The economic data coming in the past week is in alignment with prior forecasts.  Bottom line, energy driven inflation has collapsed consumer spending, inventories climbing, vendors are cancelling orders, and this is peak season for transpacific shipping- which has now recorded the most rapid drop in history.

A single transpacific container shipment cost $19,000 in 2021, then $14,500 in 2022 as the intentional slowdown began.  Now it’s only $3,900 as entire fleets of cargo shipments are cancelled due to lack of demand by U.S. purchasers.

Folks, get ready…. because it’s not going to get better.  Prior farm costs, an outcome of energy price increases, are now reaching the supply chain. Food costs will continue increasing throughout the holiday season.

(Wall Street Journal) […] Trans-Pacific shipping rates have plummeted roughly 75% from year-ago levels. The transportation industry is grappling with weaker demand as big retailers cancel orders with vendors and step up efforts to cut inventories. FedEx Corp. recently said it would cancel flights and park cargo planes because of a sharp drop in shipping volumes. On Thursday, Nike Inc. said it was sitting on 65% more inventory in North America than a year earlier and would resort to markdowns.

(more…)

The only thing I can do is research and write about it.  With an even stronger degree of certainty than originally expressed, and with all of the subsequent data points falling into alignment with the initial suspicions, the background of Jack’s Magic Coffee shop remains unchanged. {Go Deep}

Six weeks ago, the Twitter security ‘whistleblower’ came forward to congress.  The whistleblower is a former technology expert who came from within the research farm of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.  Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, is a well-known cybersecurity expert who left government work, entered the public world, and eventually became the head of Twitter security, reporting directly to the CEO. {Go Deep}

According to a recent SEC filing [LINK HERE], Elon Musk is now back to supporting the purchase of Twitter as the first step in creating the “everything app.”

{{{sarcastic voice}}} Gee, what could this be about?  I mean what could go wrong?….  We already know the infrastructure of Twitter’s operational database is tied into portals with the Dept of Homeland security {citation}, and now Musk wants to use that central infrastructure to create an all-inclusive “everything app”?

(more…)

Fortunate is a word often accompanied with thankfulness; the complicated conversations always begin with both.  We are blessed, fortunate and thankful. Personally, I have tried to avoid the complicated conversations, choosing instead to throw the starfish back into the water one at a time.

According to most, hurricane recovery and restoration is complicated business. They are likely correct; however, I do not see a broom, mop, screw gun or sandwich delivered as complicated business, so y’all are not going to read analytics of the complex from me.   Instead, the focus is on seeing a person with a problem and tackling it in a way to make their situation just a little bit better.

I’ve watched ants move rocks because rocks needed to be moved.  The task did not seem complex, the only variable seemed to be the number of ants needed.  I doubt they used extras. The ants somehow knew exactly how many of them were needed for the task and modified their assembly based on the terrain.  If you watch closely, the ants keep arriving until exactly the rock moving number of ants are on task – and they move the rock.

Perhaps it is a complicated process for ants to move rocks.  Is there a boardroom of ants, with ant planning and zoning?  Or does one ant just start pushing on the obstacle and the other ants join in.  I think the latter is more likely.

Need gasoline, we can get it.  Need the road cleared, we got that too. We can make a sandwich, deliver fuel, saw, sweep, mop, scrub, clean and/or make just that little space closer to the normal of memory.  It is entirely possible to replace a missing downspout, and it is entirely possible to provide an uncomplicated ear to listen. Both tasks are equally important during recovery because both outcomes reduce burdens.

Day 5 finds more ants arriving in the western impact zone of Hurricane Ian.  Here’s the rock:

(more…)

Shortly before sunset this evening, as the search and rescue missions continue throughout the western impact zone, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference in Cape Coral to provide the latest updates and new information for the people in Southwest Florida (SWFL).   Toplines:

♦ Cape Coral, Pine Island and Sanibel only have 3% power restoration.  Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) is overwhelmed and refusing to pay the mutual aid costs for assistance. LCEC is making people suffer.  The Florida Governor has seen enough. The state is stepping in.

♦ Effective tomorrow, up to 3,500 personnel from Duke Energy are being redeployed into Cape Coral and Lee County, the State of Florida will pick up the bill for the mutual aid payments LCEC is unwilling to support.  As a result, the power restoration timeline for Cape Coral is now moved from October 23rd to October 8th.

♦ Effective tomorrow, 50 generators from the Florida Dept of Emergency Management are being moved into Cape Coral to service water and sewer issues created by LCEC unwillingness to restore power.  Lift stations will be powered by state generators until Duke Energy personnel take control and do the work LCEC is unwilling to do.

♦ Effective tomorrow, The Florida Dept of Transportation and the Florida Army Corp of Engineers will begin rebuilding an interim bridge for Pine Island Road access.  A temporary bridge is expected to be completed by the end of the week, allowing Pine Island residents to cross into the mainland.  Lee County can then figure out a permanent solution.

♦ Effective immediately, the Florida Dept of Transportation will begin a parallel operation with Lee County Transportation to outline a temporary bridge and transit system to reconnect access to Sanibel Island from Punta Rassa (South Fort Myers).  Governor Ron DeSantis said there’s no reason to wait a year for a permanent fix to begin.  The state will pick up the tab for a temporary bridge system, as Lee County begins the process of figuring out what to do.

♦ The Florida National Guard will begin airlifting utility crews into Sanibel and Captiva Islands to begin restoration assessments.

.

All good decisions by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

(more…)

Tucker Carlson accurately outlined the most likely suspect of the sabotage against Russia’s Nord Stream I and II pipeline today.  When you consider the media blitz by Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, last weekend (ABC, CNN, NBC and CBS); specifically pointing out the U.S. position against Russia; it is almost a certainty that U.S. action was behind the underwater detonation of explosives to take out Nord Stream pipeline system.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

Tucker Carlson used his opening monologue tonight to discuss the era of The Great Pretending, the disconnect between the ideology driven goals of the politicians and the people they are supposed to represent.

Using Giorgia Meloni as an example of a person who refused to play the pretending game, Carlson notes how Meloni won an easy victory by speaking plain truth to the Italian electorate.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) is estimating it will cost Wisconsin residents more than $1,200 to heat an average home this winter, an increase of more than 17% compared to last winter.  [Data Link Here]

Roughly 50% of Wisconsin residents use natural gas for home heating.  Natural Gas heating costs are increasing 34% this year (vs last winter, 2021). That’s also a 66.1% increase over the winter of 2020.

[Source Here]

(more…)

Kari Lake is running an excellent campaign for governor of Arizona in advance of the November election.  In this interview with Maria Bartiromo, Ms Lake discusses her perspective on the border control collapse as well as the attacks against her from lame-duck congresswoman Liz Cheney.

After losing her Wyoming primary challenge, Liz Cheney has now promised to campaign on behalf of Democrats against Kari Lake in Arizona. WATCH:

.

(more…)

GREAT NEWS – Looks like the Italians have decided to Make Italy Great Again and voted overwhelmingly to support Giorgia Meloni and the nationalist coalition.  With an anticipated 45% of the exit polls, this outcome will almost certainly make Giorgia Meloni the first female prime minister in Italy.

(more…)

Appearing on CBS Face the Nation today, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan proudly boasted of the $15 billion in weapons the U.S. has shipped into Ukraine, while restating the official position of the Biden administration that the U.S. will never permit Russia to hold the eastern part of our proxy state.

Ukraine is to the United States as North Korea is to China. WATCH:

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Good morning to you, Jake. Thank you for joining us.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JAKE SULLIVAN: Thanks for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: President Zelenskyy told us that if this annexation happens, it will make diplomatic talks with Vladimir Putin impossible. They need artillery in Ukraine, he says, more air defense systems and tanks. Will they get it? And how significant of an escalation is this?

(more…)