the stupid thing.  But I think all political discourse would be better if everyone stopped insulting the other side personally (“I can’t stand Obummer the Muslim!”), and instead just insult their views — because views can change.

We’ll see how successful I can be.

So happy New Year’s Everybody!  Happy New Year even to those freaking idiots Ted Cruz, Michelle Bachmann, and the rest of the neanderthal numbskulls standing in the way of progress.

Hey, I still have one day left.

* that was sarcasm

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Paul McCartney’s Greatest Hits

I just am not feeling political today, so let’s talk about music instead.

Way back when, I gave the Beatles challenge, wherein I listed 100 songs the Beatles had written in the period of about seven years and challenged anyone to come up with any other group or composer who had written so many memorable songs in such a short period of time.Paul_McCartney_live_in_Dublin

So today I decided do the same with Paul McCartney’s solo work.

Of course the comparison is not valid;  Paul has had 43 years to come up with this list, not seven.  But you have to admit he’s written some pretty good songs.

There are some really bad ones, too.  If I never hear “Ebony and Ivory” again, all the better. Paul’s biggest problem tends to be lyrics, even today.  He needs a John Lennon challenging him to be his best and not settle for the first lyrics that come into his head.  (Some of his best post-Beatles lyrics came when he worked with Elvis Costello, one of the best lyricists of our day.)

As I worked on this list, I included all of the singles (even if I didn’t like them) plus album songs I really liked.  And then I surprised myself by only coming up with about 75 songs instead of 100. Just goes to show you that even Paul freakin’ McCartney couldn’t beat the Beatles even when given six times as much time.

Still, if you were making a CD of Paul’s 75 greatest hits, it would probably look like this. They’re listed in order of release date, and the number in parenthesis is the highest they reached on the Billboard chart if released as a single:

  1. Maybe I’m Amazed (10)
  2. Every Night
  3. Junk
  4. Teddy Boy
  5. Another Day (5)
  6. Too Many People
  7. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (1)
  8. Dear Boy
  9. Heart of the Country
  10. Monkberry Moon Delight
  11. Back Seat of My Car
  12. Tomorrow
  13. Give Ireland Back to the Irish (21)
  14. Mary Had a Little Lamb (28)
  15. Hi Hi Hi (10)
  16. Big Barn Bed
  17. My Love (1)
  18. Live and Let Die (2)
  19. Helen Wheels (10)
  20. Jet (7)
  21. Band on the Run (1)
  22. Mrs. Vandebilt
  23. Bluebird
  24. Junior’s Farm (3)
  25. Listen to What the Man Said (1)
  26. Letting Go (39)
  27. Venus and Mars / Rock Show (12)
  28. Magneto and Titanium Man
  29. Silly Love Songs (1)
  30. Let ‘Em In (3)
  31. Mull of Kintyre
  32. Girl’s School (33)
  33. With a Little Luck (1)
  34. I’ve Had Enough (25)
  35. London Town (39)
  36. Goodnight Tonight (5)
  37. Getting Closer (20)
  38. Arrow Through Me (29)
  39. Coming Up (1)
  40. Waterfalls
  41. Ebony and Ivory (1)
  42. Take It Away (10)
  43. Here Today
  44. Tug of War (53)
  45. Say Say Say (1)
  46. So Bad (23)
  47. Pipes of Peace
  48. No More Lonely Nights (6)
  49. Spies Like Us (7)
  50. Press (21)
  51. Stranglehold (81)
  52. Once Upon a Long Ago
  53. Back on My Feet
  54. My Brave Face (25)
  55. You Want Her Too
  56. This One (94)
  57. Figure of Eight (92)
  58. Hope of Deliverance (83)
  59. C’Mon People
  60. Off the Ground
  61. Mistress and Maid
  62. Young Boy
  63. The World Tonight (64)
  64. Beautiful Night
  65. From a Lover to a Friend
  66. Fine Line
  67. English Tea
  68. Jenny Wren
  69. Dance Tonight (69)
  70. Ever Present Past
  71. Mr. Bellamy
  72. The End of the End
  73. New
  74. Save Us
  75. Queenie Eye

What do you think?

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Minimum Wage! Hyahhh! (whip crack)

Your tax dollars are being put to good use, allowing the 1% to get even richer on the backs of the poor. By refusing to raise the minimum wage to even meet the rising costs of living, there are people in America who work full-time and yet cannot make ends meet.

People who work full time should not be relying on welfare and food stamps to make ends meet when corporate profits are at their highest they have ever been. (This is not an exaggeration.) Because the businesses aren’t paying a working wage, you and I are picking up the extra costs. Well, you wouldn’t expect those CEOs to give up their third homes in Bermuda now, would you?

minimum wage

Raising the minimum wage also helps the overall economy. Duh. If people have more money, they spend it, which means businesses improve and then they need new employees, which stimulates the economy even more. Money trickles up, not down. You help those at the bottom improve their lot and it helps everyone, not just those at the top.

And yet, every time someone suggests raising the minimum wage, businesses whine that it will destroy the economy. They said the same thing about getting rid of child labor. And imposing a 40-hour work week. And having work safety regulations. And getting rid of discriminatory hiring practices. And so on and so on. Somehow, we’ve survived.

This post could fill a book talking about the economy, but mostly I just wanted to rant a bit and present the graphic above. And also this great They Might Be Giants song:

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I’m anti-car

I admit it, I’m anti-car.

I think it’s a good idea that you must have a license to drive which you cannot get until you can prove you can handle a vehicle safely. bond I prefer not allowing children to drive.  People who have a record of unsafe driving should be prohibited from getting behind a wheel.

I like having all vehicles registered, and checked periodically to make sure there are no defects.  I think it’s great that we are required to have insurance so that if anyone is hurt as a result of negligent use of the car, there is coverage for medical expenses and damage.

I even think it’s a good idea that certain large vehicles which are even more dangerous be highly regulated, with special licenses and requirements above and beyond the minor vehicles.

Clearly, all of these regulations prove that I am, at the root, anti-car.  No doubt I will next want them all confiscated by the government.

OK, the metaphor has gone on long enough, because you all know that I’m really talking about guns.  Whenever I mention these kinds of reasonable, rational regulations, I get friends telling me I am anti-gun.  Ironically, these friends would have no problem getting a gun with these regulations.

“But it’s different with cars,” they say.  “Cars aren’t a guaranteed right under the Constitution.  You can’t have regulations limiting guns!”  After all, it’s not like the 2nd Amendment uses the words “well regulated” or anything.  Oh, wait.  Yes it does.  My bad.  (All rights have exceptions.)

“But then only criminals will have guns!”  Of course.  No law will prohibit criminals from getting guns any more than automobile laws have kept unlicensed drivers from getting behind a wheel.  There are still unregistered, uninsured, and uninspected cars out there.

But imagine how many more there would be if there weren’t any laws. How safe would you feel knowing that any car you see could be uninsured, with bad brakes, and driven by someone with ten DUI convictions? Aren’t you glad there are laws to prohibit that? Laws that will punish those who do not obey them?

It just baffles me that well-meaning people who can be quite reasonable in other areas go crazy when anyone mentions even the most minor regulations of their guns.  It’s a kind of fetish I just never understood.  There are people who really love their cars too but don’t think that having to pay to have a license plate means that the government has become a fascist dictatorship determined to take their vehicles away from them — yet otherwise intelligent people will use that exact same argument when talking about guns.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand it.

Editorial cartoon of the day