Thursday, September 19, 2024

FOODBORNE ILLNESS CASES FROM DIFFERENT FOODS: Raw milk ~ 1,000 cases/year; Cooked rice ~ 63,000 cases/year; Turkey sandwiches ~ 120,000 cases/year; Leafy greens ~ 2.1 million cases/year

Donald Trump just said he is going to cap credit card interest rates at 10%.

Can he do that?  I thought that credit cards were issued by private banks that set the rate against the Fed rate. 

BREAKING: Governor DeSantis Moves Trump Assassination Case Under State Jurisdiction

BREAKING: Governor DeSantis Moves Trump Assassination Case Under State Jurisdiction This means that Ryan Routh can be prosecuted for attempted m*rder, not just federal charges. The Governor explained his rationale, saying, "In my judgment, it's not in the best interest of our state or our nation that the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump [are] leading this investigation, especially when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law, but not federal law." DeSantis has directed state agencies "to move expeditiously and to provide full transparency to the public."

He emphasized that the public deserves to know the truth about the assassination attempt, stating, "In addition to holding the suspect accountable, the public deserves to know the truth about how this assassination came to be." 

FROM PRICE CONTROLS TO MASS STARVATION

From Price Controls to Mass Starvation by Peter St Onge

Read on Substack

From taxes to spending, Kamala is the most left-wing major party candidate since George McGovern -- who proposed a Universal Basic Income in 1972 and went on to win a single state.

But her most hare-brained scheme--so far--has been price controls, where she's to the left of McGovern, threatening to punish grocery stores for daring to charge more than their costs.

In fact, grocery stores make 1 to 2 pennies on the dollar, meaning they have to pass along costs that come straight from the Washington money printer.

That means price controls would, in short, break food. In a recent video, I mentioned how price controls have been tried many times, and each time they failed so spectacularly they were repealed. After much pain, suffering, and empty shelves.  

PRICE CONTROLS ALWAYS FAIL
In a recent video, I mentioned how price controls have been tried many times, and each time they failed so spectacularly they were repealed. After much pain, suffering, and empty shelves.

When France tried, they got a black market that actually did price gouge. Even Venezuela repealed price controls in 2016 after food shortages and nationwide riots.

But what do price controls look like in reality. For that, I go to a great thread by Robert Sterling, a former M&A executive at one of the biggest food producers in America.

Robert walks us through a thirteen-step process from grocery price controls to widespread food shortages -- something we haven't seen in this country since the Great Depression when FDR also imposed price controls. 

STAGE 1: BANKRUPT GROCERS
So, first, government announces grocery stores can't raise prices even though inflation continues -- courtesy of the Fed and Wall Street. That means their costs keep going up, so those pennies of profit turn into losses. Like any business that's losing money, they shut down.

Of course, not all grocery stores are created equal -- small ones lack economies of scale, and while rich people buy high-margin vegetables and expensive cuts, the poor buy low-margin packaged foods.

So the small stores and the low-income stores go first.

You get food deserts, as people in urban centers or rural areas have to drive miles -- or take multiple buses -- to find food. And, ironically, you get more concentration, as the little guys drop out.


The survivors increasingly aren't even selling food. They shift shelf space to things that aren't price-controlled. Clothing, furniture, supplements.

Grocery stores start to look more like a Dollar Store, with a little food and a lot of junk.

As cities clear of food, you'd need police patrolling parking lots and armed escorts on delivery trucks -- perhaps you could even have government-run groceries like Chicago just announced.

STAGE 2: BANKRUPT FOOD PRODUCERS
The only way to save any grocery stores is to price-control their costs. Meaning food producers like Kraft, Heinz, Tyson, and Hormel.

Of course, again, Kraft's costs aren't being controlled -- their ingredients, wages, parts, and electricity. So now they're losing money.

Like groceries, they wind down, closing marginal factories and running out of equipment then not replacing it.  

As food producers downsize or go under, now you start getting actual shortages. And the only solution -- once again -- is price control the next level down. Farmers.

STAGE 3: BANKRUPT FARMERS
Which brings us to the final stage. Remember, farmers, too, are now forced to sell at a low price, yet their inputs like fertilizer or tractors are still going up.  They, too, go under.

You are now full Venezuela with the only alternative to starvation a complete government takeover of the food supply, centrally planned from farmer to grocer.

As Sterling puts it, "the government will struggle to operate one of the most complex industries on the planet. The entire food supply chain starts imploding."  

“Imploding” [means] starvation

WHAT'S NEXT?
It's very unlikely we'll get to starvation. For the simple reason that at some point the frog boils and the voters -- or rioters -- share their thoughts with policymakers.

That's exactly why price controls fail, from France to Venezuala.  Having said that, we managed it before under FDR.

Unfortunately, if the morons running Kamala's brain trust are dumb enough for price controls, they're dumb enough for a whole lot more.

Every week I write an article on the top stories in economics with regular deep dives into history like the Fall of Rome, the Weimar hyperinflation, or FDR’s Great Depression.

MIKE ADAMS: WARNING to all food and supplement manufacturers who are currently sourcing products from Israel: You may be FINED or criminally charged by the U.S. federal government if you continue to source products from a state that is now known to surreptitiously adulterate consumer products with the intent to harm or kill

Who knew that Americans would start treating Israel like a pariah that it is fast becoming.  Yes, it is the seat of extraordinary individual rights and protections, but has their Netanyahu-led foreign policy garnered them the wrath of more conservative, American institutions?  

WARNING to all food and supplement manufacturers who are currently sourcing products from Israel: I am putting out an official announcement Thursday that details this. You may be FINED or criminally charged by the U.S. federal government if you continue to source products from a state that is now known to surreptitiously adulterate consumer products with the intent to harm or kill the end users of those products. Given that Israel has now deliberately "poisoned" consumer electronics with explosives -- and that it considers such actions to be justified even when the indiscriminate distribution of such items results in the injury and killing of innocent civilians -- it is now abundantly clear that Israel is willing to POISON food ingredients, agricultural products and supplement manufacturing ingredients that are intended for export to the United States, where Israel claims "terrorists" exist at U.S. universities. In order to kill those "terrorists," Israel has abundantly demonstrated its willingness to intercept and adulterate food and agricultural exports, poison them with the intent to harm or kill, then proceed to distribute such products to consumers in the United States. Being aware of the risk of this action on the part of Israel, all food and supplement manufacturers in the United States are quite literally REQUIRED by FDA and Homeland Security regulatory enforcement to cease using or importing such products out of an abundance of caution for the safety of U.S. consumers. Boycotting Israel's exports is not only the moral thing and right thing to do, it is [also] the LEGALLY-REQUIRED thing to do, as the risk of Israel deliberately engaging in injurious adulteration of its products is now clearly demonstrated. I will be posting my full announcement on Thursday, specifically to be on the record with the FDA and Homeland Security that we are COMPLYING with their requirements for supply chain security by boycotting all products exported from Israel. We are forced to do it, or we will face jail time or even possibly criminal prosecution if someone were to be harmed by foods or supplement products which were adulterated/poisoned by Israel. Every company distributing products made in Israel needs to immediately alert their legal department for similar action, or face potentially catastrophic regulatory, legal, or criminal ramifications in the United States. Share with anyone you know who owns a business that imports products from Israel.  Additionally, any such importer will likely have all of its insurance policies CANCELLED if they continue to import products from Israel, a nation now widely recognized as a terror state that surreptitiously adulterates consumer products intended for widespread distribution to the public. The liability risk associated with doing business with Israel at this point is off the charts. Your business will be uninsurable, and if you don't blockade Israeli-made products, and someone is injured by your product, you will be sued into oblivion. Every attorney reading this knows exactly how big of an issue this has instantly become. Israel just carried out an act of global ECONOMIC SABOTAGE, in effect, and it will negatively impact numerous industries for years to come.