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NATO expands scientific cooperation with Ukraine – Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

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Cooperation and dialogue with Ukraine is deepening thanks to the countrys new status as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner, obtained in June 2020.

The NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme provides the Ukrainian scientific community with a platform to work side-by-side with NATO Allies and partner countries on security-related issues, according to a press release on the NATO website.

Ukraine is currently leading 27 ongoing activities, one of which is a key flagship project in the field of counter-terrorism called DEXTER (Detection of Explosives and Firearms to Counter Terrorism). It aims to develop an integrated system to detect explosives and firearms in public places, remotely and in real time, without disrupting the flow of passengers.

This project will contributeto NATOs enhanced role in the international fight against terrorism,said Dr Deniz Yuksel-Beten, senior SPS and partnerships cooperation advisor at NATO.

The SPS Programme also opens doors for Ukrainian experts especially young scientists and researchers.

In particular, in the field of security-related advanced technology, Ukrainian experts have collaborated with peers from the United Kingdom and the United States to increase the robustness of ground and air vehicles, as well as their performance, operational agility in severe terrain and resilience to failures.

This year, the SPS Programme has approved 13 new activities with Ukraine. These focus on the protection of soldiers and civilians from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear contamination; using advanced technology to strengthen civilian population resilience, and national medical and emergency-response systems; and developing tools to protect military personnel from biological and explosive threats, while enhancing their energy efficiency.

Through these new activities, Ukrainian co-directors will work together with experts from Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom and other partner countries including Belarus, Jordan and Sweden.

As reported, on June 12, the North Atlantic Council recognized Ukraine as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner. This status is part of NATOs Partnership Interoperability Initiative, which aims to maintain and deepen cooperation between Allies and partners that have made significant contributions to NATO-led operations and missions.

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Why Trump’s Troop Withdrawal from Germany Is Only the Beginning – The National Interest

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NATO is in trouble. Last week Secretary of Defense Mark Esper followed through on President Trumps threats to withdraw forces from Germany. Esper announced twelve thousand troops would depart Germany, some remaining in Europe, mostly Belgium and Italy, and others returning to the US where they will then join rotational deployments in Eastern Europe and around the world. The announcement was condemned in Washington and caused a sense of foreboding on the other side of the Atlantic. The significance of the troop level cuts has less to do with its impact on US force posture in Europe than what it signals about the U.S. commitment to NATO, especially should Trump win a second term. If Donald Trump is reelected in November, last weeks arbitrary and uncoordinated withdrawal of U.S. forces from Germany portends a bleak future for historys most successful alliance: Trump will pull the United States out of NATO.

The Adults Have Left the Building

Over the last four years, there has been a persistent narrative that, despite Trumps reckless inclinations on foreign affairs, the actual policies that have been put in place have been relatively normal. Trump may tweet one thing but the adults in his administration ignore it or limit the damage.

At the beginning of the Trump administration, Europeans concern over Trump was mitigated by the presence of trusted senior officials in government, namely Secretary of Defense Mattis, National Security Advisor H. R. MacMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Trump may express bizarre fealty to Putin but, look at the sanctions placed on Russia or the evictions of Russian personnel following the Skripal attacks (all of which occurred during Tillerson and MacMasters final month). Meanwhile, the Pentagon under Mattis, strengthened its force presence in Europe, turning the European Reassurance Initiative into the Deterrence Initiative.

But the adults have left the building. Mattis even wrote an ode to allies upon exiting, explaining how America's strength in the world is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. Trumps hostility towards Americas allies prompted Mattis to depart.

The Trump administration is now staffed with officials, many unconfirmed by the Senate, that are there not because of their qualifications but because they are loyal to Trump and willing to do what he says. His tweets are now acted upon.

Espers announcement of the troop withdrawals revealed what policy by tweet looks like.

His announcement made clear this was about appeasing the Presidents desire to slight Germany and not US national security. In attempting to lay out a logic or a strategy for withdrawals, he simply revealed there was none. Instead, he offered a sloppy and ill-conceived strategy to justify the presidents dangerous rhetoric. One could soundly make the case for adjusting force posture amid shifting geopolitical dynamics in Europe, for example repositioning forces in Poland or Southeast Europe. It could also make sense to move headquarters to Belgium to better integrate with NATO. But such a decision would require coordination and consultation with the military services, Americas allies in the region, and members of Congress. It would require addressing logistical concerns and answering questions about deterrence against Russian aggression. But none of this was done.

Esper was in a rush to please his boss. But why does Trump care so much about troop numbers in Germany?

The Bear in the Room

Trump and Espers actions only make sense in the context of the broader approach to Europe and Russia throughout the Trump administration. Trumps affinity and praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his desire to mend ties and work with Russia is consistent and clear. Whatever the reason for this, and speculation is rife, it is simply a trend that cannot be ignored. Similarly, there has also been a clear and consistent pattern of hostility from Trump toward NATO and Americas closest democratic allies in Europe. From the beginning of his presidency, Trump has called into question whether the United States would actually honor its NATO security commitments and has repeatedly discussed withdrawing the United States from NATO.

Trump has treated NATO as if it were a protection racket and he was the mob boss coming to collect. He has little idea of how the Alliance works, and said, according to John Bolton, I dont give a shit about NATO. Trump questioned whether the United States would defend a treaty ally, claiming in an interview that Montenegro has very aggressive people, asking himself why the U.S. should defend it. During his first visit to NATO headquarters in May 2017, Trump had yet to reaffirm his commitment to Article 5. White House staff told the New York Times prior to that speech he would do so, and it was in his prepared remarks. But when he addressed the summit, there was no mention of Article 5. It would only come weeks later, slipped into a press conference in Washington.

In former Trump National Security Advisor John Boltons new book, he even claims that he talked Trump out of announcing he would pull the United States out of NATO at the 2018 summit. Bolton recently remarked at the Aspen Security Conference that the way to talk Trump down was to highlight the reelection ramifications. Bolton fears a second term Trump would be able to act more on his tweets. As he recently told Carol Lee at the Aspen Security Forum:

If the political guardrail of reelection is removed, and the most powerful argument any of us ever used in the foreign affairs area to get Trump to do something in the first term, that is to say the risk of volcanic negative reaction by Republicans in Congress is removed, I think the prospect is that he will do more of what he talks about rather than do more of what he did under complaint and criticism. That could well mean, whether with respect to Russia or NATO or any other issue in foreign policy, that what he actually says he would then do because there would not be the fear of losing political credit."

The best hope for NATO in a Trump second term is that the Alliance, and the prospect of an American withdrawal, simply does not cross the radar of the easily distracted president. But this is where Trumps desire to improve relations with Russia spells trouble for the Alliance.

Undermining the NATO alliance is Russias top strategic objective and has been since the Alliance was formed after World War II. Russia has long called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Europe and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov could barely hide his pleasure as he told CNN: "We never hid that [we think] the less American soldiers there are on the European continent the calmer it is in Europe." Russia seeks a new grand bargain with the United States to recreate set defined spheres of influence and to see NATO, which it sees as a Cold War relic designed to threaten Russia, drastically downsized or dismantled.

And now Russia has an American president who demonstrates clear hostility to the Alliance and is intent on transforming bilateral relations and appears to listen to what Putin has to say. When Putin and Trump met in Helsinki, Trump was constrained by a coming midterm election, the Mueller investigation, and the oddly timed announcement of indictments against Russians for interfering in the election. Nevertheless, the warmth in that meeting and Trumps willingness to follow Putins lead was evident. The adults still in the room were quick to assure that former Ambassador Michael McFaul would not be made available to Russian authorities and that the United States wouldnt engage in some bizarre cybersecurity cooperation.

Whats clear however is that in that meeting and others, Trump and Putin got along extremely well. What is less clear is what theyve been talking about in their many conversations. Trump has hidden the content of at least five meetings with Putin from U.S. officials. It was recently revealed that Trump and Putin have talked seven times since the coronavirus pandemic began but we know little about what they are discussing. However, we do know that when it was revealed that Russia put bounties on U.S. forces in Afghanistan Trump still didnt broach it with Putin. Instead, he downplayed it and parroted Kremlin talking points.

All this adds up to a very bleak picture for NATO should Trump remain in office. The former Commander of the U.S. Army in Europe Ben Hodges described last weeks withdrawal of forces from Germany as a gift to Putin. He was right. But the ultimate prize is not in the withdrawal but what Russia stands to get should Trump win a second term. The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Germany was a taste of whats to come with a second Trump term: the end of NATO.

Max Bergmann is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He served in the State Department from 20112017. James Lamond is a fellow at the Center for American Progress.

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Why Trump's Troop Withdrawal from Germany Is Only the Beginning - The National Interest

5,500 US troops to be stationed in Poland – SOFREP

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Poland and the U.S. have reached the Enhanced Cooperation Agreement. Under it, 5,500 U.S. troops will be stationed at bases in Poland; thePolish will bear the majority of the costs associated with the U.S. troops move.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that the Agreement with Poland will enhance deterrence against Russia, strengthen NATO, reassure our Allies, and our forward presence in Poland on NATOs eastern flank will improve our strategic and operational flexibility.

Last week, Esper had stated that relocating the Germany-based troops to Belgium, Italy, and back to the U.S. is a strategic decision that will benefit the U.S. and NATO.

However, President Trump did put the Polish in an awkward situation vis--vis their German allies as the increase in troops in Poland is at the cost of Germany.

President Trump did not mince words last week regarding Germany. He stated that Germany has not been living up to the agreed-upon 2 percent GDP spending on defense. He added that the U.S. was tired of being suckers so were reducing the force because theyre not paying their bills. Its very simple, theyre delinquent.

According to Pentagon spokesman LTC Thomas Campbell, the Polish government has agreed to fund infrastructure and logistical support to U.S. forces in Poland, including the current 4,500 rotational forces and the planned increase of 1,000 additional rotational forces.

The Polish government has released the following information regarding the U.S. troops future stations:

While the final amounts of the costs borne by Poland have not yet been agreed to, there are already rumblings that Trump and Polish President Duda are breaking the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act. According to the Founding Act, which was signed 23 years ago, NATO troops are prohibited from being permanently based in Central and Eastern European countries.

Despite Russian propaganda claiming a breach of the Founding Act and many leaders in Europe worrying about a violation of it, the relocation of troops does not run contrary to it. The Founding Act specifically prohibits permanently based NATO troops in the current and foreseeable security environment.

Under President Putin, Russia has frequently and continuously violated the tenets of the NATO-Russia agreement and moved far away from the cooperation and goodwill that the agreement aimed at.Several of those violations were cataloged by the Heritage Foundation in a 2016 piece.

Despite the above, American newspapers are already parroting the Russian line, and many in NATO want to continue following an agreement on paper despite the Russians thumbing their nose at it.

Retired LTG Ben Hodges, who until last year was the American commander in Europe, sees both advantages and disadvantages regarding the U.S. troops relocation from Germany. In an interview, Hodges said that President Trumps decision to commit more forces to Poland helps in deterring Moscows aggressive posture and builds up U.S. credibility. On the other hand, with Germany being a major hub for U.S. operations in the Middle East, he did not like seeing any further split with Americas long-time ally. I think its a mistake to take [the troops] out of Germany to go to Poland because it will be seen as the punishment of our most important ally in Europe, he said.

With the Poles and others who were part of the defunct Warsaw Pact now under the NATO umbrella, it is important to have a defensive deterrence in place. The Poles are acutely aware and sensitive to the number of times the Russians have invaded their country. A relatively small American footprint in Poland will not increase but reduce the possibility that any conflict with the Russians starts there.

A determined Russian assault on Poland could still push the small number of troops aside, but the relocation ensures that NATO would respond in a timely fashion. The 2018 Brussells Summit called for a timely response in the case of an attack. The NATO Readiness Initiative, the so-called Four 30s plan, would designate 30 ground battalions, 30 air squadrons, and 30 major naval combatants to be ready to deploy and engage an adversary within 30 days.

The Enhanced Cooperation Agreement is just the start. The states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are expected to promote and fund sustainment operations for increased U.S.-led SOF training and other rotational deployments in the Baltic region.

These moves will build deterrence and increase cost-sharing, something the current Washington administration views as critical. This will allow for not only the United States but all of NATO to have greater military capabilities and as the capacity for rapid reinforcement in the case of an attack.

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5,500 US troops to be stationed in Poland - SOFREP

Allies testing naval readiness in Canada’s Arctic – CBC.ca

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Operation Nanook, the Canadian military's annual northern sovereignty exercise, is taking on a distinct NATO look this year with the participation of three other allies, one of which is not an Arctic nation.

Five warships, a replenishment vessel and U.S. coast guard cutter are slated to take part in the three-week drill, which senior American and Canadian commanders said Monday was designed to test not only their ability to operate together in the harsh environment but also their "basic war-fighting" skills.

Canada is sending the frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec, the coastal defence vessel HMCS Glace Bay and the supply ship MV Asterix.

Joining them will be Danish frigate HDMS Triton, the French coastal defence ship FS Fulmar, the U.S. coast guard cutter Tahoma and the brand-new American guided missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner.

Canada, Denmark and the U.S. are all Arctic nations, but France is not.

The annual exercise, which began in 2007, has had international participation in the past, but the training that got underway Monday is broader and very tightly focused to include gunnery and ship-tracking scenarios.

From a geopolitical perspective, the Arctic is becoming an area of increasing interest to rivals such as Russia, which has invested heavily in rebuilding its cold weather military capability, and China, a nation that has no border in the region but has embarked on an icebreaker-building binge.

American Vice-Admiral Andrew Lewis, who commands both the U.S. Second Fleet and the allies' joint forces command in Norfolk, Va., said "this is absolutely not a NATO exercise. It's a Canadian exercise and a Canadian-led operation."

Having said that, NATO is interested in seeing allies gain experience operating together in the ice-choked passages and barren landscapes.

The Western military alliance has been paying increasing attention and even delivered a policy assessment on the changing shape of security in the region, all of which have drawn sharp rebukes from Russia.

The multinational exercise sends an important signal, said Vice-Admiral Steven Poulin, the U.S. coast guard'sAtlantic-area commander.

"The message is that the Arctic is strategically important. It's becoming increasingly important for our collective national security," Poulin told a media teleconference on Monday. "Presence [in the region] matters and I think the participation reflects that presence matters."

Rear Admiral Brian Santarpia, the commander of Canada's East Coast fleet, said the region is so vast and harsh that allies need each other to operate safely and effectively, and that the exercise will test how well they can do that.

The example he gave, compared to some of the planned training, was benign and involved a search-and-rescue scenario involving a stricken cruise ship, an illustration the Canadian military has frequently invoked to describe the kinds of missions that might take place.

In comparison to previous years, Operation Nanook is being scaled back and there are restrictions, such as a ban on port visits, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Santarpia said every effort is being made to ensure that the isolation from COVID-19 that the people of the North have largely enjoyed will be maintained.

Demonstrating to potential adversaries that the virus has not hindered the ability of the U.S. and other nations to deploy forces in harsh conditions is an underlying message, Lewis suggested.

"We have a lot of missions out there," he said. "It's a COVID-environment for sure, but it's also hurricane season We continue to march through that."

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Allies testing naval readiness in Canada's Arctic - CBC.ca

The Baltics missed out this time but the long pursuit of US troops in the region will pay off View – Euronews

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When President Donald Trump first floated his plans to drawdown US forces in Germany, the Baltic states immediately sprang into action in an attempt to lure some of the reassigned troops within their own borders. The permanent housing of American military personnel has long been a strategic objective of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

We are ready to invest in this and we would be extremely happy, Latvias defense minister pitched his proposal to Washington in a well-choreographed message. Given that the Baltics are currently spending 2 per cent of their GDP on defence, a metric that in Trumps mind separates good allies from delinquent ones, Baltic lawmakers had hoped that this, in turn, could lead to a more robust US footprint in the region.

The details of the planned US force structure realignment in Europe are still trickling out. Reportedly, the US military presence in Poland will be beefed up with additional 1,000 US troops. According to US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, additional service members may also eventually land in the Baltics, but only on a rotational basis, however. The bulk of re-positioned forces are in fact heading either home to the US, west towards Belgium or south to Italy; not the direction the Baltics had hoped for.

The Baltic republics have fervently courted a permanent US military presence on their soil ever since joining NATO in 2004. Their rationale behind this is simple: when it comes to believable deterrence, the Baltic states trust the United States. While they have genuinely welcomed the arrival of alliances multinational force formations on their territories, which are currently led by Canada, the UK and Germany, they equally attach an entirely different quality to the company of US armed forces.

As the Lithuanian Defense Minister bluntly put it: The US is the most powerful ally and its deterrent effect is not comparable to other allies. This sentiment, that America occupies an indispensable position atop the NATO hierarchy and is the only one capable of deterring Russia in NATOs frontier region, is widely shared among Baltic officials. In the words of Jri Luik, Defence Minister for Estonia, the American flag has a great deterrence effect against Russia. For these reasons, the Baltics desire to see the US firmly implanted in the region.

From time to time, the idea of permanent American troop basing in the Baltic has received backing of prominent US national security figures. The late Republican Senator John McCain, for instance, favoured having US soldiers assigned to Estonia full-time. Former US Secretary of Defence James Mattis, during his confirmation hearing, equally voiced support for this proposal. Still, while the US-Baltic relations have matured into a multifaceted partnership and the Pentagon has constantly cycled rotational battalions and special operations forces in and out of the region, Washington has remained unwilling to permanently place forces on Russias doorstep.

Standard arguments against such move have been that this would only irritate the Kremlin and worsen already toxic US-Russia relations. Other sceptics have taken a more legalistic approach by submitting that permanent troop stationing in this part of Europe would be in violation of the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act. When speculation began to swirl regarding redeployment of US forces, the former head of Russias Foreign Affairs Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, was quick to remind US officials on Twitter that a troop transfer east would run afoul of this agreement.

The announced reshuffle of US forces in Europe is, without doubt, a setback for Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. Estonian Defense minister summarised it as not a positive move. However, if one pulls back the historical curtain here and looks at the developments of the past fifteen years, then it becomes obvious that the arc has bent towards greater US involvement in the security architecture of Eastern Europe. It is useful to remember that when the Baltic states initially joined NATO in 2004, there were not even contingency plans to defend its newest members.

For quite some time, our NATO membership was something that was more de jure than de facto, recalled a high-level representative of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The only NATO presence on the Baltic territory, he adds, consisted of four NATO planes that scrambled when Russian military airplanes approached their airspace. In the wake of the Russo-Georgian war, official defence plans, tailored to the needs of the Baltic nations, were finally put in place in 2009.

Moreover, following Russias annexation of Crimea in early 2014, both NATO and the US have substantially augmented their presence on the alliances eastern flank via so-called Enhanced Forward Presence missions. While the United States does not lead a battle-group in the Baltic region, it was the one who got this initiative off the ground, rallied others to participate, and now anchors it with its military presence in Poland.

If for a moment we subtract President Donald Trump from the picture, then the general trend lines actually point in the opposite direction. To each external pressure, Washington has responded by bringing forward-deployed forces further east. The long view suggests that a permanent US flag will be one day flying over the Baltic states.

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The Baltics missed out this time but the long pursuit of US troops in the region will pay off View - Euronews

City Lights: Sit with Yuri Schwebler’s Spiritual Art or Probe Your Psyche with Project Implicit – Washington City Paper

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At his peak, Yuri Schwebler was a major presence in the D.C. art scene. Now, 30 years after his death by suicide at 47, Schwebler is getting a long-awaited retrospective at the American University Museum that spotlights his minimalism- and earth-art-inspired conceptual artworks. Schweblers career was meteoric. Within three years of being discharged from the Army Reserves and Walter Reeds psychiatric ward, he managed to have two museum shows and an appearance on national televisionall without a college degree, much of a track record in Washington, or anywhere else for that matter, writes curator John James Anderson (whos been an art critic for Washington City Paper). Schwebler, an immigrant from Yugoslavia, was best known for his 1974 work that turned the Washington Monument into a sundial. His inspiration came when he realized he had never seen the obelisks shadow because it was so big; he would eventually discover that the shadow moved at four feet per minute, making it feel like you can actually see the earth move. But after relocating to New York in 1980, Schwebler had one solo exhibition, in 1982, and never exhibited again. Most of Schweblers works were ephemeral and are represented in the retrospective through photographic documentation. This made it easier to move the exhibit online during the coronavirus pandemic, Anderson says. It makes as much sense to be a slideshow on the internet, where more people can access it, he says. The online catalog features essays by Anderson and former Washington Post architecture critic Benjamin Forgey; plus, a July gallery talk with Anderson and AU museum director and curator Jack Rasmussen is archived online. The exhibition is available at american.edu and the catalog is available at auislandora.wrlc.org. Free. Louis Jacobson

Do you associate certain types of people with goodness, moral purity, attractiveness, or foreignness? Visit Harvard's implicit bias test portal if you can psych yourself up enough to see your results laid bare. This batch of recognition, association, archetype sorting, and image choice tasks will yield scores for various prejudices. This international research cooperation was created to serve as a public "virtual lab" for hidden bias recognition. By requiring takers to sort through pairings instantly, the test compels snap judgments and introduces a time penalty that makes it hard to trick. Possible results include slight, moderate, and strong labels of bias. And in 2011, the team released a spinoff site: At Project Implicit Mental Health, you can do additional tests that measure the implicit associations you have in relation to yourself. Some gauge, for example, the extent to which you associate yourself with anxiety, poor health, negativity, alcoholism, and sadness. Anonymous data is made publicly available for scientists and used to map implicit bias nationwide, including in D.C. The test has been granted a Golden Goose Award from the Library of Congress and funding from the National Institutes of Health. There's no true quantitative screening for racism, and these assessments, though well-circulated, are not foolproofand theres controversy about their interpretation. For curiosity's sake, however, it's useful to know what your psyche has done with what you've been taught. Though the knowledge is no panacea, it still can have value. And if you're hoping to rid your subconscious of discriminatory debris, this isnt a terrible place to start. The project is available at implicit.harvard.edu. Free. ViktoriaNagudi

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City Lights: Sit with Yuri Schwebler's Spiritual Art or Probe Your Psyche with Project Implicit - Washington City Paper

Inside the Project Veritas Plan to Steal the Election – The New Republic

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The purpose of Diamond Dog, as one source close to theorganization put it, is literally to get Trump reelected.

Last year, Project Veritassdonor development team solicited big-ticket funders with a pitch deckfrequently tailored toa given patrons pet ideologicalgrievances and personal hang-upsoffering tantalizing details about thegroups undercover operations for the 2020campaign cycle. One iteration of this Apple Keynote file was prepared for anask meeting with a person who appears to be Cognex Corporation founder Robert Shillman, a devoted funder of Islamophobic causes who was alsoone of OKeefeswould-be wedding guests. (Shillman ended up pledging to donate $50,000 to thegroup.) The slate of investigations in the Dr.Bob pitch includedschemes to procure evidence of illegal aliensvoting, mail-inballot tampering at nursinghomes, andthe sale of absenteeballots and voter profiles on the Dark Web.

By the end of summer 2019, Diamond Dog had already grown to be across-country effort, based on internal Project Veritas memos, research notes,and other documents that we have obtained. InCalifornia and Texas, Project Veritas has tasked its operatives withunearthing supposed evidence of widespread mail-in ballot forgery. In bothstates, Project Veritas has worked to infiltrate the groups of volunteers andpaid canvassers who collect absentee and mail-invoter applications from low-income, elderly, and minority groupsa perfectly legalpractice in most states that conservatives have tried to label as nefarious ballot harvesting.

In Texas, Project Veritas has alsocoordinated in secret with a local Republican operative named AaronHarris, codenamed Dragon, currently chief of staffto Republican congressman Lance Gooden. In turn, through the activist group hefounded, Direct Action Texas, Harris has helped Project Veritas covertlystrategize with a staffer working for the office of the states Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxtonis leading the states election integrity initiative, oneof many Republican efforts nationwide to suppress the vote under the guise ofrooting out the nearly non-existent threat of voter fraud.

Granted, Project Veritas, whose fervor to own the libs is matchedonly by its comical incompetence, is hardly likely to tip the election inDonald Trumps favor all byitself. But it is at the vanguard of a larger underhanded approach thatRepublicans, starting at the very top, are taking to the 2020 cycle. If theywant to win, they really have no other choice but to undermine the vote: Trumps poll numbers are in the basement, and heappears constitutionally incapable of making appeals beyond his hardcoresupporters on the right.

Republicans have all but admitted that this is their strategy. Incoordination with the Republican National Committee and a raft of independentconservative groups, Trump has staked the success of his entire reelectioncampaign to a widespread voter suppression effort built on the pretext ofpreserving election integrity. The project, led by his campaigns senior counsel Justin Clark, has worked toplace operatives in at least 10 battleground states to challenge voter rollsand procedures. Between lawsuits and local advertising blitzesallregularly relayed to Trump in the Oval Officethe effort could cost wellover $20 million, as the RNC told The Washington Post.

Project Veritas has been among the on-the-ground organizations atthe forefront of these efforts and has benefited substantially as a result.According to internal Project Veritas documents, the groups fundraising total for 2019 leaped up to morethan $13.44 million, $4.58 million more than their 2018 returns and the groups largest reported annual revenue figure todate. The group may be comically incompetent, but in these cursed times, we allknow how dangerous comical incompetence can be once enough money and cloutline up behind it.

For an operation premised on conspiracy theories and fueled byraging paranoia, it will come as no surprise that the agents helping tospearhead Project Veritass election mischief are oddballs on the fringes ofAmerican political life. In one slide prepared forDr. Bob, a 69-year-old Florida resident, a registered Republican named JosephVancheri notifies OKeefe of his soon-to-bestatus as a poll worker in Broward County, likely for undercover Election Daysnooping on Project Veritassbehalf. Vancheri, an ex-cop and die-hard Trump supporter, has routinely taken to Facebook to lash out against all the Trump haters and SHEEP, includingSHIFTY SCHIFF and the Idiot Warren, using Trumpspreferred epithet Pocohontas [sic]. Afirst-generation immigranthimself, Vancheri has nevertheless long harbored hardline views onimmigration that echo his anxieties over thepotential for illicit enfranchisement of foreigners.

In anotherslide, Project Veritas boasts of receiving a tip from a formerbroadcast meteorologist named ArchKennedy, who found it suspicious that 300 people were all registered to vote atthe address for Emory UniversitysEmory Muslim Student Association in Atlanta. (In all likelihood these voters,who constitute 2 percent of Emorystotal student population and .0028 percent of Georgias population, have their mail forwarded there.) In 2017,Arch organized one of the anti-Muslim group ACT! For Americas28 nationwide March Against Sharia rallies. Held in AtlantasPiedmont Park, it was a sparsely attended affair but still managed to includeRepublican Georgia State Senator Michael Williams, then mounting a doomedprimary campaign for governor.

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Inside the Project Veritas Plan to Steal the Election - The New Republic

Perry Mason Season 1 Finale Recap: The Defense Rests – The New York Times

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Its all connected. This is Perry Masons argument as he takes on his star witness (and a hostile one at that), Sgt. Ennis, in court. It beggars belief that an accountant like George Gannon could have executed his two accomplices (both of them professional hoods), driven across town with a bullet wound, then blown his own head off with a shotgun.

But Ennis? He has history in Colorados mining wars with both the two dead strikebreakers and their boss, Elder Eric Seidel, currently missing and presumed dead. He has been tied to the Chinese-American sex worker whose heroin-laced milk suffocated baby Charlie Dodson. He was somehow the first man at nearly every crime scene connected to the case. Hes the linchpin for six murders, and hes about to break

but only in Perrys mind. The entire courtroom sequence that helps open this fine season finale is a figment of Masons imagination as he rehearses with his associates Della Street, Paul Drake and Hamilton Burger.

No one confesses on the stand! Burger yells from the illusory gallery, repeating himself as Perrys mind flashes back to the real world. Calling Ennis to the stand without having real, hard evidence linking him to each of the murder victims would be a disaster. You dont go in unless you got him, says Drake, and you dont got him.

So much for the Perry Mason courtroom-confession clich of yore. In this climactic episode of the shows first season, the showrunners, Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald, have definitively abandoned the definitive convention of the old Perry Mason series; its as if a Columbo remake did away with the whole One more thing bit.

The amazing thing is that the new Perry Mason doesnt need these dramaturgical training wheels. Just look at that opening courtroom sequence, with its intense direction by Tim Van Patten, its impassioned performance by Matthew Rhys once again allowed to burst into outright rage and its fantasy-dismantling intervention by Justin Kirks Hamilton Burger. To attempt a bait-and-switch like this takes guts. To pull it off takes talent.

An odd thing to say, perhaps, about an episode that hinges on its main characters relative lack of talent. This is not to say hes a bad lawyer; his closing argument moves his associate Della Street to tears, and he manages to secure a mistrial for his client, Emily, whom he put on the stand (at Dellas urging) at great risk to the case.

But a mistrial isnt the same as being found not guilty, let alone exonerated in full as the real killer is brought to justice. (Ennis meets his end at the hands of his partner and their vengeful associates, one last loose end to be tied up.) Thats the [expletive] of this lawyering thing, Perry tells his old partner, Pete Strickland. You can have all the truths on your side, but if you cant prove, if you cant hold it in your hand, it doesnt exist.

And while two of the jurors who hung the jury came to their positions honestly, a third was bribed by Perry via his now-former partner, Pete. Strickland ends up going to work for Burger, helping him take down the surviving hierarchy of the Radiant Assembly of God rather than joining the newly minted Perry Mason & Associates with Della and their new investigator, Paul Drake, who quits the police force in what is arguably the seasons top feel-good moment.

Other moments well, Im not exactly sure how to describe them, whether feel-good or feel-bad. Theres the matter of Mother Birdy McKeegan, for one thing. She almost certainly orchestrated the disappearance of Charlie Dodsons body and the miraculous appearance nearby of a baby who looks nothing at all like Charlie in an attempt to salvage Sister Alices promise to resurrect the slain infant.

This costs her her relationship with Alice, who flees, changes her hair color and goes to work as a diner waitress, as Paul Drake dutifully uncovers. But it gives Emily Dodson a second chance at motherhood, at a time when she is totally at loose ends. If she has to pretend at Mother McKeegans traveling revival show that the baby is her own, who are we to tell this woman that what shes doing is wrong? She only wanted to be a good mother to her child.

Looking back on this refreshingly ambiguous season of whodunit television, I think Ill revisit Perrys reunion with Sister Alice quite a bit. Before he gives up on the case entirely, before he takes out the stitch he saved from baby Charlies eyes and blows it into the Pacific Ocean, he tells Alice about her mothers new ministry and wonders who removed Charlies body.

But however much she has questioned her own gifts, Alice is still a woman of faith. What comfort has digging for proof of the truth ever given Perry, she asks? In the end, both of them, with their diametrically opposed views of how the world works, will be alone. (Shes more right than she realizes; Perry has officially called off his relationship with Lupe, though he has finally admitted that her asking price for his family farm was a fair one and given her the land.)

Which leaves Perry with one final question: Did you really think you could bring Charlie back?

I did, didnt I? Alice replies. As far as her mother and Charlies mother are concerned, the answer is, for all intents and purposes, yes. Its not true, of course. But maybe its right.

From the case files:

The first visitor to Perrys new firm is straight out of film-noir central casting, a blonde bombshell who says simply, Im in trouble. Well, that, and that she can pay the retainer. Youve come to the right place, Perry says.

Perry reveals during the course of the episode that he knows Della is gay. He doesnt care except for resent, perhaps, that she felt she could, and should, keep this from him. I wonder how hell feel if he ever finds out about Burger?

I was struck by how Birdys minions made their initial overture to recruit Emily to their cause: a note that was nothing more or less than the footprint of the baby they claimed was Charlie. Simple, but brutally effective.

The thing I keep coming back to in all my conversations with friends and readers about this show is how little reason there was to expect it to be anywhere near as good as it was. I mean, Perry Mason? In this economy? Apparently the answer is yes, and I couldnt be happier about it.

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Perry Mason Season 1 Finale Recap: The Defense Rests - The New York Times

The Trump Campaign Tries to Change the Subject – The New Yorker

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With less than three months to go until Election Day, Donald Trumps campaign this week tried again to hit the reset button. Were going to run like were the underdog, Trumps new campaign manager, Bill Stepien, told Fox News on Monday. Before Stepien spoke, the Trump team released two new television ads targeting Joe Biden, who, thus far, has proved an elusive foe. One features a montage of Biden with Senator Bernie Sanders and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, and claims that Biden has embraced the policies of the radical left. The other shows a woman of color silently holding up printed cards, the last two of which say IM AFRAID TO SAY THIS OUT LOUD I WONT RISK MY CHILDRENS FUTURE WITH BIDEN.

These ads seem to have come from the same playbook that Trump has been relying on for months now, with little success if you believe the polls. To get a better idea of how the campaign is trying to motivate the Presidents loyal supporters and reach out to less committed ones, I downloaded the campaigns official app, which promised to supply me with exclusive content and campaign updates. For a couple of days, I dived into the online Trump world, which turned out to be an immersive experience.

After registering, I was immediately invited to sign up and watch some of the apps proprietorial video content, including Triggered, a show that features the Presidents son Donald Trump, Jr., and Theology Thursday with Speaker Gingrich. As I waited for these examples of must-see viewing to begin, I watched another show, which had been recorded a few days previously. The Right View is the Trump campaigns version of The View, the popular daily talk show that airs on ABC. The four hosts were Lara Trump, the Presidents daughter-in-law; Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former prosecutor and Fox News host who is dating Donald Trump, Jr.; Katrina Pierson, a Tea Party activist who was a spokesperson for Trumps 2016 campaign; and Mercedes Schlapp, a Republican communications operative who served in the Trump White House from 2017 to 2019.

What the hosts lacked in objectivity, they more than made up for in vitriol toward Biden and the Democrats. Its really horrifying to see what these people are doing, Lara Trump said, in reference to Democratic efforts to expand mail-in voting in Nevada and other states. After conducting an interview with Kaya Jones, a conservative pop singer, the hosts then discussed the Trump campaigns two new ads, while carefully omitting how misleading they are. (One of the ads claims that Biden supports defunding the police and raising taxes on the middle class. He backs neither.) The hosts repeatedly tore into the Democratic candidate. They will go to any lengths possible to try and prop up Joe Biden, like a Weekend at Bernies skit, Lara Trump said. They cant be real thinking this guy can be President, Guilfoyle said. He cant find his own way out of his home. The socialists who controlled Biden were hoping to use him as a tool to advance their radical agenda and tear this country apart, she went on.

Things continued in this vein for close to fifty minutes, interspersed by pop-up ads offering Trump merchandise, such as a MAGA Mama T-shirt. The show was slickly produced, and it captured the essence of the Trump campaign, which has come down to employing scare tactics, many of which are racially coded; claiming Biden is mentally impaired; and trying to suppress the Democratic vote by challenging mail-in voting and other efforts to insure that an election during a pandemic can be held safely and fairly. Notably absent from the episode of The Right View that I watched was any serious discussion of the coronavirus, which has claimed more than a hundred and sixty thousand American lives, or any real defense of Trumps record. Evidently, the Trump campaign doesnt like its chances if the election turns into a referendum on its candidates performance in office. So its doing all it can to change the subject.

That approach is also clear in the campaigns Facebook ads, which are just as voluminous as they were in 2016. Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem, one says. Joe Biden has ABSOLUTELY lost his mind, another proclaims. Between early May and August 6th, the Trump campaign spent $60.2 million on Facebook, while the Biden campaign spent just $29.5 million, according to Facebooks own records. Some of this difference was offset by spending by Democratic groups that are not directly under the control of the Biden campaign, such as the Priorities USA super PAC. But just as it did in 2016, the Trump campaign is placing a great deal of emphasis on Facebook for fund-raising and reaching persuadable voters.

That doesnt mean its neglecting more traditional campaigning methods, such as canvassing and conducting voter-registration drives. At a moment when the Biden campaign has largely abandoned physical efforts to contact voters because of the pandemic, relying instead on phone calls, texts, and digital outreach, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have recruited mask-wearing canvassers, who they claim are knocking on more than a million doors a week. From now to Election Day, voters may only see one campaign at their doors, Elliott Echols, the R.N.C.s national field director, told Politico. We can do this safely for President Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot.

Republicans have also made extensive efforts to register new G.O.P. voters, particularly in some key battleground states. In Pennsylvania, for example, Republicans have added about 165,000 net voters, while Democrats added only about 30,000, since 2016, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week. Democrats still maintain an 800,000-voter edge over Republicans. But thats down from 936,000 in 2016, when Trump still won the state by less than 1%.

Despite all these efforts, the polls show Trump trailing Biden, as they have all year. In FiveThirtyEights poll average, the margin between the two candidates on Saturday morning was 7.8 percentage points. Thats down a bit from the nine-point advantage that Biden held a couple of weeks ago, but it still represents a substantial gap. Trump is also trailing Biden in most of the battleground states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which he won narrowly in 2016 to put together a majority in the Electoral College.

During his interview with Fox News, Stepien sought to downplay the public polls, pointing out that most of them had Trump behind in 2016, as well. He also claimed that the campaigns internal polls show a strong standing for the President. Some of the campaigns recent actions suggest otherwise, though. After putting television ads on hold last month, when Stepien replaced Brad Parscale as campaign manager, this week it resumed advertising in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolinaall states that Trump won in 2016, but where polls currently show him trailing or in very tight races with Biden.

The latest ad buy is just the beginning. Both campaigns have raised obscene amounts of moneyearlier this week, the Trump campaign announced it had more than three hundred million dollars in the bank, and Bidens said it has nearly two hundred and fifty million. Between now and November 3rd, anybody who lives in a battleground state is going to be blitzed by political ads from both parties, on all of their devices. With so many ads running, they are likely to cancel each other out, at least to some extent. Trump may well need something more seismic to shift things in his favor.

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The Trump Campaign Tries to Change the Subject - The New Yorker

Gol Linhas Areas: Bankruptcy Appears To Be Imminent – Seeking Alpha

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Despite being one of the biggest airlines of Brazil with a fleet of over 100 planes, Gol Linhas Areas Inteligentes (GOL) faces an uncertain future ahead, as its liquidity is drying up and there are no signs of recovery. The bailout package that the Brazilian government discussed with major airlines a couple of months ago seems to be out of the picture and Gol, along with others, is unlikely to receive any substantial help from the state in the near term. At the same time, the airlines cash burn is going to increase in Q3, as Gol is about to repay a $300 million loan to Delta (NYSE:DAL) in the next few weeks, which raises the chances of a liquidity crisis happening in the next couple of months. Back in June, the airlines own independent auditor said that Gol could face insolvency in the foreseeable future. Considering this, we believe that Gol could become bankrupt and its better not to invest in the company since the risk is too high, while growth opportunities are limited.

The biggest advantage of Gol is that it operates solely a Boeing 737 fleet, which makes the airline more efficient in comparison to its competitors. As a low-cost airline, it has one of the lowest operating expenses, which during normal times is considered a substantial competitive advantage. However, as COVID-19 started to spread all around Brazil, Gol was forced to shrink its fleet and return 18 leased 737-800 planes, while keeping the option to reduce its fleet by additional 30 planes in the next couple of years. The airline also decreased the number of its 737MAX orders from 219 to 95 planes and reduced the salaries of its workers to improve the cash burn rate. Despite those cash preservation measures, its unlikely that Gol will survive in its current state without going through a restructuring process, which will wipe out all the current shareholders.

In its Q2 report, the airline said that its revenues decreased by 88.6% Y/Y to R$358 million, while its traffic was down 92.3% Y/Y. At the same time, its daily cash burn was R$3 million and theres every reason to believe that the cash burn will only increase in Q3. As the airline faces an uncertain future ahead, we dont see any upside for its stock.

The biggest disadvantage of Gol is that its exposed to Brazil. With more than 3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, Brazil is the second-most infected country in the world, after the United States, and its healthcare system is on the brink of collapse. The pandemic also disrupted the countrys economy and since the beginning of the year, the Brazilian real depreciated by more than 35% to the United States Dollar. This is bad news for Gol, since the airline makes most of its revenues in Brazilian currency, while the majority of its debt is dollar-denominated. At the same time, as the countrys GDP is about to shrink by more than 5% in 2020, Gol will have a hard time recovering to its pre-COVID-19 levels in its current state anytime soon.

Brazils Projected GDP Growth. Source: Statista

Back in June, Gols independent auditor KPMG stated that the airline could become insolvent and will not be able to survive the pandemic. The companys Latin American competitors LATAM and Avianca already filed for Chapter 11 and Gol could face the same destiny. A month after the warning was issued, Gol decided to fire KPMG and hired Brazilian Grant Thornton Auditores Independentes as its new independent auditor. Such a move raised concerns and several law firms started to investigate whether the company is committing fraud and hiding something from its shareholders. In one of its statements, Pomerantz law firm said the following:

The investigation concerns whether Gol Linhas and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

In its latest conference call, Gols management stated that the airline has R$3.3 billion of liquidity at the end of June. In Q3, the airline will repay R$2.9 billion worth of loans and will continue to burn cash on a daily basis, since air travel is not going to recover anytime soon. In addition, R$0.7 billion of debt will mature in Q4 and the company is risking becoming insolvent by the end of the year. While it managed to raise an additional R$1.2 billion from its loyalty program, the airline will still face a liquidity crunch in the following months, as it will not be able to make any profits and generate cash in the current environment, while burning money at the same time.

Source: Gol

However, even if Gol manages to survive until the end of the year, the companys high debt load will inevitably lead the airline to bankruptcy. At the end of Q2, Gols total debt was R$18.94 billion. While the majority of that debt matures in 2024 and beyond, it will prevent the airline from creating shareholder value anytime soon. By having one of the worst profitability margins among its peers, we believe that Gol is uninvestable even if it somehow manages to avoid a liquidity crunch.

Source: Capital IQ

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Gol Linhas Areas: Bankruptcy Appears To Be Imminent - Seeking Alpha

Why Brooks Brothers Can Use Bankruptcy and Argentina Can’t – The American Prospect

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Youve probably read that one iconic retailer after another is going bankrupt. You may think this means they are going out of business. But mostly it doesnt.

It just means they dont have the cash to pay their debts; and a helpful provision of the law that they can use (but you cant) known as Chapter 11 allows them to go before a bankruptcy judge, stiff their creditors, reduce the debt they owe, lay off workers, gut pension funds, and carry on; sometimes with new owners, sometimes with the same scoundrels in control.

The list includes Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, J. Crew, JC Penney, Hertz, Pier I, Brooks Brothers, Golds Gym, and dozens of others.

Theres another wrinkle. Most of these retailers are owned by private equity companies, whose business model is to loot the place and then take it into bankruptcy.

Heres where Argentina comes in. There is no Chapter 11 for countries. So if a heavily indebted nation tries to walk away from its debts, it gets frozen out of capital markets, and suffers even more poverty. Argentina has been reeling from the corona epidemic, on top of repeated currency crises.

Yesterday, after being squeezed and squeezed by its American bondholders, Argentina and most of its creditors finally made a deal. Argentina will settle its existing debt at 55 cents on the dollar, allowing for a restructuring and some breathing room for recovery. Argentinas progressive president, Alberto Fernndez, took a fairly hard line with bondholders who were demanding more.

And heres the most revealing part: Some of Argentinas creditors, who speculated in its debt, are the same crowd who play financial games with Americas retailers. The law is stacked in their favor in both cases. And in both cases, its poor and working people, whether U.S. retail workers or Argentine citizens, who get screwed so that billionaire speculators can get even richer.

I actually wrote a book,Debtors Prison, about this double standard in bankruptcy, which dates to the reign of Queen Anne.

Bottom line: We need to reform the bankruptcy laws so that nations have their own version of Chapter 11and private equity and hedge fund operators can no longer abuse it.

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Why Brooks Brothers Can Use Bankruptcy and Argentina Can't - The American Prospect

Teslas Elon Musk talks Rivian lawsuit, Theyre doing bad things, so we sued them – Teslarati

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Tesla CEO opened up about his companys recently opened lawsuit against fellow electric carmaker Rivian in a recent interview, stating that the rival carmaker was absolutely poaching employees and stealing secrets.

Musk sat down for the final portion of a three-part interview with Automotive News Jason Stein, who asked the CEO of the largest automaker in the world if Rivian was poaching the companys employees and stealing intellectual property.

Is Rivian poaching your employees as you have alleged in a lawsuit, Stein asked Musk.

Yeah, absolutely. Of course, Musk quickly answered. I mean its not like a massive percentage, but theyve definitely taken a bunch of Teslas intellectual property.

Tesla opened a lawsuit against Rivian in late July, stating that an alarming pattern of poaching employees and thriving secrets had occurred. The lawsuit claims that former employees of Tesla took highly sensitive information with them after they left the electric automaker to work for Rivian.

A complaint filed by Tesla stated, Misappropriating Teslas competitively useful confidential information when leaving Tesla for a new employer is obviously wrong and risky.

Musk says that the former Tesla employees stole information through thumb drives and personal computers and took the highly sensitive documents to Rivian. Its not cool to steal our IP, and for people to violate their confidentiality agreementsthat kind of thing, Musk said. Theyre doing bad things, so we sued them.

Interestingly enough, investigators have questioned several employees that left Tesla for Rivian, and at least one of them has admitted to taking company secrets when changing employers.

The complaint from Tesla states that Tami Pascale, a former Senior Staffing Manager for Tesla, took at least ten confidential and proprietary documents from Teslas network, which would allow Rivian to poach Teslas highest-performing talent and promising employment prospects.

Additionally, Pascale admitted to investigators that she confessed to taking confidential and sensitive information about Teslas prospective employees. She lied about having Tesla documents on a company laptop. When investigators confronted her with specific documents she had taken, Pascale finally confessed to taking the confidential and proprietary documents, the complaint says.

Tesla has been pretty open with its information in the past. Musk has stated on numerous occasions that the companys patents are open and free to use, especially if it will increase the push toward sustainable transport. However, poaching Teslas possible employees and developmental talent is not apart of the deal, which is why the company decided to take Rivian to court.

Musk has been open and honest about helping other manufacturers obtain battery and EV tech if they are willing to push toward an electric fleet. In a Tweet from late July, Musk said, Tesla is open to licensing software and supplying powertrains & batteries. Were just trying to accelerate sustainable energy, not crush competitors!

The full complaint in Teslas lawsuit against Rivian is available below.

Tesla lawsuit vs. Rivian 20CV368472 by Joey Klender on Scribd

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Teslas Elon Musk talks Rivian lawsuit, Theyre doing bad things, so we sued them - Teslarati

New York Preps New Antitrust Laws, with Big Tech in Sights Red Herring – Red Herring

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New York lawmakers have introduced a new antitrust bill that will make it simpler for authorities to sue big tech companies for alleged breaches of monopoly powers.

The sultrily-named S8700A bill is seen as a lodestar for states across the US, which have become increasingly worried about tech firms influence to manipulate their markets. Senator Mike Gianaris told The Guardian that leading tech brands have grown to dangerous levels and we need to start reining them in.

Gianaris says the new law is an update for the 21st century, during which the so-called GAFA companiesGoogle, Amazon, Facebook and Applehave amassed huge wealth and the power to drown other firms out of their respective verticals.

Previous antitrust legislation required two companies to fix prices. Actions by single entities are far tougher to prosecute. Much of the problem today in the 21st century is unilateral action by some of these behemoth tech companies and this bill would allow, for the first time, New York to engage in antitrust enforcement for unilateral action, said Gianaris.

S8700A will be discussed when New York returns to work later this month, but is unlikely to pass until early next year. It follows a crescendoing national conversation about the power of big tech. Last week a House committee interrogated the leaders of the GAFA firms.

Among the many accusations leveled at Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and co. was one that they are killing the American economy. Admissions by the leaders spurred Gianaris and fellow lawmakers into action.

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New York Preps New Antitrust Laws, with Big Tech in Sights Red Herring - Red Herring

The Three Levels Of Financial Independence: From Budget To …

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Reaching financial independence is the holy grail of personal finance. But what does financial independence really mean? In this post Id like to determine the three levels of financial independence. Thats right. Even in financial independence there is no one size fits all since everybody has a different desired standard of living.

Contrary to what you may think, financial independence is not all about having enough money to cover all your expenses. Financial independence also means being able to overcome your psychological fears to truly live free.

For example, I have peers who have millions in net worth. Yet, they still make their respective spouses work because they do not feel 100% financially secure. WiFi!Common reasons include the need for health care coverage or their spouses love for their job even though theyd rather be doing something else.

Here are the three levels of financial independence Ive come up with. All three levels of financial independence should meet the following basic criteria:

1) No need to work for a living. Investment income or non-work income covers all living expenses into perpetuity.

or

2) Net worth is equal to or greater than the number of years left in your life X living expenses. For example, $3 million with 30 years left to live is FI if your living expenses are no more than $100,000 a year.

If your household income is less than ~$40,000 a year, you are considered lower middle class. Dont be offended. Its just a definition based on millions of datapoints. The current official poverty threshold is an income of $25,000 per year fora family of four and $19,000 for a family of three.

If you are happy with living a lower middle class lifestyle, then you would need between $800,000 $1,600,000 in investable assets returning 2.5% 5% a year to replicate the $40,000 in gross annual income. Of course if youve been investing in the bull market for the past 10 years, youve likely seen a higher return than 5%. But over the long run, its best to stay conservative since downturns do happen.

Given the 10-year bond yield is at under 1%, everybody should make at least 1% a year on their investable assets risk free. If youre losing money during your financial independence years, you havent been investing properly.

This category of financial independence is interesting because theres a lot of tradeoffs the individual or couple still make, such as:

The question many people have in this stage is therefore: Are you really FI if youve got to do one or many of these things? Many who work a day job argue no, but it doesnt matter because nobody can tell you how to live your FI life. If you dont have to work a full time job and can cover your expenses, you are Budget FI as far as Im concerned.

Budget Financial Independence is where I found myself between 2012 2014. I was earning about $80,000 in passive income, which was more like $40,000 since I lived in San Francisco, and had negotiated a large enough severance to last for 5-6 years of living expenses.

Even with these numbers, I was still afraid that I had made the wrong choice leaving a job at 34. As a result, I tried to sell my house and downsize by 70%, but nobody wanted to buy my house in 2012 thank goodness.

Further, my wife and I agreed that she work for three years until she turned 34 (hooray for equality) to give us enough time to figure out whether we could both leave the workforce. At the end of 2014, she negotiated her severance as well before her 34th birthday.

Related: What Is Lean FIRE?

The median household income in the U.S. is roughly $64,000. $64,000 is therefore considered a comfortable middle class income If you didnt have to work for your $60,000 a year income, then life should be better, maybe even fantastic.

Based on a conservative 2.5% 5% annual return, a household would need investments of between $1,200,000 $2,400,000 to be considered financially independent. Once youve got at least $1,200,000 in investable assets and no longer want to work again, I dont recommend shooting for an overall return much greater than 5%. You can carve out 10% of your investable assets to go swing for the fences if you wish, but not more. There is no need since you have already won the game.

Remember, once youve reached financial independence, you no longer have to save. Everybody striving for financial independence tends to save anywhere from 20% 80% of their after tax income each year on top of maxing out their pre-tax retirement accounts.

Therefore, if youre able to 100% replicate your gross annual household income through your investments, youre actually getting a raise based on the amount you were saving each year.

If you have 20 years left to live and only require $60,000 a year, having $1,200,000 can also be considered enough even if you make zero return. The only problem is that your purchasing power will decline by ~2% a year due to inflation. The other problem is that you dont know exactly how many years you have left to live. Therefore, its always better to have more rather than less.

My blogging buddy Joe from Retire by 40, who is six years older than me, is a good example. He has enough money, but is still finding it difficult to overcome the fear of not working.

Every year, he questions whether his wife can join him in retirement. This is even though he has close to a $3 million net worth. He also has online income and passive income. Every year I tell him she could have retired years ago, but hes adeptly convinced her to keep on working.

Related:Achieving A Two Spouse Financial Independence Lifestyle

This is a level of FI that Ive been trying to achieve since I was 30 years old. I decided back then that an individual income of ~$200,000 $250,000 and a household income of ~$300,000 was the ideal income for maximum happiness.

With such income, you can live a comfortable life raising a family of up to four anywhere in the world. Given Ive spent my post college life living in Manhattan and San Francisco, it was only natural to arrive at much higher income levels than the US household median. Remember, half the country live in more expensive coastal cities.

These figures are partially due to a highly progressive tax code that was implemented in the mid 2000s. The government really went after income levels above these thresholds. Further, I carefully observed my happiness level from making much less to making much more. Any dollar earned above $250,000 $300,000 didnt make a lick of difference. In fact, I often noticed a decline in happiness due to the increased stress from work.

Using the same 2.5% 5% return figures, one would therefore need $5,000,000 $10,000,000 per individual and $6,000,000 $12,000,000 per couple in investable assets to reach Blockbuster Financial Independence. In addition, it is preferable if your home is also paid off.

If you are generating $250,000 $300,000 in passive income without having to work, life is good, really good. In 1H2017, I got to about ~$220,000 in annualized passive income. But then ended up slashing ~$60,000 from the top after selling my rental house to simplify life. Therefore, Ive still got a long ways to go, especially now that I have a son to raise.

Today, my passive income is around $260,000 +/0 $25,000. Its a comfortable amount of money, but it may not be enough given I now have two kids. Therefore, my goal is to shoot for another $40,000 in passive income by 2023. 2023 is when my boy will be eligible for kindergarten.

The way many people reach Blockbuster Financial Independence with income of $250,000 $300,000 is through a combination of investment income and passion project cash flow. Since FI allows you to do whatever you want, heres your chance to follow the clich, follow your passions and the money will follow without worry that there will be no money. My passion so happens to be this site. Everybody should start their own today.

Related: What Is Fat FIRE? The Best Way To Live Life In Retirement

Even if you find yourself in the Budget FI category, its still better than having to work at a soulless day job. Just getting rid of a long commute or a terrible boss makes Budget FI worth it.

Most people who find themselves in Budget FI are either on the younger side (<40), dont have kids, or are forced to live frugally. Ive found that in many cases, folks in Budget FI long to lead a more comfortable life so they either get back to work, do some consulting, or try to build a business within three years to move up the pyramid.

The only way Ive found to successfully overcome the fear of not working is by either negotiating a severance, building enough passive income to cover all your living expenses for at least 12 consecutive months, or trying out FI living first while your partner still works. Feeling comfortably FI doesnt just happen with a snap of the fingers.

There is this natural urge to still make financial progress by continuing the good financial habits that got you there in the first place. And wonderfully, the progress you make is like finding loose diamonds after youve already found a pot of gold.

Related:Ranking The Best Passive Income Streams

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Financial independence – Wikipedia

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For the concept of independence from another person for support, see Dependant.

Financial independence is the status of having enough income (from investments, passive businesses, real estate, etc.) to pay for one's reasonable living expenses for the rest of one's life without having to rely on formal employment. The core path to achieve financial independence focuses on maximizing one's savings rate through lower spending and/or higher income. Income earned without having to work a job is commonly referred to as passive income.[citation needed]

There are many strategies to achieve financial independence, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. To achieve financial independence, it will be helpful to have a financial plan and budget to get a clear view of current incomes and expenses and to identify and choose appropriate strategies to move towards certain financial goals. A financial plan addresses every aspect of a person's finances.[1]

The following is a non-exhaustive list of sources of passive income that potentially yield financial independence.

If a person can generate enough income to meet their needs from sources other than their primary occupation, they have achieved financial independence, regardless of age, existing wealth, or current salary. For example, if a 25-year-old has $100 in expenses per month, and assets that generate $101 or more per month, they have achieved financial independence. They have no need to work a regular job to pay their bills.

On the other hand, if a (for example) 50-year-old earns $1,000,000 a month but has expenses that equal more than that per month, they are not financially independent, as they still have to earn the difference each month to make all their payments.

However, the effects of inflation must be considered. If a person needs $100/month for living expenses today, they will need $105/month next year and $110.25/month the following year to support the same lifestyle, assuming a 5% annual inflation rate. Therefore, if the person in the above example obtains their passive income from a perpetuity, there will be a time when they lose their financial independence because of inflation.

If someone receives $5000 in dividends from stocks they own, but their expenses total $4000, they can live on their dividend income because it pays for all their expenses to live (with some left over). Under these circumstances, a person is financially independent. A person's assets and liabilities are an important factor in determining if they have achieved financial independence. An asset is anything of value that can be readily turned into cash (liquidated) if a person has to pay debt, whereas a liability is a responsibility to provide compensation. (Homes and automobiles with no liens or mortgages are common assets.)

Since there are two sides to the assets and expenses equation, there are two main directions one can focus their energy: accumulating assets or reducing their expenses.

Accumulating assets can focus one or both of these approaches:

Another approach to financial independence is to reduce regular expenses while accumulating assets, to reduce the amount of assets required for financial independence. This can be done by focusing on simple living, or other strategies to reduce expenses.[2][3]

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Financial independence - Wikipedia

Financial Independence – I Will Teach You To Be Rich

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Financial independence is the moment when your investments start paying more than your expenses. Once that happens, youre free.

Free from havingto work for a living.

Free from having to worry about paying rent on time.

And free from a TON of other financial obligations.

BUT how long would it take the average American to become financially independent?

Assuming you earn $75,000 a yearandyour annual expenses are about $60,000, you need to save roughly $1,500,000 to become financially independent.

When youre done picking your jaw up off the floor, Ill let you in on the process of how to get there:

There are no slick tactics or sexy ways to go about this. If youre the average American who needs $1,500,000 to hit your FIRE goal, you need to work hard and be determined. But the feeling of freedom when you reach financial independence will make it all worth it.

Were using the $1,500,000 goal based on the average salary and living expenses of Americans. If you want to find a number more specific to YOUR situation though, youll have to use the 4% Rule.

The 4% Rule is known as the safe withdrawal rate,or the amount of expenses you should be able to withdraw from your savings each year when you retire without touching the principal. (This number is based on a study from Trinity University.)

Finding out your safe withdrawal rate is the first step to learning how to become financially independent.

So how do you find out how much you need to save? Do two things:

This will give you enough expenses to withdraw 4% for years and years to come.

Heres a handy chart to show you how much youll need to save based on possible yearly expenses.

Using the above information coupled with your annual after-tax income, youll be able to come up with an annual savings rate (i.e., how much you need to save each year).

Luckily, you dont have to strain too hard to create this financial plan, as there are a bunch of retirement calculators online. This one is our favorite. It outlines exactly how many years itll take to save depending on your savings rate.

Play around with the calculator until youve come up with a savings rate that works for you. After that, youll know exactly how much you should be saving every time you get a paycheck.

In terms of the percentage, I suggest you save 65% of your after-tax income, says Mad Fientist. That may seem like a ton but its possible. I averaged around 75% to 80% when I was saving.

Meanwhile, Physician on FIRE suggests you should actually save about 50% of your income to go towards your goals.

When pursuing FIRE, PoF says, keep in mind that youre locking yourself into the same lifestyle as when you reach financial independence. [So] if youre making too many frugal choices that dont jive with your persona, start living the way you want to and base your FI target on that.

Remember our example using the average salary and expenses? Looking at the chart, we know now that the average American needs to save about $1,500,000 in order to retire early. Our savings rate will then be about 32% of our annual income each year in order to save enough money to retire early (well go into how long itll take later).

Everyone that goes for FI has to decide something important:Should you try to live as frugally and retire as early as possible and minimize your expenses, or would you rathertake part in the finer things in lifebut retire later?

Luckily, there are two communities that embrace FIRE in different ways that can help you decide.

Bonus: Struggling to take control of your expenses? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance to learn how to automate your finances so you can reach financial independence sooner.

There are typically two schools of thought when it comes to financial independence: leanFIRE and fatFIRE.

Though they sound more like weight loss supplements or descriptions of my latest mixtapethan systems for financial independence, theres no need to be intimidated by them.

LeanFIRE and fatFIRE are just terms for how much you plan to live on when you retire, the Mad Fientist says. Theres no better way. Just test out your spending until you find a method that works for you.

While both have the same goal of achieving financial independence, aspects such as how much you spend, save, and even quality of life can be affected by which approach you choose.

leanFIRE

This approach requires you to have a low spending rate each year (typically less than $40,000/year).

To be leanFIRE is to subsist on a comparatively low level of spending much like most of us did in college, PoF says.

This means adopting a frugal lifestyle and sacrificing certain luxuries like cars. It can even determine the places in the world you can live in (its easier to live cheaply in Norman, Oklahoma, than NYC for instance).

On the other side of the coin, theres a FIRE movement that aims to keep up the benefits of financial independence while still retaining a life of semi-luxury: fatFIRE.

Want to turn your dream of working from home into a reality? Download my Ultimate Guide to Working from Home to learn how to make working from home work for YOU.

fatFIRE

FatFIRE is the system of financial independence that allows you to live a more high-class lifestyle. But it takes longer to complete.

FatFIRE is to be financially independent on a more typical level of spending, PoF says. Id say to qualify as fat, your anticipated spending should probably be somewhere north of the national average.

According to PoF, thatd be an annual spending rate of around at least $80,000. That lends itself nicely to a round number of $2 million saved to have a budget with a 4% annual withdrawal rate, he says.

This is the practice that PoF embraces and his reason might convince you to pursue the lifestyle as well.

Lets assume you dont want to sacrifice your $60,000-a-year lifestyle and want to save enough money to get there. Youll need a higher rate of saving AND earning to do that

which brings us to:

Do you know how long itll take you to save $1,500,000 on a salary of $73,000 and a savings rate of 34%?

More than 26 years.

Thats a long time, and if you want to retire early, you might not want to wait that long.

Luckily theres a way to DRASTICALLY shorten that time: Earning more money.

Earning more allows you to increase your savings AND speed up your financial independence goals. While there are a lot of ways to make more money, the best way is starting a side hustle.Its a big win.

Below are our resources that have helped thousands of readers start their side hustles:

To help you get started, today, I want to show you how to find a great side hustle idea. Its one of the biggest barriers preventing people from starting their own business and making extra income. You can find a great idea by answering four simple questions about your life:

Find an answer to those questions and youll be on the same path as thousands of our students who have found a profitable business idea.

Bonus: Need help coming up with a business idea? Click here to receive your very own PDF of 30 proven business ideas.

A lot of us tend to DREAD the idea of cutting costs and with good reason. Thoughts of not being able to go to your favorite fast food restaurant or your father yelling at you when you change the thermostat just a fraction of a degree often crop up.

But Mad Fientist suggests you focus on paying for the things you love and cut out all the rest.

Scrutinize and be conscious of your spending, he says. If you see a nice BMW you think you want consider one thing: You could have the BMW or you could be a year closer to not having to work for anyone ever again. Framing it that way helps. Its not like youre saving. Youre working towards your financial freedom.

Conscious of your spending. Conscious spending

I wonder where Ive heard that before?

Conscious spending allows you to know exactly how much money is in your bank account to spend without you worrying about having to make rent and pay the bills, because its already been done for you.

How? Through automated finances. This is the system where your paycheck automatically divvies up and transfers to where it needs to go as soon as you receive it.

Heres a 12-minute video of Ramit explaining exactly how to do it.

NOTE: If youre pursuing financial independence, youre going to want to adjust the percentage of money you put away to savings when you implement your plan. You can choose to save around 65% like Mad Fientist suggests, or you can choose to put half your paycheck into your savings like PoF encourages. Or you could go a different route. Its all up to you and your savings goals.

Using a conscious spending plan also allows you to not sweat the small things you like.

Realize that the small stuff is just that small stuff, PoF says. The biggest expenses are the big stuff like housing, transportation, and travel. Dont rent or buy too much home, spend too much on a luxury auto or lengthy commute, and learn to be comfortable at a Comfort Inn.

Remember: cut things you DONT care about, to focus on the things you do. Dont just indiscriminately cut everything.

You can also learn to cut costs by leveraging retirement accounts that give you amazing tax advantages.

If you want to find out more about awesome accounts like the Roth IRA and 401k be sure to check out our articles on the topic:

But for now, I want to talk to you about an account with fantastic tax leverages you might not have heard of before: health savings accounts (HSA).

According to the Mad Fientist, HSAs are tax-advantaged savings accounts available for people who are enrolled in high-deductible health insurance plans.

He continues, HSA account holders can contribute pre-tax dollars to the account and can then withdraw money from the account, tax-free, when paying for qualified medical expenses.

So you contribute tax-free money AND withdraw tax-free money.

As of writing this, you can contribute $3,550/year for individuals and $7,100/year for families to an HSA. By maxing it out each year, you can reduce your taxable income by $3,550.

Sure, you cant take the money out other than to pay for certain medical expenses but when you turn 65 you can without incurring any penalties.

That means all that tax-free money is yours, effectively lowering your taxed income over your lifetime by $3,550/year.

You should do all that you can to legally reduce your tax burden, PoF explains. If you max out your workplace retirement accounts and an HSA [Health Savings Account], you can deduct a significant sum from your taxable income. Theres only so much a wage earner can do, but do all that you can to pay the least and save the most.

Once you have your retirement accounts set up, youve taken steps to cut costs, and youre ready to earn more money, congrats! Youre on the road to early retirement.

Now I want to offer you something to dramatically cut down the time it takes to save for retirement even MORE:

This guide will give you the exact systems you need to help you earn extra income on the side and eventually achieve financial independence (if you want it).

Youll find our tactics to:

Download a FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide today by entering your name and email below and start your financial independence journey today.

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Financial Independence - I Will Teach You To Be Rich

financial independence / early retirement

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My wife and I are on our path to FI. We are in our 30s and we were a bit late to realize how money works. Although we just started, the thought of achieving something big, that never even crossed our minds before is very powerful and promising.

We are three years into our marriage and we made some bad decisions the first year which put us in a lot of debt and that eventually pushed me to know more about FI and how money works. Since then we have recovered and I can proudly say that we became debt-free 3 months ago. We have been trying to save as much as we can to build an emergency fund and once we achieve that, we will start to invest.

My only concern so far has been that my wife is not a math person. She has been 100% supportive of me taking charge of the finances and budgeting but when it comes to me showing her numbers and graphs, she freaks out and cannot comprehend. Its like she is scared of graphs and math. She told me she has been traumatized by her math teacher in class and she even fears calculators now. Keeping this in mind I never pushed her to learn about numbers and percentages and extrapolating graphs but I always wanted to teach her how investments work just in case I am incapacitated and she can take care of herself.

Yesterday, as I was thinking of ways to at least show her how our budget works, I remembered a diagram (sankey diagram) but I didnt know the name of it so I turn to you guys and tried to explain what I was looking for. I am so thankful to those that replied and told me it was Sankey diagram. I went ahead and make the Sankey diagram for my wife thinking it has no graphs, its very visual and easy to understand. And, when I went home and showed her that, she loved it! She understood everything listened to me with 100% attention while I was explaining everything to her on the diagram.

I just want to emphasize on the importance of your spouse being on-board in the FI journey and that you have to find ways of making it easy for them to get onboard and not push them to do it if they do not know the concept. For those of you who are still single, keep this in mind that once you are not single anymore, the most important thing in FI journey will be your spouse supporting, understanding and working towards your shared Financial Independence goal.

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financial independence / early retirement

Shortest Path to Financial Independence – Mad Fientist

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What would you give up if someone said to you, If you give up five things, you can quit your job tomorrow and wont ever have to work again?

What else would you give up if you instead had to give up ten things? Fifteen things?

At some point it may not be worth it and youd rather keep your job but I imagine the list of things youd be happy to give up could be pretty long.

I actually thought about this a lot recently when creating the budget for The Perfect Life.

After determining what kind of life would make me and my wife happiest, I sat down to figure out exactly how much the perfect life would cost.

Before I describe the shortest path to financial independence, its probably a good idea to reiterate my definition of financial independence.

To me, financial independence is having enough income from your assets to cover your essential expenses so that you can survive without ever having to work again.

Never having to work again is very different from never working again.

Since I plan on working in some capacity after I achieve FI (on things I want to work on, rather than what my boss wants me to work on), Im not concerned with saving up enough money to cover my discretionary expenses.

Id rather reach FI as quickly as possible, quit my full-time job, and then slowly build up the amount of fun money I have by doing work that I enjoy.

As Mr. Money Mustache described in his First Retire, Then Get Rich article, its likely you will make more money and spend less post-FI than you anticipate. Therefore, Im happy with this plan and am in no way worried about living a boring life after financial independence.

So how can you achieve financial independence as quickly as possible?

The first thing you should do is list your current essential expenses. This will allow you to understand how much you spend per month and will help you better predict how much you will need to spend after you quit your job.

The number you computed in the previous step assumes your post-FI life will resemble your current life.

Most likely, this will not be the case. When you no longer have to work, the number of expenses that you incur should decrease.

This step is the fun part.

If you really envisage your post-FI life, you can quite happily drop expenses that are no longer necessary or important to you.

We currently own a house but plan on renting after reaching FI. There are a few reasons for this:

The decision to rent smaller apartments/houses in cheaper places will allow me to decrease my future monthly expenses significantly!

Sadly, we currently require two cars for me and my wife to both get to work. The costs associated with these cars is ridiculous and if I never have to own a car again, I wont. Post-FI, we wont need to own a car.

Not having a car will probably result in additional public transportation costs but by cutting out automobile ownership from our future expenses, I can decrease our future monthly expenses even further!

Im sure there are many expenses in your life that youd be happy to substitute for free alternatives post-FI if you take some time to think about it.

Theres a big, exciting world out there with many amazing, free things to do so why not start with those and then move on to things that cost money after you get bored of all the free options?

Library books instead of TV. Running instead of gym membership. Rock climbing on actual rocks instead of on a fake climbing wall that costs money to use.

You get the idea.

This exercise may help you decrease your current expenses even before you achieve financial independence.

If you ask yourself, would I give up x if it meant I could quit my job tomorrow and you answer yes, why would you continue paying that expense now? It is obviously not that important to you so why not remove that expense now and instead use that money to get one step closer to achieving FI?

The beauty of saving enough to only cover your essential expenses is that it will force you to really scrutinize your discretionary spending after you achieve FI.

If you have to go out and make extra money to buy something, youll most likely only buy things you really need or desire. You will truly be trading your free time for stuff so you will most likely only do that for things that are really important to you.

Theres no need to wait until FI to see if you can limit your discretionary spending to what your supplemental income can provide.

If you start developing supplemental income streams by doing things you enjoy now, youll be able to increase your savings rate while cutting out the discretionary expenses that really arent meaningful to you.

In conclusion, here are the simple steps to achieve financial independence as quickly as possible:

What would you consider giving up if it meant you could quit your job tomorrow?

Want to shorten your journey to financial independence even more? Check out this comprehensive guide How to Optimize Your Journey to Financial Independence

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Shortest Path to Financial Independence - Mad Fientist

Visions of an automotive future that hasn’t come to fruition – The ClassicCars.com Journal

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Its 2020. But sometimes it feels like our futuristic dreams are stuck in the 1950s and 60s. And theres actually a good reason for that, reports Budget Direct Singapore, part of the Budget Direct insurance company that commissioned artwork based on bygone dreams.

The period between 1958 and 1963 might be described as a Golden Age of American Futurism, the insurance company continued. Bookended by the founding of NASA in 1958 and the end of The Jetsons in 1963, these few years were filled with some of the wildest techno-utopian dreams that American futurists had to offer.

Some of these futurists delved into the motoring and automotive design space and these types of retro-futuristic concepts were the ones that intrigued, the company continued in explaining the seven speculative blueprints of the past that were reimagined and set in a contemporary world with the following text:

Super-Cycle (1936)

The June 1936 cover of Modern Mechanix & Inventions Magazine promised two revolutionary technologies: television, and the 300 mph Super-Cycle. Sadly, the Super-Cycle and its unnamed inventor were quickly left behind by TV.

The Super-Cycle is capable of reaching record-breaking speeds on its spherical wheels. The driver is safely encased within the bikes aerodynamic shell. For added safety, there is a cushion attached to the front of the canopy windshield to lean your head on as you power forward.

And those twin motors? Two separate power plants are employed, one on each side of the powerful rigid chassis, explains the author, without even blushing.

Chrysler Heir (1941)

Gil Spear started as a specialist within the trade of car design: he mostly did the fronts. The 1939 Plymouth, 1939 New Yorker, and 1940 Saratoga front ends were his. And Chrysler adopted the wraparound grille on this unbuilt 1941 cruiser for their 1942 Royal (hence weve christened the 41 model the Chrysler Heir).

Spears proto-space-age Chrysler tapers to a point at the rear, encasing a maximum of two passengers in the bubble-like cockpit. We can imagine that the designer would have projected the speedometer onto the windscreen, since that was one of his proposals for Ford a few years later.

HobbyPop RoadShop (1958)

Nostalgic for woodwork, cheerful Partridge Family optimism, and casual sexism? Youll love this 1958 bus-length workshop on wheels. The elevated drivers cabin means Mum is far less likely to take a wrong turn. Plus, the entire lower deck is left free for Dad to use it as his carpentry workshop.

Okay, so Bruce McCall actually drew up the HobbyPop RoadShop in 2001 to parody vehicles like the others on our list. But its still an oddly plausible addition to the world of 20th century speculative vehicle design.

McLouth XV61 Concept (1961)

Syd Meads most famous vehicles are the Tron Light Cycle (which inspired Kanedas bike in Akira) and Blade Runners flying Spinner car. Meads military-funded design for a four-legged, gyro-balanced, walking cargo vehicle directly inspired the Star Wars AT-AT.

But if youre more of a Volvo sort of person, consider the XV61, which Mead designed for um the McLouth Steel Corporation. McLouth built the XV (Xperimental Vehicle) for the 61 New York International Automobile Show, boasting that the family car was both road safe and future safe because it would also run on the monorail. Minimal trim and simple geometric lines just about keep the XV61 down-to-Earth for the responsible family man with one eye on the future.

Singlets (1962)

Suddenly, the Singoletta doesnt seem far-fetched. Put a canopy on a Segway and you have the perfect social-distancing little vehicle.

A speed of no more than forty kilometers per hour. A minimum of protection from the weather. A minimum of space. A minimum of consumption. A minimum of cost.

The magazine artist Walter Molino illustrated the Singoletta for the Domenica del Corriere in 1962. But the actual inventor was the mysterious Cesare Armano, a pseudonym for the famous correspondent and science-fiction author Franco Bandini. Bandinis solution to the traffic pandemic would cost a quarter of the price of a Fiat 500, and 10 Singlets would fit in the space of one car. Plus, its electric motor would have been kind to the environment. Visionary!

The New Urban Car (1970)

In 1970, the average 4-seater carried just 1.2 humans (today, its 1.67), y, clogging the air and roads. Automotive writer Ken W. Purdy imagined the solution in a Playboy article illustrated by Syd Mead.

Tomorrows in-city car would be a two-seater with a cheap, quiet, slightly greener gas turbine in place of the internal combustion engine.

Space is maximized by combining the steering wheel and accelerator into a single fold-away lever. Swing it to steer, twist it to accelerate.

The rear unit including wheels, turbine, and transmission is detachable to make repairs easier.

A cheap but adequate two-way telephone comes as standard. Looking for the doors? The canopy simply flips open and is hinged at the bumper.

Anti-Gravity Car (1979)

Meads 1979 anti-gravity vehicle conjures worlds beyond us, being part Spinner and part TIE fighter with a hint of Batwing.

We dont really know what gravity is but were going to figure it out, Syd Mead told Car Magazine, shortly before his death. I think thats the next huge breakthrough in controlling the real world.

The Anti-Gravs wraparound windscreen gives the driver-pilot a clear view in all directions. But wherever youre going, you still need roads as this is a hovering vehicle rather than an all-out flying car.

Note to city planners: Meads illustration includes buffer walls at street level to stop the cars overhanging fins from knocking down pedestrians!

Any attempt to predict the future of vehicle technology is doomed to be a bit absurd, the Budget Direct team continues. But the future is much closer than it used to be, and the world around is starting to look distinctly Jetsons-like.

Self-driving cars cruise the streets, even if they can be outwitted by a mischief with a can of paint. Mercedes-Benz posits the Urbanetic (the name Urbmobile was already taken in 1968), a self-driving, fully electric auto with an interchangeable body. Yes, the whole body.

And Elon Musk says Teslas cartoonish Cybertruck was inspired by Syd Meads Spinner. The consumer pickup has the specs of a sports car, armored glass, an impenetrable exoskeleton, and the option to include a fold-out barbeque and picnic table at the back. Perhaps Musk has been studying some of historys sillier car designs, too.

A note on methodology and sources: The team started by gathering interesting concepts created by visionaries, artists, and inventors depicting what they thought vehicles in the future might look like. They then researched each image further: who created it, where it was originally published and when, as well as any interesting facts or important features. Finally, a team of specialist designers created new, realistic renders based on the original drawings bringing these vehicles that never were to life.

Sources:

Abrams, A. (2010). Retrofuture Transportation Showcase. darkroastedblend.com

Modern Mechanix. (2006). Super-Cycle to Smash All Speed Records. blog.modernmechanix.com

Novak, M. (2007). Cars Detroit Forgot To Build. paleofuture.gizmodo.com

Pittenger, D. (2012). Gil Spear and the 1942 Chrysler. artcontrarian.blogspot.com

Sabatini, R. (2020). Coronavirus, the prophetic cover of Domenica del Corriere in 1962: We will go around like this. ilmessaggero.it

Sand, C. (2017). Syd Mead Urban Car design study. retro-futurism.livejournal.com

Tate, R. (2017). Syd Mead and Stainless Steel in a Concept for the Future. motorcities.org

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Visions of an automotive future that hasn't come to fruition - The ClassicCars.com Journal

Is Artificial intelligence the Future of IT Help Desk? – Analytics Insight

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Artificial intelligence is one of the biggest markets for growth within the field of technology today. In fact, AI is rapidly empowering us to make major changes to various fields within the realm of technology. Help desk is no stranger to the idea that there is room for improvement within this niche of technology.

Businesses use help desk software to manage a variety of different types of information. From customers questions and concerns to employee computer repair requests, help desk is a solution for organizing, responding to, and gathering results from each of those individual tickets that are completed.

If you utilize a help desk for your own business, then you may have wondered how help desk could be changing in the near future. You might even be surprised that one of the many ways help desk could change is by utilizing AI technology to improve its accuracy and dependability.

One of the biggest areas of improvement that comes through the AI world within technology is the use of bots to chat with customers about their needs and any questions which may arise. Using AI, a business can employ virtual chatbots to troubleshoot concerns from the person visiting the help desk, SysAid is one such business already trialling out and employing AI on help desk concerns. This can greatly reduce the number of tickets that the help desk employees go through on a daily basis.

Although you can give users the opportunity to code their ticket in a certain priority rank, you can also use AI to help formulate the order in which those tickets should be reviewed. This function would also make the help desk more intuitive for the user because it can help the user auto-populate various options.

There are a number of ways that AI tools can help to build insight into the information that a help desk might find useful. First, using AI tools, a help desk can populate responses to the problem that a person is reporting. This can help to reduce the number of tickets that the help desk has to respond to on a daily basis.

AI can also help to formulate the most popular types of insight that are requested through this tool. Tracking this type of data can help the tech team to understand where there are weaknesses in their systems in use. Further, this same type of data tracking can help the tech team understand their weaknesses in response to certain issues as well. Using this data, tech teams can enhance their own performance to the questions that are posed through help desk technology.

Artificial intelligence is going to change the way that a lot of different technology tools are able to help us in the future. These tools automate processes and actually help the tech team to manage and understand their own worth in a new light. Further, AI can automate the system in such a way that the tech team has time to focus less on help desk requests and more on the bigger issues at hand with their resources.

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Is Artificial intelligence the Future of IT Help Desk? - Analytics Insight