Happy New Year

 

Movie night tonight - ‘The Big Sick’ 

Martinis

Shaken - not stirred

Cannonball olive with a twist 

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Friday Music

Nathaniel Rateliff is an American singer and songwriter who established a significant following in Denver, CO. I first learned of him in an appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert in early this month in an appearance with his backing band the Night Sweats. 

If you like rhythm and blues  and want to scratch your boogie itch you’ll like this….

Get Stabbed

Lest you continue to share the belief that COVID is a vast conspiracy or hoax I want to share with you that among my immediate circle of friends I am personally-acquainted with six deaths from this.  Including two individuals from my high school that I became reconnected-with in retirement.

A shirt-tail relative caught the variant and spent a month in the hospital followed by an additional month of skilled nursing care.  A year and a half later she now depends-upon oxygen to get thru the day.

My State Senator spent more than a month in the ICU on a vent.  He's permanently impacted as well. 

The administrator of one of my favorite private FB groups is dead following more than three weeks in the ICU on a vent.  Young guy too - thirty-four.  And knocking on heaven's door.

And in the last month a 47 year-old neighbor succumbed to the disease.  His lungs trashed.

Not a one of these individuals was vaccinated.  And I am pleased to have learned via personal account that the family of the most recent victim has received their second course of the vaccine.

Both the Current Guy and the Former Guy say to take the vaccine.

So get the stab, people.  It's no big deal.

If you were bitten by a rabid skunk would you refuse a rabies vaccine?

Exercise Regimen for the Holidays

In case you're packing-on some additional pounds over the holidays - here's an exercise regimen.....

Raising a Toast to the Holidays

 

Another example of vintage Schlitz advertising from 1951.

Perfect for the holiday season.

The beer that made Milwaukee famous.

Yote!

Coyotes have been showing-up on the trail cameras consistently.  Mostly after dark.  And most of the images are unworthy of posting due to blur and other quality issues.

This is an animal typically in a hurry.

Anyway, here's a handful that are acceptable-enough to share.....

Cobra King

77 years-ago, the day following Christmas, 1944,  a Jumbo Sherman tank named Cobra King made history.  Its name - symbolic of the tank corps tradition of naming vehicles with the first letter of their companies’ designations - and its five-man crew from the 37th’s Company C led a column of infantry and armor that relieved the besieged and surrounded soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne, Belgium.   

The Cobra King crew -- 1st Lt. Charles Boggess, Cpl. Milton Dickerman and Pvts. James G. Murphy, Hubert S. Smith and Harold Hafner -- pose for a celebratory photo in the vicinity of Bastogne, Belgium shortly after the tankers led the armor and infantry column that liberated the city in December 1944. 

A word about this vehicle.  

Cobra King is an M4A3E2 Assault Tank nicknamed the Jumbo Sherman for a welded hull and one piece cast nose.  An extra one inch of armor in the front made it more resistant to German 88 millimeter shells.  Production began with Ford in June 1942 with Grand Blanc assuming production in February of 1944.  It sported a vertical sided turret and even with a Ford GAA V-8 engine, because of the weight of the additional armor, top speed of 22 mph was 3-4 mph slower than its predecessors. 

Following the war Cobra King remained in Germany.  Combat damage relegated it to a US Army transportation yard in Hammelburg; its place in military history temporarily lost.  Fortunately, its subsequent reuse as a military base monument saved it from the scrapyard.

Historical footnote:  The 37th Tank Battalion was subsequently re-activated in 1951 and assigned to the 4th Armored Division in 1953 at Fort Hood, Texas. Cobra King's unit would later return to Europe.  

There is a personal tangent to this story.  Some of you know that I was born overseas when my family lived on a US Army base in southern Germany.  In the 1950s McKee Barracks (among other things) was a hardstand for armor during the Cold War.  Coincidentally, the gate monument where we lived was a WWII era Jumbo Sherman.

McKee - 1958

Nobody knew it at the time but the Sherman guarding the headquarters building at McKee in Crailsheim, Germany was of historic significance. 

Later, when the 1st Armored relocated to Vilseck they took their tank with them.  

The division later relocated to Bad Kreuznach, but this time the Sherman stayed behind.  McKee was permanently closed in 1994 and the property returned to the people of Crailsheim.  The base school where dad was the first Principal continues in use as a school by the community.

 

The Sherman maintained its vigil in relative obscurity until Sgt. Brian Stigall of the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery, recognized it after attending a Battle of the Bulge commemoration in 2004.

Research by Army historians in Germany and the U.S. confirmed its identity.  It was indeed Cobra King.  There was also also considerable evidence of battle damage.  An explosion had resulted in a fire, destroying the tank’s interior, and causing the famous “First in Bastogne” tank to become permanently disabled.  

 

After identification Cobra King was returned to the United States in 2009 for restoration at Fort Knox.  The extent of the interior combat damage made any sort of interior restoration impossible yet further research led to what may have been the cause.  

As a consequence of physical and photographic evidence, primary sources and the historical record the restoration crew came to believe that Cobra King may have participated in the disastrous Hammelburg Raid of late March 1945.  

This raid was a secret mission to penetrate behind German lines, liberate the Oflag XIII-B POW camp near Hammelburg, and return safely with US officers held there.  One of the POWs at the camp was the son-in-law of General George Patton who ordered the raid.  This was not without any small amount of controversy.
 
Conducted by Task Force Baum, under the capable and seasoned leadership of Captain Abraham Baum, the Hammelburg Raid failed when it was cutoff by German forces almost 50 miles behind enemy lines. In the end, 32 Americans were killed and some 247 others were wounded, captured or missing with only 35 soldiers eventually finding their way to allied lines.  It was the restoration team's belief that a casualty of the Hammelburg Raid was Cobra King.  

Who knew?

With its historical pedigree intact and an exterior restoration completed Cobra King is now on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, located at Fort Belvoir, VA. 

It would be nice to visit Cobra King some day.  Something of a reunion.  What an amazing journey and a small personal connection with big history.

Learn more about the story here. 

Photos - US ARMY

 

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours all of us here at The Platz would like to extend our best wishes for a blessed Christmas holiday.  

And may you find a new chew toy in your stocking...

 

Friday Music

Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Coverdale Psalter, the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer.

In this denouement The Silent Monk perform the Hallelujah Chorus.....

Holiday Caroling

We interrupt your holiday for some irreverent holiday caroling.....

Saturn Rising

View southwest today.

At sunset this evening Saturn made its appearance.  

Jupiter is on deck.

The persistent overcast disappeared at long last and with temperatures falling into the single digits viewing conditions this evening should be good.

May even take a shot at viewing the Ursid meteor showers too.....

Reindeer Games

Sure, it's twisted humor.

Nevertheless it wouldn't be the holiday season without Gary Larson....

Check Your Shadow Today

The hiemal solstice or hibernal solstice, sometimes called midwinter or astronomical winter.  More commonly known as the winter solstice this event occurs when the Sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.4 degrees. It is that point in time when the sun is exactly over the Tropic of Capricorn.  In other words - when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the Sun.  If you are persnickety we will enjoy only 8 hours and 46 minutes of daylight today.

On this date for anyone residing in Antarctica (the South Pole)  - the opposite is true.  Today you would observe the Midnight Sun and enjoy 24 hours of sunlight.  For us living in the northern hemisphere tonight will be the longest night of the year.  This is to say that after this evening the daylight hours will begin to grow longer in the days and weeks to follow.  

If today is nice and sunny be sure to go outside at noon to observe your shadow.  On the solstice your shadow is the longest it will be all year. 

Before bedtime you may want to go outside to observe the heavens and raise a toast to the winter solstice.  And maybe howl at the moon.

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear, winter night skies. 

Cheers! 

Voter Fraud

What's not to like about closing-out the year with further evidence of voter fraud.

There is a retirement community in Florida called The Villages.  It is populated with individuals my age (or thereabouts) with a sizeable number of them not at all happy with the outcome of the 2020 presidential election

Their guy (the Former Guy) lost. 

In any event I'm gonna share that there seems to be no shortage of election fraud occurring amongst my Baby Boomer Brethren.  Except it is on behalf of the Former Guy.  You know, the guy who lost the election.  The guy who also lost the Senate along with the White House.  But let's not pile-on. 

Court records reveal that so far three residents of the community have been arrested for felony voter fraud in an ongoing investigation.  Jay Ketcik, Joan Halstead and John Rider are each charged with casting more than one ballot in an election, a third-degree felony.  Which happens to be punishable by up to five years in prison.

Ketcik, 63, is accused of voting by mail in Florida in October 2020 while also casting an absentee ballot in his original home state of Michigan, court records show.

Halstead, 71, voted in-person in Florida but also cast an absentee ballot in New York, prosecutors allege.

Rider, 61, was arrested by Brevard County deputies at the Royal Caribbean cruise ship terminal at Port Canaveral on December 3rd.  Prosecutors have indicated he cast ballots both out-of-state and in Florida. 

Voter registration records reveal that all three of these felonious personalities are registered as Republicans in Florida.

Mind you, this is an example of the garden-variety fraud that goes on with every election. And none of it is of the scale that would likely impact the outcome of a national election.

Yet it happens.

On both sides.

And in my view if it is proven in a court (our judicial system DOES work) maybe some people should pay ginormous fines, lose their voting privileges (if convicted of a felony) or maybe even do some time in prison. Make an example of stooges and cheaters.

In closing, how many of you readers remember Rosemarie Hartle? The Former Guy couldn't  keep his trap shut over how she voted in Nevada three years following her death. Hartle was married to Las Vegas businessman Donald Hartle – also a registered Republican. Last year Hartle expressed disbelief when it was learned that a mail-in ballot had been cast in his late wife’s name.  He was aghast and stated he was sickened by this and that he couldn’t possibly know how it came to happen. The case has been solved. Hartle cast the ballot himself.   And earlier this month he plead guilty to the crime of voting more than once in the same election.

You're welcome.

So do like me - a guy who almost always supports intelligent and honest GOP candidates in an election.  Dishonest or crappy GOP candidate?  Don't vote for them.  Do not compromise your scruples.  And for the love of God and all that is holy - don't cheat.  Cheaters are gonna get caught.......

Nativity Story

The Bible story of the virgin birth is at the center of much of the holiday cheer this time of year. The book of Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus decreed a census should be taken. Mary gave birth after arriving in Bethlehem and placed baby Jesus in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.       

Some people think Mary and Joseph were mistreated by a greedy innkeeper, who only cared about profits and decided the couple was not worth his normal accommodations. This version of the story (narrative) has been repeated many times in plays, skits, and sermons. It fits an anti-capitalist mentality that paints business owners as greedy, or even evil.         

It persists even though the Bible records no complaints and there was apparently no charge for the stable. It may be the stable was the only place available. Bethlehem was over-crowded with people forced to return to their ancestral home for a census – ordered by the Romans – for the purpose of levying taxes. If there was a problem, it was due to unintended consequences of government policy. In this narrative, the government caused the problem.          

The innkeeper was generous to a fault – a hero even. He was over-booked, but he charitably offered his stable, a facility he built with unknowing foresight. The innkeeper was willing and able to offer this facility even as government officials, who ordered and administered the census, slept in their own beds with little care for the well-being of those who had to travel regardless of their difficult life circumstances.         

If you must find "evil" in either of these narratives, remember that evil is ultimately perpetrated by individuals, not the institutions in which they operate. And this is why it's important to favor economic and political systems that limit the use and abuse of power over others. In the story of baby Jesus, a government law that requires innkeepers to always have extra rooms, or to take in anyone who asks, would "fix" the problem.         

But these laws would also have unintended consequences. Fewer investors would back hotels because the cost of the regulations would reduce returns on investment. A hotel big enough to handle the rare census would be way too big in normal times. Even a bed and breakfast would face the potential of being sued. There would be fewer hotel rooms, prices would rise, and innkeepers would once again be called greedy. And if history is our guide, government would chastise them for price-gouging and then try to regulate prices.

This does not mean free markets are perfect or create utopia; they aren't and they don't. But businesses can't force you to buy a service or product. You have a choice – even if it's not exactly what you want. And good business people try to make you happy in creative and industrious ways.         

Government doesn't always care. In fact, if you happen to live in North Korea or Cuba, and are not happy about the way things are going, you can't leave. And just in case you try, armed guards will help you think things through.         

This is why the Framers of the US Constitution made sure there were "checks and balances" in our system of government. These checks and balances don't always lead to good outcomes; we can think of many times when some wanted to ignore these safeguards. But, over time, the checks and balances help prevent the kinds of despotism we've seen develop elsewhere.         

Neither free market capitalism, nor the checks and balances of the Constitution are the equivalent of having a true Savior. But they should give us all hope that the future will be brighter than many seem to think.

Credit - First Trust Advisors

Schlitz

 

Another piece of old-school beer advertising is this.

Circa 1934.

A tavern menu jacket from The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous...

Beer Review

Dos Equis Ambar Especial is a classic Vienna-style lager with a full body and a smooth finish. With its signature amber color and subtle hints of roasted malts.  

Originally brewed by the German-born Mexican brewer Wilhelm Hasse in 1897.

4.7% ABV

Very yummy.

This may just be my newest favorite refreshing malt beverage. 

Pro Tip - imported beers from our friendly neighbors to the north and south are generally cheaper and tastier than factory brews made here in the states. 

You’re welcome!

 

There's a Moon Out Tonight

 The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow, Gave a lustre of midday to objects below, When what to my wondering eyes did appear, But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.    

-'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Clement Clarke Moore         

 

12-11-19 Full Cold Moon

The full moon you will observe in the heavens this evening is called the Full Cold Moon.  It is characterized by the arc of its trajectory across the sky which allows it to appear above the horizon for a longer period of time. 

Because of its close association with the winter solstice - and the shortest of daylight hours - native people called this the Long Nights Moon.    

For your best view of this beauty be sure to catch the moon rise tonight.  The Moon will attain its peak of fullness at 10:36 this evening.  To the casual observer the moon will appear full Friday and Sunday Evening as well. 

Fingers crossed for clear, cold viewing tonight.

Friday Music

Originally a traditional German folk song this tune had little if anything to do with Christmas - or describe a decorated Christmas tree.  The original lyrics had everything to do with a fir tree’s evergreen quality as a symbol of constancy and faithfulness.  You see, a Tannenbaum is a fir tree.  

The folk song eventually became associated with the celebration of Christmas when Ernst Anschütz added two additional verses of his own to the traditional verse in 1824.  The custom of the Christmas tree developed in the course of the 19th century and with Anschütz’s changes the song came to be seen as a Christmas carol early in the 20^th century.

You can also cut the tannenbaum and use the limbs to camouflage your German Leopard tank.

Nothing like heavy armor to get you in the holiday mood..... 

Survivor

 

Hmmmm.....

Here's a buckaroo that survived the hunt so far.

 

Justice

A Face Book friend reminded me recently (without any supporting documentation) that the judicial system in this country is broken. 

I am reminded that very recently several very high-profile trials happened in different parts of the country. 

In Wisconsin Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted in the deaths of two rioters and the wounding of a third. 

In Georgia, three men were convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery.  They await sentencing.

In Oregon white nationalist and Proud Boy Alan Swinney was convicted of 11 criminal charges and sentenced to ten years in prison.

And in Virginia a civil conspiracy case was tried against Neo-Nazis and white nationalist groups that organized the Unite the Right rally.  A federal jury in Charlottesville awarded a total of $26 million in damages against the 17 individual defendants and white nationalist groups. 

Finally,  actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct for making a false report to Chicago police in a hate crime hoax. 

In all of the foregoing examples the courts and juries got it right.  

The judicial system works. 

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

Schlitz

Another vintage advertising spot.

And I still have some vintage church keys in the drawer from back in the day...

Postmortem

The last, larger, organized deer camp wrapped-up yesterday and by the time you are reading this my former business partner and her ten-year-old son will have left to return home.

I don't normally wax-philosophical about deer camp but indulge me.  This is the postmortem.

This year the plan was to host a normal camp.  With all of the eating, drinking, socializing, yuks and close-quarters living arrangement upstairs on the second floor. 

With COVID variants cropping-up and case counts climbing as everyone at our latitude began to move indoors on the advice of three medical doctors I figured it prudent to ask everyone wishing to stay here to be vaccinated.  All of the docs agreed that vaxxing is never a sure thing, but considering the lodging arrangements and abundant co-morbidities among my circle of hunting pals and their families being vaccinated reduced probabilities of bad outcomes like community spread.

The hunting part had few, if any, risks as hunting from an outdoor deer stand is about as socially-distanced as you can get.

Sleeping multiple individuals to a room and shared bathrooms - not so much.

Small group bow hunting basically fell off the cliff altogether.  A consequence of the vaccine request, scheduling conflicts and me.  The only weekend I had to pull it-off had to be cancelled due to a last minute conflict for a small non-profit I head.  I was the asshole on that and will not allow it to repeat.  There will be more small group bow hunting in 2022. 

The gun opener had some difficulties too.  As a consequence of the vax request one hunter socially distanced for drinks and meals and lodged off-site.  One hunter was pissed about the unvaxxed individual breathing HIS air, gave me a lecture on the subject and went home early.  Two of our group stayed home altogether.

I'm not making a political display over any of this - I'm just following the best medical guidance I have at my disposal and follow best practices under difficult conditions.  Moreover, I cannot please everyone.  

Does that make me an asshole? 

On balance, it was a successful camp - seven deer on the old meat pole.  And everyone that attended and stayed to the end had a terrific time.  Perhaps the future will bring less vaccine hesitancy and less spread of disease and a real return to normal.

This past weekend was actually a resounding success.  A small group of vaccinated adults, good food, adult beverages, plenty of yuks, five dead deer on the old meat pole AND a ten-year-old hunter got his first deer!  

No drama.  No assholery.

And things seemed a wee bit less rushed with fewer hunters traipsing all over the landscape.  It just doesn't get much better that that.  I think next year I'll invite my pal Smokey Joe and his kid to join us for the December antlerless hunt.  That would be fun. 

In conclusion that amounts to twelve deer this year with some additional hunting for me and anyone that wants to show and follow the guidelines.

I should also point out that if the hieroglyphic tally on the old meat pole is to be believed (and I have no reason not to believe it) in the past five years we've witnessed a total of 69 dead deer hung from its pullies.  That is impressive.

I'd like to raise a toast to Wisconsin's top big game species - Odocoileus virginianus - the whitetail deer.  And my hunting friends too.

 

Nobody Here But Us Chickens

It has been snowing lately and if I had chickens this is the sort of door I would put on my coop.

Handyman Pro-Tip of the day......

 

December Night Skies

One of the fun things about winter is the night sky.  Cold, clear, winter skies are characterized by a lack of humidity and if you live in the country there is very little urban light pollution creating some spectacular opportunities for star-gazing.    

December brings a couple of meteor showers to the night skies.  The more prolific of the two is the Geminids with as many as 120 to 160 shooting stars per hour. 

Shooting starts are most often associated with the Earth’s passage thru the debris field of a comet.  The Geminids are a bit of a mystery as they are related with an extinct comet which also happens to be a near-earth asteroid named 3200 Phaethon.  

EarthSky.org
 

The best viewing should start the evening of Monday the 13^th and peak on Tuesday evening the 14^th.  A waxing Gibbous moon may wash-out the fainter meteorites - yet the volume of debris entering the atmosphere should make-up the difference.

December also brings the Ursid meteor shower with 5  to 10 shooting stars per hour as the Earth passes thru the debris field of Comet 8P/Tuttle.   

EarthSky.org
 

Although not as spectacular as the Geminids peak action coincides with the solstice the evening of the 21^st and 22^nd.   Competition from the light cast by the Cold Moon could be a challenge making only the brightest meteorites visible. 

Mark your calendar and if your catch a cold, clear, winter sky bundle-up and take some time to sit outside and observe the heavens. 

There’s no mosquitoes this time of year!

 

Friday Music

Composed by John Lennon this song was released as the Beatles’ second single in the UK and their first in the US.

Dick Biondi, a disc jockey on WLS in Chicago, played the song on the radio perhaps as early as February 8, 1963. Thus becoming the first DJ to play a Beatles record in the US.

It was a flop initially and only when re-released in January of 1964 did it chart – reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Dirty Snowball

Comets are several miles in diameter and composed of rock, ice and other organic compounds.  They are frequently described as the dirty snowballs of outer space.

If you missed Comet NEOWISE in 2020 another dirty snowball has materialized this year and will be making a flyby of planet Earth this month.  

Astronomer Gregory J. Leonard discovered this comet in January of this year and Comet C/2021 A1 - called Leonard - has arrived and if you are an early riser might just be viewable before sunrise.

Not only are you going to have to be an early riser - you are going to need a clear, dark sky and probably a pair of binoculars or a telescope.  If you locate a fuzzy star you'll have spotted it!

Comets take tens of thousands of year to transit the sun and as a consequence this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this visitor.  I think that might just be worth dragging my butt out of my cozy-warm bed to attempt a search of the night sky.  

Beginning tomorrow morning, about thirty minutes before sunrise, look to the eastern horizon below the star Arcturus.  

Image EarthSky.org

Leonard is moving at an exceedingly fast clip and it's position in the sky is constantly changing.  If you are not an early riser on December 17th look towards the southwest horizon and following sunset you might be able to spot Leonard directly below the planet Venus. 

Image EarthSky.org

Seen along the Side of the Road

 Word Play......

Schlitz

 As the saying goes...

When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer

 

iRobot

Meet the latest addition to our household...

iRobot Corporation is an American technology company that designs and builds consumer robots. It was founded in 1990 by three members of MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab, who designed robots for space exploration and military defense.

Roomba is a series of autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners sold by iRobot.

Initially, I was unconvinced that this autonomous butler was worth the expenditure of our valuable Wi-Fi bandwidth.  Nevertheless, having observed it go about its duties following a search pattern similar to mowing the lawn it does seem to perform a decent job of cleaning the hardwood, area carpets (it struggles with the fringe) and the ceramic tile.

And it knows when to return to its docking station to automatically off-load the debris it collects and to periodically recharge before resuming its duties.

The dog seems to tolerate its presence with casual indifference.

 

Winter Weather Advisory

Woke-up to this today...

And there's more on the way this afternoon and tonight.

Brutal, single digit cold to arrive tomorrow.

Of course, here in the northern hemisphere it is Meteorological Winter.  The coldest three months of the year - December, January and February.  More on Astronomical Winter before too long...

Changing-up Your Steak Options

 

 

 

With the price of beef soaring there is this

Vegan Tomahawk Steak

Follow this blog for additional recipes

What To Look For In The December Night Sky

I snapped this photo the evening of March 22, 2015.  It is of the Moon and Venus.  The Moon is the larger of the two celestial bodies in the center of the photo. 

It is said that the third brightest object in the sky - other than the sun and moon - is the planet Venus.  Arguably, I happen to think that the third consistently brightest object in the sky is the International Space Station (ISS).  But that's just an opinion and probably not worth arguing. 

In any event, Venus is going to be at its brightest for 2021 tonight and tomorrow.  And there is a new moon today so the skies will be particularly dark.

Watch for Venus in the southwest sky during and following twilight.  And Saturn and Jupiter too.

Best viewing will be with a telescope or binoculars.  Fingers-crossed for cold, clear night skies.

 

 

Friday Music

Originally released on his 1996 album Looking East is this beautiful acoustic number. 

An ode to the barrios of Los Angeles  - The Barricades of Heaven......

What's Up With Prices Up?

Inflation on your mind? 

If you’ve topped-off your gas tank, purchased a steak, hired an employee, bought and sold a house or a vehicle you’ve likely noticed that stuff costs more.  And there is all manner of craziness on the subject floating around in Facebook World.  No surprise there. 

So in the interest of spreading interweb tranquility I’d like to take a stab at making this subject a wee bit understandable.  

Here goes...

Fundamentally, inflation refers to the rise in the prices of wages, goods and services. It is
around us all the time and for most of the past 41 years has been behaving like background noise.  Every day the cost of wages, goods and services fluctuate both up and down.  The average rise has been about 3.5% a year - give or take. That means an item that cost $100 in 1979 would have inflated to $396.75 at the start of 2021.

Sure, some sectors of the economy - healthcare for instance - have risen at a faster rate. While prices in some sectors - consumer electronics comes to mind - have declined.  And for others - such as energy - have experienced greater fluctuations (volatility).  More about that in a bit.

Recent prices for much of what we consume are the highest they’ve been in decades. What gives?

First-off understand this equation: Demand + Supply = Price.

We live in a capitalist economy and that simple equation explains how markets work.  Meddle with this at your own peril.  And know this universal truth: There is no switch whereby any president can dial the price of anything either up or down. Yes, government policy can impact
the equation but that requires the passage of time.  Alas, there is no ON nor OFF switch.

Second, it is useful to know that roughly 70% of our economy is driven by consumer spending.  Manufacturing has a role.  Government spending has a role. Yet you and I play the biggest role.  Our consumption of goods and services drives the lion’s share of the US economy.  

Commit that factoid to memory.

It is noteworthy to recognize that inflation, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing.  As long as it doesn’t get out of whack. However, a deflationary economy as much as runaway inflation invites economic pain, bad psychology and equally bad karma.

In the 1990s Robert Shiller conducted surveys to try to understand why even moderate
inflation frustrated people to an extent greater than economic theory suggested it should.  In his findings what Shiller found was that the idea of inflation evokes “arbitrary injustice, arbitrary redistributions and social bitterness,” as well as “memories of social situations in which morale and a sense of cooperation were lost.”  As a consequence, if the average person begins to feel helpless and powerless at the hands of inflation he will likely become restless.

Consider the prices of natural gas and crude oil - which together heat more than half of U.S. homes - as global prices have soared.  When the heating bills start arriving this month and January average folks will predictably become restless.  Back when I worked at the day job this phenomenon was filed under Behavioral Finance.  The study of which will make your eyes glaze-over and was more or less an academic discussion, but I digress.  

I do not want to be dismissive of the impact of this situation. If you commute to a job in a car or truck, run a business that has to deliver goods or are on that rung of the economic ladder where transportation costs consume a larger share of your household budget this is a big deal.

High energy prices are a political problem for the Current Guy.  Releasing stockpiled oil from our strategic reserve might make acceptable political optics but will not reduce these costs in any significant fashion.

You’re probably scratching your head and wondering how things got out of whack. The short
answer is: Pandemic.

It wasn’t too many years ago that this retired guy was enjoying the economy over-which the
Former Guy presided. It was a well-oiled economic engine humming-along without skipping a
beat. Until COVID paid a call and it became the Former Guy's political problem. 

In the spring of 2020 it was like someone poured a truckload of sand in the gears of that
well-oiled economic engine. It wasn’t only here - it was world-wide. International manufacturing ground to a halt. People stopped going out to eat. Nobody went to the theater. Travel ceased and airlines had no passengers. Lock-downs were imposed.  Consumers here, there and everywhere stopped spending.  My favorite Packer Bar in Paris went out of business.

In a remarkable contrast with present energy costs, in April 2020 an oversupply of oil led to an unprecedented collapse of oil prices, forcing the contract futures price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) to plummet from $18 a barrel to around -$37 a barrel.  

Yes, minus $37.  Prices went negative for a short period of time.

Small business bankruptcies soared to record-breaking levels and millions of individuals lost their jobs. It was the sharpest economic contraction in memory. To this day I am puzzled that as many people fail to appreciate how close the economy came to being taken off life support. 

As in pulling the plug.

Thankfully the patient did not die and both the Former Guy, the Current Guy and Congress
threw massive amounts of money at the pandemic recession.  We continue to be awash in cash stemming from a lack of spending during lockdown and all of that government largess. 

And beginning in 2020, and continuing to the present moment, consumers found their nerve and began spending.

The inflation problem is found in the equation: High Demand + Limited Supply = Higher Prices.  Consider all of this pent-up demand, further fueled by an ocean of liquidity and a limited supply.  Is it any wonder prices have gone off the rails?

Which brings us to the subject of the supply chain.

Business continues to struggle with backlogged ports, a shortage of truckers and a surge in
demand for imported products.  Nowadays it can take almost 80 days for manufactured goods traveling by ship and truck from a factory in China to make it to an American warehouse - about double from two years ago.

We have plenty of domestic capacity to build cars. But automobiles are complex and are assembled from thousands of parts sourced from hundreds of suppliers scattered all over the globe. For a lack of computer chips - fewer cars roll-off the assembly line. With a dearth of new cars is anyone surprised that the price of a finite supply of used cars has spiked?

The current economic condition began with the pandemic and now is largely a supply chain
issue.  Inasmuch as there is no ON or OFF switch it is likely good counsel to tune-out facile FB outrage proffering simple explanations for slightly more complicated global economic forces. 

It’s going to take some time to clean-up the sand from the economic engine, oil the gears and get things humming again. How soon is anybody’s guess and I don’t make predictions beyond tomorrow. The stock and bond markets can be forward-looking indicators about the state of the economy at any given point in time.  And brace for the possibility of continuing volatility in the energy markets.

What is yet to be known is if current inflationary pressures are ephemeral and will normalize as the world economies return to equilibrium.  Or is this the beginning of a semi-permanent 1970s style of inflation?  We don't know that answer definitively.  So stay-tuned.

In closing you are likely reading this because you know that we embrace critical thought here at The Platz and take economics seriously.  But don’t take my word for it - the single best thing you can do is to reach out to your trusted financial advisor for guidance as it impacts you personally.   A competent advisor has had this on their radar screen for about a year already.

And for the love of God and all that is holy try to avoid taking your financial cues from the Face Book cesspool of lazy economic memes.