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Campaign finance for July 2020, part two: Independent spending groups put $2 million into the hottest primary races in 2020 – coloradopolitics.com

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

A bakers dozen of independent expenditure committees spent just shy of $2 million on the nine hottest primary races for seats in the state House and Senate, based on the latest campaign finance reports filed with the Secretary of State on Monday.Finance reports also give a hint about some of the races that will be big targets in the fall.

In all but two races, the candidates that benefited the most from the biggest spenders won their races. Independent expenditure committees are prohibited by law from coordinating with the candidates they support.

The race generating the most spending for the June 30 primary was the Republican primary in House District 22, where incumbent Rep. Colin Larson of Littleton held off a challenge from former Rep. Justin Everett.

Committees backing Larson were more numerous and spent far more money. They included the COPIC committee Assuring Quality Healthcare Access for Colorado, the Better Jobs Coalition, Better Schools for a Stronger Colorado and Coloradans for Constitutional Values. And their wallets were open, to the tune of $416,688.

While COPICs backing medical liability insurance is no secret, where Better Jobs Coalition gets its money is not so transparent. Better Jobs contributions lists itself as the donor for $115,000 of the $527,500 it has raised so far in the 2019-20 election cycle, along with other contributions from Western Citizens Protecting Our Constitution and $200,000 from Ready Colorados 501(c)4. Ready Colorado does not disclose its donors.

Coloradans for Constitutional Values gets its funding from Unite Colorado, with its biggest donor Kathryn Murdoch, daughter-in-law of Rupert Murdoch. Better Schools biggest donor is the nonprofit Stand for Children, a pro-privatization organization backed in part by the Walton Family Foundation.

Everetts backers: Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Make Liberty Win and CFV Victory Fund (an IEC and nonprofit formed in March by Republican Rep. Stephen Humphrey of Ault) spent a total of $24,366.

Make Liberty Wins only money came from its Washington, D.C.-area headquarters. According to Open Secrets, Make Liberty Win PAC is funded primarily by Young Americans for Liberty, a Libertarian-leaning group started by student followers of former Rep. Ron Paul.

CFVs largest donation in the 2019-20 election cycle is from Colorado Family Values of Greeley.

A quartet of Republican candidates backed by the same committees who backed Larson, plus a few more, also spent big in the June primary.

In the open seat for House District 48, currently held by Humphrey, who is term-limited, five IECs spent big to support Republican Tonya Van Beber. In addition to the COPIC, Better Jobs and Constitutional Values committees, Prosperity Through Property Rights and the Ready Colorado Action Fund also put money into advertising in favor of Van Beber or against her opponent, Grady Nouis.

Those committees spent $394,608 for Van Beber.While Ready Colorado gave money to the Better Jobs Coalition, its IEC Action Fund got $100,000 from Kent Thiry, former CEO of DaVita. Prosperity Through Property Rights is funded by realtors.

RMGO and Make Liberty Win supported Nouis, spending $22,517.

House District 49, currently represented by term-limited Rep. Perry Buck of Windsor, featured a race between term-limited state Sen. Vicki Marble and winner Michael Lynch.

RMGO was also the only IEC backing Marble, and they put $3,946 into advertising supporting her. The same committees that backed Van Beber also backed Lynch, spending $254,322.

House District 63 is also an open seat, held by Rep. Lori Saine of Dacono. Pat Millers candidacy was backed by RMGO, which spent $2,838. Spending in favor of Dan Woog totaled $292,976, from the same batch of committees backing the other winning candidates in Weld County.

The only contest where the spending was close was for Marbles Senate District 23 seat. In that race, Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer was backed by Weld Strong, which spent $29,943 on that race. Her opponent, Rupert Parchment, backed by RMGO and Make Liberty Win, spent $20,744.

Weld Strongs backers are primarily individuals and companies in Weld County, and include Rockies baseball owner Charles Monfort.

On the Western Slope's Senate District 8, Republican Sen. Bob Rankin of Carbondale won handily on election night, and it didnt hurt that independent spending was all in his corner.

Coloradans for Constitutional Values and the Ready Colorado Action Fund put $184,875 into support for Rankin, who defeated challenger Debra Irvine.

And in Denvers Senate District 31, where Democratic Sen. Chris Hansen was picked by a vacancy committee in January to replace Sen. Lois Court, Hansen beat Maria Ohms by five percentage points. His candidacy had support from six different independent expenditure committees, with the most money coming from the COPIC committee Assuring Quality Healthcare Access. The six IECs spent a total of $153,905 to support Hansen.

But some who spent big walked away on Primary Election Night without a win in their pockets.

That includes Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado. Their independent expenditure committee spent on just one candidate in the primary: Matthew Martinez, a Democrat running against incumbent Rep. Don Valdez in the San Luis Valley seat in House District 62. Planned Parenthood spent $4,500, and despite support from Pueblo House Democrats and $5,600 in support from the Colorado Working Families Party, Martinez lost to Valdez by 18 percentage points.

In House District 40, currently held by Speaker Pro Tem Janet Buckner, a Democrat from Aurora, whos running for the Senate, the money favored John Ronquillo. Independent expenditure committees, including the committee run by Democrats for Education Reform, spent $143,647 to support Ronquillo, who lost to Naquetta Ricks by less than 3 percentage points.

As to the fall, several races started generating spending by independent expenditure committees barely before the ink was dry on the primary.

A dark money group known as the Colorado Values Project, which doesnt have a committee registered with TRACER, has spent $25,299 on advertising that mentions Rankin, Democratic Sens. Rachel Zenzinger of Arvada and Jeff Bridges of Greenwood Village and Rep. Bri Buentello of Pueblo. The committee has spent $25,299 but the TRACER reports do not list the so-called magic words of either vote for or vote against.

Zenzingers race also is getting attention from an independent expenditure committee tied to the American Energy Action Fund, which is tied to the renewable energy industry. The committees only contributions come from its Washington, D.C., headquarters.

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Campaign finance for July 2020, part two: Independent spending groups put $2 million into the hottest primary races in 2020 - coloradopolitics.com

Will Revlon Be Next in Ron Perelmans 2020 Sell-Off? – Vanity Fair

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

While we have held onto certain positions for a many years, we have also periodically made dispositions, Frances Townsend, MacAndrews & Forbess vice chairman, general counsel, and chief administrative officer said in a statement. Our world and economy are transforming and with it we are evolving our portfolio, to allow for new and compelling opportunities given whats ahead.

Then there is Revlon, a company Perelman has owned and nurtured for 35 years. Last year, Revlon Inc. hired Goldman Sachs to explore strategic alternatives, according to Fortune, which is Wall Street code for trying to sell the company. That has not happened yet, for whatever reason, although a recent SEC filing indicated that Goldman was still working on the strategic alternatives process. Like Scientific Games, Revlon has plenty of problems too, including falling revenue and profitability and high leverageestimated by Moodys, the bond rating agency, in a May report at a rather unsustainable 11x debt-to-EBITDA.

And now Perelman, who owns about 87% of Revlon, and his daughter Debra, who has been CEO of Revlon since 2018, are busy trying to restructure the companys $3 billion, or so, of debt. Perelman is a master of mastering complexity. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company announced it had successfully completed, on May 7, a $1.83 billion debt refinancing led by Jefferies, the investment bank, that will extend and amend the maturities of most of the companys existing debt facilities until 2025. On May 8, Moodys, the bond rating service, downgraded Revlons senior secured debt facility and its unsecured notes further into junk, or risky territory. The negative outlook reflects Moodys belief that Revlon financial leverage will remain unsustainably high, it wrote. Moodys also has growing concerns related to the sustainability of the companys capital structure given Revlons very high financial leverage, negative free cash flow, and the risk that earnings will continue to fall over the next year.

Then, on July 27, Revlon announced it would start an exchange offer for $500 million of its senior notes due next year. No surprise, knowing Perelman, the offer is coercive. He is offering the noteholders 75 cents on the dollar in new debt with a maturity of 2024 plus five cents on the dollar in cash, or 80 cents on the dollar if existing noteholders tender the notes. Those holders who dont tender their bonds by a certain date will get only the 75 cents on the dollar in new notes. Recently, the notes were trading around 33 cents on the dollar, suggesting there is little confidence the deal will get doneit requires 95% participation to happenor if it does get done that Revlon will be able to pay the notes back when they are due in 2024. The moves come amid management changes at MacAndrews & Forbes; both chief financial officer Paul Savas and general counsel Steve Cohen recently exited, the latter to start his own firm.

Meanwhile, Revlons stock is down roughly 68% in 2020. The companys market value is around $350 million, putting Perelmans 87% stake at around $300 million. Perelman rarely engages with the media. On the contrary, he has been known to actively try to terminate stories about him he fears wont be positivea decade or so ago, he killed a Fortune article I wrote about himand he declined my request for an interview. On July 22, Josh Vlasto, the MacAndrews & Forbes spokesman, tried to explain to Bloomberg what Perelman was up to these days: Due to changes in the world both socially and economically, we have decided to reset MacAndrews & Forbes in a manner that will give us maximum flexibility both financially and personally. This will allow us to be opportunistic and flexible in looking at new situations. Some two weeks later, Vlasto was gonehis duties taken up by Rubenstein, an outside P.R. firm.

This article has been updated.

$1,200 checks? Money for schools? Breaking down what Republicans and Democrats want in the coronavirus stimulus plan – USA TODAY

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

Congress has approved roughly $2.5 trillion since March to rescue an economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

And it doesn't look like it will be nearlyenough.

Lawmakers are working on a fifth round of stimulus relief that could dwarf the four previous rounds of assistance combined.

The Democratic-led House has passed the HEROES Act, a roughly$3.4 trillion bill that would provide a second round of direct payments to millions of Americans, provide nearly $1 trillion to revenue-strapped states and local governments, and provide billions forhousing and food assistance.

The Republican-controlled Senate has introduced its counter-proposal, the HEALS Act, a $1.1 trillion package that also includes direct payments but no federal aid for housing, food or state and local governments. It has yet to pass the chamber.

The latest on negotiations: Democrats and Republicans have 'most productive' stimulus talk to date, but deal still 'not imminent'

Here are some of the key similarities and differences between the two proposals.

The Democratic bill proposes extending the currentbenefit of $600 per week(which ends July 31) through December, a federal bonus on top of what states pay. The Republican plan proposes cutting that amount to $200 through September and then limiting the maximum benefit (state and federal combined) to 70% of an applicants pay moving forward.

Both bills would provide another stimulus check to millions of Americans under the same rules as the CARES Act: $1,200 for individuals earning up to $75,000 (phasing out at $99,000); and $2,400 for married couples earning up to $150,000 (phasing out at $198,000). The Democratic bill would be more generous for dependents ($1,200 for each dependent up to three versus $500 for each dependent in the GOP bill).

Democrats propose nearly$1 trillion in direct aid to help states, counties and cities whose budgets have been decimated by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The Republican bill has no such aidthough it does provide states and local governments more flexibility in how they use aid provided in earlier stimulus bills.

The Democrats' proposalprovides roughly $200 billion in housing assistance to help renters and homeowners affected by coronavirus avoid eviction/foreclosure. The GOP bill includesno such aid.

The Democrats provide about $60 billion to reopen schools, compared to $70 billion in the GOP bill. Each also provides about $30 billion to assist colleges.But the Democratic bill says thenearly $1 trillion in aid for stateand local governments could be usedfor education as well. The GOP bill does not and says that a portion of the education aid must go to help private schools reopen as well.

Democrats are proposing roughly $380 billion on ways to combat the coronavirus.Most of that would beused on two priorities: $100 billion to reimbursehospitals and other health care providers for pandemic-related costs, and $98 billion to assist laid-off workers pay for the health coverage they lost because of the economic steps taken to control the pandemic. The Republican plan sets aside$111 billion, much of it to help federal agencies and private companies develop vaccines and therapeutic remedies ($50 billion) or to help medical providers cover costs ($25 billion).

Senate Republicans release info on $1 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package

The new GOP plan includes another check for Americans and continued help for the unemployed.

USA TODAY

There's a big gulf on COVID-19 testing and contact tracing as well with Democrats proposing $75 billion and Republicans $16 billion.

The Democrats provide $290 billion in business assistance but largely in tax credits to companies that keep employees on the payroll and in tax breaks for pandemic-related expenses. The Democraticplan also includes a number of other priorities, including $190 billion in "hazard pay" for essential workers nationwide, $35 billion for food assistance to poor families, and $3.6 billion to help states run their elections in November. The GOP proposal does not include money for those but it does provide $158 billion in grants and loans to help small businesses stay afloat.

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$1,200 checks? Money for schools? Breaking down what Republicans and Democrats want in the coronavirus stimulus plan - USA TODAY

Trumps Election-Date Tweet Is a Classic Gaslighting Move – The Bulwark

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

No, President Trump is not going to be able to delay the presidential election. That doesnt mean hes not going to screw with it every other way he can, though.

Understand this: Trump has lost control of events. More than 150,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus. Washingtons biggest debate is over how many more trillions are needed to keep the economy on life support until a vaccine is available. All the polls show Trump losing badly to a man his campaign depicts as a senile puppet that the Antifa left is going to dress up and trot out on the campaign trail like its Weekend at Bernies.

Trump knows he cant win by competing in this reality. So, he has to bluster, lie, and cheat his way into creating a reality of his own. Thats what gaslighting is. Its what manipulators do to gain control over their targets to either make them succumb to the lie or go crazy trying to refute it.

I wrote about this in my 2018 book, Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us, to explain how Trump keeps running the same game repeatedly. His birther campaign against President Obama is the textbook example, but hes done it with all his businesses, his presidential campaign, and his presidency, too. Gaslighting is a way of life for Trump.

Make no mistake: Trump is gaslighting this election. Understanding how he does it is the only way we can survive itso heres a guide to how his gaslighting works and what to expect ahead. Not every instance of Trumpian gaslighting follows these five steps in this exact order, but in general, these are the five steps of his gaslighting m.o.:

1) Stake a claim: In this case, President Trump has decided to cast doubt on the 2020 election by alleging, without any evidence, that mail-in ballots that have increased in popularity because of the coronavirus are fraudulent, illegal, and will cost him the election.

2) Advance and deny: Trump does this when he alludes to, without any specifics, what other people are saying or his allies suggest hes only asking questions about subjects no responsible person would push into the public discussion. He fulfilled this step when he asked the question sure to grab attention this morning: Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???

3) Create suspense: You can bet that Trump will soon launch an investigationwhether through the Department of Justice, an allied media source, or some states friendly Republican secretary of stateregarding mail-in ballots to cast doubt on the process further. Doing so is designed to buy time for Trump also to sow chaos and trap his political enemies into making mistakes he can exploit. Typically, the said investigations findings never come, although Trump likes to promise they will be public in two weeks.

4) Discredit opponents: While everyone awaits the sham investigations findings, Trump will find some targets to zero in on and instigate fights. When it comes to the election, this could be as high-profile as the Democratic ticket, or as obscure as county elections board members.

5) Claim victory: No matter the outcome of the election, Trump will claim that it was rigged, as he did the 2016 election that he won. If Trump wins this time around, hell say he should have won by more significant margins. If he loses, he will blame the mail-in ballots hes been railing against since last spring.

So what! you say. Everybody knows Trump does this. How can it be stopped? First and foremost, snuffing out his little gaslighting flames as soon as they get a whiff of oxygenin this case, starting with his tweet about delaying the election.

Anyone who knows something about anything regarding the presidential election knows that Trump cannot singlehandedly change the date. Article II of the Constitution empowers Congress to set the date. It has done so. Congress would have to pass a new law, and the president would have to sign it, in order to move the date of the election. Elected officials who pretend this isnt so should immediately be placed under the medical supervision of Trumps alien-DNA-medicine- and demon-sperm-fearing doctor.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a West Point and Harvard Law graduate, is ready for check-in. He testified to Congress today that, In the end, the Department of Justice and others will make that legal determination.

Dont comfort yourself either, by saying, well, at least this time, Mitt Romney wasnt the only one in the Senate speaking out against Trumps ill-advised actions. For anyone in government, this is like a question on a basic competency test where you get half the points for just filling out your name. Or, in Trump parlance, its the person in Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV. It should be automatic; you flunk if its not.

And guess what. Lots of people flunked today.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell initially declined to comment before saying, as relayed from a reporter, the election is set in stone. John Cornyn said, I think its a joke, I guess, I dont know how else to interpret it. Trumps golfing buddy Lindsey Graham said, I dont think thats a particularly good idea. Kevin Cramer laughed that reporters were taking the bait and said that Trumps tweet was clever.

It only takes a few flunkies to help President Trump drive his most absurd narratives. Think about Rick Perry playing footsie with Trumps birtherism way back in 2011. Or Devin Nunes running interference for Trump during the Russia investigation. Or the fact the racist writers at Tucker Carlsons TV show have basically worked as off-the-books as the brain room for the Trump campaign.

So, yay. Trump probably wont try to unilaterally delay the election. But what about the real issue. The ballots?

Its not a secret that Trump wants to put on the tinfoil hat on the GOP about mail-in ballots. He scream-tweets about related conspiracies on an almost daily basis. It got so bad that Twitteryes, Twitter, that bastion of high-minded norms and valuesfinally had to slap him on the wrist about it. His legal team is already contesting Pennsylvanias mail-in ballot system. Cue the Ron Paul gif: Its happening!

No one should avert their eyes and pretend that Trumps gaslighting about vote-counting isnt already happening or wont work. Trump is spreading such lies and rumors about the 2020 election because hes afraid of losing it. And if we let his lies control the election, he wont lose. Thats how gaslighters win.

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Trumps Election-Date Tweet Is a Classic Gaslighting Move - The Bulwark

SpaceX Took a First Small Step to Mars. That’s Great News for Space Investors. – Barron’s

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

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SpaceX is back in the news, creating hope for aspiring astronauts with a test of part of its Starship system, meant to eventually take crews to the moon, to Mars, and beyond.

The trial liftoff and landing also has the potential to fuel investors dreams of finding the next big thing. Space investing and the low-earth-orbit economy are still in the early stages of development.

In April, NASA selected SpaceXalong with two other teamsto develop landing vehicles for the 2024 Artemis moon missions. SpaceX is developing a reusable systemnamed Starshipthat integrates a powerful rocket and lander. Tuesdays test was an early milestone in Starships development.

During the test, part of the craft lifted off, rose 150 meters, and landed safely. It was another feather in the cap of SpaceX, whose 2020 achievements have been, frankly, breathtaking.

This past Sunday, the company completed a two-month mission qualifying it to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Its also delivered many satellites to low earth orbit, which will enable the company to eventually offer high-speed, space-based internet access to earthlings.

SpaceX is no small player. The company is valued at $30 to $40 billion in private markets, but some people see the potential for much more.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas for starters thinks the company, headed by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, could be worth up to $150 billion, although that value is mainly dependent on a successful internet business. He doesnt have much value assigned to deep space exploration.

Our views around deep space exploration are largely qualitative at this point, wrote Jonas in a July research report.

There arent a lot of business opportunities in deep space yet, but that is changing. There was the Starship test. NASA is also spending money. Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD), for instance, makes the rocket engines for the huge NASA space launch systemor SLSwhich is the backbone of the agencys plans for deep space exploration. SLS will be the most powerful rocket NASA has built.

The SLS is slated to launch for the first time in late 2021. Early missions will deliver cargoes to the moon. Space craft traveling that far have to be accelerated to 24,500 miles an hour to break out of low earth orbit.

Jonas, of course, doesnt cover SpaceX. He does cover the space tourism company Virgin Galactic (SPCE). He rates those shares at Buy and has a target of $24 for the stock price.

Aerojet Rocketdyne shares are down about 7% year to date, a little worse than comparable returns of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Virgin Galactic shares have soared 70%.

Tesla has done better than both, up more than 250%. There is no connection between Tesla and SpaceX beyond Musk. But Musk matters. SpaceX generates a lot of free advertising for the electric- vehicle maker, saving the car maker billions of dollars each year.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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SpaceX Took a First Small Step to Mars. That's Great News for Space Investors. - Barron's

Flashback Friday: Possibilities of space exploration in 1980 – KELOLAND.com

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

Earlier this week, NASA launched another mission to mars. A week after the Apollo 11 moon landing celebrated its 51st anniversary.

In this weeks Flashback Friday, we take you back to 1980, where an Astronaut from Apollo 17, turned U.S senator spoke on the technological possibilities of space exploration.

New Mexico senator Harrison Schmitt is not unfamiliar with scientific exploration on a grandiose scale. It was Schmitt, the geologist and astronaut who explored the lunar surface in Americas latest Apollo 17 moonshot. As a senator, Schmitt is still preaching space technology, now pushing the formation of a Earth resource information satellite corporation. Which would collect and distribute satellite information on a worldwide scale. Information Schmitt says could help U.S. ag prices by using satellite pictures to predict world crop production. Information also to curb the energy crunch through satellite energy exploration. Its acceptance, Schmitt says, is Americans technology test, which will spell prosperity or the lack of it for the future.

Our problem is most of the leadership in the major agencies of government, like the department of the interior, literally dont want us to develop energy in this country, and domestic energy. Theyre afraid of what it does to the environment, theyre afraid of what it does to the atmosphere, and so forth. And so the regulatory and taxation restrictions on doing anything are so formidable. Plus the bureaucratic inertia that comes in budget cycles, that it is almost impossible to get these kinds of things off the ground right now.

Schmitt worries that America will miss out on economic advantages if other countries develop the system first. So do many of these scientists. But according to Schmitt, not the government, which harbors a coolness to towards the system which Schmitt describes as enough to frost a chili pepper.

Bill Overman, KELOLAND News.

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Flashback Friday: Possibilities of space exploration in 1980 - KELOLAND.com

VIPER Rover to use Thales Alenia Space tech for Earth comms – SpaceWatch.Global

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

Artists impression of VIPER rover; Credits: NASA

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), signed a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) for the delivery of the X-Band Transceiver and X-Band Diplexer. These critical systems will ensure communications for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER).

A critical step to human space explorationNASAs lunar rover will explore the South Pole of the Moon in search for water ice and other potential resources by means of its three instruments and a 1-meter (3.28-foot) drill. The data collected by the rover will show where the Moons water ice is most likely to be found and easiest to access. The first water maps of the Moon will mark a critical step forward in NASAs Artemis program to establish a sustainable human presence on the surface of the Moon later this decade.

Furthermore, the exploration of lunar resources to produce oxygen and propellants could enable new mission architectures to human space exploration. The VIPER rover will be delivered to the Moon as part of NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). With a launch foreseen in late 2023, the mission will have a duration of 100 Earth days, covering 3 cycles of lunar day and night.

Direct-to-Earth communications from the Moon surfaceThales Alenia Space in Spain will design, manufacture, test and deliver the X-Band Transceiver and X-Band Diplexer, which are responsible for the rover communications with direct links between the lunar rover and Earth over NASAs Deep Space Network.

We are thrilled to collaborate with NASA on the VIPER mission, which will search for water on the Moon, a critical element to future human exploration endeavors, said Eduardo Bellido, CEO of Thales Alenia Space in Spain.This contract with NASA reflects our leadership in space communication systems and our competitiveness in delivering state-of-the-art communication equipment for all type of space missions to customers around the world.

VIPER is the fourth mission to the Moon in which Thales Alenia Space in Spain provides key communication equipment. Starting back in 2003 with SMART-1, the first mission to the Moon of the European Space Agency (ESA), the company also contributes to the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), the first step of the Korean Lunar Exploration Program, as well as to the NOVA-C lunar lander being developed by Intuitive Machines to compete for NASA CLPS awards.

Building on its comprehensive heritage in the development of space communications equipment for all type of space missions, Thales Alenia Space in Spain has contributed to 600 satellites, space probes and cargo vehicles from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to the L2 Lagrangian point at 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth.

Key partner and supplier to NASA missionsThales Alenia Space has a long standing presence in the USA space market as key partner and supplier to commercial and institutional missions. A world leader in space communications, the company has contributed communication equipment to numerous NASA programs such as PACE, WFIRST, IBEX, OCO, Cygnus, JUNO, ICON or JWST.

Thales Alenia Space is also an experienced provider of pressurized elements for human space exploration, including multiple modules of the International Space Station. These include Node 2 & 3, Columbus (pressurized part), the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), the Permanent Logistic Module (PPM), the Cupola and the ATV and Cygnus resupply cargo vehicle.

Moreover, the companys long-standing capabilities in oceanography and altimetry are born with the Topex-Poseidon joint NASA/CNES (French Space Agency) program, to be followed by the Jason oceanographic satellites series. Thales Alenia Space is now teaming up with the French space agency and NASA/JPL on SWOT, a very ambitious American-French program that will shape the future of space-based oceanography.

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VIPER Rover to use Thales Alenia Space tech for Earth comms - SpaceWatch.Global

Where no man has gone before: The problematic way we portray space exploration – The Big Smoke Australia

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

The way we portray space exploration is less about the destination, and more about the white men who conquer it. The Neil Armstrong biopic is merely the latest example.

I have a confession. Or, rather, I should just say that I have something to tell you because I dont feel ashamed or in need of absolution. I wanted to write about First Man, but I fell asleep.

Exhaustion set in with the first sequence, as the film moved from the familiar (but no less effective) stress of near-disaster aboard a shaky rocket-powered plane to a heart-dropping descent into the banal. But I didnt actually fall asleep until the Apollo 11 launch scene. I remember waking briefly during the countdown and struggling with each number to keep my eyelids open, thinking,Shit, youre supposed to watch this part!Even if I hadnt fallen asleep, I dont know how much Id have to say about the movie: a dweeby daredevils ascent to space captain filmed as aMad Menspin-off.

The space biopic is a relatively puny genre, and the patriotic tedium of watching a bunch of men lob technicalities back and forth speaks to the lack of actual inspiration. 1983sThe Right Stuffwas panned by the public but received eight knee-jerk Oscar nominations (and won four, a formality), and it has since been declared a film of great import. Space films that do please dont necessarily skimp on patriotism, but they do have to insert aliens and asteroids and nuclear payloads to make it interesting.

The tedium of rocket science obscures the historical knot of empiricism and empire. A different kind of first man, Galileo has a different sort of biopic, too. A play titledLife of Galileo was written by Bertolt Brecht, the Marxist dreamer of modern theatre, and attempts to portray the scientist as rebel visionary. The plot dwells too much in the discovery narrative typical of Galileos glorification as a man of science. But Brecht also touches on the sinister uses of knowledge and the difficulties of producing knowledge for a greater good. Galileo scoffs at the supposed privilege of freedom of research, and he makes clear that it is of no use without freedom of time.

Today, space research is funded by the military and by venture capital because the worlds resources are organized in such a way that nobody else can afford it. When told that he needs to make his scientific research more commercially lucrative, Brechts Galileo responds, Free trade, free research. Free trading in research, eh? hinting at the cynical drive for profit that hides behind invocations of research for the greater good. These are questions often left out when Americans consider the benefits of space research and space travel. InFirst Man, the brute show of scientific prowess Neil Armstrongs famous walk is understood as a social good rather than an invocation of military might.

Biopics are overwrought not just in their cold attempts at sentimentality (having to wring emotion from tight-lipped white men who work too much is an uncomfortable rub) but also in their propaganda. Beyond the nationalist backslapping of these Cold War victory fantasies, a larger narrative animates it all, a hubristic story that people tell of space travel. There is, in fact, an internal contradiction to space aesthetics: outer space is meant to both humble us before the great mystery and inflates us with pride at overcoming the void. In First Man, the technological sublime awe invoked not through landscape but man-made interventions on landscape eclipses the space sublime. It is a feeling perhaps first intimated in the eyepiece of Galileos telescope.

And now, a brief detour to the well-worn tale of the dawn of empiricism. In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published his heliocentric model of the solar system. The sun, he said, was the immovable centre around which all the planets, including Earth, rotated. It is often misunderstood that the sin for which Galileo, following the Copernican heliocentric model, was persecuted was removing Earth from some esteemed position in the centre of the universe. But for church officials in the 16th and 17th centuries, that centre was a pit. Earth was the sordid habitance of fallen man. To posit that the Earth was a celestial body implied that it was not the heavy globe of sin Catholic theology imagined it was. In The Great Copernican Clich, published in the American Journal of Physics,Dennis Danielson traces how, from Aristotelian to Ptolemaic models, the center meant the filthy, bogged-down base. Galileo offended not because he dethroned the Earth but rather because he had dared suggest our home world sung with the heavenly spheres in their melodic transit around the sun.

One way in which Galileo proved the Copernican model of the solar system was through his observation of the moon, which appeared through his telescope as something completely different from the perfectly rounded sphere that theology-inflected science had described and expected of the heavens. The Roman Inquisition tried Galileo for heresy in 1633, and he spent the rest of his life under house arrest. The actual glorification of man inherent to the Copernican Revolution is that humanity might know and understand the heavens, proven in part by Galileos ability to pierce the mystery with his telescope. InFirst Man, much is made of mans technical triumph over the cosmos. It harps on that Armstrong is anengineer, not just some meathead Marine.

What kind of story of humanity is being told in the line we wait the whole ofFirst Manto hear? One small step . . . Who is the mankind who takes the giant leap? And to where? The idea that all of mankind jumps forward in Armstrongs step suggests that the mankind of the future and of progress is a scaled-up collective of strapping, square, straight martyrs. Their race and gender default to the obvious. In an ironic moment of self-critique in the movie, Gil Scott-Herons song-poem Whitey on the Moon plays during a montage that serves as the sole nod to a social world outside Armstrongs life: The man jus upped my rent las night / (cause Whiteys on the moon.) / No hot water, no toilets, no lights / (but Whiteys on the moon.) Scott-Herons words deserve a much better context than this sequence, which is only a kind of floating index for the unrest and resistance movements that occurred while the military mission for the moon was working toward a much different future for humanity.

The Apollo program embodies a particularly American hubris, one integral to a story our democracy tells about itself. It is also connected to a long history of how outer space, in particular the moon, has appeared to the explorer, the capitalist adventurer,the space dad: all versions of sovereign white manhood. Outer space has been a backdrop for a Western man to define himself as protagonist since Galileo, who claimed the Earth was of the heavens and that the heavens were knowable by a man with the right stuff.

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Where no man has gone before: The problematic way we portray space exploration - The Big Smoke Australia

NASA Awards STTR Research Grant To Geisel Software And UNLV For Robot Simulation Platform for Source Search and Mapping – PRNewswire

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

The research is critically important to solving problems such as mapping, localization, atmospheric transmission spectroscopy, electromagnetic radiation detection of all kinds, seismic and other planetary sensing, and more. Woosoon Yim, Ph.D. and professor of mechanical engineering in UNLV's Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, will serve as principal investigator and his team at UNLV will work in tandem with Geisel Software's engineers to address the complex issues inherent in swarming applications.

"Geisel Software is honored to be selected for this Phase I STTR in cooperation with UNLV," commented Brian Geisel, Chief Executive Officer at Geisel Software. "We're excited to be working with such a well-regarded university that's committed to serving minority and underrepresented students. This STTR will give students an opportunity to grow not only in the initial phase as students, but also through the eventual productization phase as engineers."

"Space is a challenging experimentation environment and developing a realistic simulation platform for studyingcoordination and control of swarms of the ground and aerial vehicles is integral to safe space exploration," said Yim. "Geisel Software has technical expertise in solving complex software challenges and experience building custom solutions for government organizations. This partnership builds off our combined strengths to help NASA achieve their exploration goals."

The STTR program is a highly competitive three-phase program that reserves a specific percentage of federal research and development funding to award to small businesses in partnership with nonprofit research institutions to move ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace, to foster high-tech economic development, and to address the technological needs of the federal government.

About Geisel Software, Inc.Founded in 2011, Geisel Software, Inc. (http://geisel.software) is a Massachusetts-based custom software development firm. Geisel's highly trained, innovative team creates elegantly designed, world-class web / cloud, mobile apps and embedded software for some of the most visionary hardware, software and security companies in the medical and robotics industries. Geisel Software is committed to understanding our customer's business and clearly defining project parameters to deliver powerful, unique solutions that allow them to innovate, create and succeed. We serve federal and state government and commercial enterprises across the United States.

About UNLVUNLV is a doctoral-degree-granting institution of more than 31,000 students and 3,900 faculty and staff that has earned the nation's highest recognition for both research and community engagement from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. UNLV offers a broad range of respected academic programs and is committed to recruiting and retaining top students and faculty, educating the region's diverse population and workforce, driving economic activity, and creating an academic health center for Southern Nevada. Learn more at unlv.edu.

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NASA Awards STTR Research Grant To Geisel Software And UNLV For Robot Simulation Platform for Source Search and Mapping - PRNewswire

Why are ASEAN nations joining the space race? – ASEAN TODAY

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

As NASA launches its most detailed mission yet toMars, Southeast Asian nations are also working on space programmes, albeit on amuch smaller scale. What is in it for them and how are they making it work?

By John Pennington

As NASA looks for signs oflife on Mars, it seems an odd time for Myanmar to focus on sendingsatellites into space while civil conflicts rage on the ground and thenation battles the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the country is not interested in exploring newfrontiers or entering a space race to prove its technological prowess. Itsspace programme, developed in collaboration with experts at Hokkaido Universityand Tohuku University in Japan, aims to improve connectivity, mitigate theimpacts of natural disasters and boost crop production.

Myanmar first stepped up its space plans in 2017 when itset up a steering committee to develop its own satellite system. In August2019, it launched Myanmar-sat2 todeliver improved broadband and video distribution services.

As Myanmar aims to get 95% of its population online by 2022, the new satellite means they no longer have to pay upwards of US$10 million per year to rent satellite channels from China, Thailand, the US and Vietnam. The savings will go towards covering some of the US$155.7 million Myanmar spent on its launch.

One of the reasons that Myanmar wants to build and launch itsown satellites is to save money. Seven engineers from the Myanmar AerospaceEngineering University were due to go to Japan in March to begin their trainingwith a view to designing, building and launching twosatellites in the next five years.

These will be microsatellites weighing no more than 50kilogrammes and measuring around 50 centimetres per side. They will enablescientists in Myanmar to monitor weather systems, crops and land usagefromurbanisation to spotting illegal activity such as logging and mining.

COVID-19 delayed the engineers departure but the cost of theprogrammefunded by Myanmars governmentwill be US$16million, a fraction of what it would cost to build and launch thetype of large satellites that Southeast Asian nations cannot afford.

Its simply less expensive if we build our own satellite, said KyiThwin, the aerospace universitys rector, adding that the programme could alsoboost Myanmars economy. It is a plausible claim: every dollar the US has spentin space has delivered, according to estimates, anything from US$7-40 ineconomic returns.

However, it all depends on COVID-19if borders do notreopen then the scientists will not be able to travel to Japan andthey will likely miss the initial launch date, scheduled for 2021.

Despite their size and weight, these microsatellites possessadvanced imaging technology. They can send back detailed pictures of widetracts of land regularly, allowing those interpreting the data to trackchanges.

For example, they can show farmers what is happening in fieldsthat may be hard to reach, leading to fewer wasted trips to check on crops. Thesame Japanese universities collaborating with Myanmar helped the Philippineslaunch a satellite in 2016 that proved instrumental in detectingdisease in bananas.

The instruments could alert authorities to changes in areasthat would otherwise go unnoticed, perhaps enabling them to move in and preventillegal practices such as logging or mining before too much damage is done tothe local environment.

Primarily, however, the satellites will monitorweather systems such as typhoons and detect seismic activity.Early detection of severe weather patterns will enable authorities to movepeople and livestock away from danger, saving lives and money. In the aftermathof disasters, the satellites will show scientists how quickly areas arerecovering.

It is not just a matter of launching a satellite and takingan image, but our goal is to bring truly practical outcomes by analysing thedata acquired through the latest technology and observation methods, explainedProfessor Yukihiro Takahashi, director of Hokkaido Universitys Space MissionCenter.

These ties with established space programmes are crucial for initiativesin places like Myanmar. Like many countries, it lacks the resources andtechnology to design and launch satellites itself, meaning it must work withothers.

To this end, it has joined a nine-strong super-constellation ofAsian nations, also including Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, to launchand monitor microsatellites. Malaysia and Thailand will also eventually come onboard.

Furthermore, Myanmar is part of an Asian micro-satelliteconsortium founded in 2016 which committed to sharing technology andobservational data. In this way, ASEAN nations can move forward with spaceprogrammes that would otherwise be out of reach. The more satellites there aresending back pictures of the region, the better, particularly if all membershave access to the data.

Indonesia has the most advanced space programme within ASEAN,being the first in the region to send geosynchronous satellites into space whenNASA launched them in 1976.Vietnams Pham Tun becamethe first Southeast Asian to go into space in 1980.

However, China, India and Japan have dominated the history ofAsian space exploration. Like NASA, all three have launched missions to both Marsand the moon, with more planned, leading to some predictions thatAsia might win the next space race.

ASEANs role in more advanced space exploration attempts willbe limited. While an astronaut from the region may one day return to space oreven set foot on another planet, it would be as part of another countrysprogramme. For now, Southeast Asias space race has smaller but no lessimportant goals: ensuring natural resources are not wasted and averting potentialdisasters here on earth.

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Why are ASEAN nations joining the space race? - ASEAN TODAY

Novamind Closes the Acquisition of Cedar Psychiatry, a Leading Psychedelic Therapy Organization in the US | INN – Investing News Network

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

Novamind Ventures Inc. (Novamind), a mental health and wellness company specialized in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, is pleased to announce that it has closed the acquisitions of Cedar Psychiatry LLC (Cedar Psychiatry),a specialized provider of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and Cedar Clinical Research LLC (Cedar Clinical Research), a dedicated research center focused on psychedelic medicines, both based near Salt Lake City, Utah (the Cedar Acquisitions). Total consideration paid by Novamind for the Cedar Acquisitions was CAN$3.05 million, consisting of CAN$1 million cash and CAN$2.05 million in Novamind common shares.

With the closing of the Cedar Acquisitions, Reid Robison, MD, MBA, co-founder of Cedar Psychiatry and Cedar Clinical Research, will join Novaminds senior leadership team.

Cedar Psychiatry by NovamindCedar Psychiatry is now the central hub of Novaminds global network of clinics and retreats offering legal, medically supervised psychedelic experiences. Founded in 2016, Cedar Psychiatry operates four outpatient mental health clinics near Salt Lake City, Utah, providing a wide range of services including psychotherapy, diagnostic evaluations, pharmacogenetic testing, psychiatric medication management and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

In addition, Cedar Psychiatry is a leading provider of ketamine therapy, having administered over 3,000 ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sessions and over 700 SpravatoTM(esketamine) treatments since its inception. Dr. Robison is a thought leader in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and psychedelic-medicine. He was one of the first clinicians to use ketamine off-label for the treatment of depression in Utah. In 2011, Dr. Robison established a ketamine infusion practice at Intermountain Medical Center, Utahs largest hospital. Dr. Robison supervises and trains ketamine-assisted psychotherapy practitioners at Cedar Psychiatrys clinics across Utah, and to date has guided thousands of ketamine therapy journeys and hundreds of SpravatoTMtreatment sessions.

Through Novaminds global network of clinics and retreats (operating exclusively in jurisdictions where certain psychedelics are legal), Cedar Psychiatry anticipates expanding its service offerings to provide patients with increased access to psychedelic medicine, along with screening, preparation, and integration services.

Cedar Clinical Research by NovamindCedar Clinical Research (CCR) now leads Novaminds clinical research activities. From its dedicated research center in Springville, Utah, CCR has developed a strong track record providing contract research (CRO) services, including hosting clinical trials. In 2012, Dr. Robison led the Utah site for the pivotal ketamine study for treatment-resistant depression by Janssen, leading to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of SpravatoTM. CCR operates at the leading edge of evidence-based care and is currently conducting a variety of clinical research studies examining conditions including depression, eating disorders, PTSD,and end-of-life anxiety.

Cedar Clinical Research is initiating its own research studies, integrating the data and learnings gained from patient treatment experiences and outcomes at Cedar Psychiatry, as well as related international retreats, to advance research on psychedelic medicine. Novamind is evaluating a pipeline of early-stage clinical research opportunities and expects to announce preclinical work on a psychedelic therapeutic protocol during Q3 2020.

About Cedar Psychiatry and Cedar Clinical ResearchCedar Psychiatry is an innovative provider of outpatient mental health services, operating psychiatry clinics specialized in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Cedar Clinical Research is a dedicated research organization focused on advancing psychedelic medicine. Both organizations are based near Salt Lake City, Utah, and are committed to evidence-based psychedelic healing. For more information visitwww.cedarpsychiatry.com.

About NovamindNovamind is building a global network of clinics and retreats that are required for a regulated psychedelics industry. We provide access to safe, legal psychedelic experiences, while advancing research for psychedelic medicine. For more information visitwww.novamind.ca.

Contact InformationNovamindYaron Conforti, CEO and DirectorT: +1 (647) 953 9512E:contact@novamind.ca

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Novamind Closes the Acquisition of Cedar Psychiatry, a Leading Psychedelic Therapy Organization in the US | INN - Investing News Network

Another hidden cost of Brexit has been laid bare people will be less willing to help the UK in a crisis – The Independent

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

The question began: Imagine a country suffered some kind of major crisis, and was looking for help from others. People across Europe were asked how willing their country should be to offer financial help to other countries. The UK came near the bottom of the list, below all EU countries and ahead of only Tunisia and Colombia.

The huge opinion poll was carried out by YouGov in 13 EU countries and the UK, and has just been published. If you find the Eurovision Song Contest voting depressing, look away now: in nine EU countries more people would be unwilling to help the UK in a crisis than willing. In only four countries is the balance the other way round, so now we know who our friends are: the Danes, the Poles, the Swedes and the Romanians (although note that only half of EU countries were surveyed).

We British, on the other hand, are models of European generosity, being willing, on balance, to help out all 27 EU members, even though we have now left their club. Our renunciation of EU membership must be one of the biggest causes of these findings, which expose the damage to Britains reputation from Brexit.

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Another hidden cost of Brexit has been laid bare people will be less willing to help the UK in a crisis - The Independent

Brexit deal: What is happening in UK-EU trade talks? – Daily Express

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

The UK and EU finished the latest round of talks about the future trading relationship between the two entities in London last week.

The UKs chief negotiator David Frost said the UK must face the possibility that it will not agree a deal on its future relationship with the EU by the end of the year.

Mr Frost said with less than six months to go until the end of the Brexit transition period, the UK must "continue preparing for all possible scenarios" for once that deadline passes.

He added there are considerable gaps in the contentious areas which include the UKs position on fishing rights and post-Brexit competition rules.

READ MORE:Nigel Farage's radical calls for NEW electoral system exposed

Both the UK and EU have said they are at a deadlock regarding fishing rights.

Mr Barnier describes as "simply unacceptable" the UK demand for "near-total exclusion of EU fishing vessels from UK waters".

The EU understands the UK wishes to be an independent state, but claims common stocks need to be managed jointly.

Mr Frost has given little indication the UK is ready to give ground on fishing or over competition.

The UK's chief negotiator said his side will continue to strive for a "Canada-style" free trade deal allowing for wide divergence from EU rules, something Brussels negotiators and EU governments have always rejected, especially given Britain's economic clout and geographical proximity to the continent.

Currently, the UK-EU are still very far apart on key issues in the trade talk negotiations.

A senior EU official said the British side had not demonstrated any new flexibility despite what they see as London's weakening position.

The EU official told Politico: They have been very, very slow in reacting and not shown a lot of willingness to move forward.

Ireland, Belgium, Holland will be impacted by Brexit. A part of this Brexit Adjustment Reserve could very well be used to compensate our fishermen.

So you know the Brits might not have expected that, that we would have come up with that, and this budget. For us, it is very important that we prepare for every possible outcome.

The source added the EU is prepared to make a dal, but would not forget the EUs interests.

They said: We would definitely prefer a deal and we are ready to conclude a deal its better for both of us but we are preparing for every scenario.

We're not going to sell Europe just like that.

Our values will remain untouched.

Informal talks continue in the week of July 27 ahead of the next formal round of negotiations from August 17.

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Brexit deal: What is happening in UK-EU trade talks? - Daily Express

Brexit a perspective from the Global South – Open Democracy

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

Global Britain has benefits for the African continent in the sphere of education. As an alternative to the EUs Erasmus Plus scheme, for example, the UK is set to roll out a global student exchange programme which benefits students outside the European Union. In a report for Kings College London, a former UK universities minister Jo Johnson argued that There is little reason to ignore the experiences and knowledge these countries offer to UK students in an exclusive relationship with its closer European neighbours. Not only does the novel exchange programme mean well for Britain in the sphere of higher education in terms of knowledge exchange and cultural influence, but students in African higher education institutions could enormously benefit from the knowledge and technical skills that such an exchange would provide and which hitherto they had no access to, as the Erasmus programme was mostly limited to European institutions for the specific purpose of creating a pan-European identity alien to the African student.

Of course, a pan-European identity is not necessarily a bad thing, but it seemingly excludes many from non-EU countries in the Global South and what we do indeed need in the world are global exchange programmes that enable the development of a global identity amongst denizens of different polities rather than only a regional identity. The insistence on the building of regions and the construction of regional identities is almost always exclusionary and can preclude the intercultural dialogue and understanding that we need to curb the racism, brutalism, nativism within and beyond Europe.

In addition, Brexit has meant that the stringent policies instituted by Theresa Mays government which contributed to the decline of international student enrolment in British universities have been overturned. There is now a conscientious effort to ensure that international students can stay and work in the UK after their studies, regardless of where they come from. Although this has been criticised by Europhiles who have long benefited from preferential treatment in immigration and work requirements (including the lower home tuition fees they pay due to their passports and EU citizenship), these criticisms seem to suggest that the beneficiaries of these unequal treatments want to sustain the inequitable system.

Passports and citizenships should only show where people come from for administrative and security reasons, but it should not be the prime factor in immigration and work, not least because it marginalises citizens from the Global South whose passports and citizenship are ostensibly nothing but tags of exclusion. Given that Global Britain entails that, all things being equal, citizens from the Global South would be considered on equal terms in education and work, this provides opportunities for the best talents in Africa to gain access to knowledge and skills that would be beneficial not only to the UK but to their own home countries.

And the benefits of citizens from the Global South studying in the UK are economic. Remittances already constitute a huge chunk of the GDP of many countries in the Global South. In fact, the UK is amongst the top-20 remittance-sending countries in the world. Due to the positive impacts that immigrants already have on UKs economic development, the post-study work possibilities would afford citizens of the Global South the opportunity to contribute to the development of their own countries through remittances but also through the potential investments and skills they are likely to take back with them.

Though it has been contended that Brexit will lead to the contraction and decline of the biggest African economies such as Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa, due to the abandonment of various trade deals and the dependence on a seemingly volatile UK economy this is not definitive. Indeed, despite the decades of international cooperation and trade with the EU, African countries have remained amongst the poorest and most malnourished in the world. Nigeria and South Africa are still recovering from recessions and there is some indication that the former will suffer a severe recession (its worst in four decades) due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The trade deals with the EU have not made African countries better, nor should we assume trade deals with the UK would. This is because Africas economic traumas stem largely from the political corruption that is not just rampant but contributes to indefinitely perpetuating the interests of the political elites. Of course, this is not to play down the impacts of European colonialism on the postcolony.

Because domestic political issues constrain African polities from reaping the fruits of trade deals, the focus should not be on whether or not they trade with the EU or the UK we live in a world where Africa has other trade partners outside Europe. China is becoming one of the largest trade partners of African countries. Rather, the focus must be on curbing domestic corruption in order to savour the benefits of economic cooperation and interdependence with any country or, for that matter, regional institution. Charity so the old adage goes begins at home.

From a Global South perspective Global Britain appears to be a good idea that should be nurtured and supported by Eurosceptics and Europhiles who genuinely care about the state of the world and their fellow global citizens in the most marginalised regions of the world.

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Brexit a perspective from the Global South - Open Democracy

PM Johnson makes Lords of his brother, cricketer Botham and Brexit allies – Reuters

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has elevated to the House of Lords his younger brother, a cricket hero and some of his allies in the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union.

FILE PHOTO: Jo Johnson, brother of Prime Minister Boris, is seen outside Downing Street in London, Britain, September 4, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

Under an arcane system whose inner workings are not exposed to public scrutiny, British political leaders are entitled on certain occasions to nominate people to the upper chamber of parliament, where they can sit for life.

Among 36 nominations announced on Friday was Jo Johnson, the prime ministers younger brother, who quit as a junior minister last year because he disagreed with his boss and older siblings Brexit strategy.

Jo Johnson supported remaining in the European Union in a 2016 referendum, in sharp contrast to Boris Johnson, who led the successful campaign for Britain to quit the bloc.

In another apparent olive branch to heal Brexit divisions within his Conservative Party, the prime minister nominated former finance minister Philip Hammond, a prominent remainer who was long the target of vitriolic attacks by Brexit supporters.

Other political nominations tilted more towards the Brexit camp, with peerages bestowed on former opposition Labour lawmakers Kate Hoey and Gisela Stuart, who as ardent Brexiteers became unlikely allies of Johnson during the referendum.

He also nominated former England cricket captain Ian Botham, who in his heyday in the 1980s was regarded by many fans of the sport as one of its finest all-rounders. Botham was not recognised for his achievements on the field, however, but for his enthusiastic Brexit campaigning.

Among other eye-catching nominations was that of Evgeny Lebedev, the British-Russian owner of the Evening Standard and Independent newspapers. He is the son of Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB agent who became an oligarch.

Evgeny Lebedev, who has spent most of his life in Britain, is frequently seen in high society circles in London, where he is active as a charity campaigner and patron of the arts. He controversially appointed former Conservative finance minister George Osborne, who had no previous experience in journalism, as editor of the Evening Standard in 2017.

The House of Lords has more than 800 members, and despite perennial complaints that the number is far too high and the nominations process opaque and prone to cronyism, prime ministers from all sides have enthusiastically added to its numbers.

Additional reporting by Hardik Vyas; editing by Stephen Addison

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PM Johnson makes Lords of his brother, cricketer Botham and Brexit allies - Reuters

U.K.s Truss in Washington to Press for Post-Brexit Trade Deal – Bloomberg

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

U.K. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will meet with her U.S. counterpart Robert Lighthizer in Washington on Monday as part of the third round of talks to reach a trade deal between the two countries.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson put an agreement with the U.S. at the heart of his plans for the U.K. economy after Brexit, and Trusss decision to travel during the coronavirus pandemic reflects Londons commitment to a deal.

The Secretary of State is meeting Robert Lighthizer during a critical time in the negotiations and it is essential we agree the next steps and priorities for the trade talks, the Department for International Trade said in a statement. A deal will be a key driver in leveling up the U.K. by boosting the economy by 15 billion pounds ($19.6 billion) and removing almost half a billion pounds worth of tariffs.

The talks have been beset by disagreements, over agriculture in particular, and Lighthizer has said an agreement is unlikely this year, meaning Britain is set to complete its departure from the European Union on Dec. 31 without a trans-Atlantic trade deal in place.

U.K. Sees U.S. Trade Deal More Likely Next Year Than in 2020

Truss will also use the talks to press for the removal of retaliatory tariffs imposed as part of the dispute over subsidies for Boeing Co. and Airbus SE.

We will be tough in pressing our interests. The U.S. talk a good game about free trade and low tariffs, but the reality is that many U.K. products are being kept unfairly out of their market, Truss told lawmakers in June. Tit-for-tat tariffs are harming businesses on both sides of the Atlantic and I dont want to see any more.

U.S. Targets $3.1 Billion of EU and U.K. Imports for New Tariffs

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U.K.s Truss in Washington to Press for Post-Brexit Trade Deal - Bloomberg

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal was a turkey, and we’re all getting stuffed – The New European

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

Opinion

PUBLISHED: 10:40 04 August 2020 | UPDATED: 10:40 04 August 2020

The New European

Boris Johnson. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA.

PA Wire/PA Images

The reality of what the end of the transition period means is only now starting to hit home.

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Yet another piece of underhand behaviour by the Brexit at any cost government has just slipped out; we will no longer have reciprocal medical cover in EU countries.

Many millions of us who have European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) will not be able to use them after 2020. The free card covers medical aid across the EU in much the same way the NHS does here.

Travel insurance will now need to include this basic healthcare cover, as well as emergencies, and premiums will inevitably cost us more.

This is just another example that Boriss oven-ready deal with the EU is a turkey and it is British citizens who are getting stuffed.

Hugh Janes

Plymouth

We now know that we are heading for a minimal or no-deal with the EU. This will also mean that we will be outside the collaborative safety and security measures of the EU.

We will be much less safe and secure. The government will have failed in its duty.

A track record of lack of preparation despite expert advice and warnings, inadequate emergency planning, woefully delayed, scattergun responses. No wonder they were so keen to announce quarantine for arrivals from Spain an attempt to show they can act swiftly, but at best a side-show.

One suspects they will be ill-equipped to stem the tide next January. No doubt Johnson will move his throne to the Kent beaches and command the waters of insecurity and economic pain to recede.

Anne Green

It was very kind of you to print my letter regarding potential problems in travelling in the EU (How not to go around the world in 180 days, Letters, TNE #204). Post-Brexit the government is apparently prepared to offer Europeans 180-day stays in the UK but will accept only 90-day spells for us to visit Europe.

This being one of the few aspects of the governments negotiations where we may hope to persuade them to change their mind, I should be grateful if you could draw your readers attention to the campaign to coordinate letters to MPs to draw attention to the matter: bit.ly/3f346Ss

There is also a petition which has only just gone live: bit.ly/300DHk6

John Frazer

John Kampfners piece on freedom of movement is so sad. I remember so well those days of travel to and from France in the 1970s.

During the five-year transition into the common market, as I think it was then, I travelled to and from France on business and occasional holidays, several days a month for many years. It gradually became easier as time went by, but now we are sadly building barriers again.

My days of crossing the Channel are at an end as I can now no longer afford health insurance. I am isolated and imprisoned in my own little island with nothing to look forward to.

My grandchildren have now had their work opportunities taken from them and I as an octogenarian will see no benefits of Brexit. Permission please to go away and die quietly?

Alan Craw

Old Whittington

Have your say by emailing theneweuropean@archant.co.uk. Our deadline for letters is Tuesday at 9am for inclusion in Thursdays edition. Please be concise - letters over five paragraphs long may be edited before printing.

Almost four years after its creation The New European goes from strength to strength across print and online, offering a pro-European perspective on Brexit and reporting on the political response to the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and international politics. But we can only rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press with your support. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.

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Boris Johnson's Brexit deal was a turkey, and we're all getting stuffed - The New European

Twin threat of virus and Brexit causing concern in the fight against car crime – Telegraph.co.uk

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

In Austria, nearly 4,000 cars were stolen last year, with another 2,000 stolen from Austrian citizens while visiting neighbouring Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

United States and Canadian thieves have also been tempted by a $3,000 payment and a free flight home to hire vehicles on false credit cards and drive them to any of Austria's eastern neighbours. A total of 489 Austrian-registered cars were stolen in Hungary last year, 299 in Slovakiaand 232 in the Czech Republic.

Bizarrely, people in the Czech Republic who do not own or indeed never owned a car have recently been questioned by police about vehicles registered in their name. The country loses around 7,000 vehicles a year but many more stolen cars pass through as criminals inthe Republic have become acknowledged experts in changing vehicle identities.

As one Czech officer suggested, The quality of cloning on a stolen car, together with its accompanying forged documents, is so high that it is difficult to spot a fraud during a routine inquiry. Also there is no system of insurers writing off vehicles after an accident, facilitating the altering of the identities of stolen cars.

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Twin threat of virus and Brexit causing concern in the fight against car crime - Telegraph.co.uk

Bitcoin Cash Games Launches $3K Leaderboard Tournament to Celebrate the 3rd BCH Anniversary | Promoted – Bitcoin News

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

To celebrate the third anniversary of Bitcoin Cash, the world-class gaming platform Bitcoin Cash Games is launching a leaderboard tournament worth $3k.

On August 1, the Bitcoin Cash community will be celebrating the networks third anniversary and the project has come a long way since 2017. Bitcoin cash (BCH) has garnered widespread attention, its the fifth-largest market by valuation, and developers have completed a number of beneficial upgrades over the last few years. BCH has solidified itself as the go-to cryptocurrency for a reliable peer-to-peer electronic cash system.

At Bitcoin Cash Games we want to celebrate the third BCH anniversary so our gaming casino is launching a leaderboard with a total of $3,000 for you to win. Anyone can participate in this special promotion by playing any of these exclusive games available on the casino: Exclusive Slots, Keno and Roulette.

Then the top 15 players will get a bonus reward at the end of the Bitcoin Cash Games promotion. The more a player bets, the higher their ranking will be on the leaderboard. Moreover, we launched a social campaign where you can claim a $10 bonus through the casinos official Twitter.

Bitcoin Cash Games brings yet another opportunity for players to engage in online entertainment and win big jackpots using BCH as its primary currency. Our gaming portal has always hosted a broad array of provably fair gaming for cryptocurrency enthusiasts who like to play for high stakes recreation.

It is an online gaming platform where players can engage in all their favorite casino games without worrying about KYC or upper limits on deposits. Furthermore, BCH withdrawals are always done in a safe and secure digital environment. We think that you will find our platform is the ultimate destination for classic casino gaming with a BCH twist.

At Bitcoin Cash Games our gaming portal offers free spins, exciting promotions, cashback, and regular bonuses. So what are you waiting for? Check out Bitcoin Cash Games today.

What do you think about Bitcoin Cash Games launching a $3,000 leaderboard tournament to celebrate the third Bitcoin Cash anniversary? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Bitcoin Cash Games

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Bitcoin Cash Games Launches $3K Leaderboard Tournament to Celebrate the 3rd BCH Anniversary | Promoted - Bitcoin News

Developer Debates on the bitcoin cash network, is a split likely? – Crypto Daily

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Danzig

The community for bitcoin cash has recently been split in regards to whether they should change the difficulty adjustment algorithm for the Cryptocurrency. A recent developing meeting seemingly ended with many attendees walking out.

Earlier this week on the 4th of August, Chris Pacia, one of the lead developers of the peer-to-peer marketplace and a volunteer developer for the bitcoin cash system tweeted the following:

Some reports are showing that given the growing tensions over the difficulty algorithm, another chain split for the network could occur. Hayden Otto, an Australian proponent for the network has said that he will be sticking with the network though. Although he later revealed that his tweet was meant to be seen as a joke to those opposing the core bitcoin ABC developers.

However, Otto does add that a chain split is likely to occur saying that the software is not widely adopted by many minors. With this in mind, the supporters wouldnt have the majority voted to get their changes through the upgrade on the date.

They are now relying on proof of social media tactics in an attempt to persuade miners and businesses who run ABC to capitulate and swap over to the BCHN software.

It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out. For more news on this and other crypto updates, keep it with CryptoDaily!

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Developer Debates on the bitcoin cash network, is a split likely? - Crypto Daily

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