[rottndog]

I predict this will end up like the CHIPS law that was supposed to help incentivize manufacturing computer chips in the US. It was so larded up with DEI requirements that the major players in chipmaking have ceased their efforts.

[Mr. Blond]

Competency crisis, ie dumbing down of America.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Bfl

[ronnie raygun]

dont worry peter butt will get on it when he gets off it

[PGalt]

Thanks for the post/ping; comments

[GOPJ]

... might seem odd to wonder about our capability to build a bridge in 2024, but sadly, it’s a valid concern these days.

... our nation is faltering under inept globalist rule, dragged down by dangerous DEI agendas that place “charity” over excellence, and watching the decimation of hardworking middle-class America, the question isn’t just rhetorical—it’s a stark reflection of our abysmal current reality.

Throw in 'bridge engineers' getting their degrees from WOKE colleges and you've got a blueprint for disaster...

[sauropod]

.

[Political Junkie Too]

Can America rebuild the bridge?

China will rebuild the bridge as part of their Belt and Road initiative, taking control of the entire port that is outside of Washington, DC.

-PJ

[daniel1212]

Compare: Under a dictatorship and no EPA etc. or Woke regs and people with a work (or else) ethic, and with funds due to commence enabled (which i engage in when I but Chinese items, which often find no real competition now) by pols seeking power and or imagining democracy itself was the answer and opening vast trade to China (with postal and tariff breaks), then China is leaving the US in the dust in bridge building. Thus headlines as.

Beijing is building roads & bridges. America should take notice ... American Trucking Associations https://www.trucking.org › news-insights › beijing-buildi... For years, Beijing has been making investment in transportation and trade infrastructure — within its borders and also beyond — a top priority....Thirty years ago, there were no highways in China. Today, its national highway network spans more 88,000 miles — more than any other country in the world. And they are not slowing down: since 2011, the Chinese have built 6,000 miles of new highway every year.

There are [2019] 178 million daily crossings on over 47,000 structurally deficient U.S. bridges.

America’s trucking industry knows what’s at stake. We move 10.77 billion tons of freight every year — a task made ever-more challenging by the atrocious condition of our country’s roadways and bridges — and that tonnage is projected to grow by 27% over the next decade - https://www.trucking.org/news-insights/beijing-building-roads-bridges-america-should-take-notice

2022-05-07 $50 billion! U.S. asks China to help build bridge...he world famous bridge, the Oakland Bay Bridge from San Francisco, was built in 1936. The bridge consists of two parts, east and west, connecting Oakland and San Francisco.

The US Turns To China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSQAqMDi1yQ

May 23, 2023 This 15-mile, $6.7B bridge is a symbol of China’s ambitions, and its problems.. Even in a land known for gargantuan, record-breaking infrastructure, this project is turning heads. At 15 miles long (24 kilometers), eight lanes wide and featuring artificial islands and an undersea tunnel, China’s $6.7 billion Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge is nothing if not ambitious. To much fanfare in the country’s state media, the bridge’s builders recently claimed a new world record by paving in a single day more than 243,200 square feet (22,600 square meters) of asphalt, the equivalent of more than 50 basketball courts.

Yet strange as it may sound, this is not the world’s longest sea bridge. That honor belongs to its 34-mile long neighbor, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge – just 20 miles away. ...Like its sister bridge in Hong Kong, when the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge opens to traffic next year after eight years of construction,

*

When Deng Xiaoping arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington in January 1979, his country was just emerging from a long revolutionary deep freeze. No one knew much about this 5-foot-tall Chinese leader. He had suddenly reappeared on the scene after twice being cashiered by Mao, who famously described him as “a needle inside a ball of cotton.” But in 1979 he knew exactly what he wanted: better relations with the U.S. He and President Jimmy Carter appeared to be serious about resolving differences.

- https://www.chinafile.com/library/nyrb-china-archive/china-strikes-back

On January 1, 1979, the US officially switched diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China (ROC), or Taiwan, to the PRC. In announcing that decision two weeks earlier, president Jimmy Carter said the historic change he was announcing “will be of great long‐term benefit to the peoples of both our country and China.”

https://asiatimes.com/2019/05/does-us-regret-its-past-china-engagement/

President Bill Clinton talks with former President Jimmy Carter as former President Gerald Ford looks on, at a China trade event.

[PubliusMM]

And, why isn’t the shipping company being held to account? Seems they should be shouldering the bill to replace that bridge, not the American People.
And, they do have some mighty deep pockets at Maersk...

[Churchillspirit]

Good article. Thanks for posting.

[trebb]

They’ll end up going so far over cost they will stop construction and put in a ferry - and charge $1k each way...

[hardspunned]

I posted this a couple of days ago about the decades long process to replace the 3/4 mile long I-75 bridge at Cincinnati.

In modern America? Are you kidding? You see how things get done around here. I 75 crosses the Ohio at Cincinnati. Kentucky, Ohio, DC and Cincinnati have been wrangling over how to replace the aging bridge for DECADES. Millions and millions of dollars in multiple studies, with every politician in two or three generations of them getting their hands on cash and getting in their woke, green opinions and limitations. It should actually start soon. The last cost estimate was $3.9B up from the 2022 estimate of $2.6B and take 8 years!

From the Cincinnati Enquirer 1963

“The Brent Spence Bridge opens to traffic after nearly three years of construction. It’s named for Congressman Brent Spence, a Democrat from Newport who served 31 years in the U.S. House. The $10 million project is the first new Ohio River bridge in Cincinnati since 1891. Designed to carry 80,000 vehicles daily, the bridge carried about 32,000 vehicles in its first 24 hours.”

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2022/4/18/the-brent-spence-boondoggle

[cyclotic]

America doesn’t need to build the bridge. It should be privately owned and erected.

There’s a similar size suspension bridge being built between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. Once the government got done fighting over the location and doing all their stupidity (already done in this case) the bridge has been going up quickly and is 100% privately owned.

Of course, this is Maryland and every democrat loser has to get his grimy piece of the pie.

[bert]

Drivel

[Paul R.]

I’ve always been intrigued by the formation of sandbars near man made structures in rivers. The weirs near the new lock and dam @ Olmstead, IL, are an example, the supports for the I-24 bridge over the Ohio River are another. USACE has to dredge big time, immediately downstream of the latter, right out in the middle of the river, often. I’d say yearly at least.

Maybe somebody by now understands enough about such formation(s) that we could place rip-rap weirs or artificial islands upstream of a bridge such that Mo’ Nature creates sandbars that would protect the bridge supports, with a sort of self-scoured shipping channel between them. Essentially, let “Mom” do most of the material transport. That might take 2-3 years, but these bridges take years to build — make the creation of the artificial islands the 1st step.

Could this work? Maybe?

[Bob Ireland]

***Can America rebuild the bridge?***

Replacing the World Trade Center involved much wasted time and countless controversies and battles!❗

[combat_boots]

Maersk note

https://gab.com/Matt_Bracken/posts/112178361307020235/media/1

[Neverlift]

If we can re-educate the under water basket weavers so they can become under water welders, we will be OK.

[rodguy911]

Great thread thanks for posting it.

Here's is what I have found.

Microsoft Threat intel did a great piece on a chicom hacker group names volt Typhoon.These clowns use a technique called living off the land which makes it near impossible to find them. its described below:

Volt Typhoon targets US critical infrastructure with living-off-the-land techniques

...........................

Volt Typhoon and other Chinese groups accused of hacking the US and others

By Reuters

May 25, 202311:59 AM EDTUpdated 10 months ago

By Microsoft Threat Intelligence

SINGAPORE, May 25 (Reuters)

- Chinese hacking teams have been blamed by Western intelligence agencies and cybersecurity groups for digital intrusion campaigns across the world, targeting everything from government and military organizations to corporations and media groups.

Cybersecurity firms believe many of those groups are backed by China's government. U.S.-based Mandiant has said some Chinese hacking groups are operated by units of China's army.

China's authorities have consistently denied any form of state-sponsored hacking, saying China itself is a frequent target of cyberattacks. It has dubbed the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) as "the world's largest hacker organization".

Some of the biggest Chinese hacking teams identified by intelligence agencies and cybersecurity groups are:

'VOLT TYPHOON'

Western intelligence agencies and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab said on May 24 that Volt Typhoon, a group they described as state-sponsored, had been spying on a range of U.S. critical infrastructure organizations, from telecommunications to transportation hubs.

They described the attacks in 2023 as one of the largest known Chinese cyber-espionage campaigns against American critical infrastructure.

China's foreign ministry described the reports as part of a U.S. disinformation campaign.

'BACKDOORDIPLOMACY'

Palo Alto Networks, a U.S. cybersecurity firm, says its research showed BackdoorDiplomacy has links to the Chinese state and is part of the APT15 hacking group.

A Reuters report in May identified BackdoorDiplomacy as being behind a widespread series of digital intrusions over several years against key Kenyan ministries and state institutions. The Chinese authorities said it was not aware of such hacking and described the accusations as baseless.

https://encyclopedia.kaspersky.com/glossary/lotl-living-off-the-land/

A Living off the Land (LotL) attack describes a cyberattack in which intruders use legitimate software and functions available in the system to perform malicious actions on it.

Living off the land means surviving on what you can forage, hunt, or grow in nature. LotL cyberattack operators forage on target systems for tools, such as operating system components or installed software, they can use to achieve their goals. LotL attacks are often classified as fileless because they do not leave any artifacts behind.

LotL tools

Most LotL attacks employ the following legitimate tools:

PowerShell, a script-launching framework that offers broad functionality for Windows device administration. Attackers use PowerShell to launch malicious scripts, escalate privileges, install backdoors, and so on.

WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation), an interface for access to various Windows components. For adversaries, WMI is a convenient tool for accessing credentials, bypassing security instruments (such as user account control (UAC) and antivirus tools), stealing files, and enabling lateral movement across the network.

Risks associated with LotL attacks

Attackers do not leave traces in the form of malicious files on device hard drives, so Living off the Land attacks cannot be detected by comparing signatures.

Additionally, operating system tools, such as PowerShell and WMI, may appear in the security software's allowlist, which also impedes detection of their anomalous activity.

Finally, adversaries’ use of legitimate tools also complicates the investigation and attribution of cyberattacks.

Protection against LotL

To counter LotL attacks, cybersecurity professionals use solutions based on behavioral analysis. The technology detects anomalous program and user activity – actions that could signify an attack in progress.

Tools and techniques that can counter LotL attacks include EDR solutions and threat hunting.

Here's a clip about volt typhoon

Microsoft Defender XDR

Living off the land

Microsoft has uncovered stealthy and targeted malicious activity focused on post-compromise credential access and network system discovery aimed at critical infrastructure organizations in the United States. The attack is carried out by Volt Typhoon, a state-sponsored actor based in China that typically focuses on espionage and information gathering. Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that this Volt Typhoon campaign is pursuing development of capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises.

Volt Typhoon has been active since mid-2021 and has targeted critical infrastructure organizations in Guam and elsewhere in the United States. In this campaign, the affected organizations span the communications, manufacturing, utility, transportation, construction, maritime, government, information technology, and education sectors. Observed behavior suggests that the threat actor intends to perform espionage and maintain access without being detected for as long as possible.

Microsoft is choosing to highlight this Volt Typhoon activity at this time because of our significant concern around the potential for further impact to our customers. Although our visibility into these threats has given us the ability to deploy detections to our customers, the lack of visibility into other parts of the actor's activity compelled us to drive broader community awareness and further investigations and protections across the security ecosystem.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/05/24/volt-typhoon-targets-us-critical-infrastructure-with-living-off-the-land-techniques/

.....................

https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-144a