REBUILD THE UNITED STATES!

AMERGENT  TECHS' WHIPPLE PROMOTES PORT SAFETY & SECURITY BY STAS MARGARONIS Frank Whipple is the principal of Amergent Techs and has years of commercial experience in marine safety and port security including 28-years of experience with the U.S. Coast Guard. Amergent Techs, LLC, is a leading provider of regulatory services in health, safety, security, and environmental services. Amergent...

Driving Down the Cost of Drugs:  Battling Big Pharma in the Statehouse by Ramon Castellblanch Reviewed By Stas Margaronis San Francisco  State University professor Ramon Castellblanch  gives us an in-depth view of the struggle by grass-roots and labor activists to bring down the cost of pharmaceutical drugs, a major factor in high health care costs in the United  States. This is a tale about...

DELAYS REPLACING PENNSYLVANIA - WEST VIRGINIA LOCKS AND DAMS COULD COST TAXPAYERS & UTILITY CUSTOMERS $2 BILLION   BY STAS MARGARONIS   Utility customers adjoining the Pennsylvania-West Virginia  lock and dam system could pay  as much as $1 billion per year in higher rates if the system needs to be shut down for repairs in addition to the  $1 billion cost overrun to U.S. taxpayers...

PORT TECH LOS ANGELES SEEKS NEXT GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES By Stas Margaronis Port Tech Los Angeles was started two and a half  years ago and is a project of the Port of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles Clean Tech program. It is working to develop a $50 million fund to develop clean technologies for port applications and improved transportation systems. PTLA does not currently fund its nine...

SHIP FINANCE AUTHOR MCCLEERY & GREEKS BEARING GIFTS   BY STAS MARGARONIS   THE SHIPPING MAN is the saga of a hedge fund manager named Robert Fairchild who takes a plunge into the shipping business by way of the intoxicated purchase of a 35-year-old bulk carrier. The novel has become a best-seller among shipping executives, investors, lenders, brokers and marine suppliers in North...

S&P: Credit Risks Mount For U.S. Vessel Carriers By Stas Margaronis   The U.S. domestic shipping industry, which supplies Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico as well as tug and barge carriers transporting coal, and agricultural products along the nation’s inland waterways, is facing an ageing crisis due in part to problems of finance.   As a result, U.S.shipbuilders will build fewer...

  NEW PALMDALE DEVELOPMENT COULD BE A ROLE MODEL FOR HIGH SPEED RAIL   BY STAS MARGARONIS   The Southern California city of Palmdale’s transportation manager, Mike Behen, says that a new higher density development will encourage more bicycle and pedestrian travel because it is close to an existing train station that could also be a high speed rail station.   Behen...

DOW’S LIVERIS URGES “MAKE IT IN AMERICA”   By Stas Margaronis, Rebuild The United  States   In his book MAKE IT INAMERICA, Andrew Liveris, chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical Company, calls for theUnited Statesto re-invent its economy by restoring its once strong manufacturing base . Speaking  at the American Hellenic Council annual dinner  inLos Angeles, Liveris warned that the lack of a...

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPORTATION 3/23/2012   Storm Signals: Mega-Boxship Orders and Low Freight Rates Send Out Global WarningsIt looks like rough weather ahead for containership operators as slots are added with tepid demand. At the recent Trans Pacific Maritime Conference (TPM) inLong Beach, delegates wrestled with the volatile mix of big ships and small returns. BY STAS MARGARONIS, AJOT The...

ORTHODOX CHURCH MOBILIZES AID FOR GREECE BY STAS MARGARONIS The worsening economic situation in Greece is prompting a mobilization  by Americans to speed up aid efforts to Greece, spearheaded  by the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). A recent IOCC report explains the gravity of the situation in Greece: "Each day the streets of Athens become more crowded with families newly...