Supply Chains

[drstrangelove]

So a few weeks ago we were getting these articles in Australia:

Expert warns Australia’s AdBlue supply could run out within weeks causing major supply chain issues
Australia could run out of a crucial component of diesel fuel within weeks, with an expert warning nobody knows how much we have left.
The nation, along with other developed nations, has been facing an AdBlue crisis for weeks, with fears that if the additive runs out, trucks could be taken off the road, sparking a chain of shortages on supermarket shelves across the country.

Dec 26, 2021 - https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy ... 59289dab56

'Critical' trucking crisis could see shop prices rise, fleets shut down
Australia is facing a holiday trucking crisis as a fuel additive shortage threatens to raise shelf prices on a number of common goods.
A global shortage of vital fuel additive AdBlue, which helps limit pollution from diesel engines, is afflicting transport around the world.
Road Freight NSW CEO Simon O'Hara told Today that Australia got most of its AdBlue from China, who have widely restricted its distribution.

Dec 19th, 2021- https://www.9news.com.au/national/truck ... 50d991ebca

[b]Australian fertiliser giant ‘working around the clock’ to help prevent AdBlue shortage
Fertiliser giant Incitec Pivot has struck a deal with the federal government to work on raising production of a key ingredient needed to make the diesel additive AdBlue amid fears of a looming shortage disrupting Australia’s trucking industry within weeks.[/b]

Dec 20th, 2021 - https://www.smh.com.au/business/compani ... 59j1e.html

Now we are getting these articles:

No RATs means meat, fruit and vegetables will be in short supply
Shops will be in short supply of chicken products, red meat, fresh fruit and vegetables in the coming weeks, with milk also at risk while the food supply chain is tested to breaking point by the huge numbers of workers in isolation due to COVID-19.
Farmers are still producing the same volume of meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables but there aren’t enough workers in transport, processing or distribution to get it into shops.

11th Jan, 2022 - https://www.theage.com.au/national/no-r ... 59nef.html

A Chicken Shortage Down Under Counts KFC and Inghams as Victims
In sad news for lovers of deep fried poultry, KFC said it’s cutting items on its menus across Australia due to Covid-19-driven staff shortages at its suppliers. The fast-food giant issued an apologetic statement on its Australian website, as customers took to social media to vent their disappointment.

11th Jan, 2022- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... as-victims

Empty shelves: Shocking forecast for Australia’s supply chain
There are also staff shortages with many retail staff isolating.

4BC presenter Spencer Howson reported Woolworths at Kenmore Plaza and said it felt like “half the shelves were empty”.

Retail expert Roger Simpson, who is also the CEO of The Retail Solution, said it was very widespread.

He told Scott Emerson there are predictions the supply chain won’t return to until 2023.

“We are going to have these off and on all through this year.”

He said part of the issue was transport workers being hugely impacted by COVID, as well as a lack of pallets.

“It’s crazy.”

11 Jan, 2022- https://www.4bc.com.au/empty-shelves-sh ... ply-chain/

I can confirm first hand that meats have slowly dissappeared from supermarkets over the last week or so. And this is the GMO meat too. Most people have been priced out of the meat which doesn't turn your daughter into a woman at age 12 so people like Dershowitz can make a case for lowering the age of consent.

[DrEvil]

There's been a lot of supply-chain fuckery going on lately. Everything from cardboard boxes to construction materials and paper for books, and even when products have been available, containers to ship them hasn't. Microchips are fucked up too (one factory burned down, others ran out of water for cooling. Then manufacturers reduced their orders because of Covid and promptly turned around and tripled them when demand didn't fall as much as they anticipated), with some hilarious side-effects, like Canon printers recognizing their own ink cartridges as counterfeit and refusing to accept them. And good luck getting your hands on a game console or a decent GPU.

All thanks to the wonders of modern capitalism and just-in-time delivery. It's a brilliant system: no contingencies and the delusional belief that a flimsy house of cards is disaster-proof. We don't need corona-passes, we need MBA-passes to keep the useless fuckers away from everyone else.

[drstrangelove]

China Covid-19 Lockdowns Hit Factories, Ports in Latest Knock to Supply Chains
HONG KONG—With Covid-19 flaring up across China, major manufacturers are shutting factories, ports are clogging up and workers are in short supply as officials impose city lockdowns and mass testing on a scale unseen in nearly two years.

- https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-covi ... 1641918247

[Wombaticus Rex]

Having this happen again when global logistics are still unwinding the second and third order consequences of the first catastrophe will our modern world into some "may you live in interesting times" ass territory. Last week I was reading a FT piece where one of the lot managers at Long Beach said they were currently -- January 2nd, 2022 -- currently unloading Halloween costumes for 2021.

The consumer goods end of the equation is small potatoes compared to the question of industrial inputs and replacement parts for infrastructure. I think we're going to see some truly wild headlines about that before this winter is through.

[drstrangelove]

European oil facilities hit by cyber-attacks

IT systems have been disrupted at Oiltanking in Germany, SEA-Invest in Belgium and Evos in the Netherlands.
In total dozens of terminals with oil storage and transport around the world have been affected, with firms reporting that the attacks occurred over the weekend.
But experts caution against assuming this is a co-ordinated attack.
The BBC understands that all three companies' IT systems went down or were severely disrupted.
Belgian prosecutors say they are investigating the cyber-attack that's affected SEA-Invest terminals including the company's largest in Antwerp, called SEA-Tank.

- https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60250956

[drstrangelove]

Trinity Spirit Oil Tanker That Can Carry 2 Million Barrels Explodes at Sea
An explosion has rocked an oil production vessel off the coast of Nigeria.

Dramatic footage shared on social media shows the Trinity Spirit oil tanker on fire and apparently sinking, with thick plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

Reports of the explosion first emerged in the early hours of Wednesday.

The vessel is a floating production storage vessel (FPSO), owned by Nigeria's Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL).

- https://www.newsweek.com/trinity-spirit ... eo-1675743

[Joe Hillshoist]

I wonder if some people are starting to declare war on fossil fuels.

[alloneword]

The fact of the matter is that the world currently experiences a severe convergence of shortages and supply chain disruptions. Taken together, these are almost certainly unsolvable in the long run, meaning that global industrial civilization as we know it is not going to keep functioning for quite so many more years.

These disruptions are namely ultimately rooted in the structural energy crisis that’s commonly called peak oil...

https://shadowrunners.substack.com/p/on ... -the-covid

The pantodemic as a global EDAP. Makes sense.

[MacCruiskeen]

The fact of the matter is that the world currently experiences a severe convergence of shortages and supply chain disruptions

Yes, but these are entirely caused by "COVID restrictions". There was no such "severe convergence of shortages and supply chain disruptions" even two years ago. OIl and gas have not become disastrously more scarce in that short time. This "severe convergence" is the predictable and intended result of a political decision to disrupt supply chains and create shortages, mainly by preventing workers from working.

Taken together, these are almost certainly [???] unsolvable in the long run, meaning that global industrial civilization as we know it is not going to keep functioning for quite so many more years.

These disruptions are namely ultimately rooted in the structural energy crisis that’s commonly called peak oil...

That is the question. The whole Peak Oil/Peak Everything issue scared the hell out of me 20 years ago, but I haven't kept up with it in recent years. It is so hard to know how much of what we're told about resource depletion is true and how much is just governments engaged in Realpolitik-as-usual, bluff and mutual deception and routine noble lying to the people they govern and exploit.

https://shadowrunners.substack.com/p/on ... -the-covid

The pantodemic as a global EDAP. Makes sense.

I think Plato's Republic has been their working model for a while now. Our enlightened ruling class believes it has the right and indeed the duty to tell Noble Lies to hoi polloi in the service of the greater Good. These self-appointed Philosopher Kings may themselves actually believe they are serving the Good by lying, or they may only be pretending to believe it. Certainly they believe they alone are fit to make the tough decisions for all of us. Undoubtedly they believe things will be better for them if they can appropriate all of the earth's goods while keeping the useless eaters entranced by shadows on the wall until they can be either profitably employed or disposed of safely.

Himmler's speech to the SS in Posen, Poland on 4 October 1943 keeps coming to mind:

... Most of you will know what it means when 100 bodies lie together, when 500 are there or when there are 1000. And . . . to have seen this through and—with the exception of human weakness—to have remained decent, has made us hard and is a page of glory never mentioned and never to be mentioned. ...

https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust ... posen-1943

I don't know for sure that any of our Leaders have been planning a Final Solution to the Human Problem. What's now beyond doubt is that "COVID" is, at the very least, a lie and a pretext for power-consolidation and massive theft, It's an open question how much they know or care about the true state of the earth's energy resources. It's demonstrable that they ignore and conceal and distort the truth whenever it suits them to do so. And It's certain that they are engaged in a top-down revolution, a very high-risk gamble, and that they do not intend to lose.

Philosophiically, fwiw, I do not believe that any good can ever come out of a lie, least of all one as massive and murderous as this

[MacCruiskeen]

Thread:

@AAAALLLRIGHTYT1

Just heard on the radio, they are blaming the supply shortages on the convoy. The supply shortages have been going on for a year and half. I own a retail store and can prove it.

2:20 pm. · 10. Feb. 2022

https://twitter.com/AAAALLLRIGHTYT1/sta ... 0705712132

[MacCruiskeen]

[...] Philosophiically, fwiw, I do not believe that any good can ever come out of a lie, least of all one as massive and murderous as this.

This could go in any thread:

Oedipa Maas@bridgietherease 1:15 pm. · 31 March 2020

probably my strongest political commitment is that I absolutely fucking hate being lied to

https://twitter.com/bridgietherease/sta ... 6903510016

[Joe Hillshoist]

I don't know for sure that any of our Leaders have been planning a Final Solution to the Human Problem. What's now beyond doubt is that "COVID" is, at the very least, a lie and a pretext for power-consolidation and massive theft, It's an open question how much they know or care about the true state of the earth's energy resources. It's demonstrable that they ignore and conceal and distort the truth whenever it suits them to do so. And It's certain that they are engaged in a top-down revolution, a very high-risk gamble, and that they do not intend to lose.

Philosophiically, fwiw, I do not believe that any good can ever come out of a lie, least of all one as massive and murderous as this

Why is it a lie?

I'm not saying it hasn't been used as a pretext for power consolidation and massive theft.

That's obviously the case.

But why does the "official story" - ie there is a virus that makes people and kills them, and even tho its predominantly older people who are sick already that suffer over the last 2 years plenty of people around the world who aren't old and sick have died. People all over the world. Not just the English speaking western world that only seems to get your attention, but everywhere people seem to be losing people they love.

I know of one person in Australia, someone's grandad who was in his 90s.

But I know so many people around the world who have lost older friends and family to covid that its quite unreal how many people have had loved ones die. I say unreal cos it seems so at odds with what has happened here.

Most of those loved ones had years of life left. My missus and I both know people who are younger than us - young enough that their parents are at most a decade older than me - and they've lost parents. MY wife knows at least 10 people out of her online contacts who have lost one or both parents and half of them are under 35 and their parents are around 60.

Is all of that bullshit? A lie? Did it not happen?

Are all those people crisis actors or bots carefully playing out a role just just to ensnare random people in some online plot in five or ten years?

[MacCruiskeen]

The lie, obviously, is that there is a pandemic so unprecedentedly deadly that it requires shutting down the planet, imposing lockdowns & curfews, enforcing masks and "distancing", disrupting or damaging or destroying innumerable lives, tormenting and traumatising a billion children, pricking the entire world's population multiple times with an experimental gene-fiddling concoction, and last not least (topic of this thread) wrecking supply chains worldwide.

Not just the English speaking western world that only seems to get your attention

You are not for real. You know perfectly well that I am the only person ever to have started a thread specifically about COUPVID's effect in non-anglophone countries. You have even commented in that thread yourself. So why do you lie about it? Just to annoy me and waste my time and provoke an angry response? (You know, too, that I've also posted and occasionally translated info about the pseudopandemic's progress in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Guadeloupe, Africa and India, just for instance.)

everywhere people seem to be losing people they love

I-know-its-terrible-isnt-it. Never happened before, either. Why, back in the good old days, nobody ever lost anyone they loved. We all just took immortality for granted.

Death is a scandal, and it only started two years ago, I blame that nasty new killer-dot. It's high time TheScience™ did something about it.


https://www.monopol-magazin.de/bazon-br ... efaehrlich

[Joe Hillshoist]

The lie, obviously, is that there is a pandemic so unprecedentedly deadly that it requires shutting down the planet, imposing lockdowns & curfews, enforcing masks and "distancing", disrupting or damaging or destroying innumerable lives, tormenting and traumatising a billion children, pricking the entire world's population multiple times with an experimental gene-fiddling concoction, and last not least (topic of this thread) wrecking supply chains worldwide.

How much of this supply chain problem is caused by side effects of the pandemic, like sick workers not showing up or are they sposed to work till they drop? Its just the restrictions causing this, nothing else.

I-know-its-terrible-isnt-it. Never happened before, either. Why, back in the good old days, nobody ever lost anyone they loved. We all just took immortality for granted.

So you reckon there is nothing unusual in this?

[alloneword]

That is the question. The whole Peak Oil/Peak Everything issue scared the hell out of me 20 years ago, but I haven't kept up with it in recent years. It is so hard to know how much of what we're told about resource depletion is true...

Reading Jay Hanson's 'dieoff.org' website (about 25 years ago) was probably the first place I encountered the issue. In the intervening years, I've learned much, always looking for information that might somehow falsify the conclusions drawn, but never really finding any. The lack of wisdom and abundance of stupidity that brought us to this point has only intensified. So many of the predictions were proved right over time. Just look at where North Sea production is today. The fact that as Government-promoted existential threats go, it's barely if ever mentioned, I think probably lends it veracity.

We do see explicit acknowledgement of the issue all around, though, if only in terms of 'how can we profit from this' or simply 'how can we maintain our privileged position in society':

the killer equation - the decaying growth dynamic

The economy is a surplus energy equation, not a monetary one, and growth in output (and in the global population) since the Industrial Revolution has resulted from the harnessing of ever-greater quantities of energy. But the critical relationship between energy production and the energy cost of extraction is now deteriorating so rapidly that the economy as we have known it for more than two centuries is beginning to unravel.

(here)

A tacit admission that 'economy' is subsidiary to 'energy'. Literally unthinkable 25 years ago, still easy to forget.

So the issue never went away. It was just swept under the rug. Meanwhile our mode of existence gets ever more hungry for energy, ever more complex.

So yes, at the root of it, I believe that this is a wholly manufactured crisis, conceived as a response to that 'decaying growth dynamic' by (being charitable here) paternalistic notions of what constitutes a 'greater good', or (more likely) psychopathic monsters bent on maintaining their own position, power and ensuring their own personal survival at the expense of the rest of us.

I also wouldn't be surprised if we were to discover at some point that the phenomenon of the Canadian(+) truckers protest wasn't is some way actively facilitated by state or non-state actors as a cover for supply chain disruptions. It's not like that sort of shit isn't in their playbook.

But whether we're suffering because of peak-x, supply chain disruption, 1,000 flavours of coronabollocks or just the standard daily incursions of capitalist accumulation, it's the same fight. And we win it the same way.

So as not to doom out completely, I'll draw from Tainter (yet) again, who points out that when complex civilisations collapse, their inhabitants don't all just die or disappear. They hang around, leading 'simpler' lives. Sure, the managerial, bureaucratic classes (those who exist merely to intermediate) often throw themselves out of windows or quickly drink themselves to death (see Russia, late '90s), but most just get on with digging up the lawn to grow potatoes and arguably end up living better lives as a result.

Honk honk.