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assorted pieces and links
Apr. 18th, 2006 12:14 amLame today. No, very lame today. Tho' I did manage to get in three hours of horsetail death in the garden between housecleaning and a general lack of overall agenda advancement. Oh well, must do better tomorrow.
Ember Berries
Ominous:
David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States: The first deficit we face is the federal budget deficit, which in 2005 was around $319 billion on a cash basis. This widely reported number is somewhat misleading because it fails to take into account all the expenses the federal government incurred during the year. When these costs are included... the federal government’s net operating cost (or accrual based deficit) was actually $760 billion — the highest ever recorded in the United States. ... As a certified public accountant and the federal official who signs the audit report on the U.S. government’s financial statements, I’m here to tell you that America’s finances are far worse than advertised.
And yet, because the surge in [oil and gasoline] prices this year has been gradual -- in contrast with the spike following Hurricane Katrina last August -- Resler said consumer spending would only decline this summer by about one-third of one percent. "It's not huge," he said. / Indeed, the impact high energy prices have on the overall economy are complex. In theory, discretionary spending should slow, although Citigroup's Wieting said consumers may just save less and buy more goods on credit. To which I can only ask How? The savings rate has already been negative for months. There's also a chart showing the cyclical nature of gasoline demand, which I link to since I've had people kind of not buying that it is cyclical.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's problems are substantial and structural, despite a reformist President, with a standard of living lower than that of Haiti. (This is a reprint of an article from The Atlantic Monthly.) This is where the American government anticipates the largest single chunk of future oil imports coming from.
Funny:
Chibi. Hitler. Slash. God, I love t3h internets.
Buffy fans must watch this. C'mon, it's great.
Fannish:
The Norwescon community has several people posting flickr-hosted Norwescon photosets, including an atypically good Xena and a similarly atypically good Captain Jack Sparrow. Oh, and here's that red demon mentioned earlier.
Cloudy:
January Clouds (Kenmore) (1)
Ember Berries
Ominous:
David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States: The first deficit we face is the federal budget deficit, which in 2005 was around $319 billion on a cash basis. This widely reported number is somewhat misleading because it fails to take into account all the expenses the federal government incurred during the year. When these costs are included... the federal government’s net operating cost (or accrual based deficit) was actually $760 billion — the highest ever recorded in the United States. ... As a certified public accountant and the federal official who signs the audit report on the U.S. government’s financial statements, I’m here to tell you that America’s finances are far worse than advertised.
And yet, because the surge in [oil and gasoline] prices this year has been gradual -- in contrast with the spike following Hurricane Katrina last August -- Resler said consumer spending would only decline this summer by about one-third of one percent. "It's not huge," he said. / Indeed, the impact high energy prices have on the overall economy are complex. In theory, discretionary spending should slow, although Citigroup's Wieting said consumers may just save less and buy more goods on credit. To which I can only ask How? The savings rate has already been negative for months. There's also a chart showing the cyclical nature of gasoline demand, which I link to since I've had people kind of not buying that it is cyclical.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's problems are substantial and structural, despite a reformist President, with a standard of living lower than that of Haiti. (This is a reprint of an article from The Atlantic Monthly.) This is where the American government anticipates the largest single chunk of future oil imports coming from.
Funny:
Chibi. Hitler. Slash. God, I love t3h internets.
Buffy fans must watch this. C'mon, it's great.
Fannish:
The Norwescon community has several people posting flickr-hosted Norwescon photosets, including an atypically good Xena and a similarly atypically good Captain Jack Sparrow. Oh, and here's that red demon mentioned earlier.
Cloudy:
January Clouds (Kenmore) (1)
