Now that I’m back from staying at home (There are no truth to the rumors that Archpundit and I ran off together, or that I was stuck for weeks in Forest Park at the St. Louis ’04 Eve debacle), I’m keeping with the blogosphere trend and offering my own predictions for 2004.

1. My blog posting will be light with intermittent dropouts.

2. Celebrities will continue to engage in shocking behavior to attract attention. Every year the behavior has to be worse to remain shocking, but still no limit will be discovered.

3. There will be no peace in the Middle East.

4. Politicians and various activities will be compared to Hitler and various Nazi atrocities without any basis whatsoever other than the comparer doesn’t like them.

5. People will be the most passionate about the things that really matter the least.

6. Intellectuals will decry the faults of the common man with great vigor while the common man by and large ignores intellectuals.

7. I will busier than a one armed cashier at Wal-Mart.

8. Elites won’t live up to their billing.

9. What we worry the most about won’t happen but what we didn’t give a thought to will.

10. There will be no really good 5 cent cigar for sale in America.

In other words, why should we expect something different if we keep doing the same stuff?