Monthly Archives: February 2022

Cyberpunk Noir Sports Fiction, Anyone? – The Crozet Gazette

Posted: February 5, 2022 at 5:01 am

If the genetically modified pig heart transplanted into a Maryland man in Januaryan instance of xenotransplantation, or the transplanting of organs across different specieshad been a mechanical one (such as a hip or knee replacement), wed be squarely in the realm of The Body Scout, an impressive debut novel published in September by Western Albemarle High School (WAHS) graduate Lincoln Michel and named one of the 10 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy novels of 2021 by the New York Times. Set about 100 years in the future, the novels underlying premise is that technology is slowly replacing humanitya possibility endorsed by the philosophy of transhumanism. In the future dystopian world Michel creates, weak or diseased organs and limbs are routinely replaced, or upgraded, with improved organ implants, grafts, bionic replacements, and other enhancementsat a hefty price, of course.

Protagonist Kobo, a former player for the Cyborg League and current scout for the Future League Baseball (FLB), is known as an oiler due to his bionic arm and eye. His sometime girlfriend, Deadeye Dolores Zamora, wears cybernetic goggles to compensate for her deafnessgoggles that lip read for her, provide access to her workplace, and record everything she sees for later playback or zooming. I still liked to think baseball was a game of technique and talent, not chemistry and cash for biopharm teams (a typically sly pun conflating farm team with pharmaceutical), players were the blocks of marble. The drugs sculpted them into stars, he reflects. But these drugs and upgrades can also kill you. After witnessing the gruesome death of his adoptive brother during a Monsanto Mets baseball game on live TV, he sets out to find the murderer, sending him on a series of madcap adventures involving flooded New York subway hideouts, a Janus club where his scuba suit allows him to occupy anothers body, and illegal, underground cloning labs. Along the way he becomes involved with the rebel Edenists, who simply believe men are supposed to live in the vessel they are born into. He finds more deep-seated corruption than he ever imagined, surviving violent attempts to stop him. Familial love and devotion win out as Kobo risks everything to solve the mystery of what or who killed his brother.

Michels wildly imaginative dystopia carries current trends to the utmost extreme, with flying cars, ubiquitous screens, genetically modifiedor even drone models ofwildlife, and cyborgs (humans with bionic parts) as common as robots. Survivors of the Apex Zika pandemic live in cloud condos above the dense smog of half-underwater Manhattan, where seagull drones deliver to your table the lab-created restaurant food you ordered from a holographic image on your plate, and zootech mosquitoes are used as weapons. Everything from parks to sports teams is owned and named for a corporate sponsor, Neanderthals have been cloned to once again walk among us, and the first test-tube president Newman controls the Department of Human Limits. This is a world that none of us would want to live in, but which is so believable it makes your skin crawl.

What sets this book apart is its brilliant writingher look slid into me like a splinterand delightfully irreverent satire. The league had banned drone surrogates a couple seasons ago with the No Heartbeat No Seat policy, we are told. A Growth Cola ad advises, The climate has changed. Your body should too. Anti-Maxxer (a parody of both anti-vaxxer and anti-masker) cults stage protests against the mortal sin of upgrading, and SoCal separatists are suspected of terrorism. With shades of Huxleys Brave New World (1932)Kobo chain smokes eraser cigarettes to numb his emotionsand the Terry Gilliams black comedy film Brazil (1985), The Body Scout is a masterful amalgam of mystery, sports, sci-fi, and horroror as the Brooklyn Rail put it, a mashup of cyberpunk, noir detective novel, and literary fiction centered on the premise of what it means to be humanall wrapped up in a wickedly satiric package reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut. Michels inventive writing, biting satire, and clever neologismslike skystabber, creepeasy, and dewdroppermake the book fun to read in spite of its abundance of violence. Bomb magazine dubbed it sci-fi noir; I admit that neither scifi nor noir are genres I typically enjoy, but if you do, you are sure to love this brilliant romp through both.

I had some fantastic teachers at WAHS, says Michel, who graduated in 2001. All of my English teachers, but especially my philosophy teacher, Mrs. Marshall, introduced me to authors and thinkers who have been important to me. Italo Calvino and Franz Kafka really opened my mind to the possibilities of fiction and made me want to be a writer. Kobos name is inspired by Kobo Abe (1924-1993), a Japanese author and playwright whose absurdist, surrealist fiction included The Woman in the Dunes, published in 1962 and adapted to film in 1964.

After earning a BA at George Washington University and an MFA in fiction writing at Columbia University, he now lives in Brooklyn and teaches at Columbia as well as Sarah Lawrence College. I teach speculative fiction courses that look at the different modes and methods of horror fiction, science fiction, fabulism, etc. He began work on The Body Scout in 2017. It was finished and sent to editors a month before COVID hit in early 2020, so the fact that it takes place in a world ravaged by pandemics is just one of those strange science fiction coincidences.

When asked what genre his work falls into, Michel replied, Before I even had a title for the novel, I wrote science fiction noir baseball thriller novel at the top of my notebook. So, I guess I always conceived of it as a mashup of genres. I think its a really exciting time to be writing work that crosses the border between so-called literary fiction and genre fiction. When I was younger, there was a sense these were separate worlds with nothing to say to each other. Thankfully, a lot of writers before me spent time kicking out bricks in the wall between genre fiction and literary fiction, and I think most younger students dont worry about these distinctions. These days, writers like Kelly Link and Carmen Maria Machado compete for the Pulitzer and National Book Award.

On the subject of transhumanism, he pointed out that when it comes to new technologies, the question always comes down to who the technology is implemented by, who controls it, and what power structures are shaping it. In the novel, I wanted to present a range of ideological and personal reactions to new technologies, and to emphasize that technology can be liberating and oppressive simultaneously, depending on the power structures in place.

Michelsdebut story collection,Upright Beasts, was published by Coffee House Press in 2015. His fiction has appeared inThe Paris Review,Granta, Tin House, NOON, Pushcart Prizeanthology, and elsewhere. His essays and criticism have appeared inThe New York Times,The Believer, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, and Vice,among others. Michel will present at this years Virginia Festival of the Book as part of a panel on speculative fiction on Saturday, March 19, at noon on Zoom, joining Ryka Aoki (Light from Uncommon Stars) and Micaiah Johnson (The Space Between Worlds). He is currently working on a second novel. To learn more visit lincolnmichel.com.

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Cyberpunk Noir Sports Fiction, Anyone? - The Crozet Gazette

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Where NATO Forces Are Going In Response to Russia’s Military Buildup Around Ukraine – 19FortyFive

Posted: at 5:00 am

As Russian troops continue to mass around Ukraine, the United States and many of its NATO allies have begun deploying combat troops, warships, and aircraft to Eastern Europe to reassure anxious member states bordering Ukraine and Belarus.

Washington has dispatched 3,000 airborne and mechanized infantry soldiers and a half-dozen F-15 fighters, while London is deploying more than 1,000 additional troops. An additional 8,500 U.S. troops remain on heightened alert status, meaning they could deploy on short notice, perhaps in event of Russian escalation in Ukraine.

Nonetheless, Washington and NATO leaders have emphasized the new troops would not be sent into Ukraine, neither preemptively nor in event of a Russian invasion. That is manifestly credible because the forces involved are relatively small, lack heavy armored vehicles, are widely dispersed, and dwarfed by the tens of thousands of troops Russia has arrayed in western Russia and Belarus.

Poland and the Baltic states are especially concerned with Moscows deployment to Belarus of 30,000 troops mostly from its faraway Eastern military District, along with advanced weapon including Iskander and S-400 missiles, and Su-35S fighters. Though conveniently positioned for an offensive on Kyiv, these forces are also on the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latviacountries invaded by Moscow in 1939-1940. Currently, Russian battalions in Brest, Belarus (site of a border fortress Soviet troops captured from Poland in 1939) are just 110 miles east of Warsaw.

Further to the south, Romania and Bulgaria are alarmed by Russias large naval buildup on the Black Sea, and the possibility that neighboring Ukraine could become a Russian-occupied warzone. Putins recently issued demands that NATO withdraw all international troops from these countries are not well received either.

That said, two NATO members bordering Ukraine have not requested NATO deployments yet: Hungary (which has warmer relations with Moscow) and Slovakia.

This article outlines where additional NATO forces are deploying in response to Russias buildup around Ukraine, with additional commentary regarding the capabilities of U.S. forces. It also explains what NATO deployments were already present (rotated under the Enhanced Forward Presence policy) that were not there in response to Moscows most recent actions.

Poland

The 82nd is a legendary airborne infantry division based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Such light infantry units and their towed artillery can be rapidly airlifted across the globe, but are vulnerable to Russian-style mechanized forces due to lacking armored vehicles for mobility, protection and firepower.

Preexisting forces

Poland already hosts 4,500 U.S. troops (going on 5,500), plus a rotating multinational battalion of around 1,000 troops from Croatia, Romania, U.K. and U.S.

Germany

The XVIII Corps, also based at Fort Bragg, is the long-standing parent formation for U.S. rapid response divisions, notably the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, and the light infantry of the 10th Mountain Division. The 300 soldiers therefore will provide additional support to the troops from the 82nd, as well as likely prepare the ground in the event Washington decides to send more troops to Europe.

Romania

This 2nd Cavalry has been stationed in Vilseck, Germany since 2006. It disposes of three infantry and one scout squadrons (ie. battalions) all mounted on 18-ton Stryker 88 wheeled armored personnel carriers, as well as an engineer and field artillery squadrons and other support units.

Though more affordable to operate and easier to transport, the Stryker was criticized in the past for lacking the firepower to counter Russian mechanized forces. Recently, the Army has sought to address this shortcoming by integrating new turrets on some Strykers with 30-millimeter cannons (Stryker Dragoon) and Javelin missiles (CROWS-J). The 2nd Cavalry happens to have been the lead unit to test the up-gunned Stryker.

Preexisting NATO Deployment

Since 2017, theres been a 5,000-strong NATO Multinational Brigade Southeast based in Craiova, composed 80% of Romanian troops, but with international elements, especially from Poland and Bulgaria. Italy currently deploys four Eurofighters and 140 personnel for air policing; they are due to be relieved by German Eurofighters.

900 U.S. military personnel are based in Romania, including air cavalry and armored elements at Mikhail Kogalniceau Airbase, and USAF drone operators at Campia Turzii.

Russia-Romania relations have been poisoned by a frozen conflict in neighboring Moldova, formerly part of Romania. In the 1990s, Russias 14th Guards Army intervened to prop up a separatist republic on the east bank of the Dniester River called Transnistria. Some analysts Russian forces remaining there could be activated for military action in Ukraine.

Moscow, in turn, professes outrage at the U.S. Aegis Ashore missile defense system deployed in Deveselu in southwestern Romania, claiming its launchers could also fire offensive Tomahawk land-attack missiles.

Bulgaria

Like Romania, Bulgaria is another NATO state with a Black Sea coastline. Russias demands that NATO withdraw foreign troops from Romania and Bulgaria havent been appreciated.

A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighter jet performs during the California International Airshow in Salinas, California, Oct. 30, 2021. The F-35A is a fifth-generation multi-role fighter platform. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew D. Sarver)

Preexisting Forces

Bulgaria is presently hosting 200 U.S. mechanized troops for training through June.

The Baltics: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

The Baltics have long been vulnerable to encompassing Russian forces in Kaliningrad, Belarus, and western Russia, so Moscows current military flex is raising alarm. NATO contingents rotated there would only serve as a speed bump or trip-wire against a serious Russian attack, serving to buy time and boost political will until more substantial forces could enter the theater.

U.S. Military

Fast and heavy-lifting, the two-seat F-15Es are capable ground-attack aircraft that can still carry their weight in an air superiority role. However, they are not stealth aircraft, so the Air Force would avoid dispatching these too deeply into airspace interdicted by Russias extensive air defense systems.

An F-15E flies watch over the skies of Afghanistan on July 30. The F-15 and crew are deployed to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

British military

London is reportedly planning dispatch of up to 1,200 British Army, Royal Marine, and Royal Air Force personnel to unspecified destinations in the Baltics.

Danish Military

Pre-existing Deployments

Estonia hosts a rotating multinational mechanized battlegroup of 900 personnel, currently including troops from Denmark, France, Iceland and the United Kingdom. Four Belgian F-16 jets are based there on air-policing duties.

Lithuania hosts a multinational mechanized battalion with 1,200 personnel, including troops from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway; and a U.S. mechanized infantry battalion with 500 soldiers. Four Polish F-16 jets are based there for Baltic air policing.

Latvia also has a Canadian-led multinational battlegroup with 1,500 personnel.

The Black Sea

British Royal Navy

Spanish Navy

Russia is heavily reinforcing its formidable Black Sea Fleet with warships and amphibious landing craft from Russias Northern, Baltic and Pacific currently in transit via the Mediterranean. Despite Russias extensive maritime strike capabilities in the Black Seas confines, Spain, France and the United Kingdom have dispatched ships to patrol its international waters and surveil Russian military activity.

Far more powerful NATO forces cruise in the neighboring Mediterranean, including Italian, French, British and U.S. carrier strike groups, counting dozens of F-35B stealth jump jets, and Rafale-M and Super Hornet fighters.

NATO Advisors in Ukraine

Since 2014, several hundred NATO military advisors have been deployed to Ukraine to train and advise its military. U.S. and British troops are also instructing Ukrainian troops on use of recently transferred NLAW, Javelin and Stinger missiles.

These advisors are not equipped for serious combat, and would surely be instructed to avoid combat with Russian forces should they invade. However, they do enhance the proficiency of Ukraines armed forces, and should Russia attack Ukraine, some possibly might remain in country to advise and liaise with Ukraines military.

Summary

Moscow predictably has decried the deployments as destructive stepping stones to World War III. But NATOs recent deployments are meant for signaling, not to fight a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Thats not an assertion reliant on trusting Washington press releases, just observing material reality.

NATOs latest deployments lack the mass and heavy weapons to counter the hundreds of armored vehicles and heavy artillery and missile systems Russia has concentrated in the region. Even the heavier elements of NATOs preexisting Enhanced Forward Presence amount to roughly a half-dozen mechanized battalions, compared to the 70 to 100 Russian battalion tactical groups arrayed in Belarus and western Russia.

The deployments simply assure NATOs eastern members the alliance will put its troops on the line to protect them, particularly as Putin contemplates pulling the trigger on what could become the most destructive armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

Sbastien Roblin writes on the technical, historical, and political aspects of international security and conflict for publications including the 19FortyFive,The National Interest,NBC News,Forbes.com,andWar is Boring. He holds a Masters degree from Georgetown University and served with the Peace Corps in China. You can follow his articles on Twitter.

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Where NATO Forces Are Going In Response to Russia's Military Buildup Around Ukraine - 19FortyFive

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U.S. is weighing all options including ‘massive’ sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine, ambassador to NATO says – CNBC

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U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said the U.S. and its allies are continuing to signal to Russia that they are ready to respond to an escalation, including by imposing "massive economic sanctions and consequences."

"We're looking at all options," she told CNBC's Hadley Gamble on Thursday.

In response to a question on whether sanctions are limited in their effectiveness, Smith said there isn't "any indication yet" that Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided what to do with the troops that he has deployed to the border with Ukraine.

"We're trying to sharpen the choice for President Putin as he weighs his options here," she added.

The growing military presence at the border has sparked fears of a war between Moscow and Kyiv. Negotiations with the U.S. and other Western powers have not yielded much progress, and the possibility of punishing sanctions has not pressured Russia into de-escalating the situation.

The former president of Ukraine,Petro Poroshenko, previously told CNBC that sanctions on Nord Stream 2 would make Russia weaker and discourage Putin from attacking. Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline project that would bypass Ukraine while carrying gas from Russia to Europe.

The Kremlin has denied it is planning to invade Ukraine, in what would be a repeat of its illegal annexationand occupation of Crimea in 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a screen as he speaks during his annual press conference at the Moscow Manege on December 23, 2021, in Moscow, Russia.

Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Separately, Smith said that the decision to send 3,000 U.S. troops closer to Ukraine was made partly to reassure allies in the region and to serve as a deterrent.

Asked if that could be seen as provocative to Russia, she pointed out that the numbers differ greatly, estimating that around 127,000 troops are stationed around Ukraine's border.

"I really think we're comparing apples and oranges," she said, adding that U.S. troops are not going into Ukraine and will not be permanently moved to central and eastern Europe.

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NATO Secretary General: NATO allies stand together in calling on Russia to de-escalate – MSNBC

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Regional rivalries and Nato tensions defining Turkey’s military space ambitions – Aerospace Technology

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Over the past decade, Turkey has launched its defense industry into the space domain, in an attempt to match the fast-developing capabilities of its regional and global counterparts. The oft used term space race does not represent global industrial activities in the domain, but it does hint at the growing pressure for countries who previously were not involved in extra-terrestrial activities to catch up and participate. Turkeys goals include a plan for a hard landing of a domestically produced rocket on the moon by 2023, with a soft landing and rover launch by 2028, the construction of a Turkish space port, and plans to send a Turkish citizen to the ISS.

Madeline Wild, Associate Defense Analyst, comments: Turkeys ambitious aim to have launched a rocket that can reach the moon by 2023 reflects the overall nature of its space program. Rather than purely being necessitated by the desire for sovereign use and control of satellites, it revolves around the power and political superiority that headline grabbing achievements (such as reaching the moon) can bring. The introduction of Turkeys space program in 2021 came shortly after Turkeys longtime rival the UAE, announced that its space probe had entered Mars orbit. President Erdogans speech in February 2021, launched the Turkish space program and reinforced the geopolitical importance of the space program, much of which was rhetorically charged with ideas of domain leadership and the space race.

Last year NATO made space the fifth domain to be covered by the collective security principles set out in the organizations charter. Subsequently it is unsurprising that members such as Turkey are boosting their space programs, in order to fulfil their commitments in the event of any potential incident in this domain. This will have been noted by TUA, the Turkish Space Agency, but it will not be the desire to uphold NATOs collective security principle driving Turkish space development. Instead, Turkeys fractious relationship with certain NATO members will fuel the desire to become a regional leader in the domain.

Wild continues: In the Strategic Plan 2019-2023, Turkey set out its aims to produce and procure 75% of all goods domestically by 2023. In order to do so whilst still meeting its space related targets, Turkeys aerospace industry will have to rapidly upskill. Whilst Turkey will benefit from the fact that its domestic industry (namely state-owned company Rokestan) has already launched a sounding rocket, much of the current space activities are reliant on international cooperation. For example, US-based SpaceX is currently responsible for the launch of Turkish satellites, Trksat 5A being the most recent of these. Elon Musk and President Erdogan have had direct communication to discuss future cooperation and collaboration.

Turkey is also collaborating with Russia on space-based technology, a move which could heighten already tense relationships between NATO and the Black Sea state. Russia will help Turkey construct two launch platforms, one on land and one on sea. This forms part of a wider package of defense cooperation between the states, after the US denied the sale of the F-35 to Turkey, pushing President Erdogan further into the President Putins sphere of influence.

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Watch live as SpaceX launches more than four dozen Starlink satellites today – Space.com

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Update for 4 p.m. EST: SpaceX has successfully launched its Starlink 4-7 mission, with all 49 Starlink internet satellites being deployed as planned. You can read our full story and see amazing launch video here.

SpaceX is ready to send another batch of its Starlink internet satellites into orbit, and you can watch the action live.

A Falcon 9 rocket is poised to launch 49 Starlink spacecraft from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida at 1:13 p.m. EST (1813 GMT). You can watch it here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company. SpaceX launch webcasts usually start 15 to 20 minutes before liftoff.

The 49 new SpaceX craft will join more than 1,800 functional satellites in the company's Starlink constellation, according to statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who also keeps close tabs on satellites and space debris.

Related: The evolution of SpaceX's rockets in pictures

This batch of Starlinks, known as Group 4-7, will lift off soon after two other batches did. Starlink groups 4-5 and 4-6 launched from KSC successfully on Jan. 6 and Jan. 19, respectively. SpaceX also performed Starlink launches during most months of 2021.

SpaceX eventually hopes to have as many as 42,000 satellites in the Starlink megaconstellation. While the company touts benefits to people living in remote areas who do not have access to traditional internet services, the constellation poses an increased risk of orbital collisions and could mar astronomical observations, critics have said.

Nevertheless, SpaceX has committed to a rapid cadence of launches for Starlink in 2022 to continue building out its constellation and expanding its service to more rural areas.

The launch of Group 4-7 was originally scheduled for last week but has been delayed multiple times due to bad weather interfering with SpaceX's launch of Italy's CSG-2 Earth-observation satellite. CSG-2 lifted off Monday (Jan. 31) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is next door to KSC.

Starlink 4-7 will wrap up a busy week for SpaceX. In addition to CSG-2, the company launched the NROL-87 spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from California's Vandenberg Space Force Station on Wednesday (Feb. 2).

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter@howellspace. Follow uson Twitter@Spacedotcomand onFacebook.

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SpaceX double vision: These photos show two Falcon 9 rockets on their pads for back-to-back launches – Space.com

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If a recent SpaceX rocket photo has you seeing double, you're not alone.

A Twitter post Monday (Jan. 31) shows two Falcon 9 rockets on their pads at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, ahead of their respective launches.

One photo captures both rockets under a twilight sky of deep orange. In the foreground is a Falcon 9 atop Pad 39A at NASA's KSC, which is expected to launch no earlier than Tuesday (Feb. 1). In the background is a separate Falcon 9 rocket carrying an Italian Earth observation satellite called Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 satellite.

That rocket is set to launch tonight (Jan. 31) at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT) after four delays. It's sitting atop the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral. You'll be able to watch the launch here, courtesy of SpaceX, beginning about 15 minutes before launch time.

Related: The evolution of SpaceX's rockets in pictures

A second SpaceX photo reverses the view, with the Falcon 9 at SLC-40 in the foreground and the Starlink-packed booster in the background at KSC. That photo, apparently taken at a different time over the weekend, shows the two rockets under a pristine blue Florida sky.

While both launches have been delayed, the Starlink flight is largely waiting for SpaceX to launch the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 satellite. The Starlink Falcon 9 rocket is going to launch 49 more Starlinks to add on to SpaceX's constellation of nearly 2,000 operational satellites. It is scheduled to launch no earlier than Tuesday at 2:17 p.m. EST (1917 GMT) from NASA's Launch Complex 39A.

Both SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets have flown several missions before. Their first-stage boosters are also expected to return to Earth for landings on either a land-based pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station or an offshore drone ship so they can be used again.

SpaceX operates its two Florida launch pads under agreements signed with the agency and Air Force earlier in the decade, as both entities sought to turn the Cape launch facility into a "multi-user spaceport for both federal and commercial customers," according to a 2014 release.

SpaceX also launches human missions using Launch Pad 39A, including Crew Dragon missions for the International Space Station and the Inspiration4 all-civilian mission of 2021 that rocketed four people to Earth orbit. The next crewed launch from KSC is expected in April 2022, for the Crew-4 mission.

SpaceX also has a third Falcon 9 launch site in California at the Vandenberg Space Force Base. There is yet another Falcon 9 rocket there awaiting its own mission, SpaceX has said.

A Falcon 9 rocket will launch the classified NROL-87 payload from Vandenberg on Wednesday (Feb. 2). That mission is scheduled to lift off at 3:18 p.m. EST (2018 GMT).

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter@howellspace. Follow uson Twitter@Spacedotcomand onFacebook.

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5 of the Best Casinos in Canada – Study Breaks

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Choosing the right casino can be overwhelming since internet gambling sites vary from one platform to another. However, this should not prevent you from enjoying your preferred games when playing your favorite slots online with a no deposit bonus Canada 2022. This is because you select a casino according to the features you want to enjoy. For instance, some players will look for a casino with lucrative bonuses to maximize their winnings. Others will look for a site with excellent customer support, while others prefer sites with unique game titles.

All the above considerations bring us to one important aspect: the type of player you are. For that reason, this article will review the 5 best online casinos in Canada to help you select the right gambling site. The review will ensure you play in casinos with valid gambling licenses, best bonuses, promotions, high RTP games, best software providers and reliable customer service. So lets dive right in.

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5 of the Best Casinos in Canada - Study Breaks

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AOC: Capitalism ‘is the absolute pursuit of profit’ at all costs – Yahoo Finance

Posted: at 4:59 am

In his annual letter to CEOs this year, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink urged other chief executives to harness the "power of capitalism" to influence society and serve as a catalyst for positive change.

Progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist, has a very different view on the nature of capitalism. In a new interview with Yahoo Finance taped on Jan. 27, Ocasio-Cortez suggested that people often have different definitions of terms like socialism or capitalism.

"When we toss out these big words, capitalism, socialism, they get ... sensationalized, and people translate them into meaning things that perhaps they don't mean," she told Yahoo Finance's editor-in-chief, Andy Serwer. "So to me, capitalism, at its core, what we're talking about when we talk about that is the absolute pursuit of profit at all human, environmental, and social cost."

Ocasio-Cortez, widely known as AOC, has attacked this notion of capitalism frequently since she beat longtime incumbent Joseph Crowley, the No. 4 House Democrat, in 2018 to represent a New York district covering parts of the Bronx and Queens. She is one of four democratic socialists in Congress, along with Cori Bush of Missouri, fellow New Yorker Jamaal Bowman, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

The Democratic Socialists of America defines this system as "one where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society." For her part, Ocasio-Cortez envisions a "more just economy" as one where workers have more power as they do in unionized workplaces or in worker cooperatives that workers collectively own and operate.

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 03: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) (L) stands with Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) during a news conference on the eviction moratorium at the Capitol on August 03, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

"You know, we're here in the Bronx," she said during her interview with Yahoo Finance, which was filmed in that borough. "I represent a community that has the largest concentration of worker cooperatives in ... one of the largest concentrations in the world."

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One worker cooperative in the Bronx, an employee-owned home care agency called Cooperative Home Care Associates, describes itself as the largest worker cooperative in the U.S., employing roughly 2,000 Black and Latinx workers.

"Now these are alternative ways of doing business," Ocasio-Cortez told Yahoo Finance. "Free markets are not the same thing as capitalism."

AOC has pointed to her own online store which sells merchandise like "Tax the Rich" T-shirts as a different way of doing business. When former White House press secretary Sean Spicer accused her of "using capitalism to push socialism" in a tweet, she tweeted back the same definition of capitalism that she used with Yahoo Finance.

"Not sure if you know this Sean, but transactions aren't capitalism," she wrote. "...but fwiw, our shop is unionized, doesn't operate for profit, & funds projects like free tutoring, food programs, & local organizing."

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Ocasio-Cortez described American billionaires as the epitome of capitalism.

"What we're also discussing is the ability for a very small group of actual capitalists, and that is, people who have so much money that their money makes money, and they don't have to work," she said. "They can control industry, they can control our energy sources, they can control our labor ...They can essentially have power over the many. And to me, that is not a redeemable system."

Erin Fuchs is deputy managing editor at Yahoo Finance.

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AOC: Capitalism 'is the absolute pursuit of profit' at all costs - Yahoo Finance

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As Brian Flores speaks, the deeper he draws Bill Belichick into his class-action lawsuit against the NFL – Yahoo Sports

Posted: at 4:59 am

Five years ago this month, William Stephen Belichick was entered as a possible material witness in the Aaron Hernandez double-murder trial. Ultimately, those proceedings came and went without the New England Patriots coach being called for testimony.

But if youre listening to Brian Flores right now, things could go far differently in the class-action lawsuit filed by the former Miami Dolphins coach.

Because the more Flores speaks, the more he appears to point to Belichick as being a significant witness and possibly even a participant in some of the systemic problems plaguing the NFLs hiring process. Thats what Flores suggested this week on the National Public Radio podcast The Limits. That notion went a little further beyond Belichicks texts being included as an exhibit in the lawsuit. If youre unfamiliar with those texts, Belichick mistakenly texted Flores what appeared to be congratulations on getting the New York Giants head coaching job. The problem: Belichick thought he was speaking to Brian Daboll, the Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator, and not Brian Flores, who had yet to have his interview for that same Giants job.

A fairly expansive lawsuit was filed in the wake of that interaction, firing off what amounts to three major allegations: Overall systemic racial discrimination against Black NFL coaches; Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross incentivizing tanking by offering Flores $100,000 for each loss he accrued in 2019; and Ross trying to influence Flores to tamper with a player who has been identified in media reports as Tom Brady.

Brian Flores says Bill Belichick played an influential role in the Giants hiring Brian Daboll as head coach. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

Belichicks part in the bomb blast of claims: He let the cat out of the bag when it came to Dabolls hiring, effectively proving that the leagues minority interview mandates are little more than a sham. Flores went further on Thursday, telling "The Limits" podcast that Belichick didnt just let the cat out of the bag with Dabolls hiring he also played a part of getting the cat into the bag in the first place.

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As Flores framed it in the interview:

I think there are back channel conversations and back channel meetings that are had that oftentimes influence decisions. I think [the Giants hiring process] is a clear example of that. Bill Belichick is a clear example of that. His resume speaks to that. It was clear to me that decision was made with his influence. Thats part of the problem. That needs to change. There needs to be a fair and equal opportunity to interview and showcase your abilities to lead and earn one of those positions.

Thats a massive statement from Flores. He has gone from saying, Bill Belichick accidentally tipped me off to a sham interview to Bill Belichick played a part in the system that has created sham interviews.

Whether thats the case or not will be debated. Both Daboll and Flores coached for Belichick, so theres bound to be some natural overlap when two coaches who shared time in the same Patriots program are later vying for a position with the Giants. Naturally, there would be an assumption that Belichick would get a call, particularly given that it has already been reported that Belichick was influential in helping former special teams coach Joe Judge win the previous Giants head coaching search.

This time, however, the Giants put out a statement declaring sternly: Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants.

So how was Belichick involved? Was he asked to give an assessment of two coaches or did he play a part in fixing Dabolls hiring? Is he merely an important reference figure on the head coaching circuit, or is he one part of a larger machine that has facilitated exponentially more white head coaches than Black ones? Those are questions that would surely be litigated if this lawsuit moves into a courtroom.

What cant be litigated now is whether Flores assertion moves Belichick deeper into the folds of the legal process that we could see play out. The verdict on that is clear. It absolutely does.

If this advances to the discovery process, Flores' attorneys are going to try to showcase whatever role Belichick played and how he came to know whatever he knew about Daboll and the Giants' job. And the way you do that is to find out who else Belichick might have been texting, calling or emailing. It means he would almost certainly be deposed in this case and also very likely be called as a material witness.

Thats another fascinating aspect in this, Bill Belichick the legendary coach who answers what he wants, when he wants, and if he wants, being transformed into Bill Belichick the sworn-under-oath witness who has little choice but to explain himself. That might be the most intriguing witness box examination of an authority figure since Jack Nicholsons Nathan Jessup told Tom Cruises Daniel Kaffee you cant handle the truth.

One way or another, Flores is blazing a legal path toward whatever truth ultimately gets thrust into the light at the end of this. And its becoming more evident that part of that light is getting tilted into Belichicks direction, whether he wants it or not.

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As Brian Flores speaks, the deeper he draws Bill Belichick into his class-action lawsuit against the NFL - Yahoo Sports

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