Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Thursday, 14 October 2021. You can receive this daily briefing by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- Jan. 6 Committee prepares criminal referrals for Bannon
- Washington Post, WSJ earned millions for Chinese propaganda
- California bans off-road gas engines, including mowers
- Biden’s logistics fix unlikely to improve port situation
- In Focus: Slowing growth and the risk of another recession
- Economic Warning INTSUM
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
JAN 6: Former Trump officials Kash Patel and Stephen Bannon are set to appear before the Congressional inquiry into the Capitol Hill protests. Lawmakers do not expect the witnesses to appear and will make criminal referrals to the Justice Department in response. An additional subpoena was issued for former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. Clark allegedly “concocted proposals” to preserve a victory for President Trump. Former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino, the former White House deputy chief of staff for communications, are slated for testimony on Friday. (Analyst Comment: Based on media interviews, the Congressional panel would like nothing more than to issue criminal referrals for former Trump officials. This allows the Left’s “insurrection and assault on democracy” narrative to continue into 2022. Ongoing legislative failures by Democrats could fuel enthusiasm against their political opponents. Clark’s testimony will likely be used to expand the FBI’s role in “election monitoring,” at the state secretary level. – D.M.)
MEDIA: Chinese state-backed media operations are expanding rapidly, according to data analysts. The Chinese media outlets CGTN, China Daily, Xinhua, and People’s Daily report between 86-116 million “subscribers” each on Facebook, or roughly three times CNN’s current presence. This coincides with roughly $20 million in payments to the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and others to include the “China Watch” propaganda insert in publications dating back to 2016. (AC: The Chinese state-media is largely propagated through bot-networks or fake accounts across social media platforms. This is designed to build credibility with the media illiterate, who may not notice “extremely low interaction rate(s).” Domestic and international media outlets are increasingly self-censoring negative coverage of China in order to keep advertising dollars flowing. – D.M.)
GAS POWER: California governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning all off-road gas-powered engines, including mowers and chainsaws. The bill will take effect in 2024 or earlier if regulators can determine an implementation schedule before 2024. Critics note the massive retrofitting cost faced by landscapers and average consumers. Equipment life cycles, battery capacity, and grid capacity are major concerns as the all-electric mandates take effect. (AC: The majority of electric lawn work components come from China, including batteries. The additional strain on California’s power grid could delay implementation, but other deep blue states are proposing similar mandates for consumers and commercial operators which could lead to widespread adoption of “green technology.” Without a substantial restructuring of the manufacturing and supply chains, this measure places the U.S. at a further strategic disadvantage with China. – D.M.)
LOS ANGELES: President Biden announced expansion of service hours at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. In addition, Walmart, FedEx, and UPS are moving to 24-hour operations to deliver more goods to consumers. Logistics experts are doubtful this will have any meaningful impact on supply chain disruptions as Los Angeles began offering expanded hours weeks ago. Harvard management professor WIll Shih warned that “the bottleneck will then shift elsewhere, like to the distribution centers and intermodal hubs.” (AC: Previously, the port director in Los Angeles said many businesses were slow to take up expanded hours as warehouse workers, truck drivers, and other logistics roles were not participating. The President’s approach to this is unlikely to have an impact on the availability of goods. Media reports of supply-chain shortages have entered the zeitgeist and could lead to panic-buying. – D.M.)
HAZARDS WARNING
HURRICANE SEASON: Nothing significant to report.
In today’s Early Warning, Mike takes a look an indicators of recession which could signal a long, dark winter. Upgrade your Situational Awareness to Early Warning here: https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe