Queen Elizabeth announces agreement with Meghan and Harry | ABC News

Lessons learned by The Royal Family - The Duke & Duchess of Sussex are now independent from "The Firm" and will be transitioning with a review in a year's time

Dumbing-Down America: God Bless Low-Information Voters!

WHO DO YOU TRUST NOW? When everything gets split 50-50 just a few votes can determine the outcomes of elections. So can people who decide nothing except to sit-out elections or just tune-out too much information or get just totally confused or apathetic over "politics". 
Who pays attention - and how do candidates make you pay attention?
A Low-Information Voter is NOT an insulting or perjorative term.

America's Great Divide: Anthony Scaramucci Interview | FRONTLINE

Scaramucci is a founder and managing partner at SkyBridge Capital. He served briefly - just a few days - briefly as the White House communications director for Donald Trump in 2017.
He says "he gets everything wrong in politics'" because he's an entrepeneur, and says he's a little bit stupid . . .

This interview is being published as part of FRONTLINE’s Transparency Project, an effort to open up the source material behind our documentaries. Explore the transcript and interactive version of this interview, and others, on the FRONTLINE website: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/in...

Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully tests emergency capsule for astronauts

Blast off to blow-up on purpose to test recovery from a catastrophic emergency - it's all a success in this lift-off from Hawthorne, California!
The test comes ahead of SpaceX's first transport of astronauts to the International Space Station.

Last Sunday's News Today: Augmented Reality > ASU Money-Pit Makes Mesa A Hi-Tech Gateway?

That's what East Valley Tribune staff writer Jim Walsh wrote last week in his front-page story spoon-fed forecast for a decade from now.
O Yes,  Jim, "It’s hard to imagine what technological advances might come from ASU @ Mesa City Center because some of these inventions either don’t exist or are not widely known today. . ."  That's correct.

All that over-blow hype is an invention that Jim Walsh gets paid to write to influence the media and create a concocted narrative. Is there something in the water here in Mesa?
What's known is that a privately-funded $500,000 public relations campaign, headquartered in the mayors's personal injury/accident law offices, blew up in 2016 turning into a major screw-up when Mesa taxpayers rejected his $240M trick using public debt money to finance the private wealth-creation schemes of his friends gambling on rampant real estate speculation here in downtown commercial properties. It was all leveraged on "ASU @ Mesa City Center."

City officials wanted four new buildings back then were forced to re-think and re-package the scheme to sell it again. They had no idea what programs might work to convince taxpayers to pay for the construction of one new building for a branch of ASU's Tempe main campus just five light rail stops away when Benedictine University had established a campus five years ago - all in existing buildings (including a residence hall) converted cost-efficiently for adaptive re-use.
Taxpayers approved spending $63.5M for one new building.

That was in 2018. The conceptual rendering was an imaginary 5-story building and a lot of 'pretty pictures' and promises to solicit community input in a series of workshops in April 2019.
All the plans fast became a
"360-Degree Dilemma"
( Use the SEARCHBOX on this blog for more details all about that )
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Back to Jim Walsh's article last Sunday

ASU building making Mesa a hi-tech gateway        

By Jim Walsh, Tribune Staff Writer

East Valley Tribune | 2020-01-12T01:00:00-07:00

"A decade from now, the innovations dreamed up by Arizona State University students in Mesa will probably make Alexa and PlayStation look as arcane as Pong and the video cassette recorder . . .

The ASU building is a huge piece aimed at housing even bigger ideas.

At 65 feet tall with 110,000 square feet, it will be home to three complete movie studios, an “enhanced immersion” art studio, a café and a large walk-through lobby.

Pinholster describes the program inside the building as a one-of-a-kind combination of a film school and a breeding ground for emerging technologies.

“It’s definitely exciting and nerve-racking at the same time.

It’s two years before this building opens and I already feel like I’m behind,’’ Pinholster said.

"Once the ASU building opens in 2022, it will probably start as an undergraduate film school, but will quickly add a graduate program built on extending the use of technology into various industries.

“It’s a really exciting program with a lot more horsepower than anything out there,’’ he said. “None of these programs have been combined with a high-end film production program.’’

By 2025, ASU anticipates having 1,000 students in Mesa, with the film school alone serving 500 to 700 students, Pinholster said.

“I think the dream is we will eventually see a campus in downtown Mesa,’’ he said.

For now, the Mesa building will operate as a satellite with students using the Metro Light Rail to commute between the Tempe campus and Mesa.

He said the graduate students in Mesa will focus heavily on XR, or extended reality technology.
This catch-all phrase includes virtual reality, mixed reality and augmented reality.
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Money & Power / Real Estate & Government / Families

This is just one book about two families. There are more stories yet to be told or written about . . .
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Andrea Bernstein, a host of the podcast Trump, Inc., about her new book American Oligarchs: The Kushners, the Trumps and the Marriage of Money And Power.
Source > https://www.npr.org/2020/01/07/794320899 
Excerpt taken from the Transcript provided:
Please note: NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
A new book looks at the many untruths on which the Trump administration has been built. Author Andrea Bernstein spoke with our co-host Ailsa Chang.
AILSA CHANG, BYLINE: Andrea Bernstein looks at the generations of the Kushner and Trump families - how they built their real estate businesses in New Jersey and New York, the fabrications it took to stay on top and how all of that affects the U.S. presidency. . .
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BLOGGER NOTE: Some stories and posts published on this blog might appear to be unrelated, but they are not.
Journalist Andrea Bernstein has worked with many other journalists to research and to acquire and to build a big archive of documents from many sources.
Her new book is the feature of this particular post.
Readers are invited and encourage to follow clues . .
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BERNSTEIN: "Well, in New York and New Jersey, real estate is a famously shady business, and people who own real estate and who develop real estate understand that they need political favor, that that is part of the capital that they are building up. Both the Kushner family and the Trump family were part of the system, but they both pushed it far beyond the limits. . .
But they never faced any consequences. And each time they didn't face consequences, they continued to press the limits. They continued to cross lines. They continued to manipulate money and people in a way that would further their family business interests.
CHANG: I mean, ultimately, you are interested in the parallels and the intersections between these two family stories - the Trumps and the Kushners - because they're both in the executive branch now. And the case that you make throughout your book is that with the Trumps, they don't see much difference between the national interest and the family's interests. Is that why you're describing what we're seeing now as an oligarchy?
BERNSTEIN: That's right. There are two things you need for an oligarchy. You need to be able to control government officials, and you need to be able to control law enforcement. And in New York, private real estate developers have figured out how to do that particularly well, and the Trump family even more so than most families. . .
Donald Trump, when he became a real estate developer, worked particularly aggressive to develop his government ties. When he was running for president, he talked about this openly. He said, I contribute to people, and when I call them, they give to me. He understood a transactional relationship with government - that government was there to help along private businesses and to help his family's business interests. When you have wealthy people controlling government over democratic processes, you are approaching an oligarchy. And that is where we are now in America."
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BERNSTEIN: ". . . but I do think that I would not do what I do if I didn't have some fundamental sense of hope that telling the story would create a record that would, in some ways, be prophylactic against further bad consequences. . . And I thought a lot about that message . . . - you need to document what's happening; you need to tell the story.
And I became - to truly believe that telling the story is an act of hope.
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Follow along with this
BERNSTEIN: The Kushners arrived in America with $2 in their pocket. And Jared Kushner's grandfather was a carpenter, and he immediately went to work. And this was a time in America where the federal government was helping home builders in a variety of ways. So there were new loans, new mortgage structures for the federal government to help people buy homes.
There was the Federal Highway Act, which helped people get to all those new homes. And there were, of course, all these returning GIs that needed those homes, so it was a great time to be in real estate.
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RELATED CONTENT:
Two days ago:
How the Trump and Kushner families became "American Oligarchs"

 

Watch (4:57)

Uploaded by: CBS News,Jan 15, 2020

350Views · 60Likes · 0Comments

Andrea Bernstein, co-host of the "Trump, Inc." podcast, joined CBSN's "Red and Blue" to discuss her new book, "American Oligarchs: The Kushners, the Trumps, ...

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The Unlikely Rise of the Trumps and Kushners

In American Oligarchs, WNYC’s Andrea Bernstein details the power grabs of a new political dynasty.

By

David Kocieniewski

‎January‎ ‎14‎, ‎2020‎ ‎1‎:‎55‎

Source > You can listen to the content in about 5 minutes https://www.bloomberg.com

TENTATIVE AGENDA: Mesa City Council Meeting Mon 27 Jan 2020 @ 5:45

Ready? First glance at a jam-packed Tentative Agenda - there are two Mesa City Council Study Sessions scheduled on the Mesa Legistar Calendar with no agendas for either/both of those 'study sessions' released . . .
There's way too much on the one tentative agenda we do have access to at this point in time, 9 days ahead.
NOTE: It's 10 pages printed on 01/16/2020 - 30 items.
Let's break it down at first glance
On Page 10 - the last item is A PUBLIC HEARING
ITEMS NOT ON THE CONSENT AGENDA
Item 9
Conduct a public hearing and take action on the following ordinances adopting modified City-owned utility terms/rates/fees/charges:

19-1056
Conduct a public hearing
on modifications to terms/rates/fees/charges
of City-owned utilities:
Items 9-b through 9-f.
( Item 9-a )
Take a look-and-read brief descriptions farther down with notations of the item and file numbers. 
>> LINK TO MESA LEGISTAR CALENDAR > Click or Tap HERE
>> Council, Committee & Board Research Center Meeting Details Click or Tap HERE
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CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: Before + After 
"All citizens are permitted and encouraged to speak on agenda items including and preceding “Items from citizens present.”
If you are interested in speaking on such an agenda item, please fill out a blue card in the back of the room and give it to the City Clerk.  When the Council considers the item, you will be called to the podium to provide your comments. . . "
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YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT TO GET INVOLVED OR ENGAGED IN WHAT YOUR ELECTED GOVERNMENT IS DOING:
1. Get to know who represents the district you live in. They get paid and earn salaries to represent your interests, concerns and opinions. If they don't listen to you -that's their job - they'll listen to other "special interests" or "private investments" who may promote their own agendas.
2. Take the time to get informed - Take advantage of all the resources you can get. It's here right at your fingertips!
3. Make contact any way you want - use the phone, use email, or talk directly with either the seven elected officials or salaried City Hall employees >

  




________________________________________________
ITEMS NOT ON THE CONSENT AGENDA

Item 9
Conduct a public hearing and take action on the following ordinances adopting modified City-owned utility terms/rates/fees/charges:

19-1056
Conduct a public hearing on modifications to terms/rates/fees/charges of City-owned utilities: items 9-b through 9-f.
Item 9-a



20-0032 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for electric utility services. (Districts 1 and 4)
9-b
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20-0034 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for natural gas utility services. (Citywide)
9-c
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20-0035 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for water utility services. Proposed changes include rate modifications for non-residential water utility services, and adjustments for residential usage tiers without increasing the dollar amount per tier. (Citywide)
9-d
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20-0036 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for non-residential wastewater utility services. (Citywide)
9-e
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20-0037 An ordinance modifying terms/rates/fees/charges for solid waste utility services. Proposed changes include bin, roll-off, and commercial barrel service schedule modifications. (Citywide)
9-f
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Why is this item always the last item on City Council Agendas??
ITEM10 Items from citizens present. 
(Maximum of three speakers for three minutes per speaker).

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ACTION ITEM 5
5 Introduction of the following ordinance and setting February 10, 2020 as the date of the public hearing on this ordinance:

20-0073 Amending Title 11, the Zoning Ordinance, of the Mesa City Code,
> by adding Chapter 15: Leisure and Recreation Zone District to Article 2: Base Zone
> by adding the Leisure and Recreation Base Zone to Chapter 3: Designation of Zoning Districts, Zoning Map, and Boundaries to Article 1: Introductory Provisions. (Citywide)
This amendment allows for entitled property to be zoned specifically for either public or private recreational uses as a stand-alone unique zoning district, geared towards parks and open space recreational uses.
Staff Recommendation:  Approval P&Z
Board Recommendation:  Approval
*5-a
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ACTION ITEMS
> 12 Contracts 
Item *3-a  through *3-m
> 4 Resolutions
Item *4-a through *4-d




CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
All citizens are permitted and encouraged to speak on agenda items including and preceding “Items from citizens present.” If you are interested in speaking on such an agenda item, please fill out a blue card in the back of the room and give it to the City Clerk.  When the Council considers the item, you will be called to the podium to provide your comments.