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Which speaks to the logistics of the Chinese military; without a robust industrial base, it is difficult for a "superpower" to engage another superpower for any length of time, and as we know from history (especially WWII), logistics can make a huge difference in military conflicts. So if someone is worried about military moves as a result of a bubble collapse in China, then I personally would worry more about economic impacts - a military conflict would only make things worse for China, not better.
WE don't have a robust manufacturing/industrial base anymore either...
 
Not for nothing, what are they doing with those containers in LA?

That's right. Dumping in the streets. Like abandoned RV's.


But the prices for used containers have more than doubled. I think I posted something about an article that explained why that is - somewhere. can't find it right now
 
WE don't have a robust manufacturing/industrial base anymore either...
True, but we are much better than China with regards to our power grid and raw materials.

And the current situation has opened some eyes regarding this issue; just yesterday was listening to a news broadcast about a US consortium that is building a plant to create the basic chemicals/etc. needed for production of medicines. They plan to have this up and running late next year or early 2023, with the design being along the lines of a "national strategic reserve", with a certain percentage stored in a stockpile. Partially gov funded/etc.

I think that there will be some changes in the "just in time/just enough" process that many orgs have in place as the pandemic has shown its vulnerability; "just in time" works well as long as everything is normal, but if something bad happens, it causes problems. If something bad happens globally, then it causes a LOT of problems that cascade.
 
Yeah... I know it's changed here, since my mother ALWAYS tries to use up whatever I have in reserves for "must have" supplies like TP, water and her diapers and those get hit HARD when their turn in the Disruption Wheel of Misfortune comes up, so I've had to start squirreling those away in our storage unit.
 
As with practically every other issue, the powers that be and the lapdog media oversimplify and distract. These are very complex problems with long history. Environmental regulations, illegal immigration, minimum wage laws, unions, offshoring manufacturing, restrictive banking, downplaying the trades, short term profiteering, a plethora of other factors - all contribute. Incompetence and malevolence mired together at the highest level. But so long as most people are comfortable little will change.
 
I read that a little bit ago, their still glossing over the shipping issues in the ports!
Article: 30% uptick in cargo in first 9 months.
Me: yes, compared to last year when China significantly shut down manufacturing because of the Fauci Flu. How bouts we compare to 2019 instead?
Me: What about California, where a SIGNIFICANT (40%? IIRC) amount of the US port traffic happens, banning independent trucks from picking up freight?

Weasel words. Weasel phrases.
 
Article: 30% uptick in cargo in first 9 months.
Me: yes, compared to last year when China significantly shut down manufacturing because of the Fauci Flu. How bouts we compare to 2019 instead?
Me: What about California, where a SIGNIFICANT (40%? IIRC) amount of the US port traffic happens, banning independent trucks from picking up freight?

Weasel words. Weasel phrases.
Who banned independent trucks from picking up freight? Is that a Union issue or some type of territorial beef?
 
Who banned independent trucks from picking up freight? Is that a Union issue or some type of territorial beef?
It's much worser then that, there are only a hand full of "Contract Drayages" who "Own" that freight, you ether work for them, and they trap you into a least to own truck/route, or you don't haul cans at all! Outside of that, the pay absolutely SUCKS, no independent owner/operator would even think of running cans!
 
As with practically every other issue, the powers that be and the lapdog media oversimplify and distract. These are very complex problems with long history. Environmental regulations, illegal immigration, minimum wage laws, unions, offshoring manufacturing, restrictive banking, downplaying the trades, short term profiteering, a plethora of other factors - all contribute. Incompetence and malevolence mired together at the highest level. But so long as most people are comfortable little will change.
It's funny though; for decades the corporations and the government have been directly and not at all subtly pushing us to consume, consume, consume, borrow, borrow, borrow. If there is any proof that the gov is in bed with corporations and financial institutions, that alone is sufficient.

But now it is the fault of the consumer that there isn't enough goods to consume. We are all buying too much stuff? Including all of the people still unemployed? Is this why they gave us stimulus checks and then lamented that people were putting them in savings and not spending enough?
 
Hong Kong was mentioned here.

My late husband wanted to take me to Hong Kong but it never happened.

His words, "Before the Commies take over!"

He liked Hong Kong and had some of his clothing made there.

Cate
WEll.....my current GF was, "Made in VN".

And, my ex-wife was, "Made in Korea". South Korea. Though there were some questions about her being a devotee of KIM.

Then.....my first wife was Chinese.

Wait a minuet......is there a trend here? LOL.

Aloha, Mark
 
No longer supported does NOT mean that the standard changed or that your phone will stop working. It just means that the Operating System and some of the provider supplied applications will no longer receive updates.
Not in the wireless industry. I worked in that industry for nearly 20 years, through multiple updates and standard changes that rendered legacy equipment obsolete, and inoperable, every time a change was implemented. "No longer supported" is their euphemism for "You better save your contacts, back up your pictures and upgrade your phone, because we will be pulling the plug". Even as employees we never had a grandfather clause. We would receive ultimatums to upgrade our old phones or they would become bricks. The only difference is that we would have more notice than the general consumer.
Even if phones are current generation, all carriers to some degree will purposely disable native features and capabilities of a phone in order to charge a monthly fee for those same features as a service, then say your phone isn't capable of new services and force you to upgrade. Hardware as a service, software as a service, subscription based services, cloud based tech...It's not about your convenience, it is all part of designed obsolescence and control of your data, your access, and your hardware. This just gives them more options for control so that they don't have to rely only on hardware to force customers down a path.
 
I was using my wife's old iPad for the past year. It is old, but it worked for what we do.

Last week, it decided, all by itself, to do a hard shut down.

When it came back to life, it wanted the P/W she used when the pad was new and she initialized it.

Now it really IS a TV tray!
 
It's funny though; for decades the corporations and the government have been directly and not at all subtly pushing us to consume, consume, consume, borrow, borrow, borrow. If there is any proof that the gov is in bed with corporations and financial institutions, that alone is sufficient.

But now it is the fault of the consumer that there isn't enough goods to consume. We are all buying too much stuff? Including all of the people still unemployed? Is this why they gave us stimulus checks and then lamented that people were putting them in savings and not spending enough?
Inflation: is a situation when too much money is chasing too few goods and services in an economy.

They intended the stimulus checks to increase inflation and dependence on government. Inflation destabilizes a country and it's economy. They want destabilization. When a portion of the population didn't play along, choosing to save the money instead of creating a false demand, it ticked off the powers that be, so they started going from perceived supply shortages to actually creating supply shortages. Manipulate demand or manipulate supply, either way inflation is their goal.
 
That's the BEST. When your package arrives early and they hold it in Troutdale a couple of days. Nobody else does that, not USPS, Not UPS.
two deliveries from Amazon yesterday:

1) UPS - delivered to neighbors instead of me

2) USPS - did not deliver with my mail, but delivered sometime late evening. Said they put it on my my porch/etc., it was actually in my mailbox - 100 yards from my house. I expected it to be there and would prefer most everything to go there.
 

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