Predictification 2012
Behind:
01. The coalition survives, but not without some shaky moments along the way.
Correct on both counts, with AV and Europe both proving contentious, but not quite enough to break everything. Yet. 1/1.
02. Among these will be at least one prominent cabinet minister losing their job. My money's on Michael Gove, partly because he is terrible at his job, but mostly because it's only a matter of time before David realises the truth.
Correct, though I had the wrong minister, since it was Dr. Fox who got the axe. 2/2.
03. Murdoch gets full control of Sky. Cable might have been able to stop it if he'd kept his damn mouth shut, but there's no way Jeremy C-word isn't letting that deal go through.
Dead wrong, and I couldn't be happier. 2/3.
04. The Alternate Vote Referendum is closer than expected, but it still fails to pass, because this is Britain and we don't do Change.
Mostly right, since it didn't pass, and it was close... to begin with. The actual vote, not so much. Still, close enough for a pass. 3/4.
05. Gradually, the remains of what used to be the British National Party will coalesce around the English Defence League into a new movement for the far right. But they won't be much more successful than their predecessors.
No. If anything, they're at each others' throats over "splitting" which amuses me because I thought those kind of fights only broke out among left-wingers. 3/5.
06. America will love Piers Morgan so very much that they refuse to let him ever come back here because they can't stand to be away from him. We will try to accept this as magnanimously as possible, but it won't be easy. It will not be easy.
Sadly, not quite. 3/6.
07. Christmas Number One? This.
Incorrect, obviously, though I can still feel good about the fact that The X Factor got beaten again. 3/7.
08. I will be playing Black or White a lot, and it will be awesome. I am 24 years old.
Remarkably, the prediction I made about my own behaviour proved correct. 4/8.
09. Before the year is out, I will manage to convince myself that reading Eldest is somehow a good idea.
Wrong, but in the worst way possible, so I lose on both fronts. 4/9.
10. The X Factor will be won by an act that sounds pretty much the same as a previous winner. This will be hailed as some sort of progress.
Wrong in the specifics, since they've never had a group win before, but right in principle, since it is essentially just Girls Aloud again. 4/10.
11. Some things will get better. Some things will.
3 was wrong, therefore 11 is right. 5/11.
Huh. Same score as last year. Ah well, at least I'm not getting worse.
Ahead:
01. The Euro survives, but not with all of its current members.
02. Austerity will continue to not work, but governments the world over will keep going with it nonetheless.
03. Unless someone dies, a year from now we'll still have the same three main party leaders we've got now.
04. Obama gets re-elected, if only because everyone currently looking to run against him seems to have forgotten that they're supposed to be trying to convince people to pick them as president.
05. The Olympics go mostly OK, though the opening ceremony will inevitably be the most embarrassing thing imaginable.
06. Ken beats Boris, but not by much. Paddick might as well not turn up.
07. The Leveson Inquiry will change so little that it could barely be said to have happened at all.
08. It will turn out that neutrinos can't actually break the light barrier.
09. Egypt ends up becoming a full-blown military dictatorship, because God hates happy endings, apparently.
10. The world will continue to be run by liars, at the behest of hypocrites, for the benefit of thieves. Violently.
11. It will at least continue though, since the Mayans weren't magic.
01. The coalition survives, but not without some shaky moments along the way.
Correct on both counts, with AV and Europe both proving contentious, but not quite enough to break everything. Yet. 1/1.
02. Among these will be at least one prominent cabinet minister losing their job. My money's on Michael Gove, partly because he is terrible at his job, but mostly because it's only a matter of time before David realises the truth.
Correct, though I had the wrong minister, since it was Dr. Fox who got the axe. 2/2.
03. Murdoch gets full control of Sky. Cable might have been able to stop it if he'd kept his damn mouth shut, but there's no way Jeremy C-word isn't letting that deal go through.
Dead wrong, and I couldn't be happier. 2/3.
04. The Alternate Vote Referendum is closer than expected, but it still fails to pass, because this is Britain and we don't do Change.
Mostly right, since it didn't pass, and it was close... to begin with. The actual vote, not so much. Still, close enough for a pass. 3/4.
05. Gradually, the remains of what used to be the British National Party will coalesce around the English Defence League into a new movement for the far right. But they won't be much more successful than their predecessors.
No. If anything, they're at each others' throats over "splitting" which amuses me because I thought those kind of fights only broke out among left-wingers. 3/5.
06. America will love Piers Morgan so very much that they refuse to let him ever come back here because they can't stand to be away from him. We will try to accept this as magnanimously as possible, but it won't be easy. It will not be easy.
Sadly, not quite. 3/6.
07. Christmas Number One? This.
Incorrect, obviously, though I can still feel good about the fact that The X Factor got beaten again. 3/7.
08. I will be playing Black or White a lot, and it will be awesome. I am 24 years old.
Remarkably, the prediction I made about my own behaviour proved correct. 4/8.
09. Before the year is out, I will manage to convince myself that reading Eldest is somehow a good idea.
Wrong, but in the worst way possible, so I lose on both fronts. 4/9.
10. The X Factor will be won by an act that sounds pretty much the same as a previous winner. This will be hailed as some sort of progress.
Wrong in the specifics, since they've never had a group win before, but right in principle, since it is essentially just Girls Aloud again. 4/10.
11. Some things will get better. Some things will.
3 was wrong, therefore 11 is right. 5/11.
Huh. Same score as last year. Ah well, at least I'm not getting worse.
Ahead:
01. The Euro survives, but not with all of its current members.
02. Austerity will continue to not work, but governments the world over will keep going with it nonetheless.
03. Unless someone dies, a year from now we'll still have the same three main party leaders we've got now.
04. Obama gets re-elected, if only because everyone currently looking to run against him seems to have forgotten that they're supposed to be trying to convince people to pick them as president.
05. The Olympics go mostly OK, though the opening ceremony will inevitably be the most embarrassing thing imaginable.
06. Ken beats Boris, but not by much. Paddick might as well not turn up.
07. The Leveson Inquiry will change so little that it could barely be said to have happened at all.
08. It will turn out that neutrinos can't actually break the light barrier.
09. Egypt ends up becoming a full-blown military dictatorship, because God hates happy endings, apparently.
10. The world will continue to be run by liars, at the behest of hypocrites, for the benefit of thieves. Violently.
11. It will at least continue though, since the Mayans weren't magic.