Day: January 14, 2018

How an Illegal Shipping Container Reshaped the World Economy

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by Robert Chovanculiak   New internet technologies and companies fight against the public institutions on various fronts. The media headlines are full of it: They want to ban Uber in London and have already done so in Paris.They want to ban Airbnb in Prague and have de facto banned it in Berlin.The opponents of the sharing economy are accusing it of not following the regulations. The advocates for the sharing economy say that these regulations do not apply to it. Now, it is not important which of these two camps is right. It is important to realize that this is not the first case of regulation and innovation crashing. Practically every era has had its Uber or Airbnb.The problem is that people are dying and laws are changing, so these examples are long forgotten today. Container Innovation An example of this innovation is a standardized cargo container. Today, there are more than 20 million of these containers around the globe and we move practically everything in them. This innovation from the late sixties completely changed the world. It transformed the way the ports are structured and operate,  where the factories are built, and how international trade and globalization have developed. Before…

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Report: Tennessee Jumps from Number 12 to Number 5 in U-Haul’s Top Growth States for 2017

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Tennessee weighed in as the Number Five Growth State, according data released by rental giant U-Haul. The top-five status represents another huge gain in ranking over the last three years of reporting. Of all the one-way U-Haul traffic in Tennessee, the statement reports that arriving trucks made for a whopping 50.3 percent – catapulting its ranking seven spots in one year. Tennessee came in at number 12 in 2016 and was number 34 in 2015. Jeff Porter, U-Haul Company of Nashville president said, “We have no state income tax, beautiful weather and Southern hospitality. Growth isn’t restricted to Nashville, either. We’re seeing job growth everywhere. Nashville has started to grow up rather than out. There are new condos and high-rises. The Gulch is an up-and-coming community downtown. The district has an industrial history but has become a hot spot for the younger generation.” The areas within Tennessee that saw the most “incoming” activity are: Maryville, Murfreesboro, Columbia, Lebanon, Athens, Clarksville, Oak Ridge and Brentwood paced Tennessee’s net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks. The company said that Kingsport, Collierville and Franklin were among other notable cities to post strong net gains. U-Haul calculates their annual ‘Growth State’ list by observing the net gain of one-way U-Haul truck rentals entering a state versus leaving…

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Commentary: Trump Says What Normal Americans Think, Establishment Goes Nuts

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by George Rasley, CHQ Editor   [Editor’s note: This commentary contains strong adult language not suitable for young children.] We’ve observed an interesting phenomenon since Donald Trump was elected President; it is now common for almost any political discussion to include the phrase “normal Americans” to contrast what people outside the Beltway think about issues versus what the establishment elite think about the issues. Does that mean that liberals are not “normal?” We think it does, and we cite the liberal explosion of outrage over the President asking why we need more immigration from “shithole” countries as evidence. In an Oval Office meeting at the White House Thursday, ABC News reports that President Trump grew frustrated at a proposed bipartisan immigration plan that would scale back the visa lottery program, but not eliminate it, asking those in the room why they would want more people from Haiti, Africa and other “shithole countries” coming into the United States, according to multiple sources either briefed on or familiar with the discussion. ABC reports the president suggested instead that the U.S. should have more people from places like Norway, whose prime minister he met with Wednesday, according to these sources. Note there’s no firsthand…

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Glenn Simpson Retracts Claim FBI Had a Mole Inside Trump Team

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Glenn Simpson, the Fusion GPS founder who sponsored the unverified anti-Trump dossier, claimed in August and again Jan. 2 that the FBI has a source inside the Trump camp who lent credence to the document. When a transcript of his secret August testimony was released on Tuesday, news headlines immediately latched onto the disclosure as a boon to a dossier whose core charges of Donald Trump-Russia collusion have been denied and not confirmed publicly.

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Keith Jackson, Leading College Football Broadcaster, Dies at 89

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Keith Jackson, the folksy voice of college football who for decades weaved backwoods wit through Saturday afternoon ABC broadcasts, has died. He was 89. In a 52-year broadcasting career, Jackson covered a wide variety of sports for radio and TV, including a rowing competition in the former Soviet Union, but he was best known as ABC’s voice of NCAA football — and for the homespun phrases he used in reporting it.

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Scientists Are Making Carbon Fiber from Plants Instead of Petroleum

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Carbon fiber is the Superman of materials. Five times stronger than steel and a fraction of the weight, it is used in everything from tennis rackets to golf clubs to bicycles to wind turbine blades to passenger airplanes to Formula One race cars. There’s just one catch: Carbon fiber is made from oil and other costly ingredients, making the end product exceptionally expensive. That’s why carbon fiber shows up in race cars but rarely makes it into minivans.

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