2007 was a good year, as far as I’m concerned. My Braves and Packers had good years. The Bulldogs were fantastic. Gridlock reigned in Washington while hope began to appear in Iraq. Despite mortgage collapses and oil, the economy kept going.

Really, any year that humanity manages to stumble through and still be intact is a good one. We had problems in Burma and Kenya and Iraq and the Sudan. But things are still better than they’ve ever been. And hope spring eternal.

For me, personally, it was the best year of my life. For one reason — I became a dad. Abby is highlight of my life so far. I’m on the brink of being out of astronomy — I’m about to go to 20 hours pay for 40+ hours work because my grants are almost exhausted. But she makes everything better.

My 2007 and 2006 predictions are beyond the spam event horizon. So I can’t review those. But here are my bold predictions for 2008 (Note: I wrote this before Obama’s triumph in Iowa). I’m in a hopeful optimistic mood right now. I don’t know why.

I’ll go ahead and say it — Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. My brain tells me that Hillary will find a way to win — the Clintons are so ruthless and determined and they pull all the strings. An Iowa win rarely translates to a national win and Hillary still leads the nation by a long shot.

But you know what? I’d rather be wrong on Obama than right on Hillary.

The Patriots will complete the inevitable; LSU will beat Ohio State — barely; and — since I do this every year no matter what — the Braves will win the World Series.

Some movie this year will be a classic but the year will be a financial disaster for Hollywood. James Berardinelli broke down the movies this year. I think he’s a bit pessimistic but this could be yet another “fluke” that shows Hollywood is losing their audience.

In terms of quality, however, I feel a good year coming on. Let’s just hope Crystal Skull doesn’t disappoint.

We will begin a slow withdrawal from Iraq. The fragile calm we’ve created will bend, but not break. A year from now, the violence will be, at worst, up slightly. This goes double if we elect someone like McCain or Obama.

I’ll get a job in astronomy.

Oil prices will finally begin to ease off, slightly. The massive profits of the last few years will result in more drilling and refining and an easing up. I don’t think we’ll ever see the days of sub $50/bl return. The world demand is just too high.

TV will continue to suck. 24 lost me last year — I stopped watching halfway through. BSG looks like it will end well, at least. But I have very little interest in anything that comes across the small screen these days.