Jobless Claim and Ex-Im Prices Lead

by

Yeah, something of a directionless market in the early futures slog today.  With good reason, too.

The Big Picture Sucks

Before we drop this week’s new unemployment claims and the Ex-Im prices, a bit of context is useful here because you need to see how delicate America’s financial future is, at this point.

The biggest problem is we aren’t making much, anymore.  Sure, phones get designed in Cuptertino, maybe, and yeah, software updates.  But it goes to factories and even server farms overseas.  And that’s the point.

The number of people working at non-farm jobs in July was 143,532,000.

A year ago the number of people working was 157,346,000.  13.8-MILLION fewer workers.  In just one year.  Are you following this?  Oh, and the population of the country went UP another million in the period, too.

The M2 Crater

Where’s the money going?  Dark Pools of Capital.  And the most important Big Picture metric of all – the Velocity of Money at M2 – has NEVER been on the ropes like this – EVER:

Money’s Like Electricity

One of my (few) values in Life is test-fitting “thought templates” between disciplines.  And there are some basic forms of thought that will never steer you wrong.

  • f = ma  Force equals the mass of an object times its acceleration.  Example:  When a bullet is in flight, no force (besides some air friction) influences means (essentially) no acceleration.  However, when that plastic-tipped 98 mm round finds its objective, the speed drop from over 1,000 FPM to zero will force the life out of whatever was in its way.
  • p = ie   Power (in watts) equals the current flowing in Amps (symbol “i”) times Voltage (symbol “e” as in electromotive force).  Example: An un-fused 220 volt line is suddenly shorted.  Current (let’s imagine 1200-Amps, shall we?) begins to flow through the now-completed circuit.  You don’t want to hold the wire because 264-thousant Watts of power will vaporize small wire.  And even large 0000 (four-ought) battery cable – running nearly 4-times rated current – will become an instant heating element causing fires and…well, you get the idea.  If not, study thee here.

Money works the same way:  Economic Activity equals the Money Supply times the number of times it “turns over” per year.  It’s like “inventory turns” – you see?

What the St. Louis Fed chart shows is that money ain’t turning over.

Nor, in our view, is it about to.  Why?

Digital Feudalism is Dawning

Or, aren’t you seeing it, yet?  Let’s look at some data points, shall we?

  • Deconsumption is here in Housing.  See micro-homes.
  • Shopping malls are dead.  See Amazon and Wal-Mart battling for delivery supremacy?
  • The Delivery Culture is here.  CV-19 shut-in’s guaran-frigging-tee it.
  • Robotics are coming for most jobs.
  • A.I. will eat the few remaining  intellectual properthy gigs that are left.  A digital lawyer can “out-fact” a “air eater” any time.
  • For the really  astute pattern-seeker, you know where the first evidence of this Brave New World was spotted by us years ago?   The AUTO-ROUTING feature in printyed-circuit board design software.
  • And “Auto-routing” is going mega even as we speak.   As in flexible ERP.  Why, even my UPS driver tells me they are bringing up a “routing optimizer” so his delivery times may be all over the place, but my (far too many) electronics part could arrive just about any old time, instead of between 4:30 and 4:45 in the afternoon.

Seeing how this works?

As I have said before…and write this on the back of Ure hand so you don’t lose track of the future here:   The Madness Won’t Stop because Machines have a Massive Tax Advantage over Humans..”

Tax-Advantaged Machines?

Example:  Firefighter/EMT son G2 may “optimize” his income by going back to work for local government as an infectious disease investigator in the PNW.  What was a $35 an hour 20-hour p/t position is now full-time career gig and sports an $80+K income level.

But, that’s only a fraction of the story:  He would get 3 or 4 weeks vacation, a government retirement program (plush!) and medical for him and if he can find a Mrs. Right.  And Parenting leave…what a deal!

It’s a solid move because there are some careers – high end medicine, fire fighting, and police, where real experience and real hands-on is what saves the day.  Yet, even here, Machines are coming.

You want to test an “expert system” when you’ve got chest pains?  Well, have fun with that.  Not for me…yet.  But when the AI and Robots score higher “save rates” gotta go with the numbers, right?

Was ISO 9000 a Global Robotics Scam?

But in food service?  Manufacturing?   Look at the data.

In our view, thanks to the global ISO-9000 rage, we see the robotics path; how the  documentation of ISO 9000 is little more than in many cases telling algorithm designers  how to write their code. (Yeah, I designed ’em at one time in the higher ed school management world)

Would ANYONE have “gotten excited by ISO-9000 if they has seen (or been told) that “This, kid, is the path to your obsolescence!”

People are so hoplessly stupid and ignorant of the larger contexts, it’s simply breath-taking.

Scared Yet?

Maybe Some Data Now:

Hey, how ’bout them new unemployment claims?  How much of the “march of robotic feet” are you feeling from this?  None, yet?

“In the week ending August 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 963,000, a decrease of 228,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 5,000 from 1,186,000 to 1,191,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,252,750, a decrease of 86,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 1,337,750 to 1,339,000.  “

And then we have those export and import prices to consider.  And these are screaming “Inflation to Come!!!”

“U.S. import prices increased 0.7 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, following a 1.4-percent advance in June and a 0.7-percent rise in May. The increases for all 3 months were primarily driven by higher fuel prices. The price index for U.S. exports advanced 0.8 percent in July, after rising 1.2 percent the previous month.

Imports

U.S. import prices rose for the third consecutive month in July, increasing 0.7 percent for the month and 2.8 percent from April to July, the largest 3-month advance since May 2011. The July advance was led by rising fuel prices; nonfuel prices also contributed to the increase. Despite the advance over the past 3 months, the price index for U.S. imports declined 3.3 percent over the past year.”

All of which says to us, the market is still in 1929 mode.  But the  very good news is that since March, when the Fed went hooley-gooley with the money supply in March when the world almost ended.

That overdose of liquidity is  papering over disaster, and the second part of the crash did not begin in April, but has been pushed back in our work to what would be the equivalent of  February 11, 1930.

Which in some ways is really well-done, but in other ways, not so much.  Because when the whole of society wakes up one morning and figure sout “Hey!  We’ve all been snookered!” the Dow will drop 3-thousand points in a day, Gold will drop to $700, Bitcoins and anything else with  no claroic value will become a useless remnant of the Great Modern Delusion.  Babel II (the Internet) will fall.  Banks will be useless, and the great <Musical Chairs> game will be over.

When the music stops, you will be  in situ exactly where you are at the time.  And from there, making a future will become the challenge. If you aren’t prepped and ready, you’ll become plant food ahead of the rest of us.

Welcome to Natural Selection on the Planet of the Monkeys.

Aping Real News

Bananas for Breakfast, Dept.  We have answers to all problem!  Just ask!

Problem:  Fortune, in an article over here, many Americans are afraid of touching cash for fear of CV-19.  Solution:  Mail it to us.

Problem:   CNN report that “Chinese officials say chicken wings imported from Brazil tested positive for Covid-19.”  Solution:  Cook the hell out of it.  Add spicy wing sauce, while Ure at it.  Now, if the  beer starts to test posi, well, then we’re all screwed.

But Seriously

Be stocked on water and goods in California because there is a quake swarm out there that could portend a major earthquake to come.  My  consigliere is working up some numbers for Peoplenomics readers on just how much of a “hole” there could be under the western side of L.A. *(La Brea tar pits west) from over a hundred years of oil extraction in the area.

Trump may have been bushwhacked again by another socialist insider loyal to the Obama-Bidenistas.  This as formerly private communications in the form of 25-letters between Trump and the NorK’s have been unveiled in a new book.  We have to wonder how this happened and who could be going to jail.

And the collapse of the Internet (Babel II) marches on.  Newsroom grenade-rolls by HR Departments are to be closely scrutinized.  Today we’re eyeing stories like the  Hollywood Reporter’s  version here and the NY Daily News take on it here, have our rapt attention.

If you’re asking “How can they do that and still have enough “news” to fill between the ads?  Easy-peasey!  Go see https://spinnerchief.com/ and you too can misrepresent America on social media.

And “selling reparations” is picking up steam.  Will Joe-Kam  be able to giv e a straight answer?  We’re starting to think of this as the $12-trillion hustle.  Socialists always offer the biggest free lunch.

Say, where are some good candidates on either side going to show up?  Or is this really a fall-release horror flick?

And now, into the breach once more, brothers and sisters…

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

55 thoughts on “Jobless Claim and Ex-Im Prices Lead”

  1. If you are using Spinner Chief to correct your grammer and typos…. Ure wasting Ure money.
    Just sayin…

  2. George

    “Yet, even here, Machines are coming.”

    Yes, and where will the customers come from when everybody now working are replaced?

    Will a balance between human and robotic workers emerge or will the corporate / business world just abandon humans?

    As I have a background in factory automation I know that technology is a great aid to the worker in many situations. However, not everything can or should be automated. There will be an attempt to automate everything. For it to succeed it will require that a human analog be developed. Were talking about Droids. At the basic level some entity has to mine the resources and process it into usable material. The cost to do this will be astronomical. I suspect the attempt will be made. Look at what Boston Dynamics is doing.
    From Wikipedia: “Boston Dynamics is an American engineering and robotics design company founded in 1992 as a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”

    Where this all end ups is anyone’s guess!

  3. yep the same old stuff .. trying to talk up inflation to keep the yellow circus going to save USSA .. so !! no jobs no money velocity of any kind and no rate rises .. now look just throw in the towel .. buy sheetcoin or some social media garbage or tesla or rotten apple .. but don’t try to use the same old stories in a defationary depression .. that’s the only type

    • It’ll be, and is, deflationary before it goes full-bore inflationary – and we’re just about at the end of the deflation phase. If you’re making fun of George’s outlook and think everything’s going to go back to normal eventually you need to send us a picture of your face when it all falls apart – probably in the next few months. The Fed’s going to let inflation run, probably well past the 2% level and “Yield Curve Control” will turn the price of your hamburgers into a good steak dinner’s of today. The Fed will probably announce that in their September announcements.

  4. Medical diagnostics has been ripe for picking by computers since the 8086 chip. Diagnostics is a branching tree kind of thinking – iterations required, often with new data added, so gigaflops matter.

    My GP refused to see me in person – told me it wasn’t necessary for me to see her, but the visit cost would be the same and I had to get blood work done. So many doctors, in the “middle man” position between patient and specialist, seem to be slitting their own throats. Online diagnostics are already allowing many to self-diagnose and treat where prescriptions aren’t necessary. A picture does say a thousand words where diagnosing is concerned. Hospitals WANT robo-diagnostics because they realize gazillions more profit and if anything goes wrong, the AI can take the wrap.

    The docs are also finding out that the jig is up with prescribing crap that gets vacations for them but doesn’t improve patients health or outcomes. My cute little former GP put me on some cholesterol medication that cost me a buck a day – 4 months later my cholesterol number is the same. It has ALWAYS been high, as was my fathers, as are my brothers. Nonetheless, every doctor tries to lower it with medication to “avoid complications as you age”.

    My Pop lived to 84 years smoking 3 packs a day and having the equivalent of only one functioning lung. His cholesterol was high his entire life and every GP he ever saw was freaked out. He didn’t die of cancer, or COPD – he died of massive aortic aneurysm rupture in his sleep. The only reason we know this is my brother owns a funeral home and did the preparation – nobody cares when an elderly male dies – but how can doctors look back in time and see if their thinking was accurate or not? They can’t and don’t and have focus on number of ‘patients served’ more than most other things.

    Truth is, as many people are finding out, the sickest and most contagious people and diseases are found in hospitals and clinics. Some of the biggest lies exist in the FDA, medical schools and our health care system – where apparently the phrase “do no harm” is thought to reference the practitioners wallet. As George is likely to say, educating yourself about these things is the only way to find a reasonable path forward – and YMMV…

    Robots in medicine? Gonna happen and will likely help more than hurt based on my experiences. GP’s are routers anyway – or filters, and supply little you cannot get at your local 24-hour clinic. Orthopedics? Think of them as “body shop” types doing restoration – robotics will hit their stuff first (after diagnostics), because bones are easy to see and find. Soft tissue a bit more difficult with variations in humans being broad as they are.

    It’s coming, but everyone needs to realize that the average life span numbers in America have been DECLINING for a while – so thinking American medicine has a lock on knowledge is a fallacious prospect. Other places do better and thei numbers show it.

    • Primary medicine and dentistry are forgetting one of the prime benefits they should be selling: education and real communication with their clients! I get “constant contact” promotions and other garbage like appointment reminders from my dentist, but they look like they’re machine generated. They don’t even attempt to have the look and feel of a letter at all, with no closing or name attached! In a time of rarefied personal communication and zero touch, many of us value at least the appearance of someone caring. When sending emails to such people, you’re lucky if you can even get an acknowledgement, and an intelligent reply has yet to appear. Communication is cheap if you take the time to get it right.

      In medicine, all clients die. It’s just a matter of time.

  5. Regarding the newspapers closing. Very interesting (not so sub) subtext, there!

    “ The paper was sold to Tribune Publishing — then known as Tronc– in 2017 by Mort Zuckerman, who bought the paper out of bankruptcy in 1993. The previous owner was Robert Maxwell, who died mysteriously on his yacht. Maxwell was the father of Ghislaine Maxwell, now in prison and awaiting trial in the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandals.”

    Summer’s getting hot, indeed!

  6. George, I love like a brother, but you got to speed up this slow ass projectile FPS is faster than FPM and more in the range for a firearm albeit a big one Quote:
    ” However, when that plastic-tipped 98 mm round finds its objective, the speed drop from over 1,000 FPM to zero…”

  8. Well, well, well, G – looks like Ure up the creek with NO PRAYER , let alone a Paddle.

    Thats right Cracka – Ure precious FIAT Currency is DETERIORATING at a faster rate than creepy joes’ mental faculties.

    – As the worlds largest publicly traded business intelligence company(Micro Strategy) has just Swapped Fiat for BITCOIN (21,000 BTC’s) as its Treasury reserve Asset.

    CEO Saylor said “BITCOIN is digital gold – Harder, Stronger,Faster and Smarter than any money that preceded it..rutrow

    Cyrpto Analysts see the move as a Inflation Dodge Strategy – More companies to follow suit?

    U Betcha!

    – but NONE – ABSOLUTELY ZERO – Null BITCOIN 4 Herr Ure

    • Mr. Bitcoin, you know the Gov. is going to make bitcoin illegal and when the dollar falls, they will start their on e-moneyand then we are screwed.

    • Thanks for pointing out dot com bust survivor MicroStrategy. One of their founders appears to have a tax free foundation, Saylor Academy, that’s assembling free online courses in a big way. According to its website, saylor dot org, the Academy “…believes that education should be accessible to anyone, anywhere, and at any time…”. They appear to be wading into open source as well.

      Aye, sailor, careful reading the treasure map after listening to your parrot. If it all ends up in the soup, medium crab bisque, please.

  9. George, you said

    “the Dow will drop 3-thousand points in a day, Gold will drop to $700, Bitcoins and anything else with no claroic value will become a useless remnant of the Great Modern Delusion.”

    I would have thought that with the US Dollar becoming worth much less, prices of real goods would go up in dollar terms. I agree that stocks would no longer have much value if the underlying business is out of business. But gas prices would go up,not down. Wouldn’t that include gold? To purchase one gold coin from the rest of the world would go to heights we would have never seen before.

    I don’t know about Bitcoin. I’ve seen it touted as better than gold, but as you have often said, if the internet goes down, a Bitcoin is a dream,not an asset.

    It’s just like COVID 19. So many stories and so little truth. What to believe?

      • I was watching a video of a former “satanic” tattoo artist. His body and his testimony was truly a monument to his dedication to his master.
        The bottom line was when he found the true master of the universe. He was truly set free to find love,truth,joy and forgiveness. It seems the grace of God is alive in his very soul.
        Now I ask what possession could be more precious to any one of us?
        Is the peace of knowing and experiencing God’s promises and his wisdom ,and unashamedly proclaiming them upon mankind a good starting place for wholeness? Is our existence inexorably linked to the Creator, as well as the creation? Or are we the source of our experience and knowledge?
        We speak of our intentions, but this young man mentioned the profound proposition of God having an intention for all of creation. For me that foundational cornerstone is the basis of our existence. As my mentor Harry Conn used to say, “you can’t have a tornado hit a junkyard and end up with a 747.”
        So I ask,what is the greatest possession we can acquire? Is it the hardware,software,shareware or the owner’s manual?

    • After all other bases are covered in depth, having a BTC or two might be a good diversification, as long as you can afford to lose it. Gold is likely to fall less than the dollar per the last major deflation. Silver will be all over the place, as it always has been. Nobody can steal what they can’t find, but TPTB have tools to find and steal what they want to find and steal.

      Ultimately, your treasure is in your own mind/body and any intimates you might have. Keeping those intact and in relative comfort is what matters.

    • “Bitcoins and anything else with no claroic value will become a useless remnant of the Great Modern Delusion.”

      Jimbo.. you said. “WILL become a useless remnant of the Great Modern Delusion.” as far as I can see it BC is already a useless delusion..

    • “I would have thought that with the US Dollar becoming worth much less, prices of real goods would go up in dollar terms.”

      That depends on the source of the goods. Think about the “old Peso.” Goods produced in the U.S. from materials sourced & processed here by wholly-American-owned companies using American-made equipment (Hah! See if you can find one of these!) would not necessarily see any price bump. Goods where any part of the supply or processing/manufacturing chain lies outside the U.S. would see an horrific spike in dollar-cost… until the ROW “caught up” with our inflation spiral (which WOULD happen since all markets are entwined and interdependent.)

      At that time, IMO we’ll have a global hyper DEflation. Deflationary turns, regardless of severity, are “manageable” but hyperinflationary turns are not, and the Banksters WILL manage it, whether anyone else survives, monetarily, or not.

      • Runaway hyperinflation is a national economic death sentence. Runaway credit deflation is only manageable after debt has been liquidated- good, bad and everything in between. This is to say, depressions are survivable by individuals and families operating on a cash basis, but those who live the leveraged lifestyle courtesy of OPM (Other Peoples Money) won’t fare well.

        Credit deflation and depression usually go hand in hand. The Fed is attempting to stop the credit deflationary spiral from happening with massive liquidity injections, but the M2 money supply is still in free fall. The injected liquidity is not going into circulation, and has not benefited the general public. For the spiral down to cease, people have to work. The incentive checks aren’t having the desired effect either.

        The real problem is that too much debt at all levels has made the economy too brittle and unresponsive to changing conditions. As all the government interventions fail, the traditional cure for the malady will take hold, immediately after the election. I look for the incoming administration to inherit a credit deflationary economy on failing life support. Credit deflation and consumer hyperinflation can coexist in a worst case scenario. Failing credit availability, shuttered businesses, with bewildering mixed consumer hyperinflation and deflation are the early symptoms. Tent cities, endemic unemployment, beggars, and looting in the countryside are more advanced symptoms. Look for a historically bad retail Christmas season.

        All the wingnuts are anticipating a looting windfall coming shortly. The looting by wingnuts will continue until the voters take action.

        .

      • Excuse. I meant to say money velocity is in freefall. M2 is headed skyward. That’s one that spelling and grammar checkers won’t fix.

  10. I don’t know… plenty of work designing, building, installing, and maintaining robots out there. Lots of it done right here in USA.

    Ever heard of FIRST robotics? Exactly what our kids need to learn how to turn a nut or bolt, bend metal, solder wire, design and program robots. This is huge in schools. Several engineering disciplines wrapped up in one, and there’s no robot that can build a robot, or design one.

    Do we need burger flippers? Warehouse employees? If these losers were in robotics class any time since 1992 when FIRST started, they wouldn’t need to earn 11 bucks an hour.

    Maybe we should get more serious about educational opportunities instead of raising a generation of soft handed cry babies who would rather smoke weed and play games.

  11. People aren’t paying rent (Mall corporations are people my friends.) People aren’t paying mortgages – (32% of U.S. households missed their July housing payments according to CNBC).

    Most of the “hand to mouth” jobs are gone. People are going to owe a bunch of money April 2021 on their 2020 unemployment tax deferrals. Pension multipliers deteriorating.

    I doubt the unemployed pay their COBRA medical premiums over house payments.

    The old system is being flushed.

    Recall the old question, “Who is eating at all these restaurants to keep them profitable?” Not enough and they had to be closed.

    What about, “Who can afford a $600.00 a month car payment for 84 months?” Frankly, not enough.

    As a thought experiment. In the 1970’s we were told there was an oil shortage/embargo that led to long lines for gasoline. What if instead the then president said there is a new virus out there and we have to sit at home? The perception of the 1970’s fuel lines would be changed.

    The New Order will be here in January.

  12. If you want to chart something chart digibyte watch it go up up up up up 5 to 15% a week, not Bitcoin but digibyte, why , it hasn’t been hacked and its cheap, go to Play Store on your cell phone download the digibyte wallet Foundation this will be your new future,, hey it’s even got Digi assets on that wallet and it’s got an exchange rate in the settings for every country and you can tap it and all the numbers disappear so someone that’s looking over your shoulder can’t see how much money you got, and you could send your son a million dollars in another country for a charge of less than a penny, plus they have Digi IDs and you’re one ID covers everything yep don’t look over your shoulder it’s already here, get in early while it’s still cheap go ahead and a mass a bunch of digibytes so that you can take a flying saucer into space, and your wife can have her own digibyte wallet but the thing is nobody has the keys to it except you unless you give it to someone else so if you have $1000000 on your on your Deathbed or before you can give the keys to another relative and they’ll instantly have that million in their wallet now about the taxes what taxes Trump is getting rid of all the taxes and the Federal Reserve and all that tax money where do you think it went it didn’t go on this continent, every problem that you can think of is already been thought out and there’s a solution. Did you DIGIBYTE yet.? What are you waiting for go ahead Google it and then go to your Play Store and play the new game in this universe

    • As of right now you don’t pay taxes unless you sell so buy and watch it grow and wait for the tax laws to go away then you can sell any day without the dismay of an IRS.

  13. Hi, George,

    Robotics have been incorporated in the medical field some years now. There is a remarkable surgery performed for ovarian and hernia issues called a DaVinci procedure. The surgeon controls the robotic arms and hands for precise removal of tumors, cysts, and such and is able to clean out anything else needed to be removed during the surgery. Thank you, Oilman2 for reminding me.

    Also, Hawaii Hank mentioned the relationship between gum condition and heart disease. This is why folks who have knee or hip surgeries, where a metal part was installed, are asked to take antibiotics before dental procedures, like cleaning and such. Gum disease can be generated from cigarette smoking and from taking meth, which may affect heart functions. Thanks.

    Nancy Attaway

  14. And “selling reparations” is picking up steam.?? Go look at the people picking up the steam….all of them are Dems. They have been on that track for years. Funny that it is presented as “picking up steam”, implying that it is a bi-partisan issue. It isn’t and hopefully never will be.
    Unless they do a genealogy supported testing to verify, without question, slavery bloodline. Even then, why are we required to pay reparations to people now who have never been a slave? Nor their parents. and most of their grandparents?
    Then this is just another scheme from the left to buy the black vote. Which is in question from the sleepy-Joe gaffs of his lifetime of racism.
    “I mean you’ve got the first sort of mainstream African American, who is articulate and bright, and clean and [a] nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man,”
    “Unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly diverse attitudes about different things,”
    The systemic racism sits in the Democrat party and has always been there! Reparations is a slippery slope that then begs the question; what of all the other peoples that have been treated poorly coming and living in the USA; Irish, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans? (just to name a few)
    Look at the Mormon religion. They literally moved out of the USA in order to get away from the mobs and the government, killing their leaders, their people and stealing their lands.
    We are still trying to form a “More perfect Union”. Reparations does nothing but continues to divide us, which is exactly what the Left wants!!

    • Anything at all that pushes “race” in our face is divisive! It’s stupid and unnecessary. Many people have a hard time deciding what “race” they even are, since they’re so blended. The census is a total failure since it omits the essential citizenship question and adds a lot of divisive questions trying to define your “race”. What’s the possible purpose of such questions? IMHO, nothing good can come from that, other than to deter many from even responding. These are dangerous questions and the “correct” answers are not even obvious.

  16. Now, if the beer starts to test posi, well, then we’re all screwed.

    They tell me hand sanitizer needs to be above 60 percent Ethyl Alcohol.

    It turns out my collection of high end single barrel cask strength Kentucky Bourbon clocks in at 125 proof.

    This pencils out to 62.5 percent.

    I like it neat.

    Like Granny said, “It’s for medicinal purposes”.

    73

  17. George, hadn’t seen you mention what the Baltic dry index is doing,maybe I just missed it. I have always felt that’s a good indicator of what’s coming ,or what’s not coming. I need all the help I can get these days, my Crystal ball hasn’t been working too good lately……

  18. When the robots take over McDonald’s, at least you can feel sure they won’t spit on your burger.

  19. Robots and machinery in general are not so much labor saving, but labor amplification devices. With the potential for litigation and risk of hiring even one employee, the natural conclusion is that the only way to safely expand beyond a family business is to avoid all other employees and use mechanization to improve utility and production. Whether it’s as simple as buying a backhoe or investing in predictive AI, it’s all about avoiding hiring someone that may well sue you. I currently know of two employees running wild at a branch of a major company and the can’t be disciplined or fired due to company policy on their race alone.

    I’ve held back from maximizing my own potential since I’d rather enjoy what I have than take on unnecessary risk far beyond my control.

  20. “What was a $35 an hour 20-hour p/t position is now full-time career gig and sports an $80+K income level.
    But, that’s only a fraction of the story: He would get 3 or 4 weeks vacation, a government retirement program (plush!) and medical for him and if he can find a Mrs. Right. And Parenting leave…what a deal!”

    Not to mention every federal holiday of the year off Personal time days sick days and you can actually take your vacation time.. … Not like the real world job. Where I worked I would accumulate the vacation and sick time but you were not able to take it off.. the way they had it was they hire by points.. I was point five.. which said they guaranteed me five work days a pay period.. so if you took a week off. you couldn’t take two weeks off because you are required to be there your weekend work schedule.. they didn’t have to pay your vacation time.. at the end of my employment I was giving away eighty hours a year to employees that got sick because just like the gentleman living in our spare room now.. if you get sick you are not employed… where a shizty insurance policy runs eighteen grand for one person.. they get the golden goose insurance policy.. Not to mention .. school loan forgiveness.. if they are a doctor they might bitch and moan about the wage because they can make so much more in their own practice.. but in govt. hospital or situation.. they don’t have to pay the three hundred plus per square foot rent.. they don’t have to buy equipment or supplies.. they don’t have to pay their nurses wages or benefit packages.. etc etc. etc..
    Many of the people I know that have gone to work for the VA healthcare system.. my doctor included who I knew from when they worked the floor next to me as students.. went there to get the insurance and the benefit package.. their loans forgiven..
    the golden goose healthcare is a biggie.. not to mention daycare.. a real big one.. many have the daycare centers that they provide for workers…at a fraction of the cost.. one girl I know that works.. saves over two grand a month just on daycare..
    I would like to get the golden goose.. My siblings retired military.. they get the tri care.. well she won’t talk to me because she was complaining about everyone else and I said well you should rebel and quit your job.. show them huh.. and her out of pocket expense.. per year is a fraction of what I pay for medications per month.. she just doesn’t have any knoweledge of the true expenses for the wage earners in the USA..

  21. “Now, if the beer starts to test posi, well, then we’re all screwed.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd0R3sY2B5Y

    https://www.amazon.com/Beer-Saved-World-Discovery-Communications/dp/B007RIOZY0/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&hvadid=78546372823644&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvqmt=p&keywords=how+beer+saved+the+world&qid=1597344296&s=movies-tv&sr=1-2&tag=mh0b-20

    https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/alcohol-in-the-middle-ages/

    https://youtu.be/pcLasNk4i-c
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wEnMQJqsJo

  22. discussion is so good bill .. now I would love how you “create” this inflation with broke jobless people .. the FED is powerless .. ramping gold and say “look inflation” like the guy in fantasy island don’t work ..you give me overnight interest rates of 100s of% and I will buy it .. right now its good old American theatre like everything else , promoted by an amada of American economic gorus..crash the dow big and everything else and deploy capital at the correct point . tradeable bottoms .. keep the commie stuff .. the red button is close .. my opinion and nobody gunna change , George I respect , sheethole kitco or moriarty sewer 321 forget , but never the less the longer im wrong the righter ill be

  23. yes some great posts here .. but the more I think of it .. bill … do you believe the FED has mystical powers to create and magic .. bit like loaves and seafood !! now bill you and I know that was the greatest story ever .. do you have t shirts that say ,,, I love the FED or CNBCC USSA rocks

  24. Have you hugged your kids today?
    Have your kids hugged you today?
    Should we consent to our children being vaccinated? Should we consent to our parents being vaccinated?
    Ok ,enough of that.
    My 92 yr. old Mom, locked down in her room since the middle of March in the Commenwealth of Massachusetts had contracted OR should I say tested positive for Covid 19! Not from her children, who could stare at her thru the looking glass, but the workers at the rest home who we entrust our Mother’s care too. She has survived her “quarantine” and is breathing easily and joyfully now. Imagine that they required or imposed upon her an air conditioned environment and denied her fresh air. They prohibited her from opening a window! Legionaires disease had a shot at her too. Yes, I know, she’s got the ear of the MAN UPSTAIRS.
    Put that in your pipe and smoke it- Fauchi, Gates and Ashteroth. No gin and tonic or quinine used or offered.
    Wake up people!

    • NEVER allow yourself to go to a “nursing” home or hospital for any chronic condition. In most cases it will get worse and you will die. Of course, do so if you’re OK with that. Unfortunately, there are ways for those with ulterior motives to get people committed. Decent people don’t do such things.

      Living autonomously and dying autonomously regardless of eccentricities is the best any human can expect. Twice as good if you’re living with a significant other.

      • “NEVER allow yourself to go to a “nursing” home or hospital for any chronic condition. In most cases it will get worse and you will die. ”

        Not necessarily Mike.. having worked on the floors for decades.. I can tell you that the majority of the staff are very good at what they do.. they are caring and go the extra mile for someones loved ones..
        I have seen some pretty wonderous things.. like a gentleman that wasn’t suppose to ever recover.. they had the long term care plan of him being a vegetable.. they forgot to tell us.. he walked out six months later.. or the guy that flipped his car end over end expelled from the car leg shoved through his body and he hit his head.. no one thought he would make it.. he walked out three months later.. then there was the young lady that was in juvenile detention.. she was a worker.. she looked tough one night and we were working.. I said hon you need to go into be seen you look tough.. she couldn’t afford the fifteen dollar medicine.. she died.. I would have bought her the medicine.. didn’t know it until she died.. all because she didn’t have insurance and the detention center thought she was faking it..

    • “My 92 yr. old Mom, locked down in her room since the middle of March in the Commenwealth of Massachusetts had contracted OR should I say tested positive for Covid 19! Not from her children, who could stare at her thru the looking glass, but the workers at the rest home who we entrust our Mother’s care too. ”

      I am so sorry to hear that Mindfullman… Having worked in healthcare for many decades I can tell you once it hits the floors it will rage down the halls like a forest fire in california .. I almost got into a rant on how most places operate.. but redacted it.. because I don’t know how it is there..I just how it is here..my prayers will be for your mom.. I hope and pray she has a speedy recovery..

      • Thank you”looking out of the box” for you prayers.
        Since she tested negative, the whole family is relieved.
        However I realize that doesn’t change the dynamics of the circumstances. The various scenarios the MSM throw at the population plays on fear of the uneducated or inexperienced. The technocracy that pervades the global community seeks to control the narrative.
        People tend to err on the side of caution, and when the enemy is “unknown”the truth is often undecernable.
        Let’s pray for the future of humankind, lest we fall pray to the deceiver, and become inhumane.
        Such are the lies of the enemy.

  25. Hawaii under lockdown had the LOWEST infection per capita numbers in the country. Lockdown lifted with caution… July 4 people partied and crowded the beaches… and people got lax. Now Hawaii has the HIGHEST INFECTION RATE in the country! People are so stupid. After a week of daily numbers above 200/day, today freaked everyone out with 355 new cases. State ‘Covic-czar” Dr. Josh Green (a working ER MD) says we may overwhelm the hospitals within a week if this doesn’t slow down. Governor is talking about reinstating total lockdown for populous Oahu island and Honolulu, where the problem exists. Here on the Big Island we only had 4 new cases.

    It doesn’t help that visitors are coming to Hawaii by the thousands. They are supposed to be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival, but a lot… if not a majority… are ignoring and busting the quarantine. The health dept does not have enough checkers to monitor people under quarantine. So we have now become a super-spreader with the highest infection rate in the country. Don’t come to Hawaii unless you want to get infected and have a bad time under quarantine.

    The economy is in shambles, but they keep trying to get the tourist dollars back. It obviously is not going to happen safely.

  26. How about a depression era president spawn and heir to Jamican planter owner of 200 slaves… rhyming history.

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