Shelves at Costco, Target, Walmart, etc. lately?

[Iju]

... Anyone been to cost-u-less lately?...

I was there yesterday morning before 9:00 am. for bags of fresh garlics. Waiting at the checkout line took about half an hour.

They had plenty of TP.

[Mindful]

That Hawaii News story was from 2018.

Anyway, maybe my logic is crazy but this is the way I see it playing out. Someone please convince me I'm wrong. For the next 4-5 weeks, we are going to wish our lives were like the week prior. Unless we get a total lock down, we will look more and more like Italy. China, Singapore, South Korea all made it through for different reasons but took 1-2 months of sacrifice. Italy did nothing (much like the US) and is paying the price. We are about 3 weeks behind Italy.
Talked to my friend in San Francisco lock down and he said, "we are a smidge away from a total disruption in the food supply line and it's dicey right now." They are scared. My brother works in sales for a major meat supplier on the mainland and said work is like a video game right now. All the sales people do is "refresh" their computer for inventory updates and the instant it's updated it's sold out (like buzzing in for Jeopardy) and a certain Kroger in whatever region gets the order, then sold out. At some point there are no more hogs and cows to sell out. Most people won't eat beans, which is differnt issue.

Every day we postpone a lock down the longer the craziness will linger. People are still acting like it's not a big deal because it's fairly civil out there. Not for long. I logically see the following few weeks playing out like this:
Late next week or so, lockdown (seems we'll lock down when it's too late). Week or 2 after that, hospital overruns. When the overruns happen and on the news, anything left in stores will be gone. Week or 2 after that there will be violence on the streets. Not much government can do when a large part of the country is experiencing the same effects. It won't just be Seattle, New York, etc. It will be in too many places for the national guard or the army to maintain control.

For those that have not thought seriously about what the near future holds, this is LAST CALL to get what you might think you will need. I think within a few weeks time, we will all dream of the lives we have today.

Just my opinion, I so wish I'm wrong, but I don't logically see any other way.

PS - after the medical issues will come the economic. The world is selling all assets right now (including paper gold) to buy dollars. Thus, we will see serious deflation as world currencies decline and the dollar rises. Serious deflation is generally followed by hyperinflation. Consistent with a $1T + stimulus plan of paper money flooding the world. That's when precious metals skyrocket. Problem is, you can no longer buy gold and silver...sold out. Unless you want to give the metal dealers money for future orders that may never happen. The mints are all out.

Plan for your family's safety/health and think how you'll handle a month long lock down while the world does what it will do. Help our neighbors and be compassionate.

[EightFingers]

Things get too “crazy”, you’ll see martial law enacted.

Puna: Our roosters crow first

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Week or 2 after that there will be violence on the streets.

Did this happen anywhere else? China? Italy? If not, what is the basis of your prediction?


Gold & silver... sold out

Usually when the stock market is down, precious metals rise in value. Have you looked at the charts? Except for yesterday the price of gold has fallen over the past two weeks because people are selling, trying to get cash. If they’re selling at a loss, gold is available to buy. Go to Kitco. Go to eBay, type in “gold bullion” there’s 22,000+ listings. That doesn’t include gold coins.


That Hawaii News story was from 2018.

Yes, but it occurred in real life, not in fantasyland. It's a good lesson in what works and what doesn't work. Do weapons protect home owners? Occasionally. But what also works, and without all the hubbub, are alarm systems, linked video monitors, good solid doors and windows. But you rarely hear people talk about those precautions which are far more successful. Because the crooks just moved on to the next house.

Example. What if the home owners in the Puna news story had 8 guns instead of 10, and spent the extra money on an alarm system which would wake them up, and give them enough time to get to the gun safe before the burglars? The alarm may also scare off the thieves before anything else happened. Install a gate on your driveway, that likely will deter 95% of Puna thieves, who in their mug shots don't look like they work out at the gym in their down time.

In football, a good game plan can get your team slowly, methodical down the field for a touchdown. But when the quarterback throws a 60 yard Hail Mary pass with 5 seconds left on the clock? In total desperation? That's what fans talk about.

[ironyak]

Someone please convince me I'm wrong.

Even if you do turn out to be wrong, you don't want to realize too late you were right. Think about what steps you can take now that hopefully will end up not being needed. While alarms might help dissuade an opportunist thief, it would be a poor choice to count on the police showing up in time to make a difference with a determined bad guy. We all do actually live in Puna right - how could this not be understood?

Week or 2 after that there will be violence on the streets.
Did this happen anywhere else? China?

There's been a wide variety of incidents - vigilantism in China as they blocked tunnels & roads to prevent people from travelling, unrest in Ukraine, burning down a hospital that was suspected of holding coronavirus patients in Iran, prison riots / escapes / deaths in Columbia, Italy, & Sri Lanka, etc. It's happening - just got to pay attention.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/v...31005.html

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/124...iot-police

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wir...d-69737362

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Irania...nts-619343

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

There's been a wide variety of incidents - vigilantism

Oh I know there have been outbreaks of violence, and it’s frightening if they’re in your neighborhood. There will certainly be break-ins, and run-ins with thieves and fools in Puna. I spoke with someone on my walk this morning who received the traditional “f-ing haole this & that” because she asked someone not to throw garbage out of her car window on the cliffside rocks. During the tirade the woman in the car explained she had Coronavirus and had to get all the used kleenex out off her car for health reasons, her health. That’s what we’ll be dealing with more & more in the coming weeks.

Alarm systems rarely get a police response while the crooks are still at it, but the noise does alert the occupants and will scare off a fairly high percentage of thieves, as will dogs. We’re each entitled the the protection we deem necessary and most appropriate for our situation, but in many cases the silver bullet that thwarts a break-in may not necessarily be a bullet. Choose wisely padawan.

[terracore]

Investors are selling off their precious metal contracts to pay margin calls on their leveraged equities. The same thing happened in 2008. Meanwhile, the same investors are buying physical precious metals as an inflation hedge. So there is a unique and temporary situation of falling prices and no inventory. It's because the paper contracts FAR exceeds the actual supply of the physical metal because it's rehypothecated over and over again. If history is any guide, we'll have true price discovery soon and the price of gold will rise to levels perhaps we have never seen before, and silver will follow.

Both the US and Canadian mints are sold out of silver so there is no place for the dealers to get any except from the open market.

Gold is unique in that almost all the gold ever mined, dating back to antiquity still exists. Almost 98% of the mined gold still exists and is accounted for. Silver on the other hand is an industrial commodity that is consumed as quickly as it is mined and nearly 100% of the mined silver is gone. The only way to add silver to the market is to mine it. Gold gets mined too but mostly it just gets moved around.

[Obie]

Gold is used in electrical contacts. The airbag system in your car has gold in it too.

[terracore]

"There's been a wide variety of incidents - vigilantism"

I hesitate to post this for not wanting thread to degrade into a second amendment debate, but it's Hawaii related because of the mandatory waiting period and background check required to purchase a self defense or hunting tool in this state. This is from an interview with Charlton Heston in 1997:

Public opinion on firearms, Heston says, seems to be shifting in the face of recent violent inci­dents. He recalled the Los Angeles riots in 1992, which helped many Hollywood folks change their views on gun ownership. As smoke from burning buildings smudged the skyline and the TV news showed vivid images of laughing loot­ers smashing windows and carting off boom boxes and booze, Heston got a few phone calls from firmly anti-gun friends. One conversation went this way:

“Umm, Chuck, you have quite a few … ah, guns, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Shotguns and … like that?”

“Indeed.”

“Could you lend me one for a day or so? I tried to buy one, but they have this waiting period … ”

“Yeah, I know; I remember you voted for that. Do you know how to use a shotgun?”

“No, I thought maybe you could teach me. This is getting a little scary.”

“I noticed. I could teach you, but not in an hour. You might shoot yourself instead of the bad guys. The Marines are coming up from Pendleton; that’ll end it. When it does, go buy yourself a good shotgun and take some lessons. It doesn’t get so scary then.”

Heston said his friend writer-director John Milius had more calls. His answer was more forthright: “Sorry. They’re all being used.”

Heston identified several famous Holly­wood people who own guns, including Steven Spielberg who owns one of the finest gun col­lections in California, but never refers to it, and never shoots publicly. Spielberg, who pro­duced the all-time blockbuster film The Lost Word – Jurassic Park, has been photographed shooting a shotgun at a Trap and Sporting Clays range in California, but asked the photogra­pher not to release his picture to the media. “Can you imagine the most famous filmmaker in town worried about his reputation?” Heston says, chuckling.

[terracore]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Obie

Gold is used in electrical contacts. The airbag system in your car has gold in it too.

---

There is a small amount of gold in an iPhone too. It is recovered during the recycling process. Silver is actually a better electrical conductor than gold. But silver oxidizes, so in circuits where the conductor has to have contact with the air, gold or copper is used.

ETA: If your car ever needs the catalytic converter replaced, make sure you tell the mechanic you want to keep it. I sold mine on eBay to a buyer who knew how to extract the platinum and other precious metals out of it.