A Decade in Failed Predictions

  • 'Two years from now, spam will be solved.'

    BILL GATES, predicting the end of the Internet scourge, at the World Economic Forum, Jan. 23, 2004

    'All of a sudden, we see riots, we see protests, we see people clashing. The next thing we know, there is injured or there is dead people. We don't want it to get to that extent.'

    ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, predicting unrest if San Francisco continued to allow gay marriages, February 2004

    'Those were the two dumbest words I ever said.'

    GEORGE TENET, former CIA director, April 27, 2005, reflecting on his claim that the CIA had "slam dunk" evidence proving Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction

    'Every decade has an iconic blonde like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana, and right now I'm that icon.'

    PARIS HILTON, heiress and reality star, on the overpowering nature of her celebrity, July 2006; in the years since, Hilton has experienced various substance-related legal troubles

    'In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules [and] it's impossible for a violation to go undetected, certainly not for a considerable period of time.

    BERNIE MADOFF, unwittingly foreseeing his own downfall, October 2007

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