Jay Reding.com

Saddam Hussein, the Butcher of Baghdad now burns in Hell.

The greatest travesty of this man’s death is that he killed so many, yet we can only kill him once. Still, his actions were so far beyond the bounds of humanity that his death was necessary. Such evil should never be tolerated. The Hussein regime systematically brutalized the Iraqi people — nothing we can do can bring back what he stole from millions of Iraqis, but we can ensure that this monster will never cause harm again.

Thus, always, to tyrants.

As is my annual tradition, I’m releasing my inner Nostradamus and coming up with a few predictions for the coming year…

Iran will announce that they have completed work on a nuclear weapon and will conduct nuclear tests, showing once again how the intelligence community got it wrong.

However, Ahmadinejad will face great political backlash as the Iranian economy begins to collapse.

Iran and the US will enter a state of de facto war as Iranian naval vessels blockade the Straights of Hormuz and more Iranian fighters stream into Iraq.

President Bush will announce significant troop withdrawals from Iraq, as the situation in Iraq grows even more dire. His attempt to “surge” troops into Baghdad will be too little, too late, and not long enough to make a difference.

The al-Maliki government will collapse when SCIRI and the Sadrists both walk out.

The biggest success in the War on Terror will be when Ethopian troops take down the Islamist government in Somalia in a decisive victory.

As a consequence of the above, the US will begin training Kurdish peshmerga to fight al-Qaeda as US troops withdraw.

Apple will release a cell phone that runs a stripped-down version of Mac OS X, creating the hottest gadget since the iPod.

President Bush’s approval ratings will stay low, but not lower than they are now. (Which granted, isn’t saying much at this point.)

The Democratic Congress will push through a substantial tax raise, and the Bush Administration will capitulate. The stock markets will plunge in response.

Hizballah will continue their reign of terror in Lebanon, as Syrian forces take control of the country once again.

More critics of Vladimir Putin will find themselves dead.

Socialist Ségolène Royal will defeat Nicolas Sarkozy in the French elections.

Barack Obama will continue to flirt with running for the Presidency throughout 2007, just to keep Hillary guessing.

John McCain will emerge as the front-runner in the 2008 GOP race while Rudy continues to keep everyone guessing as to what his intentions really are.

I finally managed to snag one of the ultra-popular Nintendo Wii consoles today, being lucky enough to wonder into a Target an hour after a shipment had arrived and catching one of the last 3 in stock. The Wii, despite having a rather silly name, is just freakin’ fun. The graphics aren’t fantastic, although Wii Sports has its charms, but what it lacks in graphical horsepower it makes up for it sheer entertainment value. Wii Sports is a great party game - Tennis and Baseball aren’t all that great, but Bowling, Golf, and especially Boxing do a great job of showing off the Wii’s motion-sensing controllers. It’s a great machine for people who aren’t hardcore gamers — it’s easy to pick up, it’s involving, and it’s entertaining. Nintendo zigged when the rest of the industry zagged towards HD graphics and nifty visuals, which are nice, but no substitute for good gameplay.

The Wii isn’t in the same league as the XBox 360 or the PS3 - but it is cheaper, more fun, and more accessible to non-gamers. That explains why the things keep selling out as soon as stores get a shipment - it really is something that takes gaming and gives it an innovative new spin.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have another round of golf waiting for me…

Power Line has some observations on the sale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune to a private equity group. The previous owners, McClatchy Co., bought the paper for $1.2 billion in 1998 — they sold it for only $530 million. Ostensibly, McClatchy sold the Strib to offset the taxable gains they incurred when they bought out the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain. However, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if you’re willing to sell something for less than half of the price you bought it, it’s not a valuable property.

The old newspaper industry is dying — dead-tree editions of the newspaper just aren’t selling enough to turn a profit these days. When the Strib was resorting to wallpapering their website with those gawdawful Denny Hecker ads, it was a sign that they were looking for any way they could to pay the bills. There are simply too many news sources around — sources that don’t have the endemic bias of the old media.

The Strib is unlikely to fold, but perhaps the new owners will provide it with more balance, more relevance, and more innovation.

Former President Gerald Ford has passed away at the age of 93. Ford had the unenviable task of leading the country in the wake of the Watergate scandals, and he did it with integrity. His decision to pardon Richard Nixon, which probably destroyed his Presidential career, was the right choice. He handled his difficult period in office with integrity and helped America move forward during a difficult time.

RIP