Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 27, 2022 | Sundance
Have you ever seen egg prices at $1 per egg range, or $12/doz? Hold on a few months and perhaps you will. That is the context for the scale of food price increases the USDA is now starting to predict. The highest predicted change in food costs in well over 40 years, that’s the USDA warning in their revised May “Food Price Outlook”. [DATA HERE]
This month the USDA just re-re-revised the forward price outlook, and things are grim. It likely doesn’t come as a surprise to many CTH readers because we have been discussing the convergence of events since October of 2021, when we first were able to predict Wave-1 (Dec/Jan), and Wave-2 (March/Apr) inflation. However, the underlying data for Wave-3 is double the prior two phases.
Keep in mind the data is national & skewed toward low estimations as represented by (+).
When the USDA predicts egg prices increasing by 19.5 to 20.5% (from where those prices are now), there will be regions with much higher retail increases than estimated.
Just two months ago, USDA had egg inflation at 2.5%-3.5% range, year over year. Again, that’s the scale of change; from a 3.5% forward outlook to a 20.5% forward outlook effective right now.
Food at home (grocery store) prices: up 7% to 8% in this monthly review, versus the April outlook of a rise of 5% to 6%. That means the USDA is predicting the highest grocery store price rise since 1980 when prices rose 8.1% (prices rose 7.2% in 1981). There is no reason to think the USDA forecast will not rise again in June.
If you have not taken food price stability seriously before now, please take proactive measures to secure your family. We are talking about future retail food prices that were simply unfathomable last year.
You know how much prices at the supermarket have increased in the last six months. Double that, and there’s your estimation for food prices later this fall.
Behind all the datasets, statistics, BEA, BLS, USDA and analysis of these things, there are real people living paycheck-to-paycheck that are likely to be in serious food insecurity position for the first time in their lives.
I’m not talking about poor people, I’m talking about solid upper middle-class working families with kids who are already being hit hard by gasoline, energy, housing and grocery store increases. Another twenty percent increase in food costs can easily become a crisis.
The core issue is this snowball of production costs inside the field to fork supply chain. Diesel prices, fertilizer prices, energy prices, seed and feed prices, all of it has doubled and tripled in less than a year.
Add in transportation and distribution costs that have doubled, and all of that cumulative impact is going to flow through the food supply chain from the field to the processor (wholesaler), and into the supermarket. Fresh foods, especially in the produce section, will catch many people off guard.
Not all news associated with this is bad news. As you read this you have information that allows you to take control and be proactive. YOU will not be part of the national population that is stunned in September and October. YOU know what is coming. With that in mind, do what you can today, tomorrow, this week, to be proactive and offset the impact. Taking action reduces stress.
Perhaps shop proactively for your holiday shelf stable food items now. Look at the circulars and on-line for coupons, not for then – but for use now. Perhaps learn to make some of the foods you would normally purchase already prepared. Small proactive seeds, kept in mind while carrying on day-to-day life.
I know from reading comments that many of you have planted ‘victory gardens’ this year. Those harvests are worth 50% more now they were three months ago. That’s the way to look at it. Every amount of saving matters…. and yes, grandma carefully washed the aluminum foil and reused it for a reason.
According to politicians around the world, the Great Unwashed plebians should be grateful for the energy crisis. President Joe Biden recently declared that America is undergoing an “incredible transition” and we must suffer in order to reap the benefits. “Here’s the situation. And when it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over,” Biden said.
I have explained that the Biden Administration deliberately ruined America’s ability to be energy independent. Biden sparked the energy crisis on his first day in office when he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline and removed various gas permits. The keyword in Biden’s statement is “when,” as no one knows when this transition will take place as there are NO viable large-scale alternatives to oil.
“It’s Incredible for you!” Senator Ted Cruz clarified, “You fly a damn 747 where the taxpayers pay for your jet fuel. What Joe Biden is saying is, if you at home, if you drive a pickup truck, ‘to hell with you; you can’t drive your pickup truck. If you have a Suburban, you’ve got to get rid of that. We’re all getting Toyota Priuses.’”
Biden had the audacity to claim he kept the energy crisis “from getting worse – and it’s bad.” This comes as the nationwide gas average reaches $4.59, but it has surpassed $8.00 in many locations. You will own nothing, not even an electric vehicle, and be happy. Realize that the “pain at the pump” is a deliberate attempt to push the Great Reset and climate change agendas.
The Kremlin has made it known that they will not evacuate troops from Ukraine until their victory is declared. “We are sure that everything will be fine, and we are sure that we will win, we will achieve all the goals,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Russia has already downgraded “unfriendly states” to “hostile states” as Western countries are now directly involved. “Sometimes it seems that the very existence of Russia is a significant irritant for the collective West, and they are ready to do anything to prevent us from developing and living the way we want,” Peskov stated.
Kissinger suggested that Ukraine surrender some of its territories to Russia, as it is land that is composed of mostly Russian-speaking individuals who have not been allowed to vote on whether they’d like to remain under Ukrainian rule. “Negotiations need to begin in the next two months before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome. Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante,” Kissinger said, ““pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine … but a new war against Russia itself.” Furthermore, Kissinger is concerned that the West’s hostility will cause Russia to form a closer alliance with China.
Kissinger’s suggestion could end the war. Russia would feel as if they achieved the objective, and Ukraine would remain an independent country. Western nations would not need to spend billions of taxpayer funds on war while teetering on their own recessions. The food shortages due to the lack of wheat coming from Russia and Ukraine would end. Most importantly, the threat of the next world war would dissipate.
Zelensky’s advisor adamantly rejected the peace offer. “The shortest way to end the war – weapons, money, embargo,” Mykhailo Podolyak declared on Twitter. That may be the easiest solution for those in power, but it comes at the expense of the people. Ukraine and its Western allies will continue throwing money and fuel on the problem until the global economy crumbles so that they can reset it to their liking.
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks about Jeff Bezos calling out Joe Biden’s inflation lies. Jeff Bezos attacked Joe Biden’s statement which connected inflation with corporate tax rates. Even Democrats like Bezos are turning on Biden as the US economy continues to tank amid inflation, supply chain problems, and market crashes.
The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is already developing a vaccine for monkeypox. Although the disease may seem novel, the first reported outbreak in monkeys occurred in 1958, and the first human infection was reported in the 1970s in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to the Centers for Diseases and Prevention (CDC), the virus is transmitted to humans through direct animal-to-human or human-to-human contact. Before they change the transmission guidelines, I will report what they stated on their website:
“Transmission of monkeypox virus occurs when a person comes into contact with the virus from an animal, human, or materials contaminated with the virus. The virus enters the body through broken skin (even if not visible), respiratory tract, or the mucous membranes (eyes, nose, or mouth). Animal-to-human transmission may occur by bite or scratch, bush meat preparation, direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, or indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated bedding. Human-to-human transmission is thought to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required. Other human-to-human methods of transmission include direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, and indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated clothing or linens.”
The disease can reportedly occur through sexual encounters as well. This is NOT an airborne virus – masks and lockdowns would be useless. Cases of the virus are appearing throughout the world, but again, this virus was never limited to one continent. In 2003, 47 cases of monkeypox were reported in the US after pet prairie dogs became infected after being housed with small animals imported from Ghana.
BARDA plans to release JYNNEOS, a smallpox vaccine, to treat monkeypox cases by 2023. The company has already produced almost 13 million freeze-dried doses of the vaccine that are expected to be manufactured in 2024 and 2025.
President and CEO of Bavarian Nordic Paul Chaplin said, “We are pleased to announce the exercise of the first options under our contract with the US government to deliver a freeze-dried version of the smallpox vaccine with an improved shelf-life, which will be manufactured at our new fill and finish facility. This marks a significant milestone in our long-standing partnership with the US government to ensure availability of life-saving vaccines for the entire population.”
The European Medicines Agency approved the medication to treat monkeypox in 2013, and the FDA quietly approved its usage in 2019. Since this seems to be a rare illness, why are they planning to manufacture millions of doses to save “the entire population?” The media has only just begun reporting cases of the virus, and it would not be surprising if they pushed yet another unnecessary vaccine on the global population for profit and control.
For the third time, President Joe Biden has attempted to drag the United States into a war. Biden first made remarks about the Middle East and then claimed Putin needed to be removed from power. The White House brushed off those remarks, but this time he has angered America’s top trading partner. Biden, speaking for the entirety of the US, said that WE would defend Taiwan against military invasion.
A reporter asked, “You didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?” Since there was no teleprompter script for him to read, Biden simply replied, “Yes!”
“We agree with the One China policy. We signed on to it, and all the attendant agreements made from there, but the idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force, is (just not) appropriate,” the president said. Basically, this statement is contradictory since Biden admittedly agreed to the One China policy. A White House officially quickly corrected his statement, “As the President said, our policy has not changed. He reiterated our One China policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. He also reiterated our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself,” the official said.
China expressed extreme anger at the president’s statements. Similar to the situation in Ukraine, China is worried that Biden’s obvious support will encourage separatist forces to move toward independence. “On issues concerning China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and other core interests, there is no room for compromise,” said Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. “We urged the US side to earnestly follow the One China principle … be cautious in words and deeds on the Taiwan issue, and not send any wrong signal to pro-Taiwan independence and separatist forces — so it won’t cause serious damage to the situation across the Taiwan Strait and China-US relations.”
Before the White House corrected Joe, he doubled down on his statements and said China should look to Russian sanctions as a warning not to attack. “[W]hat signal does that send to China about the cost of attempting, attempting to take Taiwan by force?” the confused president said before claiming China was “flirting with danger.” These careless remarks threaten national security and have seriously harmed diplomatic relations. Biden is willing to show all his cards, even when he does not understand the game he is playing.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 24, 2022 | Sundance
According to officials and media reporting from Texas. Fourteeneighteennineteen children and a teachertwo teachers have been killed at a Texas elementary school by an 18-year-old gunman who was then shot dead by police. The shooting happened in Ulvade, Texas.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference naming 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a student at Uvalde High School, as the gunman who shot and killed 14 Robb elementary school students and one teacher on Tuesday afternoon. WATCH:
The gunman was a resident of the community and entered the school with a handgun, and possibly a rifle, and opened fire, Abbott said. He said the shooter was likely killed by responding officers but that the events were still being investigated.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 24, 2022 | Sundance
This has been one of the odd aspects to the special counsel investigation deployed under the nameplate of Robert Mueller. However, with the trial of Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann bringing more curious minds to the backstories, here is one that few people understand.
You will remember the massive media debate in early 2018 about the FISA application deployed against former short-time Trump campaign aide Carter Page. The DOJ, at the time under the control of the Mueller special counsel for all things Trump-Russia related, wouldn’t let congress see the FISA application. Devin Nunes complained to House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Eventually a deal was struck and two members from the House Intelligence committee (democrats and republicans) and two members from the House Judiciary Committee, were allowed to go to Main Justice and read the FISA application, but not copy it. Four congressmen were allowed to go read and take notes. Trey Gowdy and John Ratcliffe represented the two republicans, and their notes formed the basis for what later was called “The Nunes Memo.”
The Democrats were not happy with the claims in the Nunes memo, and subsequently HPSCI ranking member Adam Schiff wrote the democrat version.
Both of those sets of memos then needed to be declassified, more delays, before they could be made public. For weeks and weeks, the Nunes -vs- Schiff memos were debated by both sides, with each saying their version was the truth and the other party’s version was spin and/or false. All of this was happening in January, February and March 2018.
Then, later in the summer, something really weird happened. Main Justice completely reversed position on keeping the FISA application secret, and for the first time in U.S. history a top secret classified Title-1 FISA application was released to the public (with redactions).
People were so filled with curiosity about the Carter Page FISA application that few, heck, almost no one, stopped to ask why it was released? Why the sudden secrecy reversal by the DOJ?
The FISA application was made public under the auspices of a Freedom of Information Act request from the media. However, if you were intellectually honest and curious that justification never made any sense. If there was ever a document easy to keep hidden from the public, a Title-1 top secret, classified, FISA application was that document. No FOIA lawsuit was ever going to penetrate that firewall, it was simply too easy for the government to keep hidden.
The FISA application was released over the weekend on July 21st and 22nd, 2018, a Saturday and Sunday.
Everyone quickly rushed to read the national security search warrant. Heck, no one in the public had ever seen one before. The FISA application confirmed the details of a Trump campaign official under a year of extensive surveillance and search authority; but again, few stood back and asked why it was being released. Here’s the background.
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosensten gave testimony to the Senate in June of 2020 {LINK}. Within Rosenstein’s election year and little covered testimony, he revealed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his main deputy Andrew Weissmann were completely in charge of Main Justice at the DOJ during the time the special counsel investigation was happening. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was recused, and DAG Rosenstein was in charge of how much power and authority Mueller and Weissmann’s team held in the DOJ.
Rosenstein testified the special counsel had full control over everything and anything related to Trump-Russia, including the Carter Page FISA application the special counsel had re-submitted for the third renewal on June 29, 2017.
Anything that remotely touched the Trump-Russia investigation was completely and unilaterally controlled by Mueller and Weissmann, including any ancillary investigation that would come as an outcome from anything to do with Trump-Russia (the SSCI leak by James Wolfe is one example).
Rosenstein also testified he deferred everything to Mueller/Weissmann and never challenged any of their requests for expanded investigative scope or authority. Rosenstein felt the special counsel was in charge, and anything they wanted – they got. As Deputy AG Rosenstein said all the special counsel operations were part of their investigative authority, and he felt he had no place in questioning, challenging or refusing anything related to their investigative authority.
Mueller/Weissmann had full control.
That June 2020 testimony was the final piece of the puzzle as to who authorized the release of the Carter Page FISA application to the public. It was Andrew Weissmann; but why?
In the background of June and July 2018, unbeknownst to the public at the time, Inspector General Michael Horowitz had just discovered that FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith fabricated an email, which was used as part of the FISA application. The CIA told Clinesmith that Carter Page was working for them. Clinesmith doctored the email and told the FBI and DOJ that Carter Page was NOT working for the CIA. The exact opposite of the CIA statement to him. If the truth was known about Page working for the CIA, the DOJ would never have been able to get the second renewal of the FISA application in April 2017.
The INSD office of the Inspector General discovered the Clinesmith material lie, but at the time in June 2018 no one else knew. However, internally the Weissmann special counsel knew exactly what IG Horowitz discovered. Now they had a problem. The special counsel had renewed the application using the Clinesmith lie in June 2017.
If the search warrant application was based on fraud, the search warrant could be invalidated by the same court that authorized it. That would be a problem because the legal cases against Paul Manafort, and Michael Flynn, along with the investigations of Michael Flynn Jr., George Papadopoulos and Walid Phares were all based on evidence obtained by the fraudulently constructed search warrant.
The Weissmann special counsel had a fruit of the poisonous tree problem on their hands. When the FISA court (FISC) finds out about the results of the IG report, which will include the fabrication by Kevin Clinesmith, the FISC could revoke and invalidate the authority of the Title-1 search warrant. If the FISC did that, all of the evidence against Manafort and Flynn would disappear, and they would have to drop any investigative path that came from the exploitation of an unlawful warrant.
The search warrant was already getting massive scrutiny from congress and the public. People quickly discovered the FBI had used the Steele Dossier as the ‘Woods file’ underpinning the application. People were finding out the Steele Dossier was based on fictitious and debunked information the FBI knew about in January and February of 2017, even before the second and third renewals.
On July 12th, 2018, the Weissmann special counsel jumped into action and drafted a letter to the FISC saying despite recent information from congressional investigations, the predicate for probable cause still existed (see below). This letter was written to the FISC, filed quietly, and never shared with DAG Rosenstein or congress. It was a very big lie from the Weissmann special counsel. [NOTE, only the FISA court knew this letter existed until 2020.]
[NOTE, only the FISC knew this letter existed until 2020. When the FISC saw the IG report and the details about Kevin Clinesmith the FISC demanded the DOJ send a copy of that July 2018 letter to congress for oversight and accountability – SEE HERE] Weissmann lied to the FISC to protect his criminal cases which were at a very important stage in mid 2018. By the time the FISC found out about the Clinesmith fabrications in late 2019 it was too late. The fraudulent search warrant had been made public, the cases that used the warrant authority were over and the special counsel had concluded. The FISC demanded that congress be notified, and Bill Barr did as the FISC requested… he told congress. Congress did nothing.
However, going back to that critical time in 2018, there was also another issue surrounding the FISA application that also surfaced mid-summer providing a second reason to make the FISA application public.
An indictment of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) Security Director James Wolfe was unsealed in the DC court {June 7, 2018, LINK}. James Wolfe was busted for leaking information to journalists from the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of those leaks was the Carter Page FISA application, which Wolfe leaked to Ali Watkins on March 17, 2017, a year earlier.
Wolfe was going to face a criminal trial for charges related to the leaking of that FISA application. Again, this was problematic for the special counsel because that leak was part of the reason why the special counsel was appointed.
On March 17, 2017, SSCI Vice-Chairman Mark Warner wanted a special counsel appointed. There was a debate about whether President Trump was under an investigation of any sort. Senator Warner’s motive for the special counsel was exactly because he knew the DC machinery needed to throw a bag over all of the corrupt targeting of Donald Trump; a special counsel could do that, and be weaponized to continue the attacks.
Senator Mark Warner told SSCI Security Director James Wolfe to leak the FISA application on March 17, 2017. Three days later, March 20, 2017, FBI Director James Comey first admitted publicly, while testifying to congress, that President Trump was under investigation since July of the previous year (2016). The timing of the two events was not accidental. Warner and Comey both wanted a special counsel investigation put into place for the same reason. Both needed a cover-up operation.
Fast forward to the end of December 2017 and James Wolfe is busted for the FISA application leak. The investigative evidence against Wolfe had to flow through the special counsel, before it could be given to a grand jury, because the special counsel had control over anything that touched Trump-Russia and that included their FISA application.
Between January and late April, the Special Counsel went to work diffusing the damage within the Wolfe evidence files (but that’s for another story). In May the now diminished evidence file was given back to the DC U.S. Attorney and a grand jury was seated May 3, 2018. The indictment was unsealed June 7th.
After lying to the FISA court about a justified predicate still existing, July 12,2018, FISA Andrew Weissmann made the FISA application public on the weekend of July 22, 2018, for two reasons:
(1) To protect the predicate of his search warrant authority; and by extension preserve the cases he created using it; and by extension avoid the fruit of the poisonous tree issue by diluting the need or the FISC to invalidate the Title-1 search warrant.
(2) To render moot and remove the most explosive element of the criminal case against James Wolfe.
It was the special counsel, specifically Andrew Weissmann, who released the FISA application to the public.
Few people knew that.
Even fewer knew why.
Now you do.
The gateway to expose the corrupt DOJ and FBI officials does not lie at the end of the path where you find Hillary Clinton, Perkins Coie, Fusion-GPS or any of their cohorts and corrupt political/media allies. Following that trail leads to obfuscation, ‘mistakes were made’ justification and institutional preservation.
Instead, the gateway to expose the corrupt DOJ and FBI officials, lies at the end of the path walked by the Mueller Weissmann special counsel.
Follow that trail and you walk right in the front doors of Main Justice and the Washington DC FBI offices.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 24, 2022 | Menagerie
h/t WeeWeed
Listen,
bear spray DOES NOT work like bug spray.
We would like to not have to say that again.
— Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (@OKWildlifeDept) May 23, 2022
This made me think about really dumb things I’ve seen people say or do over the years. You know, the ones that are just a head and shoulders above the usual.
While I’m quite sure every profession has their own share of stupidity, years of working in retail management left me convinced that a huge number of people have no common sense whatsoever, and as most of us know, common sense is often inversely related to IQ. And education!
Here is perhaps my all time favorite unbelievably dumb story. You’re going to think I’m making this up, and it was an attempt at a joke, or someone trying to aggravate me. I promise you, it wasn’t.
Before I went into retail sales and then management, I sold building materials wholesale. My favorite part of that was selling millwork, in particular high end windows and doors like Marvin and Kolbe & Kolbe. There are dozens of details that must be exactly right when dealing with a large custom order of windows and doors, and any mistake can result in the windows not fitting, or other costly problems. Because of the complexity and expense of Marvin orders, most of my retailers simply refused to deal with their own customers and always had me deal directly with the orders.
One of the lumber yards in town had a guy who just wasn’t too bright, and he was kind of treated like the unpopular kid in school by his fellow salesmen. He was a challenge to deal with because he had a way of making errors happen and also promising his customers things that could not be delivered. I wish now, looking back, that I’d been more patient with him, not that I was cruel or unkind. But he sure made my job extra hard. Anyhow, there’s no one left after thirty plus years to harm in an anonymous story.
One job he sold had a pair of french doors in the great room. They were to be placed at the end of the long room, one on either side of a center fireplace, so naturally there was one of each hand. A few days after the order was delivered he called me in a panic, insisting I meet him at the job site to discuss a major problem with the contractor. When I asked him what the problems was, he told me the doors were the wrong hand, both of them.
I never did find out for sure if the contractor and his employees were as dumb as the salesmen or making him the butt of a bad joke. Of course I suspect the latter, but I worked with some really, really dumb contractors too.
I can’t tell you how many times they came in to Home Depot and told me they needed to know how much siding they needed for a 2,000 square foot house. Or how many roof shingles, also giving me square footage without roof pitch and other pertinent information.
Share your best stories, be they professional or from some other walk of like. It’s time to toss a little fun in the day.
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to Jack Carr, the author of such bestsellers as “Savage Son”, “True Believer” and “The Terminal List”, about the hardest aspects of being a Navy SEAL, what he learned about Hollywood filming “The Terminal List” for Amazon, and the history of the decline of US military power. First, Jack shares what it’s really like to train to be a Navy SEAL. He also opens up about the emotional challenges of being on a special forces SEAL team and the events that no training can prepare you for. He also shares the details that the U.S. government demanded he change in his books. Next, Jack explains how Chris Pratt and Antoine Fuqua became involved in turning “The Terminal List” into an Amazon series. He also shares what the non-woke side of Hollywood is really like. Jack also shares stories of liberal friends in Los Angeles panic buying guns for the first time and being shocked by the restrictions that they helped to vote in. Finally, Jack reveals why the US military is in decline despite major advances in military technology. He explains the origins of the military industrial complex and how the failed Afghanistan withdrawal didn’t surprise anyone familiar with the rewarding of failure in the armed forces. He explains why Craig Whitlock’s “The Afghanistan Papers” is so revealing and what has gone wrong in the military where failed leaders simply leave and get high paying jobs in the defense industry.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 