Tuesday, October 01, 2019

A Personal Memoir: Oh The People You'll Meet! >> Sidney & Yulin Rittenberg

Why write again now about Sidney and Yulin Rittenberg?
For your MesaZona blogger it was one unexpected chance interaction in what we now call 'the gig economy' while at the same time having 'more than a full-time job' cooking in New York City in retail food markets, as well as personal and corporate catering and Special Events. Sidney & Yulin were frequent household guests invited many times for dinners and weekend-stays over the course of several years in a private home where yours truly enjoyed cooking as a private chef.
Keeping the word 'private' in mind as a professional. it was indeed a pleasure to meet them both on such a personal level. Other than finding out that Sidney had been a prisoner in China for many years and that Yulin was his constant loving companion, little was known, or cared-to-be-known by me. It was enough that they were warm, engaging and 'down-to-earth' in close encounters in the Gig Economy. So too was one of the next-door neighbors, who came by one day to borrow some eggs - she happened to own another home in  Florida, Mar-A-Lago. Never mind all that except to say free-lance work was interesting - for the social interaction
Today happens to be the 70th Anniversary of The Chinese Revolution.
As noted in an Obituary in The Wall Street Journal on August 30, 2019
Sidney Rittenberg, Mao’s American Friend, Survived Turmoil to Travel a Capitalist Road
Linguist translated Communist tracts, languished in prison and finally counseled U.S. investors in China
By  James R. Hagerty James R. Hagerty The Wall Street Journal
"When U.S. companies began investing in China in the 1980s and 1990s, many self-styled experts clamored to advise them. Few, if any, could match the insights and connections offered by Sidney Rittenberg.      
Mr. Rittenberg, a U.S. Army veteran from South Carolina, first met Mao Zedong in 1946. The occasion was a dance in Yan’an, the temporary headquarters of China’s Communist Party. Mao was doing the fox trot when he spotted Mr. Rittenberg, the American recalled later. The Chinese leader smiled faintly and said, “We are happy to welcome an American comrade.”
Mr. Rittenberg, an idealist who saw Mao as the savior of China, became a top-level translator of Chinese Communist propaganda, spent 16 years in prison for straying from ever-changing party lines and finally found a lucrative career advising Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and other U.S. companies doing business in China.
" . . . Mr. Rittenberg, who died Aug. 24 at age 98, never lost his yearning to bridge the gaps between China and the U.S. The gravest global problems could never be solved without their cooperation, he believed . . .
“I imagined a historic role for myself acting as liaison between their government and the American government,” he later wrote.
The ferocity of party zealots, beating those dubbed their class enemies, sickened Mr. Rittenberg. He persuaded himself it was the only way to “throw off the weight of centuries of oppression and fear.” Bombing raids terrified him during the Civil War between Nationalists and Communists; he recited Keats to calm himself. He struggled with the idea that individuals had to accept party dictates without question. In 1947, he married Wei Lin, a radio announcer.
Given a state broadcasting job, he strove to prove absolute loyalty to the party. He married Wang Yulin, an independent-minded secretary at the broadcasting agency, in 1956. They lived in an apartment on the Lane of the Fried Dough Twists in Beijing and collected Ming dynasty furniture, later donated to a museum. He was on an elite team that translated Mao’s works into English.
He welcomed the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s, when Mao urged young people to seize power from older party bureaucrats. Mr. Rittenberg initially felt liberated, finally able to speak his mind. But the movement soon turned violent. He was again accused of spying and imprisoned in early 1968. Meanwhile, his wife was beaten and sent to a labor camp.
Mao died in 1976. After nearly a decade of prison, Mr. Rittenberg was released in 1977 and told the charges against him were unfounded.
He moved to the U.S. in 1980 and eventually settled in Fox Island, Wash., with a view of Puget Sound. Major companies hired him to explain the mysteries of China and help them navigate the bureaucracy. “Capitalism,” he wrote, “is the most powerful engine yet created for fostering economic growth.”
Mr. Rittenberg is survived by his wife, four children and five grandchildren.
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He never wavered on the need for friendship with China. “There are many things we don’t agree on,” he said in 2013. “Well, the answer to that is that all concerned just get over it.”
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Here are excerpts from a local report that appeared Fountain Hills Times
on August 24, 2019 by Barb Charzuk
Sidney Rittenberg looks back on revolution, life and love
"Sidney Rittenberg lives in relative obscurity in Fountain View Village for a man who, during his 98 years, attracted worldwide acclaim as a revolutionary, journalist, Chinese linguist and business consultant.
He witnessed much of what occurred at the upper levels of the Chinese Communist Party and knew many of its leaders, such as Chairman Mao Zedong.
He has shared his experiences in books and in television appearances. He was interviewed on CBS network’s “60 Minutes” more than any other individual. He called host Mike Wallace a close friend.
During his 35 years in China, beginning in the communist guerilla headquarters of Yan’an to the end of the Maoist era, Rittenberg was singled out as both a hero and victim to China’s revolutionary turmoil.
He spent a total of 16 years in prison in solitary confinement. . .
In his autobiography, “The Man who Stayed Behind,” published in 1993, he wrote that he had no regrets for the years he spent in China. The book is available through Amazon.
He says he was motivated then, as now, to support the Chinese people’s quest to taste the responsibilities and rewards of freedom.
In an interview a week before his 98th birthday celebrated today, Aug. 14, Rittenberg talked intelligently about present U.S. relations with China, sincerely about his love for his wife, Yulin, and humorously on “discovering the new Sidney.”
“I think as far as the United States is concerned, we don’t really understand what we’re dealing with in China, and therefore it is not possible to deal intelligently with it,” Rittenberg said. “Watching the President on TV is like a comic hour. The only thing is, it ain’t funny…Intelligent people are threatening the largest country in the world with destruction. . .
Readers of this blog are invited to read the entire Spotlight Feature using the above link
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Monday, September 30, 2019

New Round of Applications Open Now For Its Local Reporting Network

ProPublica has opened a new round of applications for its Local Reporting Network, with a focus on accountability projects involving state government or state politics.
ProPublica Wants Pitches for State Government Investigations. Apply for a Spot in Our Local Reporting Network.
Source: https://www.propublica.org 
ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network produces impactful accountability stories that wouldn’t be done otherwise. Now, we’re looking for seven partners to work with in 2020
ProPublica will pay the salary, plus a benefits allowance, for reporters at seven partner news organizations who will each spend one year tackling an investigative project in their states.
Reporters will collaborate with a ProPublica senior editor, and they can receive assistance with data analysis, research, design, audience development and engagement.
Applications for these new slots are due Sept. 27.
Here are the details for those interested in applying. The new group of reporters will begin their work on Jan. 2. ProPublica will also be hosting office hours at a one-day “Collaboration Station” at the Online News Association conference in New Orleans, on Sept. 13, 2019. Interested reporters and editors can sign up for a first-come, first-served appointment with an LRN editor here, or drop by any time during the day to talk with our team.
ProPublica launched the Local Reporting Network at the beginning of 2018 to boost investigative journalism in local newsrooms, and its first group of state accountability reporters this year has already produced a strong body of work.
The projects have exposed a deadly crisis in California jails, a broadband boondoggle in Kentucky and an ethical quagmire for the governor of West Virginia (he owns more than 100 businesses, many regulated by the state).
Policymakers are paying attention.
In New Jersey, for example, our partner WNYC reported on how a company provided a false answer on an application for tax incentives, leading the state to freeze the firm’s $260 million tax break. And last month, the governor there vetoed an extension of the tax program at the heart of our reporting.
If your organization is selected, the reporter will continue to work in your newsroom but will receive extensive guidance and support from ProPublica.
The work will be published or broadcast by your newsroom and simultaneously by ProPublica. While the reporter does not have to be based in your state capital, he or she will have to spend time there during the year.
National news organizations are not eligible to apply; all other newsrooms are. We are not looking to fund day-to-day coverage of state government or the legislature, but instead to enable your organization to do ambitious accountability projects that would not otherwise be done.
Applications should be submitted by newsroom leaders for a particular project and a specific reporter. If you lead a newsroom and are interested in working with us, we’d like to hear from you about:
  • An investigative project. The proposed coverage can take any number of forms: a few long stories, an ongoing series of shorter stories, text, radio, video or more. Please tell us why this coverage will be crucial to your state, any similar coverage that has been done before it, why this project has particular urgency now and a plan for executing the work. Please also explain why your state and your newsroom are the right places to tell this particular story.
  • The reporter whom you ideally envision spearheading the work and the market salary you would need to pay this person for 2020. This could be someone already on staff or someone else — for example, a freelancer with whom you aspire to work. Please include a personal statement by the reporter explaining his or her interest, at least three clips and, of course, a resume.
Freelancers are also welcome to apply, but they must find a news organization willing to publish their work and submit a joint application.
The deadline for applications is 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sept. 27. Please submit your proposal using this form. We have a detailed list of frequently asked questions available on our site. If you have questions that aren’t answered there, email us at Local.Reporting@propublica.org.
ProPublica reporters and editors are available to give you feedback on your idea before you apply. You can send your proposals to Local.Reporting@propublica.org and someone will get back to you within a few days. Entries will be judged principally by ProPublica editors. Winning proposals will be announced in late fall to enable work to begin on Jan. 2.
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Say What? 5 Years Later ASU @ Mesa City Center Is "A 360-Degree Dilemma"

We all should have seen that coming back in 2014 when
Hizzoner Mesa Mayor John Giles tried to pull off this stunt!
Hmmm . . . Where's the Wow-Factor?
Feedback from all directions send the plans back to the Schematic Planning Stage

> City council member Jen Duff, who represents downtown, said she is confident the design team will produce a building that will make Mesa proud.
“I think we will be very impressed,’’ Duff said.
 “I’m very excited about it. I think it will set the tone.’’
  
She said that many people are curious about the building and what it will look like, but eventually,
“I think the other cities will have this Mesa-envy thing.’’
Say what????
Like that 'Penis-envy' thing since Duff chose to use that metaphor?
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New York Federal Reserve President John Williams Sees Need For Increasing Bank Reserves

Listening to this takes 01:46 but you can read it to focus on the words from NY Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams who was previously President of the San Francisco Fed. He was here in Downtown Mesa three years ago for an on-site tour arranged by Terry Benelli, President/CEO of LISC Phoenix. 
John Williams is in the news again today.
Bloomberg Economics
Fed’s Williams Sees Need for More Reserves After Repo Spike
By     
Updated on          
> Tells New York Times the Fed is studying standing facility
 > Williams denies Fed was slow to respond to spiking rates

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said bank reserves will probably need to be higher in the future to limit the risk of money markets repeating their recent turmoil, the New York Times reported, citing an interview.
Williams said there is a possibility the Fed will activate a new tool, called a standing overnight repo facility. It would amount to a standing offer to lend a certain amount of cash to repo borrowers every day.
In a separate interview with the Wall Street Journal, Williams denied that the recent ousting of Simon Potter as head of the institution’s markets desk had limited the New York Fed’s response.
‘Fed at its Best’
The institution followed a “consistent approach of assessment, coming up very quickly with an appropriate plan, and executing that,” Williams said. “This is really the Fed at its best.”
His colleague Charles Evans, who leads the Chicago Fed, said in an interview on CNBC on Monday that the repo measures instituted by his colleague Williams constitute a “strong program” with a “well-designed plan."
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East Valley Tribune Staff Writer Jim Walsh's SNEAK PREVIEW: Details Revealed

Do these look like 3-D Virtual Reality ASU  students
OR technicians in white lab coats?????????????? 
Read this second-hand, but watch the actual streaming video on YouTube for yourself
ASU in downtown Mesa: A sneak preview

"A 30x50-foot Jumbotron facing toward a pedestrian-friendly plaza and Main Street.  Three complete movie production studios large enough to fit a car. An “enhanced immersion studio’’ allowing visitors to interact with 3D artwork. . . "
Are you excited and thrilled by the first words to open the story? and the only image in this "Sneak Preview"? 
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"With such a unique list of features and components, it’s not hard to understand the ASU@ Mesa City Center project is not just another office building – and designing it would be a challenge.
The long-sought Arizona State University campus will be devoted exclusively to students pursuing careers in “transdisciplinary digital expertise” such as virtual reality.
And it seems like a safe bet . . .
(Huh? A 'safe bet' using $64M of taxpayer debt to finance a new building for ASU??)

. . . the controversial, yet much anticipated facility likely will wake up historically sleepy downtown Mesa and inject life into the area – a goal set by Mayor John Giles and several city council members.
(2 Mesa City Council members opposed it)
But other issues remain unsettled as the three-story, 65-foot tall, 110,000 square foot building heads toward the first steps of construction early next year – including
> what it ultimately will look like,
> the final price tag and
> what will happen to some wavy concrete canopies that have jutted off the back of a city building for decades.
< Despite some concerns that the future landmark doesn’t look like one so far, the project’s site plan won a 4-1 vote for approval last week from Mesa’s Planning and Zoning Commission. The vote serves as a recommendation for approval by Mesa City Council, which has final authority. 

 
But the next step is scheduled for Oct. 8, when more detailed renderings are expected to be presented before Mesa’s Design Review Board, another advisory panel that focuses on issues such as architecture and landscaping.
-----
"There’s not only nothing like this around here.
There’s almost nothing like this anywhere,’’
said Steven Chaitow, principal architect at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson BCJ in San Francisco, who is working on the design with Diane Jacobs of Holly Street Studios in Phoenix.
(Ooooopies! Not true .....) >>>>
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BLOGGER NOTE: It's remarkably similar to another BCJ design for another campus
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“This is putting Mesa on the map,’’ he said.
“It will be like a studio back lot. It will engage the community,’’ Chaitow said.
“We want to make it playful and interesting.’’
Jacobs said the architects have been working mainly on accommodating the unique studios. She said it’s important for studios to be on the ground floor, so that large props, such as cars, can be easily installed and removed. Acoustics and vibration also are important considerations.
In theory, “we can have three movie premieres at once,’’ Jacobs said, with the movies shown on the Jumbotron – similar to those in professional sports arenas – while people hang out in the plaza. There also will be two theaters, one seating 250, as well as a cafe and, of course, classrooms.
“We have spent a lot of time on the inside so far,’’ Jacobs said, when
Planning & Zoning Board member Tim Boyle criticized the exterior appearance as lacking a “wow factor’’ that is necessary for a landmark project.
“It’s uncooked so far,’’ Jacobs said, referring to the exterior. 
BLOGGER NOTE: 'un-cooked so far' ????
Diane Jacobs actually said at the September 25th Site Review that this project is now
A 360-DEGREE DILEMMA

“We feel good about making the pieces click and fit.’’

_______________________________________________________________
> City council member Jen Duff, who represents downtown, said she is confident the design team will produce a building that will make Mesa proud.
“I think we will be very impressed,’’ Duff said.
 “I’m very excited about it. I think it will set the tone.’’
She said that many people are curious about the building and what it will look like, but eventually,
“I think the other cities will have this Mesa-envy thing.’’
Say what????
Like that 'Penis-envy' thing since Duff chose to use that metaphor?
 
> Jeff McVay, Mesa’s downtown transformation manager, said five stories originally were planned, but it became clear early in the design stage that tall studios were required and there was no need for the upper floors.
He said the building will be slightly shorter at 65 feet tall and slightly smaller at 110,000 square feet, but that it still will be very large. He said that some of the studios have 45 feet of clear space. 
“It’s driven by the programming’’ instead of cost, McVay said about the alterations in the building.
“It’s a high-rise laying on its side."
The five-acre site is the parking lot behind the council’s chambers, south of First Street, east of Center Street, west of Centennial and north of City Hall. The project will straddle both sides of Pepper Place.
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Mesa Start-Up Urbix Expands World-Wide Downstream Processing of High-Grade Graphene Products

BRIEF-Bass Metals Signs MoU With Urbix Resources LLC
Stock Markets7 hours ago (Sep 30, 2019 12:30)
Sept 30 (Reuters) - Bass Metals Ltd BSM.AX :* SIGNED A STRATEGIC MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WIT URBIX RESOURCES LLC
* MOU TO WORK OVER NEXT 180 DAYS TO ESTABLISH JV FOR PROCESSING OF BASS HIGH GRADE GRAPHITE INTO VALUE ADDED DOWNSTREAM PRODUCTS
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Bass Metals plans Madagascar graphite downstream JV
30th September 2019 BY: Simone Liedtke
Writer
ASX-listed Bass Metals and downstream graphite processor Urbix Resources have signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) to identify the optimum joint venture (JV) structure and product mix with a view of establishing a production facility in Madagascar.
Bass’ large flake dominated deposit is suitable for a broad range of downstream applications, the mining company release said on Monday.
Bass and Urbix would delineate terms for establishing a JV facility in Madagascar capable of producing a purified high-value graphite product, which would use Urbix’s propriety technology and Bass’ graphmada large flake graphite.
Urbix’s proprietary advanced technology includes environment- and cost-conscious purification methods that were not reliant on environmentally unsustainable hydrofluoric acid treatments, Bass noted.
Urbix is currently engaged in building what will be one of the largest natural graphite purification facilities in North America.
 Upon completion, the 9 450 km2 facility at Falcon Airfield in Mesa, Arizona will have the capability of purifying up to 24 000 t/y.
The parties would aim to establish the JV in the next 180 days. 
Source: https://m.miningweekly.com
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https://twitter.com/urbixresources
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Valley graphene startup to open larger Mesa production facility 
Startup also unloaded assets in Mexico for undisclosed price
By
 – Reporter, Phoenix Business Journal

Updated
 The company's new space will allow it to process up to 36,000 metric tons of purified graphite a year, used in applications such as batteries for electric vehicles and 3D printers.
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