I mean if everyone able mobilized in Ripley County Missouri where my farms are, we might end up with two, maybe three companies worth of men able of fighting. That's not going to do a lot when the other side can mobilize brigade and battalion sized deployments.
At the last church service before things locked down I told someone that when this is all said and done it's going to be shown we had a hand in it and the basis for this was likely stolen from a US or Canadian Biolab. I fucking hate it when I'm right...
I'm in Missouri and about a month ago I noticed a bunch of social media posts showing bare shelves at Wal-Mart. We don't shop at Wal-Mart much anymore. Even before the pandemic half the time I'd go to Wal-Mart for something specific they'd be out of it. I do most of our food shopping at the local grocery store chains: Schnucks mainly, but Dierbergs sometimes and then big box crap at Target.
Well a month ago I was in Wal-Mart to get night time pullups for our daughter as that's one of the few items we get at Wal-Mart. Also needed scrubbing bubbles and a couple other things. It was shocking. They had one box of 4t pullups and one box of wipes, both of which I bought. They had no scrubbing bubbles and very little cleaning supplies, no laundry detergent other than Tide. I went to grocery, their milk was $3.19 a gallon vs. $2.79 at the time at the grocery store. They had no butter, very little cheese, very little sugar and the frozen foods section was only a quarter full. I hadn't seen it that bad since April 2020.
So I went to the Target just up the street. It was night and day. Target's shelves were full. They had three different scents of scrubbing bubbles and at least a half dozen cans of each on the shelves. Plenty of diapers, wipes, etc. in the baby section. Shelves full of cleaning supplies and laundry detergent and their frozen foods section was pretty full. Granted they never stocked the number of Skus that walmart did typically.
Went to the Schnucks, they don't carry scubbing bubbles anyway, but they had plenty of other cleaning products, laundry detergent, and their shelves were mostly full other than things like kid's juice (capri sun) and sports drinks. Those shelves have been bare the entire summer. Yet Aldis had Caprisuns by the pallet.
Of all the places I think Walmart's been hit the hardest and my cousin spent a few years working as a rep for a consumer goods company calling on grocery stores, walmart, target, etc.. Her take is that there really is a shortage such as there's only 1M cans of Scrubbing Bubbles. And that some of these companies that have been squeezed by Walmart of the past 20 years are now squeezing back. Target will pay more per unit on much more friendly payment terms, like usually 21 days after receipt of product to their warehouse. Walmart doesn't pay until 60 - 90 days until after it gets scanned at their register. So the producer of scrubbing bubbles eats the inventory costs during that time. If you only have 1M cans and target and other companies will buy them on better terms than Walmart, Walmart aren't getting the product.
Talking to a couple of SWA pilots I know it seems like the people who don't want to take the jab have decided to use all their sick days & PTO because its "use it or lose it" if they get dismissed. So the Union recommended they all take their days off at the same time and crews on downtime aren't coming in either to pick up the slack, again at the behest of the pilot's union.
I had dozens of friends in college studying architecture. 20 years later only 4 are still in architecture and only one is doing well and he went out and started a firm with two other guys. The others that are doing well left the field and became things like plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs and rage now about how instead of spending $100,000 they could have made well over $100,000 in those 5 years doing what they do now.
Sounds like our neighborhood. Although it's high income/high expenses and not any true wealth. Neighbors all concerned how we were going to afford our mortgage payment after we get fired for not being vaxxed. The look on their faces when shrugged and asked "What Mortgage? Haven't had one of those in 7 years now. We paid cash for this house and its the least valuable property we own. Hell I'm writing a check next week for 260 acres that is double what we paid for the house..."
I only work at friends businesses because they can't find any good help.
I'm officially semi-retired. I still do some mentoring with start ups exchanging time for equity. Also work part time as a RO at matches and training classes at a friend's shooting range for ammo money. But farms make enough that if my wife decided to hang up her legal career tomorrow we're both retired.
I take care of the 3 year old making sure she gets to pre-school and she's entertained while the Mrs. works from home anymore. Just bought this house and she has an office and we can be in the basement playing if my wife is on a litigation call.
Then lately I've been doing quite a bit of trap shooting as shotgun shells are available again and still one of the cheaper options.
I'm going to argue what we're seeing isn't inflation rather than the devaluing of the US Dollar thanks to the money printer going BRRRRRRR....
But to the average person the effect is the same. It takes more dollars to buy things.
Back when the US controlled the canal part of treaty was that anytime they did military exercises they had to contact the Panamanian government and inform them. So they started running drills multiple times per weeks for a couple months until one night it wasn’t a drill.
China is getting desperate and I see them making their move on Taiwan by next spring. They need an external distraction from the fact their manufacturing is shutting down, economy in a recession so bad they can't hide it with fudged numbers, and half the country suffering from blackouts. They've been having food security issues for the past several years and back up at ports globally has to be hurting that as well.
If they continue to send jets in at an increased frequency then their move is probably months away as they are trying to make it routine to lull the other side into compliancy much how the US did the same to Panama before launching that invasion.
Those who want to just be left alone are going to get involved…