OK, so who said life had to be serious all the time?

Recently I proposed an exercise to a small group of people I associate with, in which I said that we should attempt to predict what will happen in 2022. It was meant to be fun and also to stimulate creative thinking. The predictions would be written down, stored in a secure place, and opened in early 2023 to see which were the most accurate. The rules were simple–The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. The first two, Good & Bad, would be focused on human actions while Ugly would be limited to catastrophic events originating from natural disasters.

Incidentally, while compiling my list, I came across a similar one by Quoth the Raven, which had his own predictions for 2022, with this disclosure.

 “…void of all analysis and disclaiming any and all guarantees that I have any idea what I’m talking about…these are nothing more than wild-ass guesses, for fun, of what I think the coming year could bring…This list is for fun only – and is all opinion only.” [emphasis original]

The title claimed to show 100 predictions, but the author added this line, “…contained herein are 80 predictions of mine…” 80, not 100, a margin of error which is unacceptable for any sort of serious prognosticator, but, then again, QTR is not serious (See above quote.) I am not sure how many there were because I did not read the entire list. There were only seventeen shown, just enough to whet the appetite, with a link to see the rest “here” which was a link to a paywall. Yes, that’s right, in order to see QTR’s entire list, which are nothing more than “wild-ass guesses”, you have to buy a subscription.

I guess! That was as far as I went and if the comments below the article are any “predictor” of audience sentiment, I was not alone. Nevertheless, in the same spirit as QTR, I offer my own predictions…for free. They will not cost you anything except a little time.

The Good:

1. The official Covid narrative will continue to deteriorate as evidence piles up against it and resistance to it reaches a tipping point. Anthony Fauci will “retire”. The Supreme Court will determine that Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates are not constitutional. Lawsuit filings will increase exponentially, clogging up the courts.
2. The 2022 mid-term elections will result in the Democrats being decimated and the Republicans securely ensconced as the majority party in Congress. Nancy Pelosi, reading the tea leaves, will not run for re-election expressing a desire to spend more time with her family. Joe Biden will become a first-term, lame-duck president. Kamala Harris will resign from the office of VP, either under duress or as the result of an erupting scandal. Her replacement will be groomed to take over the Presidency in early 2023 when “Joe” leaves office for one reason or another.
3. For the first time, alternative media will be widely acknowledged as the “real” news dispensers. The legacy mainstream media will continue their slide into journalistic irrelevancy.  CNN will attempt to reinvent itself, fail spectacularly, and be sold for a fire-sale price. Joe Rogan will be nominated as Time’s ‘Man of the Year’.
4. North and South Korea will sign an accord to end the “war” and collaborate openly on re-unifying the peninsula. Protests from the US will be ignored.
5. NordStream 2 will be certified and start transmitting gas from Russia to Germany despite the protestations and sanctions of the US.
6. Donald “Warp Speed” Trump will announce his withdrawal from the presidential contest in 2024 and throw his support to ______________. Stay tuned for the next segment of his newest reality show, Pinned Down by the Facts.

The Bad:

1. In a fight to the bitter end, Big Pharma, its controlled government agencies, and mainstream media will continue to push the official Covid narrative as far as they can before it completely collapses.
2. Nothing of any substantial good will come about due to the 2022 elections in which the Republicans smash the Democrats in Congress. (See 1b above.) Totalitarian government will continue to grow without any serious effort by the “newly elected” to resist it.
3. An incident in the South China Sea near Taiwan will bring the US and China to the brink of war.
4. Russia and NATO will “stare each other in the face” over Ukraine. NATO will blink and be forced to back down, further damaging its already tattered reputation around the world.
5. One high-profile political figure will be assassinated in the US. The “investigation” will conclude that the killer is a mentally-disturbed individual acting alone. He will be “Epsteined” like Lee Harvey Oswald.
6. The Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 will be revisited, except that it will be much worse this time. It will start innocuously, a la Bear Stearns, and will appear to be completely under control…until it is not. At that point, all hell will break loose. The Nasdaq will close out 2022 off 40% from the beginning of the year (15,382.80 on January 3, 2022). Who could have seen that coming?
7. The Fed will be forced to choose between bailing out the big players with more QE or curtailing inflation by cutting back and raising interest rates. No matter what the Fed does, it will make matters worse.
8. Food and energy costs will spiral further upward, causing extreme hardship on the part of low-income citizens and families.
9. Civil unrest will be relatively subdued until the November election and erupt the day after. Martial law will be declared in many areas of the country, further inflaming the division between “blue” and “red”.
10. A nuclear reactor melts down, destroying any future viability of the industry. Nuclear plants are shut down everywhere, coal and gas cannot pick up the slack. Millions of people freeze to death.

The Ugly:

I do not want to consider the ugly. I would rather not think about these. Nevertheless, things do happen as part of life. Keep in mind that these are not strictly predictions, but are listed as only events that could occur at any time and which would have devastating consequences. Among the many candidates, not likely, but possible:

1. Richter scale 9.4 earthquake in the Cascadia Fault off the western coast of Oregon/Washington, causing enormous damage and massive tsunamis, followed soon after by The Big One in southern California. [The order could easily be switched and either one could occur independently without the second.] The federal government and affected state government(s) cannot cope and many areas are left to recover on their own. The financial/social/political implications of such a scenario are devastating and would destroy the current system known as America.
2. Slow-moving Category 5 hurricane slams directly into Miami. More likely than #1 above, more easily overcome.
3. An unknown, undiscovered asteroid collides with Earth. If it strikes an ocean, huge tsunamis will swamp coastal cities. If it hits land, debris will be thrown into the atmosphere blocking sunlight and causing years of extremely colder temperatures. The political causes of global warming and climate change will cease to exist. Billions of people will freeze to death.

Enough, already! Check back in a year to see my score.