Revisiting my 2012 predictions

At the end of 2011, I posted 10 "safe" predictions for 2012.    Halfway through the year, I'm conducting an evaluation of my predictions.  Several of them are still "to be determined".

1. Andy Murray will win a Grand Slam (tennis) title.   TBD -- but his injuries are making it less likely.

2. Khloe Kardashian will get pregnant. TBD -- but Kim's new boyfriend Kanye West is ready for baby-making.  I bet.  Hopefully Khloe and Lamar will conceive.

3. Barack Obama will be re-elected President.  TBD -- Etch-a-Sketch candidate Mitt Romney is doing better than expected, and the Republican zillionaires are gearing up the money machine, but the Electoral College is still in Barack's favor, and the immigration move yesterday was brilliant, helping his prospects in Florida and firming up California.

4. There will be a "reverse Climategate" with emails from climate change skeptics, showing how they conspire together to distribute the same tired talking points.  YES -- even though it wasn't quite as expected, the correspondence that Peter Gleick acquired hurt the Heartland Institute, and then they over-reacted with the Unabomber billboard.  

5. At some point in the year, the Dow Jones will go below 10,000.  TBD -- hope I'm wrong on this one, because it would hurt #3, but with Spain and Greece so iffy on going broke, a true European monetary crisis could still make this happen.

6. The Washington Wizards will make the NBA Playoffs.   NO - maybe next year.

7. The year's biggest movie will be "The Hobbit".  TBD -- but probably will end up wrong, because I didn't anticipate "The Avengers" being so huge.  And "The Dark Knight Rises" will probably also be big.

8. Kepler will find an exoplanet with near-perfect conditions for Earth-like life.  TBD, but I might be able to claim a provisional YES on this one.  See my previous post today.

9. Another famous celebrity will pose nude for Playboy (wow, like that's a stretch).  I could say YES because of Jenny McCarthy.   She's borderline famous.  And Lindsay Lohan was in the January issue, but  I knew that was going to happen when I wrote the prediction.  There's still time for more nudity.

10. I'll have more than 100 followers on Twitter.  TBD -- I've been hovering around 80.  Tell your friends.