SPOTLIGHT ON: Kimber Lanning / The New Localism

Founder/CEO of Local First Arizona, the state with greatest number of members, here's Kimber Lanning 
BE A LOCALIST Localists are the dedicated group of people like you that believe in transforming Arizona’s economy and building community along the way.When you join as a Localist you can know that your support sustains our mission of building opportunity in Arizona year-round. And whether it’s a farmer’s tour of their fields, a Fuerza Accelerator graduate’s grand opening, or a group kayak down the Verde River, Localists will grow the local love, and have fun doing it!
What it means to be a Localist: Link> HERE 
On Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/LocalFirstAZ/videos

Big changes have arrived to the Localist program. Local First Arizona Executive Director Kimber Lanning is here to tell you all about it. Watch the Video:

Thank you for helping us build opportunity in Arizona! -The Local First Arizona Foundation Team

Local First Arizona

Yesterday at 2:22pm · 7K Views

There's a brand new way to be a Localist.
Join us today and build opportunity in Arizona: https://www.localfirstazfoundation.org/localist/

 

IN CONTEXT: Seismic Shifts Caused By Global Networks + Social Media

Networks and Hierarchies in the Trump Era: An Interview with Niall Ferguson

By Davis Richardson • 01/15/18 11:00am

"From the World Economic Forum to the annual Bilderberg Summit, Niall Ferguson buzzes through powerful networks. A senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute, Ferguson launched into the academic stratosphere by analyzing empires and the powerbrokers who build them, advocating for Western hegemony even as the United States entered the Iraq War. His subjects include the Rothschild Family and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger—who selected the Scottish academic as his authorized biographer while providing unmitigated access to his private letters sealed in the Library of Congress. . .

In writing about history’s titans, Ferguson became one in his own right: Time Magazine named him one of the most 100 influential people in 2004, while Republican Senator John McCain hired him as an advisor during his 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.
In the Trump era, Ferguson has brandished his intellectual credentials by putting the seismic shifts caused by global networks and social media into historical context. . . "

To understand the extent in which Facebook and Google have altered our political system, reporter Davis Richardson called up Ferguson to discuss disinformation campaigns, networks and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the President.

READ MORE of the interview transcript answering these questions:

Link > The Observer

Observer:

• What can the history of networks and hierarchies teach us about how technology is changing them?
• Do networks and hierarchies work harmoniously or is there an inherent conflict between one another?
• You say that these companies in Silicon Valley are decentralized, but it seems they’re very consolidated regarding capital and the concentration of data.Does social media reinforce power structures throughout history? It’s reminiscent of Marx’s philosophy that the bourgeoisie is never fixed and subject to renewal
• How did networks become so polarized through technology?
• Kissinger likened cyberspace to Thomas Hobbes’ ‘State of Nature.’ Although social networks have centralized the powers of the state, such as with U.S. and Chinese surveillance, they’ve also brought about massive instability. . . . What are some of the challenges that we’re going to have to deal with in such a paradoxical system?
• Although Trump framed himself as a political outsider, he was ingratiated with elite networks. . . What did his election signify in the context of networks and hierarchies?
• Has the world power dynamic shifted back into spheres of influence, multipolar structure reminiscent of Otto Von Bismarck’s Europe?

 

 

Downtown Mesa Is For Everyone - Not Only Entrpeneurs & Innovators

A Tweet from Mayor John Giles yesterday: Why is he so late? This event was announced at last Thursday's 11 Jan Mesa City Council Study Session!
Just keeping the information closely-held from the public while only making registration available on the website for The Mesa Chamber of Commerce???? . . . and suggesting that people only "tune-in" rather than actively encouraging the public to participate in a discussion about what's important here in DTMesa? 

 

WHAT'S NEXTMESA?????
Mayor John Giles‏ @MayorGiles 20h20 hours ago

Tune in for a discussion w/world renowned Brookings Institution, to see how #Mesa is preparing downtown to be the location of choice for entrepreneurs and innovators.

#nextmesa pic.twitter.com/8Iz8no8ZZd

It's no wonder that downtown Mesa has become "The Old Donut-Hole"

In 2005 a $100 Million Dollar-Investment in the Mesa Arts Center was supposed to transform DTMesa into an "Arts-and-Entertainment District"

. . . Did that happen?

In August 2015 Valley Metro Light Rail service was opened extending into the Central Business District here in historic DTMesa

. . . Did "The Salvation Train" that John Giles promised 2 years ago ever arrive??

 

. . . and now he brags after two years in elected office inside City Hall that

Mesa is preparing downtown to be the location of choice for entrepreneurs and innovators.

2 years ago Mesa joined Bloomberg Philanthropies WhatWorksCities . . .

How's that working here now?

What has the mayor delivered for results?

Now  Giles says that are "experts" from The Brookings Institution scheduled to be here.

GOOD! We need all the help we can get

• Has the City of Mesa achieved its self-set goal to achieve 2,000 housing units downtown? NO. . . only about 500

It looks like Mesa has great success pouring millions into sprawling Suburban enclaves of "Master-Planned Communities" like Eastmark (8,000 homes sold in two years) but for some reason cannot Master Main Street

__________________________________________________________________________________

QUESTION: Is John Giles playing a big enough role or just Jivin' all the time?

NOT from The Brightest Minds Inside Mesa City Hall

Your MesaZona blogger really hopes that Mesa Mayor John Giles gets his act together before this year's performance in the State-Of-The-City Speech on February 6, 2018.
He's had the all the opportunities to learn on-the-job getting invited to Harvard and Washington, D.C under the auspices of Mike Bloomberg... It's easy to get elected, hard to perform
Report June 2017      

Advancing a new wave of urban competitiveness:

The role of mayors in the rise of innovation districts

Julie Wagner, Jennifer S. Vey, Steve Davies, and Nathan Storing  

"Over the past year, the United States Conference of Mayors and the Brookings Institution, along with Project for Public Spaces have worked together to capture a new model of growth that is emerging in cities and the particular roles that mayors can play.

READ MORE > here 

 

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________

13 January 2018

 iNNOVATION DISTRICT: Can It Accelerate Us To Re/Generate Mesa's "Old Donut-Hole"??

Does Mesa have all the stuff-in-place to make it work?
These districts by definition, are “geographic areas where leading-edge anchor institutions and companies cluster and connect with start-ups, business incubators, and accelerators. Compact, transit-accessible, and technically-wired, innovation districts foster open collaboration, grow talent, and offer mixed-used housing, office, and retail.”
Can you wrap your head around that or get through it?
The Rise of Mesa’s Innovation District        
Date: Thu 18 Jan 2018         

Time: 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM MST

Event Description: Please note none on Chamber website
This is an event you need to register for on the website for The Mesa Chamber of Commerce - it's open to the public free admission.
Posted here is some background and related content as well as additional resources

YOU CAN FIND RELATED CONTENT AND SOURCES > right here.use this link
__________________________________________________________________________

Keynote Speaker: Jennifer Vey, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Panelists:

Karrin Taylor Robson, Chair, GPEC Next Leadership Council
Ji Mi Choi, Associate Vice President, Arizona State University
John Graham, President & CEO, Sunbelt Holdings
Jenny Poon, Founder, Co+Hoots

 Location:

Mesa Arts Center
Nesbitt/Elliott Playhouse

Date/Time Information:

8 a.m. – 9 a.m. Registration, refreshments and networking
9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Program

Fees/Admission:Invitation

TO REGISTER

Link > http://www.mesachamber.org/events/details 

SkyBridge Mesa Hype Put Into Context

Hey! Is no one asking what's the impact on-the-ground for this flying-high that so many people and so much mainstream media appears to be "irrationally exuberant" over?
Airfreight between Arizona and Mexico increased 30 percent per year from 2011 to 2015 and currently totals about US$390 million per year, with the expectation that it will reach $650 million by 2025. The launch of SkyBridge Arizona is expected to increase annual cargo flights at the airport by 2,000 per year. ( https://aircargoworld.com )

Yes, the SkyBridge is an exciting piece of information, but it is not the first to house both US Customs and Mexico Customs agents.

Unified Cargo Processing Program Expands

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report >  https://www.strtrade.com/news

"The ongoing pilot test of the Unified Cargo Processing program will be expanded to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona in the coming months, creating what a press release from the office of Governor Doug Ducey calls “America’s first and only inland international air logistics and processing hub.”
Under the UCP, U.S. and Mexican customs officials conduct joint inspections of cargo at several locations, including

• Nogales, Arizona (imports and exports),
• Laredo International Airport in Texas (air cargo shipments for the automotive, electronics, and aerospace industries destined to Mexico),
• Otay Mesa, California
• San Jeronimo, Chihuahua (finished electronics shipped from Mexico to the U.S.).

The press release states that the SkyBridge Arizona service will enable e-commerce companies, manufacturers, and other commercial interests conducting business in Mexico and throughout Latin America “to more efficiently and cost-effectively transport goods between countries, while ensuring proper inspections and safety controls.”
All required documents, inspections, tracking, and other services will occur at this airport, and the customs processing status will follow packages and cargo electronically to their final destinations in any city in Mexico and eventually further into Central and South America. According to the press release, this will allow shipments to the region to bypass the “cumbersome and inefficient international customs center in Mexico City.”
__________________________________________________________________________The Laredo Airport in Laredo, TX also houses Customs from both sides of the border.
Under the UCP, U.S. and Mexican customs officials conduct joint inspections of cargo at several locations, including Nogales, Ariz. (imports and exports), Laredo International Airport in Texas (air cargo shipments for the automotive, electronics, and aerospace industries destined to Mexico), Otay Mesa, Calif., and San Jeronimo, Chihuahua (finished electronics shipped from Mexico to the U.S.).(See below)
Currently, products shipped between the U.S. and Mexico are processed through the Unified Cargo Processing (UCP) pilot program, operated between U.S. and Mexico customs, which approves incoming and outgoing freight at AZA bound for customers on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The UCP pilot program began last year in Nogales, Arizona.
There's already 17,000 trucks on the roads daily - it's more than likely that accommodating a projected 10-fold increase to 2,000 flights per day between Mesa, Arizona and Chihuahua, Mexico can create bottlenecks in shipping and handling logistics. What about flight patterns and airport noise affecting residents who live nearby? And what about quality jobs or the quality of life? . . . or is the City of Mesa anticipating a change in online e-commerce Internet sales tax laws to increase local sales tax revenues?
First of all keep in mind that according to excerpts from the following report 

Arizona Welcomes SkyBridge

Kim Taylor |Scarbrough International 08 Jan 2018  

                      |                        

"SkyBridge Arizona is excited to open its doors to the public, offering tens of thousands of jobs, increased revenue for the city, and a new way to increase trade between the USA and Mexico border.

AZ Big Media “At its core, SkyBridge includes a first-of-its-kind joint United States-Mexico Customs inspections facility, which dramatically streamlines the Customs process with Mexico. Surrounding this facility are more than 2 million square feet of warehouse space, nearly 1 million square feet of office space, 900,000 square feet of light industrial and flex space, more than 800,000 square feet of air cargo operations, a 242-bed hotel and 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, and more.”

Yes, the SkyBridge is an exciting piece of information, but it is not the first to house both US Customs and Mexico Customs agents. . . "

Taking On The World??? Good Luck + Happy Anniversary Axios!

Axios takes on the world - turning Axios into a bigger news and information hub The smartest, most efficient, most trusted news and analysis on the topics you care about????? _______________________________________________________________ Blogger's Note: Don't know about all those excess superlative claims for being the smartest, most efficient or most trusted _______________________________________________________________ Axios turns 1 tomorrow  — and, more importantly, is announcing our newest coverage area: international affairs. What’s new for you:  Around-the-clock coverage of world events relevant to your life and work. In a first for Axios, this World stream features a mix of our own reporting and outside experts  —including Sinocism founder Bill Bishop on China, and the super-wired Barak Ravid, who has been writing for us from Israel about Middle East peace.  Outside experts, including CFR President Richard Haass, will write on our platform, using a cool new tool that allows verified specialists to write directly into our Smart Brevity™ system. Why it matters, from CEO Jim VandeHei:  “We're turning Axios into a bigger news and information hub, a place you can efficiently consume far more information across far more topics  — and benefit from the insight of journalists and vetted experts." "The purpose: to provide you with the smartest, most efficient, most trusted news and analysis on the topics you care about.”  See Jim’s full memo here.

Illustration: Axios Visuals _________________________________________________________________________

B52s Back On-Alert In The Pacific > Continuous Bomber Presence

B-52s return to Pacific for routine Continuous Bomber Presence mission

 

OVERVIEW
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s.
Superior performance at high subsonic speeds and relatively low operating costs have kept the B-52 in service despite the advent of more advanced aircrafts, including the variable-geometry B-1 Lancer, and the stealthy B-2 Spirit.
After being upgraded between 2013 and 2015, it is supposed to serve into the 2040s. The B-52s are expected to reach the end of their service lives by 2045, and be replaced by B-21 Raiders.

__________________________________________________________________________

"Six B-52H Stratofortress bombers and approximately 300 Airmen from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, are deploying to Andersen AFB, Guam, in support of U.S. Pacific Command’s Continuous Bomber Presence mission.
The Stratofortresses, last deployed to the region in July 2016, will assume responsibility for USPACOM’s CBP operations near the end of January 2018 from the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron B-1B Lancers, deployed from Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota.
During their deployment, the 37th EBS conducted a variety of joint and bilateral training missions with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, South Korean air force and Royal Australian Air Force.
________________________________________________________________

Related Research on ASDReports.com:

Counter-Stealth Technologies - Key Drivers, Trends and New Developments

__________________________________________________________________________________

The B-52H’s return to the Pacific will provide USPACOM and its regional allies and partners with a credible, strategic power projection platform, while bringing years of repeated operational experience.
The B-52 is capable of flying at high subsonic speeds at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,166.6 meters) and can carry nuclear or precision guided conventional ordnance with worldwide precision navigation capability.
This forward-deployed presence demonstrates the continued commitment of the U.S.to allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
The employment of CBP missions in the USPACOM area of responsibility, conducted since March 2004, are in accordance with international law and are vital to the principles that are the foundation of the rules-based global operating system

Source: US Air Force Date: Jan 16, 2018

It's Official For 2018

Mexico City officially Changes its Name

The idea behind the name change is part of reform to “devolve power from the federal government, allowing the city’s mayor to name senior officials including the police chief. It also turns the capital’s 16 boroughs into entities similar to municipalities, with their own mayors and councils.” [source].
Simply stated, please remind your clients and shippers located in Mexico to submit their documents with the new official name by January 30.  If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact our Latin American Supply Chain specialist, Juan Larrea at jlarrea@scarbrough-intl.com.
Read more about this decision at The Guardian.

 

As part of a re-branding campaign, Mexico’s capital, Mexico City, has officially changed its name in 2016.  Recently,  CAAAREM, the Official Association of Mexican Customs Brokers reminded importers, exporters, consignees and agent brokers with an address located in Mexico City, Mexico that January 31, 2017  is the last day they can submit documents to Mexican Customs declaring “Distrito Federal” as a city instead of the new name “Ciudad de México.”

 

What has been known to many as “D.F.” will now be called “CDMX.”CDMX is now the acronym for Mexico City, which stands for Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City.)