Archive for June 17th, 2008


Multiple newspaper chains close to defaulting

Plummeting ad sales combined with huge amounts of debt have many newspaper chains facing the real possibility of defaulting on loan agreements.

Among other things, classifieds ads used to be a major moneymaker for newspapers. But websites like CraigsList and eBay have greatly reduced classified ad income, an instructive example indeed of how the net continues to be disruptive technology.

Newspapers do serve an important purpose, but it’s difficult to see how they will survive, much less prosper.

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Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson

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Firefox 3 is shipping

It’s a free download of course but currently their servers are maxed out so keep trying.

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Nationalize the oil companies?

Climate and Capitalism says “Nationalize big oil, enemy of people and planet” but that won’t necessarily solve the problem.

The biggest oil entities on the planet already are nationalized. Companies like Exxon-Mobil, are smallish in comparison.

Ranked on the basis of oil and gas reserve holdings, 14 of the top 20 upstream oil and gas companies in the world are national oil companies or newly privatized national oil companies. State monopolies represent the top 10 reserve holders internationally.

Of the top 20 oil and gas producers worldwide, 14 are national oil companies or newly privatized national oil companies,

So, nationalization in and of itself doesn’t appear to solve the problem of rising prices. A national oil company may offer low subsidized prices to the populace, but that money has to come from somewhere. The real driver of high gas prices is increased demand. So, we need better, more efficient ways to use oil as well as lots of renewable energy sources. That’s what will cut demand.

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Cedar Rapids water conservation

He’s pumping water out of a flooded basement into a barrel using the sump pump so it can be used to flush toilets.

The basement in our old house in Connecticut flooded in March after torrential rains, but we only had a couple of inches. From the sounds of it, his home has way more than that. This “slice of life” shows what they’re going through there.

From the YouTube Citizen News channel

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Oil’s gains are due to fundamentals, not speculation

Why?

Stagnant supply
Increasing demand
Weak dollar

Seems clear enough to me.

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