When we think about HOSTING SERVER NOSY NEIGHBOR AND GANG as black market 24/7 PORN MULES------and BARBER SURGEONS moving forward MILITARIZED TELEMEDICINE----AKA-----STANFORD TOTAL PRISON MODEL------my lawsuit looks at this global private military structure as the source for these MILITARIZED MEDICINE people. We have discussed FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES having a global private militarized policing and security having nothing to do with SOVEREIGN NATIONS----operating as MERCENARIES----FOR HIRE.

We discussed last week how GLOBAL MINING CORPORATE DeBEERS is tops in creating MINING SECURITY which morphs into these global mercenary corporations.

When we shout against STANFORD TOTAL PRISON MODEL being called TELEMEDICINE------and claim these BARBER SURGEONS are tied to TRANSHUMANISM----to meet the goal for GLOBAL MINING CORPS like DeBEER -------to build planetary mining colonies.

We love our US military and police----we DON'T LIKE those agencies replaced by these global mercenary security corporations which work to maximize CORPORATE PROFIT having no connection to CIVIL RIGHTS/CITIZENS' RIGHTS----WHAT SOVEREIGN CITIZEN?

We often say it takes ATHEIST/SATANIST to advance TRANSHUMANISM----and all this STANFORD TOTAL MODEL pretending it is TELEMEDICINE. These guys are trained to set aside emotions-----blind ambition for THE MISSION.

NAVY SEALS WERE TOP RECRUITS FOR BLACKWATER---THEN ZE----AND THEY ARE TOPS FOR SPACE X----

Our US NAVY SEALS are not the same as global privatized mercenary security corporations-----like DeBEERS.  You can love your NAVY SEALS-----but not want those global private mercenary security corporations inside US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES.


Lt. Jonny Kim says the 'controlled aggression' he learned as a Navy SEAL and doctor is what helped him become a NASA astronaut

dchoi@businessinsider.com (David Choi)
,
Business Insider•January 25, 2020


Josh Valcarcel/NASA

• US Navy Lt. Jonny Kim, a Navy SEAL and Harvard-trained physician who recently graduated from NASA training, stressed that the skills he obtained throughout his military career complemented the ones he gained from his medical experience.
• In an interview with Business Insider, Kim outlined the "hard skills" he learned from being a SEAL — from deploying twice to Iraq, to participating in dozens of combat missions and earning a Silver Star.
• Kim contrasted the hard skills with "soft skill" traits that he picked up during his education from Harvard Medical School and his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

US Navy Lt. Jonny Kim, a Navy SEAL and Harvard-trained physician who recently graduated from NASA training, stressed that the skills he obtained throughout his military career complemented the ones he gained from his medical experience.



In an interview with Business Insider, Kim outlined the "hard skills" he learned from being a SEAL — from deploying twice to Iraq, to participating in dozens of combat missions and earning a Silver Star.


"The SEALs were very good in teaching me hard skills — that means resilience, pushing past your mental and physical boundaries; and having an enormously high threshold for pain," Kim said.


Kim contrasted the hard skills with "soft skill" traits that he picked up during his education from Harvard Medical School and his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.



"All of these things that are very useful, but some ... I had to learn outside of the SEALs," Kim said. "And that meant adapting to people in your civic group, communicating with people from all walks of life."



"You don't work with two-year-old toddlers who are in the emergency room, or 85-year-olds who are on their deathbed and want someone to talk to and hold their hand with," Kim said, referring to his military experience. "A lot of those soft skills — working with groups of people who I've never met before to accomplish a mission, adapting to personality types — those are skills I've learned outside the SEAL time."

Kim said it was a mixture of the soft and hard skills he learned that enabled him to become one of the 13 astronaut candidates to graduate from NASA's latest program.


"I would say that the combination of those two skills, soft and hard skills, really enabled me to be a good candidate as an astronaut," Kim said.


But possessing the two traits is only half the battle, Kim said — it's also important to know when to apply each skill set. Despite some of the stereotypes of being a Navy SEAL, Kim said nearly all of the SEALs he served with were masters of controlling their emotions, a skill that helped him transition from being a SEAL to a physician and astronaut.


"I know that SEALs [have] this connotation of being very aggressive and hardcore," Kim said. "And in a lot of ways, that's correct, but I'd like to make this point clear: 99% of Navy SEALs are the most quiet, humble, professional warriors that exercise very controlled aggression."


"Controlled aggression, to me, is one of the most important traits to have," he added. "To have that social intelligence to know when to exert aggression in the military environment, and when to stay calm, cool, and collected."
__________________________________


Now, G4S is just such a global private mercenary security corporation headquartered in UK------somehow allowed to use that term HOMELAND SECURITY. Now, one would think this means US HOMELAND SECURITY-----but, this is a GLOBAL FOREIGN CORPORATION. Securing borders----protecting vital resources----


Hmmmm, that used to be our US MILITARY and state national guards.


G4S can easily be that DeBEERS global mining security corporation rebranded and here in US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES----like Baltimore. Someone working for G4S----would not be working under US law-----Baltimore local charters or laws---they would be working under a global corporate tribunal mandate---IF THESE CORPORATIONS EVEN PAID ATTENTION TO THAT TRIBUNAL

So, here in Baltimore we have plenty of SECURITY GUARDS et al working only for global corporations---not seeing any SOVEREIGN BALTIMORE CITIZENS.

This is how these several decades overseas sovereign citizens---those 99% of WE THE OVERSEAS CITIZENS---have been targeted as ENEMY COMBATANTS  inside their own nations. 


Homeland Security
Securing international borders and efficiently managing the flow of legitimate visitors.
Keamanan Wilayah

Effective border protection is central to homeland security policy for governments around the world and is an increasingly important issue for citizens concerned about potential security risks posed by visitors without a legal right to stay or who may intend to cause harm.

At G4S we understand the bigger picture and the challenges of keeping borders secure. We draw on our expertise in risk consultancy, technology, project management and logistics plus our international experience of working alongside immigration and border agencies to deliver effective border control services.

By seeing the wider challenges of border protection, G4S assists governments in maintaining and building trust in the security of international borders, reducing operating costs and building stronger reputations by improving the experience of the visitors we serve.

Recognise that secure and beneficial solutions come from understanding the challenges of protecting international borders and the interdependence of the parts. Let us help you see the opportunities that exist in the challenge of securing your world.
ABOUT G4S

G4S is the leading global, integrated security company, specialising in the provision of security services and solutions to customers. Our mission is to create material, sustainable value for our customers and shareholders by being the supply partner of choice in all of our markets.

G4S is quoted on the London Stock Exchange and has a secondary stock exchange listing in Copenhagen. G4S is active around 100 countries and has more than 585,000 employees. For more information on G4S, visit www.g4s.com.

_________________________________________

Now, G4S is just such a global private mercenary security corporation headquartered in UK------somehow allowed to use that term HOMELAND SECURITY. Now, one would think this means US HOMELAND SECURITY-----but, this is a GLOBAL FOREIGN CORPORATION. Securing borders----protecting vital resources----

Hmmmm, that used to be our US MILITARY and state national guards.

G4S can easily be that DeBEERS global mining security corporation rebranded and here in US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES----like Baltimore. Someone working for G4S----would not be working under US law-----Baltimore local charters or laws---they would be working under a global corporate tribunal mandate---IF THESE CORPORATIONS EVEN PAID ATTENTION TO THAT TRIBUNAL

So, here in Baltimore we have plenty of SECURITY GUARDS et al working only for global corporations---not seeing any SOVEREIGN BALTIMORE CITIZENS.

This employment figure of 620,000 people is quite large----and these people see themselves as working for THIS CORPORATION no matter where in the world-----NOT ALL-AMERICAN.



'Currently, G4S employs more than 620,000 people, which makes it the third biggest employer in the private sector globally'.

***************************************************************

Homeland Security
Securing international borders and efficiently managing the flow of legitimate visitors.
Keamanan Wilayah

Effective border protection is central to homeland security policy for governments around the world and is an increasingly important issue for citizens concerned about potential security risks posed by visitors without a legal right to stay or who may intend to cause harm.

At G4S we understand the bigger picture and the challenges of keeping borders secure. We draw on our expertise in risk consultancy, technology, project management and logistics plus our international experience of working alongside immigration and border agencies to deliver effective border control services.

By seeing the wider challenges of border protection, G4S assists governments in maintaining and building trust in the security of international borders, reducing operating costs and building stronger reputations by improving the experience of the visitors we serve.

Recognise that secure and beneficial solutions come from understanding the challenges of protecting international borders and the interdependence of the parts. Let us help you see the opportunities that exist in the challenge of securing your world.
ABOUT G4S

G4S is the leading global, integrated security company, specialising in the provision of security services and solutions to customers. Our mission is to create material, sustainable value for our customers and shareholders by being the supply partner of choice in all of our markets.

G4S is quoted on the London Stock Exchange and has a secondary stock exchange listing in Copenhagen. G4S is active around 100 countries and has more than 585,000 employees. For more information on G4S, visit www.g4s.com.

________________________________________

When we say THE NETWORK----our PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE---and suggest that a NOSY NEIGHBOR AND THE GANG can easily HACK INTO this system------and follow anyone ---this is what we mean in my case of HOSTING SERVER NOSY NEIGHBORS AND THE GANG-----

Baltimore allows this global private security corporation to hire PLENTY of people-----even after being SACKED in their own nation of origin----for OPENLY CRIMINAL AND CORRUPT activities.

So, when we think of our US CITIES AS FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES---and we think of just who is on THE NETWORK------this ONE corporation and its employees would be just one example----

PRETENDING TO HAVE CLIENTS THAT DO NOT EXIST------AND BILLING ----THAT SOUNDS VERY MUCH LIKE HOSTING SERVER NOSY NEIGHBORS AND GANG.

These GANGS HITTING US citizens with 24/7 illegal streaming video PORN-----don't have to be ROGUE EMPLOYEES of a corporation like this----they can be FORMER EMPLOYEES having learned THE NETWORK tricks of the trade.

G4s Security Jobs - Positions in Baltimore

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  Security Officer Baltimore, Maryland $14.50
  Security Officer
  Location: Baltimore, Maryland | Salary: $14.50 | Posted: 12 Jun 2019 | Closes: 12 Jul 2019 | Job Type: Permanent & Part-time | Business Unit: US Secure Solutions | Region / Division: North America | Reference: G4S/TP/3742188/159105
  Job Introduction:
  
  The world's leading private security organization, G4S, has an immediate job opportunity for a Custom Protection Officer. G4S is a security provider for the United States government, fortune 500 companies, nuclear power plants, oil and gas companies, airport, ports, banks, hospitals, factories, warehouses, commercial facilities, residential communities and much more.
  
  As a full time employee of G4S, you will be entitled to the following benefits:
  
  Major Medical, Dental and Vision
  Paid vacation
  401K
  Opportunities for additional training to aid in your professional development....

Baltimore uses these ANKLE BANDS for its non-violent violators------but, MOONLIGHTING for someone like HOSTING SERVER NOSY NEIGHBOR------EASY PEASY to do.

If a local political machine wants to put out a HIT-------someone working for---or a former employee would fit this bill.


At last!

G4S and Serco sacked from tagging criminals after overcharging by millions as ministers get tough with private contractors

• Tagging scandal suggests one in six of 18,000 tags billed for were not real
• Serious Fraud Office is looking at claims after government internal audit

By Matt Chorley, MailOnline Political Editor
Published: 05:19 EST, 12 December 2013 | Updated: 07:25 EST, 12 December 2013


Private contractors Seco and G4S were today dramatically dumped from tagging criminals as punishment for overcharging the taxpayer.


In a dramatic move by ministers who have tolerated a string of failures by private firms, the companies have been stripped of the multi-million contracts.


Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said rival firm Capita would take on the work, after claims Serco and G4S overcharged for tens of thousands of criminals, including those who had left the country, been returned to prison or even died.


Fired: Security giants Serco and G4S have been dumped as the contractors responsible for tagging thousands of criminals


Last month admitted overcharging taxpayers by more than £24million for ‘phantom’ electronic tags that had been removed – or were never fitted in the first place.
But the Government refused to accept its offer of a ‘credit note’ for the sum and is expected to draw up its own bill once an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office is concluded.


Now the electronic monitoring contracts will be handed over to Capita on an interim basis at the end of the financial year. Capita is also in the running to take on the contracts permanently.


Mr Grayling said: 'This signals a fresh start for electronic monitoring that brings us a step closer to introducing the most advanced tagging system in the world.


'Monitoring the movements of dangerous and repeat offenders will be vital in cutting crime, creating a safer society with fewer victims and offering greater protection and reassurance to the public.'


Officials are now in talks with preferred bidders, with permanent contracts expected to be awarded for GPS tagging later in 2014.


In a written statement, Mr Grayling added: 'We have signed a contract with Capita to take over the management of the existing electronic monitoring services on an interim basis.


'This will mean that management of these services, which are now operated by G4S and Serco, will transition to Capita by the end of the current financial year.


'Under these arrangements, Capita will be using the systems and equipment of G4S and Serco, but the two companies will no longer have a direct role in delivering the service on the ground.'


However,  Labour's shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said: 'G4S and Serco’s contracts were always due to run out at the end of March anyway, and both companies had already said they wouldn’t bid for the next contract.


'This is Ministry of Justice spin to mask the inaction of ministers.


'Neither company have been sacked, as ministers would have us believe.


'It should never have been a decision left to the companies, and ministers should have ruled them out months ago and stripped them of their contracts well before they were due to run out anyway.'


Allegations that the taxpayer has been ripped off are now being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.

The government launched a review of all contracts with G4S and Serco signed by every government department after doubts were raised about the use of taxpayers’ money.


The scandal could date back as far as 1999, when tagging of criminals began in England and Wales.


Since then the taxpayer has spent £1billion on tagging and monitoring offenders. The current contracts began in 2005.


In some cases private contractors charged the Government for years after tagging had stopped and cases included being charged for tags for dead people.
G4S has apologised and offered to repay £24.1 million.


A spokesman said it accepted it ‘wrongly considered itself to be contractually entitled to bill for monitoring services when equipment had not been fitted or after it had been removed’.


The company insisted an independent review it commissioned ‘has not identified any evidence of dishonesty or criminal conduct by any employee’.


But the Ministry of Justice made clear that the government would not accept the voluntary offer.


A National Audit Office report into the electronic monitoring contracts found evidence the firms were charging for multiple tags on individual criminals.


In one case Serco charged more than £15,000 for monitoring an offender whose home was not even fitted with the equipment.

_______________________________________________

What we hear on THE NETWORK beside lots of US citizens and new US immigrants saying THEY ARE HITTING ME----THEY ARE HITTING OUR CATS AND DOGS-------is a sense of partners working together.  If one group on this NETWORK becomes ROGUE-----these are simply VOICES on a massive public system.

BLACK MARKET SEX TRADE-----WELL, THAT'S NOT HARMING CORPORATE PROFITS-----BUT, IF ONE WERE TO TRY TO STOP A BLACK MARKET SEX TRADE OPERATED BY GLOBAL BANKING 1%----

 We have taken this year to understand ALL these components on THE NETWORK-----this is new------it has no sovereign oversight----and experience informs these corporations having worked in overseas FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES---is that the 99% of WE THE PEOPLE simply get in the way of those maximized PROFITS.

PLEASE STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR LOCAL, COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING/SECURITY.  HOMELAND SECURITY is supposed to be outside and above waiting for a call not being ALL.

We just finished our discussion on TRANSPORTATION public policy----and HOMELAND SECURITY ----whether TRAINS/PLANES/OR AUTOMOBILES should front and center making sure this development is ALL-AMERICAN----

REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE liberal DEMOCRATS----who are ALL-AMERICAN are not to be labelled ENEMY COMBATANTS by any NOSY NEIGHBORS AND THE GANG.


What Does Homeland Security Do?


The responsibility of protecting our nation falls on homeland security professionals in numerous disciplines—from emergency response to counter-terrorism to cybersecurity. And while many people associate the term “homeland security” with terrorist attacks, the industry actually shoulders a much broader set of responsibilities.


“The majority of national security threats are not terrorist in nature,” says David Hagen, assistant teaching professor for Northeastern University. “They are natural disasters like hurricanes or infectious diseases. Working at the Centers for Disease Control is a great example of combating a [non-terroristic] national threat.”

Depending on their roles, people working in homeland security may:

• help to prepare for and mitigate damage from various security threats,
• gather and disseminate intelligence to prepare for such attacks, or
• coordinate responses to hurricanes, floods, and other emergencies

While the specific roles in the homeland security field are highly varied, the one thing the industry professionals all have in common is that they are committed to helping to safeguard our country and the general public.



“Homeland security professionals are protecting all of us on a large scale,” says Jack McDevitt, faculty director for Northeastern’s Master of Arts in Homeland Security program and professor in Northeastern’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. “They are immersed in critical, lifesaving work.”



Where Do Homeland Security Professionals Work?

Unsurprisingly, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—created to promote homeland security and coordinate efforts among other government agencies and private industry—is one of the largest employers of homeland security professionals. With multiple locations in and around Washington, D.C. and throughout the country, the DHS employs approximately 240,000 professionals, making it the third largest department in the U.S. government. Yet earning a degree in homeland security can offer incredible leadership opportunities beyond the department.



“It may come as a surprise to hear, but for every one homeland security job within the government there are three in private industry,” explainsMcDevitt. “Most global companies have security and international investigation units working to protect against piracy, money laundering, and other crimes that could harm their business and/or their employees.”



In addition to the DHS,  common homeland security employers include:


Government Agencies

• Transportation Security Administration
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• U.S. Coast Guard
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Naval Criminal Investigative Service
• U.S. Secret Service
• U.S. Department of State

State and Local Governments

Many local cities and towns hire leaders in emergency management, and most states employ homeland security professionals in offices such as:

• Bureau of Infectious Disease
• Bureau of Public Health
• Bureau of Public Safety
• Hazardous Materials Division
• Information Technology Division
• Emergency Management Agency
• Emergency Medical Services Office

Private IndustryThere are many homeland security career opportunities in the private sector, particularly in industries such as:

• Banking
• Manufacturing
• Transportation and shipping
• Ports (maritime and aviation)

We spoke yesterday about that CHINESE RAIL built through Western and Eastern Europe all the way to Atlantic Coast----Portugal/Spain. Again, we do not care if Chinese businesses operate in America---they have since the beginning of our US HISTORY. THAT IS NOT THE PROBLEM. When a sovereign nation talks about BUILT IN AMERICA---or BUILT IN FRANCE -----the goal is having sovereign, local, domestic manufacturing. This SILK ROAD perpetuates Chinese products as destination for Western markets.


The article stated that the CHINESE SILK ROAD RAIL today only goes ONE WAY------from China to Western Europe. The goals is to bring foreign factories to Western/Eastern Europe to manufacture here as they do in overseas FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES. So, China's rail would be taking that CHINESE FACTORY IN ITALY/SPAIN/PORTUGAL/FRANCE back to Asia. They work in our FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES ---using global labor they choose---and export from these Western nation FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES.



SPANISH/FRENCH/ITALIAN/PORTUGESE 99% WE THE PEOPLE are exported as EX-PATS. That is what will happen in AFRICA and THE AMERICAS.


The global banking 5% freemason/Greek players in US -----the WE DON'T CARE group facilitate this. In US with its big economy ----we have a 5% player---while Africa and Arabia with smaller economies have that 2% to a 1% BOULE.


THIS IS THE LABOR STRUCTURE THAT COMES WITH GLOBAL BANKING 1% OWNING ALL SOVEREIGN NATION INFRASTRUCTURE.

A FB friend makes this comment------we agree far-right wing global banking CLINTON/OBAMA neo-liberal are the problem.



'This is what Boule looks like . He is Co-signing for Black people destruction.


Democrats are Demons look at Baltimore City we are a Democratic State one of the 13th Colonies where Slavery began . KNow your History'.


************************************************
'Kenyan rail workers are protesting against China Road and ...
qz.com/africa/749177/kenyan-rail-workers-are...
Aug 03, 2016 ·

Kenyan rail workers are protesting against their Chinese employer for a raise—to $5 a day. There are high hopes for Kenya’s new rail project. The $13.8 billion standard-gauge railway, being built by a Chinese company, is meant to connect the port city of Mombasa to Nairobi and eventually the rest of East Africa'.


Global banking 1% FAKE NEWS media love to pretend Chinese wages are rising----when in fact EVERY indication is that the brutality of far-right extreme wealth extreme poverty LIBERTARIAN MARXISM is getting worse. So, slave labor being Chinese 99% WE THE PEOPLE and global labor sent in SLAVE trade from other nations are getting NOT PAID-----are getting PAID $5 a day which works to that $120----150 a month.

THIS IS WHAT WORKING ON THE RAILROAD TODAY WILL GET A US99% WE THE PEOPLE WITH MOVING FORWARD INFRASTRUCTURE OWNED BY FOREIGN CORPORATIONS.




Kenyan rail workers are protesting against their Chinese employer for a raise—to $5 a day

By Lily KuoAugust 3, 2016


There are high hopes for Kenya’s new rail project. The $13.8 billion standard-gauge railway, being built by a Chinese company, is meant to connect the port city of Mombasa to Nairobi and eventually the rest of East Africa. It should bring down transportation costs and cement Kenya’s status as the region’s largest economy. Most importantly, building it should create tens of thousands of jobs.



According to workers and locals, the jobs haven’t appeared, or at least not enough of them. On Aug. 2, residents of Kenya’s southwestern Narok county stormed a construction site of the project’s contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), attacking Chinese workers with clubs and knives and chanting “haki yetu” (“our rights”). Fourteen injured Chinese staff were sent to a nearby hospital, according to local media.



The demonstrators, mostly from Kenya’s pastoralist Masai tribe, say they were promised jobs as plant operators and drivers. ”But the job opportunities we have been given are negligible,” one protester told a local television station.


Complaints over pay and working conditions at the Chinese companies that have built many of the country’s roads, buildings, and infrastructure projects over the past few years have become common. But one of the biggest gripes is that Chinese companies in Kenya, as well as across much of the continent, import their own labor.


CRBC, a subsidiary of a state-owned Chinese construction company and one of the biggest Chinese enterprises in Kenya, has become a particular target. It was contracted to build the rail link between Nairobi and Mombasa as well as other parts of a network that will eventually connect Mombasa to hubs like Kampala, Uganda and Juba, South Sudan. In the two years since it began construction, the company has been accused of firing workers without cause, importing labor, stealing water from local communities, and secretly dredging sand from Kenyan beaches for construction material.


A day before the Narok attack, CRBC workers in Nakuru, another construction site for the railway, put down their tools and blocked traffic with sticks and stones. They wanted to be paid 500 shillings ($5) a day instead of 250 shillings—which is about the average wage for unskilled labor—and claimed that workers who had asked for more pay had been fired.


CRBC and Kenya Railways did not respond to requests for comment about the Narok protests or the attack. But the company has tried to defend its hiring practices.



In March, it said it had employed almost 20,000 Kenyans, and only 2,000 Chinese workers. Other attempts to endear itself to the local population include digging boreholes, funding students to study railway engineering in China, holding basketball tournaments, and having its staff enter essay contests. “We see ourselves as a force for good; a transformative agent among the people in the areas we operate,” Steven Zhao, a company official, told local media earlier this month.
________________________________________

This story for Chinese workers who start as children in pre-K to career apprenticeships ---having children free labor as young as 8 years old---but, definitely replacing our MIDDLE-SCHOOL and HIGH SCHOOL with these free student labor structures. Now, as China and other foreign corporations like CHINESE RAIL AND LOGISTICS hit ITALY/SPAIN/FRANCE/PORTUGAL------they bring this CHILD FREE LABOR APPRENTICESHIP pre-K to career.

IT IS INDEED A MONEY-MAKER FOR THOSE CHINESE CORPORATE PROFITS.

'Forced student labour is central to the Chinese economic miracle

Aditya Chakrabortty
Aditya Chakrabortty


China has an army of student labour making Apple products, Playstation consoles and other gadgets for the west. The teenagers' stories make upsetting reading'


This article also states the Chinese labor getting these jobs in Western Europe are the MANAGEMENT ---WHITE COLLAR PROFESSIONALS while Western European workers get the manual labor and indeed it will be $1-3 an hour.

This is happening already in US where US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES bring Chinese foreign corporations filling all MANAGEMENT LEVEL jobs with Chinese workers who don't receive our US professional wage. Meanwhile, our US 99.9% WE THE PEOPLE black, white, and brown not replaced by robotics----will be those WORKING ON THE RAIL ROAD----SLAVE LABOR BLUES.



Will Italy be Overrun by Chinese Workers?

EU Minimum Wages Compared with China’s Belt and Road Contractors

March 28, 2019 Posted by Silk Road Briefing

Op/Ed by Chris Devonshire-Ellis


With Italy controversially signing up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, some mainstream media have been suggesting the country will face a multitude of problems, ranging from “debt traps” to becoming a “Chinese colony”.


Concerning the first issue, there have been occasions where governments in South-East Asia have either misunderstood the terms on offer or deliberately allowed costs to overrun or been overcharged as as an aide to corruption. In one case we are aware of, the then President of the country concerned complained that the Chinese interest on the loan was too low at two percent, and requested it be raised to six percent. The four percent balance to be collected by the Chinese was to then be transferred to offshore accounts controlled by that President’s family. That’s not a ‘debt trap’ – that’s out and out corruption. An issue, we note, that Italy has some familiarity with.



By and large, the Chinese loans that we have been made privy to have been at below market rates, suggesting that “debt trap” claims are a result of local and regional, rather than Chinese, corruption. Personally, I am also sure that the Chinese are aware of this and will facilitate such acts, essentially when required, placing them in the position of accomplice. However, it should be noted that the act itself tends to arise at the request of non-Chinese politicians.


The “Chinese Colony” remark, which was made by the Italian politician Matteo Salvini, has suggested the BRI risks “turning Italy into a Chinese colony” and will saddle it with more debt. He also has publicly indicated his security concerns about allowing the Chinese control of critical infrastructure, including major ports. His is an important voice; Salvini is head of the populist Lega party, which represents one-half of Italy’s coalition government. Interestingly, his opinions appeared in the US publication, Voice of America.

SALVINI IS THAT GLOBAL BANKING 1% FAKE ALT RIGHT ALT LEFT PLAYER-----FIRST PRETENDING TO BE LEFT COMMUNIST NOW ULTRA-RIGHT FASCIST NATIONALIST.


These two issues I see as unfounded. Handing the Chinese operational control of Italy’s ports only works if the nation state acquiesces. International laws that China is a signatory to also dictate that ultimate port control lies with the sovereign government, not any contracting entity. Besides, it would be extremely difficult for China to press home control of foreign ports via military means. Italy is also a member of NATO, with its “attack on one member is an attack on us all” policy. Salvini is misplaced in his concerns, unless of course he has no confidence in his own national military or NATO’s commitments.



Concerning labor, I have seen first hand the impact of Chinese labor operating in foreign countries. I have property in Sri Lanka, where the Chinese have built the North-South Expressway, as well as Hambantota port and airport. Chinese labor conducted much of that work, primarily as the locally available labor wasn’t up to the job. The Chinese laborers themselves were treated much as those familiar with Chinese migrant labor in China will recognize: living in temporary constructed building, mostly onsite. The Chinese contractors keep them well away from any locals, and in any event, practically all of their pay is made to their families back in China. Meals are cooked on site and a limited amount of tobaco and beer is imported. Chinese workers overseas have practically no interaction with the locals unless they are at a senior managerial level. Once the project is completed, they all move on.



The fact that Italy does have an illegally working population of Chinese workers, essentially operating in its garments and leather industries is nothing to do with Belt and Road, and more to do with collusion between industry, local government, and immigration. Any self-respecting Italian would rather lie on the beach and hang out than work in a shoe factory, as is the case for much of Europe. Italy is also one of the few EU countries not to have a minimum wage. Who wouldn’t want to talk with pretty local girls and have a cold beer rather than stitch soles onto leather uppers at minimal return? The same applies to the dangers of “cheap, Chinese imported goods” putting Italian workers out on the streets that Salvini mentions. He forgets that this has already happened, and Italian companies have been importing Chinese-manufactured goods into Italy for the past two decades.



In fact, there may be some justification for concerns over inexpensive Chinese labor into the EU. There may also be some benefits for workers in certain EU member states, and especially in Eastern EU. To understand this, we can take a look at the average salary of a Chinese welder in Shanghai. I choose welding as it is a common role in construction and similar in pay to many other semi-skilled professions within the infrastructure development industry, where much of Italy’s desire to buy into China’s Belt & Road seems to be focused. It is also pertinent to note that Shanghai is one of China’s more expensive cities:

Average salary; Chinese welder, Shanghai: €15,120 a year or €7.36 an hour


'OH, REALLY??????  THIS IS FAKE DATA-----

FIGHTING FOR $3.60 while working for $150 a month is more like it'.

We can compare this with Italy. Interestingly, Italy, doesn’t have a legal minimum wage. But the average amount an Italian welder earns is €32,018 a year, or €15 an hour. That would suggest lots of Chinese workers could come to Italy to steal jobs.

But they don’t. Why?

Because they do not actually get $7.36 an hour.....wage theft takes much if not all of those published wage categories.


Firstly, because Italy as part of the EU immigration scheme employs the Schengen visa application protocols, and this makes it very difficult for non-EU labour to enter the country (unless this is done illegally or in collusion with the authorities). Secondly, a political issue currently exists where migrant workers are unwelcome in much of the EU and certainly Italy.


There are several EU nations however who national minimum wage is actually higher than that of a Chinese worker. These are Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It would make no economic sense for Chinese workers to try and compete, and their own wage levels are at illegally low levels in these countries.


On the other hand, there are a number of EU countries whose minimum wage level is significantly lower than that of a Chinese worker. These include Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Interestingly again, many of these nations make up the 16+1 CEEC grouping of China and Central and Eastern European Countries. Yet by and large, those Schengen visa rules still apply to Chinese workers. They will not be coming to work on EU infratructure projects anytime soon unless specific agreements are reached as to the need to employ them over available EU labour. We can see the disparity between Chinese labour at €7.36 an hour and in eastern europe, where the average is @€3.71 an hour.



And therein lies the truth. Italy will not become a “Chinese colony”,that’s just political scaremongering. But the infrastructure build countries like Italy need will be constructed by Chinese contractors and project managers. But the labour force will be Eastern European.


Because Chinese contractors will be hiring the next wave of workers for Chinese invested infrastructure projects into the EU from Eastern Europe’s labour pool.

________________________________________________

We have called our US workers being pushed out of stable employment structure into constantly changing job placement-----AKA no more career jobs------WHIRLING DERVISHES------because they are breaking down our US and Western Europe labor rights and regulations protecting workers from abuse. Gone the 8 hour day---gone the safety structures--gone any warning of layoff-----

This will be the labor structure ----where crews are brought through a project working 24/7 at extreme pace to compete a project. It looks highly organized and this is THE LOGISTICS CORPORATIONS tied to CHINESE INFRASTRUCTURE.

How 1,500 Chinese Workers Built a Railroad in Only 9 Hours
•Jan 23, 2018


China needed a railway station built - quickly. A small army of workers with a collective one-track mind later and the job was done overnight.




THIS WILL BE THE LABOR STRUCTURE COMING TO US /AFRICAN AND WESTERN EUROPEAN INFRASTRUCTURE BUILD-OUT.

Our LATINO infrastructure workers have been tied to this rapid deployment and run structure but they have been in DEVELOPED NATIONS-----this third world labor structure is far more BRUTAL.

HERE ARE THE CHINESE----YELLOW SHIRTS.

These stats are PROPAGANDA to promote Chinese corporations----one can imagine life working at this pace being moved from region to region in WHIRLING DERVISH fashion.



'Rio Tinto back on track to haul iron ore in driverless trains ...
www.mining.com/rio-tinto-back-on-track-to-haul... Oct 02, 2017 ·


Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO), the world No.2 iron ore miner, is closer than ever to having a network of driverless trains in Western Australia as it has completed its first long-haul journey with a completely autonomous locomotive. The milestone trip,...'





'SNCF willingly collaborated with the Nazis.



They were paid by the Nazis per head and per kilometer to transport innocent victims across France and ultimately toward death camps like Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Had the company resisted, even to a small degree, the number of those killed from France would have been greatly reduced. Had SNCF not imposed horrific conditions on its trains, many additional lives could have been saved.


In the end, SNCF transported 76,000 Jews and thousands of others, including U.S. pilots shot down over France, toward the death camps. This included over 11,000 children. Of the 76,000 Jews deported on SNCF trains, only 2,000 would survive. I was one of the lucky few who managed to escape'.

In an age where talk of driverless transport is ubiquitous, the US Federal Railroad Administration is proposing regulations that two-person crews be required for US railroads, namely for safety reasons. So why the mistrust over autonomy in the US and is the situation any different elsewhere?



Driverless freight trains


It seems that not a day passes without yet another news story describing how the transport sector is changing with drivers being replaced by technology. ‘Driverless’ has become a buzz word, the term that is beginning to define transportation of the future.


Two of the biggest markets for this are cars and trucks. Andy Stern, former president of the Service Employees International Union, said in June: “Individuals can make their own choices about whether they want to get into a driverless car or taxi, but labour-saving technology will be deployed by businesses much quicker.”


There’s also been some form of automation on worldwide metro systems for many years. London’s Docklands Light Railway is one example, while the Copenhagen Metro is run by a fully automated system, consisting of automatic train protection, operation and supervision.


However, one area where technology has yet to gain a foothold is rail freight.


FRA: two-person crews for safety
On 15 August, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) urged the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to withdraw a proposed rule that mandates two-person crews on railroads. “The simple fact is that no data exist showing two-person crews will enhance safety," said Edward Hamberger, AAR president and CEO, in a statement.


Ed Greenberg, AAR head of media relations, says the organisation also “believes the FRA should leave crew size determination to freight railroads and their employees”, although the AAR’s opposition to the plan is not due to any explicit support for driverless technology.


Greenberg adds: “While the [US] Department of Transportation is throwing its full support behind development of autonomous vehicles as a way to improve safety on our roadways, it is backing a rule-making for the rail industry that goes in the opposite direction and would freeze rail productivity and chill innovation.”


"There is no magic bullet when it comes to safety."

For its part, the FRA, which failed to respond to a request for comment, has said in press statements that it believes “safety is enhanced with the use of a multiple person crew; safety dictates that you never allow a single point of failure”. But, as Hamberger’s comment shows, this is a point of contention.


Currently there’s unrest in the industry, as some feel rail freight is being left behind technologically and, consequently, its business could suffer. Former director of the research and development office of the FRA and now a rail consultant,  rail freight could be left behind, but he also recognises occasions where two-person crews would be justified, “for example, a 120-car coal train going across Nebraska, at night, in the winter in a snow storm”.


As Ditmeyer explains: “Railroaders in the US aren’t always really good at foreseeing how new technology will work.


“Many of the top people are perhaps not technical people. That makes them more cautious. Also, technology is expensive to implement. It has potential major benefits, but some are not fully comfortable with it.”


That’s not to say, though, that technology is completely absent. Positive train control, which will have the ability to automatically stop a train, has been a long-running issue in the US, with the deadline for implementation now set at 2018, three years later than originally planned. There are also drones used for track and bridge inspections and what Greenberg calls “alerter systems” in freight cabs, among other things.


“There is no magic bullet when it comes to safety,” says Greenberg, “it requires relentless innovation. The industry increasingly resembles Silicon Valley rather than [the] iconic black and white railroad images of days gone by.”


Driverless trials planned in Europe and for Rio Tinto

Across the pond in Europe, there is greater progress on driverless technology.


It was revealed in June that Dutch company Prorail is planning to trial automated operation of freight trains on the Betuweroute freight line, which links Rotterdam to the German border, near Emmerich. The International Railway Journal reports that trials are expected to begin next year and that a driver will be present during the tests.


Meanwhile, German operator Deutsche Bahn has bigger ideas for its network. Its chairman, Rudiger Grube, told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in June that “by 2021, 2022 or 2023 we will be able to run fully automatically in parts of our network”.


Foreshadowing that, there is still much to be done, as Grube added: “Autonomous driving on a complex rail system, with passenger trains and freight trains is more difficult than on a subway – but it is possible. The first pilot projects are already running, on a test field, we have built [on] the Erzgebirgsbahn."


"Prorail plans to trial automated operation of freight trains sometime next year."


Reports suggest that trains will be fitted with cameras and other technologies to detect obstacles on the track and stop the train if necessary. When asked for more information, a Deutsche Bahn spokesperson said: “The project is still in an initial stage. In order to make a precise and explicit statement, further detailed discussions and studies are necessary.”


A more concrete plan, albeit one that has been delayed, has been put forward by Rio Tinto. The $518m AutoHaul project – which Rio calls the world’s first fully autonomous, heavy-haul, long-distance railway system – is intended to transport iron ore from the company’s 15 mines in Australia's Pilbara region.


Rio Tinto has already run trials for AutoHaul, but the original target to have all trains with driverless operation by 2015 has been missed.


‘They can be made safe’
As the industry awaits news of the aforementioned trials, and as the FRA reviews comments it received regarding its plans, the question arises: how long before driverless tech becomes the norm?


“I would say greater than ten years. The technology isn’t quite there yet,” says Ditmeyer. But, he adds: “They could be made safe."


This view is shared by Bill Newman, senior advisor at HC Project Advisors. “I think driverless trains can be made safe, just as I think autonomous cars and trucks can be made safe,” he explains. Although, he admits that “there would need to be a substantial effort to educate and persuade the public of that conclusion”.


As well as that, Newman acknowledges that the issues are complex and difficult. “That said, there is an announcement in the media every day of a major company investing in autonomous operation.”


Technology can improve safety, but as Ditmeyer outlined earlier, there may be some examples where human interaction is necessary. The safety of using automation on freight will only become evident once numerous trials have been completed. That said, it is very likely driverless technology will impact the rail freight sector in one way or another over the next few years, just not at the same speed as other industries.


“If Europe is going to do these driverless trials, it will be quite fascinating,” Ditmeyer says.
____________________________________________

This is today's PRIVATIZED SNCF/KEOLIS--------not that warm and fuzzy EURORAIL. This guy looks at his corporation as PROFITEERING AND GLOBAL COMPETITION------and we can be sure those FRENCH RAIL UNION MEMBERS---like our US RAIL UNION MEMBERS will be treated as this company was FOUNDED----and like CHINESE SILK ROAD RAILWAY workers.


SNCF is expanding in ITALY, SPAIN, GERMANY, PORTUGAL/US with partnering as global transportation logistics.


When we look at RAILROAD global transportation corporations they are all being tied to this same LOGISTICS.


What do we hear from European labor union members? THEY LIKE THE GERMAN LABOR UNION MODELS. Know what? Those models were created from REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL CAPITALISM these several centuries of I AM MAN/WOMAN.


The GERMANY AS FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE will be EASTERN GERMANY------STALINIST/MAOIST MARXISM. This is the opposite of Western European/US labor union models.


CHINESE RAIL WORKERS MODEL IS THAT STALINIST/MAOIST RAILROAD WORKER-----
This apprenticeship model being called GERMAN------will mirror that apprenticeship model that is CHINESE.



Oct 20, 2019

Addressing the Skill Gap: The ICATT Apprenticeship Program
Updated: Oct 21, 2019


An SRG Leadership Interview with:


Mario Kratsch



American manufacturing is vying for a comeback and with the boomer work force retiring, there’s ample opportunity for great careers in the sector. But an entire generation of Americans has been taught that a bachelor’s degree is a necessity and that manufacturing jobs are undesirable—poor pay and bad conditions.


Many gen-z and millennials are struggling with debt and have difficulty establishing a career path; meanwhile, many good paying jobs in the manufacturing sector remain open without qualified candidates.


In 2012, German manufacturing companies in the Chicago area were beginning to realize that while the economy was recovering, their talent pipeline was drying up. This was a striking realization because this type of problem rarely occurs in Germany—a fact widely attributed to Germany’s robust apprenticeship system.


These Chicago based German companies were interested in developing the same system locally in order to attain the same ‘soft benefits’ that are available in Germany. They wanted to get young people involved in the business with the goal of showing them there is a possibility not just to earn money, but to establish a career in their company and industry.



This led to an inquiry at the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, Inc. (GACC Midwest) and, soon after, Mario Kratsch was boarding a plane to Chicago. Today, Mario and a team of ten run the Industry Consortium for Advanced Technical Training (ICATT)—the American apprenticeship model benchmarked against the time-tested German System.


ICATT provides a long-term solution to the skills-gap problem by cultivating a system that trains and supports skilled workforce. Apprentices commit to work-study programs, come out of the apprenticeship with an associate degree, a well-paying job and, here’s the kicker: no debt.


We recently sat down with Mario to learn how ICATT was adapted to meet the needs of American companies and apprentices.


What is the origin of the German Model?


The German model finds its basic origins in the pre-industrial era when skills needed to work in the trades were prized. Guilds formed and only approved apprentices were taught the craft – and only those with the skills were allowed to work in these trades. But by that time, the system was looking way different – for instance: apprentices had to cover the entire cost of such training.



When you fast forward to post-war Germany, when the country was in an era of reform, the government passed the current Vocational Training Act which created the Apprenticeship system under the Ministry of Economy with the goal of promoting and ensuring a stable economy. Additional partners are included, but, generally speaking, the apprenticeship system in Germany is much more seen as a matter of a healthy economy first - hence the close connection to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.



Today, within Germany’s apprenticeship system, the entire workforce breaks down into roughly 350 industry standardized occupational profiles. These profiles (e.g. job specs) describe the skills, experience, education and certifications necessary for any vocation. Industry and education closely cooperate in the process of defining these minimum standards. Companies train to these minimum standards and add specifics to fit their needs.


The good thing for the company is: they develop the workforce with the skills they need.


The good thing for the apprentices is: they end up with a transferable credential which is valid throughout the industry – rather than just a company internal qualification.


When German kids are in high school, they are encouraged to take on internships to test out different industries and to help them form thoughts about their ideal career path. From there, many choose the apprentice route after high school to gain valuable work experience which can be applied to a career path or give them a ‘leg up’ in college level education.



Tell us about the ICATT Model.


The initial challenge of launching the model was adapting the German system to American norms. It’s an industry backed system in Germany and everybody values it. Here in the U.S., apprenticeships as a career pathway are commonly unknown, or unappealing.

SORRY, MOVING FORWARD IS NOT CAPITALIST GERMANY-----IT IS EAST GERMAN LIBERTARIAN MARXISM AKA MAOIST MARXISM.



ICATT is changing that narrative by creating a pipeline that begins with outreach to high schools with the goal of advocating for careers in manufacturing to teachers, parents, and students. Interested students can apply for an apprenticeship, if accepted, they start with a company right away. In turn, by investing in the program and the apprentice, participating companies have access that stream of talent. While high- school graduates are the main target group for companies, companies are free to hire whomever they want as their apprentice.
________________________________________________

All of this discussion HASN'T HAPPENED YET.. Global banking 1% are still flying of US FLAG ----they are still pretending CONGRESS and US PRESIDENT are MOVING FORWARD ------MADE IN AMERICA BY AMERICAN holy grail. So, we still have a US FEDERAL government-----we still have local and state agencies tasked with ENFORCING these all-American labor conditions.

OUR US 99% WE THE PEOPLE BLACK, WHITE, AND BROWN CITIZENS AND ARE NOT COLONIAL SLAVE LABOR YET.


Please stop allowing all this consolidation of UTILITIES/PUBLIC WORKS------especially outsourced to FOREIGN CORPORATIONS because this is the goal of MOVING FORWARD ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE.

Matter how much CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA global banking neo-liberals and neo-cons want to pretend we are already in CHINESE FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE format------we are NOT. These few decades MOVING FORWARD infrastructure building will DECIDE THAT.

REMEMBER----FDR era was REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL CAPITALISM--------when HARVARD and LOYOLA created all those US WORKER/JOB PLACE protections as part of THE NEW DEAL......If this WALSH was living today he would be HIT AND ILLEGALLY SURVEILLED 24/7 PORN ----DUCKING AND DODGING JUST LIKE ME A FELLOW WALSH........

anti-imperialist----Hmmm, I like this ancestor


'The Walsh-Healey Act that applies to U.S. government contracts exceeding $15,000 for the manufacturing or furnishing of goods. Walsh-Healey establishes overtime pay for hours worked by contractor employees in excess of 40 hours per week, and sets the minimum wage equal to the prevailing wage as determined by the Secretary of Labor. The law prohibits the employment of youths less than 16 years of age and convicts (only those currently in prison), except under certain conditions.[1] The Act sets standards for the use of convict labor, and job health and safety standards. The Walsh-Healey Act does not apply to commercial items'.






Summary of the Major Laws of the Department of Labor
On This Page
Wages and Hours
Workplace Safety and Health
Workers' Compensation
Employee Benefits
Unions and Their Members
Employee Protection
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
Employee Polygraph Protection Act
Garnishment of Wages
Family and Medical Leave Act
Veterans' Preference
Government Contracts, Grants, or Financial Aid
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers
Mine Safety and Health
Construction
Transportation
Plant Closings and Layoffs
Posters
Related Agencies


The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws.

These mandates and the regulations that implement them cover many workplace activities for about 10 million employers and 125 million workers.


Following is a brief description of many of DOL's principal statutes most commonly applicable to businesses, job seekers, workers, retirees, contractors and grantees. This brief summary is intended to acquaint you with the major labor laws and not to offer a detailed exposition. For authoritative information and references to fuller descriptions on these laws, you should consult the statutes and regulations themselves.

Rulemaking and Regulations provides brief descriptions of and links to various sources of information on DOL's rulemaking activities and regulations.



Wages and Hours


The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prescribes standards for wages and overtime pay, which affect most private and public employment. The act is administered by the Wage and Hour Division. It requires employers to pay covered employees who are not otherwise exempt at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay of one-and-one-half-times the regular rate of pay. For nonagricultural operations, it restricts the hours that children under age 16 can work and forbids the employment of children under age 18 in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. For agricultural operations, it prohibits the employment of children under age 16 during school hours and in certain jobs deemed too dangerous.


The Wage and Hour Division also enforces the labor standards provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that apply to aliens authorized to work in the U.S. under certain nonimmigrant visa programs (H-1B, H-1B1, H-1C, H2A).



Workplace Safety and Health


The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act is administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Safety and health conditions in most private industries are regulated by OSHA or OSHA-approved state programs, which also cover public sector employers. Employers covered by the OSH Act must comply with the regulations and the safety and health standards promulgated by OSHA. Employers also have a general duty under the OSH Act to provide their employees with work and a workplace free from recognized, serious hazards. OSHA enforces the Act through workplace inspections and investigations. Compliance assistance and other cooperative programs are also available.


Workers' Compensation

If you worked for a private company or a state government, you should contact the workers' compensation program for the state in which you lived or worked. The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs does not have a role in the administration or oversight of state workers' compensation programs.



The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), administered by The Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP), provides for compensation and medical care to certain maritime employees (including a longshore worker or other person in longshore operations, and any harbor worker, including a ship repairer, shipbuilder, and shipbreaker) and to qualified dependent survivors of such employees who are disabled or die due to injuries that occur on the navigable waters of the United States, or in adjoining areas customarily used in loading, unloading, repairing or building a vessel.


The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) is a compensation program that provides a lump-sum payment of $150,000 and prospective medical benefits to employees (or certain of their survivors) of the Department of Energy and its contractors and subcontractors as a result of cancer caused by exposure to radiation, or certain illnesses caused by exposure to beryllium or silica incurred in the performance of duty, as well as for payment of a lump-sum of $50,000 and prospective medical benefits to individuals (or certain of their survivors) determined by the Department of Justice to be eligible for compensation as uranium workers under section 5 of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).


The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA), 5 U.S.C. 8101 et seq., establishes a comprehensive and exclusive workers' compensation program which pays compensation for the disability or death of a federal employee resulting from personal injury sustained while in the performance of duty. The FECA, administered by OWCP, provides benefits for wage loss compensation for total or partial disability, schedule awards for permanent loss or loss of use of specified members of the body, related medical costs, and vocational rehabilitation.


The Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA) provides monthly cash payments and medical benefits to coal miners totally disabled from pneumoconiosis ("black lung disease") arising from their employment in the nation's coal mines. The statute also provides monthly benefits to a deceased miner's survivors if the miner's death was due to black lung disease.


Employee Benefit Security


The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) regulates employers who offer pension or welfare benefit plans for their employees. Title I of ERISA is administered by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and imposes a wide range of fiduciary, disclosure and reporting requirements on fiduciaries of pension and welfare benefit plans and on others having dealings with these plans. These provisions preempt many similar state laws. Under Title IV, certain employers and plan administrators must fund an insurance system to protect certain kinds of retirement benefits, with premiums paid to the federal government's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). EBSA also administers reporting requirements for continuation of health-care provisions, required under the Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) and the health care portability requirements on group plans under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).


Unions and their Members
The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) of 1959 (also known as the Landrum-Griffin Act) deals with the relationship between a union and its members. It protects union funds and promotes union democracy by requiring labor organizations to file annual financial reports, by requiring union officials, employers, and labor consultants to file reports regarding certain labor relations practices, and by establishing standards for the election of union officers. The act is administered by the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).



Employee Protection
Most labor and public safety laws and many environmental laws mandate whistleblower protections for employees who complain about violations of the law by their employers. Remedies can include job reinstatement and payment of back wages. OSHA enforces the whistleblower protections in most laws.


Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

Certain persons who serve in the armed forces have a right to reemployment with the employer they were with when they entered service. This includes those called up from the reserves or National Guard. These rights are administered by the Veterans' Employment and Training Service.



Employee Polygraph Protection Act
This law bars most employers from using lie detectors on employees, but permits polygraph tests only in limited circumstances. It is administered by the Wage and Hour Division.



Garnishment of Wages
Garnishment of employee wages by employers is regulated under the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) which is administered by the Wage and Hour Division.


Family and Medical Leave Act
Administered by the Wage and Hour Division, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employers of 50 or more employees to give up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees for the birth or adoption of a child or for the serious illness of the employee or a spouse, child or parent.



Veterans' Preference
Veterans and other eligible persons have special employment rights with the federal government. They are provided preference in initial hiring and protection in reductions in force. Claims of violation of these rights are investigated by the Veterans' Employment and Training Service.


Government Contracts, Grants, or Financial Aid
Recipients of government contracts, grants or financial aid are subject to wage, hour, benefits, and safety and health standards under:
The Davis-Bacon Act, which requires payment of prevailing wages and benefits to employees of contractors engaged in federal government construction projects;



The McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act, which sets wage rates and other labor standards for employees of contractors furnishing services to the federal government;


The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act, which requires payment of minimum wages and other labor standards by contractors providing materials and supplies to the federal government.
Administration and enforcement of these laws are by The Wage and Hour Division. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) administers and enforces three federal contract-based civil rights laws that require most federal contractors and subcontractors, as well as federally assisted construction contractors, to provide equal employment opportunity. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management's (OASAM) Civil Rights Center administers and enforces several federal assistance based civil rights laws requiring recipients of federal financial assistance from Department of Labor to provide equal opportunity.


Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers

The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) regulates the hiring and employment activities of agricultural employers, farm labor contractors, and associations using migrant and seasonal agricultural workers. The Act prescribes wage protections, housing and transportation safety standards, farm labor contractor registration requirements, and disclosure requirements. The Wage and Hour Division administers this law.


The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exempts agricultural workers from overtime premium pay, but requires the payment of the minimum wage to workers employed on larger farms (farms employing more than approximately seven full-time workers. The Act has special child-labor regulations that apply to agricultural employment; children under 16 are forbidden to work during school hours and in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. Children employed on their families' farms are exempt from these regulations. The Wage and Hour Division administers this law. OSHA also has special safety and health standards that may apply to agricultural operations.


The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires employers who want to use foreign temporary workers on H-2A visas to get a labor certificate from the Employment and Training Administration certifying that there are not sufficient, able, willing and qualified U.S. workers available to do the work. The labor standards protections of the H-2A program are enforced by The Wage and Hour Division.


Mine Safety and Health


The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) covers all people who work on mine property. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) administers this Act.



The Mine Act holds mine operators responsible for the safety and health of miners; provides for the setting of mandatory safety and health standards, mandates miners' training requirements; prescribes penalties for violations; and enables inspectors to close dangerous mines. The safety and health standards address numerous hazards including roof falls, flammable and explosive gases, fire, electricity, equipment rollovers and maintenance, airborne contaminants, noise, and respirable dust. MSHA enforces safety and health requirements at more than 13,000 mines, investigates mine accidents, and offers mine operators training, technical and compliance assistance.


Construction

Several agencies administer programs related solely to the construction industry. OSHA has special occupational safety and health standards for construction; The Wage and Hour Division, under Davis-Bacon and related acts, requires payment of prevailing wages and benefits; The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs enforces Executive Order 11246, which requires federal construction contractors and subcontractors, as well as federally assisted construction contractors, to provide equal employment opportunity; the anti-kickback section of the Copeland Act precludes a federal contractor from inducing any employee to sacrifice any part of the compensation required.


Transportation
Most laws with labor provisions regulating the transportation industry are administered by agencies outside the Department of Labor. However, longshoring and maritime industry safety and health standards are issued and enforced by OSHA. The Longshoring and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), requires employers to assure that workers' compensation is funded and available to eligible employees. In addition, the rights of employees in the mass transit industry are protected when federal funds are used to acquire, improve, or operate a transit system. Under the Federal Transit law, the Department of Labor is responsible for approving employee protection arrangements before the department of Transportation can release funds to grantees.


Plant Closings and Layoffs


Such occurrences may be subject to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). WARN offers employees early warning of impending layoffs or plant closings. The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) provides information to the public on WARN, though neither ETA nor the Department of Labor has administrative responsibility for the statute, which is enforced through private action in the federal courts.


Posters
Some of the statutes and regulations enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) require that notices be provided to employees and/or posted in the workplace. DOL provides free electronic and printed copies of these required posters.



The elaws Poster Advisor can be used to determine which poster(s) employers are required to display at their place(s) of business. Posters, available in English and other languages, may be downloaded and printed directly from the Advisor. If you already know which poster(s) you are required to display, see below to download and print the appropriate poster(s) free of charge.


Please note that the elaws Poster Advisor provides information on federal DOL poster requirements.

Yesterday, we discussed how HYPERLOOP AND SPACE X together are likely spending all this FEDERAL FUNDING called social benefit on space colony transport research and development.  Nothing appears to be actually happening except in deserts of NEVADA.

Swelling costs in California----and below we see MARYLAND not even mentioning the original HYPERLOOP and rail expansion promoted during OBAMA era.


  Baltimore has a habit of spending lots of money saying it will build public rail lines and NOT-----this looks like more of the same.  The most MARYLAND got was a HOLE in Washington beltway that may have connected to DC SUBWAY---AIRPORT.  Much talk about HYPERLOOP is tied to AIRPORT SUBWAY TRANSIT systems---very short lines.


'Train to nowhere? Here’s how high-speed project went off the rails

California’s high-speed rail project has repeatedly hit lawsuits, engineering problems, geological obstacles, bureaucracy, swelling costs and delays. Its budget has ballooned from $33 billion to $77 billion, with no secure financing plan.
Rachel Swan and Kurtis Alexander Feb. 17, 2019 Updated: Feb. 17, 2019 10:02 a.m.'


CALIFORNIA is king of complex financial instruments and TIFS that STIFS the public. Add EIFD and TIG----and those global banking 1%  are still funneling billions of dollars out of US leaving next generation taxpayers with incredible and bond and tax debt.



'Revitalization Tools - EIFD's
www.eifdistricts.com
Enhanced Infrastructure Finance Districts (EIFD's) California Bill 628 was developed to help revitalize CA communities. Sign up to be a part of the network, share & research initiatives on our interactive map, discover tools and techniques for filling financial gaps with a new business plan for a sustainable & vibrant community'.

Is MARC'S newest plan-----A step BACKWARDS?  You betcha.  Lot's of bond debt----TIF.TIG, EIFD debt worth billions ------but no real meeting of rail goals.

BRUNSWICK MARC LINE as passenger getting some extra tracks is likely tied to CARGO transport of OIL/GAS/MINING from APPALACHIAN.


This is why all we get is FAKE NEWS---FAKE DATA.



Is MARC’s newest plan to improve service a step backwards?


Transit

By Alex Holt (Maryland Correspondent) December 3, 2019




The MARC Cornerstone Plan lays out how the country’s ninth-largest commuter rail system aims to increase ridership and improve reliability and service. However, some say the latest iteration the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) released in November has no timeline for some important goals, and lacks information that existed in previous versions of the plan.



Goals for MARC include adding third tracks to the CSX-owned Brunswick and Camden lines, introducing weekend and evening service, and increasing midday service. These two commuter rail routes are notoriously busy during rush hour, but lack rush hour trains.



The most recent iteration was supposed to build on previous MARC Cornerstone Plans from 2007 and 2013. Unlike previous versions, the new one doesn’t have any sort of timeline for some of the most crucial tasks such as installing third tracks, MTA representatives revealed at a public forum held by the Washington Suburban Transit Commission (WSTC) in Riverdale Park on November 12.


There’s a lot missing in the new Cornerstone Plan


The new Cornerstone Plan is as notable for what it doesn’t mention (at least in much detail) as for what it does. The Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, currently one of the main chokepoints on the Penn Line, appears just twice in the plan’s 68 pages—once to note that “based on the location selected” for the new B&P Tunnel, the West Baltimore MARC station “may need to be relocated.”



Continued Brunswick Line service to West Virginia, the subject of repeated controversy and intense negotiations over the past few years, isn’t mentioned at all, nor is the Penn Station Vision Plan currently under development in Baltimore. Pennsylvania Station is a key transit hub for the state, and it badly needs repairs and updates.



Virginia, on the other hand, is going ahead with a 2014 long-term plan to reduce Virginia Railway Express (VRE) headways to as little as 15 minutes and is moving forward with plans to add a new span to the Long Bridge, potentially enabling MARC trains to one day expand into Northern Virginia. Nonetheless, the MARC Cornerstone Plan only mentions the Long Bridge twice, once to note that “implementation of run-through service would require a cost-sharing partnership with other rail constituents including VRE, Amtrak, CSX, and others.”


What does the new plan say?



The new Cornerstone Plan does say that the Brunswick Line requires roughly $720 million in improvements—mostly added third track segments—in order to have limited midday service. It also needs $620 million of further improvements to allow weekend service and increased frequency to Frederick.


Service improvements on the shorter Camden Line would be a bit cheaper: $360 million to add enough third track to allow limited weekend service, and another $300 million to allow full midday and weekend service.


When asked about the new plan, Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) spokesperson Brittany Marshall said, “The MARC Cornerstone Plan focuses on MDOT MTA’s commitment to safety, efficiency, reliability and world class customer service. It outlines the vision for passenger rail transportation and illustrates critical path capital investments required from multiple stakeholders. A thorough planning and feasibility study would be required to determine the viability of such investments.”



Besides funding from the state, improvements to the Brunswick and Camden lines require cooperation from CSX, which owns them.

“It’s important to remember that any expansion of service on the Brunswick and Camden lines is contingent upon CSX as a partner,” Marshall added. “MARC Train operates the Brunswick and Camden lines on tracks owned by CSX. CSX is primarily a freight railroad, and we negotiate time slots for our trains to run. CSX is not providing additional time slots for passenger service. The B&P Tunnel and the Penn Station Vision Plan will be considered as MARC Train works toward its vision for passenger rail service.”



Maryland Delegate Marc Korman praised the Cornerstone Plan for acknowledging the importance of funding projects like a third track on the Brunswick Line, but also criticized what he sees as a much lower prioritization of commuter rail by Maryland compared to Virginia.



“I am glad they released the plan and that it has some proposals in it, including funding needs. I am not surprised it does not include the (Camden and Brunswick Line improvement timelines), because the current Administration has no plans to do those things,” Korman said. “Virginia has prioritized commuter rail and Maryland has not, it is as simple as that. Maryland’s goal for Long Bridge should be two-way commuter run through service.”


We’re going to keep writing about what the Cornerstone Plan does and keeping track of how it changes. Stay tuned for more about how it’ll affect Maryland and the region.


______________________________________

'But judged on the merits of effective transit—i.e., serving riders by moving them to home, work, and school—their record is pretty poor'.

CHINA says all this HYPERLOOP/MEGLEV is not working for them. They are simply does EXPERIMENTAL SPACE COLONY transportation research while using traditional trains as high speed like AMTRAK.

SERVING RIDERS in California-----forget about it.

$11 billion streetcar is the joke about the $5 million toilet seat----which was our MILITARY DEFENSE budget.

These things are being built more likely waiting for a GLOBAL FACTORY to be built to become part of the logistics for moving freight---they simply PRETEND this has some SOCIAL BENEFIT.

This project is in northern CA bread basket agricultural zone ----being prepared for global factory toxic cargo rail to terminals near SAN FRAN.


'Baykeeper Challenges Oakland Coal Export Terminal in Courtwww.riversimulator.org/Resources/farcountry/Eastern...export millions of tons of Utah coal from the Oakland Bulk and Oversize Terminal at the foot of the Bay Bridge. The coal would arrive in Oakland via long trains of open cars running on tracks close to the Bay’s shore, and be loaded onto ships. Baykeeper’s goal is to prevent the export of coal from Oakland and the pollution it'


So, NEWSOM probably didn't change his mind----they are simply waiting for global factories to be built on this very vital BREAD BASKET region of CA.  Global banking 1% have to PRETEND this is social benefit----passenger rail not cargo rail to get HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of Federal and state funding for CORPORATE WELFARE QUEENS most being foreign corporations.

Think of California High-Speed Rail as an $11 Billion Streetcar

1. Laura Bliss

February 13, 2019California Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan to complete only a Central Valley segment of the rail link risks turning the transportation project into an economic development tool.On U.S. railroads, it’s been a week of emotional whiplash.



Just days ago, an outline of the much-anticipated Green New Deal— a proposal from Democratic lawmakers to dramatically cut U.S. carbon emissions—described the country’s need for high-speed rail network to help replace short-haul flights with lower-emission trips. Commentators on both sides of the aisle ridiculed the idea as politically impossible, even as environmental and transit advocates staunchly defended it.




Then, on Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom tossed cold water on the state’s high-speed rail project, which represents a rare beacon of progress on next-generation train service in the U.S. In his first State of the State address, Newsom announced plans to scale back the scheme to link San Francisco to Los Angeles with a passenger train that could connect those cities in under three hours. Instead, only a much shorter, first phase of construction would be completed, putting 110 miles of improved rail service between the Central Valley cities of Merced and Bakersfield, with Fresno in the midst. That’s a huge step back from a 700-mile route connecting coastal population centers.


“[L]et’s be real. The current project, as planned, would cost too much and take too long,” Newsom said. “There simply isn’t a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A.,” he continued, alluding to the massive engineering, legal, and political challenges that have blocked the project’s entry into California’s north and south metropolises. “I wish there were.”



At first, the governor’s words were reported by the Associated Press as “abandoning” the high-speed rail project. That was not accurate: His office later clarified that the state still plans to make California High-Speed Rail (or CAHSR, to use its virus-like acronym) a “reality,” including by completing environmental work so that northern and southern California could eventually be reached at some later date. Still, construction plans for those regions appear indefinitely postponed while work moves forward in the rural Central Valley, where funding is in hand and construction is already under way.



That shortened route between Merced and Bakersfield—cities whose populations number fewer than 85,000 and 400,000, respectively—will not be a “train to nowhere,” the governor said, invoking the favored insult of project detractors. “We can align our economic and workforce development strategies, anchored by High Speed Rail, and pair them with tools like opportunity zones, to form the backbone of a reinvigorated Central Valley economy.”


But there was no disguising the disappointment from transportation and environmental advocates over Newsom’s declaration. Housing shortages and congested transportation networks are pushing more workers out of Los Angeles and San Francisco than they are inviting them in, worsening inequality, dimming these cities’ economic stars, and pushing the state’s greenhouse-gas reduction goals further out of reach. “As California appears to be putting brakes on high-speed rail project, a reminder: U.S. is completely outside of the norm on intercity rail investment, & its transportation system is less effective, less convenient, & less ecologically sensitive as a result,” Yonah Freemark, a urban rail researcher, wrote on Twitter.



Brad Plumer, the New York Times climate journalist, echoed that theme, while invoking the California project’s tortured history: “An understandable decision given what a clusterfuck that project had become but man, the U.S. is really, really bad at building passenger rail.”

In many ways, though, scaling back the bullet train to the Central Valley is less of a disavowal of the state’s original ambitions and more a coldly realistic appraisal of the status of this $80 billion-and-counting megaproject. Approved by voters with a roughly $40 billion budget estimate in 2008, CAHSR is now tens of billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. Those vast overruns were probably inevitable for this project, the largest infrastructure undertaking in the nation. But CAHSR has also never seemed to have its priorities straight.


The idea to start construction in the Central Valley, for example, was devised to gain votes in the most rural, least transit-friendly swath of the state. But it probably wound up creating more political skepticism than support by orienting service away from the state’s urban ridership bases. What’s more, hastily kicking off construction before significant engineering and legal hurdles were cleared along the route has muddied the project’s future, lengthened delays, and multiplied costs, a state audit from November 2018 found. That report, which came after years of mounting project costs and questions around transparency, also cited the rail authority for misguided contracting decisions.
_________________________________________

Looking at WESTERN EUROPE we see the same thing-----sovereign nations dissolve along with national rail lines which Western Europe were mostly passenger.  MOVING FORWARD since 2008 economic crash with SACKING AND LOOTING RAPING AND PILLAGING has PORTUGAL disappearing into FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE and BARCELONA expanding into IBERIAN COAST.  Spain will disappear to these expanded FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES.  This means CARGO RAIL will run through to these ports from Germany/Italy/France all having their LARGER rail lines taking over Spanish/Portugese.

Those Portugese 99% WE THE PEOPLE were pushed out by WORLD BANK IMF-----but, the OLD WORLD KINGS tied to Portugal say----BRAZIL is where the action is-----

BRIC----BRAZIL/RUSSIA/INDIA/CHINA-----EASTERN HEMISPHERE FLIPPING FROM WESTERN EUROPE.




'Portuguese migrants seek a slice of Brazil's economic boom ...www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/22/portuguese... Dec 22, 2011 · Portuguese migrants seek a slice of Brazil's economic boom ... who swapped the economic nightmare in Portugal for a slice of Brazil's boom, opening a graphic design company alongside his German ...'



GERMANY serves as a hub between EASTERN EUROPE and WESTERN EUROPE already creating massive CARGO RAIL to include SILK ROUTE TO CHINA.

GERMAN AND FRENCH WW2 era rail lines taking much of Europe in cargo high speed rail.  ITALY/SPAIN/PORTUGAL were hardest hit by global banking 1% ROBBER BARON FRAUDS.


'On September 26, 2017

Siemens and Alstom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to combine Siemens' mobility business, including its rail traction drives business, with Alstom. The transaction brings together two innovative players of the railway market with unique customer value and operational potential. The two businesses are largely complementary in terms of activities and geographies. Siemens will receive newly issued shares in the combined company representing 50 percent of Alstom's share capital on a fully diluted basis.

On February 6, 2019 the European Commission has announced its decision to prohibit the proposed combination of the Siemens and Alstom mobility businesses. As a result of this prohibition, the merger will not proceed. Siemens and Alstom regret that the remedies they offered, including recent improvements, have been considered insufficient by the EU Commission'.


This is NOT enhancing EURRAIL PASSENGER----it is privatizing and building CARGO LINES to PORTS.


The small nation of PORTUGAL like IRELAND is destination for GERMAN---FRENCH --ITALIAN CARGO RAIL CORPORATIONS

.'Exclusive economic zone of Portugal

- Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone_of...

Portugal's Exclusive Economic Zone Portugal has the 5th largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) within Europe , 4th largest of the EU and the 20th largest EEZ in the world, at 1,727,408 km 2' .





News


SNCF to compete with Spain’s Renfe

29 Nov 2019 by Alex McWhirter



Readers seeking fast yet inexpensive rail journeys within Spain will be able to take France’s SNCF from December 2020.


SNCF has received approval to operate regular services on three major routes out of Madrid according to France’s Les Echos.


Each of the three routes will have five round-trips daily.
The routes are:


Madrid-Barcelona
Madrid-Valencia
Madrid-Seville or Malaga


The services in question will be operated by SNCF under its budget Ouigo brand which, if the French business model is used, will operate somewhat like a low-cost airline.


In other words these trains will be no-frills and ticketless. They will operate over the Spanish high-speed lines.


However it is early days. It’s unclear whether or not SNCF will adapt Ouigo to the Spanish market.


We also wait to see whether or not SNCF will be using the main stations in Spain (in France some Ouigo services use out-of-town stations although this is changing).


As previously reported, EU countries are obliged to open their rail networks to competition.


Besides SNCF, the Spanish incumbent Renfe will face more competition when Italy’s Trenitalia plans to enter the Spanish market in January 2022.


It is Trenitalia who, together with First Group, will operate the UK’s West Coast Mainline franchise from December 8.


Trenitalia has years of experience operating high-speed trains within Italy.


Using its Thello subsidiary Trenitalia hopes to be allowed to compete with SNCF  (France’s rail regulator Arafer has yet to decide) from June 2020.


**************************************************************


LIBERALIZATION OF TRAINS AND RAIL IS MUCH LIKE PRIVATIZATION OF UK PUBLIC HEALTH ------IT WILL BE DISASTER FOR PUBLIC PASSENGER AS EURRAIL IS DISMANTLED.

Consolidation of EURO passenger train to private corporations is MOVING FORWARD transformation from passenger to CARGO---FREIGHT RAIL LINES.



The bloodbath is coming


By Christian Rossi 2 April 2009


EUROPE: Liberalisation of international passenger services is intended to boost customer choice, but fierce competition between rail and air could result in consolidation, says Christian Rossi.


Will there be a bloodbath between rail and air operators following the liberalisation of international passenger services in 2010? That was the question posed by Christian Rossi, Managing Director of TGV Lyria, at the EuroRail 2009 conference organised by Terrapinn in Berlin on February 24.



Rossi believed the answer was yes - in part. ‘The battle will start in 2010’, he predicted, but not on a widespread front. ‘Everyone will fight for the same routes’, he forecast, highlighting a few prominent city pairs such as London - Paris, Paris - Frankfurt or Paris - Brussels - Amsterdam, and noting that DB and Air France-Veolia had reportedly expressed interest in paths through the Channel Tunnel.



Rossi said ‘a lot of public investment’ in high speed rail had opened up opportunities to compete with air in many more corridors. Showing how Lyria had recovered its market share on the Paris - Genève route following the entry of EasyJet in 2002, he suggested that aggressive marketing and yield management were key weapons. However, he felt that ‘despite the launch of Railteam’ the railway industry was ‘still suffering from a national way of thinking’ which did not help it to compete for international traffic.


‘The airline industry is in trouble’, he pointed out, with traditional national carriers being squeezed between competition from low-cost airlines on one side and rising fuel prices on the other. With many savings already made, further economies could only come at the expense of customer service.



Suggesting that rail offered advantages in terms of speed, seamless travel and environmental footprint, Rossi suggested that it was ‘unavoidable that those airlines will be forced to develop their own rail strategy’ to compete in certain corridors. But ‘they will suffer from the same problems as rail operators do today’ in terms of congested infrastructure, technical incompatibility, and long delivery times for custom-designed rolling stock.


Rossi believed airlines would do better to work in partnership with an existing rail operator. But it was ‘too early to know whether the managements of both modes will be flexible enough or creative enough to implement or even think of such an alliance’.



Even without the airlines, Rossi said there was already evidence that some Railteam partners were squaring up to compete with each other, suggesting that DB and SNCF will go head-to-head in France and Germany. Whilst Italy’s open-access competitor NTV is focusing on domestic high speed routes, Trenitalia’s Director of Passenger Strategy Alessandro Fiorentino confirmed that FS saw ‘opportunities in the international market’.



Rossi felt that some railways found it ‘very difficult to master their own national networks’, and it would be even more difficult for them to work internationally.

‘There is a very big risk that both the traditional and new operators would lose out on the financial side’, he warned, adding that ‘liberalisation could be an opportunity, but it could be a threat for all operators’.


Reflecting on experience in the airline sector, he said customers had benefited from competition as prices fell, and there was a greater choice of operators, frequencies and routes. But some operators had already disappeared and others were losing money. If the same path were followed in the rail sector, the longer term could see ‘a concentration in the hands of some mega-players’.



Given that infrastructure and rolling stock costs would not change radically, a triangle of ‘wild competition’ between low-cost carriers (air or rail), traditional railways and high speed operators could lead to ‘a drastic reduction of customer service, or minor OD pairs would no longer be served’.


Christian Rossi joined the Franco-Swiss high speed train operator Lyria SAS as Managing Director in 2005, after 28 years in the airline sector with Swissair and later Swiss. He is currently in discussion with his main stakeholders at SNCF and SBB to convert TGV Lyria from a joint venture into a stand-alone company with its own operating licence.


New entrants think local

Expectations that open access competitors would emerge in the international sector were dampened by two new entrants at the EuroRail pre-conference workshop organised by Pricewaterhouse Coopers on February 23.



Outlining his company’s plans to launch services between selected city pairs in Germany, Loco­more’s Managing Director Carsten Carstensen said there were ‘too many problems’ for new operators ‘to compete in international markets’. So Locomore would focus initially on domestic services, although at this stage he would not reveal which routes.


Given that most new entrants in Germany competed for regional operating concessions, Carstensen accept­ed that earlier open access attempts to break into the inter-city market had largely come to nought.


Stefan Wehinger from Austria’s Westbahn AG said that his business would focus on the country’s ‘only profitable main line’ between Wien, Linz and Salzburg. Pointing to the high cost of market entry, he noted that it was 12 years after Austria liberalised its rail sector before the first open access passenger com­pany was formed. In that time 15 freight operators had taken to the tracks, of which 14 were still running.



Apart from the lack of a proper regulatory framework, Wehinger suggested that acquiring suitable rolling stock was a major issue. Westbahn had now agreed a train provision deal with Stadler for 200 km/h double-deck EMUs which are due to enter service from December 2011. These will be piggybacked on the fleet ordered by SBB for the Zürich S-Bahn to benefit from production economies. Reflecting his previous role as Passenger Director at ÖBB, Wehinger said the incumbent operator enjoyed a 96% share of the national market and ‘knows how to run trains’. His plan was for Westbahn to ‘keep it simple’ and compete primarily on quality of service.

_________________________________________

Here is that SILK ROAD to China and notice these cargo rail are using traditional cargo not high-speed---not HYPERLOOP/MEGLEV.
Germany will be a FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE in central Europe so much of new cargo rail system will radiate from this region. GERMANY with FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES will have global CHINESE foreign factories feeding this SILK ROAD with products.

GERMANY/AUSTRIA---with SWEDEN/DENMARK/BELGIUM will be that one FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE and all that EURORAIL passenger line will be TRUMPED by need for global factory CARGO/FREIGHT lines.  UK is online with that EASTERN HEMISPHERE cargo freight route as well. 

PASSENGER RAIL IS QUALITY OF LIFE----THIS IS GLOBAL CORPORATE EXTREME WEALTH EXTREME POVERTY LIBERTARIAN MARXISM-----NO FUN FOR YOU.




New "Silk Road" freight train launched between China and Germany
•Oct 15, 2017


First freight train launched between China's Changchun and Germany's Hamburg. So far more than 5,000 cargo train trips have been operated on routes linking China with Europe. Click and see what are the main goods delivered by this train and how fast it is.


The OLD WORLD KINGS global transportation corporations getting bigger and bigger in Western Europe are the global corporations taking our US TRAIN/RAIL to consolidated GLOBAL MONOPOLY.



The New Silk Road

A Look at the East Wind Freight Train that Travelled from China to London


As was widely reported to much fanfare on 18 January of this year, the first freight train travelling between China and the UK arrived in London, at DB Cargo UK’s Eurohub Centre in Barking, having departed Yiwu, in the eastern province of Zhejiang on 1 January.


We wanted to take a closer look at the journey as the train dealt with a whole host of issues, from technical aspects such as interoperability to political and economic ones, such as customs checks. The ‘Study on Corridors’ by OTIF, the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail, which has 50 Member States, stated that the key issues for international rail transport “include the harmonisation of transport documents and technical standards, use of electronic records and the simplification of customs procedures etc.”


Background


The Silk Road is the oldest overland trade route in the world, running between China in the east and Europe in the west. Goods such as gunpowder and spices were transported, and of course the eponymous silk, the most lucrative of all the commodities traded.


Now, the president of China, Xi Jinping, launched a revival of the Silk Road, an undertaking he calls One Road, One Belt, designed to link the east and west again with both an overland trade route, this time by train, and a maritime route. Unveiled in 2013, the first train to run on this network reached Iran from China in February 2016.


The One Road, One Belt policy is an enormous economic undertaking, intended to increase China’s influence on global trade. In fact, China’s president said he hoped this new Silk Road would bring in an extra $2.5 trillion to China in ten years. With China excluded from the US’s TPP, China wants to assert its own economic dominance in Eurasia. With more than 60 countries involved in the entire network, such a partnership can enhance economic and therefore political stability in regions and benefit everyone through mutual access and exchange.

_____________________________________________


AND this is what public rail does when made PRIVATE------so, SNCF expanding across all borders is getting POWER AND WEALTH hungry. This French rail is finding its way into US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES replacing OUR public passenger rail lines and roads.


for failing to return nearly $800 million in illegal state aid.



AND this is what public rail does when made PRIVATE------so, SNCF expanding across all borders is getting POWER AND WEALTH hungry. This French rail is finding its way into US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES replacing OUR public passenger rail lines and roads.


ALL OF THIS is what global banking 1% OLD WORLD KINGS are filling our US funding for infrastructure tied to RAIL AND ROADS.


France Ordered to Recover $800M Bailout From SNCF
March 7, 2018 BARBARA LEONARD


(CN) – The European Court of Justice cracked the whip Wednesday on France’s national transportation carrier SNCF for failing to return nearly $800 million in illegal state aid.

When France received conditional authorization in 2001 for what was then a $623 million bailout of the SNCF subsidiary Sernam, the European Commission attached several conditions that Sernam failed to meet.

In 2004, the commission told Sernam that it would either have to withdraw from the transportation market if it wanted to keep the $623 million, or it would have to sell its assets en bloc by June 30, 2005.

Sernam chose the latter option, but it again failed to meet the commission’s conditions for the sale, namely that the assets would be sold to to a company that had no legal link with SNCF.

Indeed a former management team of Sernam created the company Financière Sernam to buy Sernam’s assets en bloc.

The commission had also ordered France to recover new, incompatible aid of $50 million, but this amount remained outstanding as well.

In 2012, SNCF brought an action before the European General Court to challenge a conclusion by the commission that the illegal aid Financière Sernam would have to return amounted to nearly $800 million.

SNCF appealed to the Court of Justice, Europe’s highest court, when the General Court dismissed its action in 2015.

On Wednesday, Europe’s highest court dismissed the appeal and affirmed that the General Court’s judgment must stand.
____________________________________________

'En route it passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France before arriving at the Abroñigal freight terminal in Madrid'.
So, WHO is US trade partners for all these US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES? We have no trade partners---we are a global banking 1% colonial entity filling with FOREIGN GLOBAL CORPORATIONS -----needing the same cargo rail lines as in ASIAN FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES.
Those OLD WORLD KINGS bringing these TRADE PARTNERS to take over our all-American domestic economy----where WAGES become TAXES to pay for all that TIF/STIF/US and state treasury bond debt replacing our strong US passenger railway.



The Silk Railway: freight train from China pulls up in Madrid

Madrid mayor welcomes first cargo train from China after epic 8,111-mile rail trip inaugurates the longest rail link in the world
The longest rail link in the world and the first direct link between China and Spain is up and running after a train from Yiwu in coastal China completed its maiden journey of 8,111 miles to Madrid.
En route it passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France before arriving at the Abroñigal freight terminal in Madrid.
The railway has been dubbed the “21st-century Silk Road” by Li Qiang, the governor of Zhejiang province, where Yiwu is located. Its route is longer than the Trans-Siberian railway and the Orient Express.

The first train was met by the mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, and Spain’s minister of public works, Ana Pastor. It consisted of 30 containers carrying 1,400 tonnes of cargo – mostly toys, stationery and other items for sale over Christmas across Europe.
According to China’s ambassador to Spain, Zhu Banzao, it will return laden with wine, jamón and olive oil in time for the Chinese new year in February.
Yiwu is the world’s largest wholesale hub for small consumer goods and plays host to a vast 4 sq km (1.5 sq mile) market where tens of thousands of traders work daily. The journey was a test run to assess the viability of adding Spain to a route that already links China with Germany five times a week. Those trains link Chongqing, the huge industrial city in south-west China, with Duisburg, and Beijing with Hamburg.
China is Spain’s biggest trading partner after the EU, with bilateral trade worth around £16bn. It is also Spain’s third largest source of imports, after Germany and France. About half of these imports are made up of mobile phones and clothing. The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, was in China in September, where he signed deals reported to be worth more than £6.3bn.
A major advantage of the rail route is speed. The train took just three weeks to complete a journey that takes up to six weeks by sea. It is also more environmentally friendly than road transport, which would produce 114 tonnes of CO2 to shift the same volume of goods, compared with the 44 tonnes produced by the train – a 62% reduction.
However, the cargo had to be transferred three times during the journey as a result of incompatible rail gauges. The locomotive also had to be changed every 500 miles.
The service is being operated by InterRail Services and DB Schenker Rail and in Spain by DB’s Spanish offshoot, Tranfesa.
At the welcoming ceremony, the mayor of Madrid pointed out that a majority of the city’s 30,000 Chinese residents hailed from Zhejiang province. Relations between Spain and China took a dive earlier this year when a judge sought international arrest warrants for former president Jiang Zemin and four top officials in relation to alleged genocide in Tibet. The Spanish parliament took barely 10 days to throw out the case.

BRANSON of VIRGIN was simply a shareholder in this fiasco of a company called HYPERLOOP ONE. Branson is not a US citizen----yet he was awarded billions of dollars in this HIGH - SPEED RAIL US Federal funding during OBAMA era.  BRANSON leaving HYPERLOOP----as too all of the 'FOUNDING' partners who appear to be the typical ROBBER BARON 5% freemason/Greek players -----PRETENDING all that US FEDERAL funding money is going to competitive bidding when all these players work for ELON MUSK--SPACE X.


'The allegations also include the hire of Pishevar’s brother, Afshin, as General Counsel, who the plaintiffs consider underqualified since he was a personal injury lawyer based in Maryland with no experience as a corporate lawyer'.


This article shows the NEPOTISM----THE CRONYISM tied to what is US INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDING and the players are GLOBAL BANKING 1% OLD WORLD KINGS------NOT all-American.

These 'startups' are almost always SHELL BUSINESSES created to secure Federal/state/local tax funding appearing to be different 'winners'------

TODAY, WE WANT TO LOOK AT OUR TAXES AND HOW 99.9% WE THE PEOPLE ARE BEING LITERALLY ROBBED ----IN THIS MOVING FORWARD CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA----SACKING AND LOOTING RAPING AND PILLAGING----OVER VITAL US SOVEREIGN INFRASTRUCTURE.

PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES.



July 12, 2016
Engineering team turns on Hyperloop


One in a lawsuit full of allegations of cronyism, nepotism and a death threat

Fred Lambert
- Jul. 12th 2016

If you follow Electrek, you know we are big fans of the Hyperloop concept and we are following closely the companies working to make it a reality. Hyperloop One, the company arguably making the most progress with already a full-scale test track under construction (pictured above) and several deals to develop routes, is now under scrutiny after one of the co-founders left and is now suing the company along with other executives.



The court documents, which are embedded below and were first obtained by CNBC, allege what is a common fear among technology enthusiasts when new companies make extravagant claims, that “the technological promises are being strangled by the mismanagement and greed of the venture capitalists who control the company.”



Hyperloop One Co-founder and CTO Brogan Bambrogan is leading the lawsuit with two other plaintiffs, David Pendergast, the company’s former Assistant General Counsel, and William Mulholland, the startup’s former Vice President of Finance.



The plaintiffs accuse the defendants, Chairman Shervin Pishevar, CEO Robert Lloyd, board member and investor Joe Lonsdale and General Counsel Afshin Pishevar, of several instances of cronyism, nepotism and in one instance, even of a death threat.


The lawsuit lists several allegations of mismanagement by the board, which range from repeatedly forcing engineers to give tours to impress Pishevar’s friends and celebrities, to giving jobs to allegedly underqualified friends and family members.
Katy Perry visiting Hyperloop One’s headquarters in Los Angeles:
____________________________________________

BRANSON is gone from this FICTITIOUS HYPERLOOP ONE which is very likely simply ELON MUSK SPACE X-----which was our US NASA-------which is now global banking 1% private MINING CORPORATIONS-----we mentioned DeBeer ------BORING ----

'Branson steps down from role as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop
www.reuters.com/article/us-branson-virgin-hyper... Oct 22, 2018 · Richard Branson is quitting as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, saying the company, that plans to build a supersonic transport system in the United Arab Emirates and other countries, needs a more...'

BRANSON is gone ---the 'founding' partners are gone-------and now we have a CONSORTIUM all pretending to be tied to FEDERAL US ALL-AMERICAN transportation.

This CONSORTIUM looks about the same in INDIA----or BAHRAIN--or Western Europe---as here in US-------NONE being sovereign.

THE HYPERLOOP technology as we say----is SPACE X colonial planetary space mining -------and our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE have no need for this technology.

'The world’s first passenger hyperloop system | Virgin
www.virgin.com/richard-branson/worlds-first... Aug 02, 2019 ·


The DP World – Virgin Hyperloop One consortium was also named as the Original Project Proponent for the Mumbai-Pune hyperloop project and preparing to start the public procurement process. This landmark announcement for building the Pune-Mumbai hyperloop transportation system recognises hyperloop technology alongside other more traditional forms of mass transit'.



'Hyperloop | SpaceX
www.spacex.com/hyperloop

The Hyperloop system built by SpaceX at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California is approximately one mile in length with a six foot outer diameter. The Official SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition SpaceX announced the Hyperloop Pod Competition in 2015'.


Below we see among many 'ACADEMIC' campuses -----our US schools tying all of the 'INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY efforts into reaching the goals of THE BORING CORPORATION ---AKA----DEBEER'S MINING CORPORATION.


This SPACE X goal of global DeBeer's MINING CORPORATION is trumping all US academic research surrounding REAL USEFUL transportation infrastructure here in US...and yes, SPACE X is affiliated and/or owes these hyperloop companies


'Note: This competition is a SpaceX event.

SpaceX has no affiliation with any Hyperloop companies, including but not limited to those frequently referenced by the media'.




The 2019


Hyperloop Pod Competition took place on July 21, 2019.


SpaceX is revolutionizing terrestrial transportation through its Hyperloop services. The company currently provides these services to innovators and universities across the world interested in high-speed transportation technology and solutions. The Hyperloop system built by SpaceX at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California is approximately one mile in length with a six foot outer diameter.


The Official SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition


SpaceX announced the Hyperloop Pod Competition in 2015. The competition’s goal is to support the development of functional prototypes and encourage innovation by challenging student teams to design and build the best high-speed pod. The first three competitions were held in January 2017, August 2017, and July 2018 and were the first of their kind anywhere in the world.



Based on these successes, SpaceX moved forward with the fourth installment:


the 2019 Hyperloop Pod Competition.

As with previous competitions, the competition was judged solely on one criteria: maximum speed with successful deceleration (i.e. without crashing). All pods were self-propelled. The key updates to the rules for the 2019 competition were the following:

1. Teams used their own communications system. SpaceX did not provide an on-pod communications system, otherwise known as the Network Access Panel (NAP).
2. Pods were designed and tested to propel themselves within 100 feet of the far end of the tube before stopping. This could take the form of a single main run to that point or a “slow crawl” after the pod’s main run was completed.

During the competitions, the following schools have received Innovation Awards:



Delft University (Delft Hyperloop), Irish universities (Éirloop), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Hyperloop), St. John’s High School (Team HyperLift), Technical University of Munich (WARR Hyperloop), University of Maryland (UMD Loop), University of Oldenburg and University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer (HyperPodX), Universitat Politècnica de València (Hyperloop UPV), University of Texas at Austin (Texas Guadaloop), University of Washington (Washington Hyperloop), and University of Wisconsin-Madison (Badgerloop).


Note: This competition is a SpaceX event. SpaceX has no affiliation with any Hyperloop companies, including but not limited to those frequently referenced by the media.


Break a pod!
Additional competition support provided by:
The Boring Company

______________________________________________

So, how does the GLOBAL MINING CORPORATION DeBEERS AKA BORING COMPANY----get 99.9% of US WE THE PEOPLE not only to fund the R AND D to its space planetary mining technology ----but, also keep paying for it for several decades?  CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA handed US TREASURY AND STATE TREASURY BOND DEBT to foreign corporations now reaping billions in profits while we the US taxpayer sees this tax and that tax---and those taxes and these taxes-----added to our local, state, and Federal tax burden.

BOSTON TEA PARTY was revolution against these kinds of taxation by global EAST INDIA CORPORATION-----which is likely the same OLD WORLD KINGS behind DeBEERS GLOBAL MINING.

BIG GOVERNMENT TODAY IS COLONIALISM OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE.

Below we see a small state like INDIANA which mortgaged its interstate to foreign corporation for 75years----tied to these kinds of STIFS------STIFFING local citizens to pay for US infrastructure not even owned by any sovereign entity.


'State debt refers to any debt owned by a state government.

Debt may include any financial obligations a state has that have not been paid, such as bonds issued by state governments, money borrowed by a state government that has not been repaid, or post-retirement benefits promised to state employees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Indiana had a debt of $22,463,710,000 in fiscal year 2015. The state debt per capita was $3,397. This ranked Indiana 15th among the states in debt and 21st in per capita debt'.

Who works for GLOBAL DeBEERS-------the UN WOMEN -----YOU KNOW----those HILLARY NASTY LADIES---OUR REVOLUTION for only the global 1%. 

NEO-LIBERALS MORPHING INTO GLOBAL CORPORATE MARXISM.


*****************************************************

Short-Term Investment Fund (STIF)
By James Chen
Updated Apr 14, 2019
What Is a Short-Term Investment Fund (STIF)?

A short-term investment fund (STIF) invests in short-term investments of high quality and low risk. This type of fund is considered to be one of the most conservative investments in the investment market. Investors invest in short-term investment funds to protect capital. Short-term investment funds are generally expected to keep pace with inflation and earn marginally higher returns than a standard personal savings account. Short-term investment funds are also generally considered to be liquid investments.



Understanding the Short-Term Investment Fund (STIF)

Short-term investment funds offer investors the opportunity to protect capital while earning a marginal rate of return. Many short-term investment funds benchmark their fund returns to a Treasury bill index. Short-term investment funds typically include cash, bank notes, government bills and conservative bond holdings characterized as safe short-term debt instruments.

Short-term investment funds are also known for liquidity. These types of funds are often used by investors who seek a short-term holding before moving their investments to another investment that will provide higher returns. These funds traditionally have low management fees, usually well below 1% per year. They also typically have low transaction costs.


Short-Term Investment Fund Managers

Money market funds are the most broadly known short-term investment funds. Short-term investment funds can also invest in short-term bonds in various categories. Below are examples of investment providers that offer a wide array of money market funds for investors.

Schwab: Schwab

Purchased Money Funds are grouped into three categories: prime, government and treasury, and municipal. Investor share classes require a minimum investment of $1.


Vanguard: Vanguard offers three taxable money market funds and numerous non-taxable municipal funds. Prices of the funds are $1. Expenses range from 0.09% to 0.16%.


JPMorgan: JPMorgan offers approximately 60 money market funds. JPMorgan money market funds have a net asset value of $1. The JPMorgan Prime Money Market Fund (CJPXX) has the best one year return as of October 31, 2017. The Fund’s one year return is 1.03%. The Fund has an expense cap of 0.18%.


American Century: American Century offers five funds in its money market category. American Century money market funds offer free check writing for liquidity and easy accessibility. The Prime Money Market Fund (BPRXX) is one of the category’s top performers. Its total year to date return as of December 1, 2017, was 0.52%. The Fund has over $1 billion in total assets with an expense ratio of 0.58%.


_____________________________________________

CLINTON era pushed this MASTER PLAN for US CITIES AS FAILED STATES to bring the URBAN DECAY for which today's MOVING FORWARD MASTER PLAN prepares to install not sovereign but COLONIAL infrastructure----not for US states OR US cities----but, for global FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES----controlled by that .00014% of extreme rich people for whom ELON MUSK and those UN WOMEN work.

'That’s why in 2011, Biden announced a new six-year, $53 billion plan to expand high-speed rail beyond the initial stimulus investments, a plan that would have built much more groundwork for a truly competitive national passenger rail network'.


FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES created during FDR were DUTY-FREE zones for local and regional US businesses to ship overseas. CLINTON expanded this policy gearing up for GLOBAL CORPORATIONS shipping inside these US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES.

During CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA local WINNERS with these TIFS/STIFS are now being thrown under the bus as GLOBAL BEOWULFS get all that tax money.

THESE FUNDING MODELS ARE ALL INNOVATIVE---TRANSFORMATIONAL-----

So, SPACE X in any form already control much of the US TREASURY DEBT-----US STATE MUNICIPAL BOND DEBT------so, now they are sealing our future TAX COLLECTION for 75 ----99 years.

Below we see an example of 99.9% of WE THE FLORIDA CITIZENS -----BEING STIFFED----BY GLOBAL MINING DeBEERS -----pretending to be building social benefit----transportation.



'barbzack.wordpress.com
STIF’s and the Apopka Taxpayer


The Agenda for this week’s Apopka City Commission meeting is again jam-packed. The one that should raise some concerns is the 2nd reading of Ordinance #2446, regarding the creation of a synthetic t…


The Agenda for this week’s Apopka City Commission meeting is again jam-packed. The one that should raise some concerns is the 2nd reading of Ordinance #2446, regarding the creation of a synthetic t…'



Tax Increment Grant ---


Guidelines




In accordance with the City’s strategic business objectives, multiple financing tools are utilized to encourage economic development projects. One such tool is tax increment financing in the form of the City’s Tax Increment




Grant

Program [TIG]. The City Council adopted guidelines below set forth the uses and parameters of the programthat are utilized when assessing potential



TIGinvestments.I.Financing Parameters:


A.Reimbursement basis only (City / County payments are not made until l property taxes are paid by private sector)




B.Private sector guarantees are pledged in the form of a Development Agreement


C.A “But For” test will be applied

D.City’s financial participation allows reservation of right to influence type and form of project in partnership with privatedeveloperE.City priorities and policy goals must be satisfiedII.



Financing Categories


A.Infrastructure Investment–the building or financing of new public infrastructure such as roads, streetscapes and parking decks that induces development that would not otherwise occur. Incremental taxes generated as a result of the new infrastructure can be used to reimburse private sector for right of way acquisition, design, engineering and construction of the infrastructure.


1.The Highest Priority Infrastructure projects in Highest Priority Business Areas may be eligible for a STIF amounting up to 90% of incremental taxes for up to ten years.

2.High Priority Infrastructure projects in High Priority Areas of the City may be eligible for a STIF amounting up to 45% of incremental taxes for up to ten years.


B.Public Asset Purchase–the building or financing of new public buildings or feature that become a specific asset to the City. These projects by pass the normal Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) process and are often a unique opportunity to obtain a desired public facility. In analyzing the viability of a project, attention will focus on how the project compares to items included in the CIP. These projects may have multiple City andprivate sector revenue sources with the resulting asset owned by the City. As a result of the nature of the project, less emphasis is placed on the “But For” test and terms may be longer due to the life expectancy of the asset.Total incremental taxes generated as a result of the development can be dedicated up to 90% and for up to 25 years.


C.Economic Development Grants–the provision of gap funding for economic development projects in Business Corridor and strategic plan geographies that add value to the city and generate growth that would not otherwise occur.Total incremental taxes generated as a result of the development can be dedicated up to 90% and for up to 10 yearsIII.

Capacity Policy

The amount of the total city wide TIGassistance should be limited to no more than 3.0% of the annual property tax levy of any given year. Before a new project can be approved, an analysis must be completed to ensure that future commitments will not exceed the TIGmaximum capacity threshold. The model will be updated annually to determine of new capacity is available.Adopted by City Council –November 2007...............

__________________________________________


'CSX agreed to allow the N.C. Department of Transportation to acquire about 10 miles of railroad right-of-way in Warren County, between Ridgeway and the Virginia state line. Virginia will acquire another 65 miles of the CSX line from the state line north to near Petersburg'.


NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA is moving CSX from private ownership to 'public' partnership simply so CSX can use FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL tax funding to built HIGH SPEED CORPORATE CARGO rail.


Once built----these train lines will be handed back to ---very likely GLOBAL ELON MUSK MINING CORPORATION.

This 'JOKE' about ELON MUSK AKA DeBeer global mining corporation being that COLONIAL EAST INDIA CORPORATION -----controlling all products coming and going from an

AMERICAN COLONY----IS  MOVING FORWARD in 21st century FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE-------RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE.

Who wouldn't buy CSX if one owns Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific

This consolidation of all US railways to what may sound like a BENEVOLENT BILLIONAIRE----WARREN BUFFETT-----looks more like BUFFETT may be that subsidiary of OLD WORLD KINGS-------global banking.

Below is yet ANOTHER TAX INCREMENTAL FINANCE structure to build that RAILWAY------EIFD.

Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District

The Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) law (beginning with Section 53398.50 of the California Gov’t. Code) provides broad authority for local agencies to use tax increment to finance a wide variety of projects, including:

Infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and wastewater and groundwater facilities;
Affordable housing, mixed-use development and sustainable development;
Transit-oriented development;
Light rail;
Industrial structures;
Parks and open space;
Libraries;
Child care facilities;
Military base reuse; and
Brownfields remediation.

The EIFD provides broad flexibility in what it can fund. No public vote is required to establish an authority, and though a 55 percent vote is required to issue bonds, other financing alternatives exist. Unlike former redevelopment, this tool imposes no geographic limitations on where it can be used, and no blight findings are required. An EIFD can be used on a single street, in a neighborhood or throughout an entire city. It can also cross jurisdictional boundaries and involve multiple cities and a county. While an individual city can form an EIFD without participation from other local governments, the flexibility of this tool and the enhanced financial capacity created by partnerships will likely generate creative discussions between local agencies on how the tool can be used to fund common priorities.


******************************************************************


NC: High-speed rail from Raleigh to Richmond just got a little closer to reality
A blockbuster deal announced last week between freight railroad CSX and the state of Virginia includes something for North Carolina that will help with the development of high-speed rail between Raleigh and Richmond.



Richard Stradling
The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Dec 27th, 2019



Dec. 23--RALEIGH -- A blockbuster deal announced last week between freight railroad CSX and the state of Virginia includes something for North Carolina that will help with the development of high-speed rail between Raleigh and Richmond.



CSX agreed to allow the N.C. Department of Transportation to acquire about 10 miles of railroad right-of-way in Warren County, between Ridgeway and the Virginia state line. Virginia will acquire another 65 miles of the CSX line from the state line north to near Petersburg.



Leaders from North Carolina and Virginia began planning for high-speed passenger trains through the two states in 1992 and have been anticipating the day when they'd have access to CSX's so-called S-line between Raleigh and Petersburg. Virginia's deal with CSX will provide a boost to North Carolina's efforts to acquire the rest of the rail line between Raleigh and Ridgeway, said Jason Orthner, NCDOT's rail director.



"Virginia's step forward here sets us up for a transaction on our side of the border," Orthner said in an interview Monday.


Orthner said it's not clear yet how NCDOT will acquire the 10 miles of right-of-way in Warren County or how much it will cost. "The details will need to be worked out," he said.


Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday that CSX had agreed to sell 350 miles of railroad right-of-way to the state, including 225 miles of track. The $3.7 billion deal will give Virginia control over key sections of the main rail connection between Richmond and Washington, D.C., allowing it to work with Amtrak to increase passenger rail service between the two cities and to improve commuter rail service in the Northern Virginia suburbs.



The agreement also calls for Virginia to build a new bridge across the Potomac River, parallel to the existing one now used by Amtrak, commuter trains and CSX. The new bridge would be used exclusively by passenger and commuter trains, leaving the existing CSX bridge for freight.



The tracks on the CSX line between Ridgeway and Petersburg were removed in the 1980s. Orthner said the remaining tracks between Raleigh and Ridgeway are "under-utilized" by CSX, which moves most of its freight on the so-called A-line through Fayetteville, Wilson and Rocky Mount, where the company is building a terminal to shift cargo containers between trucks and trains.



The state's long-term plans for rail service include passenger trains capable of going 110 miles per hour between Raleigh and Richmond on the S-line. Orthner says the tracks also could be used eventually for commuter rail service between downtown Raleigh and Wake Forest. NCDOT is working to eliminate railroad crossings on the CSX line in Wake County by building bridges, starting with Durant and New Hope Church roads in Raleigh.



Virginia and North Carolina created the Interstate High Speed Rail Compact in 1992, and the concept was later expanded to include high-speed trains in the Southeast from Washington south to Atlanta and Jacksonville, Florida. State Sen. Tom McInnis, a Republican from Richmond County who heads the state's delegation to the compact, said Virginia's pact with CSX is a big deal for North Carolina.



"This agreement takes us a big step forward in our efforts to better connect North Carolina communities," McInnis said in a statement. "And it will offer new connections between our state and our neighbors, providing lasting economic development opportunities for our state."


_________________________________________



The point is this: the goals MOVING FORWARD ONE WORLD FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES have all infrastructure tied to moving cargo/products to global corporate FOREIGN factories-----with rail infrastructure owned by foreign global transportation corporations.

NOT A HAPPY TRAIN/RAIL HISTORY FOR OUR ALL-AMERICAN TRAIN ROUTES.


Don't be a MOTLEY FOOL------

CAN SOMEONE SAY-----GLOBAL CORPORATE MONOPOLY ---------which is illegal under US CONSTITUTIONAL history and 300 years of US court precedence.


One of Warren Buffett’s favorite industries is about to get hot again : MKM

Published: Sept 18, 2017 11:09 a.m. ET





Railroads poised for big moves, says technician. Autos, too.




It’s time to ride the rails. And maybe hop in a fast car while you’re at it.
That’s the latest advice from MKM Partner’s chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky, who says these industrial sectors are about to bust higher, taking related shares along for the ride.


Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is one of the biggest railroad fans, so much so that he bought Burlington Northern Santa Fe several years ago. But then he also let go of Norfolk Southern NSC, +1.26%  and Union Pacific UNP, +2.27%.



Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are among the railroads recommended by Krinsky, who says pick trains over planes when it comes to industrials, which he believes are “poised to break out of a multi-month trading range.” That breakout suggests about 3% upside for the sector, he said, using the Dow Jones U.S. Railroads Index DGUSRAIA, +1.60%  as a guide here:
MKM Partners LLCThe two other rail stocks Krinsky likes are CSX Corp. CSX, +0.81% and Kansas City Southern KSU, +0.41%  

***************************************************************


Is CSX a Buffett Stock?Let's find out.

Ilan Moscovitz
(TMFDiogenes)

Updated: Apr 6, 2017 at 9:06PM
Published: Jun 20, 2011 at 12:00AM
Author Bio


Editor's Note: A previous version of this article named the wrong person as CEO of CSX.



Warren Buffett attracts a lot of attention. As the world's third-richest person and most celebrated investor, thousands try to glean what they can from his thinking processes and track his investments.


While we can't know for sure whether Buffett is about to buy CSX (NYSE: CSX) -- he hasn't specifically mentioned anything about it to me -- we can discover whether it's the sort of stock that might interest him. Answering that question could also inform whether it's a stock that should interest us.


In his most recent 10-K, Buffett lays out the qualities he looks for in an investment. In addition to adequate size, proven management, and a reasonable valuation, he demands:

1. Consistent earnings power.
2. Good returns on equity with limited or no debt.
3. Management in place.
4. Simple, non-techno mumbo jumbo businesses.

Does CSX meet Buffett's standards?


1. Earnings power
Buffett is famous for betting on a sure thing. For that reason, he likes to see companies with demonstrated earnings stability.
Let's examine CSX's earnings and free cash flow history:

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Free cash flow is adjusted based on author's calculations.
Over the past five years, CSX has had fairly stable earnings.
2. Return on equity and debt
Return on equity is a great metric for measuring both management's effectiveness and the strength of a company's competitive advantage or disadvantage -- a classic Buffett consideration. When considering return on equity, it's important to make sure a company doesn't have an enormous debt burden, because that will skew your calculations and make the company look much more efficient than it actually is.



Since competitive strength is a comparison between peers, and various industries have different levels of profitability and require different levels of debt, it helps to use an industry context.


Company

Debt-to-Equity Ratio
Return on Equity
5-Year Average Return on Equity

CSX93%19%16%
Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP)51%16%13%
Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC)64%15%15%
Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP)86%12%14%Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. *Negative equity one or more years.
CSX produces above-average returns on equity while employing above-average levels of debt.
3. Management
CEO Michael Ward has been at the job since 2003.
4. Business
For years, Buffett had been skeptical of the rail industry's competitive dynamics, though he's come around more recently to the idea that it has an advantage over trucking in a high fuel cost environment and acquired Burlington Northern. Rail isn't particularly susceptible to technological disruption.



The Foolish conclusion

Even though the Burlington Northern purchase would potentially keep Buffett from buying CSX, we've learned that the company exhibits some of the characteristics of a quintessential Buffett investment: consistent earnings, tenured management, and a straightforward business.



____________________________________________

Below we INDIANA again promoting all of this ONE WORLD ONE FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE CORPORATE RAIL LINE----being touted as good for citizens loving that passenger rail history--------so, we will designate state and local millions and tens of millions say the PRESIDENT COXHEAD ----to 21st century RAIL.

Here is CSX INDIANA as with CSX NORTH CAROLINA/VIRGINIA-----all slated to be owned by WARREN BUFFETT----and global investors.


“Passenger rail advocates across Indiana applaud these moves as steps that will move Indiana closer to the 21st Century passenger rail vision we all share,” said IPRA President Steve Coxhead.$18 Million Combined for Hoosier State, South Shore'

Who owns WARREN BUFFETT and his investment empire? NOT WARREN BUFFETT.

So, this 21st century railway in Indiana ---et al will only service global factory cargo logistics----with maybe some FIRST CLASS AND BUSINESS EXECUTIVE riding high-speed rail once called CSX/AMTRAK.

COXHEAD being sold as a US RAIL HISTORY BUFF-----knows these global rail logistic structures will have nothing to do with US TRAIN HISTORY---INDIANA TRAIN HISTORY----all that will be wiped off the MAP.



Passenger Rail Funds in State Budget


By Donald Yehle

ALL ABOARDINDIANA

May 2017.........




In an historic action, the Hoosier State has be-come a line item in the State of Indiana’s 2018-2019 biennium budget. South Shore construc-tion funds were also approved. Lawmakers and Governor Eric Holcomb set aside $18 million for passenger rail --$6 million for the Hoosier Stateand $12 million to the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority for South Shore construction projects.


Meanwhile, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is working to find additional dol-lars to maintain the level of service it currently has from Amtrak. Hoosier Stateproponents are actively involved with INDOT to “creatively” find those dollars, sources say.“Passenger rail advocates across Indiana applaud these moves as steps that will move Indiana closer to the 21st Century passenger rail vision we all share,” said IPRA President Steve Coxhead.Along with Governor Holcomb, five state legislators deserve praise for seeing the importance of passenger rail to Indiana’s present and future.



Those legislators are State Senators Brandt Hershman, Luke Kenley, and Karen Tallian and State Representatives Tim Brown and Hal Slager. A well-deserved shout out goes to INDOT leaders and staff for their role in gaining funding for the Hoosier State and South Shore commuter rail improvements, added Coxhead.


Indiana’s recently approved biennium budget begins July 1, 2017, continuing through June 30, 2019. Effective May 1, 2017, Amtrak trains traveling to Indianapolis along the Hoosier State corridor will be on a new schedule --departing all Indiana stations 11 minutes earlier than what pas-sengers have been experiencing. Chicago-bound trains on the same corridor will arrive in the Windy City five minutes earlier (10 a.m. Central Time) than at present. New Indiana station departure times for the eastbound Cardinal (Train 50) and the southbound Hoo-sier State (Train 850) are:Dyer, 6:44 p.m. Central Time Rensselaer, 7:35 p.m. Central Time Lafayette, 9:46 p.m. Eastern Time Crawfordsville, 10:20 p.m. Eastern Time (continued)IN THIS ISSUE:Page TwoHoosier State Ridership Up 11%Progress Continues on Train Linking Chicago, ColumbusPage ThreeMr. Chattin, Mr. Streby Go to Washington, D.C.Page FourStreby Elected to RPA BoardTesting Launched on Siemens LocomotivesBullets from the BoardPage FiveVisit Chicago on May 13 for Train Advocate MeetingPage SixI

We are discussing this week TRANSPORTATION public policy beginning by updating that BOONDOGGLE called HIGH SPEED RAIL.  Let's remember several years ago when OBAMA did PAY -TO-PLAY to his election-funders----SILICON VALLEY and SPACE X-----global mining corporations.

We don't want to forget ----HYPER-LOOP/MEGLEV are transport for planetary mining slave colonies promoted by DeBEERS for whom ELON MUSK works.

How does global banking get hundreds of billions of dollars spent on GLOBAL SPACE MINING----pretending to be US INFRASTRUCTURE development.

Fast forward to today and all that HYPER-LOOP/MEGLEV discussion has faded to 'more reasonable innovations like high speed AMTRAK -----meanwhile all those billions handed to ELON MUSK or VIRGIN corporation are building in DESERTS like NEVADA and BAHRAIN-----because all that is GLOBAL MILITARY SPACE MINING technology.

We like to remind our US 99% WE THE WOMEN who are being told they are WINNERS if they are tied to ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE----UNITED NATIONS/WORLD BANK----that they work for DeBEERS----global banking is global mining.

ALL OF OUR US STATE TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES WORKING TO INSTALL THESE TECHNOLOGIES ----ARE SENDING ALL OUR SOVEREIGN TAX MONEY TO ADVANCE BRUTAL GLOBAL MINING CORPORATIONS.

'Corporate affairs

In August 2017, De Beers partnered with the Stanford Graduate School of Business to accelerate business ventures to market in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.[93] As part of two programs, the partnership is set to help teach early entrepreneurs how to commercialize their business ideas.[94] The partnership is a 3-year, $3 million deal.[95]

In September 2017, De Beers partnered with UN Women to help the advancement of women within the company and the countries it operates in.[96] In 2018, the two entities launched a program to support 500 women micro-entrepreneurs in Blouberg and Musina communities, near De Beers’ Venetia diamond mine.[97']

Here we all this HYPERLOOP AND MEGLEV being proto-typed in INDIA ----CHINA.  China concludes------that sticking with traditional rail technology is BEST.



'Virgin Hyperloop One and Shanghai Maglev both have very cool technologies. The technology behind Shanghai Maglev is that it operates by magnetic levitation (maglev)'.

'China built a short maglev line to the Shanghai airport to test the feasibility of the technology for longer trips. The result? They're sticking with traditional high-speed rail technology'.

Meanwhile, it seems ELON MUSK AND VIRGIN are taking our US Federal funding and building proto-types in INDIA------RUSSIA-----you know, all that FLIPPING OF EARTH'S ECONOMIC AXIS from WESTERN HEMISPHERE TO EASTERN HEMISPHERE.



'The (European) Train of the Future

The Hyperloop has been dubbed ‘the train of the future.’ With active projects already in Dubai, Canada, and Russia, the futuristic pod is now coming to France via Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT)'.


This was the discussion several years when all this HYPE was used to secure US FEDERAL FUNDING-------nothing is happening and plans are promoting as CHINA did--------sticking with traditional high-speed rail technology-----AKA ------AMTRAK HIGH SPEED RAIL.




'The world’s first Hyperloop is likely to be built in India and construction will start at the end of next year, Virgin Hyperloop One CEO Jay Walder told Yahoo Finance.



“One of the big projects that we've been working on right now is in India — it's to build a route from Mumbai to Pune,“ Walder explained in an interview on the sidelines of a national roadshow in New York City. “That's about a [75-mile] route… the first phase of that project will be [7.5 miles]. … I think there’ll be shovels in the ground by the end of 2020. So it's really exciting. It's happening. It's here now.”



The Hyperloop system is a futuristic mode of transportation that would put passengers in pods that would magnetically levitate and travel through vacuum tubes across states, or even countries.



The mode of transportation would move “670 miles an hour,” Walder said. “But it's going to be really smooth. You could literally hold a cup of coffee if you're doing it.”



High-Speed Rail
Why not maglev or hyperloop?

China built a short maglev line to the Shanghai airport to test the feasibility of the technology for longer trips. The result? They're sticking with traditional high-speed rail technology.The vast majority of high-speed rail systems around the world use conventional "steel wheel on steel rail" technology. This is the same basic concept that the world's first machine-powered railroad used in 1830. Since then, we've moved from steam to diesel to electric power. We've made curves and slopes more gentle, introduced advanced signaling systems and found other ways to improve safety, reliability and speed. But like 1830's Liverpool and Manchester railway, modern high-speed rail still rolls on two rails that are 4 feet, 8 and a half inches (1.435 m) apart.



This doesn't mean the world hasn't tried other technologies. Since the beginning of the 20th century, magnetic levigation, or maglev, has perpetually been "the future" of rail. More than 100 years have passed since the first patents were issued, and maglev has yet to prove itself reliable or effective. The challenges in designing a functional maglev system seem to outweigh the potential benefits.



China inaugurated the world's fastest commercial maglev line in 2004, connecting the Shanghai airport to the city's outskirts, where one must then transfer to the metro to continue to the city center or main rail station. The line was intended to be a test for a 105 mi (169 km) line from Shanghai to Hangzhou. After evaluating the airport line's high construction and operating costs, China opted to build the link to Hangzhou in 2010 using traditional high-speed rail technology.



Hyperloop is an evolution of maglev that operates inside an airless tube, similar to the machine that shuttles items back and forth at a bank drive-through. Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes may sound appealing, but you have to do it strapped into a reclined seat in a windowless cylinder. Forget about seeing the scenery or going to the bathroom. Production of a full-scale, working hyperloop model is taking longer and costing more than expected. Transportation experts have also noted that hyperloop backers have wildly underestimated the costs of right-of-way acquisition, construction and operating.


Beyond technical or financial snafus, the single biggest weakness of systems like maglev and hyperloop is that they can't take advantage of the vast network of railroads that already crisscross our country. They can't access the stations that are already nestled among the skyscrapers in our downtowns or on our small-town main streets. Around the world, successful high-speed rail systems are extentions and additions to existing railroad networks, which maglev or hyperloop simply cannot be.


___________________________________________

MUSK AND BRANSON tied to SILICON VALLEY technology received most of those tens of billions for high speed rail. 

HIGH-SPEED RAIL IS GOING NOWHERE FAST IN US.

REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERALS built the road and train infrastructure from 20th century via programs like FDR NEW DEAL -----they were PUBLIC TRANSIT governed by our local/state/national government.  FEDERAL INTERSTATE ROADS/RAIL-----controlled by Congress and US courts.  State roads controlled by US states. 

TODAY, infrastructure development whether RAIL OR ROADS is being outsourced to GLOBAL FOREIGN CORPORATIONS ------attacking our US sovereignty in infrastructure.

'Senator Bernie Sanders is proposing $607 billion for a new high-speed train network as part of his Green New Deal. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez included it in her own plan earlier this year'.




THE NEW GREEN DEAL is that ATTACK.  'GREEN' stands for MONEY---PROFITS---it does not stand for environmentalism--------yes, BERNIE as a global banking 1% OLD WORLD KINGS---TRIBE OF JUDAH-----and CORTEZ as a global banking 1% KNIGHTS OF MALTA see all those hundreds of billions of dollars in road and rail to go to OVERSEAS FOREIGN TRANSPORTATION CORPORATIONS-----making GREEN money for extremely rich people.




'youtube.com
Amtrak's Next-Generation of High-Speed Rail
At Amtrak we know the future of the Northeast Corridor depends on the…

At Amtrak we know the future of the Northeast Corridor depends on the investments we make today, which is why we are excited to announce the upcoming arrival...

At Amtrak we know the future of the Northeast Corridor depends on the investments we make today, which is why we are excited to announce the upcoming arrival of the next-generation of high-speed rail. The new trainsets will replace the current Acela Express equipment and begin service in 2021. For this project, we are pleased to be partnering with Alstom, a leading global provider of innovative systems and equipment in the railway sector. Alstom will be building these new trainsets in New York State, with 95% of the trainset’s components being made in America, and parts coming from 350 suppliers in 30 U.S. states'.


This is how these terms ------HYPERLOOP and MEGLEV became US FEDERAL FUNDING structures having nothing to do with our US commercial or passenger road/rail.

SANDERS AND CORTEZ ARE FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% EXTREME WEALTH EXTREME POVERTY-----LIBERATARIAN MARXISTS----they want to send all our sovereign tax money to global foreign corporations.

HIGH SPEED AMTRAK SEEMS THE WINNER TODAY IN MOST RAIL PLANS ---YET, GLOBAL BANKING 1% ARE STILL SELLING HYPERLOOP/MEGLEV.



So, we don't want or need HIGH-SPEED RAIL----we need to update and maintain perfectly GOOD MARC COMMUTER RAIL for passengers-----but, if we must go HIGH-SPEED we think AMTRAK ---not the fastest----but the most reasonable.




Technology & Ideas


High-Speed Rail Is Going Nowhere Fast in the U.S.


Bullet trains usually are money losers and make little sense for America’s sprawling, car-oriented landscape.

By
Noah Smith
December 20, 2019, 8:00 AM EST


Probably not coming to the U.S. anytime soon.
Some leaders in the U.S. are intent on reviving the old dream of high-speed rail. Senator Bernie Sanders is proposing $607 billion for a new high-speed train network as part of his Green New Deal. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez included it in her own plan earlier this year. On Twitter, Sanders’s political allies sing the praises of high-speed rail systems such as China’s.


High-speed rail puts an optimistic, futuristic face on an economic agenda that might otherwise seem mainly about sacrifice and belt-tightening. It’s high-tech, beautiful and iconic. It would be a substitute for regional air travel and road trips, and reduce carbon emissions. And it’s an area where the U.S. genuinely lags other countries. Anyone who has experienced the speed and convenience of traveling from city to city by bullet train in Japan or France will understand the appeal.

But although this is a good long-term goal, any actual plan for building bullet trains must reckon with why high-speed rail has consistently failed in the U.S.



The Obama administration also was a fan of the idea, and requested more than $50 billion for high-speed rail projects. Much less ended up being approved, and even less was spent, thanks to state-level and congressional opposition; most of it went to upgrading existing commuter rail lines.



The one major high-speed rail project was in California, with plans for a train between Los Angeles and San Francisco. But costs ballooned; originally, the project was slated to cost about $40 billion, but the estimate has now at least doubled.

The date for the end of the first phase of construction has been delayed from 2029 to 2033. Governor Gavin Newsom has indicated that the project will be scaled back.


California’s bullet train has thus fallen victim to the same problem that plagues most U.S. transit and infrastructure projects — inflated costs.


Unless the source of those costs can be identified and dealt with, states are likely to balk at the prospect of committing to big-ticket projects that they know will likely go way over budget.



Reducing those costs is even more crucial because even under the best of conditions high-speed rail typically struggles to support itself. Japan’s famous Shinkansen system lost so much money in the 1970s and 1980s that it was broken up, privatized and subjected to ruthless cost-cutting measures. Most of China’s high-speed rail lines also operate in the red, as do many in Europe.



Now, that doesn’t mean high-speed rail isn’t worth it. Transit systems don’t have to fully pay for themselves in order to benefit society because they have spillover effects that power regional economic growth. Highways, trains and buses facilitate networks of economic interactions whose value can’t be captured by tolls and user fees.



But the spillovers from high-speed rail are likely to be smaller than for other infrastructure projects. Unlike roads, bullet trains don’t carry freight, only people (the U.S. already has an excellent freight rail network). They could generate some increased tourism, but not much, because most people can already take road trips for a similar price. Research from China suggests that one important kind of economic activity bullet trains will stimulate is interaction among high-skilled workers, such as business executives, researchers and so on. That’s more than nothing, but it isn’t the kind of boost that highways and freight trains deliver. It also means that the biggest beneficiaries of high-speed rail would be corporations and high earners. And in the U.S., which already has well-established regional air travel and freeways, the increased benefit from more business trips will likely be smaller than in a developing country such as China.



Other factors specific to the U.S. make high-speed rail less attractive than in Europe or Asia. Sprawling U.S. cities tend to be built around cars and roads, meaning that many high-speed rail passengers who arrive at their destination would have to either rent a car or use expensive ride-hailing services. That increases the incentive to just drive all the way. It also means that trains linking city centers would generate less economic activity in the U.S. than in more densely populated countries. In addition, the U.S. is likely to be more concerned about terrorism than other countries, because bullet trains are an obvious high-profile target. Security would add to the cost of rail systems.


So although high-speed rail is a good long-term project for carbon-emissions reduction, the U.S. would probably get more bang for the buck by focusing on local trains — fast commuter rail linking suburbs to city centers, subways and light rail to let people get around cities without cars and buses that utilize the existing road systems. These projects aren’t as grand and beautiful as bullet trains, but they would do more for economic activity and livability — and they would be a lot more cost-effective.
_________________________________________


AMTRAK HIGH-SPEED is a BANE to global banking 1% because it moves passengers ---and not cargo.  The article below is written against AMTRAK because of that.  That SUBSIDIZING of a public private partnership that is AMTRAK is not PROFITABLE----

What all those HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS towards HIGH SPEED RAIL should be doing is laying TRACK designated for PA

PASSENGER AMTRAK HIGH SPEED RAIL to get passenger trains off of CSX CARGO RAIL.

Instead, it is mostly going to ELON MUSK/BRANSON.


'the U.S. would probably get more bang for the buck by focusing on local trains — fast commuter rail linking suburbs to city centers'

The article suggests that enhancing AMTRAK will leave cross-country passenger rail without full capacity----know what?  The goal would be ENVIRONMENTAL to eliminate all those commuter PLANES-----to promote less cross-country AUTO DRIVING.

We even want to get rid of CORPORATE JETS----TAKE THE TRAIN----IT'S HIGH SPEED AND COOL.


'It would be a substitute for regional air travel and road trips, and reduce carbon emissions'.


Anything tied to a train attaining speeds of HYPER-LOOP OR MEGLEV will be tied to SECURITY RISKS-----we already know that---like OIL/GAS PIPELINES----rail structures like ELON MUSK/BRANSON will bring more and more and more need for GLOBAL PRIVATE SECURITY CORPORATIONS tied to ordinary US rail instrastructure.




'In addition, the U.S. is likely to be more concerned about terrorism than other countries, because bullet trains are an obvious high-profile target. Security would add to the cost of rail systems'.





Amtrak on the Gulf Coast


BPF | June 27, 2019 | 0 BIGGER PIE FORUM



Mississippi could soon be getting a passenger rail route between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, with most of the stops in the Magnolia State.



The downside is taxpayers, at both the state and federal levels, will heavily subsidize the Amtrak route. The federal government will provide more than $33 million with Mississippi taxpayers adding $15 million drawn from either BP oil spill settlement money or appropriations from the Legislature and Louisiana committing another $10 million.


Alabama is hesitant on whether to provide its share, likely less than $4 million.
Amtrak will provide some additional funds for right of way acquisition or improvements, according to its budget request.



Speaking of the quasi-public rail company, Amtrak is asking Congress for a $1.8 billion subsidy for this budget cycle, boasting that it had the lowest operating loss, $171 million, in its history and increased its revenue by $3.39 billion. The company has never made a profit in its entire history since 1970.


Advocates of the “spend money to make money” approach will tell you that building a regional rail route between Mobile and New Orleans will be a boon to the economy of the Gulf Coast.



What they don’t tell you is that many of Amtrak’s routes are additionally subsidized every year by taxpayers in the states as well. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi taxpayers will likely have to fork over annual subsidies to keep the trains rolling.



A new Gulf Coast route might enjoy an initial boost in business for the first year or two it’s in operation, but when the novelty wears off, taxpayers will be required to fill the void in funding by subsidizing largely half-filled trains.


In Europe — where countries like France and Germany are smaller than Texas — rail travel is highly subsidized and uses specialized trackage for high-speed passenger trains that isn’t shared with freight operators. Japan has a similar situation where relatively short distances make air travel cost ineffective.



In the U.S., Amtrak owns very little of the track it uses and must lease it from freight operators — like CSX, which owns the track between Mobile and New Orleans — or other passenger rail operations.


Most of Amtrak’s operating revenue is generated by its commuter rail operations in the Northeast, which accounts for 55 percent. The state-supported routes are 22.45 percent, while the long-distance routes, two of which cross Mississippi extensively, account for only 22.55 percent of Amtrak revenues.


The bottom line is passenger rail is at a competitive disadvantage in a country as large as the United States thanks to cheap air travel (many airline tickets are cheaper on long routes) and a superior interstate system.


Taxpayers would be better served by not subsidizing a service that will never turn a profit.

____________________________________________

While gulf coast global banking 1% talk against a subsidized AMTRAK -----TEXAS is promoting and actually doing some building of just that----RAIL DESIGNATED as PASSENGER with goals of moving BUSINESS executives and citizens.

BUT, TEXAS being the TALLEST OBELISK AND MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS-----is saying they will do a HYPER-LOOP between two large cities.

Yet, no real development other than AMTRAK HIGH SPEED rail enhancement.

Texas Central, Amtrak reach agreement to link Bullet Train and Amtrak’s interstate passenger network

• May 4, 2018

 

• Plans call for through-ticketing for interstate travel, marketing collaboration and provision of Amtrak services
• Passengers will get connections between Amtrak and Texas Bullet Train stations in Dallas and Houston

Developers of Texas’ high-speed train have forged an agreement with Amtrak, allowing passengers to use Amtrak’s reservation system to buy tickets for through travel on both the Texas Bullet Train and Amtrak’s national routes.



Texas Central will offer a convenient transfer service connecting riders between Amtrak passenger stations and the high-speed train stations in Dallas and Houston. The agreement also will make other Amtrak services, such as training, marketing and sales capabilities, available to Texas Central.



Tim Keith, Texas Central’s president, said the company has been working with Amtrak and others on a commercial basis to expand opportunities to attract, assist and serve passengers on the 200 mph North Texas-to-Houston line.



“This agreement is another important step in the progress of the Texas Bullet Train. It gives both local and interstate travelers more options and ease of travel not previously available by intercity passenger trains in Texas.”
— Tim Keith, Texas Central President


Stephen Gardner, Amtrak’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said one of the most significant gaps in Amtrak’s route structure involves the country’s 4th and 5th largest economies and Texas’ largest metro areas, North Texas and Houston. The Texas Bullet Train will provide a direct connection between Amtrak routes serving the two commercial hubs, helping to facilitate interstate train travel.



“Amtrak supports the development of high-speed train service throughout the United States as part of a national passenger rail system, capable of meeting the nation’s transportation needs. When Texas Central’s high-speed line begins operation, the joint ticketing arrangement will benefit Amtrak customers who currently cannot connect by train between Texas’ two largest markets. We welcome the opportunity to partner with the private sector to expand the reach of our national network.”


— Stephen J. Gardner, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial OfficerThe agreement comes as the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) works to complete a final environmental study of the train’s 240-mile route. The FRA issued its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) Dec. 15, saying the train will alleviate strains on Texas’ infrastructure.The FRA is currently reviewing public comments received on the DEIS in meetings from January to March of this year.



The Texas Bullet Train is expected to pump more than $36 billion directly into the state economy over the next 25 years, including providing more than $2.5 billion in local and state taxes, creating 10,000 direct jobs during each year of construction and boosting development around the passenger stations. The project will not take federal or state grants to build or operate the project.



Under the joint agreement, Texas Central and Amtrak will facilitate the ability of interstate and intrastate train passengers to travel between points on the Texas Central line and throughout Amtrak’s national network. The coordination includes:

• Through ticketing, an option that will allow Amtrak passengers to use its reservation system to buy Texas Central tickets.
• A Texas Central-provided transfer service, conveniently connecting passengers between Amtrak stations and the high-speed train terminals in Houston and Dallas.
• Potential coordination of frequent travel programs.
• Texas Central’s purchase of services from Amtrak, such as training, marketing and sales.

Amtrak serves over 500 stations in 46 states and three Canadian provinces. More than 16 million Texans live within 25 miles of an Amtrak station. By making ticket-buying and trip-scheduling easier for travelers, both Amtrak and Texas Central can better serve their customers, enhancing the value of the innovative project to travelers nationwide.



Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, a former commissioner on the Interstate Commerce Commission, said…


“These agreements between Amtrak and Texas Central provide for a passenger-first coordination of services that will increase Houstonians’ access to Amtrak’s national system and maximize the national impact of the Texas Bullet Train. ” Amtrak has not operated service between Dallas and Houston since 1995 when a leg of the Chicago-to-San Antonio/Los Angeles Texas Eagle route was discontinued. Texas Central will again provide service to this market, including Texas A&M University, with a passenger stop serving Bryan-College Station and Huntsville in the Brazos Valley.
_______________________________


Here's what REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERALS feel highly likely----is MOVING FORWARD with HIGH-SPEED RAIL now being projected for 2050-------the PODS tied to HYPER-LOOP with train tunnels are designed for FREIGHT---CARGO-----global factories in TEXAS for example would drop their freight down these tunnels heading for WAREHOUSING TRANSPORT on coast.

HYPER-LOOP has nothing to do with PASSENGER----but, global banking 1% wants to use all our US AND STATE TAX MONEY to build private global rail corporation infrastructure.

THAT IS WHY THIS DISCUSSION ON RAIL PUBLIC POLICY IS BLENDED BETWEEN AMTRAK PASSENGER AND HYPER-LOOP CORPORATE CARGO.

CSX RAIL is the cargo rail in US shared by our AMTRAK AND MARC public passenger lines. If CSX is going UNDERGROUND HYPER-LOOP----POD transit----as in TEXAS -----then those CSX RAIL lines shared with AMTRAK/MARC public trains could have more access to ground rail lines.

THERE CANNOT BE HYPER-LOOP POD UNDERGROUND CARGO RAIL UNTIL GLOBAL FACTORIES MAKING US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE POLICIES ARE IN PLACE.

'SNCF strike crippling rail freight activity in France - Lloyd ...
www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/...

While the strike focuses on workers at state railway SNCF'

In Western Europe what was a best world history PUBLIC RAIL SYSTEM through all EURO nations----EURORAIL---is being privatized and outsourced to global corporate CARGO RAIL LOGISTICS corporations.  This is what will take our US CSX rail lines as well----foreign corporations will control HYPER-LOOP POD UNDERGROUND CARGO RAIL.  This is why HYPER-LOOP is starting in INDIA-----it will incorporate as a EAST INDIAN HYPER-LOOP CORPORATION-----ask ELON MUSK/BRANSON----they know.

Below we OHIO with these same TEXAS RAIL TRANSIT infrastructure plans ---but, you won't see this discussion of GLOBAL FOREIGN TRANSIT RAIL CORPORATIONS taking over CSX/AMTRAK and why 2050 is the projected completion of INNOVATIVE RAIL LINES in OHIO.


'MORPC expects to receive over $20 billion to allocate to projects over the next 30 years, Walsh said'.

This OHIO STATE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION agency----mirrors MARYLAND STATE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION in how it releases goals of RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE -----both being HYPER-LABOR UNION leaning towards CLINTON/OBAMA neo-liberalism----

LABOR UNIONS ARE BUSTED BY GLOBAL FOREIGN CORPORATIONS-----THERE IS NO FUTURE FOR US LABOR QUALITY OF LIFE.

The population growth in OHIO as a FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE filled with global factories and global labor pool is far more then a FEW MILLION-------

'The system aims to help the city prepare for population growth. Central Ohio is expected to experience a population growth from two million to three million residents by 2050'.



Hilltop Commission reviews transportation plan


By
Editor Columbus Messenger
-

December 12, 2019
0
351
By Josephine Birdsell
Staff Writer



The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) is finishing its long range transportation plan and is accepting feedback on transportation issues across Columbus.


Thea Walsh, director of transportation and infrastructure development, spoke about the plan at the Dec. 3 Greater Hilltop Area Commission meeting.



The plan is revised once every four years. This term, the plan spans 30 years and covers transportation primarily in Franklin County and Delaware County, as well as urban areas of associated counties. MORPC expects to receive over $20 billion to allocate to projects over the next 30 years, Walsh said.
The plan will be finalized by July 1, 2020.



MORPC is now in the final stages of planning. The plan currently outlines major transportation projects across Columbus, including Bus Rapid Transit, a high speed busing system, and a hyperloop connecting Columbus to Chicago and Pittsburgh.


Five corridors are proposed for the Bus Rapid Transit:


a corridor along East Main Street, a northeast corridor from downtown Columbus to the Polaris area, a northwest corridor from downtown Columbus to Dublin, a southeast corridor from downtown to the south end near Rickenbacker, and a corridor along West Broad Street coming out of downtown.



There is no exact timeline for the Bus Rapid Transit, however the busing system will most likely be functional within the next 10 years, said Walsh.


The system aims to help the city prepare for population growth. Central Ohio is expected to experience a population growth from two million to three million residents by 2050.


“Not everyone’s going to be able to drive a car or we’re going to have a gridlock,” said Walsh, “so ensuring that we have high performing transit systems is key in order to be able to move everybody and to encourage people to live close to their jobs.”



There is no timeline for the hyperloop connecting Columbus to Chicago and Pittsburgh, but MORPC hopes to see movement on the project by the 2020s and a fully realized transit system by 2050, said Walsh.


MORPC’s plan also accounts for smaller projects, like widening roads, improving existing bus routes and creating new bike paths.


The organization is taking suggestions from community members on projects they would like to see addressed. Suggestions should include specific locations for projects and details on the type of work needed.


“I cannot understate how important that feedback is to us (westside projects) getting funded,” Melissa Green, West Side Pride Center Manager said.



MORPC is holding a public open house on Feb. 26 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the MORPC office, 111 Liberty Road, to hear project suggestions from community members.
______________________________________________

Whether AMTRAK HIGH SPEED or HYPERLOOP with its PODS----the goals of MOVING FORWARD US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES are rail that moves BUSINESS-----BUSINESS CLASS------BUSINESS CARGO------with some room for FIRST CLASS pricey tickets.

FIRST CLASS AIRLINES pricey but affordable with 20th century middle-class quality of life----not so much with DARK AGES THIRD WORLD EXTREME POVERTY FOR ALL.



'Research from China suggests that one important kind of economic activity bullet trains will stimulate is interaction among high-skilled workers, such as business executives, researchers and so on'.



China High Speed Train Business Class Seats: Benefits ...www.chinadiscovery.com/china-trains/business... China High Speed Train Business Class Seats.


China Bullet Train Business Class Seats are the best among all types of seats onboard, which is offered on most G trains, some C trains and and some D trains, which is a little different from the classification of seats on a plane.



REMEMBER, today the US still has remnants of a MIDDLE-CLASS/WORKING CLASS earning all-American wages------by 2030 the WINNERS will be a smaller percentage as those 5% freemason/Greek players go under the bus.  By 2050-----there will be no sign of a US ALL-AMERICAN quality of life.  So, those FIRST CLASS tickets will be very EXCLUSIVE.

Today's 'US' will be 'THEM' by then.

Business class vs first class on China's high-speed rail network


On China's bullet trains, business class turns out to be superior to first class.

By Chris Chamberlin, December 4 2019



You'd normally be right in believing that first class travel trumps business class – but on the high-speed rail in China, it's actually the other way around: business class is the highest level of service, followed by first class as second-best.


Confused? Here's the difference between the two, and why you should be booking business class on trains where 'first class' is available too.


High-speed rail business class vs first class: pre-departure loungeIn some railway stations such as Guangzhounan (Guangzhou South), you'll notice that business class passengers get VIP treatment from the moment they arrive, over and above what's offered to first class.



For example, Guangzhounan offers a private entrance exclusively for business class guests with a dedicated security screening room – which sure beats queueing for security via the main checkpoints when travelling in other classes.

That's your first hint that in the high-speed rail stakes, business class trumps first class: and that's a handy thing for both corporate and government travellers to know, given 'first class' travel can often be restricted, with 'business class' journeys more widely deemed acceptable.


Beyond that VIP entrance for business class, both business and first class travellers otherwise begin their trip in the same way at the station, with access to a shared pre-departure lounge, where available.


High-speed rail business class vs first class: the cabin

On board the train, first class offers seating in a 2-2 arrangement, filling an entire section between two entry doors.


Business class, however, is a much smaller zone with just five seats across two rows, in a 1-1 and 2-1 layout.

Snag a seat on your lonesome, especially in the second row facing the direction of travel, and it's an incredibly private experience.


In first class, travellers seated by the windows can only access the aisle by walking in front of their neighbour. There's usually enough space to do this, except where that neighbour has their tray table in use, which will need to be folded away to let you pass.


In the more luxurious surroundings of business class, space is not a problem, with three of the five seats in the cabin being on their own, and one pair of seats still offering plenty of space for the window passenger to pass.


For a little relaxation, seats in first class can be reclined by holding in a button at the side of the armrest, just like on a plane.


Business class, however, takes that to the next level with a motorised seat, better-emulating the experience on a long international flight. Through the various control buttons, you can craft your perfect position, such as by reclining the seat and raising the leg rest.


Or, put the seat all the way down to create a bed – and if you plan to sleep, just flick that light switch on the side wall, which nixes the lights directly above you.


High-speed rail business class vs first class:

the service


In both business class and first class, cabin attendants can help you find your seat, and help with any issues you may have such as connecting to the train's WiFi network.



This of course requires a Chinese mainland mobile number – the staff can't help you bypass that requirement if you're roaming instead – but on a journey from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, the staff were able to speak English and assist a fellow traveller with the connection process.


Food and beverage service in first class is whatever you've brought with you onto the train, as there are no complimentary drinks or snacks.


When departing Hong Kong, be mindful that there are also no shops located after Chinese passport control, so the duty-free stores beforehand sell refreshments that you can bring through.


Business class instead offers travellers a selection of complimentary refreshments. On a quick hour-long hop from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, this included a bottle of water plus a snack box, filled with a variety of treats.

We are going to take today as a MLK HOLIDAY to segue from education public policy being killed by global banking 1% corporate pre-K - career apprenticeship job training----having ended with the article below-----my favorite topic-----BRAIN/BODY IMPLANTS and how they will NOT be good-----they will be BAD and we say EVIL.

This one article will addressed broadly from all kinds of directions.  It is not simply an article about WHITE SUPREMACISTS and violence.

FIRST, let's recognize where the US went after the death of MLK who promoted PEACE, LOVE. AND UNDERSTANDING and was a 1% black boule-----freemason/Greek player.  Since MLK our DEMOCRATIC PARTY which was THE UMBRELLA for all civil rights was taken by FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% REAGAN/CLINTON NEO-LIBERALS who spent these few decades of ROBBER BARON sacking looting ------continuous wars overseas-------US CITIES AS FAILED STATES fueling poverty and violence---and recently Congress installed MILITARIZED POLICING tied to global corporate campus MILITARY AND SECURITY----with 24/7 surveillance inside and outside our buildings.  

We say IMPLANT TECHNOLOGY is an ASSAULT on our sovereign bodies and minds------nothing MLK or DREAM is happening today MOVING FORWARD.

  TELEMEDICINE IS A MILITARIZED MEDICINE---------MLK WOULD BE AGHAST.

Back in MLK days the DEMOCRATIC PARTY was REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL CAPITALISM-----you know, that LOCKEAN philosophy embraced by our founding fathers.....AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT ---I AM MAN.

CLINTON/OBAMA as far-right wing global banking 1% NEO-LIBERALS----killed civil rights and MLK'S DREAM.


'Brain-computer interface technology is moving fast and Silicon Valley is moving in. Will we all soon be typing with our minds?
theguardian.com


Are brain implants the future of thinking?

Brain-computer interface technology is moving fast and Silicon Valley is…
Brain-computer interface technology is moving fast and Silicon Valley is moving in. Will we all soon be typing with our minds'?

Global banking 5% freemason/Greek players at the time of 2008 economic crash said--------THOSE PEOPLE ARE LOSER AND HATERS---that would be the 95% of US citizens black, white, and brown.

HATE CAN BE FOUND ANYWHERE. 

We discussed how the suspension of JUSTICE in any society fuels the idea of VIOLENCE AS REVENGE.

It is the suspension of JUSTICE TODAY which fuels individual frustrations whether they are psychologically absorbed to become DEPRESSION AND/OR DRUG ALCOHOL ADDICTION or whether that becomes VIOLENCE.



In today's America, hate can be anywhere

Karl Baker, Esteban Parra and Jenna Miller, Delaware News Journal


Two Maryland towns, each just miles from the Delaware state line, are the homes of men accused of belonging to a racist group that the FBI says is seeking to violently create a "white ethno-state."



They and another man were arrested last week, four days before they would have traveled to a pro-gun rally Monday in Richmond, Virginia, according to the Associated Press, which cited an unnamed law enforcement official.



It’s been more than five decades since Martin Luther King Jr. famously said "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." With such proclamations, he led a nation torn apart by racial division into a Civil Rights Movement that ultimately outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.


But these arrests, along with the 2017 confrontation in Charlottesville, Virginia, show that America's problems with race remain.


More than 1,000 hate group existed in the United States in 2018, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center – the Montgomery, Alabama nonprofit that tracks discrimination and bigotry.



Today, those fomenting unrest rarely gather in large public groups nor are there many large marches of men in white robes. Today, hate often dwells among isolated people living in echo chambers and communicating on the dark corners of the Internet.


Following the arrests of the men last week, residents of their towns of Elkton and Denton, Maryland expressed a range of reactions about them and how their communities have become linked to the term, neo-Nazi. 


Some were reluctant to talk publicly about racism. Many called it a nationwide problem. Others were suspicious of the FBI's motives. And, still others expressed disappointment with young people who become radicalized, often on the internet. 


Denton-resident Tom Besanson said these days when he sees a Confederate flag flying from the bed of a pickup truck, "I would almost bet that the driver is under 25 years of age," he said. 


Richard Potter, an activist from Maryland’s Eastern Shore region, doesn’t think the beliefs of the men arrested are a reflection of the area as a whole.


Still, he said he could see how the isolation in a rural community like Denton could lead to such thoughts, he said.


“I will say people need to start taking a closer look at the Eastern Shore because it’s rural over here and things like that can happen,” he said.


Tracking the suspects


On Thursday, federal agents arrested Brian Mark Lemley, Jr., 33, of Elkton, Maryland and William Garfield Bilbrough IV, 19, of Denton, Maryland, as well as a Canadian man, on "firearms and alien-related charges." The arrests came after the men smashed cell phones and tried to flush the pieces down a toilet, a prosecutor said.



The arrests came a day before police in Georgia charged three other men, allegedly from the same neo-Nazi group, with plotting to kill members of an anti-fascist group.



In a sworn affidavit, an FBI agent claimed Lemley and Bilbrough belonged to a group, called the Base, which organized on an encrypted online chat room. There, members have discussed committing violence against black and Jewish people and shared ways to make explosives, the affidavit said.



Last year, Lemley and Bilbrough moved offline and harbored a group member, Patrik Jordan Mathews, who had fled from the law in his native Canada.


In recent weeks, all three attempted to manufacture a psychedelic drug, while Lemley and Matthews – both military veterans – also built an illegal machine gun, according to the FBI.


Last week, those two "stopped by Lemley's prior residence in Maryland" to retrieve equipment for body armor and some of the 1,500 rounds ammunition he had recently purchased and stored there.


On Friday, there were two cars parked in front of a suburban Elkton home that Lemley has listed as his address. A man inside, who declined to open the door, said Lemley does not live there.


Several neighbors said the property is known for the many cars that come and go throughout the day. One neighbor remembered Tuesday as a particularly active night, thinking his rowdy neighbor was hosting a party.


Two days later, Lemley, Mathews and Bilbrough were arrested.


Sixty miles to the south is a Denton home listed as Bilbrough's address. Visiting the rural house means passing along a relatively wooded, rural street dotted with a Confederate flag, before driving past Bilbrough's Electric and down a long dirt road. 


A woman at the Bilbrough address declined to comment. Another woman at a home next to Bilbrough's Electric said she didn't know anything about the case.



Along Denton's main street, there are two gun shops (one that also does tattoos), a popular bar and grill, a black barber shop and an antique store with a slogan of "soul, creativity, love."


Nikki Jantz, owner of the Meraki antique store and a Washington, D.C.-area transplant, said she experienced culture shock after moving to Denton, because "if you sneeze here, everyone can hear it."


Jantz, who identified as half latino and "a mix of other things," said people in town seemed unsure how to perceive her at first. But as she's settled in she has found a strong support system.


When asked about the recent arrests, she said the problem exists "everywhere" in the country.

_________________________________________________

Our discussions often detail the difference between being REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERALS of LOCKEAN philosophy which was what our US founding fathers and US CONSTITUTION are based--------and this constant reference to HITLER FASCISM/NAZISM as the catch-all for any US SOVEREIGN CITIZEN fighting to keep that LOCKEAN philosophy in their government.  Whether that unfolds as AMERICAN FLAG or A CONFEDERATE FLAG-----those ties are not HITLER FASCIST----they are LOCKEAN I AM MAN.


'The arrests came a day before police in Georgia charged three other men, allegedly from the same neo-Nazi group, with plotting to kill members of an anti-fascist group'.

SOVEREIGN CITIZENS in the US------are tied to several centuries of LOCKEAN US CONSTITUTION and the idea of all people having RIGHTS AS CITIZENS.

Below we see why sometimes we wonder if an article is a FALSE FLAG-----because today WE CANNOT SNEEZE HERE------is true across MARYLAND and how one organizes these kinds of violence========when in US cities as FAILED STATES -----VIOLENCE IS CONSTANT.  

WHY WOULD PEOPLE WHO ARE TARGETING ONE POPULATION GROUP OR ANOTHER-----USE THIS ORGANIZING WHEN THEY CAN GET LOST IN A VIOLENT CITY?

'Nikki Jantz, owner of the Meraki antique store and a Washington, D.C.-area transplant, said she experienced culture shock after moving to Denton, because "if you sneeze here, everyone can hear it."'

MEANWHILE, I am here in Baltimore working hard to attain JUSTICE from militarized surveillance structure which doesn't allow anyone to SNEEZE---EVERYONE CAN HEAR IT.


OUR US HISTORY OF CONFEDERATE FLAGS AND SLAVERY IN SOUTH------WAS HEALING UNTIL CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA AS OLD WORLD KINGS-----STARTED TO BRING BACK COLONIALISM.


Is that man in mid-west wearing a COLONIAL FLAG HAT shouting for TRUMP really a NAZI FASCIST? Well, TRUMP is CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA neo-liberal-----so, these SYMBOLS are irrelevant.

People are Angry, Unrest Spreading to the U.S


by Ken Jorgustin | Updated Feb 24, 2011 | current-events-economics-politics

Credit: an old LIFE magazine photo


What’s going on in Wisconsin?


If you look at both sides of the story, one side is insinuating that teachers there make too much money and are a target for cuts, while the other side is angry because they have seen the banks and the elite getting bailed out – so why should they be targeted instead.



I believe that this is only the tip of the iceberg that awaits us all, and not just here in the U.S. Geopolitical unrest has been spreading around the world from Tunisia, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Egypt, Libya to Ohio and Wisconsin in the U.S.


The underlying problem is money.
People are angry over higher prices, especially high food prices in other parts of the protesting world. Higher food and energy prices are creeping in to the American economy as well, and some predict the rate of increase to go higher as an inflationary environment gets underway.



People are angry about high unemployment, again, especially in other protesting nations where unemployment rates soar into the 50 percent range. In the U.S. the real unemployment rate (counting those who have fallen off their extended benefits) is in the neighborhood of 22 percent.


People are angry that they have been forced to bail out the banks who have received trillions of dollars in bailout money, as if to reward them for their risky behavior and bad bets which had brought them to the edge of collapse.


People are angry that the banks and hedge funds are continuing their risky behavior with their derivatives and ‘exotic financial instruments’, while the bailout money remains at the top of the food chain and is not flowing down to Main Street.


The majority of U.S. States are in deep financial doodoo, and we all know the brown stuff that the federal government is in…



The entire scheme is collapsing and we are starting to see the effects. More and more people are going to be affected by what must inevitably happen. That is, more cuts, higher taxes, more currency devaluation, more inflation, more unemployment, and a stagnant economy. When the number of ‘unhappy people’ reaches a threshold, they begin to make noise. This is what we are beginning to witness.


How do we prepare for the coming changes?



Eliminate debt where possible.
If you can afford it, buy extra food and consumables now, before prices go higher.


Keep extra cash nearby in case the banks close during a collapse.


Become more self sufficient and resilient to change.
Keep your eyes and ears open to the news around you.
Don’t believe that the stock market will keep going up.
Plan as though the stock market could indeed collapse once again.
________________________________________________

The anger among our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE being designated LOSERS by a 5% freemason/Greek player as WINNERS -------is the same whether that MAN is white grabbing a SYMBOL of CONFEDERATE FLAG---US FLAG or whether it is a black MAN/FAMILY shouting against CITY HALL AND POLICE as US CITIES AS FAILED STATES makes LIVING too hard.

NOSY NEIGHBORS AND THE GANG like to say my CAPTURE BY HITTING is making me 123 YEARS A SLAVE.  Ergo, they can illegally surveille my living space-------they can HACK into illegally implanted BRAIN DEVICES----like COCHLEAR IMPLANTS-----and push this idea of SLAVERY COMING BACK TO AMERICA.  These NOSY NEIGHBORS are BLACK AND WHITE-------FAKE JEWISH AND PROTESTANT.

The HITTING structure is tied to FREEMASONRY/GREEK-------which responsible for that white man angry at government ----that black man violent in trying to survive having economy ----that woman as myself literally shanghaied into 'STUDIES' of IMPLANTATION and extreme continuous surveillance.



'About this website
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12 Years a Slave - Trailer No.1
Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in the true story of Solomon Northup, a free man in…


Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in the true story of Solomon Northup, a free man in 1800s New York State, who was kidnapped and forced into slavery on a plantation near New Orleans, and his subsequent fight for freedom with the help of a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt)'.

OUR MILITARY IS A DISASTER-------says probably a VET with long history of FIGHTING FOR THAT AMERICAN FLAG.



'I'm an Angry Old White Guy. Here's Why. | HuffPostwww.huffpost.com/entry/im-an-angry-old-white-guy...

Jan 29, 2017 · I'm very angry because our country is being run horribly and I will gladly accept the mantle of anger. Our military is a disaster. Our health care is a horror show. Obamacare, we're going to repeal it and replace it. We have no borders. Our vets are being treated horribly. Illegal immigration is beyond belief'.


So, with 24/7 surveillance inside and outside buildings----with health solutions bringing BRAIN IMPLANT technology inside PEOPLE'S HEADS------WHY IS THERE SO MUCH VIOLENCE IN BALTIMORE?


The answer is the same-----BALTIMORE is captured by a small percentage which do not recognize SOVEREIGN CITIZENS HAVING RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS------especially in accumulating wealth.  The WHITE 'SUPREMACIST'----this white, middle class woman being labelled CRAZY because I am a REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE LOCKEAN LIBERAL CAPITALIST------and these black citizens forced in a BLACK MARKET ECONOMY because the same CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA GOVERNMENT killed our strong US domestic economy.

We still think much of the violence is created by SURVEILLANCE INSIDE AND OUT-----by IMPLANTATION controlling people's ability to think and reason-----they become TOOLS of THE BAD GUYS ----POLITICAL MACHINES.


Nonstop violence as Baltimore nears record homicide rateBaltimore could wrap up 2019 with its highest ever per-capita homicide rate
By
REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press
December 25, 2019, 12:30 PM

News headlines today: Jan. 17, 2020Catch up on the developing stories making headlines.The Associated Press


BALTIMORE -- Baltimore could wrap up 2019 with its highest per-capita homicide rate on record as killings of adults and minors alike for drugs, retribution, money or no clear reason continue to add up and city officials appear unable to stop the violence.


Police recorded 338 homicides as of Tuesday, following a week of relentless gunfire that saw eight people shot — three of them fatally — in one day and nine others — one fatally — another day. That total is up from 309 in 2018 and four shy of the 342 killings tallied in 2017 and 2015, the year when the city's homicide rate suddenly spiked.


With just over 600,000 residents, Baltimore's homicide rate would reach approximately 57 per 100,000 residents if the death toll reaches 342. That would eclipse the rate of 1993, when the city had a record 353 killings but was also much more populous.


By contrast, New York City, with more than 8 million residents, had 306 homicides through Dec. 15.
Police yellow tape and makeshift memorials with flowers, stuffed animals and balloons have become common in some neighborhoods of this deeply segregated city. Memorials can be found within blocks of each other at the same time.



“It's a major concern for me, not just as a hopeful man but as a citizen of Baltimore who grew up in inner city Baltimore,” said Carmichael “Stokey” Cannady, a reformed drug dealer turned community activist who wants to be mayor. “I remember when a person had a conflict and would have a fight at best, now these young kids, at the age of 13, 14 years old, are finding handguns in their possession and they use them as toys ... The whole system needs to be revamped.”


This is the fifth year in a row this Mid-Atlantic community dubbed “Charm City” has reported more than 300 killings. Before 2015, that number had generally been on the decline, but the trend reversed after civil unrest followed the death in police custody of a young black man, Freddie Gray.



Reasons for the upward trend vary and are subject to interpretation. Many accuse police of taking a hands-off approach to crime fighting since six of their own were charged in connection with Gray's death. Others attribute it to the apparent free flow of illegal guns, the effects of a punishing opioid epidemic, social inequalities and a lack of decent jobs for many in disenfranchised neighborhoods. Some say political incompetence at City Hall also contributed.


Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, who was tapped this year to fix a dispirited department and regain residents' trust, unveiled a five-year crime-fighting plan in July, that includes a goal of responding to calls within 10 minutes and prioritizing those threatening life or property. The plan also contains recruitment strategies, community engagement efforts and accountability measures. But the department lacks the personnel and resources to achieve all the goals, and Harrison has acknowledged that the city's deep-rooted “gun culture” also must be changed.



“People can expect that number to go down, we are building capacity, but we need to have some type of effect on the poverty, the housing, the education, the addiction, the skills, the jobs and the lack thereof, together at the same time,” Harrison told The Associated Press. “All of that has to be addressed while prosecuting people who commit crimes and preventing other people from committing those crimes. Otherwise, it continues and then you ask the question, 'When does it stop?' without fixing the reason it starts.”




Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice and members of the state's congressional delegation announced additional resources to help Harrison and federal law enforcement in Maryland track guns, hire additional police officers and beef up task forces. Harrison, in a reversal, agreed to allow three surveillance airplanes to fly above the city for up to six months as part of a pilot program.



Law enforcement experts, however, warn it would be unfair to assume that law enforcement alone will reduce violent crime.


“Let's not assume simply that by putting more officers, this is going to lead to greater closure of cases or will be a deterrent," Jeffrey Ian Ross, a criminologist at the University of Baltimore. "It may help families, it may put behind bars some more bad guys, but it doesn't mean it necessarily leads to a decrease in crime and homicides.”
_________________________________________


NOSY NEIGHBORS AND THE GANG like HITTING me in the evening as it seems hacking in COCHLEAR IMPLANTS need the equipment inside these buildings.  EEG/SUBLIMINAL MESSAGING with WIFI that can use those implants as a BASE.  

I discuss often what having BRAIN IMPLANTS is like-----having not known I had them --then knowing and trying to escape the 24/7 VIDEO AND MICROPHONE of everything I do.

The experimental part of why HOSTING SERVER BARBER SURGEONS used ME for experiments began with my simply having NATURAL DEPRESSION.  The 99.9% of WE THE BALTIMORE CITIZENS are tied to PROGRAMS of addiction---of mental health depression ---and we KNOW these people have BRAIN IMPLANTS.  These 'studies' have been happening these few decades.

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH VIOLENCE IN BALTIMORE?  WHY AM I IMPLANTED WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE--WITHOUT JUSTICE----WHY IS A WHITE CITIZEN CONCERNED WITH NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY?

It is all the same reason-----the government of CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA----ROBBER BARONS sacking and looting raping and pillaging taking US to colonial status.

'Military-Funded Brain Implants: DARPA' The white VET is angry towards the military------black citizens are angry because those PLAYERS don't to share the money/economy----and I am fighting to escape the very policies as


REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE ----I HAVE FOUGHT ALL MY LIFE.

Our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE do not hate each other-----or immigrants----our US FOUNDING FATHERS as LOCKEAN governors -----warned against EXTREME WEALTH EXTREME POWER----

Bionic Brain Implants For Depression & PTSD in Development


Although most people turn to pharmaceutical medications to cope with mental illness like depression and PTSD, medications are not a person’s only option. In many cases, making healthy lifestyle changes (i.e. natural cures for depression) such as getting more exercise, reducing stress, and staying out of toxic relationships can be beneficial for a person’s mental health. Though lifestyle changes work well in some cases, there are others that try everything in their power to get better (medications, psychotherapy, dietary changes, exercise) – yet despite their proactive efforts, nothing helps their depression.



For these individuals, pursuing antidepressant augmentation strategies may be helpful, but even in these cases, poly-pharmacology is still often unsuccessful and riddled with side effects. As a last-ditch effort, some people turn to alternative, technology-based options that have shown some promise. Examples of these treatments include: transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), vagus nerve stimulation, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), neurofeedback, and low-field magnetic stimulation (LFMS). In some cases, these non-pharmaceutical options can be very helpful in reducing depression.




Bionic Brain Implants for Depression / PTSD


Another option that people may come to fruition within the next 3 years is that of bionic brain implants for depression. This involves inserting an implant inside a person’s head with the goal of specifically targeting faulty brain activity associated with making a person stay “stuck” in their depression. In fact, the first bionic devices to treat resistant forms of depression have already been tested.



Unfortunately, the first devices that were developed were by in large unsuccessful. Although they could be surgically inserted into a person’s head, they didn’t help the majority of individuals who were brave enough to act as guinea pigs for the technology. However, just because the majority of people were unable to find relief from the bionic implant, doesn’t mean that it failed for everyone. In the minority of individuals for which it worked, not only did it work, but it worked extremely well.


THIS IS FAKE NEWS-----I AM TOLD TO BE A SUCCESS WHEN I WAS THAT GUINEA PIG-----



A specific case involving a woman named Liss Murphy who had struggled with debilitating depression for years was cited as being a beneficiary of this technology. She experienced a significant reduction in depressive symptoms after trying countless medications in tandem with therapy sessions. Upon getting a bionic implant in her brain to help counteract depressive symptoms, she noted a significant improvement in mood – and it has been maintained since she received the implant.



Other content on MentalHealthDaily.com


Since it didn’t work for a majority of people, the device obviously needed to be reevaluated. With that said, the small minority of individuals that found it beneficial found it highly effective. Neurosurgeon Dr. Emad Eskandar was responsible for surgically implanting the device in several patients. He stated that, “When you pooled everyone together it didn’t work. But there were like five people out of the 10 we did that had remarkable benefits and went into complete remission. We couldn’t continue with the study because on the average it failed, but for those people in whom it worked, boy did it work.”



The type of device that Liss Murphy had implanted in her brain was considered “older” compared to the new devices on the horizon. She received her treatment in 2006, and technology has come a long way throughout the past 8 years. The type of device that she had implanted ran on what is referred to as an “open loop” system. In other words, it combined the process of brain mapping, trial and error, and determining a location and frequency that are optimal for her brain. The bionic stimulator stays activated all the time, and there are currently similar bionic devices that help treat Parkinson’s disease.

MY BRAIN IMPLANTS WERE IN 2006-2007 AS WELL AND AS WITH ANY DEPRESSION BEING NATURAL----DEPRESSION GENERALLY CURES ITSELF



Military-Funded Brain Implants: DARPA


In order to target psychiatric illnesses, the military’s DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is trying to bypass the entire pharmaceutical industry. Their goal is to create brain implants that treat specific psychiatric disorders. There is currently a $70 million project in the works that is completely funded by the military. As a result of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental illnesses that are common among troops, the military wants to find a realistic way to treat these common, debilitating conditions.



Currently they are attempting to create a device that can be placed on the outside of an individual’s head that will be able to determine whether the person is experiencing depression or PTSD. In addition to detecting the onset of these conditions, the device will be able to prevent the conditions from fully developing. Simultaneously they are working on an improved version of the bionic implant that Liss Murphy received in 2006.  The new device is going to be small and according to Jim Moran (of Draper Laboratory), it is so small that it “would easily fit inside a box of Tic-Tacs.”



Creating a “closed-loop” system

In order to take this technology to the next level, researchers want to create a more advanced “closed-loop” system; this would be significantly more advanced than the “open loop” system implant that Liss Murphy received in 2006. A “closed loop” system would essentially involve the insertion of brain sensors that will be able to determine when brain activity becomes abnormal.



When brain activity is maladaptive, the closed-loop system would immediately attempt to correct it and then know whether the correction was successful. Neuroscientist from MIT, Dr. Emery Brown, stated that this system is similar to the GPS on a cell phone. He is currently responsible for creating the algorithms that will be used in the implant.



Here’s how the “GPS”-like feature will be useful… Let’s say you are trying to get from Point A to Point B, but end up straying from the most efficient route. The GPS in your phone is able to determine the error in your route and guide you back to the most efficient route. With the implant, if your brain activity transitions to activity that would represent depression or PTSD, the device provides stimulation to correct the activity. In essence, the device provides the same systematic model used by GPS systems to correct a person’s navigation.



Recognizing Neural “Signatures” of Depression and PTSD



In order to make this “closed loop” system a reality, researchers first need to discover neural signatures that correlate with PTSD and depression. Dr. Emery Brown’s first goal is to come up with templates or “signatures” that would represent a specific condition like PTSD. It is long known that those with depression and PTSD have altered brain activity, but the specifics are difficult to determine.


It is somewhat unclear exactly how he’s attempting to do this, but it sounds very interesting. Might he be examining activity within specific regions of the brain and blood flow? Or is it primarily based on electrical activity or brain waves? Or could it be that the device used to correct someone with a “signature” that is indicative of a condition like depression will stimulate changes in brain waves and specific activity in certain parts of the brain? At this point it is difficult to determine how this will work.


Since everyone has a different brain, different genetics, it is not farfetched to assume that those with PTSD may have different “neural signatures” in comparison to each other. Although there may be some common attributes among PTSD sufferers, there’s no telling whether 2 people with PTSD will display different neural signatures altogether. If this is the case, one specific template may not fit all individuals – and treatment will need to be tailored to the individual.



When asked whether there was something that can be traced to determine neural signatures, Eskandar said, “We don’t know. So that is probably going to be the single hardest part.” Chances are that neural signatures among those with depression and PTSD will share similarities, yet significant differences. For the sake of this research, it is hoped that there will be some specifics of a neural signature that are universal among all cases of PTSD and depression.


Clearly these neuroscientists are going to have a very difficult task on their hands trying to come up with something. My guess is that they will attempt to establish some sort of common ground that is observed in the neural signatures of the majority, and then target those specifics with the programming of the bionic implant. Therefore it may end up reducing a significant portion of symptoms, but individual reactions will vary.

Battle of Brain Regions: Amygdala vs. Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex


The researchers have a general idea of how to create this device. They want to use specific brain regions to essentially “battle” against others. As an example, during PTSD, it is known that the amygdala becomes overactive – leading to sensitization and a fear-response. The area of the brain called the “ventromedial prefrontal cortex” is known to suppress activity in the amygdala.


Therefore if their device were able to recognize that the amygdala has become overactive, they could stimulate the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and an individual would likely experience a reduction in symptoms. With the device that they are creating, they would likely start by targeting the amygdala. When the device recognized a certain neural signature that would signal PTSD, it would then stimulate another region of the brain to essentially “turn off” the amygdala. Of course this is easier said than done, but that’s their general idea for starting with this bionic implant.


The Challenge to Create a Bionic Brain Implant that Works


The bionic implant that is being created will be responsible for recording a significant amount of data. In addition to the data recording, the implant must be tiny enough to fit inside a person’s head – with battery power. With rapid advancement in memory storage and computer technology, researchers have been able to essentially place a wall of computers in very tiny space, and the ultimate goal is to surgically insert it into the brain.



The company (Draper) that is behind the creation of these bionic brain implants has also successfully created various types of missiles for the military and navigation systems for NASA. The technology that they are currently developing to influence a person’s brain is a huge step beyond their existing creations. Draper Labs is currently working in cahoots with Massachusetts General Hospital to develop and test this technology.


The implants will be developed and created in state-of-the-art microfabrication laboratories. In these labs, workers must abide by strict precautionary measures such as wearing photosensitive apparel. A developer for the company named Peter Chin has expressed the difficulty behind software development for these implants with the following quote, “Trying to look for something in a dark room… the shape of which I’m not even sure of.”



His biggest challenge is figuring out a way to extract the signal from noise within activity of the brain – and do this with efficiency. To help put things in perspective, he was quoted as saying brain activity is like, “A hundred billion people singing at the same time – sometimes they’re off tune, sometimes they’re in tune, and sometimes you hear a particular harmony that may say something about this whole chorus, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”


To figure out what harmony or harmonies to hone in on, it will require a lot of math. Additionally, the harmonies may be one particular signature one minute, and completely different within the hour. Therefore it will take a significant amount of time to devise appropriate algorithms that are necessary for treatment.


When will the brain implant device become available for testing?

According to the creators, the goal is to have something available for trials within 3 years. Although three years is a long period of time, this could be potentially groundbreaking technology in the field of mental health. When it becomes available for testing, only those who are: A) Volunteers and B) Suffer from PTSD or treatment-resistant depression will be able to try this device. This is not going to become a device that’s used by everyone, nor do they expect it to be effective for all users. However, if they are able to help a few people recover, they will consider the implant a success.



If this project is deemed a success, it may pave the way for more bionic technology in the treatment of mental illnesses. This would mean expanding upon existing knowledge and attempting to make improvements even on a groundbreaking bionic implant. It would also mean coming up with more customized solutions for treating individual brain abnormalities. Additionally, it would be a much-needed alternative to the largely problematic industry of pharmaceuticals. The bionic treatments would be more targeted, result in less side effects, and would hopefully be correcting the direct cause of the problem in regards to brain activity.




Considering the large percentage of people who fail to respond to traditional antidepressant treatment, and that depression is projected to be the biggest global disease burden by 2030, it’s about time that we start exploring alternative ways to combat the problem. Even if this device fails, it is a step in the right direction and thinking outside the box beyond pharmaceutical drugs.



If the device ends up being successful, it could provide thousands of people who have essentially been rendered helpless by their mental illness. Additionally, in the event that the device doesn’t work as well as planned in the majority, doesn’t mean that it won’t work for someone. In the process of creating this technology, researchers are going to have a significant amount of data on brain functioning in humans.


How well will the brain implants work?


It is important to never get too excited and caught up believing that a utopian treatment for depression or PTSD is on the horizon. While this device may be a stepping-stone towards revolutionizing treatment for mental illnesses, it may also end up being a complete flop. It is a very difficult undertaking, and despite all the efforts that are going into the creation of this particular device, there’s never a guarantee that it will work.


While the creators are very excited about the potential of this device, they balance this excitement with caution. Individuals like Liss Murphy who have found relief from their treatment-resistant depression with bionic implants will be hoping that this newer technology will be able to provide individuals with the same benefits that she has gotten from her device.


Hypothetical thinking, future possibilities of bionic brain technology


Could it be possible that one day there will be an implant that can be tailored specifically to an individual, giving the person custom control over what they want to experience? In other words, could a bionic implant be inserted into the brain, acting as a universal hub that allows a person to feel any way they want? For example, if someone needed to focus, could they simply program their device wirelessly to trigger brain activity associated with deep concentration?


On the same token, could the device be used by individuals that want to explore consciousness and experiment different ways of thinking? Will all permutations of brain activity be mapped and documented in a catalog of some sort that people can view and choose to experience? What if a person wants to become more outgoing? Could the device trigger the speaking and/or social center of the brain to make a person more extroverted?


Of course these are all hypothetical questions and the concepts are currently far more advanced than this idea. However, assuming technology keeps progressing at such a rapid-rate, it could be assumed that bionic implants may overtake the pharmaceutical industry for treating mental illnesses. Eventually after the bionic phase of the future, it can be safely assumed that we will be able to correct genetic abnormalities via gene therapy and stem-cells if necessary.


It is also possible that some individuals may opt to become cyborgs of sort with bionic implants and genetic modifications – making them have superhuman abilities. Of course this is all speculation, and probably won’t become a reality within my lifetime, but it is something to consider. At one point in the past, people never thought we’d have color television – look how far we’ve come.


Final thoughts on bionic brain implants for depression

The idea that we could influence the brain with bionic implants is somewhat intriguing. I’m not sure how many people would opt for the implants, but assuming that they could be safely inserted via surgery, those with treatment-resistant forms of depression may be open to the idea of getting some sort of therapeutic benefit. It should be mentioned that companies aren’t able to develop a bionic implant that is able to treat all cases of depression.



Additionally, the long-term effects of such treatments will need to be well-documented and safety grounds will need to be established before they become mainstream. Problems with batteries and infection will need to be taken into consideration. Also, even among individuals for which these implants are helpful, there is a chance that insertion of a particular implant may result in other forms of cognitive impairment and/or be of concern to general health.


While I admire those who think outside the box, and also believe that bionic implants (of all types) will be frequently used in the far future with great success, we are a far cry from making this a reality. Should a bionic implant get FDA approval for treatment-resistant depression, it will put some pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to create better medications. And while I don’t think it will cause a collapse in psychotropic pharmaceuticals, it will put pressure on drug companies to create better treatment options (e.g. drugs that work quickly, with few side effects, and over a long-term).


I believe that in the far future, there will be treatments that are individualized based on anatomy, genetics, and other factors. Someone with an abnormal brain structure that is causing their illness may need a bionic implant of some sort to target their depression. In the farther future, I believe that the combination of stem-cells and gene therapy will result in cures for all forms of mental illness – including depression.


In the meantime, let’s see how long it takes researchers to come up with a bionic solution that actually works for a majority.  In conclusion, I liked the quote from neuroscientist Emery Brown who said, “We’re moving out of the box. We’re not just saying, ‘Let’s rely on the drugs’ anymore.”
_____________________________________

Here are ANGRY WHITE CITIZENS mad at a WHITE GOVERNMENT------this is NOT HITLER FASCISM------it is NOT RACISM-------it is not HATING ONE POPULATION GROUP or another.

It is the capture of government by those DASTARDLY global banking 5% freemason/Greek players working for extreme wealth extreme poverty---EXTREME POWER for .00014% of global people.
IT SEEMS THE COMMON THREAD IS ----GLOBALISTS CONTROLLING OUR POLITICIANS.




'100,000 Angry Irish People Call for the Government to Step Down
You Tube


The Irish are sick of their government and the Globalists who control them. They want the politicians and the bankers to resign so they can get on with governing themselves'.

We will look locally at BALTIMORE AND MARYLAND education policy MOVING FORWARD 2020----with the goal of US 99% WE THE PEOPLE black, white, and brown being RE-EDUCATED/REHABILITATED -------by making college loans something citizens are made scared to take----SCARE/FEARFUL.  Baby boomers took out these loans with NO FEAR--NOT SCARED because we knew we had a thriving US economy which would hire college grads who would pay any college debt very quickly.

CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA used media to say-----YOU HAVE TO HAVE GRADUATE DEGREES-----subprimed student loans to anyone with a pulse-----then, today this debt has been made a MORAL HAZARD----SHAME ON YOU says global banking 1%----having just sacked and looted, raped and pillages our US FEDERAL EDUCATION AGENCY making a few people BILLIONAIRES.

What do ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY tied to INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION HUMAN RESOURCES do?  They round up all that MORAL HAZARD to squeeze the cheapest labor to maximize GLOBAL CORPORATE profits.



'in Organizational Psychology and a Master's degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology'


'Education Program to Relieve Student Debt Proves UnforgivingA federal system to erase loans for public-service jobs is in disarray; ‘It feels like a broken promise’



The US FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM subprimed and looted taxpayer money is followed by criminal and corrupt------DEBT FORGIVENESS PROGRAM.

This STUDENT DEBT FORGIVENESS took many avenues so our US 99% WE THE STUDENTS could be USED ------taken as free labor/cheap labor across all industries.  They must pay for their FOOLISH DREAMS OF COLLEGE says global banking 1% OLD WORLD KINGS-----KNIGHTS OF MALTA---TRIBE OF JUDAH.

MARYLAND, as in your neck of the woods created all kinds of ways to USE our US students for daring to think of THE AMERICAN DREAM-----

NO JOBS THAT PAY------VOLUNTEER AWAY-----

So, Maryland Assembly these several years pass EDUCATION POLICY geared towards using those students and re-educate our US citizens as to what GOOD PAYING JOBS seguing into ROAD TO SERFDOM ----looks like.  Lot's of volunteering ---lots of low wage ------lots of revolving categories of VISTA/AMERICORP/TEACH AMERICA student loan forgiveness.  Students get used to REVOLVING DOOR JOBS----get used to TEMPORARY/PART-TIME employment----get used to seeming to never finish PAYING OFF THAT STUDENT LOAN.


Most education public policy is now geared towards using student debt to provide CHEAP/FREE LABOR.

TEACHER OF YEAR grant awards to teachers MOVING FORWARD ONE WORLD ONE ONLINE GLOBAL CORPORATE pre-K to career.


The Student Loan Debt Relief Tax Credits for tax year ... - MHEC
mhec.maryland.gov/preparing/Pages/StudentLoan...

Upon receiving the Student Loan Debt Relief Tax Credit, each recipient must use the credit within two years to pay down the balance of the student loan debt. Failure to do so will result in recapture of credit back to the State.
*****************************

Teacher gets a rich reward - Baltimore Sun
www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2003-10-17...

With the ceremony and secrecy typical of Hollywood's flashy red-carpet awards programs, state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick surprised a veteran Carroll County science teacher yesterday ...

******************************************
'Teach for America: $12K in student loans erased | finder.com
www.finder.com/teach-for-america-loan-forgiveness

Nov 27, 2019 · While Teach for America doesn’t directly offer student loan forgiveness, its partner AmeriCorps does. Through the AmeriCorps Award, you could receive up to $6,195 per year — or the equivalent to the maximum value of the Federal Pell Grant — to put toward your student loan repayments'.

***************************
How to Repay Your Student Loans by Volunteering
www.savingforcollege.com/article/how-to-repay...

VISTA volunteers are eligible for 15% forgiveness of any Perkins Loans for each of the first two years of service, and 20% cancellation of Perkins Loans for the next two years of service, for a total of 70%. As with other AmeriCorps Programs, participants should enroll in an income-driven repayment plan for their period of service.

***************************************

Earn Thousands of Dollars for Student Loans With AmeriCorps Jobs
studentloanhero.com/featured/americorps-jobs...

Dec 21, 2016 · 4 This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a refi borrower with a Full Principal & Interest Repayment and a 10-year repayment term, has a $40,000 loan and a 5.5% Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 120 monthly payments of $434.11 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $52,092.61. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50.

*****************************************************


Jun 25, 2019, 07:37am



The Moral Hazard Of Student Loan Forgiveness

Robert Farrington Senior Contributor
Personal Finance
I write about personal finance, college and student loan debt.

It's clear we have a student loan debt crisis on our hands, but that doesn’t mean all experts agree on how to turn things around. Where some believe student borrowers should pull up their bootstraps and pay off their loans the hard way, other experts believe existing student loan forgiveness plans like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) are a better solution to the problem.



On top of that, some are quick to remind everyone that we already have income-driven repayment plans that let low earners pay a percentage of their discretionary for 20-25 years before having their remaining balances wiped away. And most people don't realize there are over 80 ways to get student loan forgiveness today!



Then there are politicians like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who say that existing student loan debt should be forgiven — at least for some of us — and that college should be “free.”


Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., flanked by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.,... [+]




Unfortunately, those of us who have been around for a while know just how “expensive” free stuff can be. Even Elizabeth Warren admits her plans would cost $1.2 trillion over ten years — a tab taxpayers are expected to handle on top of everything else.



Of course, there’s a plan to tax “those other folks” to pay for all of this — a “2% annual tax on the 75,000 families with $50 million or more in wealth,” according to Warren’s own details.



PROMOTED

Those who have been paying attention already know how that’s going to work out. The original plan is to tax other people for giant entitlement programs and new initiatives, but everything costs more than people think, and those costs trickle down to hit everyone if you give them enough time.


But costs and rising tax bills are only two problems that will plague student loan forgiveness on such a broad scale. There are much more egregious moral hazards to be aware of — hazards that could lead to a whirlwind of consequences for pretty much everyone involved, and especially taxpayers.


Problem #1: Blanket Loan Forgiveness Rewards People Who Overpaid For Their Degrees


One of the biggest moral hazards of Warren’s plan is that it punishes people who put their college degrees to good use — as in, to earn a lot of money.


With Warren’s plan, households with an income under $100,000 would have up to $50,000 in student loan debt forgiven, but forgiveness would be phased out for households who earn between $100,000 and $250,000. Finally, households with incomes higher than $250,000 will have no loans forgiven.


Due to the way this plan is set up, a family with two doctors and top tier earnings would be left to fend for themselves. This is despite the fact they probably spent 8+ years in school so they could learn to save people’s lives.


On the flip side, someone who borrowed $150,000 for a bachelor’s degree in general studies and works only part-time would likely see some of their loans forgiven. How fair is that?


Problem #2: You’re Asking Taxpayers To Pay For Individual Decisions


According to financial attorney Leslie Tayne of Tayne Law, it really boils down to the fact that you’re asking taxpayers to cover individual decisions regardless of how good or bad they are. And the fact the plan only involves additional taxes for “the rich” right now is a sign of higher costs for all of us down the road.


As we’ve seen, the rich have a way of working to minimize tax consequences, and the middle class is often hit the worst, said Tayne.


She believes this plan is being sold similarly to the mortgage modification and loan forgiveness program the government offered just a few years ago.


“So many fell through the cracks, and things were often made worse for the mortgagee,” says Tayne. “The banks and government-backed loans had options to manage, so the debts were not written off.”


Problem #3: Student Loan Debt Holders Are Already Privileged


Another problem — student loans are held by consumers who hopefully got a college degree out of the deal. This means they have a better shot at finding higher-paying employment than someone with only a high school diploma. If we’re going to help someone with our tax dollars, shouldn’t it be the people who need it the most?


“Those who are pursuing higher education are already generally better off financially,” says Tayne. “Therefore, forgiving student loan debt could be considered already helping a privileged group rather than spending government funding to help those in poverty.”


Problem #4: Nobody Has Skin In The Game

Assistant Professor of Finance and financial planner Brandon Renfro points out another glaring problem — pretty much nobody is on the hook for the growing costs of higher education in a post-forgiveness and free college world.


“Blanket student loan forgiveness could create moral hazard on the part of schools," he says. "Knowing that the students they take in have easy access to money that they will likely not have to repay could motivate schools to accept more students, or offer more programs, even in the absence of value."


“A point here is that schools aren’t strictly accountable for the debts of their students,” he says. “If students also aren’t responsible for their debt, then neither party to the transaction is responsible for the cost.”


While schools are currently motivated by competitive forces to offer quality programs and admit students who can succeed, Renfro suggests this may be somewhat mitigated by broad-stroke debt forgiveness. This is because, like it or not, students are less likely to hold schools accountable to provide a quality education if they don’t have to repay the money.


Problem #5: Blanket Forgiveness Doesn’t Address Rising Costs


Finally, let’s not forget that broad student loan forgiveness and “free college” plans do nothing to address the growing problem of rising college costs.


According to Senior Financial Analyst Riley Adams, who also blogs at Young and the Invested, moving ahead with full loan forgiveness solely as a means for resolving the growing student loan debt crisis will lead to unintended consequences with perverse incentives for students and society.


By awarding blanket student loan forgiveness, students may have no incentive to head into desired majors or fields of study which would be more in line with the needs of our economy, he says. Plus, without appropriate cost controls in place, many will try to go to college “just because,” even if they’re not a good candidate for college to begin with.


Not everyone needs to go to college from a societal perspective, says Riley. Many crucial roles also do not require a college education to begin with.


“By granting loan forgiveness to anyone, it can make college the default choice when it does not necessarily need to be.”


Final Thoughts


While we do need bold action to help those who are struggling with student loan debt, total student loan forgiveness is not the solution and will only create a moral hazard problem for current borrowers and future students.


Alternatives like reforming public service loan forgiveness, student loan borrowing caps, addressing "return on investment" of educational costs, and helping borrowers who may have been victims of unscrupulous schools are likely better solutions to the situation.
__________________________

'who say that existing student loan debt should be forgiven — at least for some of us —'


Indeed Sanders and Warren did manage debt forgiveness---for grads from global banking 1% hedge fund IVY LEAGUE schools. Everyone else is toiling away------with CHINESE SOCIAL CREDIT SCORE----STANFORD TOTAL PRISON MODEL on their backs.


The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, a 2007 initiative that started accepted applications in 2017, has allowed loan forgiveness for 518 borrowers applications out of the 73,554'.


While a small percentage did benefit from this SANDERS/WARREN student loan debt forgiveness------99.9% of students are trapped in a cycle of MORAL HAZARD CHINESE SOCIAL CREDIT SCORE------with global banking 1% using crime and corruption to keep these young adults tied to AMERI-CORP----VISTA-------TEACH FOR AMERICA.



'A federal program allows teachers and certain government and non-profit workers to wipe away their student-loan debts if they fit the right criteria — most importantly, 10 years of repayment -- but the lawsuit filed Thursday by a powerful teacher’s union and several borrowers alleges DeVos’ Education Department is engaging in “gross mismanagement.”


These student loan debt programs are being sold as the SUBPRIME MORTGAGE FRAUDS ---people are deliberately being TRAPPED----and TARGETED so global banking 1% can have CHEAP/FREE LABOR.

'GROSS MISMANAGEMENT'---

I speak about my case of STUDENT LOAN DEBT and trying to satisfy what started as a small few thousands of dollars debt----which ballooned into over ten thousand with me never being able to shed this debt.  I paid $5,000 on about $3,000 and yet somehow I still owed too much money.

THIS IS WHAT THE ABOVE STATEMENT means------the lawsuit was filed because of these kinds of experience.

Devos got to be a BILLIONAIRE because of all that GROSS MISMANAGEMENT ---AKA massive US Federal Department of Education funding FRAUD.

DeVos is a walking MORAL HAZARD who needs some CHINESE SOCIAL CREDIT SCORE----STANFORD TOTAL PRISON MODEL.


Lawsuit alleges ‘gross mismanagement’ of student-loan forgiveness by the Department of Education



Published: July 11, 2019 2:03 p.m. ET





This is the latest case to say borrowers are not getting the debt-relief they deserve

Joe Raedle/Getty Images


A new lawsuit alleges Betsy DeVos’s Department of Education has contributed to unnecessary financial problems of students and former students.

By
AndrewKeshner Reporter



Too many student-loan borrowers are missing their chance to get the debt relief they deserve because Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her staff have botched the administration of a loan-forgiveness program, a new lawsuit charges.


A federal program allows teachers and certain government and non-profit workers to wipe away their student-loan debts if they fit the right criteria — most importantly, 10 years of repayment — but the lawsuit filed Thursday by a powerful teacher’s union and several borrowers alleges DeVos’ Education Department is engaging in “gross mismanagement.”


The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, a 2007 initiative that started accepted applications in 2017, has allowed loan forgiveness for 518 borrowers applications out of the 73,554.The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, a 2007 initiative that started accepted applications in 2017, has allowed loan forgiveness for a mere 518 borrowers applications out of the 73,554 applications it has received as of late March, according to Education Department data.


The American Federation of Teachers’ lawsuit attributes the less than 1% success rate to the department’s alleged failure to correctly review the loan-forgiveness applications. The department is also disregarding how student-loan servicers are misrepresenting eligibility rules to borrowers, according to the lawsuit filed in Washington D.C. federal court.


Millions of workers are relying on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, but the Department of Education -- “the very agency that is supposedly the champion of our nation’s education system — has failed to live up to its role in administering this program,” the suit said. As a result, the department “has eviscerated the statutory promise of loan forgiveness for those who have spent a decade or more in public service dutifully repaying their loans.”


The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program has been drawing fire for its complicated set of rules and, what borrower advocates say, is a lack of communication about those rules — even alleged misdirection in some cases.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program has been drawing fire for its complicated set of rules and, what borrower advocates say, is a lack of communication about those rules.

One of the lucky few applicants who did have her debts wiped away previously told MarketWatch that getting her loans forgiven turned into a personal “crusade.” The process was filed with dozens of calls and a folder that became stuffed with documents as the process wore on, Tamar-Mattis, a Sonoma County, Calif.-based attorney


The Department of Education has discharged $30.6 million in debts as of March, according to department data on the program. That’s a fraction of what student loan borrowers owe.


Student loans accounted for $1.49 trillion of the nearly $14 trillion in American household debt as of 2019’s first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.


Within all those household debts, student loans can pack a particularly nasty punch, some say. Student loans can squelch career and life plans for young workers just finding their way in the workplace, according to critics. JP Morgan Chase JPM, +0.57%


  CEO Jamie Dimon recently called the student loan system “a disgrace, and it’s hurting America, we see it hurting household formation, mortgages etcetera.”


Randi Weingarten, AFT’s president and one of the case’s plaintiffs, said federal lawmakers created the forgiveness program to provide relief for people who made public service their career. “It shouldn’t be a crapshoot. But under Betsy DeVos that’s what it has become,” Weingarten told reporters. “DeVos has hurt them. She has betrayed them. She has ignored the laws and out and out sabotaged them,” she later added.


Two other plaintiffs, Kelly Finlaw, a New York City middle school art teacher, and Gloria Nolan, a family engagement liaison in the St. Louis, Mo. school system, told reporters they endured years of getting the run-around and mixed messages when applying for forgiveness.


Nolan said a college degree was pitched to her as a way she could pull herself up by the bootstraps and achieve the American Dream. “For me, this process is setting those boots in cement,” she said.


The $500 monthly debt payments Nolan still makes “without any end in sight” are sucking up money that would otherwise go to her young kids’ college savings accounts.


Finlaw, coping with $88,000 in student loan debt, said the bills are blocking her from buying an apartment. A realtor told Finlaw there was “no way” she could afford the mortgage, the teacher said.


The Education Department “doesn’t comment on pending litigation,” spokeswoman Liz Hill said, “but I would point out, that the Department is faithfully administering the complex program Congress passed.”


JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently called the student loan system ‘a disgrace, and it’s hurting America, we see it hurting household formation, mortgages etcetera.’The new lawsuit is the latest set of allegations to claim borrowers are getting turned away from the debt relief to which they are entitled.


In another lawsuit linked to the AFT, several teachers last year said the loan servicer Navient gave them bad information about how to successfully apply to the loan forgiveness program.


Earlier this week, a Manhattan federal judge tossed many of the teachers’ claims but said they could proceed with the argument Navient was violating New York’s law against deceptive practices.


Navient argued the lawsuit was defective from the start because federal laws overrode state consumer protection laws. Southern District of New York Judge Denise Cote called the argument “unavailing.”


Last month, a federal appeals court revived a similar class-action case against another loan servicer accused of offering questionable advice about the best payment plan for debtors with tight budgets. Like Navient, Great Lakes Educational Loan Services also argued that federal laws prevented state law claims. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said federal laws didn’t protect the servicer from allegedly going out of its way to misrepresent repayment options.


In both cases, the companies said a 2018 memo from DeVos bolstered their cases. The memo said state laws were basically null and void when it came to student loan servicers, because only federal laws applied to the servicers.


In both cases, the courts said they weren’t persuaded by the memo’s reasoning.


______________________________________________


Below we see REAL MORAL HAZARD-----here is a HOSTING SERVER BARBER SURGEON needing some CHINESE SOCIAL CREDIT SCORE STANFORD TOTAL PRISON MODEL-----yet, all he gets is a license revoked in NEW YORK so he can go to MARYLAND and get another license.

This is taking our US STRONG PUBLIC HEALTH CARE to strong MORAL HAZARD-----SEXUAL PREDATORY ----GOES PHYSICAL ASSAULT.

'Donation to Cy Vance Jr. during sex assault case raises "yet ...
www.cbsnews.com/news/cy-vance-jr-donation-during...
Oct 20, 2017 · One woman told prosecutors that when she was 30 weeks pregnant Dr. Robert Hadden pulled her to him, and forcefully pulled her pants and underwear down. "He then grabbed her buttocks, while ...'

MEDICAL BOARD RECORD—184487 DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS—none listed as of 02/24/2016 New York gynecologist who admits he sexually abused pregnant patients will lose his medical license but avoids jail time Dr Robert Hadden had been charged with attacks of six pregnant women Admitted to performing oral ..'



Back when OBAMA era banker bailout ended with $25 billion in civil payments for trillions of dollars in subprime mortgage frauds----


We were shouting-------complete student debt forgiveness because that massive global banking 1% frauds----the sacking and looting--raping and pillaging led to mass unemployment and steady loss of future employment opportunities for those new student graduates----


That was the MASTER PLAN of REAGAN/CLINTON-----FLIPPING THE EARTH'S ECONOMIC AXIS FROM WESTERN HEMISPHERE TO EASTERN HEMISPHERE.


FORBES global banking 1% media is still telling us ----forgiving trillions of dollars in banking frauds is OK----but for 99% WE THE PEOPLE----it is MORAL HAZARD.


KNOWING THERE WOULD BE A COLLAPSE IN US EMPLOYMENT----WHILE BUSH SHOUTED EVERYONE WILL NEED A GRADUATE DEGREE TO GET A JOB IN FUTURE.

DR ROBERT HADDEN --he will soon be a HOSTING SERVER BARBER SURGEON NOSY NEIGHBOR with a GANG.

The major issue is this: the SCS goes well beyond just rating ones ability to manage debt; in essence, it puts a number on a citizen rating their worth as a human being — and it forces others to respect that rating.



Future Society

China’s “Social Credit System” Will Rate How Valuable You Are as a Human


What people can and can't do will depend on how high their "citizen score" is.


Dom GaleonDecember 2nd 2017


A Citizen Score in China


In a contentious world first, China plans to implement a social credit system  (officially referred to as a Social Credit Score or SCS) by 2020.


The idea first appeared in a document from the State Council of China published in June 2014. It is a technological advancement so shocking to modern-minded paradigms that many can do little but sit back in defeatist chagrin as science fiction shows us its darker side.


The SCS seems relatively simple. Every citizen in China, which now has numbers swelling to well over 1.3 billion, would be given a score that, as a matter of public record, is available for all to see. This citizen score comes from monitoring an individual’s social behavior — from their spending habits and how regularly they pay bills, to their social interactions — and it’ll become the basis of that person’s trustworthiness, which would also be publicly ranked.
This actually sounds worse than an Orwellian nightmare.



A citizen’s score affects their eligibility for a number of services, including the kinds of jobs or mortgages they can get, and it also impacts what schools their children qualify for. In this respect, the SCS resembles one of the most chilling episodes from Black Mirror’s third season. Incidentally, the show isn’t really known as a “feel-good” flick. It presents various dystopian views of society, but China’s SCS proves reality is darker than fiction.


This “service” isn’t slated to go full-swing until 2020, but China has already started a voluntary implementation of the SCS by partnering with a number of private companies in order to iron out the algorithmic details needed for such a large-scale, data-driven system.


The companies that are working in this respect include China Rapid Finance, which is a partner of social network giant Tencent, and Sesame Credit, a subsidiary of Alibaba affiliate company Ant Financial Services Group (AFSG). Both Rapid Finance and Sesame Credit have access to intimidating quantities of data, the former through its WeChat messaging app (at present with 850 million active users) and the latter through its AliPay payment service.


According to local media, Tencent’s SCS comes with its QQ chat app, where an individual’s score comes in a range between 300 and 850 and is broken down into five sub-categories: social connections, consumption behavior, security, wealth, and compliance.

Positive (and Negative) Reinforcement


Proponents of the SCS see this as an opportunity to improve on some of the state’s services. Some argue that this would give Chinese citizens much-needed access to financial services. The government also says that this will “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step,” according to The Wall Street Journal. In some situations, this could prove workable. Afterall, finance and loan organizations already detail debtors’ credit eligibility if they happen to be in default, preventing them from taking on more debt that they may be unable to pay back.

The utopic goal of managing citizen finances via structural checks and balances feels like an elegant solution to assuage public debt, and will certainly encourage all involved to improve their debt activity. But structural management of personal finances on this all-pervasive level crosses several boundaries.


The major issue is this: the SCS goes well beyond just rating ones ability to manage debt; in essence, it puts a number on a citizen rating their worth as a human being — and it forces others to respect that rating.


“China’s proposed social score is an absolute reaffirmation of China continuing to push forward to be a complete police state,” said Anurag Lal, former Director of the U.S. National Broadband Task Force for the FCC under the Obama administration and president and CEO of mobility solutions firm Infinite Convergence, in an email to Futurism. “They take it a step further by becoming not only an establishment of a totalitarian police state that monitors its people but one that completely evades users’ privacy.


All forms of activity and interactions, online or otherwise, will be rated, available to view and stored as data.”


It seems that the infamous Great Firewall is only the most well-known feature of China’s worsening socio-political plight.


Big Data for Good Behavior

More than working as a social enabler, such a system could end up becoming highly restrictive. Speaking to WIRED, Sesame Credit’s Technology Director, Li Yingyun, admitted as much, saying that under an SCS system, a person could be judged by his purchases. “Someone who plays video games for ten hours a day, for example, would be considered an idle person,” Li said. “Someone who frequently buys diapers would be considered as probably a parent, who on balance is more likely to have a sense of responsibility.”


Some see these as positive developments, by virtue of which a person is encouraged to take greater responsibility for their living and spending habits in order to earn a positive citizen score — i.e. become “trustworthy.” Chinese blogger Rasul Majid told WIRED that he actually thinks it’s a better way of keeping tabs on how the government monitors his data. If one knows how one is surveilled, one knows when and where to clean up one’s act.


Lal, however, disagrees: “How do you define people’s behaviors on a day-to-day basis?


People do so many different things for so many different reasons, and if the context is not appreciated it can be misconstrued,” he said. The words ring true. One does not need to think hard to uncover why it may be problematic to say that people who have children are, in essence, people you should trust. What does this mean for the infertile? What does it mean for same-sex couples?

What does it mean for people who simply do not wish to have children?


Probably nothing good.


___________________________________________

Maryland Assembly like most US states are so busy re-writing what was BAD EDUCATION POLICY from CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA into something WORSE------we don't see policy geared towards actual classroom public K-12 education.

Below we see bill to strengthen THIS GROUP as workers----THAT GROUP as union people-----

'Allowing certain retirees of the Teachers' Pension System to elect a change in an optional form of allowance';

THAT revision on GRANT to one person or another

GRANTS to build for THIS special corporate school or THAT special corporate school outsourced to private property management.

'Requiring or authorizing, under certain circumstances, the Maryland Stadium Authority to contract for, manage, and oversee certain public school facility projects';

SPORTS as now a CORPORATION tied to schools----get lots of attention....it is not PUBLIC EDUCATION.

Why does a public community college have a trustee board filled with politicians---what happened to our professors and students as governing entities?

'Board of Trustees - Community College of Baltimore County
www.ccbcmd.edu/.../Our-Leadership/Board-of-Trustees.aspx

Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees at CCBC is comprised of fifteen members – one at-large and two from each of the county’s seven councilman districts. Members are appointed by the governor of Maryland. The Board maintains general oversight over CCBC'.

What we have as a beginning for MARYLAND ASSEMBLY are bills not dealing with our K--university classrooms. Governing structures moving away from teachers/students=====selected people as winners rather than equity in employment and wages.



Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 21-0)
Status: Introduced on January 16 2020 - 25% progression
Action: 2020-01-16 - First Reading Appropriations
Pending: House Appropriations Committee

Summary
Granting collective bargaining rights to graduate assistants within the University of Maryland system, Morgan State University, and St. Mary's College of Maryland; and defining "graduate assistant" as a graduate student at a certain institution who is a teaching, administrative, or research assistant, or in a comparable position, a fellow, or a postdoctoral intern.

Sponsors
Del. Marc Korman [D]
Del. Gabriel Acevero [D]
Del. Regina Boyce [D]
Del. Lorig Charkoudian [D]

Del. Bonnie Cullison [D]
Del. Anne Healey [D]
Del. Shelly Hettleman [D]
Del. Jay Jalisi [D]

Del. Ariana Kelly [D]
Del. Robbyn Lewis [D]
Del. Sara Love [D]
Del. David Moon [D]

Del. Julie Palakovich Carr [D]
Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk [D]
Del. Shane Pendergrass [D]
Del. Kirill Reznik [D]

Del. Emily Shetty [D]
Del. Jared Solomon [D]
Del. Vaughn Stewart [D]
Del. Jen Terrasa [D]

Del. Kriselda Valderrama [D]

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Maryland House Bill 186

Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: Introduced on January 16 2020 - 25% progression
Action: 2020-01-16 - First Reading Appropriations
Pending: House Appropriations Committee

Summary
Altering the eligibility criteria for a teacher to receive a grant under the Nancy Grasmick Teacher Award, to include a public school teacher in a school that had Title 1 status during the 2018-2019 school year, lost Title 1 status after the 2018-2019 school year, and participates in the United States Department of Agriculture Community Eligibility Provision.

Sponsors
Del. Samuel Rosenberg [D]
Del. Luke Clippinger [D]
Del. Robbyn Lewis [D]
Del. Brooke Lierman [D]

Maryland House Bill 127

MD State Legislature page for HB127
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Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: Introduced on January 15 2020 - 25% progression
Action: 2020-01-15 - Hearing 1/23 at 1:00 p.m.
Pending: House Appropriations Committee
Hearing: Jan 23 @ 1:00 pm House Appropriations Hearing
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Summary
Establishing the Maryland Arts and Culture Capital Grant Program to provide grants for the expansion of, the renovation of, or major repairs to a facility operated by a certain eligible organization; requiring the Governor, in fiscal years 2022 through 2027, to include $10,000,000 for the Program in the budget; requiring the establishment of a competitive application process and a quantitative system to evaluate each application; limiting to no more than $1,000,000 a grant to any organization for a single project; etc.

Title
Maryland Arts and Culture Capital Grant Program

Sponsors
Del. Brooke Lierman [D]
Del. Regina Boyce [D]
Del. Catherine Forbes [D]
Del. Shelly Hettleman [D]

Del. Robbyn Lewis [D]
Del. Maggie McIntosh [D]
Del. Samuel Rosenberg [D]

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Maryland House Bill 115

Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: Introduced on January 13 2020 - 25% progression
Action: 2020-01-14 - Hearing 1/23 at 1:00 p.m.
Pending: House Appropriations Committee
Hearing: Jan 23 @ 1:00 pm House Appropriations Hearing
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Summary
Allowing certain retirees of the Teachers' Pension System to elect a change in an optional form of allowance; specifying the manner in which an election to change a certain optional form of allowance shall be made; specifying the manner in which a retiree's allowance shall be calculated and paid under a change to an optional form of allowance made in accordance with the Act; and providing for the termination of the Act on June 30, 2021.

Title
Teachers' Pension System - Option Election

Sponsors
Del. Dereck Davis [D]

Dereck E. Davis - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dereck_E._Davis
Delegate Davis was born in Washington, D.C., on June 6, 1967. He attended Central High School, Capitol Heights, Maryland and graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.A. in political science in 1989. He earned a master's degree in public policy in 1999. Davis has been an administrator with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission ...

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Maryland House Bill 1

Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: Introduced on January 8 2020 - 25% progression
Action: 2020-01-08 - First Reading Appropriations
Pending: House Appropriations Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Summary
Requiring or authorizing, under certain circumstances, the Maryland Stadium Authority to contract for, manage, and oversee certain public school facility projects; authorizing the Prince George's County government and Board of Education to enter into a certain public-private partnership to enhance the delivery of public school construction projects in the county; requiring the Governor, beginning in fiscal year 2020, to include in the annual budget certain supplemental funding to be used for certain educational purposes; etc.

Title
Built to Learn Act of 2020

Sponsors
Del. Adrienne Jones [D]
Del. Maggie McIntosh [D]
Del. Kathleen Dumais [D]
Del. Michael Jackson [D]

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Maryland Senate Bill 27

Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: Introduced on January 8 2020 - 25% progression
Action: 2020-01-08 - Hearing 1/22 at 1:00 p.m.
Pending: Senate Education Health and Environmental Affairs Committee
Hearing: Jan 22 @ 1:00 pm Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Hearing
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Summary
Establishing the short title "Jordan McNair Act" for Subtitle 16 of Title 11 of the Education Article.

Title
Higher Education - Policy on Student Concerns About Athletic Programs and Activities - Short Title

Sponsors
Sen. Antonio Hayes [D]

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MD SB31 | 2020 | Regular Session
Maryland Senate Bill 31

MD State Legislature page for SB31
Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: Introduced on January 8 2020 - 25% progression
Action: 2020-01-08 - Hearing 1/22 at 1:00 p.m.
Pending: Senate Education Health and Environmental Affairs Committee
Hearing: Jan 22 @ 1:00 pm Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Hearing
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Summary
Requiring the members of the Board of Community College Trustees for Anne Arundel County to reside in Anne Arundel County; establishing a 4-year term for nonstudent members; and limiting nonstudent members to three consecutive full terms.

Title
Anne Arundel County - Board of Community College Trustees

Sponsors
Sen. Pamela Beidle [D]

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Maryland Senate Bill 196

Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: Introduced on January 15 2020 - 25% progression
Action: 2020-01-15 - First Reading Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
Pending: Senate Education Health and Environmental Affairs Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Summary
Requiring the affirmative vote of at least six, rather than five, members of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education for the approval of any action by the county board; etc.

Title
Sen. Bryan Simonaire [R]

Anne Arundel County - Board of Education - Voting

Sponsors

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Maryland Senate Bill 19

Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: Introduced on January 8 2020 - 25% progression
Action: 2020-01-15 - Hearing canceled
Pending: Senate Education Health and Environmental Affairs Committee
Hearing: Jan 23 @ 1:00 pm Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Hearing
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Summary
Requiring the University of Maryland Extension to provide a dedicated extension agent to assist individuals with the adoption of management-intensive farming and grazing practices; requiring the Governor to provide at least $500,000 each year to support the Department of Agriculture's activities related to management-intensive farming and grazing, beginning in fiscal year 2022; authorizing the Department of Agriculture to use its allocation from the Bay Restoration Fund to fund management-intensive grazing activities; etc.

Title
Agriculture - Management-Intensive Farming and Grazing


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'He postulated that, at birth, the mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa'.


'The New Yorker:

    Mikhail Gromov, the Russian geometer, said that he understood Perelman’s logic: “To do great work, you have to have a pure mind. You can think only about the mathematics. Everything else is human weakness. Accepting prizes is showing weakness.” Others might view Perelman’s refusal to accept a Fields as arrogant, Gromov said, but his principles are admirable. “The ideal scientist does science and cares about nothing else,” he said. “He wants to live this ideal. Now, I don’t think he really lives on this ideal plane. But he wants to.”'


MEANWHILE, our US PUBLIC K-12 is becoming VIRTUAL REALITY-----where children don't need even to learn to READ, WRITE, OR DO ARITHMETIC. This is the goal of ONE WORLD ONLINE VOCATIONAL TRAINING for all.





Reading in Virtual Reality: The Good And Not-So-Good


Zachary Littrell 03-10-18



Last year, Book Riot took a look at some of the ways virtual reality and books can be combined. Well, after reading that article, I wanted to take a personal look myself and try out first hand the benefits (and drawbacks) of reading in Virtual Reality. So I booted up an HTC Vive, got a book, and got cracking!


Let’s all move past that screen name that I thought was funny in middle school.
To actually start reading in virtual reality, I used Bigscreen, which lets you use your desktop in a VR environment. The big benefit of this is I can use any book app I’d normally use on a computer, whether its Kindle, Kobo, etc, and then tilt and stretch the screen to my personal comfort.
The (Very) Good: Atmosphere

If you like playing music while you read to set the mood — this is the ultimate next step. Bigscreen lets you set the background to numerous different environments. So, I huddled up in my hammock, put on the headset, and found myself sitting by a cozy campfire at night, reading Stephen King’s “The Boogeyman” from Night Shift.
And it was amazing.


With the crackle of the campfire in the background, I surprised myself how easily I was drawn into the story. While the boogeyman slithered and tortured the poor narrator’s children, I found myself occasionally peeking at the shadows and dark lit trees; I really felt alone and lost in the woods, and it was wonderful. I’ve read the horror story before, but now it felt new, fresh…and personal.


(And best of all, I got to go camping without the hassle of going outside. Huzzah!)
The good: (almost) distraction free

I doubt I’m the only one that is astoundingly easy to distract. As much as I love reading, my fidgety eyes will, without fail, drift around my apartment looking to bother something. Some of my best quality piano practice has come from abandoning a boring book  just for a second, I promise.


Well, muscling through Walt Whitman’s beautiful but…let’s be frank…tedious masterpiece, Leaves of Grass, was a lot easier when doing it in Outer Space! Certainly nothing to bother me here.


Plus, it just feels right. I’d like to think Whitman would be tickled by the idea of a bookworm curled up in the cosmos.



The Not-So-Good: You can totally still distract yourself


Getting the Vive all setup, there is the mighty temptation to just go ahead and use it for…you know…virtual reality games instead.


And since Bigscreen gives me access to all of my desktop apps, there is the equally mighty temptation to switch over to a theater environment and watch Youtube or a movie on Netflix…just for a second, I promise.


Hey, it’s still reading if I have subtitles on!

The not-so-good: that book is a headset on your face


Tinkering with the settings, the text quality was actually pretty good for my eyes. But it’s still definitely not as crisp as a real book, obviously. And lack of eye-tracking is also problematic. As a test, I tried out reading Emil Ferris’s graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters.


For the most part, reading in virtual reality worked out better than I thought, occasionally needing to move and stretch the screen or play with the fonts so it was all in focus and readable (without giving me a headache). But for a lot of people, it’s a 1000% easier just to read the physical comic.



And while, for the most part, you don’t even notice the headset after a while, it is always there. And kind of like when you think too hard about the fact your tongue is always in your mouth, your entire reading experience can be derailed when you remember that you have a computer screen strapped to your face.


The not-so-good: Practicality

If you don’t have your VR device setup already, it’s a bit of a technical hassle getting everything hooked in just to read a book versus…you know…picking up a book and opening it up, or turning on your ebook reader. And if you don’t own a VR device, it is a thunderously expensive way to experience a book in a nifty way.


If you’re the sort that prefers a real physical book over ebooks, this is definitely not for you…yet. There are efforts like Vivepaper to bridge that gap between tactile reading and virtual reality.


Conclusion

Yes, VR is not perfect yet, and reading in VR is definitely in its infancy. Nevertheless, I’m really excited about the future for virtual reality bookworms. Just an hour or two in another world made reading feel genuinely magical again. And that to me is worth all the hassle in the world, just for those small moments of being entirely lost, mentally and physically, in a book.

This is the sort of miracle I dreamed about as a little kid, and it’s extraordinary to me that I’m now getting to live it. Have you tried reading in virtual reality?