Note to reader: I come across very few news outlets, MSM as well as alt-media, in which they are properly preparing their followers for the upcoming global conflict that results in the force majeure. This set of events will result in an unraveling of the globe from which it will not be able to recover.
The denial runs deep, even in the alt-media, which seem unable to properly articulate this timeline to global destruction. And do you blame them? As the world slowly sinks into its inevitable outcome, the alt-news commentators from Jeff Rense to Alex Jones, as well as the MSM are viewing the dynamic as if they’re watching a football game and picking their favorite team. There are no good sides in this slow motion catastrophe. There are only different aspects of the pure evil that is being run from the very top.
Due to the inability of the people to comprehend such a catastrophic scenario, the global population will not be ready and the public leaders and chief captains of this current global hierarchy will be utterly ill prepared for the unexpected fallout. Only those at the very top of the pyramid know what is coming, and none of the Judas-goat characters in the alt-media are discussing those people.
To wit, I submit this unedited Barrons article below, which is just the latest in a long line of establishment pieces which minimize the implications to the changes upcoming in the global order.
Just as Joel Skousen claims, no one on the planet is going to be prepared. There will be no multicultural utopia in which all the races, tongues, religions, and peoples live as one. Skousen and I both know the Great Reset is pure folly. At least Skousen understands eschatological affairs, while the alt-Christians continue to sleep on. The people on this planet who traditionally offered the best resistance against it, have been demoralized to the point they offer none. If you’re curious to know which people I’m talking about, just look at your adversary’s media for a hint. You all better prepare, because we now have less than four years to get our personal affairs in order.
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Yes, the Global Order Is Unravelling. Just Not Today
Investors need not overreact to the latest distressing headlines about Russia and China, but the political risks to the global economy are
Yes, the Global Order Is Unravelling. Just Not Today. Barrons, February 24th
About the author: Christopher Smart is chief global strategist and head of the Barings Investment Institute, and is a former senior economic policy official at the U.S. Treasury and the White House.
As if the latest market tremors weren’t upsetting enough, this week’s political rhetoric was positively alarming.
President Biden appeared to declare “Putin’s war of conquest is failing.” The Russian president, for his part, “neo-Nazis” in Ukraine and insisted it is “impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield.” Washington Russia of “crimes against humanity” and warned Beijing against providing lethal aid to Russia. met Putin and Moscow said it would stop implementing the last remaining nuclear arms agreement with the United States.
If it feels like the world’s geopolitical fabric is unraveling fast, rest assured it isn’t. But the global order is unraveling slowly, and investors need to understand just how political disorder could swamp economic growth in the years ahead. Military escalation in Ukraine or global mischief from a beleaguered Russia may trigger brief market reactions. The real risks, however, stem from a protracted struggle between China and the West that will make all global commerce more difficult, expensive, and risky.
As to why Armageddon isn’t imminent, it’s important to unpack the recent headlines. The Biden and Putin speeches were dramatic mostly because they were so close in time and distance. Neither leader said much new. The reports on China’s potential lethal aid may refer to a flow of that China has long sent to Russia as part of their burgeoning economic and political relationship, rather than any recent decision to bolster Putin’s forces. As for the suspended New Start Treaty, Moscow also announced it would stick to the for now.
Make no mistake, tensions are rising. But it’s important to understand which dynamics will drive up everyone’s blood pressure and which will have a fundamental impact on global growth.
The immediate risk, of course, comes from escalation or expansion of the fighting in Ukraine. Moscow has reminded everyone more than once about its nuclear arsenal, but firing a tactical nuclear weapon risks losing Russia’s remaining friends without delivering actual territorial gains. An accidental engagement in neighboring Poland is slightly easier to envision, triggering quick retaliation from NATO. But even this kind of escalation doesn’t seem likely to expand into a much broader conflict. Russia’s having a hard enough time protecting its current gains and America clearly has little stomach to send its own troops.
Much more likely, Ukraine and Russia will continue to engage in exhausting, tragic fighting that doesn’t move the line much. Ukraine may achieve some better success with the arrival of German tanks, but even Russia’s hapless and disorganized military effort isn’t about to pack up and go home.
Second, there are separate, if related risks, from what will likely be Russia’s long political and economic exile. Even with trade flows continuing with China or India, the loss of Western energy markets, industrial parts, and advanced technology puts the Russian economy on a path to slow impoverishment and autarky. In many ways, the impact of sanctions is only beginning to bite.
But if much smaller regimes in Iran and North Korea can cause havoc from their isolation, imagine what an angry and resentful Russia might try in the Middle East, the Balkans, or cyberspace. Again, Moscow lashing out would trigger political turmoil and market volatility. Tighter enforcement against Russian commodity exports may also roil those markets temporarily, but few of the most obvious scenarios seem likely to have a lasting impact.
What will have a lasting impact on global growth and political stability, however, is the continuing disintegration of the already fragile relationship between the U.S. and China. This dynamic carries both political consequences, economic risks and important dangers for investors.
Clearly, China shows for Russia’s unilateral invasion. Beijing continues to call for a negotiated settlement and most Chinese firms have been careful to avoid activities that might draw Western sanctions. Indeed, even if Russia were actually headed for military defeat, it’s hard to imagine China actively joining the fight at the risk of losing access to its largest global markets in the U.S. and Europe. The shape of a post-Putin Russia is highly unpredictable, but it’s hardly likely to turn toward Jeffersonian democracy and away from China.
If the “no limits” relationship has limits, however, there is still plenty of room for rhetorical support, economic engagement, and continuing a longstanding trade in dual-use technology. As long as the West doesn’t sanction Turkey and India for their commercial relations with Russia, China looks much more protected.
The problem is that China’s strategic ambiguity becomes less tolerable in a world of heightened risks and dwindling trust. When a mysterious Chinese balloon blows across the continental U.S. and scuttles the latest attempt at talks, almost anything is possible. The next senior U.S. official to visit Taiwan or the next naval challenge in the South China Sea can trigger both an immediate political crisis and—crucially for the global economy—mounting calls to dismantle the largest trading relationship in the world.
Americans and Europeans are obviously careful about self-inflicted damage from sanctioning China, but there’s a long ladder of potential escalation from the current limited constraints on advanced technology sales. And historians are quick to remind us that the extensive trading relationship between England and Germany before World War I ultimately failed to keep the peace.
Investors need not react now since this slow boil of tensions may continue indefinitely without disrupting current flows of money and goods. Indeed, the Chinese economy looks set for an impressive recovery after three years of lockdown. But they should watch closely where the risks are highest. Next on the menu of potential sanctions, more restrictions on technology sales seems logical as Washington seeks to exert pressure on Beijing. From there, a U.S. administration might restrict oil and petrochemicals exports, then advanced industrial goods, and eventually aircraft. Financial sanctions might escalate from smaller Chinese banks close to the military to larger state-owned institutions. At some point, smaller countries caught in the middle of the rising conflict could become targets, too.
This is how escalating political tensions send the global economy into extended recession or worse. Recent market moves have more to do with higher inflation jitters than the battle for Bakhmut. The real risks, however, lie in a slow deterioration of the global order that no central bank can repair.
Guest commentaries like this one are written by authors outside the Barron’s and MarketWatch newsroom. They reflect the perspective and opinions of the authors.
Meanwhile north of the Border the spooks runnering the drug trade have figured out a new way to wash their Benjamins.
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/bc-company-make-sell-cocaine
XTXXF is the ticker if you want to play it. Up from .25 to $1.00 on very low volume, briefly hit a high of $2. The license is for 250 grams, and that is like one coffee cup, with no selling to the public for profit. Most likely an offering in the very near future, but like all these under crap companies they can pump it up on just the hype.
CJ, @21stCMindWars made this infographic showing Zerohedge’s connections to Soviet intelligence:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FqRp5XkaUAUxGR_?format=jpg&name=large
I and CJ Evans suspected Zero Hedge is pushing an agenda that is not 100% truth and NOT in the interest of the average person. Your link proves this. If I took Zero Hedge as 100% truth years ago I probably would be Covid Vaccinated and boosted to keep my job as I would have lived paycheck to paycheck and I would have missed the stock market and housing runup.
Thank Heavens I did not take advice from Zero Hedge. I would be skeptical of all news outlets both alternative and mainstream as they only push self serving agendas.
Only trust God and turn to Jesus Christ. When in doubt, take it to the Lord in prayer. I would take it to the Lord in prayer even if you think you know the direction because God sees the much larger picture that us mortals do not see.
I remember even Bloomberg writing about the father/son relationship with Communist Bulgaria, and the son’s ties to Putin. I think this was even before the stupid Trump-Russia connection, so it didn’t come off as partisan at the time. Bloomberg provided some interesting research about who actually owned ZH. They were trying to figure out the ownership structure.
The left side and bottom of that chart was well covered in the MSM, but not in the alt-media. The worst part of ZH is that they have a lot of legitimate work, but it’s slanted in a way that it turns out to be like Pravda.
You know I cover Skousen’s analysis of this timeline to war, but even his son posts numerous ZH articles pertaining to the Ukraine/Russia/NATO situation. The articles have good points but they are always presented in an anti-Western light. The simpleton alt-crowd feeds on ZHs stuff. This is why ZH has 1.5mm Twitter followers. The MSM channels conspiracy followers into the AJ and ZH outcome.
I also recall how ZH was banned from Twitter when it began to tell some truth on the COVID origins. Twitter had about 800-900k followers at the time. But some sort of deal took place behind the scenes, because after ZH was allowed back on Twitter, it curiously laid off the criticism of the injections and it’s previous views on Covid. This shows us that all the countries are in on the COVID and monetary system scam. No countries are exempt anymore.
Even ZeroHedge’s script is written at a much higher level.
Even Putin’s Russia requires the Covid Vaccination in many locations and at many jobs. Putin is in on the act just like our unelected Biden. In fact, the Russian speaking Ukrainian refugees that fled to Russia had to get vaccinated if they wanted to settle in Russia.
Latest GDP estimate: 2.3 percent — March 1, 2023.
Given today’s poor economic numbers, I suspect the next revision could be down. Real numbers look lower.
The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the first quarter of 2023 is 2.3 percent on March 1, down from 2.8 percent on February 27. After recent releases from the US Census Bureau and the Institute for Supply Management, the nowcasts of first-quarter real gross private domestic investment growth and first-quarter real government spending growth decreased from -5.1 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively, to -6.1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, while the nowcast of the contribution of the change in real net exports to first-quarter real GDP growth decreased from 0.82 percentage points to 0.60 percentage points.
The next GDPNow update is Tuesday, March 7.
Any stocks we should be looking at? BBBY seems like it wants over $2. And rumors of a MULN and HLBZ collab which may be true as RIVN is getting into EV bicycles. If HLBZ does vote for a R/S it should take more than a week. Naked short selling hype but looking at the % numbers there really isn’t much going on, so I can tell they trying to use the naked short stories to pump.
The stocks you mentioned here are gambling type plays. Maybe own a bunch of each that you mentioned and hope for a big spike. But given the recent intimations of increased inflationary pressures, I worry about stocks and bonds short-term.
The upshot at this point is that both are testing support. On a trading basis I would probably say that they will hold.
So many wild cards here and if inflation cannot fall back we will get no landing and a continuation of the trend.
The stocks you mentioned are definitely day to day trading vehicles and BBBY has a breather here. We could see the stock pop, but the difference here is that there is so much new supply coming online that any pop will be met with fierce selling.
I’m not really going to recommend anything here as any stocks I do mention are only good for a day or two anyway. I want to wait for some of the economic data points to come out and support another trading rally in stocks before I really recommend any multi-day trades.
I hope the dollar doesn’t pop out of its trading range here either.
I agree, thanks for your reply!
Initial Jobless Claims
Act: 190K Cons: 195K Prev: 192K
Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg.
Act: 193.00K Cons: Prev: 191.25K
Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) (Q4)
Act: 1.7% Cons: 2.6% Prev: 1.4%
Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) (Q4)
Act: 3.2% Cons: 1.6% Prev: 2.0%
What a terrible set of numbers this morning. Unit labor costs come in much higher than expected while productivity is in the dumps.
I get people commenting that I am the bad guy for sounding so harsh regarding humanity. I’m not the blame. Look at how 83% of American adults took the dod Pentagon bioweapon. They’re the enemies, because they’re stupid. They watch too many apocalyptic movies and streaming shows and believe the hype and lies. Now we’re living the reality of the fallout of believing lies. Lies beget more lies. We won’t even get a hard landing. We’ll just get no landing.
The next set of propaganda points will be that we need to bring in more “migrants”, so we can lower wage inflation.
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Continuing Jobless Claims
Act: 1,655K Cons: 1,665K Prev: 1,660K
Initial Jobless Claims
Act: 190K Cons: 195K Prev: 192K
Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg.
Act: 193.00K Cons: Prev: 191.25K
Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) (Q4)
Act: 1.7% Cons: 2.6% Prev: 1.4%
Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) (Q4)
Act: 3.2% Cons: 1.6% Prev: 2.0%
It’s interesting how the media is suddenly pushing inflation again. The Fed now has a lot more “work to do” in its valiant “battle” against inflation.
I wonder how this is going to happen with interest rates at a 15-year record and the Fed having created one of the most dramatic monetary supply contractions in history. Savings rate have also plummeted to 2008 levels.
My guess is that the SoS is going to strategically engineer price increases in items and services included in the CPI and PCE. Other goods, like computers, have plummeted in price but don’t go into the Fed’s calculations.
I look at what’s going on with housing right now. House prices remain stubbornly high given the elevated regime of mortgage rates. Yet, institutional money continues to flow into the sector as rental yields on many single family properties remain okay.
Unfortunately a greater percentage of the overall population are no longer be able to swing financing and sell their current residences, lest they give up their low cost of capital via their current mortgages. Over time this will increasingly leave the institutions as the bull in the china shop. They can always get access to much cheaper money with large Bond issuances that cut out the middleman mortgagee.
I’m seeing it first hand. I’m working on a financing right now that’s around 8% with no prepay penalty. The money is still there, but in order to achieve some of the loan amounts I need, I need to begin raising rents higher. If I plan on adding to my portfolio, which I intend to, I can no longer keep rents at the levels I currently have them. I need to raise them. As borrowing rates continue to rise, this is going to put upward pressure on rents. It’s upward pressure on rents coupled with higher and elevated inflation rates, provides a floor underneath house prices. We saw this phenomenon back in the late seventies to early 80s and mortgage rates were firmly in the mid double digits back then.
Though all firms struggle with higher inflation and higher bond yields, either in the pricing of their stock or in the struggle to maintain profit margins, the biggest and brightest firms in each sector will always win out. It’s times Like these that provide the great shaking needed to consolidate the wealth and power of the economy. Those who are overlevered with sloppy balance sheets and high levels of leverage always lose during times of stress.
As I was saying previously, I don’t suspect there will be any soft or hard landing. I suspect there will be an extended period of no landing.
Hey Chris BBBY made it’s interest payment, which only kicks the can down the road for a little while longer. After the huge offering and all the bad news it still held above $1. Seems like they aren’t going out of business, even though they are closing stores, plus no BK filing as of yet. Not sure what effect that will have on the stock, it did uptick today so maybe a short term reversal?
CYN is still holding onto the $1 levels, so it may have decent news on the wire, still on my watchlist. HLBZ was supposed to reverse split and interesting that they give shareholders a vote for that since many companies do not, they just split withough a shareholder vote. Also has high naked short rumors that may lift that stock but it has bad financials so only a trade and not a hold.
The big pump of the week was Lucira Health LHDX. The volume was so huge, they could file an offering, not declare BK, and appeal the delisting on 3/6. But are at home COVID test kits really a thing…. Incredible all these shitcos like TRKA are getting pumped. China stocks are slowly coming back.
The whole stack of economic data this morning came in worse than expected.
For some reason, the Fed’s website
https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/default.htm
was not updated with the latest H.6 release of M2 supply data.
The Fred website was updated, however to show last month’s M2 It ticked up slightly.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2SL#0
Depositors earn 50bps on their savings, and yet the Fed will be guaranteed by the taxpayers so it can dole out 4.70% in interest on at least $2 trillion of that deposited money, risk free, to the largest banks that deposit at the Fed. The banks take depositors money and earn almost 5% risk free. What a wonderful arbitrage. This results in tens of billions a year in losses made up by the Treasury eventually issuing more debt. The tax payer who earns 0% on checking and 0.5% on savings pays the bill for everything.
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Hemorrhaging losses, the Fed’s problems are now the taxpayer’s
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/3877483-hemhorraging-losses-the-feds-problems-are-now-the-taxpayers/
For all of those screaming about bank bail-ins, the people are already losing at least 4% a year on their money. Not only that, they’re on the hook for allowing the banks to earn 4.7% on the depositor’s own money. They’re essentially losing 4% a year, twice. Don’t worry about bank bail-ins, the tax paying depositors are already getting hosed. We can also tack on inflation.
The bank bail-ins are effectively already taking place.
Fair enough, but really I wasn’t screaming. And I personally don’t believe that defacto bail-in is on the cards. I do get the sense that another crisis in banking will pop up sooner than later and the presentation I linked is plausible. I wouldn’t have even mentioned it but something spooked David Malpass into resigning so I thought I would link it. Then that weird joint comunique from the FED/FDIC/OCC tells me something is cooking – plausible advance warning.
There is a principal in common law “He who does not prevent what he can, seems to commit the thing” I believe is at work here regarding the FED.
I didn’t mean you in particular or anybody. I’ve just gotten so many people asking me over the years, since a couple of the countries in the EU went that route early last decade.
The last thing the banks are going to do is engineer any bail-ins. There are too many people looking for stuff like that to happen. In the wake of quantitative easing and its success, there’s no need for any bail-ins. Besides, who takes out cash anymore?
It’s been a process going on a few decades now, but I don’t see any of the western Nations ever having to go that route as the people have complete and total faith in their money. It’s been engineered from the top, but it’s been very successful.
Agree
Not only the got complete faith in their money, they actually compete fiercely for it with the most absurd of behaviors in order to do as they been told, all for the privilege of being fleeced. Bankers know their system is a complete success as they are the first observers of this phenomena.
All this competitive “rat’s race” let’s very little room for any pause or deviance, and it happens to be like how bad money replaces the good money that at the end bad people replaces the good people until the whole system goes belly up as there is no anything more to be exploited any more that can sustain the system properly.
At the end we live in a finite world with finite resources and infinite claims over these resources will eventually find a limit, whatever the trickery.
Very good observations; in the current system bad money always drives out good. That’s why passive income is better than earned income under our financial system.
It’s actually very sad. Passive income also means capital gains. For instance, rental income allows a RE investor to hold the asset for a longer period, so he can sell down the road for massive profits. The cap gains are usually much greater than any income received.
CJ, you have inspired me to bury my cash in a coffee can out back.
That’s the last place. Although after CA tries to push through reparations, maybe money off the radar may not be so bad. 🤯🤯🤯
Own SFRs in LLCs. 😱😱😱
The fact the Fed and banks can coordinate these schemes successfully means we have more time. It’s actually good so long as a person is positioned correctly to benefit (i.e. have income generating assets)
This is what happens when the wrong people take over the government of a country. And we wonder why the United States is following in the footsteps of South Africa. A once wealthy nation goes down the toilet into a pit of low-IQ corruption.
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Major nation on the verge of ‘collapse’
news.com.au
South Africa is on the verge of “collapse” amid rolling blackouts and warnings a total power grid failure could lead to mass rioting on the scale of a “civil war”.
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/world/south-africa-faces-civil-war-conditions-due-to-possibility-of-power-grid-collapse/
Western embassies including the United States and Australia have advised their citizens in the country to stock up on “several days’ worth” of food and water and be on high alert during extended blackouts sweeping the country. New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises “exercise extreme caution” due to strikes and demonstrations. “There have been outbreaks of violence primarily directed toward refugees and other African migrants throughout South Africa. Violence could occur again at short notice and bystanders could be caught up.”
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national “state of disaster” on February 9 in response to the record electricity shortage, which has seen state-owned power company Eskom institute rolling blackouts – dubbed “load shedding” – lasting up to 12 hours in some cases.
“Rolling blackouts (load shedding) are occurring throughout South Africa which are affecting private residences, businesses, municipal lighting, traffic lights and hotels,” Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said earlier this month.
“Blackouts can also affect water availability, internet connectivity, mobile phone network coverage, fuel availability, residential security features and food supply.”
DFAT warned power outages can increase crime. “For example, traffic jams due to power outages provide opportunities for smash-and-grab crime,” it said.
“Residences can be targeted when lights are out and security systems are not functioning. Ongoing conditions have led to increased protests and demonstrations, and in some cases, civil unrest, throughout the country.”
The US Embassy this month advised citizens to “maintain 72 hours’ worth of supplies at home by stockpiling non-perishable food, three litres of drinking water per person per day, and medicines and first aid supplies”.
It comes after the US government last month warned its stakeholders in South Africa to prepare for a total collapse of the power grid, tech publication MyBroadband reported.
The US Overseas Security Advisory Council convened a meeting with representatives from several large US-based corporations with operations in South Africa, as well as a number of local companies, to discuss business security concerns amid the energy crisis.
At the meeting, a recording of which was viewed by MyBroadband, a US government official said while a total power grid failure was unlikely, it was “something we need to start thinking about”.
They said one of the biggest dangers was the amount of time required to bring the system back online from a total collapse.
“Eskom estimates, in the best case scenario, it would take six to 14 days to restart the power grid,” the official said. “There are a few feeder lines from other countries, but not enough to help with a black start situation.”
The official warned of mass looting and civil unrest if the grid collapsed, quoting an unnamed individual as saying: “What’s left after a blackout would be what was left after a civil war.”
In a viral Twitter thread this week, a neighbourhood watch volunteer with civil rights group AfriForum argued South Africa “has collapsed”.
“We’re seeing an increase in co-ordinated attacks on water, power and comms infrastructure,” he wrote.
“Looting is no longer just a daily thing but is also now becoming more structured with guerrilla planning involved. Our roads no longer exist. Anything that is state-run is crumbling. police, fire and hospital resources for the state don’t exist and are also slowly disintegrating.”
He added the cost of living was “insane”, with medical aid “a luxury that most cannot afford” while food prices were “going through the roof”.
“Our murder rate is higher than the death rate in Ukraine’s current conflict,” he wrote.
“Higher than an active war zone. Hundreds of rapes a day, thousands of kidnappings every month, 90 hijackings a day. Farmers being murdered like flies in the most brutal ways imaginable.”
Eskom has repeatedly explained load shedding is a last-resort measure required to prevent a total collapse of the power grid.
Over the weekend, The Sunday Times reported key industries across South Africa had begun preparing for a total grid collapse, installing backup power to ensure critical services such as telecommunications and food retail could remain operational.
Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis told France24 earlier this month the rolling blackouts were putting “huge pressure on all of our basic infrastructure”.
“It’s making it easier to steal cables when the power’s off … financially as well there’s a big impact, we’ve got to buy hundreds of generators and millions of litres of diesel to run those generators, so it’s very severe the impact,” he said.
Ongama Mtimka, a lecturer at Nelson Mandela University, told Al Jazeera the “situation is very dire”. “South Africa is the most industrialised country [on] the continent and the cities in some of the poorest provinces attract a lot of jobs,” he said.
He said the continued load shedding served as a “battering ram against the sustainable economies of these cities”. “It’s been for such a long time, and the problem seems intractable,” he said.
South Africa currently has an inflation rate of 6.9 per cent and 32.9 per cent unemployment, according to Stats SA.
Adding to its financial woes, the currency has plummeted close to levels last seen during the height of the pandemic in 2020 after the country was “grey-listed” by a global anti-money laundering body.
The Financial Action Task Force’s greylisting indicates to financial institutions that a country is not fully compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing standards.
Amid the swirling energy crisis, the outgoing chief executive of Eskom – who survived a suspected cyanide poisoning attempt in December – last week gave a bombshell interview detailing the scale of the corruption plaguing the public utility.
André de Ruyter fell ill after drinking a cup of coffee suspected to have been laced with cyanide at his Johannesburg office on December 13, a day after tendering his resignation in the face of political pressure.
“De Ruyter became weak, dizzy and confused, shaking uncontrollably and vomiting copiously,” energy publication EE Business Intelligence first reported.
“He subsequently collapsed, unable to walk. He was rushed to his doctor’s rooms by his security detail, where his condition was diagnosed as cyanide poisoning, and treated accordingly.
“Tests taken subsequently confirmed massively elevated levels of cyanide in his body.”
De Ruyter took the position in January 2020, embarking on a major crackdown on corruption and organised criminal behaviour, including sabotage at Eskom power plants.
Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter alleged ongoing corruption at the company linked to the ruling African National Congress party.
His last day was due to be March 31, but he stepped down with immediate effect on February 22 after alleging that an unnamed senior MP in the ruling ANC party was involved in systemic corruption at Eskom.
The ANC has since hit back at de Ruyter’s comments as “completely unacceptable” and threatened legal action if he could not substantiate his “baseless” claims.
In the interview with News24, de Ruyter said there was “a long list” of people who might want him dead.
“When you start turning the spigots closed then people will get upset,” he said.
He said his “rough estimate” was that somewhere in the region of 1 billion rand ($81 million) was stolen at Eskom every month.
“We’ve made some inroads, we’ve definitely started closing the taps, and that doesn’t make you any friends,” he said.
“It’s difficult to speculate on who might have wanted to make an attempt on my life, but the people with motive, clearly there’s a pretty long list.”
He described the corruption at the public utility as like a cancer that had “grown throughout the entire body of the organisation”.
In the northeastern province of Mpumalanga, where the majority of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations are located, de Ruyter said there were at least four highly sophisticated, “mafia” style organised crime cartels operating within the company.
“They have a hit squad [of] between 60 and 70 highly trained, well-armed people, and people get assassinated in Mpumalanga,” he said. “Every week there’s pretty much an assassination. It’s deeply entrenched and it is highly organised.”
The outgoing CEO detailed how the company faced a “systemic” problem with sabotage.
“Understand that there are many hangers on,” de Ruyter said.
“So if there is a contractor who gets paid a pittance to do cleaning or whatever the case may be, to pay someone like that 5000 rand [$400] to walk past a gearbox with a screwdriver and just with a sharp jab knock out the sight glass where you can check the oil level, the gearbox oil then drains and the gearbox fails, and somebody who’s got a maintenance contract is then called out.”
He added: “But the individual who committed the act of sabotage is not the kingpin. That’s just one of the runners. And that is where I think we have a systemic problem.”
He warned the company “can’t post a policeman over every employee’s shoulder to watch what they’re doing”, but said Eskom had implemented high-definition, artificial intelligence-powered cameras to recognise certain behaviours.
“If somebody’s loitering in a certain area where he shouldn’t be, or if he’s smoking or whatever … then an alarm goes off,” de Ruyter said.
“And what we found is whenever these cameras break down there’s a spate of incidents. So these things are very well organised, very well co-ordinated.”
Speaking to news channel SABC over the weekend, energy expert Chris Yelland said South Africa was “facing a very, very uncertain year ahead”.
“In fact what we are doing at the moment is shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic,” he said.
“We’re seeing an unprecedented change within Eskom as an organisation, and this augurs a period of uncertainty and danger for South Africa.”
Seems like South Africa is going the way of Zimbabwe. The USA will be next.
I won’t go that far. At least not until whites are reduced to about 25% of the population. However, it explains why the house price to income multiples in SA are so low. The wealthy have left.
If eskom can bring the grid up from collapse in 14 days, it can maintain the grid properly. This might be fiction. It might be cohen in action. If the israelis don’t want the grid down, it won’t go down.
Also maybe an operation to cause massive refugee waves. Our progressive friends will bring them here by the millions
I don’t think it’s fiction. The problem has been the looting. The monetary policy has been so terrible that the population is stealing the wire and ripping apart the electrical infrastructure to sell it off.
This is just like in Prince George’s County Maryland. A big problem, besides squatters, are the looters who come by and rip out copper piping out of the vacant properties while stealing heat pumps and compressors.
This is all part of what society has become. It is indeed terrible in South Africa. When the population starts ripping out wire and substation equipment, you have a third world.
I was in pg last week. The drivers there are generally savage. Blacks were segregated out by whites because the race is dangetous and destructive.
Segregation is survival.
My HVAC and handyman guy was killed on the PG beltway last year in Largo being a good Samaritan. Of course, it was distracted driving. Typical. He was a good guy. Talked to him a few times a month. Left behind a wife and two children.
It is a sad reality that whenever Blacks and Latinos are running the show, there is that much more corruption, crime, and favoritism over merit. Their moral values are not the same as most whites. More blacks and colored people tend to be atheists as well.
However, when any person, black, white, chinese has their heart with Jesus Christ then skin color does not matter as they are all one with Jesus Christ. It is important to save everybody’s soul and turn them to Jesus Christ regardless of skin color.
The other reality about blacks and a lot of Latinos is that a lot of them are resentful against whites.
We’re all equal under the eyes of God as well as the laws of the land, but we certainly aren’t the same.
If you think about it it is easy to grasp this.
Most white Eurasia lies upper than 40º North. Richer and most populous Western European countries are closer to 50º North: UK, Northern France, Holland, Germany, Scandinavian countries, Central Europe…
What it means?…
It means the limits of where society can function in a permanent basis because of the limits of the ability of growing useful and nutritious crops in masse and reliably year after year as easily as in the southerner places.
What are the problems of the Northerners?…
So many. Like the unpredictability of the weather and the uncertainty of crops, as the inability to crop more than once a year.
So, why it matters?…
It matters a lot because white northerners we are been able to overcome this shortenings thanks to cooperating and working together much more than other people and I am afraid we are a complete different class of people from southern Latinos or blacks that have been always living in much more forgiving environments, and they never have this urge to cooperate in order to survive in any way.
Blacks are definitely not atheists lol. Africa is the most religiously minded continent by far. The evil of africa is fuelled by ancestor worship which is a.mindboggling system bound up with their languages which no outsider can fathom. It is conjuring demons as any remnant minded Christian knows, which i why this sites supposed Christian ethos is always so suspect. At the same time many africans are Christian and they are truly some of the best christians anywhere with faith and faith alone and prayer so needed in their lives, and endless zeal forntheir chosen path. Similarly, remnant Christians know our hardfought battle against the papacy brought God’s blessings to our protestant countries and not the colour of our skin or latitude, I mean really what has changed? The ethos of our churches or our location and skin colour? And yes I think the catholic church is a sad indictment on Latinos. Hasn’t really worked out for them…
There is a thing where skin color matters a lot and it is in the absorption of vitamin D from the sunshine, that happens to be the cheapest and more economically viable way of getting this crucial and underestimated vitamin for humans, animals, even mushrooms.
Skin color just reflects sunshine changes and lack or excess of sunshine in the environment in order to get the most advantageous amount of vitamin D. It is nothing more than that. The races thing has been discussed too much, but I will go a little bit on science to express my view and God’s view that being paler is advantageous in cloudy latitudes close to the poles like Western Europe where the white race is from, and darker skins are way more advantageous in tropically closer or and sunnier areas, like the Mediterranean, the Middle East, or Africa.
What i am trying to explain?…
You need to understand the role of vitamin D, “the sunshine vitamin”, if you want to understand this.
Let’s see vitamin D and some of its most overlooked effects.
Vitamin D is a vitamin that functions by stimulating intestinal calcium and phosphorus absorption. Now, the role of vitamin D in calcium regulation is well known and much discussed but what is not as well known is the role of vitamin D in phosphorous absorption, ATP molecules recharging and energy regulation.
Now, we go to the important role of phosphorous and phosphate molecules for all living things:
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/Depts/Chemistry/MOTM/atp/atp_text.htm
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“All living things, plants and animals, require a continual supply of energy in order to function. The energy is used for all the processes which keep the organism alive. Animals obtain their energy by oxidation of foods, plants do so by trapping the sunlight using chlorophyll. However, before the energy can be used, it is first transformed into a form which the organism can handle easily. This special carrier of energy is the molecule adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.
The Phosphorus Cycle
The fact that ATP is Nature’s ‘universal energy store’ explains why phosphates are a vital ingredient in the diets of all living things. Modern fertilizers often contain phosphorus compounds that have been extracted from animal bones. These compounds are used by plants to make ATP. We then eat the plants, metabolise their phosphorus, and produce our own ATP. When we die, our phosphorus goes back into the ecosystem to begin the cycle again…
_______________________________
So you got it. Phosphorus happens to be a vital mineral to all living things to recharge lost phosphate groups and have energy ready again for ATP
______________________________
“How it works
ATP works by losing the endmost phosphate group when instructed to do so by an enzyme. This reaction releases a lot of energy, which the organism can then use to build proteins, contact muscles, etc. The reaction product is adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and the phosphate group either ends up as orthophosphate (HPO4) or attached to another molecule (e.g. an alcohol). Even more energy can be extracted by removing a second phosphate group to produce adenosine monophosphate (AMP).
When the organism is resting and energy is not immediately needed, the reverse reaction takes place and the phosphate group is reattached to the molecule using energy obtained from food or sunlight. Thus the ATP molecule acts as a chemical ‘battery’, storing energy when it is not needed, but able to release it instantly when the organism requires it.”
_______________________________
And what makes it possible to be absorbed correctly and in good quantities?…
Yes. Vitamin D. The sunshine vitamin.
And yes there are other ways to get this vitamin like in animal fats, sun exposed mushrooms or supplementation, but the easiest and cheapest way remains the same: sunshine.
I would try not to go to the races discussion again. I do not have anything against races at all. God has set them himself, not me, not you, not even the crappy propaganda of our adversary.
What it is true is that paler skins are better absorbers of vitamin D when you go further to the poles, or in places with not much sunshine because of cloudy skies, all Atlantic Europe qualifies for this conditions. I live in the southernmost part of this area, but my narrow valley robs the sunshine a lot and the Atlantic just keeps sending wave after wave of clouds until some few summer months, so the sun here, just many times does not even exist.
Locals from here we are quite pale comparing with the rest of Spaniards and there are reasons for it as with better vitamin D better regulation of calcium and more ATP molecules recharging for more energy.
The Cohans are furious with the anc no doubt but i dont thinknit worries them one way or another what happens as we all know no government debt anywhere is going to be paid up, simply refinanced through direct energy vampirism via utteer cruelty, black magick, adrenochrome extration and technodemonic experiments. The contract for the expensive new coal plant was given to Hitachi with its partnership with chancellor house, the ancs investment arm, and the design is bad. The outgoing ceo de ruyter yaps about how SA must take advantage of the favorable terms to roll out wind and solar so who is he kidding. The question is whether these organised cartels robbing the place blind are organic or have a little help from recent immigrants from khazakstan and locals. IDK. I do know tptb are scared of africans in a way they are not scared of Mericans so much. For example 300 healthcare workers with their syringes were pangaed in Congo during covid. So much for them and their nice dollar salaries. In south africa its the zulus they want to destroy because they are the most violent. Looting they don’t want because its Cohan franchise business that goes down. But the cherry is that south africas coal exports to China are larger than ever so people can pay for batteries built there. And it is not possible to underestimate the schemes the government cronies come up with to loot the state, with or without external mafia now along for the ride. Personally I think a grid failure and letting is best so the informal economy and independent minded business, both Muslim and Afrikaans, start putting post reset structures into place. One can trade veggies for secondhand clothes on the street till judgment day. No pesky barcodes on the avocado’s and oranges.
Besides, the Cape, the fairest in the world mind you, is in much better shape than black south africa and offers a graciousness of living Americans have no idea of. Plenty of Europeans there too, and blacks have no historical claim the cape because they lived 1000 miles away and only khoisan lived in the southwest portion of the country and lots of people angling for independence.
It’s not just south africa, many countries offer wonderful lives the rhythms of old world living in tune with the natural world and our place in it. Who cares.about the markets and a bunch of the worlds bullshit served up every day? Who would ever waste their precious life on anything else? True I am in the us and have been for almost a year now, living in my van and saving everything I earn which is enough for me with 20hrs overtime doubling my wages. And its going into my property somewhere else very different and very permanent and not so much resettable, which also means i am responsible for my workers and their families on my property. Very important. I was in destin for 3 weeks and God save me from that upwardly mobile fate. Glad to be back in the Appalachians for the duration even if they’re totally clueless about anything except walmart and dollar general …
The FHFA index came in better than expected, well the Case Shiller came in worse than consensus.
This makes sense as the fhfa only includes houses that have government-backed mortgages. The case Schiller includes all residential properties. The lower end, which tend to have the government mortgage backing, are holding up much better while the high priced properties are getting hit.
FHFA House Price Index (YoY) (Dec)
Act: 6.6% Cons: Prev: 8.2%
FHFA House Price Index (MoM) (Dec)
Act: -0.1% Cons: -0.2% Prev: -0.1%
FHFA House Price Index (Dec)
Act: 392.1 Cons: Prev: 392.4
S&P/CS HPI Composite – 20 s.a. (MoM) (Dec)
Act: -0.5% Cons: -0.5% Prev: -0.5%
S&P/CS HPI Composite – 20 n.s.a. (MoM) (Dec)
Act: -0.9% Cons: Prev: -0.8%
S&P/CS HPI Composite – 20 n.s.a. (YoY) (Dec)
Act: 4.6% Cons: 5.8% Prev: 6.8%
Risk of ‘wrathful Old Testament–style’ reaction from central banks is rising, JPMorgan says
The ‘gentle and forgiving path’ taken by developed-market central banks to combat inflation in the past year is likely to prove unsuccessful, JP Morgan economists said.
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Based on the elevated inflation readings that have been coming back over the past week or two here in the states, I suspect the central banks will begin to up the stakes. Based on persistently stubborn inflation, I think the central banks are going to raise short-term rates much higher than people suspect.
Instead of a “soft landing” or a “hard landing” there will just be “no landing.”
____________
https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/risk-of-wrathful-old-testament-style-reaction-from-central-banks-is-rising-jpmorgan-says-c4f8f382?mod=smartnews
The “gentle and forgiving path” taken by developed-market central banks to rein in inflation over the past year is likely to prove unsuccessful and trigger the need for more forceful, biblical-type action.That’s the view of economists Bruce Kasman, Joseph Lupton and Michael Hanson of JPMorgan Chase & Co. , who described the response of central bankers in the past year as embodying “a New Testament–style grace” — in terms of keeping the economic expansion going and tolerating a gradual decline in inflation. Rate hikes so far have been “a correction from inappropriately accommodative stances rather than an attempt to smite out the expansion,” they said.
On Monday, investors attempted to recover from weeks of volatility driven by a stream of unexpectedly strong U.S. economic data, pushing up expectations for continued rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. U.S. stocks finished slightly higher after booking their worst week of 2023. Meanwhile, Treasury yields ended the New York session lower after 2- and 10-year rates had jumped for a fifth straight week. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was off 0.5%.
Attention now turns to developments coming later this week. Thursday brings an inflation update from the eurozone, which is expected to set the tone for bond markets, as well as the account of the European Central Bank’s most recent meeting. In the U.S., markets expect the Fed to end up lifting its targeted federal funds rate to 5.4% from the 5.1% median forecast for 2023 among policy makers in December. Deutsche Bank remains an outlier, with a call for a 5.6% terminal fed funds rate.
Over the past year, developed-market central banks have delivered rate hikes of roughly 300 basis points or more each, according to JPMorgan.
The Fed has gone even further, hiking 450 basis points, taking its main policy rate to between 4.5% and 4.75% from almost zero last March, but opted for a smaller rate hike at its Jan. 31-Feb. 1 meeting, when it lifted rates by only a quarter-point.
“Recent developments suggest this gentle and forgiving path will prove unsuccessful,” Kasman, Lupton and Hanson wrote, in a Friday note. “The risk of triggering a more wrathful Old Testament–style central-bank reaction is on the rise. The transmission of the rapid shift in policy still underway also raises the risk of a recession not intended by central banks.”
“Asset prices are sensitive to shifting probabilities around recession timing and rate paths,” JPMorgan’s economists said. They’re placing 70% odds on a recession starting in late 2023 or 2024, and a 30% chance on a soft-landing scenario that sees only slowing growth — both of which are conditioned upon being able to avoid a near-term downturn.
From there, the economists consider two alternate paths. One is that any recession late this year is concentrated in the U.S., assuming rate hikes end in the second quarter and roughly 500 basis points of tightening works its way through the economy. The second is that resilient growth and elevated inflation force the Fed and central banks in Western Europe to turn more restrictive, with sustained tightening during the second half of the year becoming “a recipe for a deeper recession that starts later and is more synchronized globally.”
Under the spreading chestnut tree;
I sold you and you sold me.
There lie they, and here lie we;
Under the spreading chestnut tree.
Though use of this phrase is not very common, nevertheless we may find it in our everyday life, in politics, and in business. In the context of the corporate sector, we may use it to show the gratification of the companies for making people love their products, but in reality such would be not be good for the people. Likewise, it can be suitable for political parties that make fake promises to people, just to fulfill their own ulterior motives, and convince the people to be happy as if their bad times are gone.
February M2 should be released today by the Fed. The fourth Tuesday of each month.
I was reading somewhere that the largest increase in unexpected death rates was actually in the Philippines. Death is increasing worldwide.
The Philippines had a very strict Covid 19 Vaccine mandate. In fact, the president, Duterte, said he would send the military after those who refuse the vaccine and arrest them. The huge increase in death rates for the Philippines are the chickens coming home to roost.
It’s worldwide.
Wasn’t Deturte an admitted homosexual? That’s what happens when people listen to a homosexual. Homosexuals have a love/hate relationship with themselves. They lie to themselves as well as to others.
Homosexual leaders tend towards the Devil’s work because they live sinful lives forbidden by God.
God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of the sexual depravity by homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. The Bible has many passages forbidding homosexual relationships. One example is Leviticus 18:22: “Do not have sexual relations with a man as man does with a woman: that is detestable “
Most homosexuals have serious psychological and drug abuse problems. Homosexual relationships also tend to be abusive where one is the abuser and the other is the abused. It is a living example of sin.
Homosexuality it is indeed an “easy and not too bad” way for someone without any faith: if you have not peace with God, his Son and the Holy Spirit and you do not take Bible’s teachings to heart it is very easy to abandon yourself too much to the temptations of evil in tumultuous times. You now, whatever hard, complex and difficult the times, the short route that goes right there to evil is always going to be ready to be taken and it will get more and more enticing to take it, as for sure, this route will be offered to you by Satan.
I never understood the Faust legend until I matured enough, and the Faust is very real, you can sell your soul to the devil very easily and gain sex, power, money, without “much responsibilities”. You now, this is what homosexuality and sodomy is all about, all the pleasures and hedonism of the carnal desires without any worries or babies to take care of and growth as a God fearing healthy family unit.
At the end homosexuals are not mobsters, tattooed killer gang members or criminals, are they?…
But they are killers and assassins: they do kill their own potential children.
A reader forwarded me a video of Joel skousen on the Alex Jones show from Friday. The host, Owen Shroyer, just talks over and down on Skousen.
Skousen lays out most of the cogent points of his argument, but he gets taken out by 34 yo Shroyer. The AJ show and all his lackeys are either ignorantly stuck in the partisan cesspool, unable to too see the gestalt, or they are paid to be ignorant.
I may not agree with all Skousen says, but his main arguments in this interview conform to my force majeure premise. For instance, I suspect there are three or four more years of draining the system given what we are observing.
He stated recently that he puts up with his criticism on the alt media outlets, because he is desperately trying to get the final words out.
He even tolerated Shroyer ‘s trash talk. He may be a Mormon, but all Christians need to listen to him on this.
https://rumble.com/v2awtz6-joel-skousen-breaks-down-the-dangers-of-rising-tensions-with-china-and-russ.html
Headline looked kind of weak and below consensus but the rest of the stack came in above. The markets like what they see.
Core Durable Goods Orders (MoM) (Jan)
Act: 0.7% Cons: 0.1% Prev: -0.4%
Durable Goods Orders (MoM) (Jan)
Act: -4.5% Cons: -4.0% Prev: 5.1%
Durables Excluding Defense (MoM) (Jan)
Act: -5.1% Cons: Prev: 5.6%
Goods Orders Non Defense Ex Air (MoM) (Jan)
Act: 0.8% Cons: 0.0% Prev: -0.3%
Pending home sales spike 8.1%.
Given the massive wave of multi-breed, crime-ridden, reprobate immigration, we can only keep a beach ball below the surface of the water for so long.
Be the landlord to the reprobate scumbags. I have absolutely no sympathy for them anymore.
Another great piece.
“….while the alt-Christians continue to sleep on.”
Yeah, the reason why they sleep is because they’ve gone all-in on the ‘pre-trib rapture’ heresy straight from the pits of hell. Of course, and by design, the pre-tribbers are all going to be caught flat-footed when they find themselves in the middle of the tribulations. Of course they won’t recognize the fact that they are in the tribulations, and naturally, they will take the MOTB because they are still here; thus, the MOTB just couldn’t be the MOTB. One can see that it will be the same ‘believers’ and their leaders who were the ones who lined up for the jibby-jab and all that boosting….
Just part of the great delusion sent by the LORD, Himself, to those who don’t love the truth.
Thanks for the blog!
God’s Two Witnesses will be sending plagues on mankind for the refusal of repentance. This will go on for 3.5 years. When the beast out of the Sea rises to slaughter them after their ministry ends – people that refused to repent will worship the beast, and they’ll see the beast as their savior. There will be a 2nd beast, whom rises out of the earth, he will be given the same authority as the beast out of the sea; and be allowed to perform many miracles to deceive the inhabitants of the earth. Even bringing fire down from the sky while everyone is watching.
This is to fulfill this scripture:
9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
Most of the “church” is not teaching the book of revelation correctly. They either fall into two categories. Pre trib rapture or it has already past. Both are doctrines of Ceaser. The book of revelation is the only book in the Bible that warns the reader not to add or take away the words in that book. This is what many in the “church” are doing, which I believe will cause many to either lose faith (pre trib), or have no idea what’s going on (it has already past); because Paul talks about a falling away among believers during that time.
I don’t even believe the year we are living in is actually 2023. If Ceaser can deceive the whole world we’re living in a moving globe that’s traveling many thousands of miles per hour – and we are moving around the sun — which is moving across the universe — then changing history by removing a few years from the past 2,000 years is child’s play for Satan. I do believe in the 7,000 year timeframe for the earth – with the last 1,000 years being the Millennium kingdom (day of rest). I do believe we are close to 6,000 years – and the conclusion of those years will be the Great Tribulation and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to start his 1,000 year reign on earth. Coincidentally, as we are getting close to the end of those 6,000 years lots of things are coming into place; such as a digital currency and the emergence of a woke generation that Scripture warned would happen in these days.
Recently, I found this from the epistle of Barnabas. This isn’t God-breathed Scripture ofc, but Barnabas had the Holy Spirit within him, and was a fellow companion with the first elders of the Church:
“And God made the works of his hands in six days, and finished on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it.” Observe, children, what “he finished in six days” means. It means this: that in six thousand years the Lord will bring everything to an end, for with him a day signifies a thousand years. And he himself bears me witness when he says, “Behold, the day of the Lord will be as a thousand years.” Therefore, children, in six days–that is, in six thousand years–everything will be brought to an end. “And he rested on the seventh day.” This means: when his son comes, he will destroy the time of the lawless one and will judge the ungodly and will change the sun and the moon and the stars, and then he will truly rest on the seventh day. […]
Whatever’s coming, we now have less than 4 years left. 2027.
There will be no hard landing nor soft landing, just a no landing. This current system has a 45 month expiration date. Get your ducks in a row and your house in order.
Genesis Day 1 – God created Day and Night.
– Knowledge of good and evil in the first 1,000 years.
Genesis Day 2 – God separated the waters from the heavens from the waters of the earth.
– In 2,000 years the Great Flood in Noah’s time occurred. God opened up those waters from the heavens – “windows of Heaven.”
Genesis Day 3 – God separated the sea water from the land.
– In 3,000 years Moses, through God, lead his people out of Egypt and separated the waters in the river so land would appear.
Genesis Day 4 – God created two lights. The sun, as the greater light, and the moon as the lesser light.
In 4,000 years God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way. He would be the lesser light. The greater light would be his own Son. Look at this beautiful verse in the Old Testament referring to Jesus:
But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.
Genesis Day 5 – God created the fish and told them to be fruitful and multiple.
The followers of Lord Jesus Christ – became “fisher of men.” Since they were tasked with spreading the good news all across the earth and bringing people into his Church.
Genesis Day 6 (present time) – God created men and told them to be fruitful and multiply. And to have dominion over the whole earth.
Human population has reached into the billions for the first time in history. We have dominion over the whole earth. Construction of bridges, dams, and mega cities.
Genesis Day 7 – God rested.
– After 6,000 years passes – God’s Son returns and Satan is locked up in prison. A peaceful 1000 year reign begins with Christ on earth.
The end.
Great white throne of Judgment. And new heavens and new earth along with New Jerusalem being brought down from heaven for those whose names are written in the book of life. God knew the ending from the beginning folks. It all matches up like a jigsaw puzzle.
More whistling past the graveyard. Bloomberg says that inflation may persist a little longer. Perhaps until later 2023. It says we just need to get over this hump or that hump. But price inflation seems to persist. Now over two years….
_____________
Supply Chains Have Healed Yet Their Mark on Inflation to Endure
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-26/supply-chains-have-healed-yet-their-mark-on-inflation-to-endure
Another reason the cost of living is slow to fall: It’s easy to underestimate how long it can take for inflationary trends to work through supply chains. That’s partly because companies don’t like to change their pricing more than a couple of times a year, according to Chris Rogers, head of supply-chain research at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“Whilst the underlying prices have been coming down, it could take quite a long time for that to feed in,” Rogers said. “We’re still seeing some of the inflationary hangover coming through to product pricing now and it could take much of the rest of the year for that to flow through to prices, whether it’s producer or consumer.”
There are also some temporary factors at play now, Rogers said. In order to clear backlogs of inventory built up during the pandemic’s surge in consumer demand, many companies cut prices in the second half of last year.
But now many firms are facing enduring increases in one of their biggest costs: labor.
Worker shortages are hitting the supply-chain industries hard, said Nicholas Sly, vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
“There are several parts of the logistics sector that are actually quite labor intensive,” Sly said. “Drivers make up a very notable part of this,” but warehousing also requires a lot of workers, he said.
It’s time consuming and costly to train new employees, and that drag on productivity only adds to costs. On top of higher paychecks, other basic costs of business have risen. Long-distance motor carrying is one sector that’s “not anywhere near” pre-pandemic levels, according to Michigan State’s Miller.
Higher costs for diesel, industrial equipment and major capital expenses like new and used trucks still abound, he said. The cost to make truck trailers and chassis, for instance, remains elevated, according to data compiled by the St. Louis Fed. Driver wages have increased substantially, and so have maintenance charges on all modes of cargo transportation.
“Across the board, you have higher costs, so that’s going to have to translate to higher freight rates,” Miller said. “We may have seen ocean spot rates come back to their pre-Covid levels. We’re not seeing that in domestic truck transportation. We’re not seeing that in domestic rail-freight prices, either.”
Nor have storage costs seen any kind of sustained declines. WarehouseQuote expects warehouse-storage pricing to continue growing this year, owing to industrial real estate rents and labor-cost increases, and as vacancy rates remain below historical averages.
Even so, the easing of some supply-chain strains means logistics issues are contributing far less to inflation than services, according to Flexport Inc.’s chief economist, Phil Levy.
In the US, consumer-inflation data earlier this month showed commodities, excluding food and energy, rose 1.4% from a year earlier — a rate that should give Federal Reserve officials some comfort that their policy tightening is having an effect, given they target annual inflation of 2%, albeit using a separate measure. But services inflation, minus energy services, is running at 7.2%.
Gina Boswell, the CEO of Bath & Body Works Inc., said she sees economic headwinds from prices continuing for now, though that may change later in 2023.
“We expect that we will continue to see inflationary pressure on our input costs in the first quarter before beginning to see some relief as we move through the year,” she said on a conference call last week.