Free Republic

Not getting off “Scott” free. An Alabama police force playfully exacted revenge against a group of high schoolers who had covered their department headquarters — along with the rest of the town — with toilet paper as part of an elaborate senior prank. Heflin Police Chief Ross McGlaughn vowed to get back on the Class of 2026 when the students launched their overnight TP attack across the small Alabama city. The police department’s main building was dressed with rolls of toilet paper that covered the entrance, squad cars and the roof. “It’s just fun,” the student leaders told CBS News...

Thousands of federal employees who were forced to return to their offices in recent weeks have made some disgusting discoveries - including a lack of toilet paper and rodents. Donald Trump promptly ended work from home options for federal workers upon taking office, saying anyone who does not 'show up to the office on time and on schedule' will be fired. Ever since, federal employees across the country have found themselves in cramped offices where they have been forced to clean toilets and take out the trash, according to the New York Times. One Bureau of Land Management employee even...

President Donald Trump’s promised tariffs on softwood lumber risk disrupting the supply chain for something nobody wants to be caught without: toilet paper. The Trump administration plans to almost double duties on Canadian softwood lumber to 27%, with the possibility of additional levies pushing the rate to more than 50%. While Trump advocates for new tariffs partly to bolster U.S. manufacturing, they may also hit the availability of northern bleached softwood kraft pulp, or NBSK, a key component in making toilet paper and paper towels. NBSK constitutes about 30% of standard U.S. bathroom tissue and half of a typical paper...

‘Nothing is zero impact’: Should we ditch toilet paper to help the environment? Going to the toilet is universal but how often do we take the time to reflect on the environmental impact of our bathroom habits? Talking about your toilet exploits would not get you many invites to dinner parties, but what we do in there has significant effects on the environment and our health. It has also changed drastically throughout history. Until the last century, going to the toilet was not the cosy comfort that most of Europe knows today. Researchers believe that fragments of ceramic known as...

U.S. — In what sources described as a "cruel" step to reduce waste of taxpayer funding at all levels, the Department of Government Efficiency has announced plans to force government offices to use only single-ply toilet paper. The department headed up by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy took a hardline stance against government inefficiency, setting its sights on eliminating wasteful spending wherever it is found, including millions of bathroom stalls in federal buildings nationwide. "Any government facility that believes it is worthy of two-play toilet paper must show cause," Ramaswamy said in a post on his X account. "The...

He went on to urge viewers to check inside of toilet paper dispensers and the roll itself before using it due to risks of contamination by IV drug users and their needles. Devan accompanied his message with a picture of a toilet roll with red holes poked through it - appearing to be blood-like spots along the side. 'This is exactly what I'm talking about,' he said while pointing at the photo on the screen. 'This is from needle using junkies going into the bathroom, taking that cover that's over it off, sticking their needles in there and cleaning their...

The dockworkers strike that has shut down dozens of ports on the East and Gulf Coasts has reportedly triggered panic buying of toilet paper and paper towels at a Costco on Staten Island — despite experts’ insistence that paper products won’t be affected by the strike. Video footage on Wednesday showed vast, empty shelves of toilet paper, paper towels and facial tissues. One segment posted by FreedomNews.TV shows just a few pallets of Kleenex at the Costco on Richmond Avenue near the Staten Island Mall.

After two deadly outbreaks of the rare Marburg virus disease in Africa, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning US doctors to be on the lookout for patients exhibiting symptoms. In the agency’s health advisory, issued Thursday, officials urged clinicians to be vigilant due to the “potential for imported cases.” There are no reported US cases of the virus, and the risk here is low, the CDC said. Officials recommend doctors assess patients who develop hemorrhagic fevers. MVD can be caused by the Marburg or Ravn viruses, and has appeared this year in two seemingly independent outbreaks in...

Germany may face shortages of such staples as toilet paper and cardboard if Russian gas supply dwindles in the coming months, German outlet Zeit Online reported on Wednesday. Operating paper plants may become unprofitable if they are forced to produce at reduced capacity because of gas shortages, the publication cites Jürgen Schaller, Chairman of the Board of the Bavarian Paper Associations, as warning. Producing paper requires a lot of water, electricity and gas, Schaller explained, adding that the technology is tried and tested and cannot be changed quickly. “Many employees in my company are already very worried. I can’t blame...

The Russian central bank said it will suspend the buying of gold from banks from Tuesday to meet increased demand for the precious metal from households, its latest attempt to weather the storm on Russian markets in the face of Western sanctions. "Currently, households' demand for buying physical gold in bars has increased, driven, in particular, by the abolition of value-added tax on these operations," the central bank said in a statement. The central bank raised the key rate to 20% from 9.5% on Feb. 28 as the rouble crashed to record lows and people rushed to withdraw money from...

The very basis of the US superpower status- The dollar as only world reserve currency is under threat.The Colder War is a book by Canadian Author Marin Katusa—who is the Head of the energy division of investment advisory service Casey Research and this is a video describing some points of discussion.What makes the US dollar unique is the fact that since the early 1970s it has been, with a few notable exceptions, the only currency used to buy and sell oil on the global market. This began in the 1970s when US President Nixon’s administration began negotiations with the government...

The Russian government issued antihoarding measures and price controls, amid a slew of punishing economic sanctions from the West. Authorities said major retail chains could restrict the sale of a number of “socially important goods,” such as food staples, and limit how high they mark up their prices. The measures were aimed at possible speculation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said Saturday.

No excerpt from Bloomberg allowed, ungated article here.

Costco confirmed it will start limiting purchases on essential household products for what has become a perfect storm of supply chain delays for many retailers. ...Costco's current supply chain and inflationary pressures, which include port delays, higher labor and freight costs, and shortages on everything from shipping containers, trucks, and drivers to various components, raw materials, and ingredients, have caused most of its general items to sell out within two weeks. ...

Our enemies now understand that you can completely paralyze America by taking out just a handful of pipelines. Even though all of us knew that any gasoline shortages were just going to be temporary, the shut down of the Colonial Pipeline caused a frenzied wave of “panic buying” all along the east coast. But if something caused the gasoline to stop flowing for a longer period of time, not being able to fill up our vehicles would be among the least of our problems. Trucks need gasoline too, and if our trucks stopped running for an extended period it would...

Price Hikes The maker of Huggies diapers and Scott paper products said the percentage increases would be in the mid- to high-single digits and take effect in late June. They will apply to the company’s baby- and child-care, adult-care and Scott bathroom-tissue businesses. Cheerios maker General Mills Inc. (GIS) said it will raise prices to partly offset higher freight and manufacturing costs, in addition to rising commodity prices. “Our competitors and retailers are facing the same thing we are,” General Mills Chief Executive Jeff Harmening said. Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL)said in February it raised prices of its turkey products, such...

A shortage in the availability of shipping containers could lead to another toilet paper shortage.

<p>Not much is known about the so-called “new strain” of the virus, but that hasn’t stopped the ruling class from using it to their advantage.</p><p>The latest narrative, which is being used as a vector for endless amounts of COVID-19 panic and fear mongering, is related to the claim that there is a new mutation of the novel coronavirus spreading, which is claimed to be much more contagious — a claimed 70%(!) increase in transmissibility — than the original dominant variant.</p>

With governors clamping down and closing their states due to increased coronavirus positive tests and deaths, some consumers are apparently worried they will never, ever be able to purchase toilet paper again and are stocking up until the next millennia, “just in case.” The result is empty shelves at the grocery store. And supply chains are breaking under the strain. Others are concerned they’ll never see another piece of chicken or grill another steak and are emptying meat departments. And with the evil virus on the loose, keeping your house clean to prevent the beast from taking up residence requires...

In announcing new statewide restrictions aimed at reducing the spike in COVID-19 cases, Gov. Jay Inslee on Sunday urged people not to hoard “supplies.” “Buying up everything really hurts everybody,” Inslee said, “and there’s no necessity of it right now.” But while the man didn’t specifically call out toilet paper, the toilet paper sure did call to shoppers. At some Seattle stores on Sunday, in a throwback to earlier days of the pandemic, people were already buying up stacks of bathroom tissue, which seems to turn to spun gold when things look grim. Costco ran out of the stuff over...