Florida State Seminoles

[hedge]

In their over exuberance to contradict eCat on every issue, Rat and Hedge have stumbled on a rare instance of being on the side of reality.

I don’t like Milley, but he was doing the admin’s and Trump’s bidding by contacting China. I blame the over the top book, that is typical of the author, making Milley out as someone who was worried that Trump was going to “go off” and do something stupid which wasn’t the case.

I hope eCat doesn't read that, he's determined to brand somebody a traitor...

[Jungle Rat]

I'd like to hear from Pence on his thoughts about Trumps mental state after he lost. Each time.

[hedge]

"If there was a realistic threat perceived by China, they should have engaged the president and his staff"

His staff (Esper, Pompeo - you know, the Secretaries of Defense and State) was already dealing with it, which is exactly what they are hired to do. Including Trump in the conversation would've been a fool's errand...

[Jungle Rat]

And stupid

[eCat]

"If there was a realistic threat perceived by China, they should have engaged the president and his staff"

His staff (Esper, Pompeo - you know, the Secretaries of Defense and State) was already dealing with it, which is exactly what they are hired to do. Including Trump in the conversation would've been a fool's errand...

of course you knew Milley was a pawn all along when you were praising him for undercutting Trump and calling him a hero

[Jungle Rat]

He was

[hedge]

I just said that if it was the case that Milley single-handedly did it, I'd be glad. But it turns out that wasn't the case. So I guess we were both wrong. Trump is still an idiot...

[Jungle Rat]

That's a fact Jack!

[DooKSucks]

Sounds like you had to shimmy around Busco beach to get there...

No. That was towards Goldsboro. I had to go around Buckleberry though...

[hedge]

Deadly African Swine Fever Nears U.S. in Threat to Pork Industry

Shortly after officials detained six migrants from the Dominican Republic who had landed on the western coast of Puerto Rico on Sept. 24, a team of investigators in white protective gear descended on the beach. They weren’t searching for drugs or contraband but another threat: pork.

The Western Hemisphere registered its first outbreak of African swine fever virus in almost 40 years on July 28 at pig farms in the Dominican Republic. By September the devastating disease had been found in neighboring Haiti. Now the U.S., the world’s largest pork producer after China, is scrambling to keep the malady from washing ashore and shutting down its $7.7 billion pork export industry.

While Puerto Rico is more than 2,200 miles from the hog farms of Iowa, it’s part of the U.S. And it’s experiencing a dramatic rise in undocumented migrants from African swine fever hot spots. That’s driving fears that an outbreak on the Caribbean island could trigger a ban on the export of all U.S. pork products.

“This isn’t just a Puerto Rican problem,” says the island’s Agriculture Secretary Ramón González. “This is a problem for the entire United States.”

African swine fever, or ASF, is a viral hemorrhagic disease that rips through pig herds, usually killing an animal within 10 days. “They basically bleed out,” says Liz Wagstrom, the chief veterinarian at the National Pork Producers Council, an industry group that represents 60,000 U.S. hog farmers. “This is probably the most feared pig disease out there.”

What makes ASF so pernicious is that it’s hard to eradicate and so easy to transmit. Researchers have found the virus burrowed in the bone marrow of long-dead pigs and in cured ham products. A 2018 outbreak in Belgium is thought to be linked to a wayward piece of pork, discarded during military operations or by a long-haul trucker, which was eaten by a feral pig. The disease eventually spread to commercial farms. The virus can also travel in trace amounts of dirt and manure.

Since there’s no treatment or cure for ASF, mass slaughter is one of the few ways of controlling the disease. Already the Dominican Republic has culled more than 65,700 pigs this year as it tries to avoid a repeat of a 1970s outbreak that led it to exterminate its entire pig stock—more than 1.4 million animals. China has been grappling with multiple outbreaks since the disease was first detected there in 2018. ASF is now present in 50 countries across Africa, Europe, and Asia.

“This could easily be the most serious animal sanitary crisis of our generation,” says Gregorio Torres, the head of the science department at the
World Organization for Animal Health, a Paris-based body that helps coordinate the global response to outbreaks by disseminating information
and publishing health and safety guidelines that can affect international commerce. It’s not just an issue for commercial livestock operations. Many poor families in the Caribbean and elsewhere depend on subsistence hog farming, says Torres.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked the World Organization for Animal Health to label Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands a “foreign animal disease protection zone”—meaning they’d be classed as separate jurisdictions when it comes to global trade.

The U.S. doesn’t import pork products from Haiti or the Dominican Republic because the two nations also have the less deadly classic swine fever. Puerto Rico recently banned any pork products from being exported or carried to the U.S. mainland, including the ubiquitous local delicacy empanadilla. And the island’s ports and airports are being heavily monitored, including by pork-sniffing dogs.

But the migrant smuggling routes are harder to patrol, says Customs and Border Protection spokesman Jeffrey Quiñones.

Over the course of a few hours on Sept. 24, CBP officials found six yolas, or small vessels, along the shores of western Puerto Rico. At one landing site, officers seized a boat called Blessing along with six undocumented migrants. Some of the other passengers were thought to have escaped through a nearby golf course.

Strewn around the beach, officials found plastic-wrapped bologna and cans of sausage made in the Dominican Republic, some of which had exploded in the intense heat—a ready meal for the area’s feral pigs.

But there were also less obvious threats amid the refuse. Pointing to a pair of soggy tennis shoes, Quiñones said that if they had been worn on an afflicted farm in the Dominican or Haiti, they could be carrying ASF. “The virus could be within the soles of the shoes,” he said. “That’s why this is so hard to stop.”

[eCat]

more good news....

if you need a large appliance, parts or other durable good, you should anticipate it and get it now.
--------------------------

Several industry groups have warned world leaders of a worldwide supply-chain “system collapse” due to pandemic restrictions, coming as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested that the current period of higher inflation will last until 2022.

The International Chamber of Shipping, a coalition of truck drivers, seafarers, and airline workers, has warned in a letter to heads of state attending the United Nations General Assembly that governments need to restore freedom of movement to transportation workers amid persistent COVID-19 restrictions and quarantines.

If nothing is done, they warned of a “global transport system collapse” and suggested that “global supply chains are beginning to buckle as two years’ worth of strain on transport workers take their toll,” according to the letter. It was signed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which represent some 65 million transport workers around the world.

“All transport sectors are also seeing a shortage of workers, and expect more to leave as a result of the poor treatment millions have faced during the pandemic, putting the supply chain under greater threat,” the letter said. “We also ask that WHO and the ILO raise this at the U.N. General Assembly and call on heads of government to take meaningful and swift action to resolve this crisis now,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, retailer Costco said it’s chartering its own container ships between Asia and North America amid supply chain issues worldwide, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said in a recent conference call.

Costco, he said, is dealing with “port delays, container shortages, COVID disruptions, shortages on various components, raw materials and ingredients, labor cost pressures” along with “trucks and driver shortages,” Fox News reported.

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, attempted to shed some light on the problem during a recent ABC News interview, noting that there’s a significant backup of container ships off the coast of major ports of entry.

“We’re witnessing a pandemic-induced buying surge by the American consumer, the likes of which we’ve never seen,” he told the network on Sept. 29.

In remarks on Sept. 29, Powell said that the current spike in inflation is a “consequence of supply constraints meeting very strong demand,” saying it’s “associated with the reopening of the economy, which is a process that will have a beginning, middle and an end.”

“It’s very difficult to say how big the effects will be in the meantime or how long they last,” Powell said during a forum hosted by the European Central Bank. The current price surge, he said, is due to bottlenecks in the supply chain, although he believes prices will eventually come down on their own. The surge will continue into 2022 before dropping, Powell said.

[eCat]

but by all means, lets encourage business to fire employees who aren't vaccinated

[hedge]

"The International Chamber of Shipping, a coalition of truck drivers, seafarers, and airline workers"

I love it when you ask somebody what they do and they reply "I'm a seafarer"...

[eCat]

Costco has to have one of the most innovative and focused management in the country.

They'll deliver on a promise even if it means short term loss to the company, and that is something I don't see Wal-Mart, Target or any other big box store doing. Amazon does that too. Both of them understand they are paying for loyalty with that cost in an era where the consumer has more choices than ever.

[hedge]

"Meanwhile, retailer Costco said it’s chartering its own container ships between Asia and North America amid supply chain issues worldwide, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said in a recent conference call."

Now I see why eCat posted that article...

[eCat]

well, the order is backwards but yes, I love Costco

[eCat]

do you not want to president? because this is how you not become president!
----------------------------------
Sources reveal the South Dakota governor and potential 2024 VP candidate is having an extramarital affair with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

Multiple sources have informed American Greatness that South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is having an extramarital affair with adviser Corey Lewandowski, who previously served as a campaign manager for Donald Trump. The alleged fling reportedly has continued for months, sources say.

Lewandowski accompanied Noem across the country as she stumped for Trump’s reelection last year. According to South Dakota Republicans, former Noem chief of staff Joshua Shields left, in part, because of Lewandowski’s butting in. Lewandowski, who is married with four children, still has the former president’s ear, which he reportedly uses to Noem’s advantage.

[hedge]

"They'll deliver on a promise even if it means short term loss to the company"

What kind of promise? On another note, I've heard that the Costco brand of scotch isn't bad...

[hedge]

"former Noem chief of staff Joshua Shields left, in part, because of Lewandowski’s butting in"

They had to throw that in, didn't they?

[eCat]

"They'll deliver on a promise even if it means short term loss to the company"

What kind of promise? On another note, I've heard that the Costco brand of scotch isn't bad...

they are famous for the 1/4 all beef hot dog and coke for $1.50 at the food court and their $4.99 roasted chicken

in both cases they were losing money on them but refused to raise prices, instead while they lost money, they went out and opened up their own hot dog meat processing plant and several chicken farms in Nebraska

now you see that they are sourcing their own ships to carry good, which I'm sure is cost prohibitive, but to make sure they have items people need (or want..whatever) they are taking extraordinary measures to keep items in stock and at a price point.

Amazon is a little different - of course they are price driven but their commitment is to the customer experience - taking losses on shipping and returns to insure they keep the online experience the same for customers.