Posted on 12/19/2023 9:59:10 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Joe Biden's economy is a disaster, but that doesn't mean it can't get worse.
A couple of little publicized commerce/transport events make new problems, specifically, shortages of consumer goods, all but certain.
Start with what's going on around the Saudi Arabian peninsula, where Houthi rebel rocket and drone attacks on ten commercial ships has reached crisis levels, and major shipping lines, such as Maersk, have opted to go around the horn of Africa the way Magellan had to do, in order to deliver their cargo loads to Europe and beyond.
According to the trade publication Insurance Journal:
Shipping in the Red Sea is grinding to a halt with oil tankers idling and container vessels rerouting around Africa as violence linked to the Israel-Hamas war threatens to undermine the global economy.
Two European oil and gas giants said Monday that their tankers would avoid waters off the coast of Yemen — an unavoidable waypoint for ships using the Suez Canal to cut between Europe and Asia. They join major container shippers who pulled out of the area last week as Iran-backed Houthi militants stepped up attacks in support of Hamas.
Jazz Shaw at Hot Air points out that the plan of action announced by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is a pretty weak one, lots of ships shooting down rockets and drones, amounting to swatting cockroaches as he compared it, instead of going for the nest. Biden, see, doesn't want to anger the Houthis' sponsor, Iran, he noted.
Meanwhile, down at the border in the Del Rio sector, cross-border commercial train traffic is being halted so that Border Patrol agents can give the crush of unvetted illegal migrants speedier customer service, known as "processing" so that they will be free to move about the country sooner.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
The Border Patrol issued a statement Sunday evening that, as of 8 a.m. Monday morning they were suspending all rail traffic through the Eagle Pass and El Paso railway crossing bridges.
Statement from CBP on Suspension of Rail Operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas
“CBP is continuing to surge all available resources to safely process migrants in response to increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals. After observing a recent resurgence of smuggling organizations moving migrants through Mexico via freight trains, CBP is taking additional actions to surge personnel and address this concerning development, including in partnership with Mexican authorities.
“Beginning December 18, 2023 at 8:00 AM local time, CBP’s Office of Field Operations will temporarily suspend operations at the international railway crossing bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas in order to redirect personnel to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody. CBP will continue to prioritize our border security mission as necessary in response to this evolving situation…
Closing down the bridge at Eagle Pass takes one of the most heavily used and important trade routes in the entire country out of the picture.
out of the over 450 airports, seaports and other border crossings in the US? It was 34th.
Eagle Pass is ranked number 10 for international imports and exports by value when up against just the border crossings. That’s some huge numbers which have come to a screeching halt.
Fresh is nicer, but frozen is more nutritionally sound in most cases. Unless, you are talking about getting fresh from your own garden.
2. The cost of a sunk oil tanker goes way past lost cargo and into environmental issues.
So the Red Sea is effectively closed to commercial traffic.
I’ll give you an example of what is coming...I had a headlight bulb burn out six months ago. Simple thing...I would normally pay $8 for the bulb. I went to the car shop...nothing on the rack. I asked about the bulb, and the guy said he had it on back-order....going back sixty days. I stopped at a 2nd and 3rd shop. Fourth shop had one on the shelf.
These are all made in China.
Excellent points.
Here's the "safe processing" I would use. A couple days of this and this crap would stop cold. Even strafing runs in the unpopulated desert would send a "stern message."
RE: I had a headlight bulb burn out six months ago.
Is that an incandescent lightbulb? These were banned by Bush during his term.
“...have opted to go around the horn of Africa the way Magellan had to do,...”
Remember President Harris is just a heartbeat or vote away.
Fear sells. And some people around here love to be scared
I hate to defend anyone associated with this retarded administration, but the “plan of action” announced by the U.S. government is pretty much the limit of what can be done here. There is no justifiable reason for the U.S. to be “going for the nest” when we have no national interest at stake over there.
If we had a president that wasn’t owned by our enemies, Iran in this case, a few cruise missiles launched in to Tehran would stop this immediately. It is embarrassing a few dirty turd worlders have stopped international shipping while the Chomo in Chief of the most powerful navy in history just lets it happen.
“Fear sells. And some people around here love to be scared”
Considering the damage done to the economy and national security that we already know to have occurred over the past three years, how is just fear? Seems to me it’s a logical conclusion based on current and recent past experience.... and acquired by anyone with a still working brain cell.
Reagan put American flags on certain ships to show we would protect them. Attacks stopped.
But, that was when other countries actually feared our military. Not now.
Also a teaching moment for greedy left wing executives that worship globalism. Make your trinkets in America.
The U.S. has no business protecting “international shipping” over there, and Iran knows it as well as we do.
If I was a member of Congress at the time I would have introduced articles of impeachment against Reagan over that. And if I was a Senator I would have voted to throw his ass out of office.
Really.
I supported the move.
Oh well.
It would be a cold day in hell before I’d ever support a policy of using U.S. military assets to protect Islamic royal families and their business interests.
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