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What kind of luck will ’13 bring?
Randy Blaser
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Updated: January 2, 2013 3:10PM
Can anything good come from 2013?
With a year ending in unlucky No. 13, will it go down as one of the worst years in history?
Just think of all the bad things that happened the last time a year ended in 13, just a century ago in 1913.
Richard M. Nixon was born Jan. 9, so that gives you an idea of how the year started.
The 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913. Remember that one? Just look at your paycheck, if you need a reminder. The 16th Amendment gave Congress the power to levy income taxes.
In July of that year, Death Valley recorded a temperature of 134 degrees, the hottest day ever. We may hit that mark somewhere in Greenland in 2013.
Pancho Villa returned to Mexico in 1913 and in czarist Russia the Romanov Dynasty celebrated its 300th anniversary on the throne amidst great monarchist sentiment among the people.
So what could 2013 bring? Will it be just as unlucky? Here’s my take on what will happen in 2013.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the income tax, we will pay more taxes. Despite what the pols say, you can bet taxes will go up in 2013 — definitely for the so-called rich and maybe for everyone.
As former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski told President George Bush in 1989, “The Treasury is empty.” It still is, and that’s unlucky for the rest of us.
Russia hasn’t called back the Czar, but if President Barack Obama is contemplating a third term, as some of the right-wing wackos claim, he might want to watch “Dr. Zhivago.” Public sentiment can change in a hurry. Oh, wait, 2013 may be the year he comes clean as a secret Commie.
Gun owners were buying weapons like mad at the end of 2012 because of all the talk about gun regulation. I suspect that will continue in 2013, as Congress continues to dither on new gun laws.
The sad thing is whatever Congress decides will have no impact whatsoever. Dozens of people, including innocent children, will continue to be murdered on the streets of big cities such as Chicago every month.
In the immediate future, everyone is wondering if the country will go off the fiscal cliff. By now, I think nobody really cares. Since no pundit has been able to tell us what it will mean to the individual, it doesn’t matter. Will there not be action movies on Friday nights, meatloaf on Mondays and happy hours on Thursdays?
If so, then who cares?
Have a happy new year in 2013, and don’t walk under any ladders, step in front of a black cat or step on a crack.
