Oceania & South Asia Six August 2020 Majors – Everything You Need to Know – SiegeGG

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Thanks to COVID-19, the Six Major set to be held in the United States can't go on. But, in its place, there will be a set of regional so-called "mini-majors", set to crown regional champions at a smaller scale.

APAC North will be the first subregion to play its mini-major, coming just two weeks after the first stage of the regular competition ended on the 4th of August. Concurrently running will be the APAC South Division's South Asia and Oceanic mini-majors, with their first games on the 6th of August.

All three majors will culminate with grand finals on the 9th of August, so here is all you need to know about the next two coming up -- the Oceanic and South Asian Six August 2020 Majors.

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In Oceania, the top three from the Six Masters 2020 Finals will be taking part in a single-elimination tournament, with the top seed -- Wildcard Gaming -- getting a bye straight into the grand final. The sole semi-final will be a Best-of-Three (Bo3), while the grand final will be a Best-of-Five (Bo5).

Over in South Asia, the top-four from the first stage of the South Asian Nationals will be taking part in a similar single-elimination tournament. The two Bo3 semi-finals will be then followed up by a Bo5 grand final, much like their Oceanic contemporaries.

The first day of play for the Oceanic and South Asian regions will be on the 6th of August, with games starting at 6 PM AEST (UTC+10) for the former and at 5 PM IST (UTC+5:30) for the latter. South Asia will then conclude its tournament on the very next day at 5 PM IST as well, while Oceanic fans will have to wait until 5 PM AEST on the 8th of August.

The prize purse of US$30,000 (A$41,900) for Oceania and the US$15,000 (1,125,700) will be split as follows, with Six Invitational (SI) points also awarded:

Oceania

South Asia

The Six Invitational Points will go towards qualification for the currently-tentative Six Invitatational 2021, with the winners of the Oceanic tournament getting 330 and the South Asian getting 275.

Oceania

Over in Oceania, there are only three teams in attendance, chosen from the top-three of the Six Masters 2020 Finals.

Ethan, Pat, Gio, Diesel, EmoRin, syliX (coach) and Fluxx (coach)

Headed into this tournament as the top-seed and the definite favourite to take the win, Australia's second-most successful team will be keen on making its mark following the departure of Fnatic to APAC North. A near-lossless Six Masters regular season was followed up by a playoffs run that saw the team avoid dropping even a single map and its players will be disappointed with anything less this time again.

JackDaddy, Cutie, Mangoz, ItBeStyle, JKR, and Centus (coach)

Coming in as the second seed,kami has been going from strength to strength. The team had finished third in the Six Masters 2020 regular season, but had surprised many with a comfortable 2-0 win over a then-favoured Team SiNister. While having lost to Wildcard Gaming twice,kami showed great improvement the second time around, and will be hoping that third time is the charm at this mini-major.

Dino, Stryder, Hayward, Juicy, Jsh, and Pikniq (coach)

Coming in as a slight surprise, Pittsburgh Knights was not a team that was 'supposed to' be here. Having finished an incredible 12 points behind Team SiNister in the regular Six Masters 2020 season, the Knights had managed a rather comfortable 2-1 upset over them in the playoffs. With flashes of strength against even the favourites of Wildcard Gaming, the Knights will be hoping to surprise their intial opponents ofkami in this second attempt.

South Asia

DOC7ER, Hasib, Mii7, NINJAFREAK, Taha, M4KER, and FATAR

The winners of the first stage of the South Asian Nationals, MercenarieZ had only come together just before its qualifiers. The team had made it to the grand final of the South Asian Nationals without dropping a map, but had needed a stunning reverse-sweep comeback to beat Union Gaming on the backs of multiple clutches and a map advantage. Somewhat surprised to have got so far, the team will be hoping to carry on its form in this mini-major.

Beat, EX7, Jittery, Poseidon, Sparko, Daggerfist, and Exterr

Union Gaming, the giants of South Asia, would have been certainly unhappy with the South Asian Nationals loss. The team had won most of the local tournaments held before the Nationals and had been a mere two rounds away on two maps from beating MercenarieZ in the grand final. Certainly still one of the favourites, Union will be hoping to beat KIRA E-Sports a second time after having lost 0-2 the first time and reaffirm its status as the best in South Asia.

AviM, DAFT, R4ttl3r, amarhbk, Atharv, and Khajiit

Third-seeded KIRA E-Sports come into this mini-major with little known about them, given that their games had all been played offline. However, a 2-0 victory against the eventual finalists of Union Gaming and then a 1-2 loss against them in the lower bracket speaks to this KIRA roster being not too far behind the favourites.

Cruzi, Firefly, Ishan, Lusty_Boi, and QB

Even less is known about MonkaS in terms of their play style, as only the grand final of the South Asian Nationals had been streamed. However, this roster did push proceedings to maximum regular time across its 0-2 loss to eventual champions MercenarieZ, but was destroyed 0-7, 1-7 against Union Gaming. More work is to be done for this team, but it is clear that there is the potential for an upset here.

The broadcast will be done from the brand-new Paris studio, designed for the APAC North Division and European League, with all three APAC mini-majors set to be cast from that venue. The talent, too, will be consistent with the APAC North event, with the following hosts, casters, and analysts:

Make sure to tune in for the games, starting tomorrow on the 6th of August at 6 PM AEST (UTC+10), as APAC sets out in search for its Asian, South Asian, and Oceanic champions. Also check back here for more coverage and follows us on Twitterfor instant updates.

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Oceania & South Asia Six August 2020 Majors - Everything You Need to Know - SiegeGG

Nissan launches virtual showroom in Philippines, Brand first in Asia and Oceania – Automotive World

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Nissan in the Philippines has enhanced its digital strategy with the introduction of the brands first virtual showroom in the Asia & Oceania region, giving customers immersive online access to the current Nissan line-up.

Nissan is dedicated to shaping an innovative, human-centric future for the Philippines. The launch of the first virtual showroom in the region for Nissan is a strong example that we consistently innovate to benefit the customer journey, especially in the face of challenges such as the pandemic, says President and Managing Director for Nissan in the Philippines Atsushi Najima.

Thevirtual showroomin the recently updated Nissan Philippines website allows customers to move around and interact with every vehicle in the current Nissan line-up on display. Simulating the experience inside physical Nissan dealerships around the country, the virtual showroom offers a 360-degree view of both the virtual space and each product, as well as allows the customer to zoom in and out and navigate to every direction. This newly developed 360-degree view component is also the first for the brand to launch globally.

Each of the vehicles on display have clickable hotspots to instantly show more information about the car, and its key features. Exterior hotspots lead to a carousel view of the main vehicle information and leads to the vehicles landing page. Interior hotspots have been customized to lead to a 360-degree view inside the vehicle, additionally providing more digital hotspots to deliver information on car specifications.

The enhanced websites landing pages for each vehicle are now equipped with an interactive viewing feature, adding a colorizer option where customers can view the vehicles various color variants in various angles. Each vehicles landing page also have new product walk-around videos that share the excitement of discovering Nissan products, and highlights the benefits of Nissan Intelligent Mobility for vehicles with these features.

Under a secure and safe new normal, the virtual showroom is one innovative way for us to push possibilities so that customers can seamlessly experience the Nissan brand from a digital platform right until they drive our vehicles. The virtual showroom not only brings new kind of excitement in experiencing Nissan products for Filipinos, but also ensures that our customers remain safe during the pandemic, concludes Najima.

SOURCE: Nissan

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Nissan launches virtual showroom in Philippines, Brand first in Asia and Oceania - Automotive World

Where Are All The Cruise Ships? – Forbes

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While we see the images of parked airliners lined up on taxiways and wing-to-wing at various airports around the world, where are all the cruise ships?

Living across from the Port of Miami, months after the pause on cruising, ships continue to sail in and out on a daily basis. That sort of makes sense. One might guess they need to refuel and get more provisions. But clearly, unlike airliners, the over 300 cruise ships that are out there, arent just static, shutdown, mothballed, and tied up somewhere.

Despite the pause on cruising, ships are on the move. Where are they going? Who's on board? Why not ... [+] just park them like airliners?

Looking at Cruisemapper.com heightened my intrigue. While its apparent some of these vacation wonderlands anchor offshore for periods of time (below), they also seem to be on the move, in some cases on long voyages (above).

Cruise ships anchored near Great Habour Cay in the Bahamas.

To find out whats going on, I reached out to the three biggest operators of cruise ships.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings operates the Oceania and Regent Seven Seas brands in addition to its namesake. They responded first and politely declined to offer answers to my questions about what was going on just beyond the horizon.

Royal Caribbean Group, which counts Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Silversea, Azamara, TUI, and Hapag-Lloyd in its portfolio was next up, and gave me a glimpse into whats going on.

A spokesperson told me that ships come in an out of port for fuel and provisions. He noted that due to restrictions on repatriating crew, ports acted as hubs where members transferred from one ship to another, not necessarily to disembark.

Since onboard staff come from a multitude of countries, and it was often impossible to get them home via scheduled airline flights, Royal Caribbean chartered full airliners to fly them there.

While he declining to talk specifics, an example as I understood it might be Indonesian and Philippine passports holders on several were ships transited to a single vessel while making a port stop. That vessel then sailed to a country that had given Royal Caribbean permission to transfer the crew to charter flights that would fly them to their home nations.

Describing the repatriation as monumental, the entire operation wasnt completed until the end of June. Ships that when sailing had over 8,000 passengers and crew now are staffed by around 100 team members.

He also pointed out that there isnt enough space in ports to dock all its ships, hence the cluster of ships anchored offshore.

Carnival Corporation was last to get back to me, but presented the most comprehensive picture of whats taking place out at sea.

A spokesperson noted none of the companys now 90 ships, down from 105 before the pause - 15 are leaving the fleet - are currently in U.S. waters.

The industrys largest player, its brands include Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Seabourn, Aida, Costa, and P&O.

The Carnival Corp. representative said it utilized 49 ships that traveled over 400,000 nautical miles around the world, along with chartered aircraft, to repatriate over 80,000 crew members. So in other words, some of those long voyages I was seeing on Cruisemapper.com were a result of sailing onboard teams back to their home countries.

The lockdown circumstances, restrictions, closures, various rules around the world and reductions in commercial air made it difficult to use normal means to repatriate crew members from over 130 countries, he said.

Challenges not only included sailing or flying crew home. Back in May, Bill Burke, the companys chief maritime officer told Cruise Business issues with test results and certification delayed for weeks repatriation thousands of Filipino employees. He noted some crew live in countries where borders were closed to both maritime and air arrivals.

Now that repatriations are done, why not just mothball the ships?

It turns out the remaining ships are in what Carnival calls a warm layup, positioned around the world, including the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and in the eastern Pacific.

Warm layup is where most of the ships major systems continue to operate to make sure they function normally over time and the ship can quickly be put back into service.

A cold layup shuts down most of the ships systems for a longer-term period of inactivity for the ship, by the way.

According to Carnival, the ships in warm layup are staffed with crew members at what is called safe-manning levels, which for larger ships is an average of about 100 crew members including deck officers navigating the ship, engineers in charge of propulsion and power, a security team, and hotel and kitchen staff, along with medical professionals for any crew needs.

There are approximately 12,000 crew members remain on Carnival Corp. ships for safe-manning duties.

Whats life like on these ghost ships?

The Carnival rep said most crew members are staying alone, per protocol for disease mitigation, and in guest cabins with a window or balcony. They have access to outdoor spaces, movies, Internet, and are able to stay in touch with family and friends.

If you want a closer look, several crew still aboard the ships are posting vlogs on Youtube.

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Where Are All The Cruise Ships? - Forbes

Out with the gold holders – The Spokesman-Review

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The golden rule, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, is a short phrase to guide us in all of our dealings with people. Everyone is better off.

There is, however, another golden rule that is less known: Those with the gold make the rules. Another short phrase that lately has led to fewer things for those without gold.

It seems that lately this phrase describes the actions of many of our elected officials AND their lobbyists.

Many of the present legislators are millionaires (the ones with the gold). Most laws passed, their rules, increases their gold holdings, taking money away from the real workers.

It is time to elect people who are not gold holders so the wealth is shared by those who are actually earning it, the forty-hour-per-week people.

Vote every chance that you get for the good of all. Vote gold-holding rule makers out of office.

VOTE.

Mark Thompson

Cusick, Wash.

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Out with the gold holders - The Spokesman-Review

Diversity: The Golden Rule of Retail – Furniture World Magazine

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Diversity: The Golden Rule of Retail

Can every person who works, shops or engages with your store's messaging see themselves represented, respected and comfortable?

As children, we all learned the Golden Rule: Do unto others as youd have them do unto you. In retail, that adage continues to be more relevant than ever. As our communities become increasingly diverse, its critical for our industry to evolve and adapt to create an inclusive, welcoming shopping experience for all customers. Most consumers prefer to buy and support local, so what are you doing to include EVERYONE?

Respect: It all starts with respect. It may sound simplistic, but treating people with the same level of respect you expect from others is the first step to creating an inclusive shopping experience. That respect permeates every aspect of your business and customer serviceeverything from treating each customer equally no matter who they are to making sure your store is welcoming and accessible for all. Is your store ADA accessible? If not, youre unintentionally telling physically challenged shoppers theyre not welcome, missing out on potential sales and alienating members of your community.

Inclusive To All: This leads to my next pointmake sure your business is inclusive to all, not just people who look and think like you. Does your advertising represent a wide swath of the population? Do you hire people based on how you look or how your entire trading area looks? Creating a brand that people can see themselves infrom advertising to employeeswill make it more likely they see themselves enjoying the products you sell, too.

Social Media: Another key component to building an inclusive brand is your social media. When posting images, be cognizant of diversityeven if youre simply using stock photos, try to make sure the people depicted on your social accounts represent people of a variety of ethnic backgrounds. And you likely post holiday greetings for Christmas and Independence Day, but do you also recognize Juneteenth, Rosh Hashanah or Ramadan? Creating posts marking holidays celebrated by other ethnic groups and religions is an easy way to let your community and customers know you care about inclusivity and respect the beliefs of all, even if you dont personally celebrate those days.

Speaking of holidays, we know that in recent years there have been questions raised about the cultural sensitivity of holidays such as Columbus Day that often coincide with retail sales. If you feel concerned about seeming insensitive but dont want to miss an opportunity when your competitors are having sales, perhaps change your approach. Rather than Columbus Day, make it a fall sale. You can still offer deals without unintentionally excluding potential customers.

Store Policies: Once youve identified changes to make and places to grow, the next step is incorporating these initiatives in your store policies. Putting a commitment to inclusivity and diversity in writing makes it easier to implement these changes and make sure your employees understand the company culture youre trying to cultivate. And should someone disregard or go against these policies, having a stated set of guidelines available allows you to hold employees accountable if they dont meet your expectations.

Integrity: Everyone with a homebe it a house, apartment, condo or mobile homeneeds furniture, which means everyone is your potential customer. And with consumers spending more time at home, the furniture industry is in a prime position to sell to everyone. Are you making everyone feel welcome? Are your ads inclusive? Are your employees diverse? Are your website and social posts showing diversity and inclusion? Can EVERYONE see themselves represented and at home in your store? Being able to answer these questions in the affirmative can mean the difference between growing your business and falling behind. Evolving with changing times not only demonstrates your business savvy, it also shows you are a person of integrity who understands the Golden Rule is more than just a saying.

About Ellen Gefen: Ellen Gefen is the co-owner of Gefen Marketing and Gefen Productions, a High Point-based full-service marketing and multimedia company in the home industries. She also founded TheHome.com, a consumer-facing home design and lifestyle site. As part of a multiracial, multicultural family, Gefen knows first-hand the challenges faced by many and is passionate about supporting movements that work to ensure equality for all. Questions or comments can be directed to her at ellen@gefenmarketing.com, or call her at 336.884.5020. Read other articles by Ellen Gefen

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Diversity: The Golden Rule of Retail - Furniture World Magazine

SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING: It is our religious calling – News – Wicked Local Kingston

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Who is our neighbor, and what effect do these words really have on our lives?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. There is a version of this Biblical quote, also known as the Golden Rule, in the sacred texts of every religious tradition. Love thy neighbor is a similar passage that also can be found, in some form, in religious writings all over the world.

But who is our neighbor, and what effect do these words really have on our lives?

Is our neighbor just the person who looks like us and thinks like us, those that we see regularly at work, in our families or in our religious institutions? Its easy to love those people, isnt it? Or, is our God, or Higher Power, or Great Spirit, calling us to take on the more difficult task of loving everyone, even those neighbors who look differently, or think differently, or speak a different language, or are from a different race or culture?

I remember some of the discomfort and controversy that arose when the rainbow flag started to become popular and we had conversations in our Houses of Worship about displaying it as a sign of being welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community. Many people didnt want to deal with their long-held prejudice, discomfort and beliefs that devalued the lives of our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered neighbors. It made us uncomfortable to focus our attention on those people. Then we started to really listen to the stories of our LGBTQ+ family members, friends, neighbors and colleagues. We did not know how much discrimination, violence and hatred LGBTQ+ people faced on a regular basis. We realized that, in many ways, their lives were similar to our own and some of our fears were unfounded. We became more comfortable with seeing the rainbow flag, and with appreciating what LGBTQ+ people bring to our lives and our communities.

Now, we face a new challenge as we see a renewed Black Lives Matter movement and Black Lives Matter signs appearing throughout our communities. We have to face the facts that our Black and brown-skinned neighbors have suffered horrific violence and prejudice in our society. We are now being asked to deal with our own prejudices and the racial hatred that has been passed down to all of us in our society. It is scary and uncomfortable, as it always is, whenever we are asked to look deeply within and make some changes in ourselves and our lives.

Yet, if we are truly to love our neighbor and do unto others, it is beyond time for all of us to listen to the stories and the lives of our Black and brown neighbors. It is beyond time for us to stand with Black and brown-skinned people who have been oppressed and mistreated to proclaim that Black Lives DO Matter. It is our religious calling to do so. It is what is required of us as people of any faith tradition.

The Rev. Arthur Lavoie is the minister of First Parish in Plymouth, Unitarian Universalist.

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SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING: It is our religious calling - News - Wicked Local Kingston

How to make a cup of tea that the Queen would approve of, according to Her Majesty’s favorite brand – Insider – INSIDER

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The Queenloves a cup of English breakfast tea.

Her Majesty has been sipping away at the traditional drink at most royal events, including at the famous Buckingham Palace garden parties, official luncheons, and other engagements.

Like most Brits, the royal monarch probably has a specific way she likes to drink it. From how much milk you add to how strong you make it, there are many factors that will go into making a good cuppa.

Although we can't ask Her Majesty personally, the Queen's favorite tea brand might just be the next best thing.

Twinings, the brand that holds an official royal warrant, told Town and Country that in order to make the perfect cup, you must allow the water to boil and then leave it over your tea bag for exactly four minutes.

"In tea, color is not flavor," the brand's director, Stephen Twinings, told the publication.

The British royal family's former butler has also weighed in on how to make the perfect cup of tea.

Grant Harrold, former butler to Prince Charles, said the golden rule is making sure to add milk after the water not before.

There's also a specific way to stir the tea, according to Harrold.

"Stir back and forth never use a circular motion, and never touch the sides," Harrold wrote on Twitter.

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The Queen saw a new portrait of herself unveiled virtually, and she even made a joke about the painting's empty teacup

I took a 'quarantine etiquette' class with the royal family's former butler, and it completely changed my lockdown experience

Queen Elizabeth will become the first British monarch to reign for 25,000 days

Our Royal Insider Facebook group is the best place for up-to-date news and announcements about the British royal family, direct from Insider's royal reporters. Join here.

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How to make a cup of tea that the Queen would approve of, according to Her Majesty's favorite brand - Insider - INSIDER

Why the key to happiness is spiritual peace – Aleteia IT

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All humans desire happiness at some level. It is a natural inborn desire that motivates most of our actions on a daily basis. We seek to do things that provide happiness while avoiding those things that bring suffering.

However, what often happens is that we seek a momentary happiness that only lasts for a short time. This happiness is fleeting and leaves us just as fast as it comes.

The key to lasting happiness is to find peace, a peace we cannot grasp, but a peace that comes from God.

Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance explains the three areas of our lives where we need to establish peace in his early 20th-century book My Prayer Book.

All desire happiness. But peace brings happiness.It is a threefold peace, that is accompanied by heavenly happiness; peace with God, peace with ones neighbor, and peace with oneself.

Lasance then explains how to achieve peace in these three areas.

Peace with God means union with God, perfect conformity of ones own will with the divine will, the state of grace, the joy of a good conscience, which surpasses every joy on earth.

Peace with ones neighbor means the exercise of fraternal charity, the observance of the golden rule, do unto others as you would that they should do unto you, the avoidance of contention, the patient endurance of others faults, the forgiveness of injuries, the joy of unselfish, disinterested well-doing.

Peace with oneself means the victory over self, the mastery of ones passions and emotions, self-poise, self-control, and the sweet joy of the consciousness of duty well done done with the best motive and the purest intention Perfect self-mastery is the grand achievement of the humble follower of Christ.

If you are struggling with peace in your life, evaluate each of these three areas and see where you are lacking.If we are honest with ourselves, we likely have room for improvement in all three areas, but for right now, we should choose one area to improve before moving on to a different area.

This is the peace the saints possessed, a peace that led to a supernatural happiness on earth, but more importantly, an eternal happiness that never ends.

Above all things, Fr. Lasance suggests that there is one principle that we should focus on if we want any kind of lasting happiness, Much more, however, does our peace depend upon our trust in God, submission to His holy will, and perfect confidence in His providence.

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Why the key to happiness is spiritual peace - Aleteia IT

Letters to the editor for Aug. 7, 2020 – Opinion – Ocala.com – Ocala

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Lessons from the pandemic

While we are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is another major crisis looming in the near future: climate change. Behind the pandemic news headlines there are frequent reports of the ever-growing impacts of climate change. Most notably, the continued record-breaking heat waves throughout the world.

Many corporations as well as some states and cities are taking heed and adopting policies on their own to reduce their carbon footprint. Yet again, what is absent is national leadership. Our current president dismisses climate change for the benefit of the fossil fuel industry.

We surely can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic that it is important to listen to science, and science has warned us that we must act now to prevent the more serious consequences of climate change. Just like not wearing face coverings during the pandemic, if we do not significantly reduce carbon emissions, things will get out of hand quickly.

We need our national elected leaders to not just focus on todays economy, but also look out for the future welfare of our grandchildren and to build a new economy based on green energy. We need effective actions like adopting a carbon fee and dividend program, a free market approach to wean us off our dependence on fossil fuels. Its time to clear the air.

James Stormer, Ocala

Protect the energy sector

Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, the United States is no longer dependent on oil imports from the Middle East. Last year the U.S. became a net petroleum exporter for the first time since records were kept in 1973. That protects us from the volatility of other petroleum-producing countries and creates jobs and commerce for millions of people. Yet the radical left wants to decimate fossil-fuel production with the Green New Deal, setting us back to the Stone Age.

We need fighters in Washington who will protect our nations energy sector. Thats why Im voting for Gavin Rollins for Floridas Third Congressional District. Rollins will push back against the socialists and protect and support Trump.

Rollins is an Army Reserve lieutenant and a staunch defender of the Second Amendment.

Ross W. Cowen, U.S. Navy Reserve veteran, Silver Springs

Empty slogans

If racism is so prevalent, how come we have such a large number of well-educated minorities occupying powerful positions all across this great country?

Slavery was a horrible thing and a black mark on any nation where it was tolerated, and it never should have happened. However, that is not the fault of Americans now living. Our generations now were not slave owners, nor were any present Americans slaves. If poverty, a poor education or perceived racism is an excuse for not succeeding, why do we have millions of Americans black, white, Latino and Asian who are wealthy because they rose above?

"White privilege" and "racism" are empty slogans dutifully echoed by leftist lemmings who have been indoctrinated with liberalism, Marxism, globalism and communistic ideals, as well as a false sense of entitlement. Destruction of everything sacred to this country is their goal, and America is buckling to their demands. Congress and the Senate are more interested in their re-election and bank accounts than the country.

History is not being taught in our schools, discipline and the Golden Rule are nonexistent, and brainwashing of our children has instilled in them a disrespect for our country.

Brutality, inequality and discrimination should never be tolerated by any society. God, country, and law and order must be restored. Misconduct by everyone must be called out and punished wherever it exists.

If anyone thinks America is so bad, we wish they would leave, but first give up their citizenship so they cannot return.

We are 87 and 89 years old and have voted independently all our lives, but were very afraid for our country. If you organize a march, we will be there with our walkers along with thousands of others to save America and stop the anarchy.

Colleen and Ernest Lord, Ocala

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Letters to the editor for Aug. 7, 2020 - Opinion - Ocala.com - Ocala

Letter: Not a mask in sight | Opinions and Editorials – Aiken Standard

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I have been sitting here eating at a local restaurant watching folks give lip service to the mask mandate.

The bartender who is wearing a mask is serving people who took off their masks as soon as they sat down. She is at times about 3 feet from them. Per ordinance people can take off masks to eat. I guess they assume looking at the menu and ordering falls under eating. One guy who is neither eating nor drinking is engaged in conversation with her in between playing on his phone.

Outside half the people are walking around with no masks in sight.

Social distancing is expected but not required. Thus, a family group can theoretically walk closely by others while coughing and sneezing and this is acceptable.

A call to the Aiken Department of Public Safety verified that this was perfectly OK as long as people put on masks before entering a restaurant (or store). Once seated in a restaurant they could take off masks. I guess the health of waiters is of no consequence. The mask mandate is a joke.

We are supposed to wear masks to protect others in case we are asymptomatic and unaware. We do not wear them to protect ourselves from others. Only hospital-grade masks are proven to protect us from others.

It would seem the golden rule should apply, or at least Southern hospitality. Neither are present today in an otherwise lovely downtown Aiken.

Seth Quick

Aiken

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Letter: Not a mask in sight | Opinions and Editorials - Aiken Standard

Chart of the week: has Apple finally reached its peak? – Interactive Investor

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Source: interactive investor.Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

I have a potentially complete five waves in at least two degrees of scale on the Elliott Wave picture. That is a clear indication that a major turn approaches and any upside from here is extremely limited. A downside correction could quickly shave at least 10-15% off the value, with bigger corrections possible.

My best guess is that if it can breach the $350 support in the days and weeks ahead, the Corona Crash low at $200 will be within sight. In any case, taking major profits here would be prudent.

Bullish investors who may be carried away by their supreme confidence should remember the Golden Rule of investing to prosper, Buy Low and Sell High. The Sell High part is usually the most difficult to achieve emotionally.

For more information about Tramline Traders, or to take a three-week free trial, go towww.tramlinetraders.com.

John Burfordis the author of the definitive text on his trading method,Tramline Trading. He is also a freelance contributor and not a direct employee of interactive investor.

These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.

Disclosure

We use a combination of fundamental and technical analysis in forming our view as to the valuation and prospects of an investment. Where relevant we have set out those particular matters we think are important in the above article, but further detail can be foundhere.

Please note that our article on this investment should not be considered to be a regular publication.

Details of all recommendations issued by ii during the previous 12-month period can be foundhere.

ii adheres to a strict code of conduct. Contributors may hold shares or have other interests in companies included in these portfolios, which could create a conflict of interests. Contributors intending to write about any financial instruments in which they have an interest are required to disclose such interest to ii and in the article itself. ii will at all times consider whether such interest impairs the objectivity of the recommendation.

In addition, individuals involved in the production of investment articles are subject to a personal account dealing restriction, which prevents them from placing a transaction in the specified instrument(s) for a period before and for five working days after such publication. This is to avoid personal interests conflicting with the interests of the recipients of those investment articles.

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Chart of the week: has Apple finally reached its peak? - Interactive Investor

Ill-advised rant gives all of ag a black eye – AG Week

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Those recommendations arent about politics. They arent reactions to a nanny state. They arent about political correctness.

They are just good, plain common sense and good manners.

In recent weeks, the now-former president of the North Dakota Grain Growers Association showed why those kinds of recommendations are important when youre on social media. Dennis Haugen went on an unprovoked, uncouth and completely unnecessary tirade against someone on Facebook whom he doesnt even know personally. He ended up resigning his post and later his association with the Grain Growers board when the post was revealed. He indicated his resignation was to protect the Grain Growers.

Little late for that. The damage had already been done, not just to the North Dakota Grain Growers Association but to agriculture as a whole.

People associated with agriculture make up only a tiny slice of the general population. Because of that, we already have the deck stacked against us as far as perception goes. Many in non-ag populations view farmers and ranchers as uneducated, unsophisticated and backwards, something we certainly know to be untrue. But Haugens ranting just took us all down with him.

We need agricultural leaders who amplify our voices and lift us up, not drag us down. We need people who know how to disagree without being disagreeable, who do not put on condescending tones to those with whom they dont see eye-to-eye. Otherwise, we all get tarred with the same rude brush.

Dan Wogsland, NDGGA executive director, said his organization hasnt previously had issues with social media but now will plan training on the subject. And while thats a good idea for all organizations, and not just at the time of a crisis, this isnt just about social media etiquette. Its about knowing when to stop talking or typing and just keep your peace.

Side note on the controversy: The person to whom Haugen wrote his little diatribe was discussing issues with anxiety. If were going to address mental health in any sort of real way in this industry, it would be helpful if people didnt go out of their way to make someone feel worse when theyre honest about their issues.

We live in a free country. But, as everyone should have learned in elementary school, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences for your speech. If youre going to run your mouth, or your keyboard, youd better take into consideration how it will be perceived. And when youre in a leadership position in agriculture, youd better take into consideration how it makes agriculture look.

Online or offline, if youre faced with the decision of whether or not to put in your two cents, maybe the best advice is to just follow the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you would want to be treated. No one wants to be cursed at and disrespected, so dont inflict that on other people, regardless of whether you disagree with their views.

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Ill-advised rant gives all of ag a black eye - AG Week

10 surefire ways to annoy someone from Yorkshire – Yorkshire Live

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Yorkshire has a lot going for it, from the countryside to the fantastic range of restaurants, shops and of course the nightlife - we all know it's god's own county for a reason.

But if you're not from round ere', there are a few things you should avoid saying about Yorkshire or to anyone can proudly say they're from here.

If you say or do any of these 10 things, expect to be given a lecture on why you're actions are very wrong...

We had to start with the golden rule about tea. It has to be Yorkshire Tea.

We've very little time for any other brands - and while Tetley originated right here in the county, if you're going to offer a native Yorkshireman or woman a brew - make it Yorkshire eh! Just to be sure.

First of all, Yorkshire's accents are too diverse - Bradford, Hull, Leeds and Sheffield folk all sound very different - so don't generalise.

Also, when most people mimic the accent, they get it horribly wrong.

If you start to mimic a Yorkshire person's accent, you should fully expect them to mimic yours, too.

It'll be taken as a sign of disrespect.

In fairness, why do people actually serve roast dinner, especially when it's roast beef, without a Yorkshire pudding?

And just so we're clear, homemade is the only way to go.

It's just common courtesy, isn't it?

Especially on those absolutely boiling hot days, bus drivers have it tough. We rely on them to get us from A to B and unlike London buses, they're always on time. Well, that might be an exaggeration.

While it's not so common to thank the bus driver down south, you'll be considered rude if you don't when you're on our buses so learn fast!

Both festivals literally host the exact same artist, same stages, same food stalls, same beer stands - they really are mirror images of each other.

But obviously, Leeds Festival is better than Reading.

Reading is a great city, full of history which we can all appreciate - but who goes to a music festival for the culture? Unlike Leeds, Reading festival is held in the city and has a curfew.

Up here, we put our fest in a field in the middle of nowhere and let the madness commence!

Why would you want a dry plate of chips anyway?

People outside of Yorkshire actually find it strange that we put gravy or curry sauce on our chips and we just don't get why.

In our opinion, they are just afraid to try it.

Please, just stop it.

We don't all own flat caps and walk in fields with our whippets hunting for badgers.

Not that there's anything wrong with flat caps - it's just become somewhat of a stereotype.

Even if this is geographically true in some way, you are still wrong for suggesting this and will get an earful if you say this to someone from Yorkshire.

Whilst Sheffield might look to be in the midlands, if you want to be that guy who gets the map out and shows why we're factually incorrect, Yorkshire folk are proud northerners.

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire is in the midlands - that, we can agree on.

Yorkshire? In the North, my son.

"I don't understand why people are so fascinated by him, he's an average actor".

First off, you're wrong. And secondly, Sean Bean is an outright legend.

His accent is outrageously Yorkshire and he retains it in all his best performances - even when he's playing a warrior, battling in Middle Earth and speaking to elves, dwarfs and hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, or when he's discussing CIA tactics with Robert De Niro in Ronin - that accent still shines through.

You would be hard-pressed to find an actor more proud to be from his county than Sean Bean is with being a Yorkshireman.

No, Notts County is not the oldest football club of all-time - that would be our very own Sheffield FC!

The club has officially been recognised by FIFA as the world's first football club and in 2004 they were given theFIFA Order of Merit an award given to only one other club - Real Madrid. Not bad company, we'd say!

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10 surefire ways to annoy someone from Yorkshire - Yorkshire Live

How to wear a face mask: Tips, facts and FAQ – The Star Online

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As we all know, wearing face masks in public spaces is now mandatory in Malaysia.

This is a great policy that is going to keep us all much safer from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, not to mention all other airborne viruses that can make us sick.

Given the amount of misinformation and confusing statements from international health bodies, particularly regarding the use of face masks, we are quite lucky that efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Malaysia is generally going well.

But the road to the end of this pandemic is far from over, so now is not the time to be complacent about wearing your face masks in public.

Evidence is piling up that face masks do help prevent the spread of Covid-19, especially when you are in close proximity to an infected person without symptoms, i.e. who is asymptomatic.

Thus, the more consistent we are in wearing face masks, the better.

By and large, countries that implemented a stricter mask-wearing policy have fared better a study that examined Covid-19 death rates across 198 countries, found that those with government policies that favoured mask-wearing had lower death rates.

Show me the proof

One convincing body of scientific evidence is from lab research on respiratory droplets and the ability of various types of face masks to block them out.

One study used speeded-up video to observe the droplets.

They found that hundreds of droplets between 20 to 500m in size were produced just by uttering a simple phrase.

However, nearly all of the droplets were blocked when the mouth was covered by a damp washcloth.

Another experiment involved patients with influenza or the common cold.

They found that wearing a surgical face mask significantly reduced the amount of these respiratory viruses transmitted in droplets and aerosols.

But real-world scenarios are where we can witness the strongest evidence that face masks are really effective.

A recent study published in the journal Health Affairs, compared the growth rate of Covid-19 before and after face masks became required in 15 American states and the District of Columbia.

The required face mask use was found to be directly responsible for a slowdown in the daily Covid-19 growth rate, which became more significant over time.

In the first five days after a face mask mandate, the daily growth rate slowed by 0.9 percentage points.

At the three-week mark, the daily growth rate had slowed by up to two percentage points.

Face mask FAQs

Here are four frequently asked questions (FAQs) about face masks, and their answers:

Does the type of face mask I wear matter?

The short and concise answer to this question is yes.

By wearing the right type of face mask, you minimise your risk as much as possible.

But there are other considerations to take into account, such as supply of face masks, comfort, utility, etc.

Healthcare professionals are always required to don surgical face masks at work, while office workers have the additional option of buying reusable cloth masks with a pocket for replaceable filters.

Since the pandemic started, weve seen many other types of face mask designs as well.

However, not all are meant for daily use or are effective in keeping away viruses.

The Japanese Pitta mask, which is made from a spongy-looking polyurethane material, is smart and stylish, but has been found to be ineffective against tiny airborne particles.

There are also face masks with air valves attached, but these only protect the wearer from outside particles.

When the wearer exhales, they are still emitting unfiltered particles that escape into the air, putting those around them at risk of infection if they are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

As for N95 respirators, they are only necessary in medical situations such as intubation.

That being said, a general rule of thumb is that some coverage is still better than none at all.

Even if a face mask is not 100% effective, you are still preventing some risk by covering your nose and mouth.

Is wearing a mask meant to protect myself or to protect others?

The best benefit of a face mask is to prevent people who have Covid-19 from passing it to other people.

If you are not infected, you still benefit from wearing a face mask as it is effective as source control.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines source control as preventing the transmission of infection through a persons respiratory secretions, which are produced when speaking, coughing or sneezing.

Face masks can prevent larger expelled droplets from evaporating into smaller droplets that can travel farther.

What percentage of the population needs to wear face masks in order to significantly reduce transmission?

Ideally, it should be 100%, but that seems unlikely to be achievable due to various factors.

In one simulation, researchers predicted that 80% of the population wearing face masks would help to reduce the spread just as effectively as a strict lockdown.

In Malaysia, we have been able to avoid large numbers of casualties because most people voluntarily wore face masks in public, practised physical distancing (previously called social distancing) and other preventive measures.

Do I still need to wear a face mask if Im already practising physical distancing?

The three golden rules of this pandemic to help keep Covid-19 at bay are: wash your hands, watch your distance and wear a mask.

Compared to wearing a face mask, cleaning your mobile phone or washing your groceries for example, are just distractors.

There isnt much evidence that contaminated surfaces, i.e. fomites, are a major source of SARS-CoV-2 viral transmission, but there is plenty of evidence for transmission through inhaled droplets.

Even if you are practising physical distancing, you should still wear a face mask when you go out, even if it is just for a short walk around the neighbourhood.

Respiratory droplets spread like the aerosol spray in this filepic when we talk, sing, sneeze or cough.

Best practices

Face masks are most likely to lessen the spread of Covid-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings.

Face masks should always be worn in public, especially around people who dont live in your household, and when other physical-distancing measures are difficult to maintain.

Remember to always wash your hands with soap and water before touching a face mask.

Ensure that a face mask does not have any holes or tears before putting it on.

Always determine which side is the top and which is the front of the mask first, so that you wear it properly and do not need to adjust it after putting it on.

If the face mask has ear loops, hold the mask by the loops and put the loops around each ear.

If the face mask has ties, bring it to your nose and secure the ties around your head before adjusting the nose wire.

If the face mask has bands, hold the mask to your nose and pull the bottom strap over your head so that it rests at the nape of your neck and the top strap over the crown of your head.

Once in position, secure the mask over your mouth and chin.

When removing your face mask, do not touch the front of the mask. Remove it using the loops or ties.

If you do touch the front of the mask, wash or sanitise your hands immediately afterwards.

If you run out of face masks or forget to bring one along with you, a bandanna or towel can act as a temporary substitute.

The only people who should not wear a face mask are children under the age of two, anyone with trouble breathing or anyone with disabilities who may endanger themselves by wearing a face mask.

These people should instead avoid going out as much as possible in order to help minimise their risk of getting infected.

Face masks are a critical preventive measure and are absolutely necessary when physical distancing is difficult.

As we are not out of the woods yet when it comes to this pandemic, we should still be diligent about wearing our face masks.

If a face mask is unavailable or cannot be used, take other measures to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection, such as physical distancing, frequent handwashing and cleaning frequently-touched surfaces.

Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and a functional medicine practitioner. For further information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Information published in this article is not intended to replace, supplant or augment a consultation with a health professional regarding the readers own medical care. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.

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How to wear a face mask: Tips, facts and FAQ - The Star Online

Things Are Different Today, Back In Old New York – The Indypendent

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I cant wait to find out what I was doing in New York in the era that preceded this pandemic. To discover exactly what New York was like at a time in which I was its resident, to flit vicariously through those magical years of my prior first-person experience; to be given a context, provided a backdrop, a soundtrack to the life that Ill find out I had been leading. What zeitgeist will I soon be told defined my generation? What image will be chosen as the cover for my memoir?

When Bob Dylan sang that he was going back to New York City, I intended to go back there with him.

And while its true that memoir will largely have been ghostwritten, that shouldnt make it any less an evocative entry into the canon of Urban Non-Fiction. Think Patti Smiths Just Kids, but replace punk rock with to-be-determined transgressive art movement to which Ill eventually be claiming a retroactive affiliation.

Just as the coronavirus outbreak is reshaping New York Citys future, so too it will reach backward to largely redefine its past a past Ill be thrilled to have been a part of.

Im willing to wager that the pre-quarantine city will turn out to have been someplace essential and, as someone who lived there and moved about freely, Im excited to get to know why. Why that New York City was the real New York City, and why Im sorry to tell you: You missed it.

Which probably requires something in the way of explanation.

For as many years as Ive lived in New York, Ive been plagued by the nagging notion that I arrived in the city too late. A persistent insecurity that the city Id moved to for was not the city that Id moved to. The former being, in all fairness, not really a city at all more an anachronistic amalgamation of selected media imagery, a Scorsese-fied version of a gritty urban landscape that was one part Joseph Mitchell, two parts David Byrne and three parts dependent on whatever drugs Lou Reed was doing at the time.

But imagined or not, it was a city that struck me as vital, a sprawling concrete majesty of unimpeachable artists and impossible con-men, of graffiti-tagged subways and smoke-filled back rooms, of indescribable wealth tinged with a seductive seediness that seemed to reek of the human condition. It was the city of CBGBs and the Lower East Side, of chronic rolling blackouts ending dog-day afternoons. It was Phillip Roth and Debbie Harry and Allen Ginsberg in the Village, it was Harlem, it was Warhol, it was Katzs Jewish Deli. It was a place, it seemed, where life could be easy if one accepted that life would be hard, a place where a precocious philosophy minor could aspire to something authentic.

It was a city whose past I mythologized into a photo collage of my future, a place where my technical lack of career wouldnt mean Id have nothing to do. I would drink at the bar of the White Horse Tavern and Id buy Dylan Thomas a whiskey. I would eat lunch suspended on a wrought-iron beam hanging thousands of feet above Midtown. I would steal a guitar and Id dye my hair black and theyd christen me Timmy Ramone. When Bob Dylan sang that he was going back to New York City, I intended to go back there with him.

But by the time that I got there, that New York City was gone.

At least thats what everyone kept telling me. Which didnt feel, at least to me, an assertion necessarily borne out by the facts.

On the contrary: my formative years spent in New York City years in which I was lucky enough to not pay utilities due to my apartments steadfast inability to comply with the stickier standards of human habitability felt flush with the possibilities that Id always imagined of a life in the city. The buildings were as big, the subways were as crowded I met an old man at a day-drinking-dive-bar who claimed that hed known Dylan Thomas. I was young, I was poor, and I was living under a brothel. Replace long-form improvised poetry with short-form improv comedy and I was basically living Just Kids.

At least, I thought I was.

Yet at every turn I took I was met with the refrain that the New York that I had dreamed about was dead. Regardless of the source, the message was clear: New York used to be something and now it just wasnt. It was seemingly accepted as an a priori truth that old New York had been subsumed by something different, something corporate, something vacuous a playground for the rich, as one pejorative-du-jour put it.

There were thousands of essays titled Why Im Leaving New York. Could all of them really be wrong?

The metaphors were as varied as the speakers who espoused them. Some focused-in on the Disney-fication of Times Square, once a bustling porn emporium, now a whitewashed tourist Mecca (although that veneer would occasionally be shattered by a shoddily-costumed, ubiquitous army of Elmos). Others lamented the Giuliani-imposed exile of the Midtown squeegee men, a ragtag group of guerilla extortionists expert in the provision of both non-consensual windshield washings and expletive-laden demands for recompense. For those with a penchant for heavy-handed symbolism, CBGBs had been acquired by a high-end mens clothier, one specializing in the punk-rock aesthetic. The specifics would differ but the consensus was clear: Somewhere along the way, New York City had lost its soul a consensus that I rejected outright, yet one that somehow managed to take root.

Despite my best efforts to dismiss those assertions as the sour-grape-grumblings of a dying generation, try as I might to dispel any notion that the citys best days were behind it, each successive year that I spent in New York made me wonder if those pronouncements held true. Had the heart of New York City been priced out of its apartment? Was its culture now co-opted by some faceless corporate interest?

There were thousands of essays titled Why Im Leaving New York. Could all of them really be wrong? And what, after all, could I offer as evidence to the contrary? I loved New York City and it never disappointed, but could I also say it met my expectations?

My expectation being that the city would look like something out of a Robert Mapplethorpe retrospective, the reality, as I found it, was that New Yorkers spent a vastly disproportionate amount of time commuting to work and just buying groceries than they did lounging on fire-escapes while staring blankly into a camera and smoking in black and white. Where was the action, what was the scene, when would short form improv penetrate the broader culture? Did I need to acknowledge that the naysayers were right? Could it be that New York City was dead?

The answer, it turns out, was Nope. Quite the opposite, in fact. It turns out that the New York that I was living in had never been more vital. And I would soon learn why.

At the time of this writing, New York is in what appears to be an early-stage recovery from the crux of its viral pandemic. And while it remains to be seen just what city will emerge in the wake of this transformative crisis, what is certain is that it will be different. Which means it will be almost certainly better. Which will make it most assuredly worse. Which probably requires something in the way of explanation.

The simple truth is that New York City has never been a real-time phenomenon. Its a narrative created in hindsight, a curated series of revisionist histories that contrast the truth of the present. And it is in that contrast that those histories are defined, what it is versus what was. The citys future is often a construct of chance and its present is out on display. But its past is whatever we want it to be and thus so are our pasts within it.

The story of New York has always been told through its artists, but its a story that tends to be written much later, in the liner notes of future generations

Were constantly recreating the lives that weve lived in response to the lives that were living and, as the years of our future become those of our past, those lives become, more and more, a blank canvas true, of course, regardless of location, but you dont write Just Kids in Montana.

The creation of a New York City existence is a unique and deliberate thing, at least for those of us susceptible to that particular mythology of the city that places outsized emphasis on squalor and artistic freedom. Its an exercise in the selective juxtaposition of what used to be with what is, and when what used to be has been replaced, its value sees an ex-post-facto spike. It is, in a sense, a specialized form of delusion, a specific nostalgia for those things that were bad, precisely because they werent good. (And quite literally so: the era of squeegee men and all-access porn is now referred to, wistfully and with reverence, as the Bad Old Days of New York, because a New York City that was bad is also one that was authentic and authenticity trumps progress.

Sure, its nice to have a Duane Reade on the corner of 125th and Lexington. But now where will Lou Reed go to buy heroin? And is it even really heroin if it comes home in an Uber? Duke Ellington used to ride a crowded subway uptown, because of that we now have Take the A Train. Bono decided that he could just call Via and now were stuck with Angel of Harlem.

The struggle of New York gives New York its essence. Essence is the opposite of easy. A New York City thats easy isnt really New York City, its just another place to charge your iPhone. Theres a reason, after all, why the lyric isnt: If I can make it here that success will be in no way indicative of any future achievement in larger markets A life in New York City is supposed to be hard thats how you know its a life!

And life was so much harder in New York before you got here and thats what made the city so much better.

This crisis has locked us in a clear moment in time a process that would otherwise take decades. We get to engage in our revisionist histories while those histories are still cooling in the window. A life in New York City is usually one years spent in the making. After all, if one is going to create a past out of a repudiation of the present, then one had better leave some breathing room between the two, enough time, at least, for the edges to have blurred, to make ones claims more difficult to fact-check.

To wit: it seems to be a point of pride among aging New York punk musicians that they never really learned to play their instruments, which, forty years later, in a Village Voice interview, sounds irreproachably recalcitrant and pure. But forty years earlier, down the street from your apartment, it likely sounded more like awful music. We pine for the days of the White Horse Tavern, with its tables full of Boho Literati. But back then those were simply alcoholics wearing watchmens caps, drinking cheap gin on a Tuesday. The picture needs to fade a bit before it looks vintage. Ones generation wont be defined for generations, or until a once-in-a-century viral pandemic hits the city. And then youve got a clear before and after. And it is in some middle ground between those two where we find ourselves today.

The only path forward out of this bind seems to be a dramatic restructure the times, as they say, are a changin. (Although if Bob Dylan were truly prophetic, his opening exhortation to come gather round people, wherever you roam would have concluded with but please maintain at least a six-foot distance) This virus is an agent of irrevocable change. It will leave behind a vastly different city. And while it is difficult to ascertain just what that city will be staring, as we are, through the lenses of glasses that are consistently fogged-up by mask-breath we do know that it will look different. If the history of New York can be predictive of its future, the city will look better. But only objectively so. And just like a New Yorker, in true New York fashion, Ill be longing for those things that were worse.

Things like the subway.

As it was recently announced, for the first time in its history, New York subways will stop running after midnight. Night service will be paused so that the train cars may be cleaned. If COVID wants a ride uptown, it can Uber-share with Bono. The result of the service stoppage will be a cleaner, safer subway. Yet it will leave us with a subway thats not in any way worth taking. The subway is a proxy for the city. And a subway that is dirty means a city that is honest. When you clean the grime, you wash away the soul. Cleanliness, as they say, is next to godliness but only when it comes out of a mold-laden squeegee thats been soaking in stale hot-dog-water run-off.

The subway is essential not in spite of the urine. Its the urine that reminds us that were living!

How can one say that theyre experiencing life if they arent forced to sit in its waste products? The trains should hold a mirror to the city that they service. Yes, the D train may be gross, but so then is humanity! When you sanitize the subway so you sterilize the city. Its the subway, after all, its not the Monorail through Epcot.

Of course, all of the preceding will thus be rendered moot if there is nowhere left to take the subway to, when anywhere that once was good is gone. Or, if not gone, then at a minimum not the same which, when said with a dismissive snort and pompous grin, might be New Yorks most withering indictment. After all, a restaurant that has been strategically restructured so as to not be conducive to the immediate spread of a highly communicable and potentially life-threatening illness is just a fancy way of saying Applebees. And I can go to Applebees in Jersey.

Dining out in New York used to be a communal endeavor in fact, that was largely the point: to share cocktails and ideas within coughing distance of your neighbor, to wink at posted Occupancy Limits as ironic urban kitsch, to Heimlich yourself into the edge of your table whenever anyone got up to use the bathroom. But we were just so immersed in the energy of the city! We were all having one conversation! is the narrative I imagine that well land on later. We were always within a transmissions distance of some artist, rogue, or poet just please dont ask us yet for the specifics.

Because, at the time of this writing, every New Yorker is still in the process of workshopping their chronologically-undebatable-enough-so-as-to-not-invite-further-scrutiny anecdote about the time they spilled a drink on some generationally-transformative-artist-who-back-then-was-not-yet-famous in the basement of whatever-formerly-crowded-dive-bar-is-now-a-socially-distant-Chicos. (Im thinking that mine will have something to do with LCD Soundsystem in Brooklyn. But these works, as I say, are in progress)

And, speaking of art!

The story of New York has always been told through its artists think Basquiat, Beastie Boys, Baldwin. But its a story that tends to be written much later, in the liner notes of future generations at least for those artists who have been extended the cachet of being underappreciated in their own time. At their height, the Velvet Underground did not sell many records. But now everybody claims they knew Lou Reed.

Which is why I am perhaps most excited to find out about the to-be-determined transgressive art movements to which I will surely lay claim, the representative ethos of my generation that could not have existed today. Fingers crossed that it has something to do with unscripted comedy. After all, if theres anything thats unlikely to return in the form in which it existed, its amateur performances in windowless basements next to crates of unthawing mozzarella sticks. Its only a matter of time before they get recontextualized as outsider art.

Whatever it turns out that New York used to be, Im just happy that I was there for it. It was a magical time in an incredible place and one that well never get back to. So enjoy your time in the city, kid, just know that its not what it was. Because that New York City was the real New York. And Im sorry to tell you: you missed it.

Please make arecurring or one-time contribution today. Its readers like you who ensure we continue publishing in these challenging times. Thank you!

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Things Are Different Today, Back In Old New York - The Indypendent

Bari Weiss, Rose Ritch resign after harassed over their Jewish identities – The Jerusalem Post

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The past two weeks have seen the resignations of two powerful Jewish female voices: former New York Times editor and columnist Bari Weiss, and former University of Southern California student government vice president Rose Ritch. Weiss and Ritch both cited outright hostility against their Jewish identities and solidarity with the State of Israel as the reasons for their decisions to step down from their positions.At first glance, both women appear to check all of the requisite boxes on the progressive checklist of suitable qualifications to hold such positions. Weiss cites her accomplishments of bringing in political dissidents, minority voices and other voices that would not otherwise appear in your pages, while Ritch cites her plurality of identities including queer, femme or cisgender as rendering her qualified as electable when the student body voted last February.Yet in her resignation letter excoriating the blatant hypocrisy she had experienced during her tenure at the Times, Weiss signals that the lessons about the importance of understanding other Americans, the necessity of resisting tribalism and the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to democratic society have not been learned.Both Weiss and Ritch assert that it is their respective Jewish identities that have led to their verbal harassment and vilification in the physical and virtual space. Ritchs critics argue that her support for Israel has rendered her complicit in racism and by consequence guilty of espousing racist ideology. In her resignation letter, Ritch cites an aggressive social media campaign designed to impeach her Zionist ass, despite university claims to nurture an environment of mutual respect and tolerance.Similarly, in her letter of resignation, Weiss cites constant bullying by colleagues who disagreed with her views. They have called me a Nazi racist, chiding her about writing about the Jews again. In addition, several of her colleagues insisted that Weiss be rooted out if the company is to be a truly inclusive publication.As David Suissa, editor-in-chief of the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, so keenly identifies in his recent article assessing Ritchs resignation, Arguably the worst insult in America today racist is being weaponized against Jews who have the nerve to support the existence of a Jewish state.The irony of this statement cannot be understated, and the inherent perils that the current climate of cancel culture presents cannot be ignored. In an environment where monuments are being torn down and, in the case of USC, buildings are being renamed in a campus-wide effort to right the wrongs of historic fascist and even Nazi affiliations, antisemitic rhetoric can no longer be given a pass.THE ATTACKS on Ritch are part of the broader corrosive influence of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that has permeated the mainstream of progressive consciousness. By suggesting that Ritchs support for a Jewish homeland would somehow render her unfit for office or justify her impeachment in effect resurrects the oldest of Dreyfus Affair level antisemitic tropes that call into question the primary loyalties of Jews who hold public office and holding Jews responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. Political disagreements have always fueled the fabric of intellectual debate and especially on a college campus. Yet in Ritchs case, labeling her Zionism as racism effectively silenced her voice in the debate and rendered her fair game to be canceled under the guise of political correctness, which bends far toward the side of the anti-Israel narrative.What we are witnessing is a collective silencing of those who do not hold these toxic antisemitic views by those who do, ironically similar to the voices of moderate Islam squelched by the voices of extremism. Throughout modern history, intellectual curiosity and a sense of civic responsibility to repair what was broken in society were pursuits identified with both the college campus (think Berkeley of the 60) and the printing press (thing Enlightenment). Yet, what we are seeing on college campuses and in the press is a narrowing of the acceptable definition of woke consciousness, where membership is qualified by an asterisk that Jews need not apply.Our nation is at a crossroads with an upending of long-held beliefs, practices and even social institutions being questioned and redefined to fit the zeitgeist of the current political climate. We are not exempt from these vital conversations, nor should we shirk from necessary inward introspection as we strive to repair a world so broken by racism, elitism and discrimination. However, it is incumbent upon us to root out the misguided and misinformed ideology that has led to the resignation of these two powerful and important voices, and to decry all antisemitic rhetoric at every occurrence with a zero-tolerance policy. After all, If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when? (Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14)The writer is an associate director of the USC Casden Institute, and lecturer of Hebrew language at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Los Angeles.

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Bari Weiss, Rose Ritch resign after harassed over their Jewish identities - The Jerusalem Post

Helen Reddy & Her ’70s Feminist Anthem Roar in Trailer for I Am Woman – Advocate.com

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Dubbed by men in the music industry as too angry and man-hating, Helen Reddys 1971 feminist anthem I Am Woman rose to the top of the Billboard chart and became the sound of a movement. The story behind the song and the woman who wrote and performed ir is explored in the new biopic I Am Woman, starring Tilda Cobham-Hervey (Hotel Mumbai) in the titular role.

A struggling artist, Reddy left her native Australia for the heartbeat of the music industry in the United States and was unsurprisingly met with sexism. Her musical response to male executives controlling the narrative about women artists place in the industry dovetailed with the rise of the womens rights movement. The song became a number 1 hit and a cultural phenomenon and it made Reddy a star. She won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female in 1972.

Reddy went on to record other hits, including Angie Baby and Aint No Way to Treat a Lady, but nothing matched the influence of I Am Woman influence as part of the zeitgeist of the era.

The film, from director Unjoo Moon, costars Danielle Macdonald (Dumplin, Patti Cake$) and Evan Peters (American Horror Story).

Watch the trailer for I Am Woman below.

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Helen Reddy & Her '70s Feminist Anthem Roar in Trailer for I Am Woman - Advocate.com

Sheen and Carlin Had 2020 (In)Sight – LA Progressive

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In America today, personal gain and economic advantage often trump social responsibility and concern for the commonwealth. In America, it depends on who you are. And who you are, very much depends on where you stand socioeconomically. As Edward Burmila put it recently, you are only as free as you are wealthy. For proof, look at what has happened during the pandemic: the economic elite has gotten richer, and people of limited financial means have died disproportionately.

Yes, life is worth living (per Fulton J. Sheen), but life is worth losing, too (per George Carlin). Sheens Life is Worth Living was a popular, 1950s television program. Life is Worth Losing is Carlins 2005 comedy album. Seemingly disconnected public expressions tell a tale about America. Its a tale about how a minority group has gained control of American society. Its a tale of subversion, strategy, and persistence. Regaining the edgevital for democracycertainly wont be easy and probably wont happen soon even if Trump exits The White House.

Life is Worth Living featured a Roman Catholic priest, the Reverend Fulton J. Sheen. Featuring isnt the right word: Sheen was the show. Televised nationally from 1952-57, LWL drew as many as 30 million weekly viewers. With hypnotic gaze, riveting presence, and resplendent dress, Sheen used a chalkboard to etch his arguments. In the episode shown here, Sheen launches into a lecture about the right to own property and rails against excessive wealth, calling it Monopolistic Capitalism. Sheen asserts that those who enable the accumulation of wealth (that is, employees) should share equitably in owners profits. To make that happen, Sheen supports participatory management and co-ownership of industry. Speaking professorially through most of the program, Sheen becomes emotional at the end.

Sheens program aired during the McCarthy Yearsa time when fear-mongering and conspiracy theories were the coin of the realm, and critiques of American capitalism werent taken lightly. But Sheen, who was staunchly anti-communist, stood above the fray.

Ill bet that Sheen was a Democratic Socialist long before that term came into public use. At issue is what America might have become had it pursued Sheens line of thinking. It didnt.

As we reflect on what Sheen said nearly seven decades ago, we know his thoughts arent unfamiliar. Ill bet that Sheen was a Democratic Socialist long before that term came into public use. At issue is what America might have become had it pursued Sheens line of thinking. It didnt.

Enter Life is Worth Losing, a George Carlin comedy album recorded in late 2005 and co-presented as an HBO special. In one routine, Dumb Americans, Sheen explains why dumbness serves an important political purpose. He calls it The Reason (listen, 6:40ff). The owners of Americathe wealthyown you, Carlin proclaims. They dont want people capable of critical thinking. They dont want educated people. Why? Its against their interests. They dont want people sitting around the kitchen table talking about how badly theyre getting (F-bomb) by the system. They want people who are just smart enough to do their jobs, but not smart enough to question whats happening to them. (Dumb Americans had 11,682,000 views on YouTube as of August 8, 2020.)

Carlin believed Americas wealthy minority (and their compatriots) had taken control by subverting systems in their favorthings like pouring money into elections to support candidates wholl do their bidding, engaging in electoral subterfuge (e.g., gerrymandering, voter suppression), getting their people in executive posts across sectors, and dominating organizational boards, locally and nationally. Theyre also adept at taking advantage of Americans soft spotsgood at throwing bones (e.g., tax cuts), using scare tactics (e.g., others ideas are radical), blowing dog whistles (e.g., White America is in jeopardy), and diverting attention from matters they dont want in the spotlight (e.g., Trumps tweets).

Yes, its about money and the influence that comes with it, but its about much more than that. These folks have a game plan, an associated set of strategies and tactics, and momentum, too50-years worth.

A half-century ago, a man by the name of Lewis F. Powell (soon to be U.S. Supreme Court justice) was flummoxed by successes achieved by the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. He was also perturbed that one of his own, namely Richard Nixon, had the audacity to establish the Environmental Protection Agency.

Powell believed firmly that social causes were dominating public and political attention, and he wanted to change that predilection. As counterstrategy, Powell proposed that the Conservative and business community embark on an organizing effort to serve commercial interests. In 1971, he wrote a 34-page treatise entitled, Attack on the Free Enterprise System (referred to generally as The Powell Report). In it, Powell wrote expressively and persuasively about how forces were conspiring against free enterprise. He submitted the report to the leadership of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ending the missive with these words: The business and enterprise system are in deep trouble and the hour is late. (italics added)

Greenpeace has called the Memo a corporate blueprint to dominate democracy. It is that and more. Three things are apparent if you take the time to read Powells memo. First, Powell wrote in detail and across sectors about specific things that needed to be done. Second, if you reverse the timeframestarting with today and looking backyoull be amazed at how many of the things Powell referenced in general terms have become a reality (e.g., tax cuts, smaller government, Fox News, Citizens United, painting higher education as liberal). Third, Powell had clear sailing. While the Left has had episodic successes over the past half-century, it didnt (and doesnt) have a coherent, strategic, and sustained approach to achieving preferred objectives.

Without counterforce, the circumstances referenced by Sheen and Carlin have become deeply ingrained in Americas culture. Understanding just how deep is like peeling an onion: just when you think youve uncovered the revealing layer, another layer awaits. One example is systemic racism, a topic that is getting plenty of attention these days and for good reasons. But in her new book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent, Isabel Wilkerson contends theres much more to the story. Sunil Khilnani describes it this way: Racism is only the visible manifestation of something deeper. Underlying and predating racism, and holding white supremacy in place, is a hidden system of social domination: a caste structure (italics added) that uses neutral human differences, skin color among them, as the basis for ranking human value.

Maintaining social divisions, then, becomes le passe-temps de choix (the pastime of choice). Too many Americans seek rewards that, by design, flow to the few. In an exchange transaction, affluent Americans give back to society. But as Anand Giridharadas writes in Winners Take All, a good share of that philanthropy isnt about changing the system so that more people can live The American Dream. Its about helping people cope with the system that exists (a caste system in Wilkersons parlance).

Long before Wilkerson and Giridharadas were writing, two other messengersone sacred (Sheen), the other profane (Carlin)delivered similar messages. Fulton J. Sheen framed it discerningly, Monopolistic Capitalism. George Carlin called it out. The system is rigged, and the tables are tilted.

The zeitgeist then is the zeitgeist today. Americans have tons of skin in the game. We rely on others wealth for jobs and promotions, in politics, at nonprofits, at universities, and more. When it comes to power, influence, and (in many ways) control, America as plutocracy trumps America as democracy.

What are the odds of that changing? Without a Progressive coup, theres no chance at all. Yes, there have been and will be episodic wins, but Americas moneyed interests dont worry about losing a battle here and there. What matters is winning the war. And they are.

Frank Fear

You can listen to this article on Anchor, Apple, and other podcast platforms. Tune to Under the Radar with Host Frank Fear.

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Sheen and Carlin Had 2020 (In)Sight - LA Progressive

Space Architecture designed to be a home to the future humans living on Mars! – Yanko Design

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SpaceX Crew Dragons successful return from the space station has added a new dimension in humanitys plans for space travel. Granted we have been sending spaceships out for a while, but the successful entry of Elon Musk to this space (literally!) promises a new direction or energy that our plans for living on Mars probably need! While NASA figures out the logistics to get us there, we want to focus more on the quality of life at the red planet and the architecture that will be used to house the people. After all, they promise a great view from any window we get!

Paris-based Interstellar labs have planned to build a network of biomes in the Mojave desert in California to create and study the future of human settlement on Mars. Named EBIOS (experimental bio-regenerative station) the design is a circular village (enclosed on itself) with regenerative life support technologies. Sentient life is likely very rare in our universe complex life may be rare in our solar system, said founder and CEO Barbara Belvisi. At Interstellar lab we are building technologies to help its preservation and regeneration on earth now and in the future on other planets. What we need to bring on mars for life is what we need to protect on earth right now. The only path to becoming a multiplanet species is to join our energy in the same direction. Following this philosophy, Interstellar is working closely with NASA to create the ideal habitat to help humans start the next leg of our journey across the Milky Way. After all, once we settle on Mars, who is to stop us from finding new planets!

SpaceX got their rocket to the space station and back successfully. So its only logical the next step for them is to build us a solar-friendly housing there (after all the roadster is already orbiting in space!) and we even have a date for it! The Dragon Crew included a crew of two, whereas rehabilitation requires mass transportation with SpaceXs 100-passenger reusable rocket design (named Starship) preparing to get us there. Elon Musk has said it would take 1,000 of SpaceXs starship rockets 20 years to transport the cargo. A series of tweets by Musk outlines how many rockets he thought it would need to carry the necessary cargo to set up a base on Mars. A thousand ships will be needed to create a sustainable mars city as the planets align only once every two years, he said. Musk also stated a full Mars base alpha a preliminary city on the red planet could be completed as soon as 2028. SpaceX intends to use the BFR to build a base on the moon and for return trips to and from mars. the most recent images of the mars base photo include the updated BFR design, which this year added bigger fins.

When NASA announced a competition to design the best Martian habitation design, AI SpaceFactory came in second place with its vertical, egg-shaped structure that holds a double shell system to handle the internal atmospheric pressure and the structural stress the design may have to endure. Designed to be constructed on Mars, the design keeps in mind using elements already present on the planet, reducing the dependency of construction materials to be carried from Earth. The team developed an innovative mixture of basalt fiber, extracted from Martian rock, and renewable bioplastic (polylactic acid) derived from plants that would be grown on Mars. The design envisions individual structures instead of a communal habitat but given the area it covers, it should comfortably house more than one Martian at a time!

The winner of NASAs competition to design 3D-printed habitat for Mars is the Zopherus designed by an Arkansas-based team. The design is envisioned to be built from the materials available on the planet and showcases a settlement with rounded hut-like structures. The construction is designed to be 3D printed, without any human intervention to keep the place ready for the humans before they arrive. The process starts with a lander who settles and looks for a suitable area to start building the settlement, the lander deploys autonomous robots who gather the material for the process to start.

Danish architect Bjarke Ingelss Mars Science City is designed to operate as a space simulation campus for scientists to understand humanitys march into space. Located in Dubai, the experimental city is built to hold a team for a year which will recreate the conditions expected on Mars. The laboratories are dedicated to investigating self-sufficient forms of energy, food and water for future life on Mars. Ingels, the founder of Danish firm BIG, will work on the AED 500 million (101 million) project with a team of Emirati scientists, engineers, and designers led by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and the Dubai Municipality. The UAE seeks to establish international efforts to develop technologies that benefit humankind, and that establishes the foundation of a better future for more generations to come, said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, vice president and prime minister of the UAE, and ruler of Dubai.

NASA scientists and the University of Arizonas agricultural department have teamed up to develop this inflatable greenhouse that can be used to grow vegetables in deep space. The result of this experiment is to sustain astronauts on a vegetarian diet while staying for long term on the Moon or Mars. While NASA scientists have been growing crops in the International Space Station, this 187 feet design can be used for air revitalization, water recycling, or waste recycling and also repurposing the carbon dioxide exhaled by the astronauts. R. Gene Giacomelli, director of the controlled environment agriculture center at the University of Arizona states Were mimicking what the plants would have if they were on earth, and using of these processes for life support. The entire system of the lunar greenhouse does represent, in a small way, the biological systems that are here on earth.

Warith Zaki and Amir Amzar plan to use the bamboo grown on Mars to actually build the first colony, named Seed of Life, on Mars. The conceptual colony design is actually a series or cluster of structures woven by autonomous robots from bamboos. The aim of the project is to create structures that do not rely on construction materials being shipped from Earth or to use 3D printing. After doing a lot of research on Mars colonization, we realized that half of the ideas would go about deploying fully synthetic materials made on earth to build shelters, while the other half is about using the locally available regolith, said Zaki and Amzar. Human civilization has yet to build anything on any other planet outside of Earth. That fact alone opens up infinite possibilities of what could or should be used. Sure, 3D printing seems to be a viable proposition, but with thousands of years worth of experience and techniques in shelter construction, why shouldnt we tap on other alternatives too?

The construction industry emits 4 times more CO2 than the aviation industry and that is enough proof they must focus on ecodesign to reduce their colossal impact especially when sustainable materials, like mycelium composites, already exist! This material is created by growing myceliumthe thread-like main body of a fungusof certain mushroom-producing fungi on agricultural wastes. The mycelia are composed of a network of filaments called hyphae, which are natural binders and they also are self-adhesive to the surface they grow on. This mushroom material is biodegradable, sustainable, and a low-cost alternative to construction materials while also possessing thermal and fire-resistant properties. The Living has designed an organic 42 feet tall mycelium tower to show the potential of using mushrooms for stable structures which is just one of many such projects. Mycelium materials are also being tested for being acoustic absorber, packaging materials, and building insulation. Even NASA is currently researching using mycelium to build sustainable habitable dwellings on Mars if we have to move into a mushroom house, might as well test it on Earth first, right?

23 shares Dezeen Mars One

Would you be ready to move to Mars and establish the first civilization on Mars? Well, more than 200,000 people from 140 countries have applied for a one-way ticket to join such a human settlement. Established by non-profit organization Mars One, the 4 billion project, founded by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp in 2012, plans to establish the first permanent human settlement on Mars in 2023 and has proposed that humans will live in a modular environment made up of multiple inflatable units. As the habitat will be modular, and constructed using fully redundant systems, even if one inflatable unit is damaged beyond repair, the habitat will still be secure and fully functional, said the organization. The first footprint on Mars and lives of the crew thereon will captivate and inspire generations; it is this public interest that will help finance this human mission to Mars, said Mars One.

Texas-based startup Orion Span plans to utilize space in a whole new way, by creating a luxury space hotel designed to open in 2022 (Im sure COVID was not featured in their plans!) Named Aurora Station, the 70 million space hotel is designed to orbit 200 miles above the earth. The hotel plans to hold four guests and two crew members for a total 12-day trip and is priced at about 6.7 million per person. Upon launch, Aurora Station goes into service immediately, bringing travelers into space quicker and at a lower price point than ever seen before, while still providing an unforgettable experience, said Frank Bunger, founder of Orion Span. The entire design will be processed by a team led by Frank Eichstadt, who is credited as being the principal architect on the International Space Stations Enterprise module. Orion Span has additionally taken what was historically a 24-month training regimen to prepare travelers to visit a space station and streamlined it to three months, at a fraction of the cost, said Bunger.

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Mars colonization is ever more likely, but dont get too excited itll be billionaires deciding who gets there, and how – RT

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Damian Wilson

is a UK journalist, ex-Fleet Street editor, financial industry consultant and political communications special advisor in the UK and EU.

is a UK journalist, ex-Fleet Street editor, financial industry consultant and political communications special advisor in the UK and EU.

The latest successful rocket test by SpaceX could mean well see humans on Mars in the next decade, funded by private entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. But will they take charge of the newly conquered Red Planet too?

On a clear night, theres nothing better than gazing towards the heavens, wondering whats out there, but if the answer to that eternal question ever turned out to be Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and their billionaire pals sitting on Mars and gazing back at Earth, then, Houston, we have a problem.

Its not a completely unlikely scenario in the exciting new climate of space exploration, marked this week by the safe return from the International Space Station of two NASA astronauts aboard a SpaceX craft, and the successful testing of Musks latest prototype for his next Mars rocket just yesterday.

These events show us a future in which individuals have taken over the funding of our exploration of space, in an arena in which competing national governments once strived to outdo each other to provide the only possible sources of the huge funds needed to finance those dreams.

But before we get too excited and start planning vacations to the Red Planet, lets look at wholl be calling the shots now. Do we really want car-maker Musk, Bezos the bookseller or Branson the balloon man holding all the cards when it comes to the logistics of actually sending people to Mars and making something habitable of the dusty red rock? Living in a Martian society with these guys or their cronies at the helm would be unbearable.

Whats strange to me is that they never seem to profess any huge interest in anthropology, astrophysics or astronomy. What they like is talking about their crazy dreams of building big rockets, sending up satellites, and getting further than the last guy. Its an interest that seems based on a mixture of science fiction and fantasy, in which theyre the emperors of their new kingdoms. They indulge in the same kind of fancies as those guys who attend comic conventions and marvel at Star Wars collectible figurines while chatting in fluent Vulcan.

Id rather step outside my pressurized biodome on the Red Planet and have my eyes pop out of my head and all my internal organs blister from the radiation as I fried like a crisp before I chose to serve at the command of this sort of uber-geek.

Although these are the guys, or others like them, wholl one day make it possible for us to live on Mars, Im not so sure Id want to live alongside them, or that theyre that well equipped to run a brave new world in any case.

Musk is notoriously thin-skinned, insulting the poor chap in Thailand who mocked his offer of a rescue submarine for the football team trapped in a cave as a pedo guy and challenging Johnny Depp to a cage fight over allegations he had an affair with Depps former wife Amber Heard.

Then there was the intergalactically crass exhibition of consumerism as he pointlessly launched a Tesla car into orbit, as if even more junk was needed circling above our heads. Is this someone we want to lead us?

As for Bezos, well, watching him squirm, bald and bug-eyed in front of the US Congressional Committee investigating the amount of power held by the tech giants was not exactly endearing.

And as the current owner of several mega-houses on earth, you could expect that, were he to ever relocate to the fourth rock from the Sun, then his crib would most certainly be the largest. And therein lies the problem.

The sort of galactic pioneer looking to head to Mars isnt interested in building a community in which he inhabits the lower rungs as the wider population grows and thrives. He wants others to do all the hard graft while he builds on his fortune and the rest of the colony serves his every whim.

The founder of the Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration, and former adviser to the Trump presidential campaign, Art Harman, told the International Mars Society Convention in 2019 that all the heavy lifting required obviously easier in gravity 37 percent of that on Earth would be undertaken by workers signing contracts. They would specify their rights and obligations within the new colony, presumably determined by the billionaire businessmen who arranged for their passage and are bankrolling the whole project.

Sound familiar? It would certainly suggest we could be looking at an emerging Green Lives Matter movement sometime next century. It seems weve arrived at this point of possibility in a bit of a rush.

Quantum advances in technology have been made and now the space business is big business. Nation states with a satellite to launch, or a few astronauts to send to the International Space Station, call on those with the know-how and hardware to do that, with Musks SpaceX, Bezoss Blue Origin, Bransons Virgin Galactic and even the joint Lockheed Martin-Boeing outfit United Launch Alliance among the choices.

Elsewhere, the moneybags sheikhs of the Middle East are competing in their own Arab space race, with Saudi Arabia sending up satellites and the United Arab Emirates launching its own mission to Mars.

The skies are suddenly becoming very crowded. With thousands of satellites now orbiting above us, rockets launching more regularly than ever before from all points of the globe and tremendous public buy-in to the idea of actually sending humans to planets previously considered out of reach, the dream of one day building a new civilization is in the realm of possibility.

And thats amazing. To think that, just a little over 50 years ago, we were excited about sending a man to the moon, and here we are on the cusp of landing him on Mars. Its what happens next that should now occupy our dreams under the star-filled skies.

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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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Mars colonization is ever more likely, but dont get too excited itll be billionaires deciding who gets there, and how - RT