In this episode of SpaceX in the News, we look at Starhopper's last minute changes before it's upcoming hops; analyze some recent launch site upgrades; investigate both Starships; learn about new NASA contracts awarded to SpaceX; talk about the recent Cargo Dragon splashdown; find out about Mr. Steven's return to service; and go over the upcoming Falcon Heavy STP-2 launch.
Ever notice how almost every "talking-head" in front of a camera has now mastered gesticulating madly with both hands when they appear on screens? Indian-American Researcher Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan leads the Knowledge Enterprise at Arizona State University, which advances research, innovation, strategic partnerships, entrepreneurship and international development at ASU... Now Knowledge is A Business
"Innovating the Future" is an interview from Friday on ASU's PBS Channel, part of their New America Series. The host for this program is Anne Marie Slaughter. Panch's focus uses his hands to make some points about Artificial Intelligence and what he calls situational awareness. These include what he calls "vibro-tactile motors" to alert soldiers or those with disabilities in stories that he tells during the episode. Innovating The Future took on an economic aspect years ago in a geographic-area focus that defined parts of cities as INNOVATION DISTRICTS, some more successful than others. That became part of "the sales pitch" that could transform Downtown Mesa, adding to the not too successful branding campaign to make downtown an Arts-and-Culture District. That hasn't happened in more than 15 years. . .
Innovation became a buzzword for city officials here in Mesa back in January 2018. It did, however, attract a lot of interest when most of the seats got filled in one theater space at the Mesa Arts Center for a show put on by the Brookings Institution. [scroll down to watch the streaming video] An Innovation District - according to Bruce Katz is a self-defined concept. Like this one that arrived for public consumption after four years of studying and $40,000 for that study. What have we seen "rising" here in Mesa? Fill-in the blanks if you can __________________________________________________
What is an Innovation District Anyway???
"a collaboration by a city-college-corporationthat creates a connective corridor designed specifically to foster a community networkthat supports innovation between a campus and collaborators." Downtown would become be "the campus" and the corporation would be what?
The City of Mesa a city-college corporation. . .Is that how it might work ?????
Bruce Katz of The Brookings Institute brought order to the "Wild West of Innovation District Development" by defining them by three typologies in his book "The Rise of Innovation Districts":
MAY 1, 2019 Entry: Jane Talkington, PhD innovation and sustainability scholar, strives to maintain a list of self-defined "innovation districts" in the U.S.
There are now over 90 examples of communities pursuing an innovation-driven economy through the establishment of an innovation district (terminology varies among these developments).
Jan 18, 2018 - Downtown Mesa is on the cusp of an urban renewal that will bring exciting innovations with a trained workforce, new housing, collaborative ...
The Rise of Downtown Mesa's Innovation District – A New Urban Model. ... Innovation Districts, as defined by Washington DC think tank the Brookings Institution, “are geographic areas where leading-edge anchor institutions and companies cluster and connect with start-ups, business incubators, and accelerators.
April 2019: Q2 -- Economic growth and Opportunity Zones driving new industrial ... October 2018: Q4 -- The Rise of Downtown Mesa's Innovation District - A New
Sethuraman Panchanathan talks about AI and other technological innovations
Friday, June 7, 2019
Innovating the Future host and New America CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter talks to Sethuraman Panchanathan, ASU’s chief research and innovation officer. The conversation offers a fascinating window into the future by focusing on how his research seeks to bring AI and technological innovation to people with physical disabilities. LINK > https://azpbs.org
75 years on from the time when "American Triumphalism" became the myth created for global hegemony. Now that the "Industrial Military Complex" that President Dwight Eisenhower - the General who was the Supreme Commander for U.S. armed forces in Europe for D Day - has morphed into a massive global weapons-for-sale empire and "armies-for-hire" proxy mercenary civilian warriors working as private military contractors, tactics and strategies might have changed. The goal is still the same
Published on Jun 9, 2019
Views: 220+
It was the Soviet army that broke Hitler's back at Stalingrad, but the myth that the American army liberated Europe, serves aggressive U.S. policy, including Trump targeting Iran - historian Peter Kuznick joins Paul Jay
The City of Mesa News Room sure got this one out fast!
Mesa approves 2019-2020 fiscal year budget June 3, 2019 at 7:36 pm
. . . and all done in about 15 minutes! The first person to speak up at the Public Hearing was Verl Farnsworth, who raised objections to how the city administration spends and for what. The streaming video is inserted before the text of the press release. Please take the time to listen before you get more of that murky feel-good over-blown political rhetoric
Ref: Public article 2326 from Mesanow.org ________________________________________________________________________ SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING > PUBLIC HEARING Uploaded to YouTube: 03 June 2019 Views: 95 [as of Fri 07 June 7th at 07:00 a.m.] Please note how this gets set up for public consumption by both Hizzoner John Giles and City Manager Chris Brady, who obviously have been given talking-points. By the way, how did the City Council vote?
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(Blogger Note: Images are inserted for editorial comment) _________________________________________________________________________
Choice of words: How many times if public safety repeated?
"Continuing its emphasis on public safety, improved infrastructure and innovation, today, the Mesa City Council approved the fiscal year 2019-20 budget of $1.8 billion, an amount consistent with the previous year's adopted budget. Correction: $1.83-billion
"Mesa's budget is a reflection of our residents' feedback, Council priorities, and conservative financial modeling and forecasting."Mesa Mayor John Giles said. "I'm pleased with our strategic budgeting process which resulted in public safety as a top priority and the implementation of the new public safety sales tax, which adds more staffing for both police and fire services." __________________________________________ HOLD ON! New taxes again? "PUBLIC SAFETY" is the smoke-screen in the city's sales-pitch to sell anything to taxpayers. _________________________________________________________________________
The budget includes approximately $184.8 million in new voter-approved bond funding as well as $79.5 million in existing authorizations for public safety, infrastructure and parks/cultural capital projects. Examples of these projects include the Greenfield Water Treatment Plant, Fire Station 221 and upgrades to the Dobson Ranch Library and the Main Library. Public Safety additions since the approval of last year's budget and going into FY 2019-20, are more than $7.1 million including funding for 40 positions for Police and 25 positions for Fire/Medical both sworn and civilian. . . ___________________________________________________ < Readers of this blog might like to note that the Mesa Police Union has no confidence in the Police Chief, selected by City Manager Chris Brady two years. There's a revolt in the ranks. They want the Mesa City Council to fire him. ___________________________________________________ IS MESA A "SMART CITY" ???
"As an organization, we continue to focus on ways to use Smart City technology and other innovations to not only improve the delivery of our services but also find ways to be more efficient in the process." City Manager Chris Brady said. "The general governmental fund, which is the funding mechanism for our daily operations, increased slightly from $445 million in FY 2018-19 to $457.7 million in this year's budget with a majority of that going to public safety."
The City of Mesa's financials including general obligation and utility revenue bonds are strong according to both Moody's and Standard & Poor (S&P) Global credit rating agencies with S&P raising their long-term rating to AA from AA- and Moody's maintaining their Aa2 rating
Make no mistake about it: When it comes to loyalties, the Mesa Police Union exercises a powerful influence when the Mesa City Council needs their members to sway some swing-votes. Together with the well-unionized Mesa Fire/Medical Department, and apart from any faith-based blocs of voters, these two groups probably exercise the most influence over City Hall. Their loyalty and confidence in city officials (salaried, appointed, or elected) frequently determines the outcomes of elections.
The City of Mesa is in the national news now over a 95% vote of no confidence in the current Mesa PD Chief
Union Casts No-Confidence Vote Against
Mesa Police Chief
The union for police employees in Mesa has cast an overwhelming no-confidence vote against Chief Ramon Batista, a decision the group's president said was in part for condemning officers investigated on excessive-force allegations
By JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) — The union for police employees in Mesa has cast an overwhelming no-confidence vote against Chief Ramon Batista, a decision the group's president said was for condemning officers investigated on excessive-force allegations, being unwilling to listen to officers and driving down morale.
The vote unveiled Wednesday isn't binding, but union president Nate Gafvert said his group has $30,000 set aside to launch a public relations campaign to get local residents to pressure City Council members to remove Batista . . .
The vote unveiled Wednesday isn't binding, but union president Nate Gafvert said his group has $30,000 set aside to launch a public relations campaign to get local residents to pressure City Council members to remove Batista. . . The City Council said in a statement that it's committed to improving relations within the police department. . . The AP requested an interview with Vice Mayor Mark Freeman, who serves on the City Council, but Mesa spokesman Randy Policar said council members were making no further statements Wednesday about the union's no-confidence vote. . . (FILE - This June 8, 2018 file photo shows Ramon Batista, the police chief of Mesa, Ariz. The union representing police employees in Mesa has cast an overwhelming no-confidence vote against Batista for what the union's president said was the chief's condemnation of officers investigated on excessive-force allegations and unwillingness to listen to officers. (AP Photo/Matt York, File) _________________________________________________________________________________
Union casts a no confidence vote against Mesa police chief
KNXV - Phoenix Scripps•
Daniel Shaver's widow and family now have a pending claim against the City of Mesa for the killing and excessive use-of-force in a reported amount of over $100M
The Wealth Creation Fund and who do we see here in this opening image with Caliber CEO Chris Loeffler and - none other than Mesa Mayor John Giles and former AZ State Senator Bob Worsley, who gambled on downtown Mesa real estate speculation for his own private wealth at the same time holding public office. Oh yeah - and that's W Tim Sprague at second left. He's Worsley's business partner in Habitat Metro that proposed building a $130-million dollar luxury hotel atop a parking lot in our neglected, distressed and low-income downtown area that is now an OPPORTUNITY ZONE
Here's Hizzoner The Mayor with another principal in the 7th Caliber Wealth Creation standing right in middle of Main Street . . . last year we learned that a number of holding companies [dba CH Holdings LLC registered at Worsley's resiidence here in Mesa] gained title to more than eight commercial properties at about a cool $1-million each by the end of December 2017 on Main Street, to capitalize in real estate speculation in some of Mesa's Opportunity Zones where downtown meets the qualifications as a neglected and distressed area. Did they have "Inside information" on changes in the new TCAJA? perhaps . . . no one is saying.
< Except former AZ Senator Bob Worsley who showed up in public at a Mesa City Council meeting in February 2018 with former U.S. Congressman Matt Salmon, hired on by ASU as a highly-paid lobbyist for ASU just before he resigned to take on his new job, hoping to ride the boom in student housing and retail that devoured downtown Tempe and made it a party-town.
They're gambling millions with 2x or 3x increases in value on returns in the mid-teens or higher from somewhere to activate their dormant capital sitting-on-the-sidelines - that's if they "Do it right", with either (1) the prime bait being bringing ASU somehow to downtown or (2) the Massive Mormon Make-Over of Downtown Mesa by for-profit affiliates of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints.
No Financial Details were ever disclosed or ever revealed to bring a smaller-scale version [9.2 acres] of the 23-acre City Creek Reserve in Salt Lake City right here. That cost was estimated to be anywhere from $2-$3 Billion dollars.
Property Reserve and CCRI admitted they had been talking with city officials for years. If readers of this blog want more information, just use THE SEARCHBOX at the top left or bottom right.
Hold on! Not so fast there .... if the Mesa City Council truly believes that a government cannot be effective without the active engagement and participation in our elected government by the citizens who live here, you can easily see for once again the results. Note the scheduling of probably the most important item on the schedule for yesterday's three public meetings - the PUBLIC HEARING is the last to be heard. Only one person speaks up: Verl Farnsworth.
The City Administration can fool most of the people all of the time - except in 2016 when taxpayers overwhelmingly REJECTED a $200-Million Proposition in the General Election. Last year 'the sales pitch" to transform Downtown Mesa into a satellite campus for ASU worked, although 84,000 people voted against the Shake-Down to go into more debt service obligations. ASU could have financed it with more than a $1.3B treasury. Rampant real estate speculation and private wealth-creation for a "the Chosen Few" who just happen to be closely-connected cohorts of the mayor, some who are hired high-paid lobbyists for ASU [including a revolving-door former U.S. Congressman] and a former Arizona State Senator who gambled on high returns for himself at the same time he held public office. __________________________________________________________________________ But never mind all that - the public show must go on . . . and on-and-on until someone or something dips deeper into the pervasive corruption of a group of "friends-and-family"
