China vs. the US: shipbuilding, subsidies, and the Jones Act

Hypocrisy thrives where double standards prevail.

Earlier, I stupidly tweeted out an article about the Jones Act and shipbuilding and Colin Grabow, from the Cato Institute, liked it (he was quoted in the article). I looked him up and decided to listen to this video on the shipbuilding competition between China and the US, where he and a lawyer for United Steelworkers were on the panel. China is eating their lunch, and it’s the ruling elites’ own fault, yet they scapegoat China for it. The double standards over China’s “unfair economic practices” AKA the subsidizing of their shipbuilding industry irritates me (liars irritate me even more). States give subsidies, grants, and tax breaks to corporations, all the time. Fincantieri Marinette Marine is just one example, but Wisconsin had done the same for Foxconn. Foxconn received tax breaks and $3B in subsidies, which was “the largest ever subsidy provided by a state to a foreign company”, despite not living up to their promises.

Rumble

Colin Grabow wants to end the Jones Act. I’ve made at least three video clips regarding the Jones Act, two with Sal Mercogliano from What’s Going On With Shipping and one from the government-funded CSIS (I’ve posted them, below). Spoiler alert: Sal says that the problem isn’t the Jones Act. Meanwhile, both CSIS and the Cato Institute (part of the Atlas Network) blame the Jones Act. Deregulation is a wet dream of big corporations (which fund both the Cato Institute and CSIS).

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Trump and Biden, Republicans and Democrats all agree: affordable Chinese cars should be banned

Trump and Biden, Republicans and Democrats all agree: affordable Chinese cars should be banned

Related:

Trump’s attacks on Chinese cars strike a chord — with both parties

“Ohio knows all too well how China illegally subsidizes its companies, putting our workers out of jobs and undermining entire industries from steel to solar manufacturing,” Brown said in a statement. “We can’t wait for China to run this same playbook in the auto industry — we need strong rules, including but not limited to tariffs, to stop a flood of Chinese electric vehicles that threaten Ohio auto jobs.”

He said the average price gap between a Chinese vehicle and its U.S.-made counterpart ranges from 44 percent to 179 percent. “That is a massive gap,” the executive said. “Tariffs alone aren’t going to take care of that.”

Reuters: Mexico yields to US pressure on incentives for Chinese car makers

He said that such incentives have declined during the government led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office in late 2018, although they have been offered to large investors such as Audi.

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is the United States:

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Wisconsin Supreme Court orders new legislative maps in redistricting case brought by Democrats

Wisconsin Supreme Court orders new legislative maps in redistricting case brought by Democrats

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos called it “a sad day for our state” and suggested it would be appealed, saying the U.S. Supreme Court would have the final say.

The maps from parties to the lawsuit are due by Jan. 12, with supporting arguments due 10 days later. Reports from the consultants are due by Feb. 1, with responses a week later. That means the court will release new maps likely sometime in late February or early March unless the Legislature acts first.

Wisconsin supreme court appears poised to strike down legislative maps and end Republican dominance

Wisconsin supreme court appears poised to strike down legislative maps and end Republican dominance

Taylor Meehan, an attorney for legislative Republicans, argued that districts had long been considered to be contiguous as long as they kept towns, counties and wards whole. In Wisconsin, localities have annexed disconnected parts of land that have resulted in strange shapes. “You can define contiguity as strictly or as loosely as you want,” she said.

They look like Swiss cheese!

Related:

Advocates rally to protest Wisconsin’s ‘etch-a-sketch gerrymandered maps’

‘Hunt Forward’ cyber teams have deployed to 24 countries, including Ukraine

The cyber defense teams monito crucial networks in allied countries. US cyber chief Gen. Paul Nakasone also said the NSA is centralizing AI-related missions.

‘Hunt Forward’ cyber teams have deployed to 24 countries, including Ukraine

Related:

NSA to stand up AI security center

Securing artificial intelligence entails “protecting AI systems from learning, doing, and revealing the wrong thing,” he said. “We must build a robust understanding of AI vulnerabilities, foreign intelligence threats to these AI systems, and ways to encounter the threat in order to have AI security. We must also ensure that malicious foreign actors can’t steal America’s innovative AI capabilities.”

Asked about AI—including deepfakes—influencing voting in the upcoming 2024 U.S. general election, Nakasone said people need to practice vigilance, and that his team is making sure they “understand the threat techniques of our adversaries”—which the center will help them do

Cyber War and Ukraine

Vice News Leaves Out Connections to Ukraine in Their Story on American Neo-Nazis

On a recent overcast afternoon in Orlando, Florida, 10 neo-Nazis gathered outside the entrance to Disney World.

As 2024 Looms, Neo-Nazis Are Returning to the Streets (archived)

What they’re leaving out:

Jon Minadeo II AKA Handsome Truth (Goyim Defense League): Florida GOP Declares War On The First Amendment to ‘Combat Anti-Semitism’

Christopher Pohlhaus (Blood Tribe), Goyim Defense League: So-called Nazis resurface in Orlando, voice support for Biden over Trump: ‘He sends rockets to Ukraine’ (archived)

Christopher Pohlhaus (Blood Tribe): American Neo-Nazi Training Forces in Maine to Fight for Ukraine

Robert Rundo (Rise Above Movement), Christopher Pohlhaus (Blood Tribe), Denis Kapustin (Russian Volunteer Corps): Russian Militia Linked to American Neo-Nazis, Anti-Trans Figures

Robert Rundo (Rise Above Movement): “Our Mission is to Lead the White Races of the World in a Final Crusade…Against Semite-led Untermenschen [subhumans]”

Azov + Myrotvorets in MSM