Worse Than We Thought

Headlines for two recent mega-events, BP's oil spill and Greece's meltdown, caught my eye. Initial reports both used the phrase "worse than we thought". I believe that this phrase will be used and over-used a lot in the coming years. The hype and the facades are presented by the media on a daily basis, but the true facts and hard numbers go unreported and unnoticed. When reality rears its ugly face, we are told "it was worse than we thought". Thank you for the advance warning. Once again, I advise that you do your own research. Some examples below.

"Oil spill off US coast is worse than we thought, BP admits - BP has conceded that the extent of an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico may be much worse than originally thought."
Source: Times Online

"Greece's budget deficit worse than first thought - Greece had a far larger budget deficit than expected last year and the figures may yet get worse, according to the European Union's statistics office."
Source: BBC

"Obama Administration's Summers: Economy is worse than we thought - Despite bracing for the worst, a comprehensive look at the official hard data has provided another dose of the sobering economic reality for the young Obama administration."
Source: Blogging Stocks

The economy "is worse, quite frankly, than everyone thought it was," Lawrence Summers, President Obama's chief economic advisor, said Sunday on NBC's Meet The Press.

"Worse than we thought - Report warns of 4C rise by 2100 - The world's scientists yesterday gave their starkest warning yet that a failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions will bring devastating climate change within a few decades."
Source: The Guardian

"S&P: Housing crisis worse than we thought 2 months ago - Standard & Poor's has downgraded Washington Mutual and stated that the housing situation is worse than it believed at the beginning of the year (when it believed the housing situation was pretty bad). S&P sez, according to AP."
Source: The Baltimore Sun

"True Colors (Even Worse Than We Thought)" - It seems that ugly crowd of protestors harassing members of Congress in the Capitol complex this afternoon got even uglier than we thought. As noted earlier, in addition to menacing behavior toward multiple members of Congress, one protestor called Rep. Barney Frank a "faggot", a taunt greeted by laughter from fellow protestors."
Source: TPM

"Tech Addiction Worse than We Thought - Ever felt like you wouldn't be able to live without your smartphone or daily access to media and communications technology? Well new research shows that the "crackberry" effect may be real, as people deprived of their gadgets may undergo withdrawal symptoms similar to those of drug addiction."
Source: Thomas Net News

"High Fructose Corn Syrup: Worse Than We Thought? - High fructose corn syrup, which has long been considered an equivalent to table sugar, might lead those who eat it to gain weight faster."
Source: That's Fit

"Even worse than we thought - three economists at the Inter-American Development Bank have a new paper that tries to quantify the damage caused by last month's earthquake in Haiti."
Source: The Economist

"Sea level rise: It's worse than we thought - Jakobshavn has doubled its speed in the past 15 years, draining increasing amounts of ice from the Greenland ice sheet into the ocean, and Holland, an oceanographer at New York University, has been trying to find out why."
Source: New Scientist

"Analyst: Downturn in cruise business worse than we thought - Another prominent Wall Street analyst is turning more bearish on the cruise business, noting that pricing is dropping at a rapid rate."
Source: USA Today