Weather Report: Georgia Again, Oil, The Economy, Food/Water, Gardening and First-Aid

GEORGIA AGAIN : This past August 8, Russia invaded it’s neighbor Georgia. We noted here on Tuesday of this week, that despite a cease-fire, UN Security Council meetings, assurances from Russia, NATO and EU concerns, etc., Russian troops remained in Georgia. Today, 8/22, it should noted that : “ Russia has made no significant withdrawal of their military forces from the country of Georgia.”

OIL : CNNMoney.com on 8/21/08 presented an article entitled “ Why oil won’t fall below $100 “. Pretty much the essence this article revolves around the fact that the cost of production, money and materials (primarily steel) will keep the price of oil above $100/barrel.

THE ECONOMY : In a money news.newsmax.com article on 8/20/08 (“Walker: Washington Totally Out Of Control”), the former head of the GAO noted that “ We’re in a $53 trillion hole. And that hole gets deeper $2-3 trillion a year automatically, even if you have a balanced budget. Walker goes on to add that “Tough budget controls… will have to be imposed.” and that Americans will need to prepare for a cultural change in their attitudes towards money: they’ll have to become savers instead of spenders.

Another moneynews.newsmax.com article on 8/20/08 referred to comments from Nouriel Roubini regarding U.S. regional banks, housing and the economy: “Roubini: One-third of Regional banks to Fail”. ( It should be noted here that the NYU Professor’s views ,” once considered unnecessarily apocalyptic” have begun gain supporters among financial analysts.) The regional banks are in great difficulty because “The housing recession is not bottoming out … but “is actually getting worse.” With the result that homeowners are defaulting on their mortgages in greater numbers giving increasing weakness to banks balance sheets. Also, Roubini notes here too that the value of houses have fallen to a level not seen since the days of the Great Depression.This adds to bank balance sheet woes as well as reduced consumption by consumers unable to tap into their home equity.

The Telegraph.co.UK in the article “ Sharp U.S. money supply contraction points to Wall Street crunch ahead” on 8/19/08, says “The U.S. money supply has experienced the sharpest contraction in modern history, heightening the risk of a wall street crunch and a severe economic slowdown in coming months.” It goes on to note that though household debt is at 131% of disposable income “…People either can’t borrow or don’t want to borrow..”. The U. of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment has declined to it’s lowest level since the recession of the 1980’s and this, indicates the article, helps promise “The U.S. economy is…facing severe headwinds going into the autumn.”

Goldman Sachs says that “ Half the world economy, including the UK, is in recession or on the brink…” This “half “ includes the worlds major economies such as the U.S., Japan, and the Euro zone according to the telegraph.co.UK article of 8/22/08 : “ Recession fear for half the globe, says Goldman Sachs”.

FOOD/WATER: ” USDA: Food Prices to Post Biggest Increase Since 1990” says the headline story at money news.newsmax.com on 8/20/08. Food costs are estimated to rise 5-6% this year and 4-5% in 2009 driven by the cost of energy on transport, packaging, and processing.

WATER: 8/20/08’S Energy Bulletin (@ energybulletin.net) notes in an article “ Leading Wall Street water analyst Neil Berlant : Price of water in U.S. to rise up to 300% in next 2-3 years” driven by things like infrastructure repairs, purification, and desalinization.

In the same group of Energy Bulletin articles, one entitled, “ Water everywhere, and not a drop to grow” by Colin Chartres, BBC Online, notes that the “Limited availability of fresh water is often overlooked as a cause of food scarcity and environmental decline…”. Noted in the article too, was the fact that “ every calorie of rood requires a litre of water to produce…”

GARDENING: We’re going to postpone our discussion of gardening until next week due to a desire to focus on drought, container, and small-space gardening for the home.

FIRST-AID: Here are some items we wanted to add to our list from 8/19 : charcoal (emetic), cortisone cream, hydrogen peroxide, rectal thermometer for children, and a maximum sun screen/block.

Note : In all items of First-Aid like those of food etc., in-date to rotate upon expiration.

Until next week then, keep your eyes on the horizon.