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The New Neo Posted on by

Here we go again:

(1) We knew the administration was lying about nearly everything they said in connection with their Afghanistan pullout. It was quite obvious; their lies were neither well-crafted nor believable. The lies were actually insulting to intelligence, a way to thumb their noses at the right and to acknowledge that the left didn’t care and to hope that those in the middle weren’t paying attention.

Well, now we learn from purportedly informed sources that the administration itself has been in touch with more Americans than the 100 they previously mentioned who were there and wanted to get out: “363 Americans who are stuck in war-torn Afghanistan and around 176 U.S. permanent residents who are asking to be evacuated immediately.”

(2) Remember that NSBA letter that triggered the Garland announcement about the possibility that parents complaining to school boards are actually domestic terrorists (or perhaps the DOJ triggered the letter, which triggered the DOJ announcement)? Well, as Emily Litella would say:

There’s a reason this is happening. Simply put, the NSBA did not expect the strong blowback it got:

It appears that most member school boards did not consider accusing the parents who elect them of domestic terrorism was a smart move, and the letter seems to have been sent by a few activists without any vetting by the organization as a whole. Consequently, multiple state affiliates of NSBA have resigned from the organization.

In an effort to stop the bleeding, NSBA has now retracted and apologized for its letter to Biden…

They’re now saying that they “regret” and “apologize for” the letter. Then why was it sent in the first place? That’s a rhetorical question, by the way.

(3) I’ve said many times that economics is not my strong suit, so don’t expect me to be able to explain the supply chain problems. Of course, it’s not something that many people seem able to explain all that well, either. I was looking around for a good summary that might – accent on the might – be fairly objective. Perhaps this one?

(4) I wanted to update yesterday’s Alec Baldwin shooting incident post, but the situation is still quite unclear although some new information has dribbled out. So I’m not going to write a whole post on it right now, except to say that from looking at a number of articles, this is what I’ve gleaned: the gun was given to him by an assistant director rather than the armorer, which is not in accordance with protocol; Baldwin was told the weapon was “cold” (meaning no live ammunition); there had been some gun mishaps on the set earlier in which live ammunition was fired; and the shooting by Baldwin happened during filming and I’ve seen no reliable indication (so far) that he was messing around.

Comments

Roundup — 61 Comments

  1. It would be a mistake to attribute any importance to the disingenuous and worthless statement from the radical NSBA, which remains committed to its totalitarian agenda, nor is this minor victory in the battle over the curriculum likely to have any effect on the widespread existence of pernicious BLM/CRT/1619 propaganda (often repackaged as “ethnic studies”) in the public schools, nor should anyone have the slightest faith that Garland (weak, stupid, corrupt, and possibly even worse as AG than the egregious E Holder) is in any way opposed to this unconstitutional assault on the rights and the freedoms of citizens in the matter of the redressing of grievances. What is still unclear is what part Lisa Monaco might perhaps have played in this sordid and squalid affair.

  2. Economics is not going to help you much understanding supply chain problems. Experience in certain industries is.

    Some business schools have degree programs in logistics or operations management. Engineering schools have programs in industrial engineering.

  3. WRT Baldwin, unless this happened during filming or rehearsing a scripted part of the movie, I’d say he’s in big trouble. “Messing around” is not the appropriate standard. For those who aren’t familiar with firearms here are the big four firearm handling rules..

    1. There is no such thing as an unloaded gun.
    2, Keep your finger off the trigger until you intend to fire.
    3. Don’t point a gun at anything you don’t intend to destroy.
    4. Know your target and what is behind it.

    As I said, unless this was part of the production itself he’s going to have a lot of trouble offloading blame here. Of course, this isn’t some typical gun owner, so who knows how the prosecution will play out.

    One other thing. It is very unusual for a bullet to be in the barrel undischarged. Squib maybe, but otherwise this smells of foul play. And on a film set I’d expect only blank rounds anyway, so where did the bullet come from?

  4. Tom:

    So far indications are that it was during filming or rehearsal as part of a scripted action. I say “indications” because I’ve read nothing absolutely official and explicit about the exact circumstances. I believe they are waiting for the investigation to be complete and in the meantime are keeping close-mouthed about it, so at this point it’s really hard to tell exactly what he was doing.

  5. Regarding the item on supply chain, it seems to have covered most points that I’ve seen in the last couple weeks.
    Good coverage of CA’s “AB5” which causes trouble for independent owner-operator truck drivers who work as contractors not employees of a truck firm. I’ve also heard that CA work rules (must rest after X hours of driving but no place for drivers to rest) and “green” laws (required, expensive engine modifications which have left a bunch of drivers uninterested in work that is located in CA) are another factor. I didn’t see that one mentioned.
    Another data point I’ve read is that China has twice as many idled ships waiting at Chinese ports as we have in the USA. So not all problems are due to Covid, Dem Party policies and the like. There’s a lot of econ disruption going around.

  6. Apparently another problem is an imbalance in cargo containers. The west coast of the US has too many empty ones and Asia doesn’t have enough. The ports of Seattle and Tacoma (which are like the second and third largest on the west coast) have been sending ships back to Asia with mostly empty containers which is a big time money loser for shipping companies and further messes up the system.

    That Daily Signal link did a good job of explaining it all.

    He mentioned port workers declining to work overtime which was also the issue with Southwest Airlines pilots. The system counts on this and when labor declines for whatever reason it leads to all kind of problems.

  7. Saw some speculation there maybe film of the Baldwin shooting which would seem to indicate they were filming.

    Maybe the shot was supposed to be into camera and the DP was right behind the camera and the director was in back of her behind the monitor and that is how both were hit with same shot.

  8. “Seen on the Internet so it must be true.” Well no reason to doubt this but I didn’t go on Twitter to verify it. So, whatever.

    AlecBaldwin(HABF)@AlecBaldwin
    · Dec 5, 2019
    …@RepLizCheney talks and seems so much like her father.
    I wonder if she’s ever accidentally shot a good friend of hers in the face.

  10. Griffin:

    From some articles I’ve read, the circumstances you’ve described seem to be what probably happened.

  11. I do find it interesting that the NSBA apologized for and retracted its letter to Biden. Of course, it’s insincere, but the Left in its various guises doesn’t always apologize. For instance, the Biden administration never apologized for Afghanistan.

    So the blowback from parents and local school boards must have quite fierce and frightening. I suspect they are also chastened by the trouble McAuliffe is in with parents in Virginia.

    Good.

    Now the question is whether DOJ/FBI will call off its goon squads. My bet is … not.

  12. This adds only a tiny bit of new information about the Rust accident.

    Investigators were seeking the bloodstained “Old Western Style” clothing Baldwin was wearing on set at the time of the shooting and any cameras, film or digital memory cards, Detective Joel Cano wrote in the affidavit for the search warrant. The shooting occurred during a rehearsal with film equipment on scene, and he “would like to confirm if the incident that took place was or wasn’t recorded,” Cano wrote.

    https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/affidavit-offers-new-details-on-baldwin-shooting-that-killed-cinematographer/article_73bc2302-334d-11ec-b2b6-6f5fe3cd1edd.html

    Now, movie cameras are all memory cards and rechargeable batteries. Why not record most of the time?

    This article also says that the weapon that discharged was quickly handed back to the armorer, who then removed the spent shell casing. OK. Logical in one sense, terrible in terms of investigation.

  16. Covid news (from Sweden):
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/sweden-suspends-moderna-shot-indefinitely-after-vaxxed-patients-develop-crippling-heart

    Wonder if the CDC will deign to notice…since there are similar “issues” in Ontario, California…and elsewhere.

    Wonder, too, if the competitive aspect of this gazillion dollar money-maker is driving the drug companies to release all kinds of CRAP without adequate testing so as not to “miss out” on the bonanza.

    (Did I say “wonder”???)

    File under: “But the advantages outweigh any possible disadvantages…”

  18. Regarding Garland, that stalwart ethical genius is merely using the vaunted (and spectacularly effective) “Comey Defense”:

    Here’s further evidence that Comey (with a huge assist from Loretta Lynch) is the brains behind the utter breakdown of the DOJ:
    https://100percentfedup.com/left-attacks-rep-massie-for-showing-video-of-possible-fbi-plant-inciting-insurrection-before-and-after-jan-6th-rep-massie-brilliantly-responds/

    Meanwhile, a little pushback from Devin Nunes on ABC’s Christopher Steele Special:
    https://justthenews.com/accountability/media/rep-devin-nunes-abc-news-hq-should-move-disneys-fantasyland-after-steele

    Sure looks like Merriam-Webster will soon be compelled to change the definition of “Truth”…
    https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/6/10/21286656/merriam-webster-racism-definition
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8841637/Merriam-Webster-changes-sexual-preference-offensive-term-following-SCOTUS-hearing.html

  25. According to a headline somewhere this morning, the gun Baldwin fired was used by crew for target practice during stops in filming. So, there are four people responsible: the crew member who left the gun with a live bullet in it, the armorer who failed to check the gun to be sure it was clear of live rounds, the assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun and said it was “cold” without actual knowledge, and Baldwin, who had a responsibility to check the gun himself before firing. And Baldwin again, as the boss of this movie site which was manifestly unsafe.

  26. “Insurrection” (cont.):
    “It Sure Seems Like the DOJ Is Covering Up FBI Instigation of January 6th”
    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2021/10/23/it-sure-seems-like-the-doj-is-covering-up-fbi-instigation-of-january-6th-n462074

    Key grafs (of many):
    “…In [the video played by Rep. Thomas Massie], we saw a man instigating people to enter the Capitol Building the night before January 6th. Later, we see the same man directing people into the Capitol Building, as chaos began to break out…
    “…Again, the FBI is holding grandmas in indefinite detention, but a man on tape telling people to enter the Capitol Building hasn’t even been touched by federal authorities? Does that sound plausible to you…Or does it sound like the guy was an FBI agent or informant?
    “Any fair-minded person is going to lean towards the latter. Things have gotten to the point where the DOJ should not be trusted to have acted properly. That’s especially true when Garland continues to obfuscate and pretend as if he can’t comment on anything that might complicate the predominant, January 6th narrative….”

  27. Obama lying (again).
    Not news, certainly.
    What is news is that the Republican Gubernatorial candidate in the upcoming Virginia election is calling him out on it.
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/barack-obama-republicans-systematically-preventing-voting
    (Brave fellow; but he’s apparently unaware that Obama et al. are allowed to lie. Are encouraged to lie. Are expected to lie.)

    What it also means is that the Democrats are feeling a bit less than secure about this elections. One hopes that those write-in ballots and polling stations will be watched with eagle eyes….

    File under: License to Lie

  29. “…definition…”

    And it’s time for “Gain of Function” to be redefined:
    (Softly, softly)
    https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/nih-quietly-rewrites-gain-function-definition-amid-greater-scrutiny
    Will this save Fauci? Daszak?
    Stay tuned…

    But the indefatigable Hans Mahncke is not letting go: he’s asking pointed questions about Fauci’s latest Stephanopoulos interview (i.e., FARCE, similar to the Christopher Steele extravaganza aired recently)
    https://twitter.com/HansMahncke/
    (See also Jeff Carlson:)
    https://twitter.com/themarketswork

  30. Regarding neo’s topic 3), I wrote a bit about this in a comment yesterday, https://www.thenewneo.com/2021/10/23/open-thread-10-22-21/#comment-2584537 and I recommend the link to the thread in my above comment, from 12:09pm. Both of these hammer home the point of how interconnected and fragile our production and distribution networks are. Logistics is a fascinating field and there are some really bright folks who have done incredible work in that area. It’s not necessarily wrong that things are so fragile, it depends on what the ultimate goal is.

    For years the goal of U.S. production has been cost reduction. We all know about Henry Ford. When he said he’d bring the cost of an automobile within the reach of average Americans people thought he was mad. But he did it. And that has been the overarching philosophy in industry and business for a century. Really clever accountants, engineers, foremen, machinists… working on making things more efficient, and cheaper, and they have been wildly successful. And not that Ford was the source of this approach; it’s just that his assembly line is an iconic thing we can all relate to.

    Now, in the next comment, why the future may actually be brighter than it looks right now…

  31. Staying with the Ford example; once Ford and other manufacturers invested huge amounts of money into immense facilities the little guy had little hope of competing. Even if a buyer’s number one interest was not low cost, the big manufacturers owned the car sales lots. There were a few, national, syndicated radio and television networks. The big guys sponsored shows on those networks and full page ads in the major newspapers.

    Now, it’s fairly easy and nearly free for any producer to reach the entire nation, and beyond, through internet advertising and/or viral marketing to email inboxes. A clever mechanic who builds unique motorcycles can sell to the entire nation no matter where he, or she is located.

    “Buy local.” A family in my region may decide to not participate in the “factory farm” system; the big grain elevators, the major buyers… Roadside farm stands have been a fixture of our nation since there have been roads. But now, they can also reach buyers all over. Maybe the market for organic, pesticide free, hypoallergenic bee honey in my region is not enough to support a family business, but it may be nationwide. Advertise on-line and ship to the world! Etsy is a great example of clever folks doing clever things and running small businesses using the Internet to do e-tail.

    There are a lot of different reasons consumers may choose to buy higher cost items from smaller companies. Some are worried about the U.S. losing some, essential businesses. Some perceive large corporations as being detrimental to the environment. Some are angry that “big box” retailers have killed small towns. Some want to support business owners of certain, extrinsic characteristics; woman owned, minority owned…

    This trend may very well grow. The supermarkets in my area often segregate local farms’ wares with a sign advertising that farm. When I see something I need in the “locally grown” section I buy it, without even looking at the price. Even if I’m paying 10% more I like knowing 100% of the profits stay in my region and help a local family. It’s good for my region, and, if there ever is a major disaster my family will be safer if we are surrounded by thriving farms that can feed us in an emergency.

    When you see some entrepreneur pushing the toxin free qualities of their wares, or the number of minorities involved in its manufacture, or even the healing power of some pseudo-science associated with it, resist the urge to criticize them. That’s exactly what Bezos and the Walton family want. For exactly the reasons we are seeing with the current Asian disruption in our supply chain, it is good for us all when we have local folks capable of doing handiwork, agriculture, fabrication, construction… Would you rather have a young woman in your region going off to Oberlin to get a degree in Women’s studies and then work in some desk job 1,000 miles away, not even contributing to the tax base in your county? Or, would you rather have a young woman in your region learn to make soap from raw materials and create a local business that enhances your region?

    We may be on the cusp of a new wave of young people learning important skills that will make our nation safer and more robust.

  32. Rufus. Some time ago on NPR I heard an interview with a guy who’d written a book on Walmart. He didn’t like it. But, as an admission against interest, he said that when Walmart showed up, grocery prices dropped by about 15% which amounted to about a month’s free groceries, important for the poor.
    This did push small operator out of business. But some were mom&pop looking to retire.
    Two big boxes set up in our town and the local grocery went to top end, organic, various other items. Couldn’t have sustained themselves otherwise. Fortunately, we have a substantial tourist trade whose folks may be wanting to go big while sunning themselves.
    One of the big boxes does sign the local products.
    I like a small-town, down-town theme park as well as the next guy. When we travel any distance, we may leave the interstate to do some local miles and see the little towns. Looking for character, historical interests, so forth. And when we don’t travel I use google earth. I may need an intervention.
    But I don’t think the poor should be forced to pay for my whimsy.

    So your essay on how to make locavoring work, along with other items, is right on point. We get both.
    My wife and a couple of friends hit the farmers market when in season.

  33. I don’t know anything about the causes of the supply chain crisis, but I’ve been witnessing its effects up close and personal. My daughter does logistics and supply chain management for a chemical corporation that makes the ingredients for many basic things we all count on, though we rarely think about how they’re made or where they come from. Her job involves moving chemicals all over the world, both to get her company’s products made and then to get them to where they’re needed. She has been warning for months now that the whole system is breaking down and that every part of the economy is going to suffer. Lately, she’s been working seven days a week, late into the night every night. Her phone keeps pinging at her all day long with new obstacles and crises. She can’t find any truck drivers. Her plants keep losing production because they can’t source materials or can’t ship products or can’t find enough workers to get the job done. She’s exhausted. People keep leaving her company — making the problems worse and worse — and she’s making serious plans to join them before long, though she’s a conscientious soul and thus struggling with guilt about the unsolved problems she’d be leaving behind for her remaining colleagues. She’s threatening to become a truck driver, though she’s probably too petite to reach the pedals. Listening to her makes me wonder how many hard-working people like her are burning out and giving up. It may well be for some serious stocking up.

  34. Walmart showed up, grocery prices dropped by about 15% which amounted to about a month’s free groceries, important for the poor.

    Richard Aubrey:

    Yes. There are a plenty of poor people who have more money to buy food and shoes for their kids because of Walmart.

    I get a bit steamed when I run across those smooth professional types who sneer at Walmart and its customers.

  36. huxley and Richard Aubrey,

    I’m somewhat ambivalent about Wal-Mart. I’m pretty much in line with Richard’s comment; I like unique character and varied shopping experiences on the rare occasions I shop, but I don’t begrudge someone wanting a big box experience, or simply appreciating their lower prices. I do wonder why the Billionaire Walton subsidies are given tax subsidies that smaller grocers aren’t given, when the Walton family’s semi’s do a lot more damage to my local streets than the small grocers’ vehicles.

    However, regarding the “lower prices are always better for the poor” mantra; I grew up with a fraction of the material things my kids grew up with, living in a house about 20% of the size my kids grew up in, and I had a great childhood! I didn’t have a different pair of shoes for every sport I played; I had one pair of tennis shoes; yet I still played ad hoc sports with friends MUCH, MUCH more than my kids. My family owned very few books but there was a library I could walk to and I read everything I could get my hands on. I learned to navigate Chicago at a young age taking public transportation. An all day transfer was $0.10 cents for kids on Sundays. Museums and zoos were free on Tuesdays.

    And how many families, even poor families, eat out multiple times in a month? Yes, food is much cheaper, but my mom shopped very wisely and made her purchases go far. And my sister and I learned home economics from her. I’ve never mended a pair of my kids jeans because jeans were so cheap it was easy to just buy a new pair, but I enjoyed learning how to sew patches on clothes from my mother and spent many a comfortable evening watching TV with my mom, sewing.

    Cheap and abundant goods don’t, necessarily, translate to a better life, even for the poor.

  37. huxley @ 9:48pm,

    The snafu is what all the linked articles and several of us here have been stating. To decrease costs and maximize profits every link in the manufacture and distribution chain is extremely lean, there is no room for error. So, when an error like a global pandemic comes on the scene different links break down along the line at different times. It all cascades. What was a molehill 30 – 40 years ago is a mountain today. The produce you eat likely doesn’t come from a farm in your state, it comes from New Zealand. There are no U.S. companies that make television sets. I think the same is true for refrigerators. And on, and on.

  38. Rufus,
    You’re old enough to recall when “lean” and “just in time” were The Big Deal.
    Redundancy is inefficient, expensive, and worth every penny.

  39. Rufus T. Firefly:

    But why now? Covid has been an issue for over a year and a half.

    I grant the possiblity of cascades, but why not a year ago or a year in the future?

  40. Lean is great when it works but it’s based on trust. The political class broke that trust and many other trust relationships by using Covid to gain power. Now the warehouse is your house as that is the short supply chain you can trust.

    I believe the “why now” is that it is only now that large segments of the population and the business communities are adjusting to the fact that the political class can and will whipsaw anything to maintain power. There is no trust that tomorrow there will not be another induced crisis and that the only thing you can trust is that which you can control yourself.

  42. The plot thickens.
    https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/education/school-boards-group-implied-parental-activism-domestic-terrorism-owes-irs

    Most of that comes from “accrued pension liability,” as disclosed by the National School Boards Association’s 2017 and 2018 Form 990 filings. Unlike those two, the 2019 form — the most recently filed — does not include an itemized list under the federal income taxes subheading for “other liabilities.”

    Its liabilities have exceeded its assets by around two to one in recent years, and up to seven to one in the first half of the 2010s, according to rundowns by ProPublica.

    Just the News couldn’t find any IRS action seeking recovery of that money. The only federal legal action against NSBA in its own jurisdiction was an employee lawsuit alleging racial discrimination, which a judge dismissed about a year ago.

    NSBA director of communications Jason Amos noted it’s a tax-exempt nonprofit but didn’t respond when told the liabilities are listed on its own federal tax forms.
    …
    Montana School Boards Association Executive Director Lance Melton told Just the News Friday, hours before NSBA’s reversal, that his group might have withheld dues if the letter had been sent earlier in the year.

    “NSBA kind of went against the collective wisdom of its membership” and now must retract and apologize for the letter as “the first step” to reconciliation with its members, he said in a phone interview. “Right now we need unity.”

    Melton, Delaware School Boards Association Executive Director John Marinucci and Georgia School Boards Association spokesperson Justin Pauly all told Just the News they weren’t aware of NSBA’s tax problems.

    While the most important figure is how much it costs to service that debt, Melton said, “I can’t even fathom” how the national organization owes so much. Clearly “there were warning signs.”

    If there were warning signs, no one was seeing them.
    There can’t possibly be meaningful oversight of these huge agglomerated national organizations.

    Even the federal government can’t answer for the money it spends, and it has entire agencies tasked with monitoring the Benjamins.

    https://justthenews.com/accountability/watchdogs/dead-ends-systemic-transparency-failure-stymies-watchdog-tracking-covid-19

  43. “Why now?” is precisely the question.

    Possible answers:
    China’s severe economic disruptions combined with the global Covid-induced slowdowns over the past 12+ months.
    U.S. Government-created Covid mandates.
    Government-created hyper-inflation (and the government’s best efforts to ensure that inflation will continue to grow in the future).
    Government-created malaise caused by the realization that the current government has declared war against anyone who doesn’t support it, against anyone who wishes to remain autonomous, against anyone who doesn’t support its perversification of the country.
    The realization that the government has turned almost every institution of government on its head and that those remaining institutions that have thus far escaped being corrupted are in the government’s sites.
    The realization that government policy is to turn citizen against citizen so as to weaken the body politic and ultimately destroy the country as we know it.
    The realization that the current government has manipulated the Covid crisis, and will continue to manipulate it, to threaten people’s livelihoods, their futures— their “pursuit of happiness”—in order to bend the people to the government’s power-hungry will.
    The realization that the government plans to control every aspect of its citizens’ lives as it possibly can.
    The realization that the government’s legitimacy is (to put it kindly) questionable and that the government has been doing everything in its power to block, to conceal and to obfuscate independent review of the 2020 elections….

  44. …The realization the President and VP of the US are corrupt shams and not in control of government policies.
    The realization of total media partisanship such that there exists nothing resembling honest reporting.
    The realization that with the pull-out from Afghanistan that the current government will be able to do anything and rationalize anything it wishes.
    The realization that the labeling of the pull-out from Afghanistan a “victory”—together with a long and consistent litany of falsehoods means that the current government is totally off the rails.
    The realization that the current plans to do even more damage than it has already done.
    The demoralization that such realizations bring.
    And much, much more…
    (Well, you did ask….)

  45. “Why the cascade now?” gets some partial answers from a post that Powerline picked today. It’s a concatenation of existing problems, but the supply-chain bottlenecks got revved up into high gear with the surge in consumer purchasing at the partial lifting of the sort-of-post-Covid-shutdowns (since we haven’t fully opened yet), sparking increased shipments to the US that then could not be processed.
    And then all the other stuff made it worse.

    https://www.city-journal.org/economic-trouble-will-not-be-transitory

    Though many factors have contributed to the supply-chain woes, the heart of the matter is the post-pandemic buying surge. Consumers in the United States and around the world, having spent little during the lockdowns and quarantines and with sometimes-generous government checks in hand, have ratcheted up buying a wide range of goods and services. Those demands have filtered back from retailers to producers, who, having stopped or curtailed activity during the lockdowns, have had to scramble to catch up. Delays, shortages, and rising prices result.
    …
    It should be easy to see how a demand jump of more than $1.5 trillion in a relatively short time has strained producers. They not only have had to ramp up from the curtailed levels engendered by the pandemic restrictions but also have had to accommodate the mix of products demanded by consumers. Each delay at each level of production has spread through the landscape of assembling goods and getting them to where people want them.

    A shortage of workers has worsened the strain and slowed the catchup. An underlying demographic of an aging population is at work here, but that is only part of it. Fears of infection have kept many people away from the workplace, while government polices—in the United States and elsewhere—have encouraged others not to work.
    …
    Since President Biden has inserted himself into the delays at the Port of Los Angeles, it has gained notoriety as the epicenter of the shortages problem. In truth, L.A.’s port is only one part of a much bigger picture, but it does show how these difficulties have converged. The sudden flood of shipping from Asia aimed at meeting American demands has overwhelmed the port’s ability to unload cargoes in a timely manner. A shortage of dock workers combined with lack of maintenance and upgrade work to the port during the pandemic left it incapable of handling the new shipping volumes.

    Because the worker shortage strengthened the union’s hand, the port barely considered expanding activity beyond the typical five-day workweek to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as other ports around the world do. The worker shortage would have stymied such an effort, anyway, though the president’s insistence has now inspired at least an effort. Even if the port can expand its hours and days of operation, it has warned that a shortage of truck drivers and rail workers will prevent unloaded goods from flowing out of dockside warehouses to where they are in demand, either from consumers or as inputs to other production processes.*
    …
    Perhaps most significant in this mélange of trouble is the worldwide energy shortage. The post-pandemic demand surge would have strained production potentials in the best of circumstances, but policy actions have made matters worse. Biden began his term by shutting down the Keystone Pipeline and doing what he could to stop the fracking revolution. His actions have contributed to a 14 percent drop in North American fossil-fuel production from pre-pandemic highs. The absence of this production has returned monopoly-like power to OPEC and Russia, both of which have every incentive to keep the price of oil high by constraining how much they pump. And both do better by getting more per barrel than from selling more barrels.

    Green initiatives to replace fossil fuels with wind, solar, and hydro power, which started well before the pandemic, have also contributed. Coal was a primary target but not the only one. Mines in the United States and elsewhere shut down or severely curtailed operations. Some marginal supplies of oil and natural gas were shut off as well. Now, amid a surge in demand and huge portions of North American production taken offline, it has become difficult if not impossible to restart the closed operations. If anything, it is even harder to ramp up wind, solar, and hydro to meet heightened energy demands. Far from ramping up, Europe has suffered a lack of wind power, while in China droughts have reduced the output from hydro power sources. It has been all but impossible to restart the coal mining that has been shut down; the resulting shortfall in China’s electricity generation has idled other factories and transport facilities not already affected by the rise in Covid infections.

    Everything falls apart slowly, then quickly, once the interconnected factors all start sliding down the slope.

    *The twitter thread that Rufus linked expands on the logistic bottleneck that resulted when California zoning and labor regulations got hit by the surge in shipments.
    It ain’t pretty. It’s by some guy named Ryan Peterson; he seems to know what he’s talking about.
    https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1451543776992845834
    “Yesterday I rented a boat and took the leader of one of Flexport’s partners in Long Beach on a 3 hour of the port complex. Here’s a thread about what I learned.”

    It appears that he DOES know what he’s talking about.
    https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/26/ryan-petersen-flexport/
    “How freight master Flexport’s Ryan Petersen learned to CEO…In this profile, TechCrunch charts Petersen’s growth across our six interviews with him over the past four years as he raised $1.3 billion and reached hundreds of millions in revenue.”

  46. Government-created hyper-inflation (and the government’s best efforts to ensure that inflation will continue to grow in the future).

    There is no ‘hyper inflation’. You need to get a grip.

  47. @Art Deco-
    You’re right, there is no “hyper” inflation now. And there will never be hyper-inflation, until there is (see every explanation above).
    Gold was once a small part of my portfolio. It’s now bigger, and getting bigger month by month. I expect it will be a large part of it over the next few years.
    And no, I’m not buying any more.

  49. Hmm. Seems that someone’s getting a bit greedy….Or rather, a bit TOO greedy; i.e., greedier than absolutely necessary….

    (Who woulda thunk it? Still, one might assume they’d be a bit smarter than that. Aaah…money….Aaah, power! Aaah…OOPS!)

    Wonder, though, if “Biden”‘s gonna protect them (against Texas!)

    Thanks, Geoff….

  51. AesopFan…”The twitter thread that Rufus linked expands on the logistic bottleneck that resulted when California zoning and labor regulations got hit by the surge in shipments. It ain’t pretty. It’s by some guy named Ryan Peterson; he seems to know what he’s talking about.”

    It’s a good piece…can you imaging Biden or Buttigieg reading it carefully and making notes? Not in the realm of things that can happen, I’m afraid.

    Peterson’s analysis is focused on California, but problems are not just happening there. In Chicago, the intermodal railyard is so backed up that dozens of trains are waiting on whatever stretches of track the RR can find to store them on. According to the Burlington Northern CEO, trucks aren’t coming in a timely manner to pick up the containers…most likely, because of a shortage of trucks, drivers, and/or chassis. Also bad congestion at the port of Savannah. If traffic is redirected to Jacksonville at DeSantis proposes, wouldn’t be surprised to see the same thing there.

  52. Touring Charleston some years back, the guide said their port’s two biggest selling features are the easy access to I95 and the west coast longshoremen’s unions.
    The description of how CA has drastically reduced truck access to the port is a joy to behold. Good and hard, guys, good and hard. Unfortunately, the rest of us are getting it, too, good and hard.

  53. “Why now?”

    Others have already covered it well, but, in stating that the chain is so lean and interconnected a single, large break impacts the whole chain, I should have stated the corollary is also true; tiny little breaks in several links, no matter how disconnected, can also have tremendous, deleterious affect.

    CA regulations. Labor shortages in trucking. A large, quick increase in demand. Manufacturers shutting down at different times due to the pandemic’s varied, local impact. The pandemic causing a shift in consumer purchasing to on-line and home delivery.

  54. “Why now?”

    What I’m more worried about ,and I think this may be huxley’s point: what if this is by design? As I wrote before, it seems more than coincidental that so much of the pandemic’s negative impact correlates with the goals of climate alarmists.

  55. Richard Aubrey,

    “You’re old enough to recall when “lean” and “just in time” were The Big Deal.
    Redundancy is inefficient, expensive, and worth every penny.”

    Well said, and we are learning that lesson the hard way.

    Kipling from, “Gods of the Copybook Headings”

    In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
    By robbing selective Peter to pay for collective Paul;
    But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
    And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: ‘If you don’t work you die.’

    Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tounged wizards withdrew,
    And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to belive it was true
    That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four—
    And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

  56. “Unfortunately, the rest of us are getting it, too, good and hard.”

    Would seem that all is going according to plan.

    (It’s “crisis management”, “Biden” style…)

    Since “Biden” (as channeled by the shifty harridan who is “his” mouthpiece) believes that Americans HAVE too much, EAT too much, DRINK too much, BUY too much, WASTE too much, DRIVE too much, ENJOY too much, ETC. too much….

    As such, Americans must be made to cut back. Drastically.

    Must learn to do with LESS.

    It’s good for them!!

    Yep, for their own good, for the sake of the country (which must be “transformed”),
    for the sake of the world.

    (So no need to get back to work just yet, Sec. Pete. Take yer time and enjoy yer family. “We’ll” let you know when you can get back to the office in oh, say a month or so. Two. Three. Really no big deal.)

    Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if national hunger is actually a goal here.

    File under: Hey, you wanna eat? Get jabbed. You still wanna eat? Better vote for us…’cuz if you don’t vote for us then you ain’t…hungry…at least not hungry enough…. NO MALARKY!

  57. geoffb,

    That threaderapp link regarding Google could be very, legally interesting. If true, it seems like a smoking gun that could result in some real change.

  58. Lean and Just-in-Time were originally developed by Toyota, for situations in which the suppliers were physically close by and were linked by close ongoing business relationships. A little different when you’re a US company sourcing from suppliers in Asia.

    That said, even if larger inventories of parts & raw materials were being carried, it’s unlikely that these would be sufficient to handle situations in which purchases are being delayed by multiple months instead of by a week or two.

  59. Rufus,

    If not true then the Texas AG would be in trouble with the court.

    If I was into conspiracy theories I’d say the Left is being led by their enemies but that is not needed. Since they are a religion without an afterlife, then even though they plan out longer than the next quarter, their plans have to come to fruition within a decade or two so that those who are working the plan get to enjoy its completion. Thus the older leaders always overreach in the end when they feel life slipping away and that brass ring is so bloody close a hand.

  60. Interesting theory, geoffb. I do think a great many of the U.S.’ current ills stem from the lack of a cultural cohesion around similar, fundamental religious principles. Up until the ’70s, or so, we were a melting pot of faiths, but 80% or more of Americans attended some type of service, at least occasionally, and those services had common, fundamental themes. And those themes were ubiquitous in the arts; radio, television, movies, novels, paintings, statuary, music…

    I guess the principles don’t, necessarily have to be religious (see the U.S.S.R. and modern China), but they need to be common and widely accepted.

  61. “Lack of cultural cohesion”….back in 1950, Arthur Koestler wrote a novel, The Age of Longing, which is basically about the West’s loss of cultural self-confidence. It wasn’t one of AK’s best-known works, but I think the book is thought-provoking and important, perhaps more so than when it first came out. I reviewed it here:

    Sleeping with the Enemy
    https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/55587.html

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