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You don’t need a high-tech mountain bunker to get ready for a potential crisis. The time to start is now.

We may be closer to World War 3 than at any other time in history. At least that’s what many political commentators are warning.

President Biden’s recent authorization of the use of American weapons to strike inside Russia, Russia’s possible ICBM installations in Mexico, Iran’s continued stockpiling of enriched uranium, and North Korea’s recent launch of military reconnaissance satellites are just a few examples. For the first time in decades, the threat of nuclear war is being discussed more seriously — and more openly.

Across Europe, countries are making plans to get their populations ready for conflict. Last week, Germany updated its ‘Framework Directive on Comprehensive Defence’ — a 67-page plan outlining the measures the country would take during a military conflict. The document was originally adopted in 1989, but the new update notes that Germany’s security policy environment has changed fundamentally since then, and that “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine” has put Germany under military threat for the first time in decades.

As CNN reported, this new plan of action notes that Germany would reinstate mandatory conscription into the army and demand that skilled laborers aged over 18 work certain jobs, “including in bakeries and post offices – as well as being prevented from quitting their jobs. Doctors, psychologists, nurses, and vets may also be repurposed in military and civil service roles.”

Rationing would also be brought in. In the event of dwindling food supplies, the government would stockpile food to provide citizens with “one hot meal a day” for an undisclosed period of time, according to the document. Federal reserves would include foods like rice, pulses and condensed milk.

…click on the above link to read the rest fo the article…

Costa Rica to ration electricity as drought bites

May 11, 2024

Costa Rica to ration electricity as drought bites

San José (AFP) – Costa Rica has become the latest Latin American country to introduce rationing due to drought, announcing Thursday it will limit access to electricity for which it relies heavily on hydro-generation.

Costa Rica will ration electricity as water required for generation runs low © Ezequiel BECERRA / AFP

Dams that feed the country’s hydro-electric plants were low due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, officials said.

“This El Nino has really been the most complicated in the history of Costa Rica,” Roberto Quiros, director of the country’s ICE electricity institute, told reporters in San Jose.

Rationing will start Monday for an undetermined period.

About 99 percent of Costa Rica’s electricity comes from renewable sources — about three-quarters from hydro-electric plants.

“We have not seen a drought like this in 50 years,” said Berny Fallas, a climate expert at the ICE, which is Costa Rica’s main energy provider.

On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization said in a report that Latin America and the Caribbean had their warmest year on record in 2023, as a “double-whammy” of El Nino and climate change caused major weather calamities.

Much of Central America, it said, experienced intense drought, causing neighbor Panama to limit traffic in its eponymous canal.

The ICE said this will be the Costa Rica’s first electricity rationing since 2007, when El Nino also wreaked havoc with water levels.

Hospitals, basic services and industry will not be affected by the cuts, it added.

Further south, Ecuador has recently had to ration electricity due to a shortage of water for hydro-generation, while the capital of Colombia, Bogota, is rationing municipal water.

Governments Start Calling For Price Controls – Rationing And CBDCs Come Next

September 23, 2023

Governments Start Calling For Price Controls – Rationing And CBDCs Come Next

Last month in the middle of the surreal “Bidenomics” hype I published an article titled ‘Nothing Is Over: Inflation Is About To Come Back With A Vengeance.’ I outlined the misconceptions surrounding CPI and how it is not an accurate model for the effects of inflation. I also noted that the index had been manipulated downwards by Joe Biden as he flooded the market with oil from the strategic reserves. Because so many elements of the CPI are connected to energy, Biden had created an artificial drop in CPI using this strategy.

I argued that as the strategic reserves ran out and Biden lost his leverage, CPI would rise again and prices on a number of necessities would climb. This is happening now, with the biggest jump in CPI in 14 months and gas prices clawing back towards all-time highs.

Inflation is not going away anytime soon, but the bigger issue at hand is who benefits most from inflation and rising prices? The answer might be obvious to some but many people are oblivious to the root cause of inflationary dysfunction and often see it as a consequence of random economic chaos rather than a product of clever engineering. The truth is, banking oligarchs and political authorities revel in the inflationary tidal wave because it is a perfect opportunity to institute far reaching socialist controls over resources.

In most cases central bankers are the primary culprits behind the creation of an inflationary event, and the word “creation” best applies because it is nearly impossible for overt inflation to occur without them. While money supply is not the only factor when dealing with inflation (sorry purists, but there are indeed other causes), it is the most important…

…click on the above link to read the rest…

A quarter of America could experience LONG BLACKOUTS this winter due to energy supply problems

November 22, 2022

A quarter of America could experience LONG BLACKOUTS this winter due to energy supply problems

(Natural News) Large parts of North America could face long blackouts and other energy emergencies this winter as supplies of natural gas and coal begin to tighten.

According to the latest seasonal assessment of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), a large portion of the North American [bulk-power system] is “at risk of insufficient electricity supplies during peak winter conditions.”

The regional grids with the largest risk of experiencing supply shortfalls this winter are in Texas, New England, the Carolinas and the central system stretching from the Great Lakes region down to Louisiana.

The NERC’s report noted that supply shortfalls, higher peak-demand projections, weaknesses in natural gas infrastructure and inadequate weatherization upgrades for generators are contributing to the heightened risk of power outages.

The risk would be further worsened by severe weather putting stress on these already weakened grids by causing demand for electricity to soar while supplies of energy coming from natural gas, coal and backup fuels like oil remain low. (Related: In the middle of a global energy crisis, Joe Biden promises to SHUT DOWN COAL PLANTS all across America.)

“The trend is we see more areas at risk, we see more retirements of critical generation, fuel challenges and we are doing everything we can,” said NERC Director of Reliability Assessment John Moura. “These challenges don’t kind of appear out of nowhere.”

Electricity bills to go up in winter

NERC’s warning for the coming winter notes that around a quarter of American households will also see their already high utility bills soar even higher this winter as demand for power shoots up.

…click on the above link to read the rest…

UK Water Restrictions Go Into Effect As Heatwave Persists

August 6, 2022

UK Water Restrictions Go Into Effect As Heatwave Persists

Britain has recorded one of its hottest and driest summers on record. Rivers and reservoirs are drying up as towns in the southern part of the country imposed the first hosepipe ban on Friday.

The country’s record heat in July — above 104 Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) — melted airport runways, buckled train tracks, and shuttered transportation networks, as London’s fire brigade said it had one of the busiest days since World War II. The heat dome resulted in dozens of building structure fires and wildfires.

As of 1700 local time Friday, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight residents will be placed under emergency water restrictions called “temporary use ban.” If residents water their gardens, yards, and/or clean their vehicles, they could face a stiff penalty of up to $1,200 (£1,000). A similar ban will go into effect for residents in Kent and Sussex from Aug. 12.

“Months of sparse rainfall, combined with record-breaking temperatures in July, have left rivers at exceptionally low levels, depleted reservoirs and dried-out soils,” British newspaper The Independent wrote.

London dodged the water restrictions for now as its large reservoirs are at “very comfortable levels,” Barnaby Dobson, a research associate on the Community Water Management for a Liveable London project at Imperial College London, told Bloomberg.

However, water reservoirs in London could slump as the metro area faces levels of drought not seen in a decade.

Dobson said rationing is a measure of last resort and would come after hosepipe bans. He said water utilities are very wary of implementing water rationings because it would trigger consumer backlash.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

As Fuel Prices Poised to TRIPLE, EU Mulls Rationing Gas Across Bloc Monday

July 20, 2022

As Fuel Prices Poised to TRIPLE, EU Mulls Rationing Gas Across Bloc Monday

The European Union (EU) is going down in flames as its fuel taps from Russia run dry.

Issues related to the war in Ukraine have resulted in no more gas flowing through the Nord Stream 1 (NS1) pipeline and soon-to-be tripled gas prices across Europe.

To avoid what will inevitably become a widespread catastrophe for the European economy, EU officials are reportedly discussing fuel rationing as the next step in their standoff against Russian President Vladimir Putin, who quite frankly appears to be winning on every front.

Should the NS1 pipeline never get turned back on due to issues with a key engine turbine component that is still stuck in Canada due to sanctions, Western Europe faces a total loss of energy in the coming months.

Up until now, the public was simply hearing about these problems on the news. Now, however, the consequences of failed political leadership are turning into sky-high gas prices and now the potential for forced rationing.

A recent poll found that more than 60 percent of German citizens fear there will not be enough gas to go around this winter, especially since some people will be stocking up and hoarding what they can before prices triple come 2023.

Germans are starting “to sweat” as they realize there will be no gas available for heat this winter

Draft EU measures propose limiting the heating of public and commercial buildings to 19 degrees Celsius, or around 66 degrees Fahrenheit, which is cold enough to require the use of extra layers of clothing indoors.

Private households are also being encouraged to lower their thermostats by one degree, a proposal that was also made back in February right after Russia invaded Ukraine.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Most Valuable Form of Money Nobody’s Seen–Yet

July 2, 2022

The Most Valuable Form of Money Nobody’s Seen–Yet

What is “money”? “Money” is a claim on the essentials of life. Ration cards are claims on essentials.

Many people expect “money” will soon be tied to commodities. Agreed. It’s called a ration card that grants the holder the right to buy a specific quantity of essential goods at a specified price.

This right is a form of “money” directly tied to the value of commodities.

Ration cards are the only fair way to distribute essentials in times of chronic scarcity. Markets work fine when there’s a substitute for whatever is scarce, but there are no substitutes for electricity, food, fuel or fresh water, the FEW essentials (Food, energy, water).

Leaving the distribution of scarce, no-substitutes essentials up to the market leads to the rich eating very well indeed and the poor going hungry. This leads to a little thing called the overthrow of the failed status quo and the destruction of a good chunk of its ruling class (Payback’s a witch, etc.). No bread? Let them eat iPhones.

We know ration cards work because a mass experiment in rationing essentials was conducted in World War II. Maybe fairness no longer matters (and if it doesn’t, then prepare for the overthrow of the failed status quo and the destruction of a good chunk of its ruling class), but if fairness matters–or the ruling elite wish to keep all their power and all their goodies–then rationing and the ruthless suppression of price gouging are as good as gold.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Rationing Has Already Started In Europe As The Entire Globe Plunges Into A Horrific Economic Nightmare

July 1, 2022

Rationing Has Already Started In Europe As The Entire Globe Plunges Into A Horrific Economic Nightmare

If countries in Europe are already beginning to ration certain things due to “supply problems”, how long will it be before it starts happening in the United States? Up until the past couple of years, many of us in the western world always considered shortages to be something that only “unsophisticated” poor countries on the other side of the planet had to deal with. But the last couple of years have shown us that painful shortages can happen to wealthy countries in the western world too. At first we were told that they were “just temporary”, but the months went by and we just kept having more shortages. In fact, in 2022 “supply problems” have become so serious that many supermarkets in Europe have been forced to strictly ration essential items at various times. For example, it was being reported that due to the war in Ukraine flour, sunflower oil and sugar were all being rationed by stores in Greece…

After limiting the sale of some flours and sunflower oil online, Greek supermarkets are turning to rationing the sale of sugar as well, now including in their stores, over supply problems.

The AB Vassilopoulos is setting a maximum limit on the purchase of all brands of corn and sunflower oil and of flour per customer while Mymarket put a ceiling on sunflower oil purchases and Sklavenitis has added sugar to the rationed sales of corn oil through its online store, with a maximum of four packs, the products in high demand from restaurants, some of which said they have to stop selling french fries and other fried foods.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“Diesel To Be Rationed On East Coast This Summer,” Warns US Oil Billionaire

May 13, 2022

“Diesel To Be Rationed On East Coast This Summer,” Warns US Oil Billionaire

Billionaire refinery and fuel station owner John Catsimatidis warned that the East Coast might experience diesel shortages this summer as inventories hit multi-decade lows and refining capacity slumps.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see diesel being rationed on the East Coast this summer.

“Right now, inventories are low, and we may see a shortage in coming months,” Catsimatidis, CEO of United Refining Co., told Bloomberg.

Catsimatidis’ warning comes as East Coast diesel inventories have fallen to the lowest levels since 1990. National stocks are around a two-decade low.

Tight fuel supplies are due to many factors. Two major ones are declining refinery capacity on the East Coast and increased fuel shipments to Europe.

Diesel prices have risen for the past 17 days and hit a new record of $5.557 a gallon on Thursday, according to American Automobile Association. Gas prices are also at a new record of $4.418.

The billionaire’s warning follows a report from logistics firm FreightWaves of “3 very large trucking fleets” preparing for diesel pumps at fuel stations to run dry across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions this summer.

Founder and CEO of FreightWaves Craig Fuller tweeted a few pictures of notifications from fleet operators, warning their drivers about “imminent” diesel shortages.

The East Coast diesel shortage situation appears dire as now an oil/gas billionaire has confirmed what trucking fleets are warning about.

Asian country rations fuel

April 16, 2022

Asian country rations fuel

Sri Lanka’s government has been under fire over shortages in food, fuel, and other essential goods

Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) on Friday started rationing the amount of fuel available at pumps. The bankrupt country defaulted on its foreign debt payments this week, and food and energy shortages have triggered mass protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government.

Motorists in cars, vans, and SUVs will be limited to 19.5 liters of fuel per purchase, while motorcyclists will be restricted to four, French state-media AFP reported. Motorists will also be banned from filling fuel cans.

The CPC controls around two thirds of Sri Lanka’s fuel market, with Lanka IOC – a local subsidiary of the Indian Oil Corporation – controlling the rest. Government officials told AFP that Lanka IOC would likely follow suit and introduce rationing at its own stations in the near future.

Filling stations across the country are running out of fuel, while cooking gas is also in short supply, with Litro Gas – Sri Lanka’s main distributor – saying it won’t have any available until Monday. Food has reportedly increased fourfold in price, and long queues for staples like rice, milk powder, and medicine have been reported.

The entire cabinet of Sri Lanka resigned earlier this month, leaving President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his older brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, to form a new government. Protesters, however, have continued to gather in the capital of Colombo, blaming the president for their economic misfortune.

Sri Lanka’s financial and humanitarian crisis was in part accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, as the island nation has lost revenue generated by tourism…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Desperation And Austerity Hit Global Energy Markets

April 2, 2022

Desperation And Austerity Hit Global Energy Markets

We are starting to see the makings of energy curtailments in Europe – an exceedingly unpopular step that governments would be unlikely to take if there were any other choice, highlighting the acute desperation that exists over oil and gas supplies.

Another signal of this desperation is Biden’s plan to release a massive 180 million barrels of crude oil into the market from the SPR at a rate of more than a million barrels per day. This is a huge figure that will shrink the SPR to lows not seen since the ‘80s (~388 million barrels) when U.S. oil consumption was substantially lower than it is today. This decades-low emergency inventory would come at a time when U.S. production has stagnated with oil companies resisting calls to invest/pump more, and at a time when demand continues to rise.

The UK said on Friday that it would also release more oil from its reserves.

The drastic actions will be interpreted in the medium term as a cause for concern. OPEC+, on the other hand, appears content to stay the course, agreeing on Thursday to stick the agreed-upon production hikes for May. At the same time, Canada continues to raise the price of carbon, thereby raising the price of gas.

Germany’s economy minister has triggered its early warning system for low levels of gas, and has appealed to companies and private consumers to conserve energy. France’s gas distributor is also expected to issue a decree in the next couple of days detailing a plan for possible gas rationing. The Netherlands’ economic ministry said it, too, would soon ask its citizens to use less gas.

Europe and the United States have expended much time and effort trying to scrape together additional fuel supplies and trying to subsidize energy and gasoline for their people…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Rationing Looms As Diesel Crisis Goes Global

March 28, 2022

Rationing Looms As Diesel Crisis Goes Global

Russian refiners cut processing rates of diesel fuel.
Already tight diesel supply is getting even tighter.
Vitol’s chief executive Hardy: diesel supply shortage could trigger rationing in Europe

Earlier this week, Vitol’s chief Russell Hardy warned that a diesel shortage could trigger fuel rationing in Europe. Now, those warnings are multiplying, with fuel rationing no longer looking like an abstract idea. Europe is risking a blow to its economic growth, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing experts. Diesel is what freight transport uses to deliver goods to consumers, but it is also what industrial transport uses for fuel. With Russian refiners cutting their processing rates in the wake of several waves of Western sanctions, already tight diesel supply is going to get a lot tighter.

“Governments have a very clear understanding that there is a clear link between diesel and GDP, because almost everything that goes into and out of a factory goes using diesel,” the director general of Fuels Europe, part of the European Petroleum Refiners Association, told Reuters this week.

As Vitol’s Russell Hardy noted earlier this week, “Europe imports about half of its diesel from Russia and about half of its diesel from the Middle East. That systemic shortfall of diesel is there.”

Europe is not the only one feeling the diesel pinch, however. Middle distillate stocks are on a decline in the United States, too, Reuters’ John Kemp wrote in his latest column.

Distillate inventories, according to EIA data, have booked weekly declines for 52 of the last 79 weeks, Kemp reported, falling to 112 million barrels last week. The total decline for the last 79 weeks amounts to 67 million barrels. Last week’s inventory level was the lowest since 2014 and 20 percent lower than the five-year average from before the pandemic.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

How Much of the Worsening Energy Crisis Is Due to Depletion?

November 3, 2021

How Much of the Worsening Energy Crisis Is Due to Depletion?

If society attempts to maintain current levels of energy services throughout the transition, the result will be a spike in both energy usage and carbon emissions.

Coal and natural gas spot prices have recently soared to record levels internationally, while oil is trading at over $80 a barrel—the highest price in seven years. Newspaper columnists are asking whether people in Europe and Asia who can’t afford high fuel and electricity prices might freeze this winter. High natural gas prices are causing fertilizer prices to spike, which will inevitably raise costs to farmers, with eventual catastrophic impact on people who already have trouble paying for food.

The real energy transition will almost certainly be a shift from using a lot to using a lot less.

Political commentators are naturally searching for culprits (or scapegoats). For those on the business-friendly political right, the usual target is green energy policies that discourage fossil fuel investment. For those on the left, the culprit is insufficient investment in renewable energy.

But there’s another explanation for the high prices: depletion. I’m not suggesting we’re about to completely run out of coal, oil, or gas; there’s no immediate danger of that. However, the energy industry has historically targeted the highest-quality and easiest-accessed of these resources, which means that what’s left, in most cases, are fuels that will be costlier to extract and process—and also more polluting. The proximate causes of current price spikes may be transient market conditions (the see-sawing pandemic, Britain’s decision to leave the European Internal Energy Market, Russia’s reluctance to provide more gas to European buyers until a new pipeline is given final approval, and China’s choice to reduce coal imports from Australia). But behind the energy headlines is persistent, accelerating depletion.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

BP Prepares To Ration Gas At UK Service Stations Amid Supply Woes

September 23, 2021

BP Prepares To Ration Gas At UK Service Stations Amid Supply Woes

Compounding the ongoing UK energy crisis is BP plc, a multinational oil and gas company, which said it plans to restrict deliveries of gasoline and diesel across its network of service stations in the country amid a truck driver shortage, according to ITV.

ITV, citing a BP spokesperson, said a shortage of truck drivers is inhibiting the oil company’s ability to transport fuel from refineries to its network of service stations.

According to ITV, the disruption is expected to cause BP to announce fuel “restrictions” at service stations “very soon.”

The spokesperson said a “handful” of service stations have already closed due to the lack of unleaded gasoline and diesel.

Last Thursday, BP’s Head of UK Retail, Hanna Hofer, spoke with the Cabinet Office about the diminishing supplies and said BP had two-thirds of fuel stock levels required for normal operations. She expects fuel stocks to stabilize and began rebuilding in October, but there could be a few weeks of disruptions at the pump.

The spokesperson added:

“These have been caused by delays in the supply chain, which has been impacted by industry-wide driver shortages across the UK and we are working hard to address this issue.”

A lack of truck drivers is due to several factors, including Brexit and the virus pandemic. Since Brexit, there are estimates that several thousand truck drivers from the EU are thought to have been lost.

This is more bad news for Brits, who are already experiencing hyperinflating natural gas and electricity prices, along with other disruptions caused by the energy crisis.

Rationing. Book review of “Any way you slice it” by Stan Cox

May 5, 2021

Rationing. Book review of “Any way you slice it” by Stan Cox

Preface. I can’t imagine that there’s a better book on rationing out there, but of course I can’t be sure, I don’t feel the need to find others on this topic after reading this book. As usual, I had to leave quite a bit out of this review, skipping medical care rationing entirely among many other topics. Nor did I capture the myriad ways rationing can go wrong, so if you ever find yourself in a position of trying to implement a rationing system, or advocating for a rationing system, you’ll wish you’d bought this book. I can guarantee you the time is coming when rationing will be needed, in fact, it’s already here with covid-19. I’ve seen food lines over a mile long.

As energy declines, food prices will go up and at some point gasoline, food, electricity, and heating as well, all of them ought to be rationed.

Though this might not happen in the U.S. where the most extreme and brutal capitalism exists. Here the U.S. is the richest nation that ever existed but the distribution of wealth is among the most unfair on the planet. When the need to ration strikes, economists will argue against it I’m sure, saying there’ll be too much cheating and it will be too hard to implement. Capitalism hates price controls. That’s why “publicly raising the question of curbing growth or uttering the dread word “rationing” in the midst of a profit-driven economy has been compared to shouting an obscenity in church”.

Republicans constantly want to cut back the affordable care act and the food stamp program SNAP. Companies keep their workforces as small as possible and shift jobs and factories overseas to nations with lower wages and fewer regulations…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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