So Rudy is out of the race. America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the race after a dead heat with Ron Paul at 13% of the vote. Rudy spent MONTHS in Florida, clearly at the urging of some radical strategist who must have done some math wrong. Why would such a well funded and clearly focused guy try such a risky strategy (Ignore Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and only focus on Florida and California).
I have only one answer that I can figure out. Rudy was taking a nice Florida vacation on his contributors he never really intended to win. Did he really intend to win by insulting the two most critical states in the Primary process? I mean, think about it? Rudy is tired, he is getting up there in years. I think he just said...."Hey! I spent all that time dreary NY. Ill just run for President and have a free six week vacation in Florida by trying this radical new political move." Strange? I think not. Stupid? I think we are going to have to see the fallout before we give Rudy the political darwinism award.
In his concession speech he looked tanned, and rested.....by great contrast McCain looked haggard, tired, and not ready for what is to come. So who really won? McCain? Or Rudy? Makes you wonder.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
My Predictions for 2008
The other day, my son asked me what my predictions for 2008 were. It thought this was kind of funny since he never asked me that before, and I have to admit I was caught off guard. But now that I'm sitting here, I thought I would give it a try. So here we go......my predictions for 2008 on January 6, 2008. I hope I don't make too much of a fool of myself:
1. The Sub-Prime/Alt-A/Prime Mortgage Problem will be twice as bad as it appears today. That is, the amount of bank, and financial institution write-offs globally will be double what it is today (around 100 Billion). To extend this prediction, I also predict that Europe and even the Middle East will experience their own Sub-Prime/Alt-A/Prime Mortgage crisis. They will not be as deep as the United States, but they will contribute to the problem.
2. Location Based Services will be the next Internet "killer app". The advent of usable, easy to understand location based services will take their place as the next wave in Internet development. The ones that rise to the top will be able to utilize the broadest array of phone handsets; and the winners in this space will exploit specific, singular niches abandoning the "everything portal" concept in use today on phone handsets.
3. This will be the election year that Independent Candidates take their place as equals to the two major parties in the political spectrum. The proliferation of the Internet and the ability to fund raise outside of the major parties will enable several candidates to run for President in the 2008 election that are not the nominee of the Republicans or the Democrats. This will create a much more significant split in the American psyche than Ross Perot could have ever imagined and will set the stage for an Independent win in 2012; if not 2008.....but I'm not going quite that far.
4. We will see the first death on live TV. Going out on a limb here, since I can't believe that reality TV has made it as far as it has in the first place. The velocity and the voracious nature of the genre dictates that this happen in order for it to continue as a viable category on television.
5. China will move from economic partner to economic aggressor, and the US/China trade stance will change forever. We will see China begin to utilize it's incredible global economic clout in a bold and egregious move against the United States economy. While I can not predict what this move will be, It will be counter to the US economic strategy enough to be seen as the first salvo in what can only be a long and difficult economic war.
Okay......I'm out of breath. That should be enough precitin' for now. Hopefully, this time next year if the stars stay in line and I remain healthy Ill review and see how I did.
1. The Sub-Prime/Alt-A/Prime Mortgage Problem will be twice as bad as it appears today. That is, the amount of bank, and financial institution write-offs globally will be double what it is today (around 100 Billion). To extend this prediction, I also predict that Europe and even the Middle East will experience their own Sub-Prime/Alt-A/Prime Mortgage crisis. They will not be as deep as the United States, but they will contribute to the problem.
2. Location Based Services will be the next Internet "killer app". The advent of usable, easy to understand location based services will take their place as the next wave in Internet development. The ones that rise to the top will be able to utilize the broadest array of phone handsets; and the winners in this space will exploit specific, singular niches abandoning the "everything portal" concept in use today on phone handsets.
3. This will be the election year that Independent Candidates take their place as equals to the two major parties in the political spectrum. The proliferation of the Internet and the ability to fund raise outside of the major parties will enable several candidates to run for President in the 2008 election that are not the nominee of the Republicans or the Democrats. This will create a much more significant split in the American psyche than Ross Perot could have ever imagined and will set the stage for an Independent win in 2012; if not 2008.....but I'm not going quite that far.
4. We will see the first death on live TV. Going out on a limb here, since I can't believe that reality TV has made it as far as it has in the first place. The velocity and the voracious nature of the genre dictates that this happen in order for it to continue as a viable category on television.
5. China will move from economic partner to economic aggressor, and the US/China trade stance will change forever. We will see China begin to utilize it's incredible global economic clout in a bold and egregious move against the United States economy. While I can not predict what this move will be, It will be counter to the US economic strategy enough to be seen as the first salvo in what can only be a long and difficult economic war.
Okay......I'm out of breath. That should be enough precitin' for now. Hopefully, this time next year if the stars stay in line and I remain healthy Ill review and see how I did.
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