North

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Jan 12 2021

Carnival Cruise Lines said it expects a loss in 2021, but it's booking numbers are running ahead of 2019 numbers for 2022. 

Carnival resumed a limited amount of cruising in Italy in September & and Germany in October. The capacity in all cruises was reduced significantly to for safety. 

City of Berkley is considering banning Sale of Gas powered cars by 2027. Any ordinance, under consideration on these lines, is not expected to apply to trucks. The ban, if implemented, would apply to Berkley City limits only. One could go to nearby Oakland to buy a gas powered car. 

Jan 11 2021

Starting today, with all new bookings, Delta Airlines with charge $125 each way for accompanying pets not certified as trained Service Animals.

Shortage of Semiconductor Chips slows down car assembly. 

   -- Toyota forced to slow production in it's factory in San Antonio Texas.

   -- Ford moved it's schedule factory downtime in Louisville, Kentucky plant a week ahead from next

      week to this week. 

  -- Fiat Chrysler has temporarily closed factories in Brampton, Ontario and a small SUV plant in

     Toluca, Mexico. 

The shortage stems from the fact that slowing down car sales during pandemic triggered Semiconductor manufacturers to move production in other high demand areas. It takes  a lead time of 6-9 months for car manufacturers to procure the chips.

Jan 08 2021 :

Food Prices at 6 Year High expected to continue going even higher. Factors affecting food prices in 2021 include 

(1) Drought threatening Corn & Soy Crops in South America. Demand in China for these crops continues to increase.

(2) Palm Oil, used in nearly half of all foods is at a 10 year high. 

(3) Government is suspending Corn Export licenses in Argentina & Russia is curbing Wheat exports. 

Jan 06 2021 : 

Delta Airlines is adding Viasat as an in-flight Wi-Fi Provider. The move is expected to bring the airlines closer to offering free in-flight Wi-Fi in near future. The current provider for in-flight Wi-Fi, Gogo, will continue to be offered for the time being. 

Jan 03 2021 : 

Georgia has launched hotline to answer some questions from the public about Coronavirus Vaccines. 

The hotline will provide residents with information such as when people will be eligible to get inoculated and where they can find a provider when the time comes. 

The hotline phone number is 1-888-357-0169.

The Department of Public Health also have a dedicated web page at dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine. 

Dec 30 2020 :

$2000 Stimulus check blocked by Senator Mitch McConnell, clubbing it with a new bill requiring passage of two unrelated provisions (1) Repeal Section 230, Legal liability protection for internet platforms & (2) Create a commission to address election issues. 

Drones are Fastest Growing Segment in Transportation with about 1.7 Million under registration. Amazon founder once predicted his company would use drones to deliver goods to customer doorsteps in next 5 years, but that prediction is already off by 2 years. FAA Officials said they will allow small drones to fly over people at night. The drones will have to be equipped so that they can be identified by law enforcement at night.

U.S. railroad carloads increased by 2.8% in fourth quarter from a year ago as people bought more goods instead of dining out. CSX and Union Pacific see opportunities to take some cargo off the highway touting improved on-time performance and fuel efficiency. First gain in 2 years! 

Dec 10 2020 :

General Motors subsidiary Cruise is testing 5 truly driverless cars with no drivers, not even backup drivers, on the streets of San Francisco. 

Rival Waymo, a spinoff from Google already operates driverless test cars, with no backup drivers in Arizona. Nuro deploys driverless cars in Mountainview.

Amazon's Zoox and China's AutoX have permits to test driverless cars in California.