CA State Budget ’07-’12 – Cost and Revs

by | posted in: ACM Charts, The Political Devision | 0

What’s more exciting than a state budget?  Pretty much everything, but since you’re here and probably funding one, here’s a look at California’s expenditures from the last few years’ proposed and enacted budgets:

California_StateFunds07-12(click any chart to enlarge)

Yep, just what you’d expect: school and health and stuff.  But where do the funds come from?  Funds!

CA_Budget_byFund

Don’t worry, it’s just taxes.  Why bother with that chart?  Because that’s the terminology, and facing it now might help overcome your inevitable and brutal lack of interest in the “General Fund” on the day you go and look at budget yourself.  For now though, let’s take the bond figures from above with revenue summaries from the individual budgets and move on to the one slightly interesting chart in this set:

So technically, every time there’s a recession, less income will lead to less sales and therefore less tax, which basically guarantees that when the state is hurting, the government will be in no position to help.  …  Or is that not the problem?

We need more input.

[2011-2012 California State Budget, Historical Budgets from CA Dept. of Finance]

$22,100,000,000

by | posted in: Ape Con Myth, Features, The Necessities | 3

From Water.org…

Yeah, you’re right, if aliens visited us, this would be one of the countless embarrassments humanity would have to endure.  (Taking ACM’s assumption that the aliens’ first question will be, “What are you people doing?!”)

If 884 million people lack access to safe water and it costs $25 to provide one of these people water for life*, the total price tag for taking care of the problem is $22.1 billion.

Is that a lot of money or a little?  As with everything else, it depends.  Considering Water.org averaged $4M in program spending the last two years and that adding in 4 more top-rated water charities doesn’t get us up to $20M, $22.1B is a daunting sum.  On the other hand, in the United States we spend over $50B a year on footwear.

If 4.5% of the world’s population can spend that on shoes, then the 87% of people on the planet with clean water should have no trouble in getting that figure up to 100%.  The only question is how.  Ape Con Myth will continue to explore the subject.

For now though, here’s five 4-star-rated water charities according to Charity Navigator: Water.org, Water for People, Water Missions International, WaterAid America, and Lifewater International.  Please note, however, that Givewell evaluated all five and currently does not recommend any water charities, though Water.org* got their stand-out nod.

For more information on the global water situation, visit UN-Water.

Happy Sad World Water Day!.

[Related Posts at 00093 – Water]

Things We Should Have Already Known About Radiation

by | posted in: Ape Con Myth, External Infographic | 0

In today’s society, you can read the newspaper to keep up and send your kids to school so they have half a chance, but you might not get much perspective on radiation’s presence in your life unless you follow webcomics…

radiation(click for xkcd post)

Or if you happen to keep up with the Health Physics Society.  Of course, the HPS is going to provide you with far more information than you want, and none of it is meant to entertain, scare or relieve you.

[Viz via xkcd]

California Dreamin’… or not

by | posted in: Maps, The Cultural Devision | 0

In his “California Lifestyles 1990” map, Dr. William A. Bowen of the California Geographical Survey used information from 5,855 census tracts to see who was living the dream and who wasn’t, and let’s just say, there’s apparently a lot of room at the bottom of the ladder.

CA_lifestyles1990(click to enlarge – large file, but worth the wait)

[via California Geographical Survey (larger version available)]

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