Courtroom sketch of the Rittenhouse Trial
If you want to understand why no one trust the press, today’s headlines about the trial are a perfect example. This witness got caught in multiple lies and his testimony ended up making a clear case for self-defense. This is how the major outlets reported on it: pic.twitter.com/P4qSY33Gmd
— AG (@AGHamilton29) November 8, 2021
Has there ever been a President who had a school named after him in his FIRST YEAR in office? Remarkable.
GDP Misses as US Economy Grows Only 2% in Q3, Weakest Growth Since COVID Struck
With the Atlanta Fed cutting its GDPNow estimate to just 0.2% yesterday…
… there were big worries that today the BEA could reveal a shocker of a number, one far below the rapidly falling consensus estimate of 2.6%. Well, the Q3 GDP number just came out and it was bad, but not nearly as bad as it could have been: at 2.0%, it did indeed miss the 2.6% consensus by a lot but it could have been far worse.
FACEPALM: Los Angeles Will Fine Cargo Ships That Can’t Unload
Los Angeles ports will fine cargo ships waiting to unload their goods in an attempt to relieve congestion that is as desperate as it is gobsmackingly stupid.
It’s a fine so pointless and wrong that of course, Presidentish Joe Biden has chimed in with his support for it.
According to CNBC, the White House is “hopeful” that fines will “ease the intensifying logjam of cargo ships” waiting to unload at Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles. Together, the two account for 40% of the country’s seaborne imports.
Carriers will have to pay “$100 per day for each container lingering past a given timeline” starting on the first of the month. Containers moved by truck will have nine days before they’ll start paying, and containers moved by rail will have just three days.
To show you just how wrong that is, allow me to use a down-home example.
My sons, ages 15 and 11, like to play a familiar game. The older, bigger one will hold the younger, shorter one at arm’s length by his forehead. The shorter one will then try to hit the taller one — to no avail because his shorter arms just can’t get there.
Now imagine that the older boy fined the younger one $100 for each missed punch, because that’s pretty much what Los Angeles ports are doing to carriers.
Carriers can’t unload their containers for a whole host of reasons.
One reason is that the LA ports still haven’t managed to get their operations up to 24/7, even though everybody saw the problem coming from a mile away. Another is that California’s emissions standards prevent older (but still cleaner-running) semis from operating in the state just when they need every truck they can get on the road. California’s AB-5 anti “gig” worker law makes it difficult for independent truckers to drive in California, even when their rigs meet the new emissions standards. Customs facilities are overwhelmed as are the local railheads.
Please, someone in Los Angeles, point out to me which one of these problems is the fault of the carriers? While it’s nice that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is opening his state’s ports for extra business, the Panama Canal can only accommodate so much west-to-east traffic. Anyway, the extra travel time — particularly if Panama isn’t an option — would only add to the country’s growing consumer goods delays and shortages.
I’m not a Big Government guy, but there are critical times when Big Government can pitch in. Incentives for extra longshoremen, expanded temporary customs facilities, lifting self-defeating laws and regulations (like AB-5 and truck emissions standards) at least temporarily.
Instead, Los Angeles ports are slapping fines on the carriers who neither caused this nor have much choice other than to sit there until Big Government unsnarls this Gordian knot they’ve tied.
Let’s call this what it is: A cash-grab by Los Angeles enabled by Big Government’s inability to assuage a problem caused by Big Government.
White House puts China on notice
The Biden administration is warning China over its increasing provocations against Taiwan, a critical flashpoint amid the ongoing poor relations between Washington and Beijing.
Taiwan raised the alarm after Chinese warplanes violated its airspace nearly 150 times over the course of about four days, leaving top Taiwanese — and some American — officials worried about a military confrontation.
“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan, and we have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. That’s why we will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday.
