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If you are a prepper or survivalist, keeping binoculars with you is a must. Read the article to understand more about binoculars and use them more frequently. When preparing for any survival situation, binoculars might not be often found on your equipment list. However, you need to seriously consider keeping one around as they are […]
If you are a prepper or survivalist, keeping binoculars with you is a must. Read the article to understand more about binoculars and use them more frequently. When preparing for any survival situation, binoculars might not be often found on your equipment list. However, you need to seriously consider keeping one around as they are […]
Today I’m going to talk about the modern day food supply chain and why it’s way more fragile than you think….
Watch the video below OR skip past to read the transcript:
You see, I grew up on a farm in Iowa. So, I was a part of the modern day supply chain for 18 years of my life. Then after college, I worked 10 years as an Engineer at a major food manufacturer.
So for 28 years I’ve seen how distribution food worked, first from farm to factory and then from factory to grocer.
And if this distribution system were to become compromised for an extended period, well, our society will suffer. You’ll suffer. We’ll all suffer.
Why? Because we ALL need to consume lots of food on a regular basis to survive. And very few of us grow enough food on our own to survive long.
Sure, you might have a backyard garden, but that’s not going to last long if the food supply chain stops. And even if you have a large food stockpile, most folks will burn through that in a few weeks or months.
So, let’s get into what makes food supply chains so susceptible to disruption.
First lets me ask a question:
What happens when you combine “limited inventories” with “bottlenecks issues” in a supply chain? Well, if those issues (inventories and bottlenecks) get a bit out of whack (but not disastrous), you end up with inflation and some shortages.
No matter the product, if demand outstrips the ability to supply, well, “goods” must go up in price. IF you can even get the goods at all…
For example, right now, the demand for the latest video game console – the PS5 – is in very high. And due to very limited supply of silicone – a necessary ingredient to build chips and processors for this tech, you end up either:
But what IF we we’re not talking about a video game console and instead we’re talking about something you can’t delay purchase of (at least for long). I’m talking about FOOD.
Humans can’t put off buying food for very long.
For example, without any stockpiles, you can make it month, perhaps 60 days, before your die.
But things will get desperate WAY before that. I’m talking days – or even as little as 72 hours before widespread panic ensues.
So a steady demand of foods is necessary for modern society. We ALL must go to the grocery store at some regular frequency. It’s not an option. You can’t just not eat for 6 months.
You eat or you die – its simple math.
Now. one way to combat this reality (this built-in constant demand for food) is for grocery stores to stockpile more of it. It’s called slack. Larger grocery store inventories help absorb disruptions.
So why don’t grocery stores do this? Well, there are two problems with this approach; expiration dates and margins.
First, food is not a like phones or computers. Food spoils. That’s one reason why grocery stores can only hold so much “extra” food.
And the best, high quality, fresh foods spoil the fastest.
Honestly, if a food doesn’t spoil, it’s usually void of the best nutrients and stuffed full of preservatives.
The one big exception to that rule is Freeze Dried Foods. These meals can be fairly nutritious and are shelf stable for decades. But grocery stores don’t tend to sell those. Specialty survival food vendors focus on those, because it’s expensive to freeze dry foods, and fresh food tastes better.
So, they tend to leave freeze dried meals for folks who are into preparedness. Not for the masses.
Sure, grocery stores sell rice and pasta. These are dried grains you can buy and stockpile. But those are just simple carbs – easy calories.
They’re void of essential vitamins and proteins your body needs over the long haul. While freeze dried meals, tend to have those veggies and nutrients in their meals.
But the bottom line is because most food expires; grocery stores cannot keep large inventories “just in case”. If they did, they’d risk much of it becoming waste during normal operations.
Spoilage is bad for business.
So grocery stores are forced to keep their extra inventories as low as they can. That’s why grocery stores require CONSTANT food delivery’s.
Every day, trucks full of food come to the back of grocery stores to unload.
The other problem with a grocery store trying to increasing their onsite inventories is it goes against capitalisms “just-in-time” high efficiency, maximum profits, business approach.
You see, carrying extra inventories, is expensive – especially for large grocery store chains. Even a little bit of extra cheese, milk, meat, or bread quickly becomes extra “working capital” that must be used to create these “extra” inventories.
Working capital is money that is necessary to run everyday business operations. And at large scales this can cost multiple millions of dollars. Dollars that cannot be used for other things like expansion projects, marketing, or paying out dividends.
So any grocery store that carries any “extra” inventory – may have to raise its prices on the food to make up for the inefficiencies. BUT higher prices tends to be a big loser in the mind of the consumer.
Price consciences shoppers will not pay much more at Store X if they can get it for a lot cheaper at Store Y.
And if consumers go to another store, that means the “extra” inventories Store X has in place, will move (or rotate) slower. And as we discussed in the first point, quality food has a relatively short expiration date.
So having food sit in storage for a few extra days, means more items that never get sold and become more waste (literal waste and financial waste).
So, the grocery store supply chain CAN’T stockpile extra food for surprise runs on their inventories. IF demand spikes overnight, they cannot move fast enough to make up the difference.
For these two reasons, grocery stores are FRAGILE.
Yet, society acts as if they will always be fully stocked because, day in and day out over our lifetimes, that’s what HAS been our collective experience.
But what IF supply dried up for longer than a few days? What if, grocery store shelves were limited for weeks?
Well, then grocery stores will get squeezed from both ends at the same time supply and demand. Why? Because empty shelves create panic. So demand will spike BECAUSE of supply constraints.
There are two main potential bottlenecks that could crush the supply chain.
Production and delivery.
If farms where not able to produce the same yields due to draughts or topsoil erosion, then less food would be available – and prices would rise. This would likely be a slow crisis.
Not many disasters could stop ALL food production at once – unless an asteroid hit or we saw a nuclear winter. Possible? yes. Likely? Who knows…?
But the other bottleneck is delivery of these goods. I’m talking about trucks and truckers.
How could the delivery system fail?
And while each of those is possible, they seem to me to be on the long tail, rare event side of things.
But there’s one more event that is much more likely, yet could be just as dangerous? Heck, it’s one we’re starting to see play out now, today, before our very eyes…
What if a mass of TRUCKERS on strike?
If truckers were to strike IN MASS, they could bring our food supply to its knees. If raw grains, meats, chesses, can’t get from farm to factory or from farm to grocer. Well, it wouldn’t take long for real food scarcity to hit.
And once food scarcity became a real narrative, folks would run out and stock up FAST. And boom, the grocery store shelves are empty and not getting refilled anytime soon.
Once that happens, society is only 72 hours from some real pain and panic. Perhaps even a “collapse”.
If you want to see true societal panic and chaos? Starve a majority of citizens for a week or so…
That’ll get everyone’s attention, right?
Now guess who’s currently on strike in Canada? Truckers.
Is this disruption enough to cause problems with Canadian supply chains? I think so. Is it enough to cause starvation level supply chain issues – probably not….at least not yet.
But is it a harbinger of things to come? Could poor relations between Governments and truckers cause more strikes, more walkouts, and more disruptions? You bet.
This thought experiment should highlight just how critical truckers are to a well-functioning modern survival.
Sure, you can say, “if they strike, someone else will just find a truck and drive it…” Oh yeah, we’re already low on quality truckers with skills AND trucks to get the job done.
So, if the industry where to protest and it was a large enough and long enough? Things could go south real FAST!
Now, I support truckers.
They are the folks who kept working throughout the pandemic. They kept hauling and delivering so that most folks could stay at home and hunker down – uncertain how bad things “might” get.
I also have some family members who are in the trucking industry and I think society should be treating them better. With respect. They deserve to be heard.
They are one of our underappreciated heroes of our modern society.
And I can’t stand anyone who is elitist towards hard working folks like truckers, farms, teachers, etc. Without these folks our societies would collapse. We should be treating them more respect and dignity.
That means, when they have a concern, they shouldn’t be demonized, they shouldn’t be ignored. They should be heard and allowed to speak. To voice their concerns – not muzzled.
Now to wrap this up. I like to focus on things YOU can do. The actions you can take, activities you control. That’s why you should stockpile lots of food and learn how to live a more resilient life.
Because MOST folks live a fragile life. And they have no idea just how fragile our supply chain system are. That’s because we’ve become extremely complacent over the years.
For example, during normal times, occasionally, the thing you want may take a bit takes longer the expected to arrive. But for the most part, people ASSUME, grocery store shelves will be well stocked at all times. And physical goods are just a few clicks and 2 day shipping away.
But we all know about how dangerous assumptions can be. That’s a fragile way to live and you’re putting your life in the hands of others (i.e. supply chains).
Instead, you should work towards improving your own resiliency. To prepare for chaos, to learn survival skills, and increase your own strategic stockpiles of food and supplies.
So today I have to recommendations for you.
At the time I published this article, there was a great deal on a 3 pack of quality freeze dried foods from Valley Food Storage (only cost a small shipping fee).
Click here now, to see if this excellent deal is still available.
Now, 3 packs is not nearly enough but it’s Better Than Nothing. But it gives you a way to Test their products before you decide to buy more.
The best way I know how to continue become more resilient and less fragile is to join my 30 day prepper challenge.
In this challenge you complete 15 meaningful tasks that will make you more prepared than most your neighbors – all in just 30 day.
And each challenge has both a basic and advanced challenge – so no matter where you are on your preparedness journey, my 30 day challenge is right for you.
Until next time, prepare, adapt, and overcome.
“Just In Case” Jack
P.s. Do you know where the closest nuclear bunker is from your home?
There are a lot of natural nuclear shelters in the US that are absolutely free. And one of them is near your home.
Click here to see the Closest Natural Nuclear Bunker to Your Home?
Click on the image above to find out where you need to take shelter.
The post Like It Or Not We’re ALL At The Mercy Of Food Supply Chains appeared first on Skilled Survival.
When supply chains become broken, those that rely on crucial medications could be in big trouble. Stockpiling vital medications should be an integral part of preparing your home for a disaster. You may have enough of your prescription medications to last you for a month in most cases. But what happens after that if you […]
Shooting Skills Matter Too! Deer shot placement is a question newer hunters are taught by fathers, grandfathers, and even hunter…
This article %Deer Shot Placement – Where to Aim Photos% appeared first on %SHTF Blog – Modern Survival%.
I warned you that inflation was going to get worse. On Thursday, we learned that the consumer price index was 7.5 percent higher in January than it was a year ago. We are being told that this was the highest reading since February 1982, and that sounds really bad. But it isn’t exactly honest, because the truth is that the way the inflation rate is calculated has been changed more than two dozen times since 1980. So if we are going to compare the rate of inflation today to historical numbers, we should actually be doing an apples to apples comparison.
Fortunately, there is someone out there that takes care of the math for us. According to John Williams of shadowstats.com, if inflation was still calculated the way that it was back in 1990, the official rate of inflation would be above 10 percent right now. And if inflation was still calculated the way that it was back in 1980, the official rate of inflation would be above 15 percent right now.
In other words, using the same methodology that the government used in 1980 would give us an official rate of inflation that is more than double the official number that we have just been given.
Wow.
Many have compared the current crisis to the Jimmy Carter era, but the truth is that we are now surpassing anything that we witnessed back then.
On her Twitter account, Washington Post columnist Heather Long shared some specific numbers from the inflation report which show where American consumers are being hit the hardest…
Used cars 40.5% y/y
Gas 40%
Rental cars 29%
Utility gas 24%
Hotels 21%
Furniture 20%
Bacon 18%
Steak 17%
Peanut Butter 15.5%
Pork 14.5%
Fish 13%
Eggs 13%
New cars 12%
Electric 11%
Chicken 10%
Oranges 10%
I am particularly concerned about the rise in energy prices.
According to the Labor Department, energy prices overall are up a whopping 27 percent over the past year…
The Labor Department reported that gasoline prices have skyrocketed 40% over the past year, while natural gas has surged 22.6% and electricity is up 10.7%. A gallon of gas, on average, cost $3.47 nationwide Thursday, according to AAA, up from $2.47 a year ago. In California, gas prices are well over $4 per gallon.
In all, energy prices have climbed more than 27% over the course of the past 12 months.
A lot of people expect that this new energy crisis will just be “temporary” just like the energy crisis of the 1970s was.
But this time is very different.
As I have discussed previously, easily accessible energy reserves are steadily being depleted, and that means that we are going to become increasingly dependent on energy reserves that are more costly to extract.
In addition, major financial institutions have become extremely hesitant to fund projects that have anything to do with traditional forms of energy. They don’t want to be seen as “contributing to global warming”, and so they are focusing on funding alternative energy projects instead.
But alternative energy sources are not producing enough to keep up with global demand.
So we are now facing a major crunch, and it isn’t going to go away.
In fact, it is only going to get worse.
On Thursday, Joe Biden promised to “work like the devil to bring gas prices down”.
Really?
Exactly how does he plan to do that?
He already ordered a very large release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve back in November, and that didn’t work.
And that was actually a very stupid thing to do, because we are going to need those reserves someday.
The cost of food continues to rise very aggressively as well. According to CNBC, one way that Americans can cope with this is by eating less meat and less dairy…
Meat and dairy tend to be the more expensive items at the supermarket, and especially of late. In response, aim to make more meals that don’t rely on them as the central ingredient, Brown said.
“Using meat sparingly as flavor, like adding a bit of bacon to a mushroom risotto, is more economical,” she said. Consuming less meat also helps you to lower your environmental footprint, she added.
The elite really don’t want us to eat much meat anyway, and so this would work out very well for them.
Of course Biden realizes that ordinary Americans are becoming increasingly frustrated, but he is assuring us that “we will make it through this challenge”…
“On higher prices, we have been using every tool at our disposal, and while today is a reminder that Americans’ budgets are being stretched in ways that create real stress at the kitchen table, there are also signs that we will make it through this challenge,” Biden said in a statement responding to the report.
Unfortunately for Biden, the American people are increasingly losing faith in his leadership.
In fact, CNN just reported on some new approval numbers that are absolutely dismal…
“Nearly 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of how Joe Biden is handling his presidency, with most of that group saying there’s literally nothing Biden has done since taking office that they approve of,” CNN detailed.
The latest survey, taken January 10-February 6, 2022, shows 58 percent disapproving of Biden’s job performance, compared to 41 percent who approve. That reflects a seven-point increase in the number who disapproved from the last survey, taken in December 2021.
So where do we go from here?
Well, many are expecting that the Federal Reserve will soon be substantially raising interest rates…
The chances of a 0.5 percentage point Fed rate increase in March rose to 44.3% following the data release, compared with 25% just before, according to CME data. Chances of a sixth quarter-percentage point hike this year rose to about 63%, compared with about 53% before the release.
“With another surprise jump in inflation in January, markets continue to be concerned about an aggressive Fed,” said Barry Gilbert, asset allocation strategist at LPL Financial. “While things may start getting better from here, market anxiety about potential Fed overtightening won’t go away until there are clear signs inflation is coming under control.”
When I saw the term “overtightening”, I just had to chuckle.
The Fed has had interest rates pushed to the floor for more than a decade, and someone actually has the gall to suggest that the Fed could soon be engaged in “overtightening”?
When the Fed pushed interest rates into the stratosphere in the early 1980s, that was overtightening.
Any rate hikes that we see in 2022 will be extremely modest by comparison.
But without a doubt, any rate hikes at all will be painful for the financial markets. Low interest rates helped to fuel the absurd bubble that we are in right now, and many investors could interpret higher rates as a sign that the party is finally about to come to an end.
***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***
About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending digital copies as gifts through Amazon to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.
The post Is The Real Rate Of Inflation More Than Twice As High As The Number We Were Just Given? appeared first on The Economic Collapse.
Since the introduction of the first Glock 17 to the civilian market, these pistols have become enormously popular. Glock’s reputation for quality, durability, and reliability is almost unmatched. These may not be the prettiest guns in the world, but Glocks are certainly workhorses for many shooters. Many first-time Glock shooters are mystified by the Glock…
The post How to Adjust Glock Sights: Expert’s Guide appeared first on Survival Cache.
If you are a prepper or survivalist, keeping binoculars with you is a must. Read the article to understand more about binoculars and use them more frequently. When preparing for any survival situation, binoculars might not be often found on your equipment list. However, you need to seriously consider keeping one around as they are […]
Global supplies of pharmaceutical drugs are getting tighter and tighter, and this has very serious implications for 2022 and beyond. If you depend upon a certain pharmaceutical drug in order to stay alive, I would recommend doing whatever you can to make sure that you have as much of that drug stockpiled as possible, because a day may come when you are unable to get any more for an extended period of time. Much of our drug production has been outsourced to China, and our relations with China are not going so well right now. In fact, the moment that China invades Taiwan we are going to have a major league national crisis on our hands.
Let me try to explain this one step at a time.
The FDA regularly keeps a list of pharmaceutical drug shortages. According to that list, there were 112 drug shortages in the U.S. in November, and there were 114 drug shortages in the U.S. as of January 11th…
Nationwide, more than 100 drugs are in short supply, including antibiotics, diuretics, opioids and heart failure medications, FDA data shows.
As of Jan. 11, 114 drugs were in shortage, according to the FDA’s database of current and resolved drug shortages, which is updated daily. The current tally is a continuation of shortage levels seen last year. In November 2021, the FDA reported 112 drug shortages.
I wanted information that was more up to date than that, so I went over and checked out the latest FDA drug shortage list for myself.
There are 165 entries on the list right now, but 49 of them have been resolved.
Subtracting 49 from 165 gives us a total of 116 pharmaceutical drug shortages in the United States at this moment.
That is shocking.
What are people supposed to do if they can’t get the drugs that they need?
Unfortunately, this is another area where we have outsourced a tremendous amount of production to China.
Today, a whopping 97 percent of all antibiotics purchased in the United States come from China.
Just think about that.
If our supplies of antibiotics were suddenly cut off, a whole lot of Americans would die.
And it isn’t just antibiotics that we are talking about. According to one expert, if China suddenly cut off the flow of pharmaceutical drugs many of our hospitals “would cease to function within months, if not days”…
As the U.S. defense establishment grows increasingly concerned about China’s potentially hostile ambitions, the pharmaceutical supply chain is receiving new scrutiny.
“If China shut the door on exports of medicines and their key ingredients and raw material, U.S. hospitals and military hospitals and clinics would cease to function within months, if not days,” said Rosemary Gibson, author of a book on the subject, “China Rx.”
Wow.
This is another example that shows why it was so foolish to become so dependent on manufacturing in China.
For years, I railed against all of the outsourcing that was going on.
But our politicians in Washington didn’t want to listen to voices such as mine.
And so now we are in a very precarious position. If China invades Taiwan, either we have to stand aside and let it happen or we give up most of our medicine.
At this point, things are so bad that we don’t even have a single penicillin plant in the United States anymore…
Other generic drugs whose key ingredients are manufactured in China include medicines for blood pressure medicine, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, epilepsy and depression, Gibson says.
“We can’t make penicillin anymore,” said Gibson. “The last penicillin plant in the United States closed in 2004.”
Isn’t that crazy?
The Chinese have the ability to bring us to our knees without firing a single shot.
For a very long time I have been warning my readers that the U.S. has been playing checkers while China has been playing chess.
They have outmaneuvered our clueless leaders every step of the way, and most Americans didn’t even realize what was happening.
Of course it isn’t just pharmaceutical drugs that are the problem. Western nations have outsourced the production of nearly everything, and now we are facing widespread global shortages that are unlike anything we have ever seen before. I included the following quote in an article that I posted yesterday, but I think that it is so important that I am going to share it again…
In a time when social networks have been swamped with photos of empty shelves from across the nation, Goldman’s head commodity strategist and one of the closest-followed analysts on Wall Street, said he’s never seen commodity markets pricing in the shortages they are right now.
“I’ve been doing this 30 years and I’ve never seen markets like this,” Currie told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Monday. “This is a molecule crisis. We’re out of everything, I don’t care if it’s oil, gas, coal, copper, aluminum, you name it we’re out of it.”
I don’t know if I have sufficient words to express the seriousness of what we are now facing.
A horrifying global meltdown has already begun, and it is only going to get worse.
Earlier today, I came across a video clip in which former BlackRock executive Edward Dowd warned that “we are at the end days here”.
“We are at end days here” Former Executive of BlackRock Edward Dowd
Sound ON
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) February 6, 2022
Needless to say, he was specifically addressing the state of the financial markets, but his statement could definitely be applied on a much broader basis.
We have entered a period of great crisis, but many people still don’t understand this.
A lot of times, people don’t grasp what is taking place until it affects them personally. In recent weeks, I have gotten emails from numerous readers about the issues that they are encountering at their local pharmacies. In the old days, getting drugs that were prescribed was a snap, but now there are times when people have had to wait weeks or even months to get their drugs.
If you still believe that this is “temporary”, you haven’t been paying attention.
Our entire system is melting down, and what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.
***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***
About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com. During this season, I would like to encourage you to send digital copies of my new book to your family and friends as gifts. That will help to support the work that I am doing, and it will help to multiply the impact of the book. In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.
The post Rampant Drug Shortages! Right Now There Are Shortages Of 116 Different Pharmaceutical Drugs In The United States appeared first on The Economic Collapse.
This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.
Putin snoozing, ratings cratering, and a token Uyghur to insult the intelligence of anyone still watching with at least two brain cells – this year’s 2022 Winter Olympics is shaping up to be an absolute disaster.
Viewership for Friday’s Opening Ceremony was a dismal 16 million, as NBC faces what Yahoo!sports‘ Dan Wetzel called a “cataclysmic loss” of audience – a record low exceeding the previous record of 20.1 million viewers for 1988’s Calgary games. It was 43% below the 2018 games’ opening ceremony in South Korea which had 28.3 million viewers.
It comes on the heels of Thursday’s ratings disaster that saw just 7.7 million people tune in, dramatically below same-night audiences of 2018 (16 million) and 2014 from Russia (20.02 million).
NBC said the 16 million is a “total audience delivery” and includes all of its networks and streaming. The television-only average audience was below 14 million for the day, per the preliminary data released by the network. -Yahoo!
As Deadline noted, just “8.7 million tuned in on NBC in primetime [to] see the pre-taped Mike Tirico and Savannah Guthrie-led coverage of the propaganda-heavy spectacle put on by Chinese President Xi Jinping and filmmaker Zhang Yimou.”
The Opening Ceremony was so boring that Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to ‘rest his eyes’ during the Ukrainian team’s entrance.
Putin fell asleep during the opening ceremony of the Olympics. pic.twitter.com/Eplkr6QThd
— MRCTV (@mrctv) February 4, 2022
As Yahoo notes, however, ratings do tend to increase over the first week. That said, several countries are currently staging a “diplomatic boycott” of the Games over China’s treatment of Uyghurs, an ethnic minority group of Muslims who live in the northwest of the country.
While denying any abuse, China continues to deny the United Nations from sending human rights officials to observe the region.
Anti-Covid measures are also putting a damper on enthusiasm, making life inside its “closed-loop” a ‘near joyless experience for the athletes,’ according to the report.
It didn’t help that China used cross country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang – who China’s state-run media claimed has Uyghur heritage – was paraded out as one of the cauldron lighters during the Opening Ceremony, drawing sharp rebuke.
It was a disturbing and dispiriting moment, a young athlete and an iconic moment in every Olympics used as a propaganda prop to cover up a campaign of slavery, torture, forced abortions and internment in reeducation camps. It did nothing to build good feelings toward the competition.
As such, rather than a celebration, this feels, and looks, like a grind of hardship, isolation and suspicion. -Yahoo!
The hashtag #GenocideGames began trending in recent days.
UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said it was a stunt designed “by the Chinese to distract us from the real issue here… that Uyghurs are being tortured, and Uyghurs are the victims of human rights violations.”
UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on China featuring a Uyghur athlete in the opening ceremony of the Olympics: "This is an effort by the Chinese to distract us from the real issue here… that Uyghurs are being tortured, and Uyghurs are the victims of human rights violations" pic.twitter.com/ji2RgBVIvO
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 6, 2022
Adding to China’s woes, US-born figure skater Zhu Yi, competing for china, fell hard during her first combination attempt on Saturday, and later stumbled on a triple loop attempt – resulting in the hashtag #ZhuYiFellOver, which had over 230 million views by Sunday afternoon before it was taken down by Chinese social media website, Weibo.
According to the report, China’s restrictions on the event has turned into a nightmare for NBC – which is paying $7.75 billion to the OIC to broadcast the Olympics through 2032.
NBC is doing almost all it can but its reporters and crews are stuck in the “closed loop.” That eliminates live shots with mountains or historic buildings as backdrops as well as stories about the culture, architecture and people of China that can make the Olympics about more than just sport.
Host Mike Tirico broadcast from a set designed like a mountain chalet, but that could have been in Breckenridge, not Beijing. And Tirico, the face of the broadcast, will be leaving in the coming days to anchor NBC’s coverage of the Super Bowl, which due to the lengthening of the NFL season has spilled into the Olympic calendar and further siphoned off interest and outside media coverage.
Meanwhile, most of NBC’s play-by-play broadcasters are calling the Games remotely from studios in Connecticut rather than risk China’s COVID policies. Yahoo!
As Just the News notes, a recent Morning Consult poll of 2,000 American adults found that 65% have a lack of interest in the events, 57% said they have no interest in athletes, and 40% said it was because China was hosting.
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