Tag: supply chain

Supply Chain Exploits

Guest Post by Visayas Outpost

Good morning, Persons of Interest.

We are not connecting enough dots it seems, in this fog of war.  I refer of course to the Info War, the Total War, the Cognitive War.  Unrestricted Warfare the Chinese call it, or as it has been termed more frequently in the West, Fifth Generation Warfare.  Because unless we are suffering from amnesia, ships have been a target vector since at least 2017.  Sure, the allision of the MV Dali could have just been bad luck or negligence, because that is the official narrative.  It’s just so darned understandable after all.

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The War in Ukraine and the Imminent Impact on Food Supplies… What You Need To Know

Via International Man

Food Supplies

Everyone understands by now that Russia is a large energy producer, but what many don’t know is that when they sit down at the dinner table at night, the entire supply chain (aside from the energy required for transportation) that gets them that dinner involves Russia and Ukraine to a frightening degree.

Our current globally integrated food supply system and mass food production cannot exist without, among other things, fertilizer.

This includes three main categories: nitrogen, potash, and phosphorus fertilizers. Potash is a potassium-rich salt fertilizer that enhances plant quality and is responsible for 20% of global fertilizer demand.

Together with Belarus, Russia has a 40% market share in global production and export of potash fertilizer. What OPEC+ is to the oil market, Belarus and Russia are to the potash market. The two monopolies in this space are Uralkali and Belaruskali, with the Belarusian Potash Company being the latter’s export arm.

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Governments have been screwing up their supply chains for 2,000 years

Via Sovereign Man

On the evening of March 16th in the year 37 AD, one of the most controversial emperors in Roman history appeared to be dying in his bed.

Friends and family gathered to pay their final respects to Emperor Tiberius, who had ruled for more than two decades.

For some Romans, Tiberius was literally a god, and they worshipped him as a divinity. And many of Rome’s powerful politicians respected Tiberius for his numerous achievements.

Tiberius had managed to greatly strengthen the empire without waging costly wars. He improved civil services, cut taxes, reduced spending, and built up an astonishing surplus in the Treasury of nearly 700 million silver denarii, worth roughly $2 billion today.

Many Romans, however, including a number of prominent Senators, utterly despised Tiberius. They viewed him as a horrible tyrant who was a major threat to Rome’s republican democracy.

For most of his reign, in fact, several Roman Senators constantly plotted against him. Some even spread false rumors about Tiberius as a sexual deviant in an effort to discredit him.

So when the Emperor was finally on his deathbed, his enemies were relieved. Hours later, though, they panicked when Tiberius appeared to be recovering from his illness.

It was at that point that a Praetorian Guard commander named Quintus Macro, who had a sacred duty to protect the emperor, allegedly smothered Tiberius with a pillow, finally ending the political chaos.

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Here’s Why U.S. Supply Chain Problems Will Only Get Worse

From Brandon Smith

Here Is Why U.S. Supply Chain Problems Will Only Get Worse

It is an economic rule which free market philosophers like Adam Smith have tried to explain to governments and monopolists for centuries:

Less liberty and more centralization equals less production and less overall wealth.

Governments and central banks have sought to circumvent this rule by printing money from thin air, thinking that they can create wealth while at the same time suffocating public financial interactions and trade with authoritarianism. This, of course, only leads to inflation or stagflation, and thus wealth is never actually created, it is projected like a hologram in order to trick the masses into thinking that all is well – until everything breaks, that is.

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The View From Here

Via Nostrofucious

Today is 7 May 2020.

As supply chain shocks continue to cause disruptions across our modern economy, many people are left wondering when all of this will go back to the way it was.

After months of trying to stay ahead of the curve, I have come to the saddening conclusion the instant just-in-time economy we knew six months ago is unlikely to return to its former state.

This is not some apocalyptic scenario from a movie. The next few years will be more like my Grandparents and Great Grandparents lives than what we have known in the last 30 years. I may finally understand why my Grandmother Nina would dry out and reuse paper towels. And why Mamaw Bert’s collection of butter tubs was so extensive.

The best way to face uncertainty is to prepare, not fear. In the spirit of that I wanted to share some tips I have learned from the broader preparedness community.

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Nine Meals from Anarchy

Guest Post by Jeff Thomas

In 1906, Alfred Henry Lewis stated, “There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy.” Since then, his observation has been echoed by people as disparate as Robert Heinlein and Leon Trotsky.

The key here is that, unlike all other commodities, food is the one essential that cannot be postponed. If there were a shortage of, say, shoes, we could make do for months or even years. A shortage of gasoline would be worse, but we could survive it, through mass transport, or even walking, if necessary.

But food is different. If there were an interruption in the supply of food, fear would set in immediately. And, if the resumption of the food supply were uncertain, the fear would become pronounced. After only nine missed meals, it’s not unlikely that we’d panic and be prepared to commit a crime to acquire food. If we were to see our neighbour with a loaf of bread, and we owned a gun, we might well say, “I’m sorry, you’re a good neighbour and we’ve been friends for years, but my children haven’t eaten today – I have to have that bread – even if I have to shoot you.”

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