Fragile Bird Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 And here we are, about to enter another year or already in it for hours. What do you see happening this year? Predictive text tried to say “what do you see happy this year”. Maybe we can try that, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThinkerX Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 I was going to start a thread like this. Anyhow... Politics: 1 - Biden wins. Trump* raises a stink, but still loses. 2 - Democrats retain control of the Senate. 3 - Democrats retake the House. ** Mostly this is because the republicans will be unable to refrain from one horrible decision after another, though shifting demographics also play a role. * 50-50 shot Trump eats one hamburger too many before the election and has a 'cardiac event.' ** 50-50 chance the House changes hands before the election via republican attrition. Russia/Ukraine 1 - Russian invasion falters and comes close to complete collapse as a direct result of corruption, stupidity, and increased unrest in outlying areas. 50-50 shot Putin does not live to see 2025 (health issues) Climate Change: 50-50 shot the southern US is subjected to what I call the 100 / 100-120 scenario. This happens, it'll be a killer - literally. Fragile Bird, Kalbear and House Balstroko 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 A horse, a rider and a wise old bird do battle against a giant moth as they try to recover treasure. Tears of Lys, Fragile Bird and Jace, Extat 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 (edited) All jokes aside, I have many goals, but three are getting my first tattoo from @Kelli Fury and going sky diving. And also finally going to grad school and not just saying it over and over again. I should say four because I might finally meet a few of you. I hope you all have a Happy New Years and Happy Holidays in general. Except you @Jaime L. I wish for you to fall into a pool of Ill-tempered sea bass. Love ya bro. Edited January 1 by Tywin et al. Madame deVenoge, Ser Scot A Ellison and Jace, Extat 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 7 hours ago, Tywin et al. said: A horse, a rider and a wise old bird do battle against a giant moth as they try to recover treasure. This is like never gonna happen. You have a better chance of dragging zabz into that forum game. What to look out for in 2024. US politics: The tragically comic death of Clarence Thomas in a bizarre sex accident in late September and the Democrats putting Chutkan on a quick path to confirmation before the election. (The existence of a very specific Death Note can't be confirmed nor denied at this point). Germany: The other parties finally discover their balls and go for the proceedings to get the AfD banned. Sylt gets washed up into the sea. St. Pauli wins promotion back into the Bundesliga, while a certain other club messes up their promotion bid again. No idea how, but they will outdo themselves in terms of embarassment achieved. Personal petty level. Ty's face when he discovers that the tattoo Kelli gave him is a giant laughing horse head. And yes, Kelli will post that exact moment on social media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 (edited) The Taiwanese election in a couple of weeks could determine the entire Asia-Pacific paradigm for the foreseeable future: a China-friendly government making much stronger promises of a peaceful reunification (even if some years off) makes a Chinese invasion much less likely, as they try to avoid a major military adventure in the face of a shaky (if only relative to their prior performance) economy. The current party retaining power will likely see increasing escalation, more violations of Taiwanese airspace and naval waters etc whilst the US is distracted by numerous other fires and internal politics. Nontrivial chance of a Chinese blockade and/or invasion in the next five years and maybe even this year. Additional Russian and Ukrainian counter-attacks, which will likely both achieve limited success but only at the cost of high casualties. Russia may step up looking for a way out of the war which saves face, possibly a deal which sees Russia withdrawing from some territories to retain others becomes more realistic. Ukraine may have to accept such a deal or face a war of attrition against Russia with more hesitant western backing. However, it might be that Russia does something reckless that refocuses attention on the danger they pose to eastern Europe (the recent missile overflying Poland, but on a larger scale) and the US and Europe massively step up help, in which case Ukraine achieves greater successes. The only way for Ukraine to win the war might be to resist meat-grinder Russian offensives and then carry out limited counter-attacks which regain small amounts of territory but with fewer losses, which could take years. Another possible event is Ukraine managing to cut Crimea off from resupply or reducing its ability to resupply considerably, leading to mass exodus and flight of civilians from the peninsula. The Middle East is a powder keg. Western forces are now discussing attacking Yemen to stop it targeting the Red Sea, but it's unclear what they can do to guarantee stopping them, aside from possibly blockading Yemeni ports from Iranian ships supplying them. There is a possibility that the west and Israel sees a potential opportunity to degrade Iranian influence in the region (with backing, possibly now more covert, from Saudi Arabia and its allies), which could work but could also backfire massively. You can also see this with recent Israeli suggestions that Hezbollah forces now move away from the border and the imposition of a "buffer zone" within Lebanese territory in which military forces cannot operate. Increasing Israeli and western confidence that Iran will not intervene directly may be correct, or it may backfire. Israel will reach a point of diminishing returns in trying to eliminate Hamas and will need to accept some kind of ceasefire in the face of all its international partners simply abandoning it, especially as disease and other problems take hold and could kill multiples of the people who've died already. The US election could be the most important in its history, or it could be a damp squib: Biden might win comfortably or Trump could win and then basically go back to his first term mode and talk about doing shit but never gets around to it because he gets distracted five minutes later. Conversely Trump might win and go full fash very quickly on a worse scale then people are expecting, leading to internal US political and maybe socio-economic chaos which America's enemies elsewhere in the world seize on. A moderate Labour victory which is then spoiled by infighting leading to a Tory resurgence in five years is unfortunately likely; a "shock" Tory victory a la 1992 is also not impossible, especially if the SNP hold firm in Scotland. If so, expecting another five years of instability, chaos, infighting and sluggish economic performance. Edited January 1 by Werthead Fragile Bird and House Balstroko 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 2 hours ago, A Horse Named Stranger said: This is like never gonna happen. You have a better chance of dragging zabz into that forum game. Maybe she's the dragon fighting the moth cause you're too much of a coward. Quote Personal petty level. Ty's face when he discovers that the tattoo Kelli gave him is a giant laughing horse head. And yes, Kelli will post that exact moment on social media. Go run with the bulls and film it for all of us. I'll Venmo you $2 to help you get there. That's your 2024 goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 What I wanna know is, are we going to get to this yet? I’ve been waiting a long time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongRider Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 16 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said: What I wanna know is, are we going to get to this yet? I’ve been waiting a long time! Trouble is, as soon as this technology becomes available, it will be monetized and militarized. If you ain't a millionaire or a billionaire, it won't be available to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 7 minutes ago, LongRider said: Trouble is, as soon as this technology becomes available, it will be monetized and militarized. If you ain't a millionaire or a billionaire, it won't be available to you. Sadly very true. But hey, let's look on the bright side... maybe a bunch of zillionaires will make good use of it and beam themselves to another galaxy! Jace, Extat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongRider Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 10 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said: Sadly very true. But hey, let's look on the bright side... maybe a bunch of zillionaires will make good use of it and beam themselves to another galaxy! Hahahaha! They won't be able to come back, and the galaxy they land at will be full of woke liberal atheists who won't put up with their shit. Ah, the bright side. kissdbyfire, Martell Spy and Fragile Bird 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 What do I see for 2024? More bickering about Israel v. Hamas. More accusations of genocide and war crimes, ethnostates, civilian deaths, etc., etc. Nothing being solved ever. Occasional forays into much needed humor. San Francisco v. Baltimore in the Super Bowl. Yet another Mad Max movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 4 hours ago, kissdbyfire said: What I wanna know is, are we going to get to this yet? I’ve been waiting a long time! Knowing our dumbass species, we'll probably just get this: kissdbyfire and Martell Spy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Mel Brooks Tears of Lys 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said: Go run with the bulls and film it for all of us. I'll Venmo you $2 to help you get there. That's your 2024 goal. Post-Jordan Bulls suck. No point joining them on a run to nowhere. If you'd said run with the Celts that would've made more sense. Tywin et al. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bironic Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 (edited) Quote Prediction is difficult, particularly when it involves the future But we do have a motherload of important elections in 2024… January 13: Taiwan (I expect the current „separationist“ government to be re-elected) February 2: Indonesia (no clue, can widodo run again?) March: Iranian parliament re-election of hardliners March 15-17: Putin gets re-elected (easiest prediction ) March 31: Ukraine election gets postponed/ re scheduled April/may: India (BJP government reelected) May: South Africa: No idea (maybe first change in government since end of Apartheid) June: Mexico, first woman president June 6-9: EU parliament, right Wing extremist gain ground Fall: Austria right wing extremists gain ground November 5 USA: no idea, everything possible atm Sometime in 2024: UK, Labour wins by a significant margin, but doesn’t change anything drastically and gets slaughtered in subsequent elections, Edited January 5 by Bironic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 The Bad 2024- I predict the Democrats lose the White House after months and months of poll warnings from voters that they do not want thier candidate and doing absolutely nothing to change course. The Good- Michigan wins the NCAAF College Football National Championships! The Ugly- Putin will survive the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime L Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 On 12/31/2023 at 11:31 PM, Mr. Chatywin et al. said: I hope you all have a Happy New Years and Happy Holidays in general. Except you @Jaime L. I wish for you to fall into a pool of Ill-tempered sea bass. Love ya bro. Not an unreasonable, nor frankly unlikely, wish. Don't be a stranger my friend. Drop me a line if you're ever back in Experts! Tywin et al. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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