October 3rd, 2024 • 3h 41m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
Hurricane Helene
Port Strike
Dock Workers Strike EXPORTS BOTG
I have a bit more time now to give a little bit better of an explanation on how food exports will be effected by this shutdown. One thing to keep in mind is though something seems a few years out, it doesn't mean that this is not a going to matter then.
For example, right now in the USA we are in peak harvest season. Let's look at just a few of the key commodities that have MAJOR downstream implications.
Soybeans $34 Billion per year
Corn $18 Billion per year
Wheat $9 Billion per year
Cotton 6 Billion per year
Oil $266 Billion
Now as we look at these raw materials we need to think about how that will muck things up down chain. Right now, barns and silos of manufacturers and other producers are low as reserves have been depleted since last harvest. With all of the ports shut down, this means the crops in the fields are going to be staying put. Also, a lot of these crops have already been paid for. To give an example, the warehouse I work in is almost back to a sense of "normal" from the big 2020 fiasco. It has taken 4 years for us to recover from the supply chain disruptions. This port shutdown will cause a panic buy outside of the USA by other countries to get their hands on whatever they can while the largest source of these goods is not moving.
Let's look at some of the industries that these four crops will have implications on.
Global meat production. Corn and soy make up a large portion of animal feed. With reduced supply in an industry that can't take too many hits without having massive losses, this could be big for other nations that depend on these sources for feed. Not having their barns fill up means they will have to either cut back which means the pigs, beef, and chickens are not going to be putting on enough weight at finishing time and will slash profits of those producers.
Let's look down from the animal protein industry for a minute. This could also cause supply issues with leather industry in those countries. If you have a disruption of animal slaughter, you have a disruption in leather goods, etc.
Look at cotton. Texas produces almost 1/3 of the global supply of cotton. That mostly gets exported to 3rd world countries that then make goods from it and ship it back. If the cotton cannot leave port, the raw materials for manufacturing aren't going to be there to manufacture with.
Now let's look at oil, the USA produces 20% of global oil. Port Houston is now shut down creating an even further squeeze on oil and gas supplies that have already been hurt.
One thing to keep in mind, is each of these materials is the raw material that then in turn makes the rest of the industry move. All it takes is one critical piece to fail before an already fragile supply chain can have problems. One way I put it to people is this. You can have a $500,000 Lamborghini that can go over 200mph, but if you don't have lug nuts for one wheel, it ain't going nowhere. It is the insignificant things which can be the most vital.
This is just a slight bump to cause a couple of dominoes to tumble that could easily set off a chain of events (I believe all are planned) to create a need for the solution that is already there.
Longshoreman strike BOTG
Hey Adam,
I am listening to your show from Sunday and just finished listening to the part about the dock workers strike. There is some very specific information that was not mentioned in clips where the head of the union talked about what is not going to be coming in those ports. What was missing from the conversation is what goes out of those ports. I work in logistics and have a different opinion than some voices I am hearing talk about this.
Nothing in the articles and clips you played mentioned those things that won't be coming in to our country through those ports, was a truly vital part of the economy. There are some sectors that will hurt, but not the places where it REALLY matters. What will not be going OUT of those ports are things that are SUPER vital for global economy.
1. Ports of Houston TX and Mobile AL are where an overwhelming supply of the global oil trade flows through. Also, with a lot of Saudi oil being refined in those ports, that means a good chunk of Saudi oil will not be able to go into the market as well. This will put global shortages of petroleum products all over the world except the USA. With the Russian pipelines shut down, a lot of the gas for Europe flows through the ports mentioned. This also puts a squeeze on China and India.
2. Port of New Orleans is where an overwhelming amount of global food supply goes through. There are two primary ports that handle the grain movements in North America. New Orleans, and Duluth MN. I did not see Duluth mentioned as having the strike effect then. If so, that would be a very interesting development. With Ukraine in the past cranking out massive amounts of food exports, since the start of that war, it has led to more demand for corn, soy, wheat, etc. from the USA. China also cannot feed their population without the great plains and Midwest. It is fall and the harvests are pouring in. Most of those harvests have already been purchased by China. If they cannot get their food from those ports, there is not another viable option for exporting cargo ships carrying grain to Asia.
Exports not going is the biggest deal that nobody is talking about. This strike in my opinion is more about the US having an excuse to muck up the outgoing supply chain hurting other global powers. The BRICS nations will be hammered the hardest by this as it doesn't matter what currency they want to trade oil in, if the refining supply chain for said oil just doesn't happen to work, and the US is setting on all of the food that feeds them and the oil which makes their economies run.
As far as the US is concerned, if this strike happens, we will be sitting on a major glut of resources lowering the price of oil and food. It will hurt others far more than it will hurt us.
This is just my opinion and thought it might be helpful to add to the conversation.
Longshoremen strike Truck Driver BOTG
I'm a truck driver that gets containers out of ports in PA, NJ, and DE.
I was talking with one of the about to be on strike workers this morning. The union is asking for a 77% raise over 6 years and a guarantee of no automation. They other thing they mentioned that i hadn't heard the union was asking for was same pay between ports. Apparently the NY port workers get paid a lot more than the DE workers doing the same job. I'm guessing that has a lot to do with the local cost of living but I'm not going to bring that up to someone who can make or break me being on schedule. :)
As to the automation I can understand them not wanting it, but when I get into a port to pick up a container and get told they don't know where it is and to drive around and find it myself, they need to do *something* to get a better system going.
I haul perishables so I don't know if they'll let the ports I go to stay closed for long, they might get ordered back to work while the other ports stay shut down.
I'll let you know if I hear anything more that doesn't make the mainstream news.
Producer notes... longshoremen shipping podcast report feedback. BOTG
Catching up on today's episode... let me say this (**anonymously**)- I work for the largest railroad in the United States (and have for over a decade). We compete against trucks and barge.
If the commodity being shipped can move via barge... it almost always does because it's cheaper. It is easier to float products down a river than use a locomotive/truck to power them across the country.
If a commodity prefers to ship by barge... their next preferred option would almost always be rail. The reason for this is the shippers typically are doing so in bulk, they are not moving 1 truck load of boxes of retail goods... they are moving 40 train cars of tallow, lumber, automotive parts, steel, etc.
The longshoremen are way over playing their hand on how much of an impact this will have and here is why: The past 3 years, river levels have been lower and unpredictable. Railroads successfully made the case during that time that shippers need to have optionality and should fold rail into their transportation plan. The barge to rail conversion occurring over the last 3 years is huge.
Long story short... when this strike happens, the shippers will just flip to rail (and in fewer cases, trucks) and it will be business as usual. The impact will show up in prices in a few months as rail and truck are always more expensive than barge, but outside of that, this is a Nothing Burger with Cheese & bacon.
The unions are really starting to overplay their hands and in this type of economy... the average joes tolerance / level of sympathy for the longshoremen and their ridiculously generous contracts is very limited. Most people can't get jobs like that... and unions have voted democrat for so long and so loudly... that regular americans don't give a single F about them. I look at unions and feel they're partly to blame for all of this crap.
We all had a chance to vote for Ron Paul in 2008. That was the final offramp. Buckle up comrade!
-Anonymous railroader in Nebraska.
Shortages at Wal-Mart allegedly coming BOTG
So the rumor is spreading at Wal-Mart HQ in Bentonville today that there's about 24 hours before shortages start hitting Wal-Mart due to the hurricane and shipping strike.
The only thing about this rumor is it is being spread by Wal-Mart corporate employees (shareholders). 🤣
Has a very similar vibe to the early pandemic days as before everything went nuts a bunch of the execs had covid (but they kept it secret).
Considering we are in the early stages of the Christmas shopping season and we're in an election season, the strike seems a bit suspicious.
Big Tech AI and the Socials
EPIC Medical AI BOTG
Just a quick note on the price structure proposed for a new AI module used for Epic reporting.
Epic is one of the largest Electronic Medical Records vendors in the industry. Their software is pretty good however, the company itself is worth exploring. They are extremely woke and really inject that into the culture of every hospital they work with. By the time they left the implementation process almost everyone at the hospital had added their pronouns to their email signature and Zoom profile. It goes deeper than that but rest assured any hospital running their software has gone through a leadership indoctrination on how to apply sex, gender and 'identifies as' to the medical field. Committees of executives had to be formed to determine how how these will be used across the health system. I could go on about their employees who are usually very smart and right out of college with no previous experience. Working for Epic is like a continuation of the woke college campus mentality and legitimizes it for them in a "professional" environment. When they come to a hospital to install/configure/train/support the software their woke culture permeates the entire organization. I'm sure there are MANY clinical producers who have their own Epic stories you could do a segment on!
Below is a screen shot taken from a presentation today. This is the cost structure to using their AI package for reporting. They mentioned it has a Microsoft backend so pricing is based on what they get from Microsoft. There is also a large push to decentralize reporting in hospitals. That means thousands of people (users, managers, doctors, executives) could have access to this. My organization has 30k employees so let's assume maybe 10% will need access to reporting and this AI language model for reporting purposes.
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I don't know how it can be cost effective at this point. I'll be watching to see how we deploy it and how many iterations it takes to create a useful report. 5, 10, 25? Execs are so giddy to have anything that says AI right now. Meanwhile, our doctors are buried and have started using unsanctioned AI apps to write their patient Notes in record time which could get them fired because PHI and HIPPA. They are the ones that need the help of an AI and where we could justify the cost but what do I know, I'm just some dude named Ben!
AI Hyperscalers are selling picks and shovels, but will they be utilized?
Find My Device network is coming soon from Google
You can use Find My Device today to locate devices when they’re
connected to the internet. The new Find My Device network can help
locate devices, even if they’re offline. It can also help find
compatible Fast Pair accessories, earbuds and headphones, and trackers
that are attached to items like wallets, keys, or bikes. How it works To help owners
find their offline items, your Android devices and others in the
network will use Bluetooth to scan for nearby items. They’ll securely
send the locations where nearby items were detected to Find My Device.
Your Android devices will also securely send their most recent online
locations to Find My Device to help locate them when they’re offline.
If you set a screen lock for your Android device, such as a PIN,
pattern, or password, Find My Device can also use the network of over a
billion devices in the Android community to help locate your items when
they’re offline.
VP Debate
Debate wardrobe
Nothing super important but coming from a tv producer mindset, it’s very strange (not weird) that Vance and Walz’s ties matched the moderators dresses. Moderator on the left was wearing a pink dress. Vance, who was standing on the same side was wearing a pink tie. Moderator on the right was wearing a navy dress and walz a navy tie.
Finland Debate BOTG
From Wonderhelm
ITM,
Zo te zien ben ik op het juiste moment weer aan boord geklommen van het stoomschip "No Agenda". Hier wat input van onder het dekzeil van een van de reddingsboten:
Finland came up in the US vice presidential debate as the conversation turned to gun violence in schools (link with a short video clip). Walz is sowieso nog al een Finland fan, zo blijkt.
[https://yle.fi/a/74-20115263](https://yle.fi/a/74-20115263)
"Despite the rhetoric praising the Nordic country, Finland suffered its first school shooting in over a decade earlier this year."
Ik weet niet hoe de stats per hoofd van de bevolking eruitzien, maar Finland heeft 5,6 miljoen inwoners en de VS 333,3 miljoen (ik lieg niet, dit kwam zo uit Google rollen, magic number alert). Er zijn hier ook wel school shootings geweest, maar het gebeurt dus maar heel zelden.
Wel is hier het wapenbezit naar Europese maatstaven erg hoog (er wordt veel gejaagd), maar ook is het aantal moorden per hoofd van de bevolking hoger dan gemiddeld in Europa (meestal familieleden of dronken vrienden die elkaar vermoorden, niet zozeer random gun violence).
Bonusartikel: CBS lauds Finnish school classes on fake news, disinformation: [https://yle.fi/a/74-20115407](https://yle.fi/a/74-20115407)
Climate Change
Nuclear and Thorium
JCD NC Lithium story Bullcrap
this is basically bullshit. TIMES 3
1) Nevada has the most lithium in the USA and the USA as a whole does not
come close to deposits in South America by a long shot.
[https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/analysis/six-largest-lithium-reserves-world/?cf-view](https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/analysis/six-largest-lithium-reserves-world/?cf-view)
2) There are suppliers of high grade quartz all over the place. This North
Carolina story was popularized by Wired Magazine.
3) As for flooding the areas shown are flat and look floodable to me.
These are not towns clinging to the side of a hill. This is also bullshit.
Israel vs Iran
Cyber Pandemic
Shut Up Slave!
EXCLUSIVE – America First Legal Obtains New Internal CDC Documents Revealing Foreign Collusion in Biden-Harris Government Censorship Regime - America First Legal
During the censorship meeting, the Biden-Harris NSC invited the British government to share its censorship playbook. They recommended creating a dedicated hub to lead government-wide censorship efforts, passing legislation to enable the government to coerce social media companies, and enlisting the Department of State to partner with foreign allies and multilateral institutions to coordinate the global censorship agenda.
Ukraine vs Russia
Follow-up Boots on the ground Russia
Hello John and Adam, sorry about getting back to you late, but going from beginning high school algebra, into full fleg Calculus and Mechnical Physics is difficult for an American; even one that graduated in 1998 from a private school. Sorry about my English of the last email, I'm starting to speak English in Russian form.
Anyway, writing to tell you that yes the Russian people know about Cackling Kamala and the hyena comparision, but what may surprised you is the teenagers here are following the US elections. I help large number of teens with there English and the 15-18 year olds always ask who I am voting for and they cheer when they hear I would like to vote for Trump. They make jokes about both Biden and Harris being dumb and inifficent leaders. And while I know you guys have already had e-mails about the world knowing about Kamala's laugh you might be surprised to know that my Fiancee and her friends even know about the "ginger-haired devil" Jen Psaki, (my fiancee's name for Psaki). They dislike here for her mischaracterization of Russia.
In closing I would like to say it been a little difficult having Russia kicked of SWIFT, otherwise I might be able to send you a few sheckles from Russia. AS an aside the producers should take a look at the map of Russia and see that NATO is taking to cut off all warm water ports in Western Russia. Norway and Finland, the Baltic States, and now with Ukraine and Georgia NATO would have been able to completely cut off Russia from the Black Sea, just as they tried in 1952 when NATO made Turkey apart of the alliance and the first expansion since NATO formed in 1949. AT the time only Turkey bordered the USSR and hence NATO showed their hand in my opinion.
Thank you to the both of you for you tireless work and dedication, and remember there isn't any evidence that No Agenda isn't the best podcast in the universe! GO PODCASTING!!!!
