Saturday, October 15, 2022

Influence & Power Forever Spreading? Phoenix, Austin and Boise, as people seek better weather, cheaper living, more space, and more normal people and experiences.


A shift of seismic proportions - These rising cities are growing so fast that the ring of suburbs around them is sprouting faster too. 

More 'normal' and more unsustainable 

The big picture: "We are so confident in this trend that we are making one of the largest new investments of the digital era in local journalism — betting the top 100 cities and beyond will be reinvented and need clinical coverage of the unfolding change."

 

www.axios.com

The next frontier for power and influence

Jim VandeHei
2 - 3 minutes

Jim VandeHei

Illustration of a lightbulb with a location icon for the filament

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

"My biggest obsession about the future of America is the fast — and permanent — rise of population, experimentation, wealth and dynamism outside New York, San Francisco and D.C.

Why it matters: Influence and power are forever spreading to places like Phoenix, Austin and Boise, as people seek better weather, cheaper living, more space, and more normal people and experiences.

These rising cities are growing so fast that the ring of suburbs around them is sprouting faster too.

🔭 Zoom out: There is a permanent realignment. Here's why:

  1. The professional class is leading the revolution. In a tight labor market, millions are demanding the freedom to work from wherever. Yes, some will be forced back into full-time, in-person work. But millions of smart, educated, well-paid people will never return.
  2. Ground zero for the next wave of technologies. You need density — lots of people, tons of talent — to bring 5G (exponentially faster internet), drone delivery, driverless cars and digitally connected cities to life. This is a big reason places like Phoenix and Denver are booming. These technologies will be perfected and regulated in rising cities.
  3. Uncle Sam's nudge. The rollout of 5G and faster internet, expedited by last year's infrastructure law, should make it even easier for workers to live near these cities but also have land and space, widening the local labor pool.
  4. Business cements it. The smart businesses are adapting fast, starting hubs in rising cities, allowing people to work from home, buying up shared office space for those who want in-person options, and raising their profiles in recruitment and image advertising. Business goes where the action is.

🖼️ The big picture: We are so confident in this trend that we are making one of the largest new investments of the digital era in local journalism — betting the top 100 cities and beyond will be reinvented and need clinical coverage of the unfolding change.

  • Click here to see the 24 cities of Axios Local (more soon). Please subscribe if you live in one.
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IDEOLOGICAL SHIFTS ON FOREIGN INTERVENTIONS + PROXY WARFARE

Intro: A new breed of veterans, many with remarkable biographies and undeniable stories of heroism, are running for the House on the far right of the Republican Party, challenging old assumptions that adding veterans to Congress — men and women who fought for the country and defended the Constitution — would foster bipartisanship and cooperation. At the same time, they are embracing anti-interventionist military and foreign policies that, since the end of World War II, have been associated more with the Democratic left than the mainline G.O.P.
www.nytimes.com

New Generation of Combat Vets, Eyeing House, Strike From the Right 

Jonathan Weisman
13 - 17 minutes

"A class of political newcomers with remarkable military records are challenging old ideas about interventionism — and the assumption that electing veterans is a way to bring back bipartisanship. . .In five weeks, Mr. Kent, 42, a candidate for a House seat in Washington State that was long represented by a soft-spoken moderate Republican, may well be elected to Congress. And he is far from alone.

Mr. Kent was more cutting about organizations that ostensibly back veterans bound for bipartisanship but refused to back him.

“It’s a gimmick,” he said, dismissing the groups as hawkish interventionists. “It’s just another way to get the neoconservative, neoliberal ideology furthered by wrapping it in the valor of service. Our service.”

Joe Kent prays with supporters at a campaign event in Kent, Wash.
Credit...Nathan Howard/Getty Images

✓ Eli Crane, 42, running in a Republican-leaning House district in Arizona, saw five wartime deployments with SEAL Team 3 over 13 years — as a sniper, manning machine-gun turrets and running kill-or-capture missions with the Delta Force against high-value targets, some in Falluja. Mr. Crane presses the false case that the 2020 election was stolen.

✓ Alek Skarlatos, 30, a Republican candidate in Oregon, helped thwart a terrorist attack on a packed train bound for Paris, was honored by President Barack Obama and played himself in a Clint Eastwood movie about the incident. Mr. Skarlatos now says the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has been used as an excuse “to demonize Trump supporters.”

✓ And Derrick Van Orden, 53, who is favored to win a House seat in Wisconsin, retired as a Navy SEAL senior chief after combat deployments in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa and Central and South America. Mr. Van Orden was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, hoping to disrupt the certification of President Biden’s election. . .

✓ For Mr. Bolduc, the Senate nominee in New Hampshire, the ideological shift has been more dramatic. He was one of the first Americans to make contact with Hamid Karzai, who was installed as Afghanistan’s president shortly after the U.S. invasion, and was an outspoken defender of him. In 2018, just after Gen. Bolduc’s retirement, he decried the Trump White House in The Daily Beast for “exacerbating divisiveness by not demonstrating patience and restraint, not listening to experts, attacking people for their opinions, ruining reputations, threatening institutions, abusing the media, and leading people to question our position as a beacon for promoting democracy throughout the world.”

✓ . . .Several Democrats with national security backgrounds, like Representatives Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria of Virginia and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, are running explicitly on their service records to bolster their bipartisan bona fides.

But more partisan veterans groups say this year’s candidates are pointing out a central fallacy: “People say if we just elect more veterans to Congress, things will be hunky dory, but there’s no precedent for that, no data that suggests veterans act different from anyone else,” said Dan Caldwell, an adviser to the conservative group Concerned Veterans for America.


Beyond their right-wing leanings, all share in common a deep skepticism about U.S. interventionism, borne of years of fighting in the post-9/11 war on terrorism and the belief that their sacrifices only gave rise to more instability and repression wherever the United States put boots on the ground.

Where earlier generations of combat veterans in Congress became die-hard defenders of a global military footprint, the new cohort is unafraid to launch ad hominem attacks on the men who still lead U.S. forces.

“I worked for Milley. I worked for Austin. I worked for Mattis,” said Don Bolduc, 60, the retired brigadier general challenging Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, of Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the current and former defense secretaries Lloyd Austin and Jim Mattis. “Their concerns centered around the military-industrial complex and maintaining the military-industrial complex, so as three- and four-star generals, they can roll right into very lucrative jobs.”

Mr. Austin and Mr. Mattis declined to comment. A defense official close to Gen. Milley said, “there isn’t a shred of evidence indicating Gen. Milley has been concerned with maintaining the military industrial complex and has no plans to seek employment in the defense industry after retirement.”

No one has questioned these men’s valor, as some have questioned that of another pro-Trump House candidate, J.R. Majewski of Ohio, who appears to have exaggerated his combat record.

But their pivots to the far right have confounded other veterans, especially those who have long pressed former service members to run for office as problem-solving moderates less vulnerable to shifting partisan winds. Organizations like New Politics, and With Honor Action were founded in the past decade on the notion that records of service would promote cooperation in government. That ideal is under assault.


“When you think about the faith of the mission, listen, this is hard,” said Rye Barcott, founder and chief executive officer of With Honor Action. “I mean, the trends have certainly gotten worse.”

Democratic veterans, however, see the newer veteran candidates’ willingness to embrace Mr. Trump’s lies as a precursor to totalitarianism, and in contravention of their service. “We all took the same oath,” said Representative Ruben Gallego, a former Marine who saw some of the worst combat of the Iraq war. “We all understand the Constitution of United States, and some of these men are really leaning into outright fascism.”

The candidates insist their views were informed by their combat experiences and demonstrate wisdom, not radicalization. . .


SEX-POSITIVE APPROACH

Itkis – an Army cyber operations officer – is also a strong proponent of the rights of sex workers. 


 

PLEASE NOTE - The post Liberal congressional candidate releases his own porn movie to demonstrate his ‘sex positive approach’ appeared first on TheBlaze

10 hours ago · Manhattan congressional candidate Mike Itkis is letting it all hang out to win votes ... releasing a sex tape to show he's got the goods to ...

 
1 day ago · Manhattan Congressional candidate Mike Itkis released an online porn video starring
dnyuz.com

Liberal congressional candidate releases his own porn movie to demonstrate his ‘sex positive approach’

4 - 5 minutes

"A liberal New York congressional candidate hopes to raise his chances in the upcoming election by releasing his own sex tape.

Mike Itkis is a “liberal independent” candidate who desires to discharge Rep. Jerry Nadler (D) from holding the seat in New York’s 12th Congressional District. Itkis is running on a campaign that “supports abortion rights, gun control, equal economic opportunities for everyone, strong social safety nets, and appropriate government control over markets to assure fair trade practices.”

. . .

“One of my three primary goals is to advance sex positivity, including several proposals for legislation designed to explicitly protect sexual rights by ending government involvement in marriage, the right to not become a parent in case of pregnancy, a right for women to terminate an abortion, decriminalization of sex between consenting adults, a nation-wide definition of consent, and legalization of sex work,” Itkis said.

To show that he is a hardened supporter of sex positivity, Itkis released a 13-minute video on the adult video website Pornhub. Itkis – a registered Democrat – starred in the sex movie with porn star Nicole Sage.

Itkis gushed about the X-rated movie, “One of the most meaningful experiences of my life.”

“Creating the video significantly influenced my political platform, leading me to create the principles of sex work legalization, to speak about the complexities of consent, and the pros and cons of privacy considerations,” Itkis revealed.

Itkis told New York’s City & State publication, “If I would just talk about it, it wouldn’t demonstrate my commitment to the issue.”

The New York congressional candidate said the erotic video would serve as a “starting point for conversations about the equal value of married people and those who are not, the expansion on sexual rights beyond abortion, and finally, the need to provide all citizens the tools necessary to protect themselves online.”

✓ “I’m very much an introvert,” Itkis claimed. “I’m kind of a nerd who doesn’t like to be the center of attention if I can avoid it. But I thought the issues I’m trying to address are so important… I wanted to have my issues talked about in some way.”

Itkis slammed both political parties.


“The far right, led by the Supreme Court, has a negative view of sexual rights, pursuing the position that sex should only happen between a married man and woman, clearly leaving out multiple demographics such as single individuals, and people whom the ‘traditional’ marriage arrangement doesn’t work,” he claimed. “With this worldview in mind, modern conservatives are clearly opposed to sexually-explicit speech as well as research that doesn’t comply with their views.”

✓ “Unfortunately, many Democrats have also opposed freedom of speech, contributing to ‘cancel culture’ and political correctness,” he coontinued. “Being born in the Soviet Union, I’m well aware of the consequences for people who deviate from the party line, and am strongly opposed to restrictions on speech because someone may be offended.”

Mike Zumbluskas – the Republican candidate running in New York’s 12th Congressional District – somewhat understood the public relations stunt by Itkis.

“You gotta do what you gotta do,” Zumbluskas said. “The media ignores everybody that’s not a Democrat in the city.”

Fit-Pitching Celebrity DipShits

Debunking debating 

m.dailykos.com

And So Here We Are, Watching a Crazy Man Wave a Toy Badge Around, Calling It “Politics”

by ShowerCap
10 - 12 minutes

"If you’re just tuning in, and O how I envy your blissful ignorance if you are, a substantial chunk of the American electorate has gone quite insane, and seems determined to stay that way. They simply will not be enticed from the madhouse, though it is filling with sewage and infested with angry badgers and also on fire. It’s the damndest thing.

From a certain angle, the United States is a public pool, one we must all share, and I just wish dudes like Kanye West and Elon Musk would stop peeing in it. Or maybe the trouble is the people who like the pee. People who, in fact, only come to the pool at all to get pissed on by fit-pitching celebrity dipshits. Republicans, in other words.

Kanye. Elon. Trump. . .and all I’m saying is Republicans are bad at choosing role models, and more people should say so. . ."

m.dailykos.com

They finally debated: Warnock talked policy. Walker pulled out a prop sheriff’s badge

by Rebekah Sager for Daily Kos
8 - 10 minutes

Before Sen. Ralph Warnock and Herschel Walker walked onto the debate stage Friday night, supporters for both men raged outside of the venue in Savannah, Georgia, holding signs and chanting loudly.  

While the Sen. Warnock’s supporters were primarily Black, with chants that were heartfelt and deeply soulful, fans of the Republican nominee Herschel Walker were primarily white, and their cheers were sad and sort of out of rhythm. In many ways, the supporters mimicked the candidates.

Walker, who has the endorsement of Donald Trump, toed the GOP company line at the debate. He blustered against Warnock with the all too familiar rhetoric of high taxes, open borders, inflation, and Christian values like bashing transgender athletes. His opening statement ended with “I’m gonna fix it,” something only someone with zero understanding of governing would say.

Warnock spoke about growing up as one of 12 children in a housing project just a mile from the debate stage, and talked about policies that offered equality for all on issues such as health care, student loan debt, a price cap on insulin, and an American’s right to choose their reproductive health. There is no doubt these two men could not be more different. . ."

www.theblaze.com


Herschel Walker shines in debate, exposes Warnock's leftist record: 'Instead of aborting those babies, why are you not baptizing those babies?'

Cortney Weil
5 - 6 minutes

Republican challenger Herschel Walker of Georgia outperformed expectations in the first major debate of his political career. Walker is vying for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Democrat Raphael Warnock, who was elected in a runoff two years ago.

On Friday, the two candidates met on stage for their first and only debate. They were asked questions about a wide range of issues, including abortion, packing the U.S. Supreme Court, high gas prices, and recent spikes in violent crime. Walker managed to land several figurative blows on the incumbent, and clips of his performance have since gone viral.

Perhaps Walker's most memorable moment came when he attacked Warnock, a Christian pastor, for his support for abortion without limitations.

"[Sen. Warnock] told me that black lives matter," Walker said. "And if you think about it, Senator, in Atlanta, Georgia, there's more black babies that is aborted than anything. So, if black lives matter, why are you not protecting those babies? And instead of aborting those babies, why are you not baptizing those babies?"

\u201cHerschel Walker (R): \u201cIf Black Lives Matter, why are you not protecting those babies, and instead of aborting those babies, why are you not baptizing those babies?\u201d\n\nSen. Raphael Warnock (D): \u201cI think the women of Georgia have a clear choice.\u201d\u201d

— The Recount (@The Recount) 1665790058

Walker has made his Christian faith a central component of his campaign. In his opening remarks, he reaffirmed Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and frequently referenced Christian values as the basis for his worldview. When asked whether he paid for a woman to abort his child in 2009, Walker denied the accusation and explained in part, "[O]n abortion, you know, I'm a Christian. I believe in life."

But abortion was not the only issue on which Walker challenged Warnock. He claimed that Warnock has voted to support the agenda of President Joe Biden 96% of the time. He also tied Warnock to Biden's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, contrasting his own friendship and loyalty to former President Trump to the lack of loyalty shown to those in Afghanistan and those U.S. servicemen and women who died or were injured in the withdrawal.


"President Trump is my friend," Walker said. "I won't leave my allies, which is what Senator Warnock and Joe Biden did in Afghanistan. They left their allies."

\u201cModerator: "Would you support a Trump 2024 run?"\n\nHerschel Walker: "Yes I would. President Trump is my friend I won't leave my allies, which is what Senator Warnock and Joe Biden did in Afghanistan."\u201d

— Becker News (@Becker News) 1665811629

Walker blamed Warnock and Biden for rising gas prices and called for a return to the energy independence America enjoyed under Trump.

\u201cHerschel Walker on how to start lowering prices: \u201cFirst of all, we got to become energy independent again.\u201d #GASenDebate\u201d

— RNC Research (@RNC Research) 1665789801

Walker also mentioned that Warnock's Ebenezer Baptist Church has reportedly been sued by former tenants who claim that church leaders evicted them for as little as $28.55 in late rent, even as the church allegedly gives Warnock, a senior pastor, a housing allowance of more than $7,400 a month.

Warnock attacked Walker as well. In an especially dramatic moment, Warnock accused his opponent of having pretended to be a police officer, a statement which prompted cheers from supporters in the audience. Walker then pulled a badge from his pocket to demonstrate an affiliation with law enforcement, a move that debate moderators chastised as against the rules.

\u201cSen. Raphael Warnock (D): \u201cOne thing I have not done \u2014 I have never pretended to be a police officer, and I\u2019ve never threatened a shootout with the police.\u201d\n\nIn response, Herschel Walker (R) pulled out a prop badge: \u201cI am work with many police officers.\u201d\u201d

— Heartland Signal (@Heartland Signal) 1665791461

The exact nature of the badge and its authenticity are unknown.

Last month, Walker, a political rookie, seemed to try to temper expectations about his future debate performance, insisting to reporters, "I'm a country boy. I'm not that smart. He's a preacher. (Warnock) is smart and wears these nice suits. So, he is going to show up and embarrass me at the debate Oct. 14th, and I'm just waiting to show up and I will do my best."

However, the former Heisman Trophy winner appeared to use his southern drawl and folksy manner of speaking to his advantage, establishing himself as a true Georgian, not a global elitist.

The Walker/Warnock race remains tight. The RealClearPolitics polling average has Warnock with a 3.3-point advantage. No polling data has been released since the debate.


TOM TOMORROW

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What's Next in Wars >> MIXED-REALITY HEADGEAR: The Public Sector's $21.9 Billion-Dollar Deal

According to the reports, Microsoft's deal, said to be worth $21.9 billion, represents the public sector's largest mixed reality deal ever, so both parties have strong reason to get it right. In a statement to Bloomberg, Microsoft said it has quickly built and modified the IVAS gear to "deliver enhanced soldier safety and effectiveness" and that the company is "moving forward with the production and delivery of the initial set” of headsets.


But just like off the battlefield, the emerging technology is struggling to prove its value-add. . .

Apr 22, 2022 · IVAS is a military goggle that overlays tactically relevant information in a Soldier's line of sight to increase lethality, mobility, and ...
The IVAS HUD provides a see-through display and augmented reality capability with integrated thermal and low-light imaging sensors, a built-in compass for ...
Aug 11, 2022 · The US Army's 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers have conducted operational testing of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) at ...
Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) from breakingdefense.com
Jul 21, 2022 · WASHINGTON: While the Army continues to analyze how its next-gen Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) did in a recent test, ...

arstechnica.com

US Army soldiers felt ill while testing Microsoft’s HoloLens-based headset 



by Scharon Harding - Oct 13, 2022 5:19 pm UTC 
Scharon Harding / Scharon is Ars Technica’s Senior Products Expert and writes news, reviews, and features on consumer technology, including laptops, PC peripherals, and lifestyle gadgets. She’s based in Brooklyn.
5 - 6 minutes

"The devices would have gotten us killed," an Army reportedly claims.

Microsoft and the US Army are continuing to explore how to make mixed reality an aid rather than a hindrance for soldiers. A US Army report that Bloomberg and Business Insider claim to have accessed indicates that Microsoft's HoloLens-based headsets, during testing, made soldiers feel physically ill and more vulnerable to harm. . . "

ARIZONA AMPLIFIED: "Arizona is a Petri dish. We have all this outside money coming in,” | The Guardian

The citizens’ initiative process is enshrined in Arizona’s constitution, and previously led to the state implementing mandatory sick time and a higher minimum wage , legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana and banning indoor smoking.

Arizona is ‘one of the hardest states’ for ballot initiatives

But it’s become costly and legally complicated to run measures here in the past decade, as stricter laws pushed by a Republican legislature threaten to derail citizen-led campaigns. It now costs as much as $10m to collect signatures, not including the additional millions needed to withstand court challenges and front a successful campaign to win. . .

www.theguardian.com

Republicans in Arizona push measures to curtail citizen-led initiatives

9 - 11 minutes

In November, voters in Arizona will decide whether to limit citizens’ ability to get measures on the ballot, a change that could severely curtail direct democracy.

Three upcoming measures, referred to the ballot by Republican state lawmakers, would require a supermajority to approve any taxes on the ballot, limit initiatives to one topic and allow lawmakers to alter ballot measures if any language is illegal or unconstitutional.

In total, the measures represent a final step in the Arizona legislature’s years-long attempt to hamper citizen initiatives, which allow voters to circumvent the legislature altogether by collecting signatures from their fellow residents on issues to send to the ballot. With Republicans in control of the legislature, progressive causes — like minimum wage increases in 2016 and marijuana legalization in 2020 — have used the initiative process to bypass lawmakers in recent years.

“We’ve seen, since minimum wage passed, a very deliberate effort to make direct democracy more difficult and more expensive. This is the knockout punch,” said Stacy Pearson, a spokesperson for Will of the People Arizona, a campaign against the three measures. “So we’re in the last round of the boxing match. And this would be the end.”

 . . . The new measures have support not only from Republican-elected officials, but heavy hitters like the Arizona chamber of commerce and industry and the state GOP.

They join a national trend of GOP-initiated attempts to curtail citizen-led ballot measures. In Arkansas, voters will weigh a measure to require a 60% majority for most ballot measures. And in South Dakota in June, voters rejected a 60% threshold for tax measures, which would have made it more difficult for voters to approve Medicaid expansion at the ballot this November.


 

“What we’re seeing is red states trying to curtail this tool that citizens have used really successfully to move policies that are otherwise stuck for, usually, political reasons,” said Hannah Ledford, deputy executive director and campaigns director for the Fairness Project...

The three proposals from Republican lawmakers would hinder citizen initiatives in different ways, each of which will affect whether groups will decide to run measures in the first place.

 

✓ Perhaps the most major change, and one similar to the measure that recently failed in South Dakota, is contained in Proposition 132, which would require 60% of voters in order to pass a ballot measure that “approves a tax”.

✓ Another referral, Proposition 129, calls for ballot measures to focus on a single subject, which must be reflected in the title of the measure.

Lawmakers must follow a single-subject rule. The state budget process, which frequently jammed tons of unrelated provisions into budget bills, was recently struck down by the Arizona supreme court for violating single-subject and title laws. The sponsor of the referral, Arizona Republican congressman John Kavanagh, said an initiative could still have many provisions, as long as they all relate directly to the subject and title of the measure.

✓ The third proposal, Proposition 128, relates to measures that contain “illegal or unconstitutional language”, as determined by the courts. If measures have such language, lawmakers can amend or repeal it – something they cannot do now, because the Voter Protection Act prevents lawmakers from tinkering with voter-approved laws unless they have a three-fourths majority and further the intent of the measure. 


[    ]  Those opposed to the three measures believe voters will see through the attempt to limit their own power and reject all three.

“They seem to have done a really good job in putting together progressives on the merits and libertarians on the government overreach, which – when you combine that – we have enough votes to defeat these,” Pearson said."