REBUILD THE UNITED STATES!

BY STAS MARGARONIS The first volume of former President Barack Obama’s memoir of his presidency begins on a positive note. He describes the challenges and rise of the young Illinois U.S. Senator who subsequently galvanizes a grass roots movement of fellow Democrats to help elect him as the first African-American president of the United States. In 2008, Barack Obama is elected  and is immediately...

BY STAS MARGARONIS Union Pacific railroad maintenance workers who are represented by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWED), a division of the Teamsters Union, are demanding the UP provide a “full quarantine pay package” for workers by December 27th. In a December 18th statement, BMWED stated that “Federal law protects our right to withdraw from service if dangerous workplace...

Source: Port of San Francisco BY STAS MARGARONIS, RBTUS The second day of the Storms, Flooding & Sea Level Defense 2020 conference featured sea level defense strategies being developed by ports from New York/ New Jersey,  Hawaii, Washington, California and Rotterdam. The conference was produced by the Propeller Club of Northern California and the Society of American Military Engineers and...

  Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers & Texas General Land Office  By Stas Margaronis, RBTUS  The Texas Legislature will be asked to approve a $26 billion coastal defense network, including $12 billion for storm surge gates to protect Galveston Bay and the Port of Houston from hurricanes and storm surges, according to Tony Williams, environmental review coordinator for the Texas...

Source: Watermaster BY STAS MARGARONIS A new report published by Tulane University’s Institute on Water Resources Law & Policy warns that the high cost of U.S. dredging, caused by high shipbuilding costs and a lack of dredging vessels, will undermine the nation’s ability to defend against coastal erosion and sea level rise. The study, “Building Resiliency in America’s Coastline” was...

BY STAS MARGARONIS In a September 4th letter, Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), urged member countries to take immediate steps to end the stranding of seafarers on merchant vessels around the world due to the COVID pandemic and  raise the issue at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22nd. On World Maritime Day, 24 September 2020, the...

BY STAS MARGARONIS At a September 15th virtual press conference, Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka announced that imports rose in August and the Port sees trends indicating volumes will continue to improve in September and October. Seroka says he is “hopeful” about the rest of the year, despite the downturn related to the Covid pandemic. Consumers have saved money that they...

REVIEW BY STAS MARGARONIS The failure of the Allied Market Garden invasion of the German-occupied Netherlands in September,1944 undermined what had been a successful Allied advance after the Normandy landings in June, 1944. The defeat was often advertised by its British architects as 90% successful or  a “Bridge Too Far” (the title of the Cornelius Ryan history and the subsequent movie). In...

By Stas Margaronis At a time of high unemployment, proposed legislation in Congress, the UNITE bill, would fund 1.5 million new national service jobs over three years through entities such as AmeriCorps and create new jobs tracing Covid cases and dispatching teachers to U.S. schools. At a time of recession and shut-downs at colleges, UNITE can create new work and experience for college students...