Info in Bits & Pieces

Barges are Beached on the Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is at the lowest it’s been in decades. Barges are backing up because of it, running aground and wreaking havoc on the regional supply chain. No one knows when the weather will change to bring rain. Some 2,000 barges are reportedly clogged in the channels along the river south of Memphis, Tennessee. Most of the barges are loaded with soybeans and some with corn. Each barge needs around 9 feet of depth to navigate. A standard barge has a carrying capacity of 16 rail cars or 70 semi-trucks. Still, it’s cheaper and more efficient to use the barges. The backlog could be cleared in a week or so when the water level rises.
~~~reported in an article by Allan Stein, The Epoch Times

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to become Britain’s next prime minister, after both his rivals dropped out of the Conservative Party leadership race.

8.7 PERCENT
The Social Security Administration says its cost-of-living adjustment will increase by 8.7% – the largest one-time increase since 1981 – starting in January 2023.

9.8 PERCENT
The IRS says it will raise the 401(k) contribution limit by a record 9.8%, which means Americans can contribute $2,000 more than the current contribution limit of $20,500.

13.0 PERCENT
Housing prices in August rose 13% year-over-year, down from 15.6% growth in July, the largest deceleration on record.

75 PERCENT
An 8- to 16-pound turkey cost $1.99 per pound from October 21 to 27, up from $1.15 a year ago, representing an almost 75% increase, according to the Department of Agriculture.

90 PERCENT
More than 90% of U.S. voters are worried about the U.S. economy and inflation, a Politico-Morning Consult poll shows.

Xi Jinping Secures an Unprecedented 3rd Term as CCP Leader

The Chinese leader will remain in power for a third five-year term, breaking a two-term norm set by his predecessors. Xi is 69 years old. He will be the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party until at least 2028.

Researchers Discover Way to Make Magnets Without Rare Earth Metals – Scientists from the University of Cambridge and their Austrian colleagues have made this discovery. Most rare earth metals are imported from China. Tetrataenite, an alloy of iron and nickel, usually forms naturally in meteorites and has properties similar to that of magnets made of rare earth elements.

Russian Court Upholds US Basketball Star Brittney Griner’s 9-Year Drug Sentence

Griner was convicted of possessing and smuggling vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She and her lawyers had asked for acquittal or at least a reduction in her sentence. But the Russian court has been unwilling to reduce her sentence.

31,470 COVID vaccine-related deaths have been reported via the accident Adverse Events Reporting System as of October 7, 2022.

HISTORY:
On October 26, 1958, the Boeing 707 entered into service for Pan American World Airways, launching the phenomenon of commercial air travel. It’s first flight departed New York for Paris. It took eight hours and 41 minutes, including a stop in Newfoundland, Canada, for refueling. The 707 remained in production until 1991.

“Villainy wears many masks, none so dangerous as the mask of virtue.”
~~~ Washington Irving (1763-1859), American Writer

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
~~~ Benjamin Franklin

The U.S. Coast Guard is currently the second-smallest branch of our nation’s military. With a little over 40,000 active service members, the U.S. Coast Guard is about 5 times larger than the newly-created Space Force.

QUOTE:
”These are the times that try men’s souls: the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Thomas Paine
~~~ General Washington ordered that these words be read aloud to the men of his army before they crossed the Delaware River eastward, this time on the offensive and in the middle of a terrible winter storm, to regain the American initiative at the Battle of Trenton.

The poppy is a symbol of wartime remembrance, due to its red color and the tendency for its seeds to germinate on battlefields where soil is disturbed by shells. In late 1918, Professor Molina Michael campaigned to establish the poppy as a remembrance symbol after reading fallen soldier John McCrae’s famous poem on that subject.

HISTORICAL QUOTE:
”I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries, as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become as corrupt as in Europe.” Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison. This comes from an old idea that farming serves two purposes: to produce food and to produce citizens.
~~~ from an interview with Davis Hanson in the American Essence magazine

As of July 2022, the Medal of Honor has been awarded for acts of valor 3,534 times. The largest proportion (1,523) of these were given during the Civil War, which comprising about 40% of the total number. The first award presentation took place in 1863.

PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION INVOLVED IN FARMING:
”When the Founders ratified the Constitution, 95% of the constituency was farming. By the end of the Depression, World War II, we’re down to 20%. It’s now down to 1% of the population is involved directly, or maybe 2%. So it’s maybe 4 or 5 million people out of 330 million.”
~~~ Davis Hanson, appearing in the American Essence magazine

ENCOURAGEMENT:
God always looks forward. Even when we feel stuck in the past. He offers a fresh start.