“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

Yesterday, Black Friday, consumers spent 3%¹ more than last year. All we heard on the news was how horrible for retailers the day would be. That folks were only going to browse. I think Mr. Galbraith is correct. The crowds even trampled a Wal-Mart employee to death in their rush to buy stuff, for crying out loud.

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

1. UPDATE: latest figures estimate that the increase may be more like 7% [↩]

Spam

Alas, The North Lake Marine Corps League will not be serving Spam burgers today at the flea market.

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

I received this as an email from one of my nieces. The deal was to fill it out on yourself and send it back and send it to a bunch of other folks.

I usually don’t forward emails, and I usually don’t spend much time filling out surveys like this, but this seemed like fun. I emailed a copy back to my niece and am posting it here…in case you’re interested. Read the rest of this entry »

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)

So what do you think? Is this a combover or a really expensive hat?

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

I’m 98% recovered. Whew.

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.

I have not been feeling well today. But I learned something about diarrhea: It’s dangerous to just fart as usual. You know what I mean.

© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.