The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the December inflation data today [DATA HERE] for December.  Readers on these pages are not surprised to discover that inflation in the U.S. economy has now reached a forty year high at 7 percent.  {Go Deep}

Unfortunately, the 7% in June of 1982 was when inflation was on the way down from Jimmy Carter’s failed economic policy.  This time our 7% milestone has been achieved while inflation is on the climb thanks to Joe Biden’s failed economic policies.

Carter’s mess was created by regulation, policies and oil prices.  Biden’s mess is created by the same and much more.

Yes, it will be getting worse.

That weird picture with the Bidens and the Carters comes to mind.  The scale within the picture is appropriate when considering inflation and what is to come.  Biden’s inflation is much larger than Carter’s.

As you know, the top line number of 7% is a false premise.  We are feeling much, much higher overall prices in our lives with gasoline, home heating fuel, electricity costs, housing and the astronomical prices at the grocery store.  The BLS data is backward looking, meaning it was compiled in early December 2021 for comparison to December 2020.  Where we are CURRENTLY is much worse than where we were in early December.

We are feeling the front side of the inflation hurricane right now. The consumer prices at end of January and through February are now reflecting new purchase order prices and contract prices to wholesalers, buyers and retailers.  The higher energy costs, fuel costs, warehousing costs, transportation costs and delivery costs are cumulative. As a result, the December report is simply the precursor to what will be much more damaging inflation data in Feb (showing this month) and March (showing Feb).

Additionally, the BLS data captured gas prices at their slight drop from oil prices in late November and early December.  The price of oil has now gone even higher, and the price of gasoline is once again on the rise.  We have not yet seen the worst of this folks.  Hopefully most are prepared.

I modified BLS Table-1, taking out some of the noise, to give the snapshot of how the bureau is compiling data:

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) and Port of Long Beach (POLB) to announce the Biden administration officially saved Christmas.  Yes, that actually happened.   Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti took it one step further and proclaimed Secretary Buttigieg as the official “man who saved Christmas”.   WATCH:

The Biden administration is making these ridiculous claims, because they know that no one in the media will actually look into the data and challenge them on the insufferable nonsense.  [SEE DATA HERE]

However, beyond the ridiculous claims about increasing port container delivery, when there was actually a decline in port container delivery, the POLA and POLB scheme to hide the ships {Go Deep} has now spread to the Port of Oakland, California.

“Operation Hide the Ships”

OAKLAND – […] Following its success in Southern California, the new system is being expanded to the Bay Area. Ships will wait 50 miles off the coast in a safety and air quality zone until their scheduled arrival time at the Port.

The new system became effective Monday. Ships will get an arrival time based on when they left their last port of call. Before Monday, ships were given an arrival time when they were fewer than 80 nautical miles from the coast.

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Earlier today, Senator Ted Cruz attempted to regain his J6 credibility with questions to the DOJ and FBI about the day’s events.

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing provided the backdrop for an urgently needed modification to the marionette strings.  Capitalizing on the opportunity, Senator Ted Cruz (U-DC) asked Jill Sanborn, Executive Assistant Director, National Security Branch at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, about any law enforcement participation in the events of Jan. 6.

Questions were asked, grand protestations were proclaimed, theater lights dimmed to provide the dramatic context, and Ms. Sanborn noted she could not answer the questions.  Curiously (or not) there was no follow-up as to “why the FBI was unable to answer”. WATCH: 

The Cruz campaign staff quickly copied the performance and uploaded it to the Senator’s accounts for immediate distribution.  Many teeth began gnashing, and grand proclamations were made about the possibilities and ramifications.

Shiney things began making a lot of noise all around the social media sphere, and there is now a strong possibility the situation may escalate.  Some observers even noted that strongly worded letters might be sent… and tomorrow is Wednesday.

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The empty shelf problems in/around DC last weekend were mostly due to regional weather and employment issues.  However, the snapshot represents an example of how people react to their first encounter.  The conditions in the video represent a worst case scenario for those who have been watching the supply chain issue coming over the horizon. {Go Deep}

I doubt our average 2022 result will be this bad overall, however, there are areas where this might be the status.  For most people outside urban areas, this severity of a food store shortage is unlikely, unless the federal government gets involved.  If the federal government intervenes, this will be more common.

We know from prior examples, if these types of conditions were to last for just 72 hours across every store in a metropolitan region, you would see a level of panic begin.  Civic stability remains relatively stable for 72 hours (3 days).  However, if these conditions are persistent for more than 3 days, the general mindset of the population changes quickly.  Things rapidly deteriorate.  After three days, all reference points for civic norms are gone.

Those who remember Miami-Dade, specifically the Homestead region, in the aftermath of hurricane Andrew have a solid reference for what happens.  New Orleans after hurricane Katrina was a lesser, albeit more public version.   Hunger, fear and desperation are not a good combination.

{Background on Larger Issues HERE}

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The snowball effect of cumulative inflation is going to be on display tomorrow when the BLS inflation data from December is released.  We have previously discussed the unavoidable price increases as noted within the November data Here, and within the producer price data Here.

While the data being released tomorrow is backward looking, we are in the eye of the inflation storm right now.  The consumer prices at end of January and through February are all reflecting new purchase order prices and contract prices to wholesalers, buyers and retailers.   As a result, the December reports will be the precursor to what will be much more damaging data in Feb and March.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki began trying to get ahead of the consumer price release with a short briefing to the traveling press pool earlier today.  A short audio-only soundbite reflects the political problem the White House knows they will soon be dealing with. LISTEN:

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BUMPED by request. Unfortunately, there is a lot of wrong information being discussed and shared.  Even reputable regional media are giving inaccurate information, making wrong interpretations {LINK}, and generally getting the explanations wrong.  Additionally, there’s general misinterpretations of ordinary outages based on the day of the week (Sunday) and bad weather in the Northeast {ex Twitter Thread}.

All of these #BidensEmptyShelves assumptions, which are being heightened by increased attention and social media, are leading to confusion.

An empty retail shelf or case for a 24, 36 to 48-hour period is not, I repeat, NOT, part of a systemic supply chain disruption.  Those are mostly location and regional specific out of stock situations caused by localized events, weather and employee shortages.

What CTH has been describing for the past several months is NOT what is noted above.  What we have been describing is a long term supply chain crisis that will slowly unfold over a period of about a week or two, and then remain a problem over time, for a period of 6+ months. {GO DEEP}

The thirteen bullet points below are the issues we will first notice as the general food supply chain begins to show signs of that type of vulnerability.  This outline explains why it is happening and how long it can be expected.

In the previous October, November and December warnings, we emphasized preparation and counted down the 90-day window.  Now, as we enter the final two weeks before mid/late January, the date of our original prediction, it appears that some media are starting to catch up, and the larger public is starting to notice.

Feel free to note in the comments section what is happening in your area.  Hopefully, most of us are much better positioned than the average person who has not been following this as closely over the past several months.

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Once you see the strings on the marionettes, you can never return to that time in the performance when you did not see them.  I have often repeated this phrase specifically as it pertains to political motives and the intents of the professionally republican, the DeceptiCons.

Late December, the New York Times reported {LINK} that South Dakota Senator John Thune, the heir apparent to Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, was considering retiring because the Trump influence, the MAGA base, was not in alignment with his corporate and Wall Street donor class worldview.

Those who have watched closely know Senator Mitch McConnell has positioned Senator Thune to take over in the Senate (zipper problems not withstanding).  The Machiavellian purpose of the positioning is to put Thune in place as a line of defense to protect the interest of the political establishment and the aligned Fourth Branch of Government.

Now, follow this sequence closely….

Yesterday, the New York Times announced that Thune was indeed going to run for reelection {LINK}. “Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking Senate Republican, announced on Saturday that he would seek re-election, after an aggressive lobbying campaign by colleagues prompted him to put aside concerns about the future of his party and pursue a fourth term.”

Today, the usually invisible other Senator from South Dakota, Senator Mike Rounds, appears on ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos, to undermine Donald Trump and say the former president “could be prosecuted” for his involvement in the J6 terrorist attack “if the DOJ has evidence.”

I am prompting the remarks from Mike Rounds below.  WATCH:

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Things that seem disconnected but aren’t.  The thirteen bullet points below are the issues we will first notice as the general food supply chain begins show signs of vulnerability.  This outline explains why it is happening and how long it can be expected.

In the previous October, November and December warnings we emphasized preparation and counted down the 90-day window.  Now, as we enter the final two weeks before mid/late January, the date of our original prediction, it appears that some media are starting to catch up and the larger public is starting to notice.   [NOTE: We nailed the timeline almost to the week]

Feel free to note in the comments section what is happening in your area.  Hopefully, most of us are much better positioned than the average person who has not been following this as closely over the past several months.

Initial food instability signs in the supply chain.  Things to look for: 

(1) A shortage of processed potatoes (frozen specifically).

And/Or a shortage of the ancillary products that are derivates of, or normally include, potatoes.

(2) A larger than usual footprint of turkey in the supermarket (last line of protein).

(3) A noticeable increase in the price of citrus products.

(4) A sparse distribution of foodstuffs that rely on flavorings.

(5) The absence of non-seasonal products.

(6) Little to no price difference on the organic comparable (diff supply chain)

(7) Unusual country of origin for fresh product type.

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The people behind Joe Biden rushed him to the microphones today to proclaim the success of his economic policy.   Biden read from their prepared script for almost fifteen minutes [VIDEO HERE], then told the assembled press pool that “COVID was here to stay”, but not really “here to stay”, but his policies, rules and regulations that are driven by COVID are “here to stay.”

Did anyone else catch that?

Whiskey – Tango – Foxtrot… he said the quiet part out loud.

In essence, what Biden was saying was that even when the virus is no longer being a daily driver of government policy, the policies themselves will never go away.  Just like the Patriot Act, under the guise of anti-terrorism created the permanent security state, so too is COVID-19 creating the permanent government control state under the guise of public health.

As if that isn’t alarming enough, what the White House occupant outlined regarding the economy just has to be watched or read [Transcript Here] to be believed.  The most eye-opening part of his comments is that he really believes this stuff they tell him to say. So, obviously the people typing the words into the teleprompter either: (a) believe it themselves; or (b) more likely, know what they are doing is going to end up with the total collapse of the U.S. economic system, and that’s okay because the guy reading it is disposable for their plan.  I believe the latter is accurate.

Take a look at one metaphor Biden read from his teleprompter to see exactly how insane these policies are when said out loud.  Keep in mind, this is a direct quote from the transcript as he read it (emphasis mine):

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I do not know how better to emphasize the points other than to be direct and brutally honest.  Sometimes you just have to call the baby ugly.  The window to prepare for the incoming crisis of our lifetime is now down to two weeks.  Hopefully, that is specific enough.

As we have discussed on these pages, the interventionist policies and regulations from the people creating the COVID response (writ large) have been fubar from the beginning. {Go Deep} When they shut down the restaurants and hospitality sector (2020 lockdowns), the advisors and bureaucrats triggered a cascading series of events inside the food supply chain {Go Deep}.

Every policy implementation since then has made matters worse {Go Deep}

Adding to the supply chain and inflation crisis, in about a week the vaccine mandate and subsequent commercial passport means 30,000 cross border truckers are about to get shut down from operating between the United States and Canada.

“70% of the 700 billion in trade between Canada and the US is moved by truck. This will have a dramatic effect on supplies and services reaching their destination and getting in the hands of those who need them. One needs to look no further than the recent UK fuel shortage, where the military had to be brought in to deliver fuel as a result of a lack of truck drivers. We are already seeing shortages, if these shortages reach critical levels on items such as fuel, food, blood, medicine or medical supplies, we will see real long-lasting damage.”

~ Mike Milliam, President of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada

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