HMM: China’s disappearing ships: The latest headache for the global supply chain.

Analysts think they’ve found the culprit: China’s Personal Information Protection Law, which took effect November 1. It requires companies that process data to receive approval from the Chinese government before they can let personal information leave Chinese soil — a rule that reflects the fear in Beijing that such data could end up in the hands of foreign governments.

The law doesn’t mention shipping data. But Chinese data providers might be withholding information as a precaution, according to Anastassis Touros, AIS network team leader at Marine Traffic, a major ship-tracking information provider.

“Whenever you have a new law, we have a time period where everyone needs to check out if things are okay, ” Touros said.

Other industry experts have more clues of the law’s influence. Cook said that colleagues in China told her that some AIS transponders were removed from stations based along Chinese coastlines at the start of the month, at the instruction of national security authorities. The only systems allowed to remain needed to be installed by “qualified parties.”

Unintended consequence of Beijing’s new privacy law, or another power play by Xi?

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): This seems potentially much more nefarious to me.

THE CONSTITUTION TAKES IT OFF THE TABLE: Domestic Travel Ban for Unvaccinated ‘Not Off the Table’ Says Psaki.

COLD WAR II: Russia says Zircon hypersonic missile hit target in latest test.

KEVIN DOWNEY JR: The Myth of White Supremacy Is Getting People Killed But The Media Isn’t Telling You About It.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China’s Mysterious Hypersonic Weapon Can Stay In Orbit According To Space Force General.

“This is a categorically different system, because a fractional orbit is different than suborbital,” Saltzman continued. “A fractional orbit means it can stay on orbit as long as the user determines and then it de-orbits it as a part of the flight path.”

Historically, a fractional orbit has been defined as one in which the vehicle in question reaches orbit, but is brought back to Earth before fully circling the planet. However, the common working definition of so-called Fractional Orbital Bombardment Systems (FOBS), of which China’s system would seem to be a particularly novel example, has often been expanded to include concepts that do complete one or more revolutions. Saltzman is clearly suggesting here that the Chinese system is designed to spend a more protracted period in space.
…
This kind of FOBS offers a number of advantages over a more typical IBCM, such as a depressed flight profile and a capability to hold any target within a strip of geography along the orbit at risk, presenting challenges to an opponent’s early warning networks and their ability to anticipate where and when a strike might occur. Beyond that, the orbital profile means such a weapon could attack from the opposite direction from which the bulk of an enemy’s existing early warning infrastructure might be pointed.

One of the reasons MAD worked in keeping the peace with the Soviets was its predictability.

Beijing is playing by an entirely different set of rules, or maybe it would be more accurate to say they’re playing without any rules.

FOR AS LONG AS THE LINCOLN PROJECT GRIFTERS KEEP THEM CONVINCED THEY’RE HURTING REPUBLICANS. NEXT QUESTION? How Much Longer Will Democrat Donors Waste Their Money With The Lincoln Project?

THE FAILURE IS ALREADY BAKED IN. THIS WOULD JUST MAKE IT WORSE: Passing the Spending Bill Could Doom Biden’s Presidency.

One of the strangest ticks of left-leaning punditry over the last year has been the contention that if Democrats in Congress didn’t join together to pass some sort of climate and social spending bill—the various multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation packages that have gone under the label Build Back Better—then President Joe Biden would have presided over a failed presidency. The idea was that without this legislative package, Biden would have no accomplishments, no legacy, and nothing to show for his years in office with congressional majorities. Without the spending bill, Biden and the Democratic Party were doomed.

On the contrary, the evidence suggests that Biden is already presiding over a failed presidency—and passing the spending bill could further cement that failure.

A new poll from Echelon Insights puts Biden’s predicament in rather stark relief. Over half of voters disapprove of the way Biden is handling the economy, foreign policy, and his job as president. Similarly, inflation is among the top concerns for voters right now, and 52 percent of registered voters believe Biden is making inflation worse. The question poll respondents were asked is pretty telling: “Do you think Joe Biden’s policies are making the inflation situation…Worse? Better? Or not making a difference at all?”

The keyword in that query is policies. Voters blame Biden’s policies for current economic turmoil.

They’re bad policies.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Corrupt CNN Won’t Really Get Rid of Sleazebag Chris Cuomo. “If ever a family deserved to be unemployed, it’s this one. The thing is, however, that Chris isn’t without a job, he’s merely been suspended. Yes, an indefinite suspension isn’t good, but we’re talking about CNN here. This is the network that let Jeffrey Toobin back on the air after he had a little quality time with his exposed shvantz on a Zoom call with his buddies at The New Yorker.”

BLUE ON BLUE: Journalists’ Knives Come Out for Chris Cuomo. “We’re not sure why the news organization’s managers and editors would choose to shred their journalistic reputation by allowing Andrew M. Cuomo’s influence network to embed itself within their organization, but shred it they have.”

ANOTHER CRISIS BY DESIGN: Iran Nuclear Deal: Futile, Dangerous Talks Continue in Europe.

BARACK OBAMA IS THE HANGOVER THAT NEVER ENDS: Federal taxpayers pay millions to fund critical race theory program that trains students to promote CRT. “In 2016 under the Obama administration, the federal government awarded its first five-year grant of $1,116,895 to North Carolina Central University (NCCU) for “training” college students in critical race theory.”

JOANNE JACOBS: ‘Melting pot’ charter under attack. “A Boston-area charter school is in trouble with state regulators because it focuses on ‘the fundamental ideals of our American Culture’ and embraces ‘the melting pot theory by highlighting our citizens’ and students’ commonality, not their differences,’ writes Molly Ball in Time. New state standards require cultural responsiveness.”

I’M SO OLD, I CAN REMEMBER WHEN TEHRAN WAS BROKE AND BOXED IN: Israel Says Iran Preparing to Enrich Uranium to Weapons-Grade Level.

JOE BIDEN’S RETURN TO GOOD GOVERNANCE: Amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants in Democrats’ reconciliation bill could fail in Senate. “The Congressional Budget Office projects that more than 6.5 million illegal immigrants would receive legal status or a path to citizenship as a result of the legislation in its current form.”

Plus: “Democrats are also seeking to drop the requirement that a child’s Social Security number is needed for parents to collect the child tax credit of up to $3,600 per child.”

AJ KAUFMAN: Does Kevin McCarthy Have What It Takes to Be Speaker?

FIGHT THE NARRATIVE: No, inflation is not ‘good for you.’

“Inflation is good for you!” proclaims a headline from the Intercept. “Inflation is bad for the 1 percent but helps out almost everyone else,” the article claims.

Inflation “may be a good sign,” agrees New York Times business writer Jeanna Smialek. “Don’t panic” about inflation, says economist Paul Krugman.

Krugman believes that recent price increases are only temporary, but why would anyone think that inflation is a good thing? The Intercept article points out that, if you have a lot of debt, inflation will pay part of that debt for you. But the article implies that the 1 percent are all creditors while the other 99 percent are all debtors, neither of which are true.

If you foolishly borrowed $35,000 to get a master’s degree in puppeteering, then you might welcome inflation. The same is true if you are a transit agency that borrowed $2 billion to build light rail. But if you pay off your credit cards in full each month, rent your home, and maybe hope to buy a house someday, inflation is not your friend.

The worst part of inflation is that central banks respond to it by raising interest rates, which raises the price of housing, cars, or anything else that people buy on credit. The Intercept article claims this is an evil conspiracy by the 1 percent to keep everyone else poor. Instead, the article argues, we should just let inflation run wild.

Who you gonna believe, The Intercept or your own lyin’ bank statement?

UPDATE: Rittenhouse No Longer Enrolled at ASU Following Left-Wing Protests.

DESPITE? Biden Wants To Empower the IRS Despite Its Track Record of Trampling Rights and Undermining Privacy.

Previously: Introducing Joe Biden’s Weapons-Grade IRS.

VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR WEEKLY INSANITY WRAP: Legal Damages for Hurt Feelings and the End of Religious Freedom.

Plus:

• Twitter allows #MAYOMONKEYSGOTTAGO to trend
• DOCTOR Jill Biden Christmas-snubs her illegitimate granddaughter
• Colorado mental health pros opting out of single-payer

So much more at the link, you’d have to be crazy to miss it.

SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE IS RESTING COMFORTABLY: ‘Bail Reform Project’ Antifa Scumbag Also A Crook. “If you remember last week’s story on just who GoFundMe allows to raise money, you might have noticed The Bail Project among the screenshotted examples. Well, Holly Zoller, one of four major figures in The Bail Project, turns out not to be just a leftwing antifa scumbag, but also apparently a serial scam-artist scumbag.”

#RESIST: Our Country Is Going ‘Down the Drain’: Former Disney Animator Takes on the Left. “Known on social media as PolitiZoid, the Los Angeles animator believes ‘it’s time to do something’ to push back against the left, so he and his team have created several fantastically animated and very politically astute videos.”

GET OUT OF MY NIGHTMARES, GET AWAY FROM MY CAR: Biden’s ‘Infrastructure’ Bill Contains Backdoor ‘Kill Switch’ For Cars.

As has become standard for legislative mandates passed by Congress, this measure is disturbingly short on details. What we do know is that the “safety” device must “passively monitor the performance of a driver of a motor vehicle to accurately identify whether that driver may be impaired.”

Everything about this mandatory measure should set off red flares.

First, use of the word “passively” suggests the system will always be on and constantly monitoring the vehicle. Secondly, the system must connect to the vehicle’s operational controls, so as to disable the vehicle either before driving or during, when impairment is detected. Thirdly, it will be an “open” system, or at least one with a backdoor, meaning authorized (or unauthorized) third-parties can remotely access the system’s data at any time.

What could possibly go wrong?

HE GETS ALL THE RESPECT HE DESERVES: Hillary Thinks Americans Don’t ‘Really Appreciate’ Joe Biden. “Why don’t we appreciate how much Papa Joe has done for us? It’s because of media outlets that don’t parrot The Narrative™ that the left wants to feed us, of course.”

She must be deep into the chardonnay again.

IT’S DIFFERENT NOW BECAUSE REASONS: Candidate Joe Biden thinks President Joe Biden is a racist xenophobe.

IF FAUCI WERE ANY GOOD AT HIS JOB, HE MIGHT HAVE A POINT: Rand Paul and Ted Cruz Respond to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Claims of Political Persecution by Republicans.