Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Tuesday, 08 February 2022. You can receive this daily briefing by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- Global food prices near historic record
- RNC comments raise political violence concerns
- NIJ study links mass shooters to mental health
- Trucker union pushes vaccine exemption
- Midstream strategy for supply chain relief
- Chinese company faces federal charges for theft
- Hazards Warning
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SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
GLOBAL FOOD PRICES NEAR HISTORIC RECORD: The United Nations Food and Agriculture (FAO) reported that food prices have risen significantly over the last year to almost the highest recorded. Significant price rises were seen in grain by 12.5%. Grain costs have a high potential to spike with an invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is the fifth-largest global exporter of winter wheat. The highest price increases were seen in meat and vegetable oil, rising 17.3% and 33.9% respectively from the previous year. Key factors for persistent high prices in North America are supply chain bottlenecks and inflation increasing the cost of production and transportation. (Analyst Comment: Near-term forecasts expect to continue seeing higher food prices. Supply constraints with persistent high demand and inflation have continued to influence food prices. Costs to transport have also risen due to current gas prices. Gas and grain prices are expected to see the highest jump if Russia invades Ukraine this month. – D.F.)
RNC COMMENTS RAISE POLITICAL VIOLENCE CONCERNS: During a Republican National Committee event, the party chair criticized Jan 6 investigations saying there is a “persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol.” Media outlets are publishing opinion-pieces quoting lawmakers from both parties decrying the Capitol breach, while casting McDaniel’s comments as approving of the violence. (AC: The comments will likely be interpreted by the Far Left as a pretext for more political violence “in response” to perceived right wing extremism. While Republican lawmakers have quieted on public statements about the Capitol Hill protests, Democrats will attempt to keep the issue top of mind for the midterms. Expect campaign advertisements from both parties to exploit fear, uncertainty, and doubt over events like the Capitol breach and Floyd’s Rebellion. The use of this appeal has a high likelihood of success and could drive extremists to reignite political violence. – D.M.)
NIJ STUDY LINKS MASS SHOOTERS TO MENTAL HEALTH: A National Institute of Justice (NIJ) supported study reviewed mass shootings in the U.S. from 1966 to 2019. Key findings were that 20% of the mass shootings were from 2014-2019, with death tolls per year rising from eight to 51 per year. Suicidal mental health factors strongly correlated to shooters, with 39% found in adults, 92% in student K-12, and 100% found in college or university students. Firearms used in mass shootings were primarily pistols, at over three-quarters, with rifles used in a quarter of recorded incidents. (AC: The study findings can be used by gun control advocates as justification for “red flag” laws to filter out those determined too unstable to possess firearms. The study provides few recommendations on gun control policy with examples of stolen weapons unsecured in homes used in mass shootings; however, the findings focus on mental health indicators. – D.F.)
TRUCKER UNION PUSHES VACCINE EXEMPTIONS: A major trucking union has requested vaccine requirement exemptions in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. In letters sent to President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau, the request for drivers to be designated essential workers with exemptions from mandates established in January. The union stated that it “cannot endorse short-sighted policies that disrupt commerce, put truckers out of work, and create shortages for essential supplies”. (AC: Organized unions are putting their weight behind the U.S. movement against vaccine requirements for cross border travel. Major Unions have shown recent support for the “Convoy to D.C. 2022” movement as the protest organizers finalize plans to meet their deadline for March 1, 2022. – D.F.)
MIDSTREAM STRATEGY FOR SUPPLY CHAIN RELIEF: An increasing number of retailers rely on medium-sized logistics centers to meet revolving demand in stores. The idea is to reduce retail storage and use internal “last-mile” delivery for high-volume consumer goods. The overseas logistics backlog will likely continue, leading retailers to implement AI-enabled logistics forecasting to target shipments. (AC: The network-enabled logistics future represents a key cyber-target for malign actors. The logistics relief plans face substantial risk as cyber actors often execute ransomware attacks on medium and large-sized logistics companies. Retailers are attempting to shield the consumer from shortages by staging inventory in sub-regional distribution centers. The inventory market for most sectors will continue to face disruption as more than 200,000 retail locations closed throughout the 20-21 retail years. – D.M.)
CHINESE COMPANY FACES FEDERAL CHARGES FOR TECH THEFT: Blacklisted Chinese telecommunications company Hytera is facing federal charges for attempting to steal telecommunications technology from U.S. based company Motorola. According to recently unsealed documents in the case, Hytera recruited and hired people who worked with Chicago-based Motorola’s mobile radios and digital mobile radios, also known as “walkie-talkies.” The formerly sealed indictment, which was filed in May of 2021, alleges that Hytera is guilty of 21 counts of conspiracy to steal trade secrets and possession or attempted possession of secrets. The company faces a criminal fine of up to three times the value of the trade secrets if found guilty. Former Motorola employees were also charged with attempting to steal trade secrets but were not named since they have yet to appear in court. (AC: This is yet another example of economic espionage relating to China’s theft of intellectual property from U.S. based tech firms. China will likely shrug off any convictions and continue their espionage activities until the U.S. removes Chinese access to U.S. businesses. – M.M)
HAZARDS/WX:
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