The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the two most active ports in the US, will resume container dwelling fees as of today. The moratorium went into effect on October 25 as the California ports became a crowded parking lot for cargo ships. Port officials claim that this move has created a 41% decline in aging cargo on the docks.
The container dwelling fee charges carriers $100 per import container. Containers scheduled to arrive by truck have nine days before the fee is implemented, while those arriving by rail have only six days. The fee rises by an additional $100 per container for each day the ship sits stagnant.
Before the pandemic, dwelling periods for containers took around four days for local truck delivery and two days for rail delivery. It is now extremely common for ships to await docking for well over a week, at no fault of their own. There have been numerous reports of ships simply turning around as they could not offload.
If eliminating this fee actually caused a 41% decrease in aging cargo, then it seems premature to end the moratorium as the supply chain crisis is ongoing.
The US Trade deficit widened 17.5% in November, setting a new record. According to the US Commerce Department, the trade gap in goods increased from $83.2 billion in October to $97.8 billion in November. The number surpassed September’s posting of $97 billion.
Exports declined by 2.1%; however, imports are rising. The US imported $252.4 billion this November, a 4.7% MoM increase, with autos, industrial supplies, consumer goods, and food all experiencing notable gains. In addition, retail inventories rose 2%, while wholesale inventories rose 1.2%.
The US trade deficit has been high for years, and the gap continued to expand throughout 2021. January 2021 started off the new year by shattering the last deficit record posted in 2006. High trade deficits hurt America’s GDP standing, although the economy has been recovering faster than other developed nations.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on January 2, 2022 | Sundance | 178 Comments
Despite the predictability and transparency of the propaganda effort, the media and democrats are going all-in. All the broadcast Sunday Talk shows were filled with the “democracy in danger” talking points using the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protests to drive the agenda.
We can likely expect an entire week of building apoplexy culminating in some form of DC release. The Lawfare crew and the J6 committee members have been producing this pantomime for almost a year, and it kicks off the 2022 Democrat mid-year election effort.
Along with the traditional democrat pearl-clutchers the republican wing of the UniParty is putting forth the insufferables: Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Pete Meijer and the one-eyed Cheney, Dan Crenshaw. Additionally, the collapse of the ‘winter of death’ narrative combined with the inability of a new canine in the White House to rebrand the occupant, means even more emphasis will be placed on the J6 nonsense this week.
You might have heard that congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green (MTG) was permanently removed from Twitter today under the auspices of breaking the approved speech rules for the Rona. However, it seems more likely -or at least more convenient- that her voice was removed due to the forward operational needs of the J6 engineering team.
It’s not going out on a limb to say the New York Times, Washington Post and Politico most likely have their J6 supportive articles written and in the queue for sequentially planned distribution all week. Certainly, they will launch the first round of articles, based on J6 committee leaks, starting tomorrow.
ABC kicked out a J6 poll today pushing the storyline that most republicans agree the events of January 6th were an attack against democracy. {LINK} And of course, President Trump is to blame for everything that took place. Democrats are using this opportunity to try and get rid of the outsider threat once and for all.
Not to be outdone, the entire editorial board of the New York Times also claimed today, “the survival of the American republic depends on looking backward to that day.” {LINK} A little dramatic flair from the professional couch fainters.
The democrats must distract to something, must point to something, because there’s literally not a single positive accomplishment for them to refer to on anything. Gas prices have doubled, energy prices have skyrocketed, home heating costs have doubled, inflation at the grocery store is crushing every worker and, if you believe their fearmongering, COVID is worse than ever despite all the triple-vaxxed, boosted, double-maskers running around shouting at everyone to hide in the bunkers.
Think about it. They really need the J6 narrative, because there’s literally not a good outcome the leftists can talk about. The day after the J6 anniversary, on Friday January 7th, a new batch of December employment and economic statistics will be released.
Absent the FBI pulling the trigger on a mass casualty event they have in the queue, and absent a domestic terror event the FBI have prepared for political deployment, they really need the J6 narrative to suck up the oxygen and launch them into the 2022 mid-terms. Watch out for whatever the DOJ/FBI and J6 committee have in mind.
Do not underestimate how the ‘six ways to Sunday‘ Fourth Branch of Government will coordinate inside government, and externally with partners like Lawfare, in an effort to protect itself. An intercepted kidnapping plot of Nancy Pelosi or Kamala Harris would not surprise me in the least. Nor would some kind of FBI-created death threat toward a high-profile Democrat government official.
If the J6 momentum stalls, the DOJ/FBI/Fourth Branch will need some big headline grabbing operation for everyone to focus on. As the New York Times stated, “The survival of the American republic” depends on it.
Look out for something akin to the FBI operation using Cesar Syoc and his October 2018 ACME pipe bombs filled with “energetic material that may become combustible when subjected to heat or friction,” something like that.
Once you see the strings on the marionettes, it’s impossible to return to that moment when you did not see them.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on January 2, 2022 | Sundance | 256 Comments
An interesting question surfaces as the vaccine mandate is enforced. Is it the Omicron variant creating the labor shortages leading to “societal disruption,” or is it the absence of the unvaccinated workers who have been removed from many companies?
In this segment, Dana Bash asks the chief White House political scientist if the nation should prepare for major societal disruption under the guise of Omicron. As we have previously noted, the absence of a small number of highly efficient and productive employees, the vital few, can have a major impact on business operations (Pareto’s principle). Is that what we are really seeing, and they don’t want to admit it?
It does not seem coincidental the specific areas cited by Fauci, police, fire and first responders, are the exact jobs where the vaccination mandate was the most controversial. Additionally, the percentages he cites are very similar to the unvaccinated percentage previously reported in those work groups.
A data driven Suspicious Cat remains, well, increasingly suspicious.
You decide…
Airline cancellations today, again exceeding 4,000 [FlightAware Link]
It may be an uncomfortable or politically incorrect thing to say in modern times; however, twenty percent of the workers in your system of employment deliver eighty percent of the productivity. Yes, 20% of the workforce around you delivers 80% of the result. This natural truth has been consistent for decades, and within that truism is the nature of man – found in the Pareto Law.
What you need to remember is… if you are reading this, YOU are almost certain to be part of that twenty percentile that your employer or system operator depends on. You are a doer.
You are likely one of the top performers at your job.
You are the person they rely upon.
YOU are the most critical worker in a system that is mostly comprised of less productive people – and that fundamental truth is the important part to remember when you consider the impact of noncompliance with the vaccine mandate.
If doers do not perform their function, it is not the same as the generic Sally Smith not showing up to work. The twenty percent of the workforce that are doers produce eighty percent of the result. Ask any leader within any large organization or operation, and they will affirm this basic truth.
Doers are smart, they are beyond average in intelligence, and once they understand the mission objective, they will solve problems independently. Doers are not sheep. They are smart enough to do independent research and become well skilled and knowledgeable on any issue that is elevated in importance.
Doers don’t just dive into a project without thinking. They control their enthusiasm long enough to formulate wise objectives and figure out a production plan in order to succeed in whatever they’re set to do. Doers give themselves enough time to think and plan, but they don’t stand around debating, they SOLVE.
Doers challenge the status quo looking for ways to improve their task efficiency. Doers do not skimp on quality despite their drive to accomplish tasks. Though they thrive on increased productivity, and enjoy seeing improvements quantified, doers make sure to retain and improve standards for quality.
Doers are self-motivated. They look forward to working hard, and they keep an internal score on their own accomplishments. Doers are proficient at their tasks, and they have an exceptional work ethic. They fuel their internal drive by setting more and more challenging goals for themselves and seek continuous improvement.
Doers don’t sit around waiting for someone to tell them what to do. Doers accomplish goals and objectives with a speed and efficiency that is often annoying for those who do need to be told what to do. Doers tend to move on quickly to the next task at hand right after they finish their last one. However, doers also appreciate pausing to review their success, and they enjoy watching reasonable celebration for achievement – but they don’t dwell on it, they self-motivate to the next goal.
These traits likely sound familiar to you because YOU are a doer. YOU are part of the critical 20 percent of the larger group who accomplish 80 percent of the work. So, when you contemplate that only 20% of the workforce may stand resolute in their independent thoughts for not accepting a forced medical intervention as a condition for employment; remember, that twenty percent are the most critical of critical workers.
That 20% of independent, self-motivated, exceptionally productive – perhaps to a fault at times, workforce is the backbone of any operation, institution, system or workplace. Those who own or manage the workplace know exactly who that 20% are, and they will not want to lose the doers.
The employers and managers will not want to lose the doers, because they know the doers are the ones who can keep hundreds of plates spinning on sticks without being told which plate is wobbling, and which plate needs attention. Those who are in charge of keeping the plates spinning know the system will collapse if they are only left with plate spinners who need to be told which stick needs attention. The bosses know they will exhaust themselves having to give constant direction to the non-doers.
You are not crazy.
You are a doer.
YOU are critical.
In my opinion, this explains what the corporate executives knew, those who requested the change from the CDC, and why they made their request(s). This fundamental point -and outcome- is an admission the political leftists in government, politics and media need to avoid.
This is why the CDC changes seem irreconcilable when contrast against over a year of false “public health” claims.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on January 2, 2022 | Sundance | 232 Comments
Before getting to this soundbite, a note for those who travel the deep weeds. Notice how whenever Fauci is answering questions on COVID subjects that are positive to his worldview, he uses the phrase “we“, including himself in the conduct of health officials. However, whenever Fauci is answering questions that are critical of health officials, he uses the phrase “they“, to distance his role in the decision-making. This is a key ¹*tell* in any conversation with leadership and/or teambuilders.
In this soundbite [full interview here and below], Anthony Fauci notes the CDC guidance on quarantine exit is likely to change, specifically because the feedback from media has been critical. The media have been struggling to support the fear narrative, and the CDC changes are not helping them. As a result, Fauci says the CDC quarantine guidance will change. Not very science-y, huh? WATCH:
Fauci, along with Stephanopoulos, is a big fraud and a narcissistic con artist. Notice in the full interview (below) Stephanopoulos asks if the media should stop focusing on infection rates now. Transparently, the media motive is to stop the criticism of the Biden administration.
Going deeper on the introductory point: Blame-casting is a profoundly negative leadership trait, with horrific consequences. Stable executives, those with extraordinary skills at leading massive institutions, always look for this blame-casting trait when listening to peers, lower-level executives and teambuilders within the organization.
¹The most effective leaders, people of the most consequential influence, listen 95% of the time and speak only about 5% of the time. And when they do speak, the overwhelming majority of that time is simply to ask more questions.
If you want to become a leader of enormous consequence, listen more, speak less, even if that means silence. For those of you who are young in your career, consider this advice for a New Year resolution. It is not easy to listen 90% and talk only 10%. Those who can do it have extraordinary confidence in who they are, confidence expressed with a rare currency of leadership humility.
People who speak less are considered more measured, stable-minded, more thoughtful, contemplative, analytical and more strategic. These are tremendous assets in a large organization. Again, for most people listening is not an easy skill to develop; it takes time, mentorship, a great deal of practice and intense focus at first. However, once you learn how to listen effectively your influence will skyrocket.
Listening is also a strong negotiation skill in both life and business. When you encounter a problem with a product or service, you can watch how powerful it is just by staying silent as soon as both parties understand the problem.
Rather than repeating your argument/position in multiple terms, learn to state your position with clarity and focus, including all the reasons why your position on the issue at hand has merit. THEN SHUT UP, even if you are tempted to speak, even if the reply is nonsense, stay silent. The other party will almost always start speaking again.
As long as you are silent, the other participant is carrying the monkey of the next move in the negotiation or arbitration. If you are forced to break the silence, do so only by asking a question about the position of the other party. Clarify using your words regarding what you just heard, and ask if that is correct. Then, shut up again.
In both large organizations and small teams, those who have either an inherent or learned skill in the art of listening are always the most influential and the most valuable.
For those of you who are employers or already leaders, whenever you hear a person or team-member use “we” when describing positive outcomes and “they” when describing negative ones, do not EVER -regardless of their other skills- consider elevating their leadership in your operation or organization. If you do, you are setting your organization on the path to failure in the long term.
This little pro-tip on listening and speech has been consistently true. However, only a select few people are gifted and/or able to do it.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on January 1, 2022 | sundance | 275 Comments
During his interview with Joe Rogan, which was broadcast yesterday, Dr. Robert Malone discussed how government and the medical establishment weaponized the fear of COVID-19 to create “mass formation psychosis.’ Essentially, how a large population can be susceptible to manipulation, because they are destabilized and looking for solutions and explanations.
The full 3-hour interview with Joe Rogan is available on Spotify – LINK HERE. The part of the interview surrounding ‘mass formation psychosis’ was highlighted today by Dr. Peter McCullough {LINK} and shared on the Twitter {LINK} by several watchers.
The complete video outline of how mass formation psychosis relates to current events was previously published by Dr. Malone [SEE HERE] with a transcript and audio/video segment as below. WATCH:
While the predicate of the MFP theory is based on destabilization, I would put it a slightly different way and say: The more fear you carry, the more vulnerable you are to people with bad intentions. As I have said often, the need for control is a reaction to fear.
On Joe Rogan, Dr Robert Malone suggests we are living through a mass formation psychosis.
He explains how and why this could happen, and its effects.
He draws analogy to 1920s/30s Germany “they had a highly intelligent, highly educated population, and they went barking mad” pic.twitter.com/wZpfMsyEZZ
From Dr. Malone Substack: “A brief overview of Mass Formation, which was developed by Dr. Mattias Desmet. He is a psychologist and a statistician. He is at the University of Ghent in Belgium. I think Dr. Mattias is onto something about what is happening, and he calls this phenomena:
MASS FORMATION PSYCHOSIS
So, when he says “mass” formation, you can think of this as equivalent to “crowd” formation. One can think of this as:
CROWD PSYCHOSIS
The conditions to set up mass formation psychosis include lack of social connectedness and sensemaking as well as large amounts of latent anxiety and passive aggression. When people are inundated with a narrative that presents a plausible “object of anxiety” and strategy for coping with it, then many individuals group together to battle the object with a collective singlemindedness. This allows people to stop focusing on their own problems, avoiding personal mental anguish. Instead, they focus all their thought and energy on this new object.
As mass formation progresses, the group becomes increasingly bonded and connected. Their field of attention is narrowed, and they become unable to consider alternative points of view. Leaders of the movement are revered, unable to do no wrong.
Left unabated, a society under the spell of mass formation will support a totalitarian governance structure capable of otherwise unthinkable atrocities in order to maintain compliance. A note: mass formation is different from group think. There are easy ways to fix group think by just bringing in dissenting voices and making sure you give them platforms. It isn’t so easy with mass formation. Even when the narrative falls apart, cracks in the strategy clearly aren’t solving the issue, the hypnotized crowd can’t break free of the narrative. This is what appears to be happening now with COVID-19. The solution for those in control of the narrative is to produce bigger and bigger lies to prop up the solution. Those being controlled by mass formation no longer are able to use reason to break free of the group narrative.
Of course, the obvious example of mass formation is Germany in the 1930s and 40s. How could the German people who were highly educated, very liberal in the classic sense; western thinking people… how could they go so crazy and do what they did to the Jews? How could this happen? To a civilized people? A leader of a mass formation movement will use the platform to continue to pump the group with new information to focus on. In the case of COVID-19, I like to use the term “fear porn.” Leaders, through main stream media and government channels continuously feed the “beast” with more messaging that focus and further hypnotize their adherents.
Studies suggest that mass formation follows a general distribution:
30% are brainwashed, hypnotized, indoctrinated by the group narrative
40% in the middle are persuadable and may follow if no worthy alternative is perceived
30% fight against the narrative.
Those that rebel and fight against the narrative, become the enemy of the brainwashed and a primary target of aggression.
One of the best ways to counter mass formation is for those against the narrative to continue to speak out against it, which serves to help break the hypnosis of some in the brainwashed group as well as persuade the persuadable middle to choose reason over mindlessness.
Dr. Desmet suggests that for something as big as COVID-19, the only way to break the mass formation psychosis is to give the crowd something bigger to focus on. He believes that totalitarianism may be that bigger issue. Of course, after COVID-19, global totalitarianism may be the biggest issue of our time. (LINK)
Returning to my own personal theory – The conservative tends to be more faithful – and not necessarily in God, but in the ability of the individual to find great strength in himself (or from his God) to get what he needs and to be successful. Therefore, the conservative has an outlet for his fear and disappointment – trust and faith in something bigger.
The leftist believes the system must be perfected in order to enable success. Therefore, disappointment is channeled as anger and blame at the system. Voids are left to be filled by faith in the govt, which they surely then want to come in and “fix” things.
And therein lies the roots of love and fear respectively. For the conservative, when life presents great struggles, he knows he has the power to surmount them. Happiness stems from internal strength and perseverance. For the modern leftist, when life presents great struggles, the system failed, therefore they were at the mercy of a faulty system, and they believe that only when the system is fixed can their life improve. Happiness is built on systemic contingencies, which they will then seek to control or expect someone else to.
One blames himself. The other blames anyone and everyone but himself. (read more)
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on January 1, 2022 | sundance | 155 Comments
ABC was warning yesterday that airline travel was likely to continue with major disruptions as the industry claims Omicron impacting their operational capacity.
(VIA ABC) […] Federal Aviation Administration is warning of staffing issues of its own, such as sick air traffic controllers. In addition, the FAA warned on Thursday that weather, holiday traffic and COVID-19 “are likely to result in some travel delays in the coming days.”
“Like the rest of the U.S. population, an increased number of FAA employees have tested positive for COVID-19,” the FAA said in a statement. “To maintain safety, traffic volume at some facilities could be reduced, which might result in delays during busy periods.” (read more)
There are currently 4,324 flight cancellations today via FlightAware.
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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
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