Yup, enforced mediocrity in our spec ops community is now a thing, all in the name of diversity and equity.

Come on man, ain’t you gonna vote?

Nothing worse than being able to see it coming
and knowing there's nothing I can do about it.
- jungatheart



In all seriousness, this is the most imminent thing I see...

AT the least, vote because that makes the fraud more obvious and laughable.

X won with 120% of the registered voters voting!

There is always a choice.  One person may not have a huge impact, or an impact at all, or he/she may set an example and start a trend by what they choose to do.

There is always a choice.  It may be a very hard road, uncomfortable, and difficult.  But you never HAVE to comply or do what the gov or even a large portion of society want you to do.

Re the glen beck video, Lots of important info here, but what I want to focus on is toward the end.  It demolishes the entire green energy policy of the west, which is suicide.

Watch it, and then consider that no one in the news told us that China's recently announced increase in coal use and production is so huge, it would require the USA taking 82% of all vehicles off the road, permanently, to offset the impact on the climate.

If these news people and politicians cared about "climate change", they would be going crazy and demanding China not do what they are doing.  Why are we spending trillions on green energy, killing US production, canceling pipelines, shutting down drilling,  lowering our standard of living and causing food and everything else to cost more?  

All these "sacrifices" and pain are wiped out hundreds of times over by the mere INCREASE in coal production in China.  So why do any of it, except to enrich the already wealthy, and impoverish the middle class?

I didn’t vote today but I do plan on doing my part.  

Who knows?  Secession might be on the ballot.

I believe we can, one person at a time, make a difference. We can do this through prayer. One person at a time, but all of us together praying for this country. And make no mistake, it must be all of us.  It can’t be a handful in this church, the praying ladies in that church.  I don’t see very many Christians, of any political stripe, on our knees praying for this country.

It’s human nature to let other people fix problems while you stand on the sidelines. Look at history telling us only 3% of the population fought in the American Revolution. And those were hard people who had recently immigrated here for opportunity and to escape oppression.

Now you have a society full of folks who can’t fix anything around their home that breaks, are on average 50lbs overweight and when the grocery store runs out of frozen chicken nuggets it throws off dinner plans.

They will gladly follow whatever agenda the government sets as long as the lights are on and Facebook is working.

Agree, more countries getting involved means
much greater risk of WWIII.  Everyone's
picking a side.

Michael Yon@MichaelYon
11 hours ago
Continue to Prepare
25 October 2022
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Food-wise, strongly suggest continuing to go deep prep. Digital rationing cards are on NEAR horizon.

Prep
Deep
Now

Hmmmm...   What did Yon see in Thailand that makes him think digital rationing cards are on the near horizon here in the U.S.?

I’ve reached the conclusion a while back that neither protests nor elections will change the course of things.  I have seen the power of prayer work and it can be very powerful.  I agree that this is really our only option that has any chance of working but as you say, it takes more than a church group here and a prayer circle there.  

It will take a nation in prayer to change the course of a nation.  As with voting, I will do my part but as been said before, very few seem to see the current world through Christian eyes and actually understand the path that the world is going.  If they don’t see this as a Spiritual battle, then they will continue to rely on secular solutions. War and fighting isn’t the answer anymore. I’m afraid we’re about to see how destructive that can be.

This is the time to get yourself, your family, and your friends physically, mentally and Spiritually fit because the way things are going, they all will be tested to the limits and beyond.

So, everyone say a prayer every day. What have you got to lose?

LNG Bottlenecks Are Emerging In Crisis-Stricken Europe

Tanker rates are also soaring because traders use tankers as floating storage facilities.
European countries have boasted that their gas storage facilities have been filled at higher than usual levels before the start of winter. Yet more LNG cargos are arriving in Europe at such rates that they are jamming ports. And freight rates are through the roof, adding to already record LNG prices. Earlier this week, media reported that there were more than 30 LNG tankers idling off the coast of Spain, waiting to unload at one of its regasification terminals. Clearly, these terminals were not sufficient for the surge of LNG imports into the country, which sports the most LNG import terminals in Europe, at a total of six.

Yet Spain is not the only one in an “exceptional operational situation,” as the government in Madrid called it. There are dozens of LNG tankers waiting to unload or serving as floating storage near other European ports as well. And as the LNG rush to Europe continues, an LNG tanker shortage is looming large.

“Every natural-gas buyer who is serious has taken LNG carriers into their portfolio,” Jefferies shipping research head Omar Nokta told the Wall Street Journal. “There is very limited capacity out there and it’s super expensive to get.”

It’s the oldest of laws about supply and demand at work, but this same law is also pushing freight rates for LNG carriers sky-high, which is adding to already substantial LNG import bills in Europe and Asia.

According to Baltic Exchange data cited in the Wall Street Journal report, spot market LNG tanker rates have gone up sixfold since the start of the year, reaching $450,000 per day this week.

Brokers expect this to rise further to half a million dollars daily as demand remains strong ahead of winter. And that might not be the ceiling because one UK brokerage has forecast freight rates could soar to as much as $1 million per day before the year’s end.

An additional factor making the shipment of LNG more expensive is that a substantial portion of the available LNG fleet is currently being used as floating storage as traders await the price of the commodity to go higher still as winter begins. The Reuters report about the LNG tanker jams noted that LNG prices for delivery in November and December are $2 mmBtu higher than current prices.

The jams are also turning some of the tankers waiting to unload into floating storage, at least temporarily, helped by a dip in demand because of warmer-than-usual weather in Spain and lower industrial demand for gas across Europe because of the slowdown in economic activity, which in turn was caused by the gas shortage that began last year.

There’s more expensive news on the horizon, too. The restart of Freeport LNG, which shut down after a fire in June, hurting the affordability and availability aspects of Europe’s new-found LNG addiction, could be delayed.

Rystad Energy, the Norwegian energy consultancy, forecast recently that Freeport LNG could return to normal operations by the end of next month, but added that there is still the possibility of a delay. This delay, Rystad noted, could push gas prices higher in the United States. Higher U.S. gas prices would automatically increase LNG prices for the international market as well.

This is happening as the European Union tries to put its foot down and say it will install a ceiling on LNG prices. A proposal to that effect was made this week by the Commission and was discussed by European leaders at a meeting that took place on Thursday.

Even before the meeting, an agreement was unlikely as member states are split on the issue, but the push to tame gas prices and consequently, inflation is strong and some form of price control might end up being agreed to reduce the price pain.

There is some silver lining despite all the bad price news. China’s LNG imports are expected to decline sharply due to weak demand and high spot market prices, which will free up more cargos for Europe. It’s only too bad it cannot build more LNG import terminals in weeks.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/LNG-Bottlenecks-Are-Emerging-In-Crisis-Stricken-Europe.html

Story from last week shows how weak we are as we head into the winter months with increasing demands.


Biden Is Running U.S. Energy Security Into The Ground

The White House divulged late on Tuesday its plan to release 15 million barrels of crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to be delivered in December, as the last tranche of the emergency 180 million barrel release that the Biden Administration announced in March.

Also this week, President Biden said there would be “consequences” for Saudi Arabia’s decision as a member of OPEC+ to reduce its oil production in response to market conditions, which is OPEC+’s official motive for the move.

One of the possible “consequences” would be further limits to arms sales to the Kingdom, as suggested by Democratic legislators. Another, per an NBC report from Tuesday, is to discourage U.S. companies from expanding their business ties with Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, U.S. oil production continues its slow growth, not least because of the various challenges that drillers are experiencing, including the all-pervading effects of inflation, a labor and equipment shortage, and continuing supply chain problems.

The picture does not look bright for U.S. energy security. In fact, one might argue that the Biden administration’s actions so far this year have compromised this security and continue to compromise it.

The unprecedented release from the strategic petroleum reserve has brought the United States’ emergency supply of crude oil to the lowest level since 1985, at less than 445 million barrels, from 612 million barrels before the release program began.

This is not particularly good news for a country that consumes almost 20 million barrels of oil daily. The reason it is not good news is that 445 million barrels of oil mean the U.S. only has enough in its strategic reserve for about 22 days in case of an actual emergency. Many analysts – and some legislators – have called on the White House to stop using the SPR for purposes it was not meant to be used for. Yet, with midterms around the corner, it would be hard for any administration to ignore fuel prices and the fact that after a substantial decline during the summer—thanks in no small part to the SPR release—they are climbing again.

Some have argued that the SPR is obsolete because the U.S. is the biggest oil producer in the world and a net exporter. But as Robert Rapier pointed out in this Forbes article, in addition to all this, the U.S. is also one of the biggest importers of crude. Any disruption in imports would have a devastating effect on U.S. oil prices if it weren’t for the cushion that the SPR provides by simply existing.

Speaking of imports, Saudi Arabia is one of the top suppliers of the U.S. with crude oil. Oddly enough, as of last year, it was the fourth-largest U.S. oil supplier after Canada, Mexico, and Russia. Now that Russian oil has been banned, the Saudis have moved to third place, with the latest EIA data showing daily imports of some 541,000 barrels.

After the ban on Russian oil—and refined products—fuel prices in the U.S. spiked, and it took months, luck, and more than 100 million barrels of SPR oil to bring them down. If the diplomatic escalation with the Saudis continues, exports of oil from the Kingdom might end up affected at the worst possible time for the Biden administration.

The latest signals from both sides are not exactly promising. Biden has taken to the SPR again, Senators are calling for punishment for the Saudis, and a Saudi prince and distant relative of the de facto ruler of the Kingdom, Crown Prince Mohammed, has just threatened Washington with a jihad.

Now more information about the roots of the rift is emerging, too, and the outlook becomes even more discouraging. CNBC reported this week that the White House had asked the Saudis to delay its decision to reduce production by a month. The information comes from an official statement by the Saudis defending the decision to cut output.

Claims of coercion among other OPEC+ made by Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby have not helped clear the air between Washington and Riyadh. Soon after the claims were made, a number of OPEC members rushed to declare the OPEC+ decision was unanimous, and nobody was coerced.

SPR depletion, an escalating diplomatic rift with its third-biggest oil supplier, and local production growth challenges: the picture doesn’t look well. At the same time, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said at yesterday’s media briefing that U.S. oil production is on track to hit a record high this year, so maybe not all is bleak.

What’s actually bleak is the absence of many options on Biden’s table for dealing with gasoline prices. U.S. refineries need imported oil to operate. Attempts at supply diversification by softening relations with Venezuela have so far failed. The Iran deal seems to have stalled again. And Canada and Mexico can’t export enough, judging by the latest U.S. oil import numbers.

The SPR release cannot continue indefinitely. In fact, the reserve will soon enough need to start being replenished, but the White House said it will wait until prices fall to between $67 and $72 per barrel. This may take a while given the upcoming EU embargo on Russian oil that comes into effect on December 5 and will apparently affect non-EU importers of the commodity, too.

In short, the Biden administration is not in a good place when it comes to ensuring the energy security of the country. And whether or not U.S. oil production will reach a record or grow moderately as industry executives expect will be more or less irrelevant in the current supply security context. After all, OPEC could always cut more output and earn more from higher prices.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Biden-Is-Running-US-Energy-Security-Into-The-Ground.html

Seems applicable...

Luke 21: 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

Stolen from another thread.  Just in time for the Holiday Season.

US Has Only 25 Days of Diesel Supply; Shortage Could Cripple Economy

The United States is down to 25 days of diesel supply as a top White House official declared the stockpile levels to be “unacceptably low.”

Data provided by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that diesel stockpiles are at their lowest level for October in records that date back to 1993, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. EIA data show that the United States, as of Oct. 14, has 25.4 days of supply—down from 34.2 days of supply four weeks prior.

National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, a top adviser to President Joe Biden, told Bloomberg News last week that current diesel levels are “unacceptably” low and that “all options are on the table” to increase supplies.

The diesel crunch comes just over two weeks before the November 2022 midterm elections and will likely drive up prices even more. Diesel is the fuel used by freight trains and commonly used by long-haul truckers to transport goods and food.

“Most of the products we use are transported by trucks and trains with diesel engines, and most construction, farming, and military vehicles and equipment also have diesel engines,” the EIA’s website states. “As a transportation fuel, diesel fuel offers a wide range of performance, efficiency, and safety features. Diesel fuel also has a greater energy density than other liquid fuels, so it provides more useful energy per unit of volume.”

Prices, meanwhile, remain relatively elevated, according to AAA data. The average price for a gallon of diesel stands at around $5.33 nationwide, or up nearly $2 since the same time in 2021, the data shows.

Wholesale diesel prices at the New York spot market spiked last week to more than $200 per barrel.

It comes as the Biden administration recently announced it would release another 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, part of the 180 million Biden authorized in March, that Republicans say is a bid to keep Democrats politically afloat ahead of the midterms. But Biden and his allies say that it’s not a political tactic, and the administration says it will refill the reserve when prices drop to $67–$72 per barrel.

“The United States government is going to purchase oil to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when prices fall to $70 a barrel,” Biden said on Oct. 19. “And that means oil companies can invest to ramp up production now, with confidence they’ll be able to sell their oil to us at that price in the future: $70.”

The move came after the International Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+) announced that it would cut oil production.

“Now, after draining our emergency reserves to a 40-year low, Democrats want billions more of taxpayer dollars to refill the [Strategic Petroleum Reserve] at more than double the price,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told the New York Post last week. “This is a direct attack on every single American struggling to fill their tanks and heat their homes.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-has-only-25-days-of-diesel-supply-as-shortage-could-cripple-economy_4815049.html

I like that.

Thanks, amannamedjed!  Thanks for shining much needed light in a very dark thread.

I was curious about the question of U.S. exports of natural gas, as that impacts our prices.  After all, that natural gas must come from somewhere.  I know some will come from the Scandinavian countries, and maybe some from South America.  But I think the majority would likely come from us.  The only reference in this article to a source was to a company called Freeport LNG, a Texas based exporter of LNG.  Their site has this that caught my attention.

The daily LNG output from Freeport LNG's three liquefaction trains is enough to power and light a metropolitan area the size of San Antonio for an entire day.

I presume there are other companies exporting LNG, but Freeport appears to be the biggest.

The quoted sentence tells me the amount of LNG being exported is really not all that much.  Sure, San Antonia is a good sized city, but is just one of hundreds that size or bigger.  If that is the majority of our LNG exports, then I don't see why it should impact us all that much.  It probably will, as speculators will drive up the price, but it shouldn't.  Also, I still don't understand how the Spanish terminal plays into this.  Freeport has contracts with Japan, Britain, and (I think) South Africa.  I don't get the unloading of LNG into continental Europe unless they have contracts they have not disclosed on their website.

The Reset begins...

Two things stand out to me in this article:

1. Price Caps! - Man, if you really want your population to be cold in the dark, start telling the people with the gas the max they can sell their product for, I'm sure that will go splendidly.

2. lots of LNG tankers hanging out outside a port seems like a target rich environment.

Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that some company was building a big LNG export hub down on the Gulf.  Maybe it’s this company?

That does look like the direction this thing is headed.

1.  Yeah.  That struck me too.  Price caps always result in shortages.  

2.  Whoa!  I didn't think of that.  Very good point.

Yup.  And psychology has a huge impact.  The social and peer pressure, people assuming others will do something, group think, and risk tolerance or avoidance.

I think we actually have a harder time getting people to act now, because of what you mentioned...

People are softer, more specialized and have fewer self-sufficient and survival skills now, and are FAR more accustomed to comfort.  Even the "poor" have internet, cell phones and cable, indoor plumbing and electricity.  Further, death is less common.  In the 1700's life could end at any time, from a small infection, a work accident, duel, fight, Indian raid, what have you.  Today most are not even ever exposed to death, (other than much rarer illness, old age or gang related) and are far less inclined to risk their lives or their "fortunes".

And the slow but perpetual moves toward authoritarianism acclimate the public to it.  The constant yet growing lies, corruption, and government infringements on liberty have made people unfortunately accept it rather than be outraged.

At this point, the left slash globalists and their gop partners really need to fuck up and overstep big time to get a reaction out of the public.

Voting only slows down the perpetual road to authoritarianism, as both parties are going the same place, just at different speeds.  Intermittent GOP control only serves to acclimate people to the infringements the left has wrought, and that the gop never seem to undo.  Yeah, it's a uniparty.

We would be better off if the Dems had total control for a decade, as they would overstep and finally shock people into fighting back.  The fact the gop wins once in a while is a pressure release valve, makes people think they have power over the future, and elections are legitimate and fair, even when the gop inexplicably always betrays us and gives the Dems most of what they want even when GOP is in power.

And you did yours voting for FJB. If you think none of this will impact you I'm not sure what to tell you.

Well, it’s to be dystopia, I want a LandMaster.

So sick of Biden admin saying "unacceptable, all options on the table", etc.  I mean, whose fault is it??  Theirs!

Diesel now at $5.33/gallon is up $2 from last year, and it was ONLY $2.39 in Oct 2020!  
It more than DOUBLED since pants shitter was installed. As did gas.

Retail prices for gasoline averaged $2.167/gallon. Diesel prices averaged $2.395/gallon (Oct 2020 US report)

It's all well and good for dementia joe to claim he will refill the reserve when oil is $70/bbl, as it is currently $200/bbl.  Shitbird can't make the price fall.

So two weeks?

This whole thread is 87% fear porn. Just roll with it.

That looks like it could single handedly drain our Strategic Oil Reserves.

The fun is going to start when the government hands out ration cards while explaining why we can't eat the 220 million tons of corn we feed to animals and ethanol plants.

Darn, I was hoping to be at least above 90%.

I remember those news articles, but they always responded to them that we would never have a food shortage, so no worries.

Bigger question is why you waste your time reading such nonsense?

Interesting video.  Could explain why we never got the flying cars that many of those dystopian movies promised us.

It looks like it’s in several Asian counties already.  Only thing about it hitting the USA  that I found was this from August.  Digital Rationing Card talk starts just after the 16:00 mark.

https://www.bitchute.com/video/MMpxeVDxtXJP/

Now, he’ll take credit for lowering the cost of your grocery bill.


TommyRobinsonOfficial@TommyRobinsonOfficial
1h
·
Biden wants you boosted again: “Get the shot and get $5, $10, $20 off your drug store or grocery purchase”

https://gab.com/TommyRobinsonOfficial/posts/109230310851863626

I didn't watch but the first few minutes of it.  It just did not hold my attention.  But, a couple of notes.

The first minute reminded me of a quote I remember from long ago.  I think it was probably Jerry Pournelle lamenting how people of that time (around the late 1980s or early 1990s) just didn't seem to have the same creative drive as people of a couple of generations earlier.  Remarking on the IBM, NASA, and other engineers of the 50s and 60s, he called them (...and I'm working from memory here, so not exact) "...men with black frame glasses, slide rulers, and pocket protectors who Got Things Done."  That always stuck with me.

The second thing is there are always tip-of-the-spear intellects in every age.  There just are a lot less of them than there used to be.  But I don't believe it is because people today are dumber.  No, I believe it is because life is too easy.  There is no need to be daring and innovative if everything is given to you for little effort.  In fact, you could make the argument that there are just as many creative types now as ever, but they are now pouring their energies into the entertainment business.  So, if things go south, I expect them to pour just as much creative energy into survival.

ETA:  Upon rereading this, I realized part of the video was lamenting how movies these days are so often sorry remakes of older, better movies.  This is true.  But, I was thinking specifically of all the people making videos in their bedrooms, backyards, wherever.  Most of these are stupid, vulgar, a waste of photons.  But there are some truly innovating ideas that percolate to the surface from time to time.

Having a PM not chosen by the people could be just another log thrown on the fire of burning rage this winter.

Students in school were also held to higher standards.  The thought of calculators not being allowed in high school math classes would be unimaginable today.

Last I heard, the Port of Corpus Christi was building a second LNG export hub somewhere nearby. Didn't get a lot of details as it was a talk being given by the Chief Technologist there at the Port.

Not sure if these are relevant to that or not:

https://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/projects/corpus-christi-liquefaction-project-texas/
https://www.gem.wiki/Corpus_Christi_LNG_Terminal
Older article about Freeport

ETA: One of the other things that guy mentioned was they were coordinating with an expansion of the Port of Rotterdam so there would be a place for the LNG to go from Corpus Christi.

I have mixed feelings on that.  My brother is enough older than me that he was required to have a slide rule in some of his high school math courses like calculus.  He also had a little mechanical calculator in junior high school he bought with his own money that allowed him to do basic 4 function math fairly quickly.  It was about the size of a smart phone and used a stylus to manipulate the mechanical columns.  It was novel enough, his teachers allowed him to keep it.  It looked something like this.

Attached File


But there was a period when I was in school where slide rules were no longer de juer but calculators were still really expensive.  We got to do it all by hand.  

I escaped the era of the slide rule as I had a Texas Instruments digital watch that you had to push the button to make the numbers light up to tell the time and I got a Texas Instruments calculator not too long after that, if I remember correctly.

Calculators were allowed in my college math classes but the HP 11c that I had only solved definite integrals and you had better have showed your work on how you reached that answer or you didn’t get credit.

Biden warns Russia on using a tactical nuclear weapon but he’s not guaranteeing it’s a false flag operation yet?

Huh?

Disclose.tv@disclosetv
1h
·
NEW - Russia would be making an "incredibly serious mistake" to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, says Biden.

Russia has meanwhile notified the US that its annual "Grom" strategic exercise has begun and that it will include live missile launches starting Wednesday, two US officials told CBS.

https://gab.com/disclosetv/posts/109230647525917709

I started engineering school in fall 1971.  Sliderules were the standard at that time.  By the next year calculators were starting to show up.  

One guy had a HP35, which included sine functions.  I was pretty fast with the slide ruler and log / trig tables but was still at a disadvantage.  January 1973 a local store put their TI2500, a four function calculator, on sale.  Price lowered from $120 to $99.

I bit the bullet and bought it.  $100 was a lot of money to a poor college student at that time.

There are at least 3 more going up not including expansions right.  Anyone who ever thought about building a LNG terminal or who owns one right now is racing to build out capacity to take advantage of the prices.  

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=53719


The bigger issue for us is getting it to the endpoints from the fields my understanding is we're still flaring off large quantities in the dakotas and elsewhere because we can't move it.  I may be wrong so Someone in the industry feel free to correct me.