Please remain calm. I have everything under control. The Foster-Fowlers problem has a backside. I am working it.| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Is Food Being Used as a Weapon? |
| 2022-06-22 |
| [IFA] When the Covid crisis began, supply chain problems popped up around the globe, leading to outbreaks of fear-based irrational behavior. Who can forget the Great Toilet Paper Crisis where desperate people were seen wrestling each other over a pack of Charmin two-ply? The supply chain issues have intensified since the war in Ukraine. Your own eyes tell the tale when you walk into a supermarket, only to find your favorite cereal is missing. You also start to notice that the loaf of bread, or bag of chips you bought in 2021 is now costing you almost a dollar more. Many of us notice 30% (or more) increases in our favorite food items, well above the published inflation rates of 8 or even 9%. While the supply chain issues are multi-faceted, there are some specific reasons for the problems at hand. The fact that Ukraine and Russia are both major exporters of wheat, corn, and sunflower products is just the tip of the harvest sickle. Back in mid-May, economist James Rickards posted an article where he laid out the reasons for why we could see more food supply issues in the near future. He wrote, "[I]n the Northern Hemisphere, the planting season for 2022 is well underway. Crops were planted (or not) in March and April. Based on that, you can already form estimates of output for next September and October during the harvest season...plantings have been far below normal in 2022, either due to lack of fertilizer, or to much higher costs for fertilizer where farmers simply chose to plant less. This predictable shortage is in addition to the much greater shortages due to the fact that Russian output is sanctioned, and Ukrainian output is nonexistent because it’s at war." Rickards explains that Russia and Ukraine account for 29% of the global wheat exports (19% of corn). But he stresses that this doesn’t mean they grow 29% of the wheat in the world—they grow 29% of the exports. There are some countries, such as Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, and other African and Middle Eastern nations, that receive a large percentage of their grain supply from Ukraine, Russia or both. Rickards says the situation could become dire because many of the Ukrainian exports have shut down. To make matters worse, the planting season is almost over. Rickards concludes, "And you’re not going to get any grain in October if you didn’t plant it in April or May." |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #16 Alberta Canada's Premier Jason Kenney A message to our friends in the U.S. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2022-06-22 17:48 |
| #15 Bill Gates Sells $940 Million of CN Rail Stock, Trimming Stake to 9% Why Bill Gates And Warren Buffett Are Railroad Rivals |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-06-22 16:00 |
| #14 Thank you USN, Ret One I found : Railway Age. This was interesting: In 2016, the rulemaking still pending, the STB proposed a case-by-case approach, with shippers still required to demonstrate railroad anticompetitive conduct. In a dissent, STB member and later Chairperson Ann D. Begeman asked, “How can the Board provide fair and consistent switching judgments on a case-by-case basis without creating complexity and cost impacts on the one hand, and not introducing more unpredictability to the rail network on the other?” No further progress on changing the Reciprocal Switching remedy standards was made until July 2021 when President Joe Biden issued Executive Order No. 14036 encouraging the STB to complete this open rulemaking. It was one of 72 recommended pro-competitive actions affecting more than a dozen industries. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2022-06-22 13:09 |
| #13 To comment about transport being fuggdd: yep: the top 4 Class 1 RRs got called on the carpet by the STB and have to submit bi-weekly reports concerning service improvements as customers are screaming, especially those smaller single car customers If no improvement, look for process called Reciprocal Switching to be mandated. Just reading it or watching a youtube tells you it will be a goatphuque of the highest degree. Probably Putins fault. Or Trumps. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2022-06-22 12:41 |
| #12 I do have a question about the McDonald's/Russia deal - is that an entirely different business entity which just does the same as McD's, or is this McD's with slightly different names and designs? From the articles I read I couldn't make out that distinction. Changed: ownership, capital structure, logo Exact same: - menu* - employees & managent team, structure - store/restaurant experience & layout - brand image: reliably consistent quality, speed, freshness at a price ordinary families can easily afford - suppliers (100% local before & currently, has been since the recession & shift to import substitution in 1999) *except for disappearance of Big Mac: no "secret sauce" aka dash of paprika + loads of MSG + HFCS |
| Posted by: Spoluter Hupusoque2135 2022-06-22 12:35 |
| #11 buttgig is wanting erected silos Hyuk! |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2022-06-22 10:41 |
| #10 Always has been? Someone I know who watches trains says transport is about fuggged. S'okay though, buttgig is wanting erected silos in Ukraine. I do have a question about the McDonald's/Russia deal - is that an entirely different business entity which just does the same as McD's, or is this McD's with slightly different names and designs? From the articles I read I couldn't make out that distinction. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2022-06-22 10:28 |
| #9 #3 - The ice cream machines still won't work |
| Posted by: Frank G 2022-06-22 09:57 |
| #8 Future Headline: “Biden Announces US Will Sell Grain To Ukraine Customers” Come on man, says Biden, We got the money to pay for this. |
| Posted by: Xyz 2022-06-22 09:26 |
| #7 It should be called the Putin Famine. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2022-06-22 09:01 |
| #6 Please remain calm. I have everything under control. The Foster-Fowlers problem has a backside. I am working it. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2022-06-22 08:56 |
| #5 Correction: Fowler’s, not Foster’s, sorry. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2022-06-22 08:52 |
| #4 The STB (Surface Transportation Board) just ordered Union Pacific to prioritize trains and crews to service Foster chicken feed operations. Foster was complaining grain was not being shipped and their processing plants were suffering. They had data to back it up. Also UP was to ensure this expedited handling was not at the expense of other customers. Recently UP and others told owners of private cars to park them as they didn’t have enough staff to run trains. And on the labor side, the NMB sided with unions and terminated mediation talks and that started a 90 day clock that may (probably will) result in a nation wide freight rail strike. Just before mid terms. But Congress and President can comprl them back to work, and also order RR mgmt to raise pay. Stay tuned |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2022-06-22 08:51 |
| #3 "You want flies with that?" Russia's rebranded McDonald's sells 120,000 burgers on its opening day - more than it ever sold before the US chain withdrew from the country due to Ukraine war |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-06-22 08:41 |
| #2 Russian media chief welcomes prospect of global FAMINE sparked by Ukraine invasion... and says West will want to be FRIENDS when sanctions bite |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-06-22 07:29 |
| #1 SARCASM SWITCH ON Just because there are: Empty food shelves in Wally World, Food costs are up, Package sizes are smaller to hide increases, 7 Poultry plants go in flames, 10,000 cattle mysteriously die, Food Fertilizers sky rockets, Farm Fuels in short supply, Animal feed in short supply, because we increased the amount of corn being used for the gas tanks, etc. etc. etc. etc. Why would anyone get the idea Food supplies are being manipulated and used as a weapon. OR It could be as simple as; We have a bunch of mentally Ill dumbasses who stole an election, can't define what a man or Woman is, can't balance a checkbook, but know how to use a Credit Card. |
| Posted by: NN2N1 2022-06-22 06:54 |