Old Moore’s Almanac: how many of its January predictions came to pass?

It's February. Time to look at Old Moore's predictions for January, as published in Old Moore's Almanac 2015 and see if any of them came even mildly true.

Not having looked at January's predictions for weeks, I had forgotten what was in them. I was sure they included "Joan Burton has a headache", but in fact that is predicted to happen this month. In any case, the Tánaiste probably has headaches of a political kind on a regular basis.

So it was spooky to read, for January, “Gay Byrne in the news”. Byrne, despite being a broadcasting legend, doesn’t tend to make hard news much any more. He did regularly when he was the chairman of the Road Safety Authority, but he retired from that role last year. Well, Old Moore, you told it like it was (or would be).

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INCORRECT: There was nary a snake in sight in world news

Byrne's interview with Stephen Fry about God on The Meaning of Life has so far received almost 4½ million views on YouTube. It has also made headlines around the world. Technically, the show went out on February 1st, but that doesn't matter to all-seeing Old Moore, because it was recorded in January. Among the more quotable things Fry said about God was that he was "utterly evil, capricious and monstrous . . . Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded stupid God who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?" I'm giving that one to Old Moore, with five stars and a shiny bell.

“Michael O’Leary in the news. He’s getting even nicer!”

I’m not sure about how nice O’Leary is getting, but he’s definitely in the news at present. The ongoing discussions about the future of Aer Lingus have prompted various reactions from O’Leary, among them that the Government should “stop faffing about with its stake in Aer Lingus”. If he’s being nicer than usual when he’s making that widely reported statement, you can only imagine what he says about the Government when he’s not being nice.

“Bono’s gaff in the news.”

Well, it was Bono’s elbow that made the news. In early January, he posted a blog entry that showed X-rays of his new titanium elbow. He’d fallen off his bike in Manhattan (presumably while staying at his gaff

there), and it turns out his elbow was so badly damaged in the tumble that he may never play guitar again, either in one of his many gaffs or anywhere else.

“There will be talk of three or four international currencies for the world, roughly divided by continents.”

The World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland took place last month, and the state of the global economy was one of many weighty topics under discussion. Who knows what happens when the world leaders get together in private to kick ideas around over endless supplies of Toblerone and fondue? Did they talk about continent-based currencies?

What's certain is that our currency, the one shared by 18 other countries in the euro zone, forms a significant part of the "international currencies". In the week that Angela Merkel spoke at Davos, the European Central Bank announced that it would buy €60 billion in bonds every month to encourage growth across the euro zone.

“The deep sea gives up some secrets.”

It’s assumed that poor, doomed flight MH370, which set off from Kuala Lumpur last March due for Beijing, but got mysteriously lost, is somewhere in the deepest of the deep seas. Among the many things the disappearance of that plane did was to remind people how huge our world is, and how vast our oceans. The deep sea has not yet given up the mystery of MH370, but in January, Malaysia officially declared its disappearance “an accident” and that all those who were on board are dead. The conspiracy theorists are still out on this one, claiming that since not a scrap of the plane or anything in it has been found, it’s as likely to have been hijacked/taken by aliens/hidden somewhere as the subject of an accident.

“Snakes in the news.”

Alas not, unless Old Moore was referring to the two-legged variety. I could not find any references to snakes in international news last month. We love a good snake story: snakes on a plane, snakes in the toilet, snakes under the bed. I’m sure they were somewhere, but not in world news.

“Mild gun reform in the US.” Sorry, Old Moore. Not a chance. On the last day of January, a three-year-old boy in New Mexico made

headlines by shooting his father and his pregnant mother with one bullet. The child had been looking for an iPad in his mother’s handbag, and pulled out the loaded gun instead. Thankfully nobody died.

"Halle Berry marriage in jeopardy.” 

Poor Halle’s marriage has been in “jeopardy” for at least six months now, according to the celebrity gossip. Unless Old Moore has a direct line to Halle, I’m guessing

he's getting his info from TMZ, that giant gossip launderette where all the celebrity dirty linen seems to end up. The husband, by the way, is Olivier Martinez, who cheated on and dumped the living, breathing angel who is Kylie Minogue, so frankly, "boo, hiss" to him anyway.

“Michael D Higgins’s health in the spotlight.”

I think Old Moore misspelled this one. He was referring not to the President’s (excellent) health, but his height. Which was definitely in the news in January.

FEBRUARY PREDICTIONS: WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR

Ireland

1. Joan Burton has a headache
2. Politician has a Twitter event
3. Irish Water controversy takes a new turn (chief executive John Tierney pictured right)
4. Birdlife under the microscope.

Wider world

1. Very famous artwork in the news
2. Kirk Douglas in the news
3. Aussie airline Qantas in the news
4. A baby for Anne Hathaway.
5. Locusts in the news.
6. CD sales die, downloads up.
7. Paris Hilton or Nicky Hilton or both have a baby.
8. Fantastic archaeological find.
9. 2016 will be a bad year for the stock markets.
10. The future is bright for oldies such as steel and cement.
11. Ryanair shares will do well, plus Google and Twitter will also do well.
12. A pregnancy for Nicole Scherzinger (below).
13. Snow in a weird place at a weird time.
14. Oceans hotting up.
15. A remarkable tree or forest is in the news.
16. A wing-suit accident.
17. World birth rate falling.
18. An animal pandemic causes havoc.

[ oldmooresalmanac.com ]

[ @TOldMooresAlmana ]