REBUILD THE UNITED STATES!

  Illustration of Parallel Systems autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles at a microterminal By Stas Margaronis Parallel Systems, a company founded by former SpaceX engineers to create autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles, says it can relieve truck congestion at ports and increase short-haul rail with its zero-emission container carriers. The company showcased its rail vehicles to...

PHOTO: U.S. NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD BY STAS MARGARONIS & KEVIN POLICARPO China has been waging a campaign of increased intensity against Taiwan, warning of military action and engaging in tactics that appear to be aimed at grinding down resistance. These tactics consist of intimidating military exercises, patrols and surveillance that so far falls short of armed conflict. As the two nations...

FIRE FIGHTERS EVACUATE 'HOSTAGE VICTIM" By Stas Margaronis The Port of Redwood City hosted its annual full-scale emergency preparedness exercise on Thursday, Oct. 13. During the briefing to preparedness participants, Kristine Zortman, Executive Director, Port of Redwood City explained that: * Due to the pandemic, this year’s full-scale exercise was the first operation since 2019. * The...

By Stas Margaronis The lack of a paid sick leave provision in the tentative labor agreement between U.S. railroads and railroad unions may be causing some unions to reject the agreement, according to Greg Regan, President of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO. Regan who spoke to the Propeller Club of Northern California on October 11th said: “I think if there had been a...

  BY STAS MARGARONIS American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL) reported on October 6th that Mississippi river vessels are experiencing: “Historic low water conditions” and that “River levels continue to fall on the Mississippi River with severe impacts to navigation not seen since 1988.” ACBL reported: “Industry is expecting catastrophic impacts to boat capacity, which will in turn drastically...

BY STAS MARGARONIS The 96th Annual Propeller Club convention, held in Athens, Greece between September 20th and 22nd , demonstrated the continued power of Greek shipping. The  convention was produced by the Propeller Club of Piraeus under the leadership of President Costis Frangoulis and General Secretary Danae Bezantakou. INTERNATIONAL PROPELLER CLUB The International Propeller Club of the...

  PHOTO XINHUA:  LAUNCHING OF CHINESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER FUJIAN BY STAS MARGARONIS INTRODUCTION: U.S.-LIBERTY SHIPS HELP WIN WORLD WAR II During World War Two, the mass-production of Liberty and Victory ships at U.S. shipyards pioneered modular construction and the new use of welding of steel plates, resulting in lower costs and faster construction times. New shipyards built by Henry Kaiser...

Katie Sauerbrey, TNC’s Oregon Fire Program Manager (Photo: The Nature Conservancy) By Kevin Policarpo, RBTUS The Western United States have been working to lessen the destructive potential of future fires to save more infrastructure and lives. New methods, equipment, and vehicles are being developed for use by firefighters to better contain fires. One method that has received more attention in...

  By Kevin Policarpo “The Digital Silk Road: China’s Quest to Wire the World and Win the Future”, authored by Jonathan E. Hillman, details the rise of China’s telecommunications industry and how the United States could regain the lead in the telecommunications race. Hillman is a Senior Advisor, Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department. Previously, Hillman was a Senior Fellow at the...

BY STAS MARGARONIS Jack Welch’s accession as CEO of General Electric in 1981 led to his maximizing stockholder value by laying off workers, outsourcing manufacturing and laying the ground work for China to take the lead in critical manufacturing that GE once dominated. David Gelles’ new biography: “The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of...