Good morning. Here’s your Situational Awareness for Tuesday, 31 August 2021.
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- Justice Breyer mulls retirement
- Manufacturers piling up inventory
- Indo-Pacific naval show of force
- Education Dept. sues states
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
SCOTUS: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is reportedly weighing a decision to step down. Appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994, Justice Breyer, 83, is the oldest member of the Supreme Court. He said, expressing concern over the late Justice Ginsberg, “I don’t want somebody appointed who will just reverse everything I’ve done for the last 25 years.” (Analyst Comment: Confirming Breyer’s replacement during the current administration would not fundamentally change the ideological makeup of the court. A more liberal appointment is expected in order to appease progressives following the controversial confirmation of Justices Coney-Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, setting up another partisan Senate battle. – D.M.)
SUPPLY: Supply chain disruptions continue to impact manufacturers. From automotive semiconductors to door lock components, a combination of shortages and bottlenecks are affecting countries across the world. Lack of workers and “overwhelmed transportation networks” are pushing some companies to secure supplies by buying their own shipping vessels. Durable good inventories rose by 12% last month as items remain in-production. (AC: The big three automakers have thousands of unsold vehicles waiting for components, sitting in airport parking lots or staged at nearby race tracks. The shortages and product availability issues are expected to worsen this fall. Should the global security situation change, expect current disruptions to pale in comparison. -D.M.)
NAVY: Six naval task groups from the U.S., UK, Australia, Japan and India are conducting operational deployments in the Indo-Pacific region. Each nation is conducting separate and joint exercises to test interoperability and coordinating broad coverage of the Indo-Pacific region. Bilateral exercises occurred throughout the summer between China’s own exercises which were designed to show “determination against provocation.” (AC: U.S. Navy officials and Indo-Pacific partners stated they will increase their maritime presence in the region specifically to deter a surprise invasion of Taiwan or strike against Japan. The deployment of NATO member vessels to the region highlights the global realignment toward the communist country. – D.M.)
CIVIL RIGHTS: The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is launching civil rights investigations into Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah for their mask mandate bans in schools. Other states like Florida and Texas have attempted to ban masks mandates but were met with court injunctions, preventing the DOE from expanding their investigation. According to the DOE, students with disabilities or underlying health conditions are prevented from “safely accessing in-person education” and could lose federal education funding as a result. (AC: The Federal government is unable or unwilling to issue national mask mandates and is instead expanding coercive actions to compel compliance by the states. While some states are currently in court, the Biden administration is creating an impossible situation; lose in court or lose funding. – D.M.)
HAZARDS WARNING
HURRICANE SEASON: The National Hurricane Center issued flood watches which extend from the Gulf Coast Region across the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, central and southern Appalachians, Mid-Atlantic and southern New England as Tropical Depression Ida moves across the U.S. According to the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Storm Kate is not projected to impact the U.S. mainland.
In today’s Early Warning briefing, Mike examines the state of the U.S. military and Max details recent Far Left activity. Upgrade your Situational Awareness to Early Warning here: https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe