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Don Macpherson: The messy Liberal nomination fight in St-Laurent – Montreal Gazette

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

In a truly open contest, writes Don Macpherson, Yolande James would be at a disadvantage against Alan DeSousa. Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

Nobody comes out ofthis weeks DeSousa affair looking good.

Start with Alan DeSousa himself, who sayshes a victim of character assassination in the federal Liberal partys mysterious refusal to allow him to seek its nomination for the April 3 by-election in the Montreal riding of St-Laurent.

Then theres Yolande James, the star candidate who has been made to look as though the party Establishment, which is reported to favour her for the nomination, doesnt believe she could beat DeSousa in a fair fight.

And last but not least theres Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose vauntednew style of politics has again been exposed as merely cosmetic.

In addition to participating in pay-for-access fundraising events, Trudeau has at least tolerated the repeated apparent rigging of theopen nominations of his partys candidates that he promised.

When he ran for the Liberal leadership in 2013, Trudeau promised that all the partys candidates would be chosen by votes of their constituents. Since he became leader, however, there have been several instances when would-be candidates complained that the party meddled in the nominating process before the vote.

For example, in the Toronto-area riding of Markham Thornhill, where another by-election will be held April 3, the party hastily and retroactively cut off registration for the vote after a member of Trudeaus staff became the first potential candidate to enter. This stopped other would-be candidates from registering their supporters.

In St-Laurent, the partys national candidate-vetting committee informed DeSousa this week that his name would not be on the ballot, for reasons that remain unexplained.

DeSousa has been borough mayor inSt-Laurent since 2001, and its public knowledge that in 2013, the boroughs offices were raided by UPAC, the provincial anti-corruption squad.

Four years later, however, DeSousa has not been charged with anything. And he told me he received encouragement to seek the nomination at all levels of the Liberal party, from the riding executive up to the prime ministers office.

That, however, was before James confirmed her decision to run.

DeSousa wasnt scared off by the prospect of having to face the former Quebec Liberal minister, whose potential candidacy had already been floated before DeSousa announced his.

James is an unproven campaigner, even though she was elected to the National Assembly four times. She was never seriously tested, since she ran in a safe Liberal riding, and her majorities were smaller than those of the previous Liberal MNA.

Still, James would be a lock to win the by-election in St-Laurent, which is such a safe ridingfor the Liberals that the real election thereis the one for theirnomination.

In a truly open contest, however, James wouldbe at a disadvantage against DeSousa.

Hes won several contested elections in his 31 years in localpolitics. And that suggests he could count on an established network in the riding to sign up supporters and get them to a nominating meeting.

James is from outside St-Laurent. And she brings some heavy political baggage with her.

In provincial politics, James was best known for campaigningagainst the niqab. As minister of immigration and cultural communities in the former Charest government,she was a leading supporter of proposedlegislation that would have denied public services to women wearing suchveils. And she had an immigrant woman expelled from a French course for refusingto remove her niqab.

In the three years since James left provincial politics, shesays her thinking has evolved. Coincidentally, St-Laurent was 17-per-cent Muslim at the 2011 census.

If James is such a weak candidate that she needs to be carried by the party to a nomination tainted by a backroom fix, then it would be better if Trudeau did what old-style leadershave always done. That is, he should name the candidate himself.

It would be no less democratic. Andit would be cleaner, and more honest.

dmacpgaz@gmail.com

twitter.com/DMacpGaz

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Don Macpherson: The messy Liberal nomination fight in St-Laurent - Montreal Gazette

Winnebago County’s funding for Freedom Field may dry up – News … – Rockford Register Star

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

Chris Green Staff writer @chrisfgreen

ROCKFORD Freedom Field Renewable Energy.

The name conjures up an image of sprawling acres of land populated withsolar panels ora wind farm producing an endless supply of self-sustaining energy.

"It is not a field," said Winnebago County AdministratorAmanda Hamaker. "It is an auditorium the size of a big-school cafeteria."

HamakertouredFreedom Field in early February with County Board Chairman Frank Haney andcame away less than impressed.

"The big missis R&D," she said. "There is no research and development being done there. There'snothing that connects the work ofFreedom Field back tothe grid, so to speak, but it also doesn't connectto any actual economic development for the future."

Hamaker, who has a MBA in sustainable business, made her comments Wednesdayafterthe Winnebago County Board's Economic Development Committee meeting, at which Haney asked for and receivedthe committee's approval to request a refundof $60,000 after the board paidFreedom Field atotal of$98,250so far in fiscal 2017.The County Board will consider Haney's request as early as Thursday.

The Freedom Field initiative was championed by Haney's predecessor, Scott Christiansen, a charter member of the nonprofit organization's board of directors. Christiansen, who continues to serve on the board,said the organization was volunteer-driven and had helped the county"retain and attract jobs because of the innovation that Freedom Field represents." He also noted that it has been a resource for college students, helping them get hands-on experience and attain jobs in sustainable energy.

Haney thinks otherwise.

"This is not personal," Haney said Wednesday oftheproposed $60,000 refund. "This is nothing more than right-sizing the investment with results."

On Thursday, Haneywas critical of the nonprofit's productivity:

"There is no correlation to the monies given to Freedom Field and (the creation of) local jobs, or more specifically, local green jobs.

"Sustainability and green technologies are not a gimmick. If we dont do sustainability right in terms of local investment, we are guilty of actually minimizing the importance, and hindering local industry from adopting green technology.

"So far, Freedom Field is nothing more than a long-term science project without any traceable research and development outcomes to invest back into local industry."

The refund requestcoincideswith Haney's campaign promise to be accountable for how the county spends money, particularly host fees.

Waste haulers who dump trash at the Winnebago Landfill are among several entities that pay a host, or tipping, fee to the county. Each year, the County Board earmarks anticipated host fee revenue for economic development projects. County leaders have weathered criticism, though, because the host fee program does not clearly define what constitutes "economic development."

Haney, who was elected County Board chairman in November,said the host fee program lacksadministrative oversightand is projected to spend $1.2 million more than what it earns this fiscal year. In addition, Haney said, the county has no disclosure policythat requires recipients to meet job creation or other economic development benchmarks thatwould justify thevalue of the county's investment.

The chairmanstressed that Freedom Field is not being singled out and saidallrecipientsof county host fee revenue will be scrutinized todetermine whether the publicreturn on investment merits continued funding.

Freedom Field, housed on the Kishwaukee Street campus of Rock River Water Reclamation District, isa nonprofit organization formed in 2009 to facilitate the development and operation of a renewable energy solutions center. Its mission, according to its latest brochure, is to "increase regional awareness of renewable energy opportunities and to facilitate development and commercialization of renewable energy solutions."

Chet Kolodziej, Freedom Field's executive director,also addressed the Economic Development Committee on Wednesday.He spoke of Freedom Field'spartnership with Rock Valley College andits annual presentation of theNorthern Illinois Renewable Energy Expo, a showcase of sustainable energy strategies attracting 250 to 300 people a year.

He told committee members that Freedom Field does not have and has never had established hours of operation and rents its space from the sanitary sewer district at little to no cost. He latertold the Register Star that Freedom Fielddoes not have any employees. Instead, he said Freedom Field is operated "more as a laboratory" oron anas-needed basis.

Winnebago County contributed$712,668.04 from its host fee fund to Freedom Field between Oct. 1, 2012, and November 2016, according to data that Haney provided the committee Wednesday. During thatfour-year period,more than $300,000 was sent back to the county's general fund to paythe salary of amaintenance worker.

County Board member Dave Fiduccia, R-11,questioned why the county would pay for a maintenance worker if Freedom Field does not own the building.

After the meeting, Fiducciasaid he felt duped.

"I thought there were people working there daily," he said. "I thought they had their little lab coats on and weredoing experiments."

Haneysaid he learned after touring the facility in February that Rock Valley College has pulled its equipment from Freedom Field.A Rock Valley Collegeprofessor of engineering and technologydeclined to comment.

Kolodziej said about 60 percent of the county's funding goes toward maintenance of equipment, such as pumps, motors, solar panels and inverters. "Anything that moves needs a fair amount of upkeep," he said.The remaining 40 percent, he said, goes toward event programming.

Kolodziej said he does not know whether Freedom Field would fold withoutthe county's funding.

"That's a board decision," he said. "It is something that needs to be evaluated."

Christiansen said numerous studentsin Rock Valley College's Sustainable Energy Systems and other degree programshad completed projects at Freedom Field and used the experience they earned there to land jobs.

"The fact that Freedom Field was on their resume they got hired," Christiansen said.

The former CountyBoard chairman said he understands the cash-strappedcounty is trying to save money wherever possible.

"During my time, we cut $26 million, and they'll have to cut some more," he said.

He describedFreedom Field's annual operating budget as "fluid," at times totaling up to $100,000 depending, he said, on thenumber of projects taking place at the facility.

He also said Freedom Field will remain openno matter what level of funding it receives from the county.

"The goal has always been to get away from public funding. I think the goal for Freedom Field is to beindependent," he said.

Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

March 4, 2017 – EDP Foundation – Utopia/Dystopia / Hctor Zamora: Order and Progress – E-Flux

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

Utopia/Dystopia A Paradigm Shift March 22August 21, 2017

Hctor Zamora Order and Progress March 22April 24, 2017

MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology Lisbon Portugal

http://www.maat.pt

Following its official opening on October 5, 2016, the new MAAT kunsthalle reopens to the public on March 22, 2017, with two major exhibitions that take up the whole building: Utopia/DystopiaA Paradigm Shift, curated by Pedro Gadanho, Joo Laia and Susana Venturaand Order and Progress by Mexican artist Hctor Zamora, curated by Ins Grosso.

Utopia/DystopiaA Paradigm Shift is the first manifesto exhibition to be held in the kunsthalle designed by Amanda Levete (AL_A). Installed in three of MAATs galleries, this key-inaugural project will be a large group show featuring more than 60 works by a range of international artists and architects, some appearing for the first time in Portugal. The show will reveal how the two fields have represented ideas of utopia, or anticipated emerging notions of dystopia, since the early 1970s, with a strong focus on work produced over the last five years. Participants include architects such as Archigram, Archizoom, yr, Didier Faustino, Yona Friedman, Aldo Rossi, Superstudio, and artists such as Kader Attia, Jordi Colomer, Tacita Dean, DIS Collective, Cao Fei, ngela Ferreira, Cyprien Gailard, Jonas Staal, Ryan Trecartin, and Wolfgang Tillmans.

The preview opening will be held on March 21 with special performances by Michelangelo Pistolleto and Allard van Hoorn which will take place outside the new building.

Hctor Zamora presents a new version of the performance/installation Order and Progress, in which the remains of traditional Portuguese fishing boats from different coastal regions temporarily occupy MAATs Oval Gallery. The performance, previously presented at the Palais de Tokyo in 2016, will take place in the Oval Gallery on March 22, at 6pm, coinciding with the museums opening to the public.

The opening programme continues in the galleries at the Central Power Station with a new exhibition from the EDP Foundation Art Collection. What I Am is the thirdin a series of thematic surveys from this collection of Portuguese Contemporary Art. Curated by Ins Grosso and Luiza Teixeira de Freitas, the show examines the autobiographical and self-referential dimension of artistic creation. With Helena Almeida, Jos Barrios, Sara Bicho, Mauro Cerqueira, Miguel Faro, Jorge Molder, Julio Sarmento, Antnio Sena, Joo Queiroz and Joo Pedro Vale, amongst others.

Other exhibitions on view at MAAT include Liquid Skin, by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Joaquim Sapinho, curated by Alexandre Melo (Boiler Hall), the group showVariable Dimensions - Artists and Architecture, curated by Gregory Lang and Ins Grosso(Central 1), and Archive and Democracy by Portuguese artist Jos Mas de Carvalho, curated by Ana Rito (Ashpit 8).

Exhibitions opening in May with ARCOLisboa 2017 Coinciding with the second edition of ARCOLisboa, on May 17 the museum will open three new exhibitions: a large-scale project by Cuban artist Carlos Garaicoa, which will occupy nearly 1000 sq. m of the kunsthalles Oval Gallery; and two exhibitions in the galleries of Central Power Station, both by Portuguese artists: a site-specific work by Joo Onofre at the monumental Boiler Hall, and APQHome, an art installation by Ana Prez-Quiroga.

ARCOLisboa takes place between May 18 and 21 at Cordoaria Nacional, just a few meters from MAATs new building.

Open call:APQ HomeAna Prez Quiroga We are looking for:Artists, curators, critics, art historians, architects, filmmakers, performers, theater practitioners, choreographers, writers, musicians, textile designers, food artists, interdisciplinary collectives, & other related areas.

APQHome is a project consisting in a domestic spacea house and its objectsand a garden, inside the MAAT exhibition space. It is a total work of art that requires the participants intervention in an immersion that, in a 48-hour period, aim to perform the everyday life, in a total art/life fusion experience.The participants will have the opportunity to spend two nights at the museum, occupying this domestic space in a program taking place between May 16and July 30, 2017.

Open call: Starting on March 8, registration forAPQHomeis open until June 8, 2017.

More info here.

The kunsthalle AL_As kunsthalle, which contains four distinct gallery spaces, captures the essence of the exceptional 38,000 m2 riverside site and its extraordinary light. Blending structure into landscape, and conceived to create significant new public spaces, it is designed to allow visitors to walk over and under, as well as through the building, while the undulating roof offers panoramic views towards the river and across Belm. The building creates a constantly changing place filled with aquatic reflections that interplay with the overhanging faade covered in 15,000 three-dimensional tiles, a reference to Portugals rich tradition of ceramics.

The completion of the architectural project will also include a park designed by Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture, as well as an elegant pedestrian bridge, also designed by AL_A (both set for May 2017), that will land on the new kunsthalle roof, making the campus and waterfront more accessible to the city.

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March 4, 2017 - EDP Foundation - Utopia/Dystopia / Hctor Zamora: Order and Progress - E-Flux

Rutger Bregman: ‘We could cut the working week by a third’ – The Guardian

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

As liberal democracy seems to be crumbling under the weight of widespread despondency, some hardline opinions are in danger of becoming received wisdoms. In the global market, we are told, we must work harder andimprove productivity. The welfare state has become too large and we needto cut back on benefits. Immigration is out of control and borders need to be strengthened.

The choice seems to be either to accept this new paradigm or risk the likes of Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders gaining power. The centre ground is being dragged to the left and right, and collapsing down the middle. Meanwhile progressive politics has returned to its comfort zone, busily opposing everything and offering almost nothing. Where is the vision, the ambition, the belief?

Yet into this bleak picture drops a book and an author bristling with hope, optimism and answers. Rutger Bregman is a 28-year-old Dutchman whose book, Utopia for Realists, has taken Holland by storm and could yet revitalise progressive thought around the globe. His solutions are quite simple and staunchly set against current trends: we should institute a universal basic income for everyone that covers minimum living expenses say around 12,000 a year; the working week should be shortened to 15 hours; borders should be opened and migrants allowed to move wherever they choose.

Ive heard for years that my ideas are unrealistic. You want to stick to the status quo? Hows that working out?

If that all sounds like fantasy politics, then Bregman has assembled a wealth of empirical evidence to make his case. Better than that, though, it is not a dry, statistical analysis although he doesnt shy from solid data but a book written with verve, wit and imagination. The effect is charmingly persuasive, even when you cant quite believe what youre reading.

Bregman lives in Utrecht, arguablyHollands most progressive city, where cycling is almost obligatory and motorists are effectively deemed guilty until proven innocent. His house is a few yards from the pretty canal that cuts through the centre of a carefully thought-out town.

Thin, with a pallid complexion and a wispy rumour of a beard, he looks even younger than 28, but he speaks with impressive authority on his subject. Bregman does something very smart and mature in his book. Instead of just attacking capitalism and post-enlightenment liberalism, at the outset he celebrates its achievements. He shows the incredible improvements in life expectancy, health, wealth, education and freedoms that have been achieved in the last couple of centuries.

As for much derided globalisation, he credits it with lifting 700 million Chinese out of extreme poverty hugely more than communism ever achieved. But whereas idealists in the 60s extolled Maoism, regardless of the death and destruction it wrought, no one gets too misty eyed about what the international market has done for China. Why, I ask, are the progressive-minded so reluctant to acknowledge this remarkable turnaround?

I think the big problem on the left, says Bregman, is that it only knows what its against. So its against austerity, against the establishment, against homophobia, against racism. Im not saying Im not against those things, but I think you should be for something. You need to have a new vision of where you want to go.

Bregman has a vision. And its a pretty clear one. But, wait a second. Universal benefit, a 15-hour working week, open borders, really? How?

Ive heard for three years that many of my ideas are unrealistic and unreasonable and that we cant afford them, he says, by way of preamble to a more comprehensive reply. And the simple answer is Oh, you want to stick to the status quo? Hows that been working out?

In Bregmans Holland the status quo has taken quite a bashing of late, and as a result the white-haired Wilders, who wants to stop Muslim immigration and ban the Quran, has emerged as the countrys most powerful politician. The debate in what used to be Europes most tolerant nation has become increasingly toxic. But as bad as that situation is, it still doesnt explain how a universal basic income would be paid for. The first thing we should acknowledge, says Bregman, is that poverty is hugely expensive. It varies from country to country, but most of the time its around 3, 4 or 5% of GDP. If you look at what it would cost just to top up the income of all the poor people in a country, it would cost about 1% of GDP.

Perhaps, but hes talking about paying everyone rich and poor around 12,000 a year. Thats a vast amount of money. How could that be achieved? Youd have to tax the middle class so much that what theyd receive would be wiped out, and then try to tax the very wealthy at a much higher rate which has not proven a successful policy, because the rich are very good at protecting their money.

Bregman gets a little bit vague at this point. He says that even neoliberal economists such as Milton Friedman were keen on universal basic income (UBI), although they tend to call it negative income tax. He also notes that the country that has come closest to implementing a UBI is the US, under President Nixon. It was only because the Democrat-controlled Senate thought Nixon wasnt offering enough money in the basic income that the policy was ditched at the last moment.

He acknowledges that a genuinely universal system would involve a massive overhaul of our tax system and that it would require an enormous amount of public and political support. But youve got to start somewhere, is his outlook, and the best place to start is in redefining what we mean by work.

There was a poll in the UK that showed that 37% of British workers think that their job doesnt need to exist. Well, its not the bin men, and the care workers and the teachers that say that. Were talking about consultants, bankers, accountants, lawyers etc. The implications of that are radical. We could cut the working week by a third and be just as rich. Probably richer!

Well, I say, just because someone doesnt value their job, doesnt mean that it doesnt have value. These things can be part of an invisible network of jobs that keeps everything else going. They cant just be excised like that.

Thats the best we can come up with nowadays? he asks, shocked at my dull pragmatism. People are saying: I feel alienated, I think my job is useless, and the only answer we have for them is No, no, its really useful. You know the invisible hand knows best. Were paying you so much money, it has to be useful!

I say I was thinking more of the film Its a Wonderful Life, which, after all, is about a banker. He thinks his life is worthless and yet we see the depth of his effect on others when his input is stripped away. Anyway, I take his point. We should reconsider much of what society through the inequality of financial payment deems important.

One of the basic lessons of history, says Bregman, is that things can be different. The way weve structured our economy, our system of welfare, its not natural. It could be different.

Bregman is the son of a small-town Protestant preacher in the south of Holland. He studied history at university and thought of becoming an academic, but found that life too cloistered. Instead he began working as a journalist, but realised the news was a distorting way of viewing the world. Its about exceptions terrorism, corruption, crisis rather than the everyday means of how things actually work.

So he found a job at a new newspaper, the Correspondent, that enabled him to write in a way that brings together journalism and a more academic approach to the world. The result is a hybrid thats reminiscent of the New Yorkers Malcolm Gladwell: lots of compelling anecdotes, backed up with information from an array of surveys and research papers delivered in a tremendously readable style.

But theres also an extra layer of idealism with Bregman, a belief that people are essentially good and that all it requires is a rational analysis of the facts and good governance to make the most profound and lasting changes. As he repeatedly points out, democracy, equal rights for men and women, the abolition of slavery these were all once deemed the preserve of utopians.

He quotes approvingly the famous Oscar Wilde formulation: A map of the world that does not include utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which humanity is always landing. And when humanity lands there, it looks out and seeing a better country sets sail. Progress is the realisation of utopias.

But utopias also have a habit of turning out to be dystopias. Bregman is alive to this threat, and is scathing in his assessment of the communist experiment, but also argues that the unintended consequences of massive change can sometimes be virtuous too. I mention that in his book he suggests that universal basic income will enable the low-paid to study and then get the kinds of jobs they want to do. In which case, I wonder, who will be a cleaner?

He smiles at the question.

I think one of the most important facts of basic income would be that its not only a redistribution of income, but also of power. So the cleaners and bin men would have a lot more bargaining power. If you look at a university, for example, the cleaners will get paid more than the professors, which I think is an entirely good thing. Professors love their jobs, they dont need additional money for it. The cleaners dont like their jobs well, they get rewarded for it!

I suggest that someone suffering through a PhD might not share that particular conviction. But he answers with a conviction that has triumphed over doubt. Basic income would give people the most important freedom: the freedom of deciding for themselves what they want to do with their lives.

I can imagine many old heads questioning the wisdom of a young man who has barely experienced the stubborn complexity of the world. But Bregman is clearly on to something. Following his advocacy, Utrecht and several other Dutch towns are conducting trials on basic income. Finland has implemented a trial, but only with the unemployed. Two Scottish councils, Fife and Glasgow, are looking at a scheme and the Swiss are also interested. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has said that it might be an idea whose time has come, and Benot Hamon, the French Socialist candidate in the forthcoming elections, has included it in his manifesto. Even visionary US tech billionaire Elon Musk is in favour.

One reason why Musk supports a basic income is that work is likely to become much more scarce in the near future of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence and thats also a reason for a much reduced working week. In a way Bregman has less of a hard sell with shorter working hours. History is moving that way and has been for some time. Its just a question of when and how were going to acknowledge the inevitable.

However, there are still problems to iron out, some of which Bregman doesnt tackle in his book. For instance, expertise tends to be gathered over intense periods of study and practice. Who wants to fly on a plane piloted by someone with limited flying hours, or be operated on by a surgeon who hasnt done much surgery?

Bregmans answer is to point out that overworked pilots and surgeons are a danger. Yes, but that doesnt mean a lack of work is not also a potential menace. Now he gets really fuzzy, saying that there would be a paid 15 hours, and then if pilots and surgeons and other experts wanted they could also work in their spare time. When I try to pin him down on what that would mean, he says we need to redefine work as contributing to society in your own way.

This sounds a little too utopian to my ears. Yet if you step back and examine where we are, there is undoubtedly a rational cause to rethink work, especially the well-remunerated jobs that dont appear to create anything of tangible value. Its impossible to read Utopia for Realists without wondering at the efficacy of advertising executives, management consultants, speculative currency investors and, yes, perhaps even feature writers.

Probably Bregmans weakest argument is for open borders not because it isnt viable long term, but because he doesnt really examine the drawbacks. Three obvious problems are 1) population density if millions more arrived in an already cramped Holland, it would create a great deal of tension to say the least. 2) Cultural conflicts the large-scale movement of people from one culture into another does present genuine difficulties of assimilation, many of which Holland and other European countries are already contending with. 3) If it is the better-off in poorer countries who are most likely to leave, it robs those nations of a much-needed middle class.

Bregman listens to all these points and says that for him, open borders are not something he believes will happen tomorrow. Its an aspiration, something to work towards. The same could be said for all of his arguments. However, the critical thing is that he has pointed towards a destination, somewhere that in these embattled times the progressively minded can aim towards, and hes provided some well-researched evidence to support his contentions.

Yes, he is a utopian, but a practical one. He knows there are many problems to overcome, but the first and toughest is the belief that things can change. In that he has made a major contribution. Listen out for Rutger Bregman. He has a big future shaping the future.

Utopia for Realists And How We Can Get There by Rutger Bregman is published by Bloomsbury on 9 March (16.99). To order a copy for 14.44 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of 1.99

Rutger Bregman will be speaking at Londons How to: Academy conference on 7 March, Second Home, London on 8 March and Bristol Festival ofIdeas on 9 March

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Rutger Bregman: 'We could cut the working week by a third' - The Guardian

Moratorium update on large hotel projects in Seychelles – eTurboNews – eTurboNews

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

A moratorium on large hotel projects in Seychelles, specifically on Mahe and the inner islands, was announced by former President James Michel in his address on the occasion of Seychelles National Day which falls on June 29, 2015.

The Seychelles Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine has published a list of hotels which was approved before the moratorium on new large hotels in the country came into force. Members of the local media were presented with the list yesterday afternoon during a press conference held at the ministrys headquarters, Espace building.

Speaking to members of the press was the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, and present were the Principal Secretary for Tourism, Anne Lafortune, and the Director of Standards and Regulations, Sinha Levkovic.

Projects for which approval had already been granted, or for which a commitment had been made by the government, were exempted. The moratorium is set to be enforced until the year 2020.

Minister Loustau-Lalanne said a number of governmental bodies were involved in the process of having these projects approved and thanked the Seychelles Investment Board, Seychelles Planning Authority, and the Secretariat of the Cabinet as well as the tourism ministry.

There are 18 large hotels projects on that list, which means those tourism establishments which are made up of 25 rooms or more. Twelve out of the 18 projects are on Mahe, 2 are on Praslin, and 4 others are on the outer islands, namely Ile Platte, Silhouette, Ile Longue, and Sainte Anne.

Speaking on the project on Ile Platte, Minister Loustau-Lalanne said construction started but has not been completed yet. He added that construction will restart, and this is why the project is on this list.

On the proposed capacity of these hotel projects, Minister Loustau-Lalanne said there are those which have received definitive approval, but there are a few that are still in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) stage.

He added that there are projects which have been approved since 2006, but since Seychelles went through the economic reforms in 2008, investors did not see it opportune to kick-start these projects.

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Moratorium update on large hotel projects in Seychelles - eTurboNews - eTurboNews

Bahamas PM Apologizes For Flipping Bird, Saying He Lost Control While Defending Family – Caribbean360.com (subscription)

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

Perry Christie apologized in Parliament.

NASSAU, The Bahamas, Thursday March 2, 2017 A sombre and penitent Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie faced the nation yesterday and apologized for theobscene gesture he made at a political meeting earlier this week.

Christie, who has been at the centre of a public furor after sticking up his middle finger at a public meetingon Monday night, offered his deepest expression of regret in a statement delivered in the House of Assembly yesterday.

I really stand to express my regret, to indicate specifically that it related to specific individuals, he said.

At the political meeting held in Fox Hill, a pumped up Christie shocked his supporters when he made the gesture, after detailing that it was how he had responded to man who challenged him to deny that he owned a particular condominium.

Yesterday, a more composed Christie insisted the gesture was not him, but he took responsibility for losing control while defending his family.

There was never any intention to speak to any other person or issue other than those who were attacking me or my familyand I would hope that those who may have been offended by it who were present, would accept that that is a matter that I would not have wished that I did.

He used the occasion to vent his frustration about persistent malicious attacks against his family.

Christie said that he makes an effort to ensure his family is not subjected to any degree of embarrassment regarding his conduct, but admitted it was exceedingly difficult and sometimes he did not know how to respond.

He questioned why the public, even those in the Christian community, did not speak out against unfair and false allegations levelled against him and his family and, by extension, other members of the wider public.

What is it about Christian charity, or the lack of it, that stops right-thinking persons from making interventions in public life to say that what you said about that lady is not right; it is not the right thing to do?

However, the Prime Minister urged the countrys young people not to see his inappropriate action as an example to follow.

Asking and answering whether he would do it again, in that place, at that time, on that occasion, for the reasons I was speaking, he said, the answer is no.

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Bahamas PM Apologizes For Flipping Bird, Saying He Lost Control While Defending Family - Caribbean360.com (subscription)

AT&T to Bring Back 3000 Offshore Jobs – 24/7 Wall St.

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

24/7 Wall St.

AT&T to Bring Back 3000 Offshore Jobs
24/7 Wall St.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) has reached a tentative settlement with the Communications Workers of America over the 20,000 people the telecom employs in its Southwest region. Among the concessions AT&T made was that it would bring back 3,000 jobs, most are ...

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AT&T to Bring Back 3000 Offshore Jobs - 24/7 Wall St.

Time For Change: Meeting The Challenge Of Offshore Rig Moves – Manufacturing.net (blog)

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

Once a scenario has been simulated, contractors can project the right cost, depreciation and value in an upcoming contract before the rig move process begins. Being able to see the impact of moving a rig from one company to another is a benefit of accurate forecasting you get from a single end-to-end, fully integrated solution. The ability to forecast in this manner saves time and money for drilling contractors, critical in the oil and gas industry - now more than ever.

Once a rig move has begun, drilling contractors require visibility over vast data sets - accounting currencies, work orders, maintenance transactions and more. During the move, management also need to monitor the environmental impact, cost of operations, support for quality assurance and health & safety management.

Unfortunately, many drilling contractors still struggle with their disjointed and unintegrated solutions. None of their existing systems are comprehensive or agile enough to fully map the diverse requirements, processes and extra transactions required on a rig during a move. By bringing together all these data streams into a single solution, drilling contractors can reap the benefits of analyzing large amounts of real-time information - presenting an accurate picture of events and enabling well-informed decision making during the move.

Having access to a rigs complete maintenance history in one solution enables traceability, but also guarantees compliance. The global oil and gas environment demands a solution which can quickly adapt to compliance regulations to reduce non-compliance risk. Rig move solutions must enable full visibility into IFRS, US GAAP and SOX compliance as well as efficient risk management and environmental impact. Because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has divided the sea into zones with different legal status and applicable law, and other rules may apply in territorial waters within 12 nautical miles of a coast, rigs crossing these jurisdictions may need to conform to different rules. Rig move must also take into account differing regulations for the asset itself, including the number of lifeboats, fire and gas detection systems, number of individuals allowed to sleep in a single cabin and other criteria.

From beginning to end, manual transactions pose significant risk to rig moves - causing inaccuracy, delays and spiralling costs. If a drilling contractor begins a rig move with fragmented systems, there is a risk the finance department will see an inaccurate picture of how the move has taken place.

Fragmented systems handling rig move processes may mean it takes the finance department months to recognize a rig has been moved to a new location. This lack of visibility and delay of information sharing significantly hinders operations, while backtracking to correct data creates unnecessary overhead costs. A solution lacking in integration may also result in rigs are moved from one locale to the next without being reconfigured to account for different regulatory regimes, placing the organization at risk of fines and recertification.

The right enterprise software can extract necessary data and then alert users of what objects need to be cancelled, closed and/or transferred from projects to conduct compliant and well-documented rig moves. This functionality enables a much more cohesive transfer of data, improves documentation for finance, optimizes processes and reduces error postings, manual corrections and overall transactions.

Real-time visibility, optimized solution processes and accurate forecasting bring real value to drilling contractors during mission-critical rig moves. These benefits directly contribute to industry efforts to reduce overheads and cut unnecessary costs.

For some organizations, adapting to the challenges of a rig move in the transforming oil and gas market may be intimidating. With the support of solutions designed to maximize operations, compliance and the bottom line, offshore drillers can make inefficient rig moves a thing of the past.

Patrick Zirnhelt is aVice President with heavy involvement in Enterprise Service & Asset Management at IFS North America.

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Time For Change: Meeting The Challenge Of Offshore Rig Moves - Manufacturing.net (blog)

Helicopter Lessor Waypoint Sees Offshore Sector Bouncing Back – Aviation International News

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

Helicopter Lessor Waypoint Sees Offshore Sector Bouncing Back
Aviation International News
Rotorcraft leasing group Waypoint sees improved demand from the offshore oil-and-gas-support sector, which has been a weak point in the helicopter market for the past three or four years. According to Waypoint CEO Ed Washecka, business confidence in ...

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Originally posted here:

Helicopter Lessor Waypoint Sees Offshore Sector Bouncing Back - Aviation International News

New Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Trailer Brings Us More Action On The High Seas! – LRM Online (press release) (blog)

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of those franchises that seemed to have randomly fallen off a cliff. After the first film in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, hit, the series seemed to have real promise. Unfortunately, fans seemed to like the films less and less as it worked its way through Dead Mans Chest and At Worlds End. However, despite this seemingly declining interest, Disney went forward with a fourth film, On Stranger Tides. While the film didnt perform very well in North America, it more than made up for it overseas, and still managed to crack $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

But after the success of On Stranger Tides, conversation around a sequel kind of dried up. Perhaps it was Disney reading the signs that the franchise needed a bit of a break, or perhaps it was simply a matter of getting the script where it needed to be. Either way, it would be over six years until wed be getting another Pirates movie.

Even after all this time, the prospect has admittedly been met with an underwhelming enthusiasm from fans. While many enjoyed the initial films, it seemed to have overstayed its welcome. But Disney has had a great track record in the past five-plus years, and in that time, theyve managed to produce mostly good films, much to the surprise of the entire industry. Perhaps the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales would be worth watching after all. The first teaser and Super Bowl spot were both pretty solid, but would it hold up with a Jack Sparrow-filled trailer?

You be the judge.

The rest is here:

New Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Trailer Brings Us More Action On The High Seas! - LRM Online (press release) (blog)

Transportation/Traveling While Living Off Grid – Mother Earth News

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

Since my father was told to walk the Trail of Tears our family has traveled 14,000 recorded miles through 24 states by foot and by horse. This journey started when my dad wanted to understand being American Indian (or Native American as said today) and talking with my great grandfather who said pointing out his door in Cherokee North Carolina; Walk the Trail of Tears and than you will know somewhat it is like to be Indian.

Leaving with myself (9 months old in a kids carrier backpack), my mom, and our horse Prince Hussein a retired Thoroughbred race horse packed with our minimal goods we started the walk which took 14 months helped and inspired by the good will of the people. Whenever we needed food or anything dad would offer to do a work exchange and since he was multi skilled laborer there was always work to be had. This trip started a 20 year odyssey of travel by horse. Over the years we acquired 3 more kids, more horses, and a couple of wagons. Our first upgrade was a loaner of a couple of mules and a wagon which we used for about a year. Than we got a 2 wheeled buggy (our chariot) that was pulled by Prince, which had Amish wooden wheels with a metal band around them and we made a cover using bent willow branches and canvas. We used that for quite a few years until we got our Cadillac wagon. This is a 4 rubber tired wagon which is made using the straight rear axles from a Cadillac. Such a smooth ride though we did get the occasional flat. We pulled the old two wheeled buggy behind with our supplies in it. Going by horse has its disadvantages (averaging 5 miles an hour or under 30 miles a day although our record is 76 miles on a cold upper state NY winter day when Prince just wanted to run all day), and advantages (no cost grass powered).

Sung to the clippy clopping of the cadence of the horses hooves;

The bull was looking through the fence,

He says; I seem to have lost my sense of sight,

I think I see a wagon, coming down along the road,

Sure looks like they have an easy load.

Ol Prince is clippy clopping

And ol Smokey just aint stopping

And we thank you Lord for an easy load

Popcorn popcorn road, Popcorn popcorn road, I like the popcorn road

Zoom zoom road, Zoom zoom road, who likes the Zoom zoom road?

I have heard many people say and lately have read many memes that have some version of: It is not the destination, It is the trip.

This is definitely how we went. Although we mostly went back to Alabama, or Tennessee, or once to Israel in the winter to rest up and not travel in the cold weather, we also did travel through Connecticut and New York in the winter. One Christmas we camped out on the green in New Haven Connecticut and we created a real life nativity scene next to the normal one. That was fun as I had lots of kids to play with.

I remember once on my birthday in January we were snowed in somewhere in our buggy and I was crying; this my birthday and I have stuck in this little 5 foot square with nothing to do all day. Somehow in the midst of the windy snowstorm someone saw our tiny 5 foot square buggy with our horse hunkered down nearby and knocked on the canvas. I dont know if it was when dad went out to check on and feed Prince or not, I just remember being invited to a strangers house for what turned into my birthday party. Up to that day I had not liked carrot cake but when they provided me a carrot cake with candles my joy overwhelmed my dislike and I like carrot cake to this day some 30 years later. Reflecting on this miracle, I am truly amazed by the kindness of strangers.

We usually didnt have a problem finding a place to camp, whether is was just the side of the road or in a church lot. When we wanted to rest up or stay in an area for longer than a few days we carried with us the Directory of Intentional Communities and Alternative Schools. These people always seemed up to doing work exchange for us to stay for a week while we looked for more permanent work.

When we hunkered down for the winter in Tennessee we had a truck for hauling wood but mostly for hire. We would haul, transport, drive to work in it and go to town once a month to buy food and do laundry. I got my first full-time job baby sitting or being basically a servant to an eldery man and used the truck to get to work. My first real part-time job ( I was making minimum wage of 3.25) helping Bob, a great handicapped man, with his house and raised bed garden. Since that was only 3 miles away I rode my bicycle there.

In Tennessee we were near a bicycle factory that made low quality department store bicycles and since many people in the area worked at the factory there were tons of these bicycles around. I got highly skilled at repairing them, using only the tools I had, which were a screw driver and an adjustable wrench, as they were such low quality they constantly had to be repaired. Years later, this skill came in handy when I become a manager of the Bike Surgeon bicycle shop where I was the Bike Doctor ( I make house calls) and later when I started my first full time business Alternative Transportation and Energy. Who knew that the hassle of constantly repairing low-quality bicycles would lead there? Now living in a smaller University town I find it easier and faster to get somewhere on a bicycle especially if you have to find parking. In the winter when I ride or walk to gym I always find it funny to see my neighbors who drove to the gym.

We and our society are very car dependent. I got my first car, a 64 Plymouth Valiant, when I was 14, which I loved to drive around our farm and I fixed up to sell. Growing up in rural Tennessee I was driving tractor, raking hay when I was 8. The hard thing is to try to break free from our dependence on the car to try to realize it is just a tool, not a lifestyle or whatever is marketed to us. I love my Subaru and at least once every 3 months (used to be every month) I love going on a high speed jaunt. I do tend to not use my car in town but rather walk or bicycle which is why I bought a small 300 square foot house downtown. I bought a house in town when I found myself driving to town 2 or 3 times a day almost every day for work or meetings. How can I be Living Off Grid, Really?!?! with solar for my electricity but be fuel dependent and waste all that time ( 2 or 3 hours a day) driving?

I am trying to reset my mind that the car is to be used only for travel outside of town or for on a rare occasion hauling a bunch of bulk goods. This is how I grew up but after 10 years of becoming addicted to the car it is difficult to break the addiction. My dream is to live somewhere with a lifestyle that doesnt need the cost and hassle of a car! The challenge, joy and speed of riding a bicycle around town is becoming as addicting.

I look forward everyday to the interactions I have on my Living Off Grid, Really!?!? Facebook page and hope you will join the discussion there.

Stay energized, Aur

Aur Beck has lived completely off-grid for over 35 years. He has traveled with his family through 24 states and 14,000 recorded miles by horse-drawn wagon. Aur is a presenter at The Climate Reality Project, a fellow addict at Oil Addicts Anonymous International and a talk show co-host at WDBX Community Radio for Southern Illinois 91.1 FM. Find him on the Living Off Grid, Really!?!?Facebook page, and read all of Aur's MOTHER EARTH NEWS posts here.

I put together this kids ditty was I was super young and remember it for some reason;

Popcorn popcorn road, Popcorn popcorn road, I like the popcorn road

Zoom zoom road, Zoom zoom road, who likes the Zoom zoom road?

I have heard many people say and lately have read many memes that have some version of: It is not the destination, It is the trip.

This is definitely how we went. Although we mostly went back to Alabama, or Tennessee, or once to Israel in the winter to rest up and not travel in the cold weather we also did travel through Connecticut and New York in the winter. One Christmas we camped out on the green in New Haven Connecticut and we created a real life nativity scene next to the normal one. That was fun as I had lots of kids to play with.

I remember once on my birthday in January we were snowed in somewhere in our buggy and I was crying; this my birthday and I have stuck in this little 5 foot square with nothing to do all day. Somehow in the midst of the windy snowstorm someone saw our tiny 5 foot square buggy with our horse hunkered down nearby and knocked on the canvas. I dont know if it was when dad went out to check on and feed Prince or not, I just remember being invited to strangers house for what turned into my birthday party. Up to that day I had not liked carrot cake but when they provided me a carrot cake With candles my joy overwhelmed my dislike and I like carrot cake to this day some 30 years later. Reflecting on this miracle years later I am truly amazed by the kindness of strangers.

We usually didnt have a problem finding a place to camp whether is was just the side of the road or in a church lot. When we wanted to rest up or stay in an area for longer than a few days we carried with us the Directory of Intentional Communities and Alternative Schools. These people always seemed up to doing work exchange for us to stay for a week while we looked for more permanent work.

When we hunkered down for the winter in Tennessee we had a truck for hauling wood but mostly for hire. We would haul, transport, drive to work in it and go to town once a month to buy food and do laundry. I got my first full time job baby sitting or being basically a servant to an eldery man and used the truck to get to work. My first real part time job ( I was making minimum wage of 3.25) helping Bob, a great handicapped man, with his house and raised bed garden. Since that was only 3 miles away I rode my bicycle there.

In Tennessee we were near a bicycle factory that made low quality department store bicycles and since many people in the area worked at the factory there were tons of these bicycles around. I got highly skilled at repairing them, using only the tools I had which were a screw driver and an adjustable wrench, as they were such low quality they constantly had to be repaired. Years later this skill came in handy when I become a manager of the Bike Surgeon bicycle shop where I was the Bike Doctor ( I make house calls) and later when I started my first full time business Alternative Transportation and Energy. Who knew that the hassle of constantly repairing junk low quality bicycles would lead there? Now living in a smaller University town I find it easier and faster to get somewhere on a bicycle especially if you have to find parking. In the winter when I ride or walk to gym I always find it funny to see my neighbors who drove to the gym.

We and our society are very car dependent. I got my first car, a 64 Plymouth Valiant, when I was 14 which I loved to drive around our farm and I fixed up to sell. Growing up in rural Tennessee I was driving tractor raking hay when I was 8. The hard thing is to try to break free from our dependence on the car to try to realize it is just a tool not a lifestyle or whatever is marketed to us. I love my Subaru and at least once every 3 months (used to be every month) I love going on a high speed jaunt. I do tend to not use my car in town but rather walk or bicycle which is why I bought a small 300 square foot house downtown. I bought a house in town when I found myself driving to town 2 or 3 times a day almost every day for work or meetings. How can I be Living Off Grid, Really?!?! with solar for my electricity but be fuel dependent and waste all that time ( 2 or 3 hours a day) driving?

I look forward everyday to the interactions I have on my Living Off Grid, Really!?!? Facebook page and hope you will join the discussion there.

Stay energized, Aur

All MOTHER EARTH NEWS community bloggers have agreed to follow our Blogging Guidelines, and they are responsible for the accuracy of their posts. To learn more about the author of this post, click on their byline link at the top of the page.

Original post:

Transportation/Traveling While Living Off Grid - Mother Earth News

Beyond Earth talking about space travel – Alaska Public Radio Network

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

This week were learning more about space travel and planetary colonization. Charles Wohlforth discusses his new book, Beyond Earth, and answers questions about humanity and its potential for reaching new worlds. Its a scientific, and economic, examinationat what it would take for humans to leave this planet to explore new worlds and possibly colonize them.

From a leading planetary scientist and an award-winning science writer: a propulsive account of the developments and initiatives that have transformed the dream of space colonization into something that may well be achievable.

We are at the cusp of a golden age in space science, as increasingly more entrepreneurs Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezosare seduced by the commercial potential of human access to space. But BEYOND EARTH by Charles Wohlforth and Amanda R. Hendrix, Ph.D. (Pantheon Books / November 15, 2016 / $27.95) does not offer another wide-eyed technology fantasy: instead, it is grounded not only in the human capacity for invention and the appeal of adventure, but also in the bureaucratic, political, and scientific realities that present obstacles to space travelrealities that have hampered NASAs efforts ever since the Challenger fiasco. In Beyond Earth, the authors offer groundbreaking research and argue persuasively that not Mars, but Titana moon of Saturn with a nitrogen atmosphere, a weather cycle, and an inexhaustible supply of cheap energy, and where we will even be able to fly like birds in the minimal gravitational fieldoffers the most realistic, and thrilling, prospect of life without support from Earth.

GUESTS:

MODERATOR:

HOST:Alaska World Affairs Council

LINKS:

RECORDED: Friday, February 03,2017 at theHilton Hotel.

ALASKA WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL ARCHIVE

Eric Bork, or you can just call him Bork because everybody else does, is the FM Content Producer for KSKA-FM. He produces and edits episodes of Outdoor Explorer, Addressing Alaskans, as well as a few other programs. He also maintains the web posts for those shows and many others on alaskapublic.org. You can sometimes hear him filling in for Morning Edition or find him operating the sound board for any of the live broadcast programs. After escaping the Detroit area when he was 18, Bork made it up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where he earned a degree in Communications/Radio Broadcasting from Northern Michigan University. He spent time managing the college radio station, working for the local NPR affiliate and then in top 40 radio in Michigan before coming to Alaska to work his first few summers. After then moving to Chicago, it only took five years to convince him to move back to Alaska in 2010. When not involved in great radio programming hes probably riding a bicycle, thinking about riding bicycles, dreaming about bikes, reading a book or planning the next place hell travel to. Only two continents left to conquer!

See original here:

Beyond Earth talking about space travel - Alaska Public Radio Network

Doctor Launches Vision Quest To Help Astronauts’ Eyeballs – NPR

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

NASA astronaut Michael Barratt watches a water bubble float by on board the Discovery in 2011. NASA hide caption

NASA astronaut Michael Barratt watches a water bubble float by on board the Discovery in 2011.

Spending time in space changes people: Not just their outlook on life, but also their eyesight.

For years, a North Texas doctor has been trying to find out what is causing this vision change among astronauts. His latest research provides some clues and connects astronauts on the International Space Station, cancer patients on a roller coaster plane flight, and high-tech sleeping sacks.

After spending six months on the International Space Station, Michael Barratt had a strange request when he finally stepped foot on Earth.

He wanted a spinal tap.

Barratt isn't a masochist, he's a NASA astronaut. While flying hundreds of miles above Earth in 2009, he noticed his vision was changing. He was struggling to read manuals and checklists.

An image of astronaut Michael Barratt's right eye shows some of the changes in shape after long-duration space flight. Courtesy of NASA hide caption

An image of astronaut Michael Barratt's right eye shows some of the changes in shape after long-duration space flight.

"I spent a lot of time on the Russian segment as well. When you're reading in Russian in small print in a dark place, and your visual acuity starts to tank, you notice it!" Barratt says.

Barratt is also a very curious physician, which brings us to his request for a spinal tap to check the pressure in his brain. He knew he wasn't the first astronaut whose vision had changed while in space, and he hoped sticking a needle into his back might provide a clue to his vision loss. The leading theory at the time was that microgravity raises pressure in the head and reshapes the eyeballs, which could be problematic for long-term space travel to places like Mars.

"This is a medical issue that affects a large percentage of people who fly in space," Barratt says. "So the stakes are extremely high."

Scientists know that when people go into space, the fluid normally below their hearts goes into their heads. But is it creating enough pressure to damage the eyes? Does it flatten them and affect the optic nerve? Or is there something else at play?

Dr. Benjamin Levine is on a mission to find out. He's a professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine. Instead of sticking needles in astronauts' backs, though, Levine decided to stick needles inside the brains of specific people who stay on Earth.

Trent Barton, a volunteer for the study looking at pressure inside the brain during space flights. Courtesy of David Ham hide caption

Trent Barton, a volunteer for the study looking at pressure inside the brain during space flights.

He found eight healthy cancer survivors who still had ports in their heads, once used to deliver chemotherapy. Those ports would allow him to directly measure their intracranial pressure.

Then, he convinced them to get on a plane for a sort of extreme roller coaster ride to simulate the zero gravity found on the ISS.

You know that feeling of weightlessness when you drop on a roller coaster? Well, these folks did that, except they plunged 8,000 feet in 30 seconds, dozens of times, all in the name of science.

Trent Barton, a lymphoma survivor from Dallas, went on the wild trip above the Texas-Mexico border.

"I enjoyed each and every rotation we did," Barton says.

Dr. Justin Lawley, instructor in internal medicine at University of Texas Southwestern, floating in zero gravity. Courtesy of David Ham hide caption

Dr. Justin Lawley, instructor in internal medicine at University of Texas Southwestern, floating in zero gravity.

During the flight, a needle in the port in his head monitored the pressure in the fluid surrounding his brain.

Turns out, Levine says, space flight doesn't cause pressure to be much higher than it is when you or I are standing up. But, it is a little higher. He published the results in The Journal of Physiology.

But, unlike us earthlings, astronauts never get to rest their brains in lower pressure. When they're standing up in zero gravity, the fluid stays in their heads and won't go to their feet. So, researchers like Levine are now trying to find a way to give these astronaut brains a rest. So we now think this mild but persistent pressure may be the thing that's stimulating remodeling the eye and causing the visual impairment," Levine says.

"We've been working with UnderArmour, the garment company, to come up with a soft, but comfortable almost like a sleeping sack or pair of trousers, that you can put on at night, hook up to a vacuum cleaner, suck the blood and fluid into the feet and unload the heart and the brain while your sleeping," he says.

Astronaut Dr. Mike Barratt says he'd be willing to try the sleeping sack, but he also wants to do more tests on the ISS to better understand intracranial pressure before we send astronauts deeper into space.

As for Barratt's eyesight, six years after his flight?

"It's my right eye that has apparently been permanently remodeled," Barratt says. "Other than that, I'm totally normal."

In other words, he's still the same curious doctor, he just sees things a bit differently now that he's back on Earth.

Read the original here:

Doctor Launches Vision Quest To Help Astronauts' Eyeballs - NPR

Singularity (mathematics) – Wikipedia

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

In mathematics, a singularity is in general a point at which a given mathematical object is not defined, or a point of an exceptional set where it fails to be well-behaved in some particular way, such as differentiability. See Singularity theory for general discussion of the geometric theory, which only covers some aspects.

For example, the function

on the real line has a singularity at x = 0, where it seems to "explode" to and is not defined. The function g(x) = |x| (see absolute value) also has a singularity at x = 0, since it is not differentiable there. Similarly, the graph defined by y2 = x also has a singularity at (0,0), this time because it has a "corner" (vertical tangent) at that point.

The algebraic set defined by { ( x , y ) : | x | = | y | } {displaystyle {(x,y):|x|=|y|}} in the (x, y) coordinate system has a singularity (singular point) at (0, 0) because it does not admit a tangent there.

In real analysis singularities are either discontinuities or discontinuities of the derivative (sometimes also discontinuities of higher order derivatives). There are four kinds of discontinuities: typeI, which has two sub-types, and typeII, which also can be divided into two subtypes, but normally is not.

To describe these types two limits are used. Suppose that f ( x ) {displaystyle f(x)} is a function of a real argument x {displaystyle x} , and for any value of its argument, say c {displaystyle c} , then the left-handed limit, f ( c ) {displaystyle f(c^{-})} , and the right-handed limit, f ( c + ) {displaystyle f(c^{+})} , are defined by:

The value f ( c ) {displaystyle f(c^{-})} is the value that the function f ( x ) {displaystyle f(x)} tends towards as the value x {displaystyle x} approaches c {displaystyle c} from below, and the value f ( c + ) {displaystyle f(c^{+})} is the value that the function f ( x ) {displaystyle f(x)} tends towards as the value x {displaystyle x} approaches c {displaystyle c} from above, regardless of the actual value the function has at the point where x = c {displaystyle x=c} .

There are some functions for which these limits do not exist at all. For example, the function

does not tend towards anything as x {displaystyle x} approaches c = 0 {displaystyle c=0} . The limits in this case are not infinite, but rather undefined: there is no value that g ( x ) {displaystyle g(x)} settles in on. Borrowing from complex analysis, this is sometimes called an essential singularity.

In real analysis, a singularity or discontinuity is a property of a function alone. Any singularities that may exist in the derivative of a function are considered as belonging to the derivative, not to the original function.

A coordinate singularity (or cordinate singularity) occurs when an apparent singularity or discontinuity occurs in one coordinate frame, which can be removed by choosing a different frame. An example is the apparent singularity at the 90 degree latitude in spherical coordinates. An object moving due north (for example, along the line 0 degrees longitude) on the surface of a sphere will suddenly experience an instantaneous change in longitude at the pole (in the case of the example, jumping from longitude 0 to longitude 180 degrees). This discontinuity, however, is only apparent; it is an artifact of the coordinate system chosen, which is singular at the poles. A different coordinate system would eliminate the apparent discontinuity, e.g. by replacing latitude/longitude with n-vector.

In complex analysis there are several classes of singularities, described below.

Suppose U is an open subset of the complex numbers C, and the point a is an element of U, and f is a complex differentiable function defined on some neighborhood around a, excluding a: U {a}.

Other than isolated singularities, complex functions of one variable may exhibit other singular behaviour. Namely, two kinds of nonisolated singularities exist:

A finite-time singularity occurs when one input variable is time, and an output variable increases towards infinity at a finite time. These are important in kinematics and PDEs (Partial Differential Equations) infinites do not occur physically, but the behavior near the singularity is often of interest. Mathematically the simplest finite-time singularities are power laws for various exponents, x , {displaystyle x^{-alpha },} of which the simplest is hyperbolic growth, where the exponent is (negative) 1: x 1 . {displaystyle x^{-1}.} More precisely, in order to get a singularity at positive time as time advances (so the output grows to infinity), one instead uses ( t 0 t ) {displaystyle (t_{0}-t)^{-alpha }} (using t for time, reversing direction to t {displaystyle -t} so time increases to infinity, and shifting the singularity forward from 0 to a fixed time t 0 {displaystyle t_{0}} ).

An example would be the bouncing motion of an inelastic ball on a plane. If idealized motion is considered, in which the same fraction of kinetic energy is lost on each bounce, the frequency of bounces becomes infinite as the ball comes to rest in a finite time. Other examples of finite-time singularities include the Painlev paradox in various forms (for example, the tendency of a chalk to skip when dragged across a blackboard), and how the precession rate of a coin spun on a flat surface accelerates towards infinite, before abruptly stopping (as studied using the Euler's Disk toy).

Hypothetical examples include Heinz von Foerster's facetious "Doomsday's equation" (simplistic models yield infinite human population in finite time).

In algebraic geometry, a singularity of an algebraic variety is a point of the variety where the tangent space may not be regularly defined. The simplest example of singularities are curves that cross themselves. But there are other types of singularities, like cusps. For example, the equation y2 x3 = 0 defines a curve that has a cusp at the origin x = y = 0. One could define the x-axis as a tangent at this point, but this definition can not be the same as the definition at other points. In fact, in this case, the x-axis is a "double tangent."

For affine and projective varieties, the singularities are the points where the Jacobian matrix has a rank which is lower than at other points of the variety.

An equivalent definition in terms of commutative algebra may be given, which extends to abstract varieties and schemes: A point is singular if the local ring at this point is not a regular local ring.

Singularity for PC Reviews – Metacritic

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

A boring, linear, heavily scripted shooter, with tons of health packs and mountains of ammo scattered everywhere.

Worse, this game is strongly anti-Russian, on a level of a cheap B-movie. Also, it's obvious that not a single Russian native speaker was in the dev team. There are many flags and banners and posters everywhere in the scenery with Russian sentences or words - all of them Google-translated from English. I mean, as a native speaker, I usually was confused by those sentences as they didn't make sense, but after I literally translated them backwards to English, then I understood what they meant. Even the name of the place, katOrga-12, with O stressed, is totally wrong! First, there is a Russian word "kAtorga" (A stressed!) which is obsolete and was mostly used until end of 19th century, and means "imprisonment" (the process of being in prison) or "hard work" and not "prison" itself as a place - I guess the devs meant to call this place a "prison" or "labor camp". Even then, Russians would never name a secret military/sci installation a "prison" ("turmA"), instead it would be something like "camp" or "base" or just "objekt 12345" or something. I could provide tons of other examples.

So that you could understand me, imagine you are playing a Chinese game where everything is in Chinese, and the Chinese devs make a game about the USA, so to make Chinese players feel it's about the USA they insert random broken English sentences which they Google-translated from Chinese in hope that no American will ever play the game, and Chinese don't know English anyway. Yes, it will feel like a nuthouse to you as an English native speaker, should you ever play this game. It will clearly show that devs are amateurs. You would think: are there so few Americans in China so that they couldn't hire a single guy for proofreading?

If I were on the dev team, I'd suggest writing every banner and every poster in Russian purely, as it should have been in reality in a Russian military base. But when the player looks at them, there would be subtitles shown with an English translation. Btw those sentences with mirrored R and N (to look like and ) are almost unreadable!

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Singularity for PC Reviews - Metacritic

Reader applauds space exploration pioneers – Fairfaxtimes.com

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

Dear Editor,

I welcome the news that the Smithsonian Institution will be sending the Apollo 11 command module Columbia on a four-city tour under the title Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission (Fairfax County Times, The history of space travel encapsulated). Our manned and unmanned space exploration programs have set the pace of discovery for decades and achieved remarkable scientific breakthroughs that continue to have countless practical applications in science, engineering, medicine, and follow-on manned space missions.

Nonetheless, without the site survey of NASAs unmanned Lunar Orbiter program (1966-1967) that identified Tranquility Base where Neil Armstrong landed the Apollo 11 lunar lander, there might not have been so many successful manned missions to the Moons surface. Lunar Orbiter reconnaissance missions identified other landing sites as well, making site selection much more accurate and reliable than Earth-based telescopic imaging could. They made possible subsequent landings in more mountainous areas.

I was an active participant in the Lunar Orbiter and Apollo programs (1967-1970) and researched and wrote a history for the NASA Historians Office. In 1977 NASA Headquarters published my book Destination Moon: A History of the Lunar Orbiter Program (NASA TM X-3487) that is available to read on NASAs website at https://history.nasa.gov/TM-3487.

NASAs Langley Research Center in Langley, Virginia managed the program and had five successful orbital missions for five attempts one of the best records of any unmanned program. Following this success Langley managed the 1976 Mars Viking program using much of the technology and experience from Lunar Orbiter.

In preparing for their missions Apollo astronauts studied the detailed photographs that Lunar Orbiters sent back to Earth. Resolution of lunar surface details through the Orbiters 610mm telephoto camera defined details down to one meter in size. Repeated orbital passes over specific target areas made possible stereoscopic pictures of surface features and landing sites that were used in landing simulations by the astronauts.

On August 23, 1966 Lunar Orbiter I took the very first image of the Earth from orbit above the Moon. On August 8, 1967 Lunar Orbiter V photographed the nearly full Earth from polar orbit. These and thousands of other images of the lunar surface, including the dark side of the Moon gave scientists and the public their first true views of the entire surface of Earths natural satellite.

In recent years the original Lunar Orbiter images have been digitized and cleaned up for use in possible future astronaut missions to the Moon. There has been no other orbital survey of the Moon that offers such high quality detail of its surface features.

Bruce K. Byers

Reston

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Reader applauds space exploration pioneers - Fairfaxtimes.com

Teachers attend space exploration conference, bring back lessons out of this world – Arlington Times

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

ARLINGTON Instructors use some fun ways to teach Earth-based sciences that bring out the natural curiosity in students.

But take those same fields of inquiry into orbit, then let student groups build a tabletop Mars colony project, and their imagination takes flight. After all, the basic science principles are the same whether you apply and test them here on terra firma, or in space. Space is just pun intended cooler.

Two Arlington science teachers are over the moon after attending the Space Exploration Educators Conference at Houston Space Center. They returned with a galaxy of ideas sure to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers among their students.

Rachel Harrington, sixth-grade science and seventh-grade math teacher at Haller Middle School, and Angie Kyle, a seventh- and eighth-grade STEM teacher at Post Middle School, said the resources they gained were amazing.

It ignites the passion you had when you were a first-year teacher, and thats enough to move mountains with these kids, Harrington said. Youre excited and thrilled to bring this back and inspire kids to do something bigger than their wildest dreams.

Moreover, she added, Youre surrounded by other like-minded educators who also want to inspire future leaders.

Educators from around the globe participated in the annual event at NASAs Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston for three days in February. The conference welcomed teachers from 41 states and nine countries, including Canada, India, Japan and the Philippines.

The conference included seminars, hands-on activities, tours and guest speakers. The hosts used space exploration initiatives and the latest information about the International Space Program to boost teachers skills in presenting science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, lessons, in ways that inspire students.

Both Kyle and Harrington have found over time that whenever space science is part of the lesson plan, it gets the students attention.

All the science conducted on the International Space Station connects to all the science we do in middle school, whether growing plants or looking at the impacts of how human systems respond in different environments, Kyle said.

Before Kyle left for the conference to be a pretend astronaut, the class talked about getting a greenhouse. Classroom budgets being tight, she encouraged students to come up with their own proposal. When she returned, the students came up with three inexpensive proposals that used PVC pipe and tarps they just might have a greenhouse before the school-year ends.

For both teachers, this was their first trip the Houston Space Center, but Harrington attended a Honeywell space conference a couple of years ago.

While at the conference, they saw Historic Mission Control Center as well as the space stations flight control room, including stories of what happened during the Apollo days. They also touched moon rocks. Space Center Houston has the worlds largest collection for public view, and more than 400 space artifacts. Their teacher team also successfully designed a Mars rover with mouse traps.

They took their turn in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, an astronaut training facility operated by NASA near the Johnson Space Center. Their team performed simulated tasks in preparation for an upcoming mission, wearing suits designed to provide neutral buoyancy to simulate the microgravity that astronauts feel during space flight.

A highlight of the visit was meeting astronaut Nicole Stott, a keynote speaker who talked about art in space education. Stott said when growing up nobody told her she could be an astronaut. She went ahead and did it anyway, becoming an engineer first.

Matt Green, James Webb Space Telescope senior staff project scientist, gave a mind-bending presentation on the design and construction of the scope scheduled for completion in 2018. The telescope is expected to see galaxies formed 13.5 billion years ago, at the point when stars and galaxies began to form.

While in Houston, they were able to meet with the planning lead on the NASA Orion Mission, the next generation spacecraft that will carry astronauts to an asteroid, Mars and eventually deep space. Harrington had arranged for her students previously to talk with that person via Skype. She had time to meet with Harrington and Kyle at the conference, but was on her way to meet with the European Space Agency about the project.

A challenging workshop that Harrington and Kyle attended was one that involved working to design a heat shield from common materials. This was an activity the teachers were able to bring back as a classroom assignment, using materials to protect an egg from a blow torch.

The teachers have more experiments in store. For example, studying slingshot maneuvers around a planet, using magnets to mimic gravity. Designing a better space toilet, and creating a urine purification system to make the fluid potable.

Kids love gross-out science, Kyle said, jokingly.

Growing tomatoes from seeds and observing their growth to learn more about photosynthesis is a common science project. Add a few seeds in the mix that took a ride in the International Space Station and study the differences now thats a science project.

The students wont know which of their seeds are more earthly and which are from the space station until they start observing them once they are planted, Harrington said.

Thats the fun of inquiry for the students. They need to report back to the program the effects of space on plants.

Harrington likes to remind students that learning never ends.

I tell them that you need to do it for yourself, always personally and professionally, she said. I am constantly searching for ways to grow myself. They should be doing that every day, too, outside the confines of these four walls and fifty-three minutes.

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Teachers attend space exploration conference, bring back lessons out of this world - Arlington Times

Ti-Nanotech Acquired by Defense Industry Veteran Kevin Ruelas – PR Web (press release)

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

SAN DIEGO (PRWEB) March 02, 2017

Defense industry veteran Kevin Ruelas and his team announce the acquisition of Ti-Nanotech, formerly known as Crista Chemical Company. Ti-Nanotech will join Syndetix, Inc., under the umbrella of the newly formed Defense and Government Solutions (DGS).

Were thrilled to bring Ti-Nanotechs advanced and patented technology to our customers in the defense and law enforcement sectors, stated DGS and Ti-Nanotech CEO Ruelas. By bringing Ti-Nanotech together with Syndetix under DGS, we see opportunities for growth in sectors where material strength and reliability are paramount, including aerospace and commercial products such as batteries, medical devices and military hardware.

Ti-Nanotech began as Cristal Chemical Company in 1999, focused on finding a non-toxic replacement for cadmium plating. They sought to do this without compromising strength, adding weight or creating corrosion issues. The solution was titanium plating for end products, which has applications in a variety of sectors including defense, commercial, aerospace and automotive.

Since then, the company has earned a reputation as a thought-leader in titanium coating. Titanium can be stronger than steel while being much lighter with the highest strength to weight ratio of any metal. It is also non-toxic and one of the only metals able to be put inside humans. Ti-Nanotechs patented technology makes titanium coating possible for a wide variety of industries including armored shields, reinforced consumer products such as medical devices and the growing field of next-generation batteries.

Ti-Nanotech will join Syndetix Inc., a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business and technology developer for the defense and law enforcement industries, under the umbrella of the newly formed DGS. With established contacts and customers in the defense and law enforcement sectors, DGS will introduce Ti-Nanotechs technologies to new audiences. With the formation of DGS both companies will be able to expand by reaching new customers leveraging their technology and service offerings including the aerospace industry and medical device manufacturers.

About DGS Formed in 2016, Defense and Government Solutions (DGS) and its holdings serve clients in the defense, law enforcement and commercial sectors. Its main holdings include Ti-Nanotech, focused on titanium electromagnetic plating for end products, and Syndetix, a technology company focused on designing, engineering and building technologies for international and domestic security forces. DGS is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business based in Las Cruces, N.M.

About Ti-Nanotech Since 1999, Ti-Nanotech has been in industry leader in titanium plating for end products. From the defense sector, to the aerospace industry and even the medical device field, Ti-Nanotechs titanium electromagnetic plating process can be applied to a variety of end products. Ti-Nanotech is a defense and government solutions company based in San Diego.

About Syndetix Since 1985, Syndetix, Inc. has been designing, engineering and building technologies that protect those who protect us. Founded as a technology spinoff from New Mexico State Universitys Physical Science Laboratory, Syndetix, Inc. provides high-caliber design and engineering services for the Department of Defense, Department of Justice and civilian markets to enable mission critical success.

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Ti-Nanotech Acquired by Defense Industry Veteran Kevin Ruelas - PR Web (press release)

Terrifying new Chinese tank revealed after photos leak online – Daily Star

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

CHINAS plans for WW3 have been revealed after pictures of its terrifying new tank were leaked online.

The photo which surfaced on the Chinese military website CJDBY shows what is thought to be a prototype of a deadly new Chinese infantry fighting vehicle.

The tanks fearsome new cannon can fire explosive shells at 1km per second, analysis suggests.

The new hardware is being developed as tensions continue to rise between China and the West in the South China Sea.

GETTY/CJDBY

CJDBY

China has issued a chilling warning to America over US Navy patrols in the South China Sea which it deemed threatening and damaging.

Chinese military leaders also revealed war with the US could now become a reality as a top powerbroker warned war could erupt between the two nations if trade agreements were to break down.

Experts believe the tank will replace the ZBD-04 and ZDB-04A which are used by China's People's Liberation Army.

NOICNIC

Unconfirmed Chinese media reports suggest the IFV may be armed with a new fast-loading cannon.

A similar weapon system was recently unveiled at the Chinese Zhuhai Airshow in November last year sparking claims the weapon could be fitted to the leaked photo.

An inside view of the Chinese military over 120 years.

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The developer, China North Industries Corporation, claimed the cannon can fire up to 200 rounds per minute.

It can fire explosive rounds at a speed of 1km per second.

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Terrifying new Chinese tank revealed after photos leak online - Daily Star

TMS robotics team headed to state – Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Danzig

Adam Robison | Buy at photos.djournal.com Gabe Carter, Race Davis and Ethan Young, members of the Tupelo Middle School Robotics Build Team, look over examples on the computer to gather ideas as they work on their robot Slim Wavey in Judy Hardens class Monday afternoon. The team qualified for the first Robotics State Competition on March 4 at Ole Miss. They will compete against mostly high school teams. If they win, they will go to the national competition.

By Emma Crawford Kent

Daily Journal

TUPELO The Tupelo Middle School robotics team is gearing up for a competition against students from across the state of Mississippi, many of whom are in high school.

The team, the Tupelo Wavebots, will compete at the FIRST Tech Challenge state robotics competition on Saturday in Oxford against 23 other teams.

Judy Harden, robotics teacher and coach, said the team of seventh- and eighth-grade students usually competes against mostly high school robotics teams.

Thats a big deal, Harden said.

This is the first year the team has competed at the state level, and if they do well, they could qualify to compete at the national level, too.

The team began during the 2015-16 school year as an after-school club, but Harden said the students didnt compete much.

Adam Robison | Buy at photos.djournal.com Ethan Young, a member of the Tupelo Middle School Robotics Build Team, measures from the wheel to make sure they are working within the required 18 inch cube space for the competition on their robot Slim Wavey.

Now, TMS offers the class as an elective, and the team is made up of students in the class. They work on their projects during class and after school on some days.

The class is split up into teams that each focus on a different competition element art, programming, marketing, recording data and building.

At competitions, all of these moving parts come together. The teams robot battles against other robots, performing certain tasks given to the students ahead of time so they can program the robots to do them.

The students must also make a presentation of the work theyve done prior to the competition, including recorded data, how they programmed the robot and other details.

Daven Sanders, a seventh-grader, helps program the robot, developing skills he says will help him out in the future.

It helps me for what I want to be when I grow up, which is an engineer or an architect building things and making things move and designing things which is basically what I do in this class, Sanders said.

The presentation also includes a marketing component in which students must pitch their robot as a product.

They get to use these skills in real-life situations, Harden said.

In Hardens classroom on Monday, Race Davis busied himself trying to make improvements to the teams robot.

Davis said he is confident, but not overconfident, about the teams chances in this weekends competition.

I know that were not going to do terribly, Davis said, with a laugh.

Although the team could qualify for the national competition this weekend, Davis said hes trying not to think too far ahead.

Were just trying to get past state at this point, Davis said.

emma.crawford@journalinc.com

Twitter: @emcrawfordkent

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TMS robotics team headed to state - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

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