Why are we seeing so much violence recently? One explanation is that people are sympathizing with those in the Minneapolis area who are upset at the death of George Floyd. They believe that a white cop used excessive force in subduing Floyd, leading to his death.
I believe that there is a much deeper story involved. As I wrote in my recent post, Understanding Our Pandemic – Economy Predicament, the problem we are facing is too many people relative to resources, particularly energy resources. This leads to a condition sometimes referred to as “overshoot and collapse.” The economy grows for a while, may stabilize for a time, and then heads in a downward direction, essentially because energy consumption per capita falls too low.
Strangely enough, this energy crisis looks like a crisis of affordability. The young and the poor, especially, cannot afford to buy goods and services that they need, such as a home in which to raise their children and a vehicle to drive. Trying to do so leaves them with excessive debt. If the affordability problem changes for the worse, the young and the poor are likely to protest. In fact, these protests may become violent.
The pandemic tends to make the affordability problem worse for minorities and young people because they are disproportionately affected by job losses associated with lockdowns. In many cases, the poor catch COVID-19 more frequently because they live and/or work in crowded conditions where the disease spreads easily. In the US, blacks seem to be especially hard hit, both by COVID-19 and through the loss of jobs. These issues, plus the availability of guns, makes the situation particularly explosive in the US.
Let me explain these issues further.
[1] Energy is required for all aspects of the economy.
Energy is required by governments. Energy is required to operate police cars. Energy is required to build schools and to operate their heating and lighting. Energy is needed to build and maintain roads. Tax revenue represents available funds to buy energy products and goods and services made with energy products.
Energy is needed for any type of business. Operating a computer requires electricity, which is a form of energy. Heating or cooling a building requires energy. Growing food requires solar energy from the sun; liquid fuel is used to operate farm machinery and trucks that transport food to the locations where it is sold. Human energy is used for some of these processes. For example, human energy is used to operate computers and farm machinery. Human energy is sometimes used to pick the crops, as well.
Wages paid by governments and businesses indirectly go to buy energy products of many kinds. Food is, of course, an energy product. The heat to cook or bake the food is also an energy product. Metals of all kinds are made using energy products, and lumber is cut and transported using energy products. With sufficient wages, it is possible to buy or rent a home, and to purchase or lease an automobile.
Interest rates indirectly reflect the portion of goods and services produced by energy products that can be transferred to parts of the system that depend on interest earnings. For example, banks, insurance companies and those on pensions depend on interest earnings. If interest rates are high, benefits to pensioners can easily be paid and insurance companies can charge low rates for their products, because their interest earnings will help offset claim costs.
Interest rates are now about as low as they can go, indicating a likely shortage of energy for funding these interest rates. The last time interest rates were close to current levels was during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Figure 1. Ten-year and three-month US Treasury interest rates, in chart made by FRED.
[2] When there is not enough energy to go around, the result can be low commodity prices, low wages and layoffs.
This is not an intuitive result. Most people assume (low energy = high prices), but this is the opposite of what actually happens. The problem is that the amount workers can afford to pay for finished goods and services needs to be high enough to make production of the commodities used in making the finished products profitable. When affordability falls too low, the system tends to collapse.
We are really dealing with a two-sided problem. The prices of commodities such as oil, wholesale electricity, steel, copper and food tend to fluctuate widely. Consumers need these prices to be low, in order for the price of finished goods made with these commodities to be affordable; producers need the prices of these commodities to rise ever-higher, to cover the cost of deeper wells and more batteries, to try to partially offset the intermittency of solar and wind electricity.
Most people assume that the situation will be resolved in the direction of commodity prices rising ever higher. In fact, commodity prices did rise higher, until mid 2008. Then, something snapped; commodity prices have been falling ever-lower since mid 2008. In fact, ever-lower commodity prices have been a world-wide problem, causing huge problems for countries trying to support their economies with export revenues based on commodity production.
Figure 2. CRB Commodity Price Index from 1995 to June 2, 2020. Chart prepared by Trading Economics. Composition is 39% energy, 41% agriculture, 7% precious metals and 13% industrial metals.
Even before the lockdowns, low commodity prices were leading to low wages of those working in commodity industries around the world. These low prices also led to low tax revenue, and this low tax revenue led to an inability of governments to afford the services that citizens expect, such as bus service and subsidized prices for certain essential goods/services. For example, South Africa (an exporter of coal and minerals) was experiencing public protests in September 2019, for reasons such as these. Chile is a major exporter of copper and lithium. Low prices of those commodities led to violent protests in 2019 for similar reasons.
Now, in 2020, lockdowns have led to even lower commodity prices. At times, farmers have been plowing their crops under. Oil companies are laying off workers. The trend toward lower commodity prices had been occurring for a long time; the recent drop in prices was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” If prices stay this low, there is a danger of falling production of commodities that we depend on, including food, metals, electricity, and oil. Businesses producing these items will fail, and governments with falling tax revenue will be unable to support them.
[3] Historical energy consumption data shows that violence often accompanies periods when energy production is not growing fast enough to meet the needs of the growing population.
Figure 3 shows average annual growth in world energy consumption, for 10-year periods:
Figure 3. Average growth in energy consumption for 10 year periods, based on Vaclav Smil estimates from Energy Transitions: History, Requirements and Prospects (Appendix) together with BP Statistical Data for 1965 and subsequent.
Economic growth encompasses both population growth and rising standards of living. Figure 4 below takes the same information used in Figure 3 and divides it into (a) the portion underlying population growth, and (b) the portion of the energy supply growth available for improved standards of living. During most periods, increased population absorbs over half of increased energy consumption.
Figure 4. Figure similar to Figure 3, except that energy devoted to population growth and growth in living standards are separated. A circle is also added showing the recent growth in energy is primarily the result of China’s temporary growth in coal supplies.
There are three dips in the Living Standards portion of Figure 4. The first one came in the 10 years ended 1860, just before the US Civil War. Most of us would say that was a period of violence.
The second one occurred in the 10 years ended 1930. This is the period when the Great Depression began. It came between World War I and World War II. This was another violent period of our history.
The third dip came in the 10-year period ended 2000. This was not a particularly violent period; instead, it reflects the collapse of the central government of the Soviet Union, leaving the member republics to continue on their own. There was a huge loss of demand (really, affordability) on the part of countries that were part of the Soviet Union or depended on the Soviet Union.
Figure 5. Chart showing the fall in Eastern Europe’s materials production, after the collapse of the central government of the Soviet Union in 1991.
[4] The world is facing a situation in which total energy consumption seems likely to drop by 5% per year, or perhaps more.
If we look back at Figure 3, we see that even in very “bad” times economically, energy consumption was rising. In fact, in one 10-year period, the average increase was more than 5% per year.
If the world economy is reaching a point in which we consumers, in the aggregate, cannot afford the goods and services made with commodities, unless commodity prices are very low, we will likely experience a huge drop in energy consumption. I don’t know exactly how much the annual change will be, but energy consumption growth and GDP growth tend to move together. We might guess that GDP growth is shifting to 5% GDP annual shrinkage, and energy consumption will be shrinking by a similar percentage.
Clearly, shrinkage of 5% per year would be far worse than the world economy has experienced in the last 200 years. In fact, for the 10-year periods shown in Figure 3, there has never been a reduction in energy consumption. Even if I am wrong and the shrinkage in energy consumption is “only” 2% per year, this would be far worse than the experience over any 10-year period. In fact, during the Great Recession, world energy consumption only shrank in one year (2009) and then by 1.4%.
History doesn’t give us much guidance regarding what impact a dramatic reduction in energy consumption would have on the economy, except that population reduction would likely be part of the change that takes place. If half or more of energy consumption growth goes toward rising population (Figure 4), then a shrinkage of energy consumption seems likely to reduce world population.
[5] What the world is really facing is a competition regarding which parts of the economy can stay, and which will need to be eliminated, if there is not enough energy to go around. It should not be surprising if this competition often leads to violence.
As I indicated in Section [1], all parts of the economy depend on energy. If there is not enough, some parts must shrink back. The big question is, “Which parts?”
(a) Do governments, and organizations that bind governments together, collapse? If countries are doing poorly, they will not want to contribute to the World Trade Organization, the United Nations or the European Union. Governments, such as the government of Saudi Arabia, could be overthrown, or may simply stop operating. In fact, any government, when it faces insurmountable problems, could simply stop operating and leave its functions to lower levels of government, such as states, provinces, or cities.
(b) Do pension plans stop operating? Are pensioners left “out in the cold”? How about Social Security recipients?
(c) Can international trade be kept operating? It is a big consumer of energy. Also, competition with low-wage countries tends to keep wages in developed nations low. Without international trade, many imported goods (including imported medicines) become unavailable.
(d) Which companies will collapse, leaving bond holders and stockholders with $0? People who formerly had jobs with these companies will also find themselves without jobs.
(e) If the world economy cannot support as many people as before, which ones will be left out? Is it people in rich countries who find themselves without jobs? Is it people who find themselves without imported medicines? Is it the ones who catch COVID-19? Or is it mostly citizens of very poor countries, whose income will fall so low that starvation becomes a concern?
[6] The violent demonstrations represent an effort to try to push the problems related to the shortfall in energy, and the goods and services that energy can provide, away from the protest groups, toward other segments of the economy.
In an ideal world:
(a) Jobs that pay well would be available to all.
(b) Governments would be able to afford to provide a wide range of services to all, including free health care for all and reimbursement for time off from work for being sick. They would also be able to provide adequate pensions for the elderly and low cost public transit.
(c) Police would treat all citizens well. No group would be so poor that a life of crime would seem to be a solution.
As indicated in Section [2], back in 2019, before COVID-19 hit, protests were already starting because of low commodity prices and the indirect impacts of low commodity prices. One reason why governments were so eager to adopt shutdowns is the fact that when people were required to stay inside because of COVID-19, the problem of protests could be stopped.
It should be no surprise, then, that the protests came back, once the lockdowns have ended. There are now more people out of work and more people who are concerned about not having full healthcare costs reimbursed. Social distancing requirements are making it more difficult for businesses to operate profitably, indirectly leading to fewer available jobs.
[7] Violent protests seem to push problems fueled by an inadequate supply of affordable energy toward (a) governments and (b) insurance companies.
In some cases, insurance companies will pay for damages caused by protesters. Eventually, costs could become too great for insurance companies. Most policies have exclusions for “acts of war.” If protests escalate, this exclusion might become applicable.
Governments of all kinds are already being stressed by shutdowns because when citizens are not working, there is less tax revenue. If, in addition, governments have been paying COVID-19 related costs, this creates an even bigger budget mismatch. Governments find themselves less and less able to pay their everyday expenses, such as hiring teachers, policemen, and firemen. All of these issues tend to push city governments toward bankruptcy and more layoffs.
[8] Dark skinned people living in America tend to be Vitamin D deficient, making them more prone to getting severe cases of COVID-19. Vitamin supplements may be an inexpensive way of reducing the severity of the COVID-19 epidemic and thus lessening its diversion of energy resources.
There are a number of reports out that suggest that having adequate Vitamin D from sunlight strengthens the immune system and helps reduce the mortality of COVID-19. Adequate Vitamin C is also helpful for the immune system for people in general, not just those with dark skin.
Dark skinned people are adapted to living near the equator. If they live in the United States or Europe, their bodies make less Vitamin D from the slanted rays available in those parts of the world than they would living near the equator. As a result, studies show that Vitamin D deficiency is more common in African Americans than other Americans.
Recent data shows that the COVID-19 mortality rate for black Americans is 2.4 times that of white Americans. COVID-19 hospitalization rates are no doubt higher as well. Encouraging Americans with dark skin to take Vitamin D supplements would seem to be at least a partial solution to the problem of greater disease severity for Blacks. Vitamin C supplements, or more fresh fruit, might be helpful for all people, not just those with low Vitamin D levels.
If the COVID-19 impact can be lessened in a very inexpensive way, this would seem to be helpful for the economy in general. High-cost solutions simply divert available resources toward fighting COVID-19, making the overall resource shortfall for the rest of the economy worse.
[9] Much more equal wages would seem to be a solution for wage disparity, but this doesn’t bring the wages of low earning workers up enough, in practice.
There are a huge number of low-earning workers in many countries around the world. In order to increase commodity prices enough to make them profitable for producers, we really need wages in all countries to be much higher. For example, wages in Africa and in India need to be much higher, so that people in these parts of the world can afford goods such as cars, air conditioning and vacation travel. There is no way this can be done. Furthermore, such a change would add pollution and climate change issues.
There is a fundamental “not enough to go around” problem that we do not have an answer for. Historically, when there hasn’t been enough to go around, the attempted solution was fighting wars over what was available. In a way, the violence seen in cities around the globe is a new version of this violence. Governments of various kinds may ultimately be casualties of these uprisings. Remaining lower-level governments will be left with the problem of starting over again, issuing new currency and trying to make new alliances. In total, the new economy will be very different; it will probably bear little resemblance to today’s world economy.
“This huge rise in financial leverage will prove advisable and sustainable if, and only if, economic growth picks up quickly and validates it…
“But if growth disappoints, the economy and markets will have to cope with a massive debt overhang that results in even greater central bank distortions of markets and lower growth potential. There will be widespread debt restructurings too, and disorderly non-payments.”
https://www.ft.com/content/944c98f3-21aa-40dd-8b5e-a246e9fc444b
“Could it be that stock prices are going up, not because companies are going to do well but because money is going to nosedive in value? The market is NOT actually going up in value, the market is preempting the value of money plummeting…
“…[inflation or deflation], one thing is for sure, it’s going to be a volatile future… you don’t have to be a genius to recognize there is chaos ahead.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/investor/2020/06/10/will-there-be-deflation-or-inflation-in-the-post-coronavirus-world/#b0ecd786f189
Author’s argument for future inflation:
Hi Gail, Do you agree with this assessment? The thing is: this assumes that central banks will want to help reduce the real burden of mortgages and loans. I understood the FED is actually not a federal institution but a privately owned central bank, in which case the owners may actually want deflation to scoop up assets for pennies on the dollar. Second; would they be ablz to create the amount of needed inflation in the current deflationary environment without People losing all confidence in the dollar altogether ?
“Delta is in danger of defaulting on some of its debt — not because it doesn’t have enough cash, but because it expects it cannot comply with the current terms of its borrowing.
“The airline said in a filing Wednesday that it negotiating with lenders to change those terms. But it cautioned that “based on the reduction in demand that we have experienced and are continuing to experience as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, we expect that we will not be able to satisfy,” some of those existing terms by early next year.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/10/business/delta-possible-debt-default/index.html
“German airline Lufthansa has said it will cut 22,000 jobs as it struggles to deal with the slump in air travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic.”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-53007048
Atlanta needs Delta’s jobs; Germany needs Lufthansa’s jobs.
Alitalia has been kept on life-support for decades because of the “jobs” issue. While airline travel is clearly a non-necessary luxury consumption item, the majority of most other “jobs” don’t really need doing. I wonder to what degree “The Covid” will weed out useless bureaucrats, telemarketers, Reiki practitioners, etc.
Airlines really are needed if international businesses are to operate, partly to transport people and partly to transport urgently needed small parts. The presence of vacationers on the same airlines can help bring costs per passenger down. If fares need to escalate greatly to cover social distancing costs, it will make international flights much more difficult to maintain.
Things are transported far more cheaply per mile by ship. People will just have to revise their concepts of what is “urgent” and either come up with local solutions or be willing to wait a week or two (if we are talking about a symmetric sort of decline, which we probably aren’t).
Lidia, a cargo airship would be faster and cheaper. It would also need almost no infrastructure, and could transport goods point to point. All you need at each end is a big flat patch of grass.
Robert
to save me the trouble of working it out
please publish the figures outlining the number of airships needed to substitute for one 100000 tonne cargo ship
Somebody on OFW will know the number of such ships in transit at this point in time
And do the necessary multiplication
PS to Robert
curiousity got the better of me
the Hindenburg could carry 21,000 lbs of payload
For Norman
The Hindenburg could carry only a small payload because most of its lift was used up by the luxurious accommodation, the crew quarters, and the passengers. As a cargo airship with a much smaller crew it could have lifted about 110,000 lb, or about 55 tons. But at over 5 times the speed of a ship, and point to point on a great circle course. So an airship could transport about 500 tons source to destination, while a ship was moving port to port, with much more infrastructure and fleets of small land based transport to complete the supply chain. I think the implications are clear: we could not move bulk cargo, but high value and “just in time” cargo would move far more effectively by airship that any other way.
“British Airways is in talks to sell famous artworks worth millions of pounds, as the airline looks for ways to protect jobs and profits amid a severe slump in passenger demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/british-airways-is-auctioning-off-artwork-to-raise-much-needed-cash-2020-06-11
Don’t fret, Harry; they are not flogging Rembrandts and Vermeers. Their collection is mostly modern British art, which means it is rubbish. That’s why the best way to profit from a modern work of art is to kill the artist.
“The US economy will shrink by 6.5% this year, the Federal Reserve has forecast, announcing it would keep interest rates close to zero into 2022…
“The ongoing public health crisis will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term,” it said in a statement.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/10/us-economy-federal-reserve-jobs-coronavir
“The US economy right now is like a jumbo jet that’s in a steady glide after both its engines flamed out. In about six weeks, it will likely crash into the side of a mountain.
“What’s kept us in the air so far is an extraordinary government relief effort.”
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tomgara/economy-recession-coronavirus
“In the U.S., some Republicans are already questioning the need for more stimulus after a surprise jump in payrolls in May.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-10/virus-splinters-global-economy-exposing-inequality-faultlines
An amazing thing happened in April:
But there was nothing to buy, because stores were closed. So saving soared. Going forward, we will be seeing mismatches of a much worse kind.
“You may think that [a banking] crisis is unlikely, with memories of the 2008 crash still so fresh. But banks learned few lessons from that calamity, and new laws intended to keep them from taking on too much risk have failed to do so.
“As a result, we could be on the precipice of another crash, one different from 2008 less in kind than in degree. This one could be worse.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/coronavirus-banks-collapse/612247/
“Deutsche Bank AG will set aside the most money in more than a decade to cover the cost of loans souring as Germany’s largest lender grapples with the economic collapse in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic…
“…analysts expect the bank to post its sixth straight losing year in 2020.”
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/deutsche-bank-sees-surging-loan-071753298.html
These are some quotes:
“Just as easy mortgages fueled economic growth in the 2000s, cheap corporate debt has done so in the past decade, and many companies have binged on it.”
“Loan defaults are already happening. There were more in April than ever before. It will only get worse from here.”
Several financial commentators have been suggesting for a few years the possibility of Deutsche Bank going bankrupt. It was, probably still is, the largest bank in Europe, but it is potentially too big to bail out. Its derivatives’ liabilities until recently were about 5 times the GDP of Germany. Why is this even legal? Because we are ruled by fools.
Harry, a good quote: “But banks learned few lessons from that calamity …” Quite true: but they have learned the one lesson that matters. No matter how stupid they are, how corrupt they are, how badly the use their economic power; the State will bail them out at the expense of the people. And, of course, they will use that learning again to their advantage.
“For more than a million UK employers that have used the job retention scheme, the [October] deadline means the clock is now ticking…
“The Treasury has damped speculation that it was planning a big summer stimulus package of tax cuts or large spending measures to boost demand.”
https://www.ft.com/content/8de9ccb0-b315-4cae-9967-31ae9f9e3dff
“Up to 124,000 jobs in the UK’s aviation industry and its supply chains are at risk of disappearing in just three months because of the coronavirus, according to new research.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/airline-job-cuts-losses-aviation-flights-cancelled-coronavirus-bailout-a9558931.html
“The coronavirus pandemic has claimed another 3,600 UK jobs after the Restaurant Group, Monsoon Accessorize and Quiz announced major restructures.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52990612
“Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is to cut 5,000 jobs this year to “arrest the decline” of the company.”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-53006073
Odd that the New Economics Foundation, an alternative ‘sustainable’ economics think-tank, should be suggesting heavily subsidising an industry that is in serious decline. An inability to accept reality as it is perhaps.
Based on the Wikipedia write up,
So it sounds like their whole purpose is to produce politically acceptable economic outcomes. Unfortunately, not at all realistic.
The Foundation is a kind of luxury -50 staff working on pie-in-the-sky projects and measures of happiness and well-being – which can only be made possible by the kind of unsustainable economy they seek to reform.
Every economy, including the UK, reaches a limit on how much it can do to support the system.
“A major shipping line will no longer accept recovered plastic and other scrap material shipments bound for Hong Kong…
“Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) this month stopped accepting shipments of recovered plastics, fiber, metals and chemicals headed for China and Hong Kong. The company issued a notice to customers outlining the change, which took effect June 1.
“The notice, reviewed by Plastics Recycling Update, references China’s goal to eliminate “solid waste” imports…”
https://resource-recycling.com/plastics/2020/06/10/shipping-giant-stops-taking-exports-to-hong-kong/
“Chinese imports of [Australian] thermal coal could go to zero and likely will very quickly.
“In addition, rail capacity expansion will force Australian coal to compete with high-quality Mongolian coking coal which has been stranded by poor logistics. A rail line connecting the Tavan Tolgoi coking coal complex will be completed in 2021 and allow China to import another 30m tons of coking coal– which is almost exactly the amount that Australia exports to China.
“With a likely cost advantage and pricing advantage, it is hard to see how Australia will compete.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/11/australia-cannot-expect-china-to-import-and-burn-coal-it-no-longer-needs
Coal? Why doesn’t China just use all of those super-cheap solar panels she is producing?
If Australia will no longer be able to sell coal exports and is becoming increasingly isolated, perhaps they should consider using more of the coal themselves.
It is surprising this hasn’t happened sooner. Plastics for recycling would seem to have no value. Of course, if would-be do-gooders provide shipping to Hong Kong, it provides a subsidized cost of shipping one-way, so that containers don’t have to return empty to China. Thus, these subsidies help Chinese exports.
Check out this video (23 min.) from a woman who signed up to be a contact-tracer in the US (California,, also talks about WA):
https://youtu.be/nafP5Hpyh48
It’s hard to imagine how the majority of people could escape basically-eternal quarantine under this scheme.
Without getting “vaccinated”, that is…
How else would she think infection control works? It carried out as described the virus would be eradicated in a few weeks so the idea of endless quarantines is nonsense.
The issue is the definition of the ‘infected’, which -given the state of testing- seems to be arbitrary.
Another issue is clearly the reliance on global electronic surveillance as “the new normal”. Even if you like the idea of governments being able to block individuals from traveling, shopping, or working, what about the likelihood of these systems being hacked or mis-used (like obamagate). Maybe some “woke” contact tracer is triggered by your toxic masculinity. The whole thing is extremely sketchy. Since I don’t have a smartphone, will I not be able to go anywhere? What about people who can’t afford smartphones? Will we have an even-more stratified society , with the cloud people getting to enjoy a mini-BAU, and fly around and go to restaurants and spas, while the Dirt people just crawl off and die in their homes (or tents, if in Silicon Valley)?
Do you think we could eradicate the common cold in this fashion? If not, then why is this corona virus going to be any different?
Lidia, I worked in information security for many years, and often made myself unpopular by telling the IT geniuses that Brinch Hansen’s “layer” approach was the only one that would work, and everything else was vulnerable. You see, secure systems are “prey”, and the hackers are “predators”. Prey operate on the basis of herd security (if every node is secure, the system is secure), but predators are individualists, and so inevitably mutate faster than the prey. That’s why the gazelle will never outrun the cheetah.
Information systems provide two sources of value: information that can be stolen, and information that can be destroyed. Almost all these surveillance techniques are vulnerable to the latter form of attack. See the Epstein case of a vivid example.
Robert, this is a very valuable insight to me: “Prey operate on the basis of herd security (if every node is secure, the system is secure), but predators are individualists, and so inevitably mutate faster than the prey. ” Thanks!
One large system for all of the various predators to attack would seem to be very vulnerable. Government systems tend to be big and unwieldy. Impossible to keep up to date.
Plus, John, the whole Wuhan flu started with a single human infected. You would have to execute this scheme to a “T” in every corner of the globe, capturing every “infectee” PERFECTLY out of eight billion individuals.. (oh! and don’t forget pets.. you have to quarantine ALL THE PETS as well!).
If you miss ONE SINGLE CASE OF INFECTION, YOU ARE BACK TO SQUARE ONE after all of that effort. Do you see now why it is completely absurd?
Not just pets. There are no doubt wild animals that can catch COVID-19 as well. We know about the tigers. There are no doubt others.
The whole program sounds horribly expensive. Part of the cost is all of information gathering on everyone, everywhere, including the people who do not now have smart phones (or internet connections, most likely). Part of the cost is trying to oversee this huge mess, and part of the cost is the lost wages for all of the people who need to stay off their jobs. Also, there is a cost to all of the services being provided, such as staying in hotels and childcare for children (who, I expect, will still need to go to school).
This sounds like a program dreamed up by someone who doesn’t live in the real world, especially as the number of cases begins to escalate.
“This sounds like a program dreamed up by someone who doesn’t live in the real world”
So that’s why we seem to be living in a (not too god) dystopic science fiction movie!
And the tech people making new apps each day seem to have no idea how to do anything simple enough for the very large number of tech illiterate people to comprehend. To say they are out of touch with real folks is putting it mild. Education, lacking in the humanities, overwhelmed with the rush to learn technology, has guided them off the reservation. I doubt that they can even understand how out of their reach they themselves have made many of us.
Gail I believe you said the US debt is 75 trillion but I am seeing 25 trillion. How did you get that number?
25 trillion is govt debt only, 75 trillion includes everyone else, individuals, companies etc.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/11/oil-markets-coronavirus-us-inventories-n-focus.html
“Oil prices fell in early trade on Thursday on worries about slow demand growth with coronavirus cases rising, U.S. crude stockpiles hitting an all-time high and the U.S. Federal Reserve projecting recovery from the pandemic would take years.”
oil stockpiles hitting an all-time high…
“U.S. crude inventories rose unexpectedly…”
this is getting quite tiresome… it was obviously expected based on real economic activity…
An awfully lot of people still staying at home, not buying much of anything. Causes commodity prices to fall and the debt bubble to pop.
This just posted🤑 Try not to be too surprised by Fed Chairman Powell stating doing whatever it takes, for as long as necessary, by whatever tools they can make up to keep BAU alive.
Thank you, Mister Powell, for the warning ….it looks bleak…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_WqQSbwP8gs
Down Jones down today 282 points….what the Government debt is like 26 trillion and the Dow Jones is over 26,000 …seems we have some room still till the end of the road
The look of a man completely out to sea.
Can you say credit?
I knew you could—–
“Thank you, Mister Powell, for the warning ….it looks bleak…”
it looks bleak in the long run…
but as nauseating as it is that the bankssters/billionaires/elites will be getting perpetual bailouts right up until IC crashes (years from now), finance/banking is a metaphorical operating system of the real economy of goods and services, and its continuing operation is one necessary subsystem to keep those real goods and services flowing…
Nasdaq over 10,000 today!
bAU tonight, baby!
Like our Gail has written on several occasions, “It works until it doesn’t work” and basically it is deemed “safe” (I.e. US Dollar) until it isn’t….then the herd runs for the door all at once.
When the people lose faith in it’s currency, it can be very quick and dramatic.
As History has shown over and over that monies over time end up with zero value.
Financial Collapse is not unusual and lately we’ve been spoiled children thinking it’s different this time because we are special….sure we are, just because we have technology!😳
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pISRHOFiVpM
Yeah, we’re Special….spoiled brats👴😭 more like it. Rude awakening for everyone as investor Jim Rogers stated in like words….
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/06/10/fed-officials-project-5-growth-in-2021-no-rate-hikes-through-2022/
“Federal Reserve officials projected Wednesday that the economy would grow 5 percent next year as it recovered from a projected 6.5 percent decline this year.”
which could be read as the usual blatant optimism, in which case their optimism is for an overall decline of about 2% comparing 2021 to 2019…
it’s way too early to estimate 2021 economic activity… it could be another year of massive economic damage… who knows…
but 5% up in 2021 is possible, though just a wild guess…
the more dubious part is “6.5 percent decline this year”… Q2 is going to be steeply down, perhaps 40%… it would be “miraculous” if 2020 is down less than 10%…
so 10 to 20 % down in 2020… then 5% up in 2021 sounds possible, but is no V(ictorious) recovery…
Since 2016 we have had one gigantic and destabilizing hoax or psyop after another so I find it very hard to believe that after covid and the riots, with four more months until the elections, they don’t have plans for one more huge, socially damaging psyop.
Calm and good order is not an option, so what can they have in store for us?
Powell does what little the Federal Reserve can do to fix our problems.
Yipes!, Well, it’s still early in the growing season, but I live here in South Florida and these grow very easily…. tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, https://www.ocala.com/news/20200520/university-of-florida-survey-coronavirus-has-decimated-some-florida-farms
“Places like South Florida, where they produce millions of pounds of vegetables a day, their demand had been essentially shut off. That’s a big hit at a peak time of the year,” she added
University of Florida survey: Coronavirus has decimated some Florida farms
By James Call/USA TODAY NETWORK
Posted May 20, 2020 at 5:53 PM
The coronavirus has turned much of Florida’s winter vegetable crop into waste.
When Gov. Ron DeSantis issued executive orders shutting down the state to stop the spread of the coronavirus, people stayed home and changed their buying habits. Large food buyers like schools, resorts and restaurants became missing links in the food supply chain, leaving farmers with no market to sell their goods.
A team of University of Florida agricultural and food economists has now surveyed 729 farmers on how the stay-at-home directives and social-distancing guidelines have affected the state’s farmlands.
They found that 84% of the growers said they lost a substantial amount of business. Most of the respondents are considered small businesses, with annual revenue of less than $250,000.
“March to May is a big harvest season,” said John Lai, an assistant professor of agribusiness and part of Institute of Food and Agriculture Services (IFAS) research team, during a Tuesday virtual news conference.
The group’s five surveys conducted earlier this month measured economic activity around the production, processing and selling of agriculture and aquaculture compared to the same time last year.
Sales of field crops like green beans, corn and cabbage is decreased by 46% overall, and livestock down by 39% compared to last year. Some growers report losing as much as 90% of their business and nearly half said their cash flow has been disrupted for the “long term.”
“For a lot of these operations, if it were harvest time, that might be the only time of the year they get revenue,” said Christa Court, an IFAS economist who led the study.
“Places like South Florida, where they produce millions of pounds of vegetables a day, their demand had been essentially shut off. That’s a big hit at a peak time of the year,” she added.
The 729 growers from across the state were surveyed April 16-May 15 about the pandemic’s effect on their business. Much of the state began observing social-distancing guidelines and stay-at-home directives at the end of March.
The preliminary results show an uneven impact across different sectors of the industry.
“There were wide ranges of sales revenue changes reported within each commodity group, with some reporting positive results and others reporting total losses,” Lai said.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services calculates the losses statewide through mid-May at more than a half-billion dollars. It has launched a series of programs to use federal money to divert some of the surplus food to food banks.
And the department’s Keep Florida Growing initiative has a web site where it provides information about Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture loans for farmers and advertises the location of farms that sell directly to consumers.
The Florida Farm to You program lists the fresh produce available. It offers not only vegetables and fruits but also oysters, chicken, tilapia and meats.
“There’s no silver bullet to solving the decreased demand from food services businesses, but by connecting our agricultural producers with willing takers, we can help move Florida-grown products from fields to consumers,” Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said last week in a statement.
More like Grocery Food Chains are taking advantage the crisis
I think it is largely falling demand from restaurants, cafeterias, schools, and other places where food is prepared commercially. All of these commercial sites are still not selling nearly as much food as before. There is a fair amount of waste in the double system we have been operating. Also, restaurants tend to give very big servings that go to waste. When workers buy the food themselves, they are more careful about quantities. A restaurant has to have enough for everything on its menu, even if not everything is ordered every night.
Also, for a while, I was having trouble finding frozen vegetables. With more people at home, there really needed to be more frozen vegetables in grocery store sizes. I expect that there was an excess of frozen vegetables in commercial sizes. This lack of packaging in the sizes that people wanted to purchase was part of the problem.
A report here in the UK claimed a couple of years ago that 50% of all fresh veg is wasted either by stores or the public.
yes, commercial sites selling way less food…
but not all growers were at a loss:
““There were wide ranges of sales revenue changes reported within each commodity group, with some reporting positive results and others reporting total losses,” Lai said.
“… decimated some Florida farms…”
and has decimated many restaurants etc…
the economy is self-organizing at a lower level… many restaurants will never reopen, and hopefully most farms/farmers will be able to readjust to the reset economy and be able to sell their produce to markets/grocers/supermarkets…
surely the demand for food has not gone down…
This opinion today, in the NYTimes.
No direct mention, no thought given, to energy and the economy and money. None. The mainstream economic discussions never go there…..in fact, the wording of the article almost seems crafted to avoid the energy topic.
If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would say this avoidance of energy discussions by economists is purposeful, and intended to avert our eyes to reality. (At least here we have Gail T. !)
The simpler explanation is to blame ignorance and incompetence, rather than malevolent intent. And more and more lately, I am also just settling on accepting that the cognitive capacity of human beings just smaller than what we suppose, and all of us have basic axioms about how the world works that we assume are true but are not. We don’t have the time or brain power to check every assumption. Occasionally a new idea gets in and we re-calibrate. You would think by now energy would be part of any economy and money discussion…..
And so I am back to my conspiracy theory…….
We now have permission to print all the money we want. Well, almost….
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/opinion/us-deficit-coronavirus.html
Why I’m Not Worried About America’s Trillion-Dollar Deficits Stephanie Kelton, NYT.
“Politics aside, the only economic constraints currency-issuing states face are inflation and the availability of labor and other material resources in the real economy.”
“At any point in time, every economy faces a sort of speed limit, regulated by the availability of its real productive resources — the state of technology and the quantity and quality of its land, workers, factories, machines and other materials. If any government tries to spend too much into an economy that’s already running at full speed, inflation will accelerate. So there are limits. However, the limits are not in our government’s ability to spend money or to sustain large deficits. What M.M.T. does is distinguish the real limits from wrongheaded, self-imposed constraints.
“When what is happening in your world doesn’t make sense, when it doesn’t conform to your beliefs about how things should work, it’s time to ask hard questions.”
Politicians cannot admit that energy could possibly be part of the problem. They find economists who build models that ignore the issue.
A personal (although anecdotal) evidence of politics cluelessness. Once I asked Francisco Louçã, a dynossaur of portuguese left and economist, something about our economies’ perspective in a time of less available energy and diminishing returns, and I was appalled by something he said to me: “the law of diminishing returns does not apply to an economy as a whole”. Obviously, he believes the sphere of economics is not even touched by the laws of thermodynamics – it works in a separate universe!
the pseudoscience of economics was developed over hundreds of years of growing net (surplus) energy…
because this fact was in the background of economic development, it was either ignored or falsely assumed to be eternal…
but since energy is the base of economic activity, any decrease in net (surplus) energy will eventually show up as lower economic activity…
most economists don’t know this and probably never will…
it’s one of the great ideas of recent times, and I am thankful that I have been taught this…
I’m restoring a little treatise on ‘The Iron Railway’ just now, from the 1830’s.
In the 18th and 19th centuries there was a great deal of excitement at what progressive scientific agriculture and industrial production – with extensive steam locomotion transport – could do to increase yields and wealth, and absolutely no conception of ecosystem limits.
This formed the background for the development of economic theories and axioms which are still, alas, with us as the orthodox norm.
A few theorists, particularly when oil came along went as far as to believe the energy obtainable from them to be unlimited, and many politicians and strategists came to believe so – that sort of statement often pops up in the 1930’s and 40’s in discussions of international relations and economic progress. They bring an ironic smile to one’s lips when reading them…..
Thinking about it, the idea of unlimited energy from oil might have played a part in Hitler’s vision of a Reich that would last 1,000 years, once he had control of all the oil fields,
The Germans ere certainly meant to zip along motorways in personal automobiles while the ‘slave races’ toiled in the fields and factories – a model we eventually reached with the recent industrialisation of Asia, in a way, even dumping all our waste on them.
Excellent anecdote. Economists can be a bit like the old theologians debating the exact nature of the Divine essence: no proof needed or possible for their theories.
Similarly, just as Faith was shaken and even destroyed by the Black death, the theories of economists are soon to meet their Titanic moment – ‘Why did it happen like this, what about perpetual growth?!’
Politically, all radical Left, Progressive , Social Justice, Redistributive and Welfare Sate political programmes are base on the assumption of constant growth, not just capitalist ideology. They are in for one huge shock!
Economics, like theology, starts with false postulates and just develops them in a more or less logical way. Economics is neither science nor philosophy, it is nothing really, or at least nothing intellectually serious and stimulating. In the list of human mind endeavous i wouldn’t ranking alongside golf and paintball.
I would ranking it
@Gail Tverberg
Economist’s livehihoods don’t depend on the accuracy of their predictions. Direct consequences of failure will change them fast.
Exactly. What MMT does is ignore real limits and try to persuade people that those limits do not exist: they are myths propagated by old fashioned believers in classical economics (like me). But money, however represented, is a claim on future value, and that value is ultimately created by work, ie energy. Muscle power, human or animal, sun power (not “solar power” which is again a delusion), and of course non renewable fossil fuel power. Therefore, the objective value of money depends on how much energy each unit of money can buy. if money increases and energy does not, the value of money should fall.
There is a temporary way out of this problem: create money, but sequester it where is cannot be spent. And the place for that is the banking and investment system, where nominal wealth can indeed increase without limit, provided it is never spent. The money piles up behind a dam of “wealth delusion:, and when that dam breaks, … Well, the Weimar Republic found out the hard way.
I am wondering if at some point the international trading scheme starts breaking apart. Every country starts trying to print money, no matter how badly off they are. Other countries don’t want Venezuela’s money now. They wouldn’t want Saudi Arabia’s or Yemen’s either, if they simply printed more and more, with no resources to back this printed money up.
” does is distinguish the real limits from wrongheaded, self-imposed constraints.”
MMT will find the limit. Or be proved right. Infinite money. Finite resources.
Examining one’s basic assumptions is one of the most painful mental and even emotional processes, as well as requiring a certain level of abstract reasoning capacity – so few will ever go there.
Politics and economics can be highly emotional subjects, as they both have implications on personal survival and involve power-relations, so we can expect a lack of clear thinking to be the norm.
One of the biggest questions to settle in our own minds is “Do humans have natures?” and “if so, what does that nature consist of?”
This is the most basic of all political questions. It is only by declining to answer it that we get ideologies like libertarianism, or anarchism, or by denying human nature, we get various communisms.
They all assume that there is no human nature that might limit us in our quest for political “goods” like “freedom”, “equality”, etc. More belief in boundless (human) resources.
Kind of dvmb, really.
Even worse, perhaps, is the idea that the child is a blank slate, to be formed by the state into the perfect citizen as a result of education by expert teachers and indoctrinators,and insulated from formation by their family : the Nazi, Soviet or ‘Woke’ child……
I am finding the turn events are taking ever more alarming, but at least there is still some common sense out there.
Xabier, Steven Pinker wrote a book with precisely that title, “The Blank Slate”, in 2002. It is a great read, and, as you might expect, he gives the concept a complete evisceration.
Kim, I am reminded of the famous question posed to Master Chao-chou Ts’ung-shen (趙州從諗), “Does a dog have the Buddha nature?” Do we have any nature, Buddha like or not? On that one, I defer to Aristotle.
“Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.” Ayn Rand
“Day traders have helped to drive stock-market euphoria to an 18-year high, raising the odds of a market downturn in the next year to over 70%, Citi strategists said…”
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/day-traders-stock-market-euphoria-18-year-high-risks-citi-2020-6-1029296172?utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest
Leave everyone at home with nothing to do, and borrowing money very easy to do.
“… raising the odds of a market downturn in the next year to over 70%…”
I put those odds at about 0%…
I “bet” that in the next year, that stock-market euphoria reaches a 19-year high…
stock valuations are disconnected from the real economy…
why would this disconnection end?
https://italiano.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/06/10/livelli-vitamina-d-raggiungere-prima-di-seconda-ondata-covid-19.aspx
The summary in English is the following:
Levels of vitamin D that you should achieve before the second wave of COVID-19
This sounds like an excellent idea.
Good nutrition is important, but not sure we need to wait for a 2nd wave as the corona virus daily case count globally continues to rise per the following link’s bar graph:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/.
Unfortunately it didn’t go away as winter gave way to warmer weather. Just look at India (where its been quite hot for a long time) as today has 12,151 new cases. Click on India on that list and it will go to virus stats for India including a bar graph that shows daily count escalating from relative obscurity just a few months ago to 6th place and will jump to 4th place on Saturday.
I don’t even think the number of people dying from this has changed. There are so many dramatically different percentages of dead relative to closed cases (dead or recovered) worldwide that it’s obvious many countries are grossly under reporting deaths. Until we know the real count, we have to presume that regarding this virus, nothing has changed. It’s still on the march…
Thank you, Harry, for my Aam wrapup.. now this
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/06/09/business/food-deserts-coronavirus-grocery-stores/index.html
With the economic hit many people have taken over the last few months, it’s tougher to afford fresh, healthy food like fruits and veggies, which are more expensive than processed items,” said Michael Widener, geographer at the University of Toronto.
Additionally, online grocery delivery is out of reach for some customers who use food stamps. Around 38 million Americans relied on food stamps last year, according to the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
….Food prices have increased, stretching low-income residents’ budgets. Overall, the price of groceries grew 2.6% in April, the biggest month-to-month increase since 1974, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Egg prices shot up 16.1%, meat prices spiked 3.3% and fruit and vegetables prices ticked up 1.5
…..During the pandemic, grocers have cut back their operating hours. Public transportation has been reduced, and riders who once traveled to stores in other neighborhoods or cities can no longer do so. Some older or higher-risk populations are fearful of traveling during the pandemic.
There’s also evidence that food accessibility challenges are growing. In Georgia, the number of residents now living in “food insecure” areas has jumped 69% since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data firm Urban Footprint. The firm uses an index, including jobless claims, pre-existing health conditions, and access to grocery stores and healthy food, to measure food security — or “reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritionally adequate food.”
In Louisiana, Mississippi and Kentucky the number of residents living in food insecure areas has spiked 43%, 36% and 118% respectively, driven by the rise in unemployment, according to the analysis.
My own experience is fresh produce has gone way up in price….69cents for a cucumber…..plesseee
“Thank you, Harry…”
You are welcome, Herbie. We have been seeing the price of fresh veg go up in the UK, too.
Maybe, just maybe, it was an hedonically-adjusted cucumber?
So much better than the old models, etc.
Things Are getting Better, Comrades! Smile along with Uncle Joe!
“A few years back, a man high up in the CIA named Ray Cline was asked if the CIA, by its surveillance of protest organizations in the US, was violating the free speech provision of the First Amendment. He smiled & said:
‘It’s only an amendment.’
& when it was disclosed that the FBI was violating citizens’ rights repeatedly, a high official of the FBI was asked if anybody in the FBI questioned the legality of what they were doing. He replied:
‘No, we never gave it a thought.'”
I found just the same lawless behaviour by officials in local government in London: they do what they like if they believe it will be too expensive and time-consuming for you to sue them. Acting lawfully was of no concern to them.
69¢ is a baahgin! I just paid 99¢ for a cucumber at my mid-range chain supermarket (New England).
$2.29 for a red bell pepper (conventionally-grown).
I paid $1.48 for a conventionally grown red pepper in Georgia today.
“My own experience is fresh produce has gone way up in price…”
yes, my experience also…
and supermarkets seem to have greatly reduced putting items “on sale” so few bargain items and overall a higher grocery bill…
but it’s all very necessary…
essential goods must rise in price and take in a larger portion of the average person’s income… to keep the demand signal high for food producers and distributors…
inversely, non-essential goods (and services) will be experiencing deflation…
this is how the contracting economy will be self-organizing, and resetting to a lower level…
generally speaking:
essentials = inflation…
non-essentials = deflation…
though perhaps counterintuitive to some, though not to OFW readers who have been paying attention, energy resources (which are essentials) also will be deflating due to demand destruction…
“Global aviation body the International Air Transport Association (IATA) today said that the coronavirus crisis will see the world’s airlines make record losses of over £$100bn over 2020 and 2021.”
https://www.cityam.com/airlines-face-84bn-loss-in-worst-year-in-aviation-history/
“Too big to fail is a saying we have not heard too often since big overseas banks were rescued with taxpayers’ money during the global financial crisis.
“Perhaps “too important to fail” is a more apt saying about the nearly HK$30 billion (US$3.87 billion) government bailout of Cathay Pacific Airways announced on Tuesday.
“There was no real alternative.”
https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3088279/cathay-pacific-has-reach-new-heights-after-hong-kong-government
Wow!
“Collapse in Gambling Totally Crushes Macau’s Overall Economy…
“Other places so dependent on tourism face a similar fiasco. But Macau had already been badly hit by China’s crackdown on corruption and capital flight.”
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/06/09/collapse-in-gambling-totally-crushes-macaus-overall-economy/
“A year ago, Hayman Capital Management’s Kyle Bass wrote about “the quiet panic in Hong Kong” and warned of an “impending crisis” in the region.
“Now, amid mounting unrest, he’s putting his clients’ money — and then some — on a bet that the local currency will collapse.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/hedge-fund-manager-who-nailed-the-subprime-collapse-is-leveraging-investor-cash-200x-in-audacious-bet-2020-06-09
Without Hong Kong’s peg to the US dollar, China’s exports will be much more difficult.
I expect that Macau has quite a bit of debt, like everywhere else. How does it get repaid?
Fauci: coronavirus pandemic that ‘took over the planet’ is far from over
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/09/anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-far-from-over
EXTRACT:
“Oh my goodness,” Fauci said. “Where is it going to end? We’re still at the beginning of it.”
But Fauci said he was “very heartened” by the pharmaceutical industry, which he said, “stepped up to the plate”. There are more than 124 Covid-19 vaccines under development as of 2 June, according to the WHO, and Fauci said he was “almost certain” that more than one would be successful.
“The industry is not stupid. They figured it out,” Fauci said. “There’s going to be more than one winner in the vaccine field because we’re going to need vaccines for the entire world. Billions and billions of doses.”
END OF EXTRACT
========
Yes, it’s about money, isn’t it, Mr Fauci.
As for COVID-19 taking over the planet, I’ve never seen a single person die in the street, nor have I personally known anyone who has died of it. Yet I see young people in the street wearing masks. Just what are they afraid of? They’re all pussycats and snowflakes.
This is a link to an interview with Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm called COVID-19: Straight Answers from Top Epidemiologist Who Predicted the Pandemic
He expects another wave which will be much worse that the recent wave. He is not optimistic about finding a vaccine that works, in a short time frame. In fact, he doesn’t even seem to think getting one with long term protection in a longer time frame is very likely.
An excellent interview.
He does seem most preoccupied at the prospect -not certain of course – of it returning in a possibly fiercer wave in the latter months of the year.
Preferable for it not to go away in the summer and to keep on at this same level.
Unlikely, he feels, to mutate itself out of existence or into a very mild form.
Apart from the co-morbidity people, and the frail and elderly, the greatest risk factor for developing the severe from of the disease under 55 yrs of age is being a fatty.
Looks as though the safest time to interact with other people might be around August: cancel Xmas? Many who are not over-enamoured of their kith and kin may breathe a sigh of relief…..
Will be much worse? Another computer model like Prof Lockdown in UK?
Further: All this talk of a second wave, don’t we have a wave of cold & flu viruses every year?
Further: Average age of those dying from this hyped virus over here in Scandinavia is still 80+. Morale: If you want you relative or friend in a nursing home to live longer don’t visit her/him if you think you have a cold or flu virus onboard.
It’s been reported that many elderly inmates (sorry, residents) have more or less committed suicide over the last few months due to the misery of not having contact with anyone in their family – refusal to eat seems to be the usual route out of misery and loneliness.
This adds to the growing death count. No wonder the increase in the number of deaths is greater than the number of deaths from COVID-19.
As an endemic disease there will be wave after wave: we have to get used to that idea.
Meanwhile in Norway:
House prices showing no signs of going down. Because of the hyped virus holiday alternatives abroad are limited, so now Norwegians are buying summer houses/camper/leisure boats like never before.
*camper vans*.
Three are some signs that the market for country homes in the UK is being revived by the whole lock-down farce: working from home most days might soon be the norm for those on higher salaries, and there is now every incentive to get away from the crappy cities, above all London now BLM have a license to roam at will vandalising things.
A not-too big pretty house, with a large kitchen garden, and some room to stretch your legs without leaving the property look very enticing now; when crime starts to go up in cities and localised lock-downs are imposed it will seem even more attractive a proposition.
Maybe even our own Sir Harry on his remote island will have to repel invaders coming over on the ferry with a family shield wall?
We are prepared for all contingencies, Xabier. 😀
For the time being, the ferry company seems to be doing a good job of weeding out mischief-makers:
“Passengers have been caught hiding in vehicles on ferries headed for Scotland’s islands in an attempt to evade a ban on non-essential travel, according to reports…
“One group of stowaway included a group of golfers hiding in a van while travelling from Largs to Cumbrae.”
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18500769.calmac-discover-golfers-hiding-vans-attempt-evade-lockdown-rules-travel-scots-islands/
Hilarious – watch those rogue golfers! You might train the labrador to steal all the balls….
FORE!!!
If you were to repel invaders, would you chant ‘Oot, oot!’ as at the battle of Hastings, or cover yourself in blue paint and howl ‘Freedom!’ like Mel Gibson. As you are a newcomer to the island, best follow the natives I suppose.
Xabier, I do look *fabulous* in woad but honestly I’d prefer to pick any unwelcome outlanders off at range than engage in quasi-medieval combat.
I’m not really a “blood ‘n’ guts” kind of a guy. 😀
Woad, and nothing else will, I am sure, keep anyone out of range! The ultimate non-violent martial art. 🙂
woad is known to keep midges off
The druids advocated woad as a form of sympathetic magic: the arrow shape of its leaves would ward off arrows. It didn’t work, but since the druids typically led from behind, they didn’t much care.
One of the effects of the covid here was the increase in demand for country houses and farms in the interior of the country. I wonder why this sudden inclination to countryside living? Hmmm.
https://expresso.pt/economia/2020-04-25-Covid-19-impulsiona-procura-de-quintas-no-interior-do-pais
An example given in the article:
I am guessing the granite wall is a big attraction.
A trend for such rural properties is building, clearly.
A friend of mine in London has a house surrounded by an enormous early 18th-century wall (with the old local jail built into it) – I find it utterly depressing.
At least in the country one can make it more charming – I’ve gone for 8ft thorn hedges and other little ‘surprises’ for intruders. Just another 2 yrs growth needed as far as I can calculate.
But the most likely scenario is starving to death, not bandits.
I know that camper rentals and sales are up in the US. Some have suggested that some of the camper rentals are being used a home offices, because rental terms seem to be longer than average.
“The coronavirus crisis and a very mild winter in the northern hemisphere have put global natural gas demand on course for the biggest annual fall on record, the International Energy Agency said in its annual outlook on Wednesday.
“Global gas demand is expected to fall by 4%, or 150 billion cubic meters (bcm), to 3,850 bcm this year – twice the size of the drop following the 2008 global financial crisis.”
https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/global-gas-demand-on-course-for-biggest-annual-fall-on-record-iea
“The U.S. shale oil industry may collapse due to the sharp fall in oil prices because of coronavirus, a new influential report predicts.
The demand and price of oil tumbled due to the economic slowdown and has since begun to recover, but Australian think tank the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) warns a low price will [also] affect political regimes in the Middle East, especially in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-us-shale-oil-industry-may-collapse-new-report-says-after-goldman-warns-crude-is-set-for-a-fall-2020-06-10?link=MW_latest_news
“Occidental Petroleum Corp. is reviewing options for its Middle Eastern assets as it seeks ways to reduce its debt pile, people familiar with the matter said.
“Houston-based Occidental is considering reducing its stakes in oil and natural gas fields in Oman, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.”
https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/6/9/oxy-debates-selling-down-middle-east-assets-to-reduce-debt
“Saudi financial support to Yemen’s economy, worth over $2.2 billion since March 2018, has been crucial in helping Yemen to escape economic collapse.
“With this financial support coming to an end, and no alternative financing in place, Yemen could see the riyal lose almost half its value over the coming six months…”
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/end-saudi-financial-support-yemen-scenarios-possible-impact-economy-and-humanitarian
I would never have expected Saudi Arabia to provide so much aid to Yemen, especially when oil prices weren’t very high. Yemen imports 90% of its food according to the article. Without aid, it would seem to be in terrible difficulty.
I think you will find aid is very targeted; you know, like in the form of bu.llets and bo.mbs. Very broad term.
Yemen is like an unruly neighbour living next door , to whom you (the rich family on the block) are distantly related, and thus feel you have a duty to lend money to when he asks—which is all the time
but now you can no longer afford it, in fact your own piggy bank is rattling empty these days, because you’ve lost your only source of income too,
yet your neighbour has a clutch of kids who look like they are going to starve if you stop doling out the cash—in fact they will starve, and come climbing over your fence.
Good analogy!
Which is why (coupled with commonsense, enlightened-self-interest efforts to provide as best able for the needs of all) there’s a corresponding need for tough love, strict limits, strict borders. Everybody, including relatives on the outs, think that the mere fact of existing entitles them to handouts. A more realistic view, however, is that who is in your tribe and supports your side is who is deserving. People should find their tribes and work hard in the interest of their respective tribes. It’s not about individuals, it’s about the group.
So we have oil demand falling, coal demand falling and natural gas demand falling. This is what happens when people, in the aggregate, can afford less goods and services.
The BLM and ANTIFA Communist movements are promoting: Race War and Class War.
Will America and Europe go down this path and burn down their own cities as the economy goes into a deep depression?
This is what China hopes. China is promoting BLM and ANTIFA.
China is on the other hand going for unity and absolute loyalty for the state inside its own borders. They have thrown the Muslims into concentration camps and are cracking down on protesters in Hong Kong.
Which political system will be more resilient in the coming chaos: Democracy or Dictatorship?
The rioters and looters may just be being used by the usual shakedown artists. For the price of a few well publicized donations, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson will take care of a lot of it. But there are a lot of bigger beneficiaries who are going to clean up as these corporate donations to BLM start flowing.
According to the BLM UK page (worth reading for a summary of their beliefs) their principal aim is the complete destruction of ‘capitalist white racist patriarchal structures’. There was probably something about colonialism as well, can’t recall now.
Ironically, they acknowledge that under the current system they will need lots of money to do this (!) and they are appealing for corporate donations – so that donors can prove their hard capitalist hearts are in the right place and beating with righteousness. Then they can be destroyed in due course, one supposes!
And amusingly, they say they ‘understand concerns about our transparency’ and will be getting back to us about that soon. How nice.
It would seem that such Gofundme money-raising is an ideal means to channel funds in a legitimate fashion to organisations seeking to destabilize a country. All open and above board. Have Mr Soros’s or Mrs Clinton’s trembling and liver-spotted hand signed a cheque yet?
BLM UK say here https://www.gofundme.com/f/ukblm-fund
“We’re guided by a commitment to dismantle imperialism, capitalism, white-supremacy, patriarchy and the state structures………….”
https://nationalfile.com/riot-death-toll-is-now-greater-than-number-of-unarmed-blacks-killed-by-police-in-2019/
Yeah, but these riot deaths are in such a worthy cause. 😉
Really strange! I suppose some liberal groups would support such a cause.
The endless “its all whiteys fault” is not helping. Hate is wrong and there is a lot of hate for whites. What happened to floyd was not ok. Why is everthing racial? More polarization.
It gets better: donations to BLM (including foreign donations) apparently go to the DNC:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/exclusive-donations-including-international-funding-blacklivesmatter-com-go-directly-dnc-money-laundering/
////
When you click on the “Donate” button on blacklivesmatter.com you are sent to an “ActBlue” donations page. You can even read that the donations are being made to ActBlue in the fine print. ActBlue has several entities under the overarching name ActBlue. The terms and conditions of the charity arm of the organization mention “Campaign Finance Laws”: https://secure.actblue.com/content/fineprint
When you research the expenditures of the ActBlue PAC, all of their contributions are directly going to top DNC campaigns: https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/expenditures.php?cmte=C00401224&cycle=2020
While ActBlue has a charity arm, it also includes a PAC and a 501(c)4. It appears more accurately to be a funding arm of the DNC.
(Do all the individuals around the world know that when they donate to Black Lives Matter, they are also helping to fund an organization that supports the Democrat Party?)
This is just another corrupt wing of the Democrat Party.
/////
This doesn’t seem like something that the DNC would like to have pointed out before the November election.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ActBlue?fbclid=IwAR1F84Kd13vvZzoWsS-5_kqCoKXVn3txIlWUPuZ5DEUghSboDYCNrbMfsiQ
“Banks face “very significant losses” as borrowers default in the recession and markets will need reform once the pandemic ends, a top Bank of England official warned as he revealed that hedge funds brought the world to the brink of a financial crisis in March.
“Sir Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor for financial stability, said that banks have functioned well and proved resilient, but the same could not be said for the shadow banking sector of hedge funds, insurers and money markets funds…
“He revealed that highly leveraged hedge funds, which arbitrage differences in Treasury bond and derivative prices, became “an amplifier of stress” as companies sold Treasuries in a dash for cash early in the pandemic.”
“Price moves triggered margin calls that made hedge funds forced sellers of $90 billion of Treasuries in March, driving prices lower, which in turn put pressure on pension funds, insurance companies and ultimately super-safe money market funds.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hedge-funds-took-world-to-brink-of-financial-crisis-in-march-says-sir-jon-cunliffe-8nkc9cb30
“A supply chain finance program is commonly set up by a corporate buyer with a bank or alternative provider to allow suppliers to get paid early for an invoice, usually at a discount.
“This method, known also as payables finance or reverse factoring, is particularly valuable for SMEs, who can access more affordable funding because the cost is based on their buyer’s credit rating.
“As cash-strapped companies seek liquidity during the coronavirus crisis, demand for this type of financing has surged.. Credit rating agencies, meanwhile, warn that supply chain finance poses certain risks, which could be exacerbated during the pandemic.”
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/supply-chain-finance-grows-amid-pandemic-but-faces-stark-risk-warnings-58841608
“A market rally built on shaky foundations – “Recovery in equity prices is driven in part by absence of alternatives.
“…While it is not the purpose of a central bank to support equity investors, any suggestion that policy will not remain dovish for the foreseeable future could lead to a sell-off…
“…it is far too soon to declare the economic crisis over, whatever equity investors might think.”
https://www.ft.com/content/2f0c5f56-aa5a-11ea-a766-7c300513fe47
There seem to be a lot of default opportunities waiting.
“The world stands on the brink of a food crisis worse than any seen for at least 50 years, the UN has warned as it urged governments to act swiftly to avoid disaster.
“Better social protections for poor people are urgently needed as the looming recession following the coronavirus pandemic may put basic nutrition beyond their reach, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said on Tuesday.
““Unless immediate action is taken, it is increasingly clear that there is an impending global food emergency that could have long-term impacts on hundreds of millions of children and adults,” he said. “We need to act now to avoid the worst impacts of our efforts to control the pandemic.””
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/09/world-faces-worst-food-crisis-50-years-un-coronavirus
“The head of the International Monetary Fund called on private creditors to join the Group of 20 in providing debt relief for the world’s poorest nations, saying that the alternative to suspension and restructuring is defaults…
“Failure to provide relief and restructuring “would lead to inevitably a much worse option, which is disorderly defaults,” Georgieva said.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/world-poorest-nations-risk-disorderly-default-imf-200610025739495.html
“The coronavirus pandemic is likely to lead to greater political instability and unrest around the world, according to a new report from the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), released today…
“Recent days have seen political protests gather momentum in many western countries… Such demonstrations are likely to become more frequent in future, according to Serge Stroobants, director for Europe and the Middle East and Africa at the IEP.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2020/06/10/coronavirus-crisis-likely-to-lead-to-surge-in-political-unrest-says-report/#3a3071765723
The economic impact of the Coronavirus will kill more people than the virus itself. I don’t a a government agency tell me the obvious. What did they think would happen when you shutdown the economy? Did they expect some time to standstill until the all clear was given?
Interesting that governments never held any referendums to establish a public consensus on diving into the economic abyss. Instead the shutdowns came as a fait accompl. The water’s gone under the bridge,the milk’s been spilt, and who will put Humpty together again?
I don’t think the governments (top politicians) have a clue what they are doing. Nicola Sturgeon runs the Scottish Junta and is still very popular, not least because of how she had handled the COVID crisis, just like Jacinda in NZ. Both she and the electorate are clueless.
The Thursday night happy clappy was effectively about congratulating themselves on destruction of our economy. Thank goodness it has stopped although on this morning’s radio news they said the unions are organising a big happy clappy for July. Whatever makes us feel good. Doubt it will help the unemployed and the hungry though.
All that happened here is that the fireworks -why? – set off to accompany the clapping and saucepan-banging for the NHS scared the hell out of my dog.
The thing is, too, that it’s all so un-British -which makes things even more unreal.
“The thing is, too, that it’s all so un-British -which makes things even more unreal.”
I agree, Xabier – so corny and saccharine.
Here’s my exchange with my state rep. regarding the lockdown, April 5-7,2020:
/////
Me: We are writing to enquire about the recent “guidance” on COVID-19 coming down from the state. Our situation is that we are in the process of building a barn [etc. etc.]. Looking at the state’s web site, I see that “non-residential construction” is disallowed, however “support activities for animal production” are allowed. The construction of barns are essential to animal production. We are hoping to contribute towards Vermont’s food resiliency, but don’t want to lose a season of work on this. What can you suggest?
Him: While I feel your pain on this issue, [sic!] I think going ahead with your project is going to be difficult if you wish to honor the current orders from Gov. Scott. [bla bla bla]
Me: Perhaps you can clarify for us what it means to “honor” an “order”? Usually, one “obeys” orders, and “honors” requests. Are we restrained by law from travel, or from completing our structure? I feel this is unclear.
Him: Based on this order from the Governor, you should not be proceeding with your project. It is not technically a law, and a bit unclear what happens if you do not comply, but the intention is clear, whether or not you agree with the extent to which our government has imposed restrictions on our lives.
////
Well, alrighty then!
People have been urging “better social protections” for poor people for at least the last 60 years, and the result has been more and more poor people. Will nobody ever realise that this is a Red Queen’s Race?
“The European Central (ECB) Governing Council member Olli Rehn said on Tuesday, deflation risks are elevated in the euro area.”
https://www.fxstreet.com/news/ecbs-rehn-deflation-risks-are-elevated-in-euro-area-202006090916
“China’s producer prices fell by the sharpest rate in more than four years, underscoring pressure on the manufacturing sector as the COVID-19 pandemic reduces trade flows and global demand.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-inflation/china-factory-gate-deflation-deepens-on-global-demand-slump-idUSKBN23H0A2
“Japan’s machinery orders slumped in April at their quickest pace in nearly two years, as a drop in demand and company profits caused by the coronavirus pandemic paralysed businesses spending.
“Separate data showed May wholesale prices fell at the fastest annual pace in nearly four years, keeping alive market fears Japan may slide back into deflation.”
^^^
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/japans-machinery-orders-wholesale-prices-023622763.html
It is deflation that needs to be the big concern, with fewer people working. Deflation could lead to much debt defaulting.
“Tony Blair has called for governments around the world to give each resident a digital identity to enable the resumption of normal activity and ensure retraining for citizens to promote economic recovery.”
https://www.thenational.ae/world/tony-blair-calls-for-global-digital-ids-to-drive-recovery-from-coronavirus-shutdown-1.1031262
“Britain must be braced for widespread riots this summer, a government adviser says, warning poorer people and areas will be hit harder by the coronavirus fallout.
“Police and the government are being urged to prepare now for the risk of “serious public disorder” on the scale of the 2011 riots…”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-riots-coronavirus-lockdown-police-government-dominic-cummings-sage-a9557271.html
“The coronavirus pandemic has dragged the UK into the “most severe economic downturn in modern times” with the economy set to contract over seven per cent this year, new forecasts suggest.
“[It] is unlikely to fully recover from the impact of Covid-19 until a vaccine or effective treatment for the virus is available…”
https://www.cityam.com/coronavirus-uk-economy-set-for-most-severe-downturn-in-modern-times/
“Britain’s economy is likely to suffer the worst damage from the Covid-19 crisis of any country in the developed world, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/10/uk-economy-likely-to-suffer-worst-covid-19-damage-says-oecd
Add the endless Brexit saga to the mix and that is an alarming forecast indeed.
“Forecast slump in GDP of 11.5% will exceed falls by France, Italy, Spain and Germany.”
Already in bad shape.
It is weird reading these headlines, as for the lucky majority in the UK this is still very much the calm before the storm, only 2.5 months into the lockdown and with government largesse still providing a safety net.
The mind boggles trying to imagine the real cost in human terms of such a colossal contraction and what the UK might look like economically and socially in a year or two.
Another day of bliss in Pacific Ocean, although we know the perfect storm is closer everyday. That’s the way I feel now at the end of evey night.
Now chaps, the real question is what would WE like to give Tony Blair? The ‘Let’s move on from that’ Iraq war criminal.
Xabier, one’s thoughts turn to that hedonically adjusted cucumber.
Twelve feet of stout hempen rope with a noose at one end. You can measure a civilisation’s decline by the number of guilty people it does not hang.
“Control is never a means to any useful end. It is a means only to more control.”
Digital IDs – No way!
How will they be able to refuse?
Just old Tony in his PR work for Global Owners Inc.
I wonder why he hasn’t retired yet. What is he waiting for?
https://www.citizenfreepress.com/breaking/david-dorns-killer-given-7-year-prison-sentence-in-2014-but-never-served-a-day/
The man charged with the murder of retired St. Louis police Captain David Dorn was previously convicted in St. Louis County in 2014 but never served a day in prison.
Stephan Cannon, 24, was sentenced to seven years for felony robbery but he got a break. Cannon got probation under what’s called a suspended execution of sentence (SES). Court records show Cannon then violated probation—twice—and got two more breaks. He never went to prison.
Cannon now faces a first-degree murder charge for killing Dorn on June 2.
If Stephan Cannon had been in possession of “white privilege”, he would now be in prison, and Captain David Dorn would have the inestimable privilege of being alive.
Please note that dark skinned people might be at risk to die with off-label use of Hydroxychloroquine.
While US authorities see no risk of Haemolytic Anemia for people with Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in Germany it is on the list of contra indications. The deficincy is said to be widely spread with people with African, Italian or Spanish ancestors. In Siciliy 20% of the population is said to have the deficiency that is a natural protection against Malaria. The Anemia might be confused with breathing problems from a Covid-19 infection. Critics see a connection to the high death rates in Italy and Spain.
It is recommended for people with above ancestry to make a test on Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency before taking Hydroxychloroquine.
Shh, don’t mention the war…
https://i.redd.it/rk3oakq4sv351.jpg
“After entering Wisconsin, Cristobal is now the furthest northwest a tropical cyclone has ever travelled in North America, a record set previously by the Galveston hurricane of 1900, which passed through Iowa. (Records date to 1851)”
Some odd storm activity in the US, for sure:
“…an unusually intense and historic line of damaging thunderstorms slammed parts of the western U.S., tearing down trees and power lines for a continuous 750-mile span.
“The fast-moving destructive storm complex, known as a derecho, unleashed winds in excess of 100 mph.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/08/denver-derecho/
“Strong Santa Ana winds — weather that rarely occurs in June — sent temperatures soaring more than 20 degrees above normal Tuesday across San Diego County, smashing or tying records from the coast to the foothills.
““The numbers were amazing,” said Mark Moede, a forecaster at the National Weather Service.”
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/weather/story/2020-06-09/santa-ana-winds-a-rarity-in-june-fanning-wildfire-danger
At the same time, I keep reading that tornado activity is down. It is different parts of the country that get the damaging storms.
Right, April was really bad and then May was very quiet indeed for tornadoes.
attention all finite worlders i have discovered evidence of a plan b which probably explains the reason for covid19 and where we are headed it is an excerpt from an old newspaper from who i believe was part of the original plan for saving man from the end of life as we know it ,it is good news because it means that the world will survive but with a smaller population so enjoy what time you have left i know i will
“The earth is a closed system, which can accommodate this humanity if it behaves civilly and accepts a Spartan existence, without any profound gaps between the different peoples but which can support only a far smaller population if it wants to enjoy a high quality and standard of life, freedom of movement and opportunity” .
This seems to be an excerpt form a 1971 New York Times article by Aurielio Peccei.
https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/18/archives/the-threat-to-man-is-man-himself.html
Gail, anyone who says “the Earth is a closed system” loses me right there. Because the only sustainable way to live in an open system is to subsist on the “flow” that is guaranteed (at least for the duration of the human race), and which is the one limit that guarantees our continuing existence.
It is amusing that you can find online videos from news stories praising, among other admirable qualities, this man’s great honesty. ha ha ha. We really do live in funfair mirror clown world.
People read teh news or watch the idiot box and think they are informed.
Someone found guilty of identity theft – and it is an egregious crimes, as anyone who has had his life turned upside down by identity fraud will attest – faces variously up to 15 or 30 years in prison.
Of course, I have no doubt that in this case the plan was not just economic gain but also terroristic activities. After all, what is the plan of a long time political agent provocateur and his group when he is assigned to steal the information from a pollice officer’s smartphone?
https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/identity-theft/identity-theft-and-identity-fraud
“Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain….
“knowingly transfer[ring] or us[ing], without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law.” 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). This offense, in most circumstances, carries a maximum term of 15 years’ imprisonment, a fine, and criminal forfeiture of any personal property used or intended to be used to commit the offense.
Schemes to commit identity theft or fraud may also involve violations of other statutes such as identification fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1028), credit card fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1029), computer fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1030), mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341), wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343), or financial institution fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1344). Each of these federal offenses are felonies that carry substantial penalties –¬ in some cases, as high as 30 years’ imprisonment, fines, and criminal forfeiture.
Everyone here probably knows about that elderly gentlemen who was pushed/fell over when engagingwith police at a recent protest. It seems that he was involved in a very interesting activity known as an “NFC hack” where one brngs one’s own phone into proxiity of another person’s phone so as to steal personal information from the smartphone: identity, credit card, and other personal information.
I wonder if they can also steal your fingerpriint from your smart phone, clone it, and use it for other purposes. I am guessing yes. Anyway, this short clip shows some fascinating video of the man in question’s interaction with the police and we can see how he might have been chosen for this task of getting as close to police as possible. And it is also perfectly obvous that he took a dive when touched by police. You might watch it just for the sake of your own information security.
Gale, Vitamin D is more a problem for folks with darker skim than just lack of adequate sunlight. Many of the same people have lactose intolerance after childhood, and milk is the only food that I know of that is supplemented with vitamin D. Supplementing butter, margarin and perhaps peanut butter might be a good idea. I don’t think this is due to racism, but…..
I hadn’t thought of that. I have both soy milk and whole milk in the refrigerator now, and they both seem to be supplemented with the same level of Vitamin D. So, at least for the brand I bought (Silk), supplementation seems to be similar. Except I don’t think people tend to drink as much soy milk as cow’s milk.
I actually drink soy milk, rather than dairy. I suppose the reason that it is higher cost is that there is not as much sold. Otherwise it would seem to be cheaper to produce, without the metabolic cost of cows in the food chain.
Thanks for doing your column!
I use soy milk myself. My son prefers whole cow’s milk. If you buy organic milk, cow’s milk is more expensive than soy milk.
The loan is an additional tax on the workforce. That is why the population finally gets so old that it ist the state that must keep taking the loans, as the individual people can no longer be considered as the future taxpayers.
That way one state issues money that another state takes as loans, as the system shrinks eating itself:
Like an Ouroboros snake:
https://tomasmedek.eu/cs/projects/uroboros/
“Many epidemiologists are already comfortable going to the doctor, socializing with small groups outside or bringing in mail, despite the coronavirus.
“But unless there’s an effective vaccine or treatment first, it will be more than a year before many say they will be willing to go to concerts, sporting events or religious services.
“And some may never greet people with hugs or handshakes again.”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/08/upshot/when-epidemiologists-will-do-everyday-things-coronavirus.html
“Is Coronaphobia keeping Britons at home?
“…Britons appear to be heading out less despite the coronavirus lockdown rules being eased…”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8401813/Data-suggests-continued-DROP-people-driving-walking.html
It’s all a humbug, I tell you!
It’s all scripted.
The ruling class is getting everything on their Christmas wish list, the normies are enjoying the new normal, and I’m retiring to Bedlam.
Here’s a video from 2014 in which Harry Vox (www.voxnews.com)talks about a 2010 Rockefeller Foundation scenario (i.e. script) for a future virus attack describes what is currently going on with the present Covid 19 “campaign” to a tee, from the face masks right down to the “lockdown”,and then it continues onward describing the total destruction of the economy that results from the “lockdown”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuOxG-rnj30&feature=emb_logo
And here is the actual document he is quoting from, taken from the Internet Archive.
https://archive.org/details/pdfy-tNG7MjZUicS-wiJb/mode/thumb
Read the whole thing to find out all the other nefarious activities the “deep state” is planning for us.to. I read it a couple of weeks ago and found it pretty bland, but Harry Vox’s commentary on it really brings it to life.
of course its all scripted fear is being used to bring in the next phase of the plans depopulation of 90% or more thank god for the elldddders
yes tim i believe you agenda 2030 is coming for a smaller portion of humanity
interesting
I found this related post:
http://kenningtonpress.com/index.php/2020/04/17/lock-step-the-rockefeller-foundations-2010-plan-to-enslave-the-world-using-future-plandemic/
Antifa has occupied the Capitol Hill in Seattle. They have barricaded 8 blocks and forced people inside to accept their rule.
Strangely enough I can’t find any news about it.
https://mobile.twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1270375353614123010
This is the closest I could find.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-protests-live-updates-for-tuesday-june-9/
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/gunman-accused-of-driving-into-george-floyd-protesters-and-shooting-a-man-held-on-investigation-of-assault/
The border less anarcho communists now all of a sudden have armed border guards and are taxing the people inside to get capitalist dollars.
There goes another revolution.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EaFyiKDXsAEwHkb?format=jpg&name=medium
Is this what you were looking for?
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/seattle-protesters-establish-autonomous-zone-after-police-national-guard-pull-out
This is not good for our nation.
Dennis L.
Strangely enough I can’t find any news about it.
Really?
There is no one Antifa organization. Rather, the movement is made up of various groups and individuals united by their opposition to fascism, which is a” governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.” As an antifascist movement, Antifa especially targets people and groups that support the oppression of minority groups.
Hint:
Antifa activists reject anti-fascist conservatives as well as liberals.
Liberals are the worse.
https://www.quoteikon.com/author-images/author-b/benito-mussolini-quote.jpg
That is a very poor definition of Fascism and historically illiterate – as so often on the Left.
It might describe Hitler, more or less, but he was a German Nationalist anti-semitic revolutionary, and merely adopted the label of Fascism, sometimes, as a courtesy to Mussolini.
Fascism was principally an Italian phenomenon, and the central idea was War: man as the warrior, woman as the breeder and nurturer, and conquest as the highest aim in life.
Unfortunately for Mussolini, the Italians were – on the whole – far too civilized and intelligent to fall for that crap, although some did get a bit carried away with all the nice uniforms for a bit.
Fascism,as defined now, is in fact a Left concept, and really only has meaning in that ideology, to make people feel good about themselves as ‘Ant-fascist’ fighters.
And they apply it irrationally and lavishly as an insult to those who simply happen to disagree with them on any point which is on the current list of issues which enrage the Left and ‘demand action’.
In fact, ‘Fascist’ functions on the Left as a label designed to abuse and exclude much as the term ‘Jew’ was used by the Nazis – quite some irony!
But all intolerant, uncivilized Totalitarian ideologies composed of people who arrogantly wish to impose their ideal society on others must meet at some point – they all need a victim group.
Liberated zones. ISIS tactics. Under syndicalist anarchy, every citizen becomes a hostage.
The human habitats are products of the humans made with the use of the energy and the resources. The human habitats always develop in the direction of the rising complexity.
As soon as the energy or the resources can not sustain higher and higher complexity, the system stops to grow. I does not have to collapse immediately, but the elimination of the complexity destroys the human habitats and other species present in the nature fill the place of the human habitat, for which the human species do not have energy or resources to keep it or grow.
The intruders vary with where you live. We have termites and rats, among other things. Also “flying squirrels” and “carpenter bees.” There are pest services of various kinds to help homeowners with these problems.
Public Service Announcement for all Middle Aged Folks here
Opinion: It’s not just you: Why stress is skyrocketing among the middle-aged
Published: June 9, 2020 at 10:01 a.m. ET
By Brett Arends
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-not-just-you-why-stress-is-skyrocketing-among-the-middle-aged-2020-06-09?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo lol
If you’re middle-aged and you’re thinking, “I don’t remember everyone being this angry and miserable 20 or 30 years ago,” you’re not wrong.
Yes, our mind plays tricks on us and yes, we often look at the past through rose-tinted spectacles. But a recent study confirms what many people in later middle age already feel: We really are much more stressed than middle-aged people were back in the 1990s.
It’s official. We’re miserable
“[A]mong middle-aged adults [the] proportion of stressor days increased by 19%, and perceived risks to finances and to future plans rose by 61% and 52% respectively,” write psychology researchers in a study to be published in the American Psychologist, the journal of the American Psychology Association.
(Stressor days means days on which subjects reported a lot of stress.)
As for “life left”—the older we get, the more precious our remaining time seems. “You want to maximize the quality of the time you have left,” Almeida says. He compares it to someone in the final days of a two-week vacation. You don’t want to waste any time.
Yes, we can try being more mindful of what is causing us stress and of how we feel, and we can try focusing on the positive purpose in our lives, Almeida says.
Bt the simplest answer is to move more, he adds.
“My advice to people is to move when you are exposed to stress,” he says. “Moving, physical activity, is probably the best stress reducer.”
It doesn’t have to mean major exercise either. “Just walking around” is enough, he adds. Stress was hard-wired into our system as a primitive response to physical danger. Scientific studies of human biology, says Almeida, have found that “on days that you move more, you are less grumpy.
Hard not to be stressed out reading 😉 the writing of Gail and posted comments…😥🤢😎
I walk a lot. I aim for 10,000 steps a day.
so, 10,000 steps at 2 feet per step = 5,000 feet, or almost a statute mile.
10 000 x 2 feet = 20 000 feet = 3.787879 miles
right. nearly 4 miles per day, not too bad.
NZ lifts all lock downs except one, no outsiders may enter. They may have to wait a long time for the whole world to be CV19 new case free for two weeks. Best case everybody gets and keeps strong immunity so two years, worst case immunity does not last like common cold NZ isolates forever.
out of about five million NZers 22 died.
NZ was in the warm time of year, so this should have helped keep cases down. Relatively cold places had a disadvantage.
Let’s see how the economy fares with this approach.
Go Bill Gates
http://www.terrapower.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/TP_2020_TWR_Technology.pdf
All NZ needs now is 20 new, 1GW each, fifth generation nuclear reactors and they are good to go for the next 50 years. Keep all foreigners out perfect. Yes, industrial farming will become local farming and exports will stop but plenty of food for the locals.
Not sure if “The Woz” and them would let that happen.. no nukes and out of the main fallout shadow is why they are all down there.
Lol. I think you forgot to add the #sarcasm tag.
Charles Hugh-Smith’s latest is interesting:
“The global crisis is not merely economic; it is the result of profound financial, sociological and political trends described by Marx, Kafka, Orwell and Huxley.”
https://www.oftwominds.com/blogjune20/convergence6-20.html?fullweb=1
It is interesting—- but beware of the libertarian ideology.
A good read.
The libertarian ideology is what makes it readable.
I agree, some thinking libertarians are on the right path (not the no taxes free market capitalist).
Anarchists on training wheels.
Is what these authors are describing signs of “not enough to go around?”
That’s what it sounds like to me or put another way: “The snake eating its own tail”.
Hugh-Smith’s article includes a link to an Art Berman article, WHY THE RENEWABLE ROCKET HAS FAILED TO LAUNCH. Art states:
“A 100% renewable economy is fine only if we are willing to accept a lower living standard and much smaller population than we have today.”
Later in the comments section Art says “willing to live closer to subsistence with a much smaller population.” Which I think hits the nail on the head.
No-one is interested in discussing either a lower standard of living or smaller population, talk like that will get you accusations of being a Na zi. But that is precisely where we will end up, much smaller population and subsistence level existence.
Yes, then let’s get started.
We don’t have to touch the subject of euthanasia right away. Which will not be necessary anyway, as the current financial and economic system will increasingly ensure that the number of people on earth shrinks.
A “nice” example, freshly presented by Harry McGibbs
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/09/world-faces-worst-food-crisis-50-years-un-coronavirus
China Could Force Donald Trump And The Fed To Destroy The U.S. Banking System
Billy BambroughContributor
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2020/06/08/china-could-force-donald-trump-and-the-fed-to-destroy-the-us-banking-system/amp/
Donald Trump has reignited his long-running battle with China, something that’s likely to heavily feature in his re-election campaign.
Meanwhile, China is poised to launch a digital version of its yuan and could be about to create serious problems for the U.S. banking system—potentially forcing the U.S. to digitalize the dollar to compete.
Now, the Federal Reserve has warned central bank digital currencies might one day replace commercial banks, creating “a deposit monopolist” and playing “havoc” with the banking system
“The introduction of digital currencies may justify a fundamental shift in the architecture of a financial system, a central bank ‘open to all,’” Federal Reserve of Philadelphia researchers wrote in a 32-page paper titled “Central Bank Digital Currency: Central Banking for All?”
The paper examined the potential effects of “giving consumers the possibility of holding a bank account with the central bank directly”—something that could potentially replace commercial bank checking accounts….
Digital currencies are expected to work just like regular coins and notes issued by central banks but exist entirely online—with some floating the possibility of government-run FedAccounts being used to distribute digital dollars.
A GAME CHANGER….Uncle Sammie Funny Money is getting competition..
Say and wave bye bye to what’s left of your freedoms and privacy when we go to a cashless society and it’s definitely on its way. I don’t think even George Orwell could dream up this stuff.
“cashless society”, that would be the plan.
Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at Bank of England, has for years openly expressed the view that we should move to a cashless society. Negative rates can then be used to “pressure” savers into spending and prevent hoarding of cash in the event of a downturn.
This from 2015:
“Having already decided to cast paper notes aside in favour of plastic, the Bank of England’s chief economist has proposed getting rid of cash altogether… Andy Haldane… argues that such a move would give the bank new flexibility in the event of another downturn.
“In a speech to the Northern Ireland chamber of commerce, he said it would help the bank to manage inflation by enabling it to bypass the current constraint against lowering rates below zero.
“The assumption is that if a central bank introduced negative interest rates — a radical move that would effectively amount to a charge on holding money — people would convert deposits into cash. But abolishing cash would remove that option.”
https://www.ft.com/content/7967908e-5ded-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2
Typical for central bankers, the shortened reasoning.
Just don’t clear up the population, otherwise they may also raise unwanted demands.
For example, to keep the cash even with negative interest. It works. And it is not particularly difficult to implement. I refer to Silvio Gesell again. It is not for nothing that central bankers have dealt with its world of ideas since 2008/9.
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/business/economy/19view.html?_r=1
“Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at Bank of England, has for years openly expressed the view that we should move to a cashless society. Negative rates can then be used to “pressure” savers into spending and prevent hoarding of cash in the event of a downturn.”
Exactly, the Puppet Masters pushing and pulling the strings on the Plebs but it gets more nefarious than that. They can lock you out of the money system if you don’t play ball. Let’s say you decide to protest or revolt, they can at a moments notice, lock you out from your money just like the US likes to freeze another Country’s assets.
And yet so many have been conditioned to give up this freedom, that cash is dirty, it spreads disease, it’s used by money launders, by drug dealers etc. So many now have turn to paying with their Smartphones.
Cashless Society = The Mark of the Beast
Just as the Soviet political police could come and take away the contents of your wardrobe, down to the socks – ‘Only good citizens deserve multiple changes of clothes!’.
When political prisoners came out of jail, they would find they had no clothes at home!
If cash were to be abolished, they would also be able to direct exactly how you would be permitted to spend the credits.
I wouldn’t care to live in such a world, the worst nightmares of Huxley and Orwell.
That’s what it’s about. For control. This is the only way to save the ruin called capitalism over time. Not that the elite would enthusiastically accompany such a step, but it is the only thing that remains.
Negative interest or crash.
Again, negative interest rates are also possible with cash, which is also confirmed in the above contribution by Mankiw.
The wealth elite can cause the crash at any time. Throw bonds and stocks on the market until it squeaks. If the central banks do not respond with cheap money, the end will be in the well.
But why should the elites, the wolves, do that? Such a scenario would have far too many uncertainties.
So the negative interest remains. But then please without cash. And with the proviso to discedit them.
Never, never should the sheep come up with the thought that negative interest rates could be positive for them.
But they are. They are even able to change the lives of the vast majority of humanity for the better. I refer to Silvio Gesell again and put Margrit Kennedy’s book up for reading again.
https://www.kennedy-bibliothek.info/cx-content/uploads/bibliothek/GeldbuchEnglisch.pdf
Another banker who does not understand game theory. Implement this scheme, and slowly drain away people’s savings, and what will they do? Why, save harder to make up the difference. Which is exactly what the bankers do not want. At what turning point in recent history did the elite decide that they alone had free will, and everyone else could be manipulated by Pavlovian conditioning? Another milestone in the ongoing collapse of civilisation.
Hint:
This proves, for once and for all, the Marxist formula that social wealth is produced by productive labour and not by capital itself or by inventions.
Robert, I agree. This is not the way to create confident consumers.
to Harry McGibbs
On the contrary, the confidence of the majority of consumers in the skills of central banks is increasing. Otherwise they would not have tolerated the steadily falling interest rates in recent years.
In addition, the assets that are skimmed off are not with the majority of the population but with the top 10% of the population. Even more precisely with the 0.1 percent of the top in the wealth pyramid. Google helps with the search for relevant statistics.
The normal citizen, almost without wealth and who spends his money every month is not affected by the negative interest rates.
And those who stay afloat with overdraft interest rates and loans are more likely to welcome falling interest rates.
However, those who have built up their retirement reserves on investment income will be among the losers.
This sounds like the makings of a field day for hackers.
What happens when the electricity is off? What happens when a person does not have internet access? What happens when a person cannot afford a computer or personal cell phone?
I know that India has been trying some identity system that is entirely online, with banking online as well. It seems like there have been a lot of issues. I wouldn’t want to depend on a system that required me to remember my password (one which no one else could hack).
What happens? What will happen is what is supposed to happen. Failure is the plan.
If I can see it, and you can see it, then it is hard to believe that they can’t see it.
***Kim on June 9, 2020 at 11:45 pm
What happens? What will happen is what is supposed to happen. Failure is the plan.
If I can see it, and you can see it, then it is hard to believe that they can’t see it.***
I think it is very easy to see that others cannot see what they do not want to see – especially when they cannot afford to see it. Also, I see no plan involved here. Just people who are ill-equipped to understand or be aware of the events and changes taking place and the magnitude of the implications involved.
Such a system, on a global scale would require a huge amount of energy. The encryption of a block in a block chain requires a calculation cost (energy, electricity) that goes exponentially with the length of the chain. For energy and calculation power constraints, I don’t think we will see this happen.
How much energy does it require to maintain the current system as it stands?
Probably would blow our minds the massive resources to keep flowing.
I can hear now the CB will put a positive spin on this digital currency.
Save trees and metals and much more streamline and efficient and will cut down on illegal activities. Plus the younger generation will be less resistant to the change, pretty much already cashless now.
This past year has especially pushing for paperless personal finance.
Can’t see it not happening.
Like all the Older Folks, hope it isn’t done on my watch…
Wishing so means a shorter life…no big deal😎
Just so, rufus. In addition, transactions on block chains must be serialised, so the system cannot scale. It is another piece of clever IT nonsense.
Bloomberg
Argentina Is Nationalizing One of World’s Top Soy Suppliers
Jonathan Gilbert
June 9, 2020, 12:03 AM EDT
The move comes at a delicate time for Argentina, which is negotiating a restructuring of $65 billion in overseas debt. It also revives memories of the 2012 nationalization of YPF and other companies during the presidency of Kirchner, and raises questions about how Argentina will lure private-sector investments to lift its economy off the floor.
“History shows us that state interventions, in grain trading in particular, create severe distortions that end up deepening problems instead of solving them,” the Argentine Rural Society said in a statement.
The main opposition coalition rejected the measure, calling it “illegal and unconstitutional.”
The government contends that the repercussions of Vicentin’s financial crisis on Argentina’s farm industry were simply too big to ignore. The closely held firm is a major part of Argentina’s $20 billion-a-year crop export business, accounting for 7.4 million metric tons of oilseed-crush exports in 2019.
“There’s a certain belief, especially among independent and small producers who have been quite damaged by Vicentin’s failure, that the company needed to be saved in some way,” said Juan Cruz Diaz, director of political consulting firm Cefeidas Group in Buenos Aires.
But to many observers, the nationalization points to another issue: Who exactly is governing Argentina? Fernandez, who’s far from a free-marketeer but viewed as a moderate, or his deputy, Kirchner, a figurehead for fervent supporters of Latin American leftism and nationalism.
Vicentin’s fate has been closely tied to politics. The company expanded under the presidency of market-friendly Mauricio Macri and then fell into disarray when Fernandez emerged as his likely replacement. Gabriel Delgado, an agriculture secretary under Kirchner, will lead the government’s intervention.
The company defaulted on about $1.5 billion of debt last year. A court in Santa Fe province, where the company is headquartered, has been overseeing a bankruptcy in a procedure that’s similar to Chapter 11 in the U.S.
Hmmm…the wave of the future…here in the United States Fed Support of Zombie Companies…next nationalization
Perhaps soy prices are too low, worldwide, because of all of the shutdowns and the low wages of workers. This is just another symptom. Which producers will succeed?
“South Asia is emerging as a new covid hotspot
“Lockdowns are being lifted purely because countries cannot economically sustain them.”
https://www.axios.com/india-coronavirus-cases-south-asia-pakistan-5447da22-7418-43f7-a17a-d247b92e4205.html
Relative to population, they have not reported many cases. Perhaps this is simply from lack of testing. I would agree that economically, they cannot possibly maintain lockdowns.
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_desktop/public/inline-images/the_masks_speak-768×606.jpg
+++++++++++
Mayan Dec. 21, 2012? Wondered for years why nothing chaotic or experiential happened.A quick search shows that 12/12/21 is, in the Egyptian/Ethiopian/Coptic calendars, ~September 2020. Could recent theories placing us in the path of a recurring galactic superwave be real? Often, Gails posts reflect how exposed hidden history might help us understand how we fit, as we cannot divide what is one. All Aloha, Dan
Do you have links to what this is all about? I searched on Google for “recurring galactic superwave.” One letter I found seems to suggest it is related to abrupt climatic changes relates to sudden incursions of cosmic dust into the solar system.
I guess you came across Sacha Dobler’s abruptearthchanges.com? Sacha tried to correlate solar cycles with history in a tour de force. It is at least an interesting perspective.
https://abruptearthchanges.com/2018/10/26/solar-history-ebook-out-now/
Solar cycles research started with a very high reputation with
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Chizhevsky
And was stopped by Stalin when Chizhevsky insinuated the Russian revolutions could have been fuelled by Solar Maxima. The researcher was sent to gulag.
The main idea is that changing sun activity have effects on weather, harvests, climate change and psychology because the protecting shield against cosmic rays is affected.
Or maybe the c’piracy has secretly changed all the regular calendars so we don’t know what year it is anymore. Maybe it’s 2012 right now!
At least, that was the Church of the SubGenius explanation why “X-Day” (*) failed to happen on July 5, 1999. The other explanation was that numbers sometimes get flipped upside-down in the psychic realm, so the real year was 8661.
(*) That blessed day when true SubGenii will be taken up into the saucers, and have space orgies while watching the wretched Normals slaughter one another back on earth. Praise “Bob”!
“Faced with a crisis unlike any other in memory, central bankers have embarked on new efforts to keep credit flowing and to set the stage for an economic turnaround.
“Because they went into the crisis with limited ammunition to stoke growth, experimentation may prove even more crucial in the months and years ahead…”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/business/economy/central-banks-coronavirus-economies.html
“…food insecurity has been on the rise in Nigeria. Just a few months ago, the Food and Agriculture Organisation predicted that 7 million Nigerians will experience food shortage between June and August…
“Yet, recent happenings showed that this food shortage will be worse, as the cost of production set to significantly increase within the next 6 -9 months and every Nigerian will be affected.”
https://nairametrics.com/2020/06/08/food-will-be-scarce-in-9-months-but-this-presents-huge-investment-opportunity/
“Sudan is facing growing demands to end the restrictions from a population mired in poverty and facing annual inflation of nearly 100 percent – as well as fielding complaints that promised aid for poorer Sudanese has failed to materialise.
“We demand that the lockdown is lifted immediately so that we can … get on with our lives, because hunger is worse than corona,” said Othman, who is a daily wage earner.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/hunger-worse-corona-sudanese-demand-lockdown-200608144103592.html
I find it puzzling that the very people who were wringing their hands piously in March over the fate awaiting people in the poorest countries, because of the lack of advanced medical services, very few doctors and nurses per capita, etc, still fail to see that the lock-downs are the greatest threat to their health and existence!
It’s not only governments, clearly, who cannot admit their errors.
It’s horrifying to contemplate the desperation of day-labourers and others who are not permitted to work and feed themselves, and who will now face steep increases in food costs even if the lock-down policy ends.
What if it isn’t an error?
Of course. It’s all “too stupid to be stupid”, as they say.
The list of these frauds and psy-ops is so tediously long now, it is hard to remember them all: russiagate, the President is a spy for Putin, the Covington boy (he smirked at a Native American!), the Kavanaugh confirmation (as a teenager he took part in brutal r*pe club activities! Califiornia professor claims to have suppressed memories of it), someone somewhere in some year long ago wore blackface, the flu that has come every winter since time immemorial is going to kill us all so we have to shut down teh entire global economy, and now the whole country is in an uproar by a supposed epidemic of unarmed black men dying in custody when last year the number of such black deaths was 9 and of whites deaths the number was 19.
Did I leave anything out? I am sure I have left out lots of equally dishonest beat-ups. I left out Epstein, and I left out Harvey Weinstein (Shock Report: Casting Couch Found in Hollywood!). There are lots of other things.
It is all exceedingly tedious. But making us tired of it all with the constant barrage of rubbish is I am sure a major part of the plan.
The spike is food prices provides huge investment opportunities, according to the article. Only if consumers can really afford the high priced food. If not, there will be a problem.
It sounds like lack of urea based fertilizer is a big problem. Getting this replaced might be helpful.
“For a container shipping industry whose fortunes depend on ever greater globalisation, the coronavirus pandemic appears a particularly formidable foe.
“Evidence of the disruption to world trade is stark: sailors are stranded on ships thanks to Covid-19 travel restrictions, while containers packed with everything from televisions to clothes have arrived in western ports from Asia just as consumer demand in Europe and the US evaporates.
“There are echoes of the 2008-09 financial crisis…”
http://app.ft.com/cms/s/e9e69b0b-ae95-4f57-9a41-ea4f9756edd5.html
“In all the hullabaloo of OPEC+ prolonging the deepest production cuts in history, it’s easy to overlook ominous signals for oil prices — and the wider economy — that are emanating from the diesel market.
““The world’s awash with diesel,” said Alan Gelder, vice president for refining, chemicals and oil markets at consulting firm Wood Mackenzie Ltd. “There’s just loads of it everywhere.” ”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-08/a-glut-of-diesel-is-quietly-undermining-oil-price-resurgence
“Oil prices have likely risen too fast too soon… according to Morgan Stanley.
“The oil price rally in recent weeks “appears mostly supply- rather than demand-driven, and it is questionable how strong refinery runs can increase against this backdrop,” the investment bank said in a note on Monday, as carried by Reuters.”
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Morgan-Stanley-This-Oil-Rally-Wont-Last.html
“BP has announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs, representing about 15% of the oil group’s 70,000 staff, by the end of the year.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/08/bp-to-cut-10000-jobs-worldwide-amid-huge-drop-in-demand-for-oil-covid-19
“Ever since last week Monday, energy stocks that have already filed for Ch.11 or are about to have squeezed so much higher that it boggles the mind just to look at them…
“Buyers should not be fooled by the large price movements. There are companies that won’t survive regardless of the recent price moves.”
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4352656-bankrupt-energy-stocks-leading-short-squeeze-rally
I suspect that most of these corporate job cuts we are now seeing were coming even without COVID, given the clear trend of 2019 – wonderful cover for their embarrassment.
The diesel glut seems to have come a refiners have cut back on jet fuel and made diesel fuel instead.
It seems like bloggers in Europe were worried about “running out” of diesel, needed to operate many European automobiles. No such thing has happened.
“A new global crisis is looming in East Asia… Beijing has intensified its appeal to nationalism. The propaganda goal is to rally the people against external threats and deflect anger about Covid-19 outwards, to the world beyond China.
“Beijing’s external and internal policies are increasingly bold and aggressive. A new national security law is to be imposed on Hong Kong…”
https://app.ft.com/cms/s/2a6555e2-a961-11ea-a766-7c300513fe47.html
“Hong Kong is preparing for a series of small-scale protests to mark the first anniversary of the anti-extradition bill movement.
“But a resumption of city-wide unrest is unlikely as activists reel from mass arrests, bans on public gatherings and a looming national security law. ”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/09/retrieving-our-hong-kong-pro-democracy-protesters-mark-one-year-on-the-streets
It is hard to see how the conflict between China and Hong Kong ends well.
“The coronavirus pandemic led to the furthest-reaching economic collapse globally since 1870, the World Bank said Monday.
“In the organization’s latest Global Economic Prospects Report, it said the scale of the economic contraction will be worse than any recession in 150 years due to the number of countries affected, according to AFP.
“”This is a deeply sobering outlook, with the crisis likely to leave long-lasting scars and pose major global challenges,” Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, World Bank Group vice president for equitable growth, finance and institutions, said.”
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/501681-coronavirus-pandemic-sparked-broadest-economic-collapse-since-1870-world-bank
Now the bed is gradually being prepared for negative interest.
For more than 1 %.
Today’s World Bank report highlights the economic toll on emerging and developing countries as the coronavirus crisis tips millions of people into extreme poverty and leaves “lasting scars” in its wake.
“While richer countries are mostly past the worst stages and are planning the gradual reopening of their economies, many of their poorer counterparts are now at the centre of the pandemic. The economic hit is likely to be most severe “where there is heavy reliance on global trade, tourism, commodity exports and external financing”…”
https://www.ft.com/content/be9c5a5e-1280-4281-8b28-04717d2c7e66
“Many countries with strong authoritarian governments are more susceptible to economic shocks, much more likely to experience a collapse in regime when a strong downturn occurs and more at risk of descending into violent conflict than are more conventional democracies.
“This research suggests that governments (and financial markets) should be worried about a rise in violence as the pandemic takes hold in these economies, given that those very governments have often failed to deal effectively with systemic inequalities.”
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/501739-covid-19-could-lead-to-new-wars-in-authoritarian-countries
No kidding! Governments will hopefully think twice before ordering second lockdowns.
I doubt it. They knew it was a scam when they did it the first time.
I think what happened in the Floyd death was officer “hazing”. Two totally green rookies present. One his first day, the second second his third day.20 year veteran puts them to the test. Will they back a fellow cop no matter what. That this is what law enforcement has become is saddening. I hope the cop that did it gets life, The cops I knew back in the day knew right from wrong. The police culture must change. Murdering sadist screw it up for cops trying to do a good job. When you are handing out licenses to kill a psycho or two will show up. Police need to police their own too or face consequences.is this really hard to understand ? turning a blind eye to officers that are sadists put police in the “bad” category. Good guys or bad guys? If you want to be in the good guy category you cant have psycho sadists on the force.
I didn’t realize that two of the police were just starting out. This does add a different “twist” to the story. Whatever happened, the story had a sad outcome. I tend to follow the view, “Judge not that you be not judged.”
An autopsy has shown that Floyd died of a heart attack, not of asphyxciation nor of strangulation. His had pre-existing heart disease and his respiration was suppressed by the fentanyl in his system. Rightly or wrongly, the officer was applying standard compliance and control techniques.
You may get your wish that he is judged harshly, but it wouldn’t be justice.
Why do you choose to ignore facts? Dispute them, fine, but why do you ignore them?
The freakin cuffs were on. What was he trying to get the man to comply with? HE WAS IN CUSTODY. Compliance and control techniques are for b4 the cuffs are on. If the cop was so scared of the dude why not just zip tie his ankles and toss him in the car with a total of 4 cops there. What facts am i ignoring? This was a murder.
“Rightly or wrongly, the officer was applying standard compliance and control techniques.”
If i am applying standard driving and plow into someone its a little different. So the cop can just pin your neck to the ground with his knee at his discretion and continue to apply it for 8 minutes even though the cuffs are on? Even if your not resisting? Ur cool with that? because its “standard”. Bad apple sadists like that screw good cops who are applying force when needed. He is going down and deserves to. If you dont understand that I cant help you,
The cop that killed Floyd had 17 or 18 excessive force complaints. Most Minneapolis cops have none. The Chief should have been fired and the Union sued for protecting him.Then maybe they wouldn’t disband the whole department . FDR did not allow unionization of Public employees because their service is critical for the nation.