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PREDICTIONS FOR 1998 |
<putting on Jay Leno's magic turban!>
[#19 has my "insider" predictions for retiring Beanies]
1. we shall all become a year older-- if we live that long!
2. a lot of retired Beanie Baby prices will drop, and Princess will be all over the place at $5 instead of the hundreds or even thousands the financially endowed people are paying now! Ty will retire loads more and their unusually erratic shipping will improve in order to reduce their HUGE warehouse inventories. Takeover rumors will be more common.
3. the Stock markets will radically change due primarily to monetary influences and scandals in the Asian area
4. weather patterns around the world will be unusually weird due to the low period of the solar activity cycle we are in -- somebody should do a study on the possible relationship between the infamous "el Niño" and these 11-year solar cycles.The next century will be markedly COLDER than the 20th.
5. student "standardized" test scores should drop (especially in mathematical reasoning), violence in the schools should rise, there could be a rash of magnecides (murders of important political figures), and some new health-related problems, again due to our present period of low sunspot numbers
6. IRAQ must have an absolute total blockade of aid of any kind (including air, if possible!) because they are actively engaged in that politically over used buzzword : "weapons of mass destruction" <barf> -- a great catch phrase good enough for evening news "soundbites"! Any hardships on the people of that country are due solely to that megalomaniac Saddam, who is using megabucks for supplies and weapons! He and his cronies are not starving! If the land needs $$ so badly let him sell a couple of "his" palaces-- I am sure Donald Trump might buy a couple and use them as REAL snazzy casinos, replacing the sleezy kitchy pastiche monstrosities he already has!
Incidently, where are all the public school improvements and refurbishing of Atlantic City that were supposed to result from the income of the casino magabucks ??
7. computers will become much less expensive and will be faster and offer loads more memory due partly to the use of copper in the chips. Floppy disks and even ZIP drives will be replaced by optical read/write hardware as standard equipment. "Flat screen" technology will improve and we shall no longer have to be hampered with bulky back - heavy monitors! Megabuck pricetags will get lower
8. more BIG problems with Israel due to their off-the-wall, skewed and totally self interested way of dealing with politics in their neighborhood. The only thing they seem to be good at is raising $$ for more holocaust museums / memorials in different countries -- and even towns. Funny how the eternally "oppressed" can be so overtly OPPRESSIVE! I have yet to hear / read of massive, imposing, self-serving costly structures on prime real estate in any country of the world dedicated to the gypsys, gays, handicapped or retarded victims of the Nazi exterminations! But I guess they were not the bankers and businessmen and did not possess the TONS of gold they are still finding records of in banks around the world!
9. England a.k.a. Great Britain will finally have a new monarch
10. spectacular archaeological discoveries in Egypt
11. global cellular phone service will finally become available, and at reasonable prices!
12. research will prove that microwave / ELF transmissions do have a negative effect on life, including humans. Check out the disoriented birds flying in the range of satellite dishes! And guess what it does to their reproductive capability!
13. new approaches to cancer treatment will prove highly effective, eliminating the need for radiation and the type of chemotherapy I had to go through! And ALSO eliminating the jobs and expensive equipment of all those trained in the "old" ways!! Watch for stumbling blocks to new treatments placed by self-interested members of the medical "elite"!
GAWD, just received this tidbit in an email from a pal in Alaska : Did you know that the American Cancer Society holds the patent on radiation treatments??? Very few people know this about the ACS. Not much motivation to find a cure, eh? That's one of the reasons I can't stand ACS. I am willing to go one on one to assist in the treatment or support of those with cancer, but I WILL NOT give money to the ACS. I heard this little tidbit years ago. For all I know, they have now shielded themselves and have sold the patent to some dummy corp.
14. cloning will reach scandalous new heights. Can it really be ethically regulated / supervised?? Certainly not by scientists who would all like to clone themselves!!
15. teleportation research will make "beam me up Scotty" seem within reach -- GAWD, and the military implications! BEWARE!!
16. ultranationalism will reassert its ugly face in many parts of the world, including Germany, where it is officially "banned" <hehe>. Not good for the long awaited United Europe where the Teutonic banking hordes would like to be THE main force to reckon with! As a German Professor once told me at the Universität von Bonn, "'KRIEGEN' is the most beautiful German word!" I shall not go into its linguistic or sociological implications!
17. BONES (or whatever Clinton's pussy's new friend's name is) will defecate (= shit) at least once within the hallowed walls of the White House!
18. the cyber "Year 2000" problem / glitch will become more acute, with many companies trying to hedge against it with miserly patches. After all, their only aim is to rake in the $$, not spend it! And Frank thought he has problems on Millennium !
19. Ty will retire the following Beanies : Bernie, Blackie, Blizzard, Bones, Bongo, Chocolate, Crunch, Cubbie, Curly, Derby, Ears, Echo, Floppity, Hippity, Hoppity, Goldie, Lizzy, Lucky, Magic, Maple, Nip, Patti, Pinky, Rover, Spike, Spooky, Valentino, Waves, 97 Teddy and Zip. There will be a new tie dyed frog or other reptile, dog, cat and bunny. Look for new napped critters, at least one new invertebrate, a couple new bears with at least one in pastel color, something new with that kewl irridescent fabric, at least one new prehistoric animal, a fish, another sea creature and a couple model variations on existing Beanies. The tags will change again!
[I will list the new ones that retire on New Year's Eve , so if you can not reach the TY site, check with me RIGHT HERE !! BOOKMARK this page]
CLICK-->>AND THE NEW RETIREDS ARE
Scandals will appear about official Ty dealers selling newer beanies out the back door for inflated prices (which of course does not appear on their tax forms as income!), thus depriving the "average Joe" of being able to buy the beasties for their kids at the list price and having to resort to paying higher secondary markets prices.
QUESTION : the sneaky schemes used by some dealers to "auction off for charity" <puke> 75 of the new Princess bears so near the holidays (WOW, what a coincidence!) will result in :
A. the socially conscious dealers use a tax write off at IRS time of the generous donation of HIS REAL COST of the Beanies, which is around $2.50 x 75 = about $187.50, not counting shipping which would be, by US Postal Service rates, about $30.
B. the holiday-spirited dealership writes off the TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE FISTFULL OF $$ received as "charity" auction proceeds (at least one was "sold" for over $2,000!!) Let us take $250 as an "average"-- that would come to a whopping $18,750 !! That is only one hundred (100) times what they cost (what a coincidence!)! Very creative accounting!
C. this altruistic group of dealers does not write anything off as a deduction because they already raked in at least one dollar extra profit per Beanie on the tens of thousands of Beanies they have sold to date -- other neighboring stores (Zany Brainy and Spains, among others) sell their critters at $4.99 while these publically applauded good samaritans sell theirs at $5.99!! Wonder where they got their business degree?
Does the newspaper which provided thousands of $$ of absolutely free publicity at the peak retail time of the year, including photos of the long lines of customers buying Beanies at the store also write that off as donations to a registered charity ? Has anyone ever heard of kickbacks or overhead costs ?? Do you realize exactly how much of a given donation actually reaches the "charities" for their humanistic giving / work ??
And the Ty Corporation promised their honored customers ( in writing!) , most of whom are children, that Princess would NOT be allowed to be sold for more than the normal "retail" price and that every cent of profit would go to Princess Di's Foundation ! Check the web auction and trading / selling sites, including TY's very own website !!, and see them offered at more than $200 !! WHAT A SCAM !! Where are the numerous people getting theirs (and I do not mean at night!) who email me daily offering me all the Princess Beanies I need at $150 / each?? THEY ARE GREEDY REGISTERED TY DEALERS! But this is America, LAND OF THE FREE (wheelers - dealers!)-- what else could one expect?
Some enterprising souls are even counterfeiting different poor Beanies! And, not unlike false $100 bills, they are trying to do a fast job to make an even faster buck and the quality of the finished product is ratty! (Curiously enough they are appearing on the West Coast-- probably coming from Asian sources -- their national finances may be in crisis, but their sense of entrepreneurship is still alive and well !!).
Tidbit : I sent Ty Warner two certified / return receipt letters some time ago and never received the return receipt thingy! Does he own the hometown Postoffice too?
Sorry to get so worked up, but I do that frequently about something that really bugs, excites or interests me. Can I be imagining all of this negative scenario and there really are good, non - Grinches out there in the Universe this time of year ?? THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE !!
READ EMAILS RECEIVED ABOUT THE PRINCESS SCAM
20. a blind research scientist will discover a high incidence of blindness in Wales. According to a recent study, men who are sexually active, whatever that means, LIVE LONGER!! <time out!> OK, I am back. So that former U.S. Surgeon General, Jocelyn, really knew what she was talking about!! Hey, if the President can do it......
LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT!!
21. America On Line (a.k.a. aol) will have several serious outages due to their inability to keep up with basic service demands as a flock of new computer owners join up! New Years Eve will be a disaster!
22. Australia will become a sovereign Nation. Alas, the Commonwealth will become yet smaller. That leaves Gibraltar and a few other choice properties they still do not want to return to their rightful owners. GAWD, how I love those thick British hamburgers with chutney sauce !
Let us see what Australia does with the "Aborigines" land claims!
23. watch for new technical difficulties with China after King Kong got Hong Kong back!
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