Two months ago I became aware of a lawsuit against a group that controls aspects of the James Bond Brand, that I have been trying to get you and the State of Oregon to take charge of, because, Jeff Bezos has moved portions of Amazon into Oregon – after being offered billions of dollars in tax breaks! Are more on the way?
I have posted on Apex of Dubai wanting to build futuristic buildings along the McKenzie. The vision I have today, is of…..The Bond Heterosexual Oasis For Married Couples With Babies. Millions of young couples want children, but, can’t afford to do this, and, there is a lack of housing. Instead of parents driving their children to a park – they live in a park! We can even invite our President to build one of his hotels here!
This is the tip of the iceberg. I’m going to sent this email and posts from my blog; Royal Rosamond Press, to Josef Kleindienst. We can have Disneyland – for real!
Amazon operates enormous data centers in Morrow County and wants to build six more. It’s seeking tax breaks that would cover five of them. Dave Killen / The Oregonian
Here is
Dear Governor Kotek; I have been posting on your Facebook ideas how the J.R. Tolkien Legends can come to Oregon, and Oregon be seen as a co-owner of a Literary and Artistic Genealogy and Legacy that I have come to own in so many amazing ways. I am seventy-six years of age, and will not live forever. However, my Family Legend will. How do I make the State of Oregon Heir to my visions and work. I have worked with the homeless and would like us to find a way that any monies realized from this Literary Estate, can go for low-cost housing for the homeless. Will this housing be on a money-making real estate market – eventually? Has a new way to make investments in housing the homeless yet to be discovered?
I just read an article that suggests there was unethical business practices in Amazon securing a billion dollar tax free haven in Marrow. This dovetails nicely with the La Mota ethics scandal. I applaud the resignation of Fagan and the search for new Ethical Frontiers. This is a huge giveaway, not unlike the two hundred million you obtained to help the homeless. Is Uncle Sam getting his fair share? The Republican’ are refusing to raise the debt ceiling unless Biden makes drastic cuts. Howmany other giant corporations are not paying their fair share?.
On my blog, Royal Rosamond Press, you will see me dressed as Uncle Samaclaus, the beloved Grandfather of All Government Giveaway Programs. This pic was taken at the second Eugene Occupy. I have a scheme on how I can be Grandfathered in-to the Amazon Giveaway Bonanza! I was once homeless, but thanks to SHIPS, I ended my chronic homelessness. I got sober at Serenity Lane thirty six years ago, and have been seeing a therapist for three years. I am YOUR SUCCESS STORY! However the woman nest door has huge sub-woofers, and for four months has practiced ‘Acoustic Violence ‘ on me and my Service Cat, Classy. I write about twelve hours a day on my blog that may be the largest in the world. I need Peace and Quiet. My lack of sleep is destroying my health. I get SS1 because I suffer from PTSD.
On my blog you will see the Amazon Fulfilment plant. I want a thousand foot appartment cut in the corner of it – overlooking the Columbia!. I will live here – rent free! I will get Amazon healthcare and a thousand a month. I want a small electric car to go shopping. In an emergency, a Amazon helicopter will fly me off the roof to the nearest hospital. Also, I want Amazon to purchase the old power plant and turn it into a Guild and Museum for Fantasy Authors. There will be limited residency. Perhaps solar panels could fill the large arias, and The Guild could sell it excess electricity.
Governor, I hope that being upfront is helpful in you considering my proposal and the needs of the State of Oregon. I am kin to Christopher Lee who played Saruman. We do not want Oregon’s Literary Legacy and Windfall to fall into the wrong hands. The two towers you see on the old plant, and the electrical devices, can be used to do – evil! I have a daughter, but she keeps going over to the dark side. In a couple of days I will write you and ask for moneys to go to England to attend the showing of a woman’s paintings. She lived over a hundred years. This journey will secure for Oregon – a Grail Ring!
Oh, by the way, I ran for Governor as a Republican, and voted for you!
Amazon doesn’t actually have the rights to The Silmarillion. This means the series will be based on The Appendices at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Which, admittedly, does overlap in stories between the two books, but if it is mentioned in The Silmarillion and not in the Appendices, it is off-limits. And this has to do with the rights from the Tolkien Estate and from J.R.R. Tolkien himself.
Tolkien had never wanted to sell the rights to his books to the movie companies, but he was forced to eventually for the money in the 1970s to Saul Zaentz, and the animated Rankin and Bass productions of The Hobbit and Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings (among a few other small budget films) were made. But those were the only rights that were sold. Even for Peter Jackson, he only had the rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. So, for example, when Radagast the Brown was introduced in Jackson’s Hobbit movies, he had to be very careful with not saying that Tolkien had mentioned there were other wizards in Middle Earth (there are, in fact, a few more mentioned in other works) because he didn’t have the rights to it.
McKay and Payne might have a little more leeway due to the Tolkien Estate being involved in the project, but we can probably expect not to see significant life events in Middle Earth-like the Fall of Gondolin, as described in depth in The Silmarillion or anything else from Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales.
Amazon seeks tax breaks for 5 new data centers, worth $12 billion, in remote Oregon county
Updated: Sep. 01, 2022, 1:32 p.m.|
Published: May. 05, 2022, 6:08 a.m.
Amazon already has four data centers in Morrow County, supported by a previous round of tax breaks. The facilities are hulking, windowless structures visible from Interstate 84. Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian The Oregonian
Amazon plans to build at least five new data centers along the Columbia River in remote Morrow County, a nearly $12 billion project that would more than double the scale of the company’s operations in the region.
The undertaking represents one of the largest capital projects in Oregon history — in one of the state’s smallest communities. Morrow County has just about 12,000 residents.
The deal could add hundreds of jobs and fill regional tax coffers in the county, 160 miles east of Portland. Amazon is already the county’s largest taxpayer by far, accounting for a third of all property tax revenue due to four large data centers it built over the past several years.
Most of the data centers’ value is exempt from local taxation, though, so Amazon saves far more than it pays. The company secured tax breaks in Morrow County worth $161 million over the past five years – $47 million in just the last year.
And before proceeding with its next project, Amazon wants a new package of tax breaks that would save the company hundreds of millions of dollars more over the next 15 years. That’s generating fresh scrutiny in the county and its largest city, Boardman, over whether Amazon is paying its fair share.
And it leaves officials in Morrow County and Boardman with a conundrum: They would like the billions of dollars in new spending from Amazon, but how does a tiny county in eastern Oregon negotiate a fair deal with a company worth $1.3 trillion? How can they secure the new data centers without giving away too much?
“That’s going to be a tough give and take,” said Greg Sweek, a former county assessor who now manages the local enterprise zone program that governs Amazon’s local taxes. He said county has to balance how much to seek from the company against the risk that Amazon bolts for neighboring Umatilla County, where it also has data centers, or to the nearby Tri-Cities in Washington.
“There’s a monetary amount for Amazon that they’re looking at,” Sweek said, “and I don’t know what that is.”
Data centers come to rural Oregon for cheap land, ample water and relatively inexpensive electricity, essential for powering and cooling all those computers. The Umatilla Electric Cooperative reports that industrial power consumption is up 266% since 2016.
Most of all, though, the tech companies come for the low taxes.
The state’s enterprise zone program places no limits on how much local governments can give away and provides small communities with no assistance in their negotiations with the companies seeking tax breaks.
In the internet age, Amazon and other tech giants – among them Apple, Facebook and Google – have capitalized on the programs to secure tax breaks from small towns across eastern and central Oregon.
They essentially pit small Oregon towns against one another in search of the biggest exemptions, reaping tens of millions of dollars apiece through deals that exempt their pricey computers from the local property taxes other businesses pay.
The small city of Prineville, northeast of Bend, is home to large Facebook and Apple data centers, each of which receive large tax exemptions. The community has just agreed to a new package of tax breaks for a data hosting company called EdgeConnex. The deal gives the Virginia-based company 75% off its property taxes and puts a cap on the maximum it could pay.
Data centers consist mostly of cavernous, dark chambers with rows upon rows of humming computers. They’re cared for by elaborate cooling systems and a relatively small number of employees, consisting primarily of technicians and security guards.
Still, these server farms provide an enormous windfall in small communities with few economic alternatives. Amazon says its data centers employ 461 people in Morrow County, paying an average wage around $75,000 annually. That’s $20,000 above the county’s median household income.
Amazon Web Services, the Seattle company’s data center group, said in a statement that it contributes economically to Morrow County, supports local science education and is making technical advances to reduce electricity consumption and to conserve water.
And while Amazon enjoys outsized tax breaks, some of its initial investments in Morrow County only qualified for short-term tax breaks that have now expired. The company paid $22 million in taxes and fees in 2020 alone and triple that sum over the preceding decade.
“AWS is proud of the work we are doing in Oregon,” the company said. “Since 2011, we have invested over $15 billion, contributed more than $66 million in tax and fee payments to the local community, and supported the development of 2,000 jobs.”
The job tally includes jobs indirectly supported by Amazon’s spending.
Such benefits accrue to a handful of Oregon communities, primarily in or near Boardman, Hermiston, Prineville and The Dalles. But the state has hundreds of small towns, most of which are not reaping anything from the data center industry.
Public officials in some of the communities that have secured these server farms are fierce defenders of their dealmaking. Sometimes, the local cities and counties don’t even hire an attorney to help them negotiate with the Silicon Valley tech giants.
But others are beginning to express some skepticism.
Wasco County and The Dalles negotiated a new tax break with Google last year that substantially increases what the company would pay on new data centers. And in Morrow County, public officials are discussing how a new tax deal for Amazon would play with their constituents.
Amazon opened its first data center in Morrow County about a decade ago. Its growth has accelerated in recent years and it now has four large facilities, mostly at the Port of Morrow. The port is also home to large food processor, including a massive Tillamook Creamery operation, and a major Portland General Electric gas-fired power plant.
So data centers have grown and diversified the region’s industrial economy while helping fill city and county tax coffers. But Amazon’s new proposal comes amid heated debate over a $138 million school bond on this month’s ballot in Morrow County. The money would renovate and expand local schools.
While some of Amazon’s existing data centers would be subject to taxes to finance the bond, most of the company’s property is exempt. And that’s making the school bond a tough sell among some in the community, who question why Amazon gets a discount and residents don’t.
Amazon has declined to release details of its latest tax break proposal and officials in Morrow County and Boardman haven’t responded to a public records request seeking a copy of the document.
At a meeting last week, Morrow County Commissioner Melissa Lindsay suggested local governments hire an expert to help them evaluate Amazon’s latest request. And she suggested they have a lawyer on hand at their next meeting.
Here is my main writer’s model for Miriam Starfish Christling. Her observations – are pure genius! She should become a writer five years from now. She is the Trend Setter.
I ran as a James Bond candidate. This morning I catch the last minute of a discussion on women facing each other in races. I have been on this idea for over four years, I seeing into the future where conversations between women come to the forefront. That Russia’s defense minister is asked to shoot himself for his macho failures, spells the end of James……James Bond!
I asked Broccoli to back my run for Governor. Betty is backed by Phil Knight, which fits into my novel ‘The Royal Janitor’ where Victoria Bond and Starfish come to Eugene. Scroll down to see another candidate to play Starfish.
Seer John
I am asking Broccoli and Michael to back my run for Governor of Oregon. I just sent this email to Eon Productions, and, left a phone message as well.
“Hello! My name is John Presco and I am running for Governor of Oregon as a Republican. Over three years ago I began a James Bond novel starring Victoria Rosemond Bond. I am kin to Ian Fleming thru Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor. Would you like to contribute to my campaign?
In Oregon, where three women are vying to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, the GOP sees an unusual chance to clinch a governor’s office that they haven’t won since 1982. The formidable candidacy of former state Sen. Betsy Johnson, an independent who has kept pace and even exceeded her opponents in fundraising as of mid-September, has created a path for a Republican to win.
Both Democrat Tina Kotek, a former House speaker, and Republican Christine Drazan, a former state House minority leader, are leaning into their lived experiences as women in their advertising appeals to voters, while Johnson calls herself a “daughter of Oregon.”
The author of this classic Film Noir won the Edgar Allan Poe award. I am jealous. I want to win this award for ‘The Royal Janitor’ for it being the most prophetic work of Propaganda – ever! Here is a Russian Punk praising “ordinary Americans” for betraying their Country some more. These are Putin Lovers bred in Evangelical Think Tanks. This is why I made Miriam Starfish Christling – A REAL CHRISTIAN loyal to THIS DEMOCRACY!
I am asking Broccoli and Michael to back my run for Governor of Oregon. I just sent this email to Eon Productions, and, left a phone message as well.
“Hello! My name is John Presco and I am running for Governor of Oregon as a Republican. Over three years ago I began a James Bond novel starring Victoria Rosemond Bond. I am kin to Ian Fleming thru Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor. Would you like to contribute to my campaign?
John Presco”
These are special times when how we deal with each other in the world has drastically changed due to Putin invading Ukraine. Many multi-million dollar corporation have been asked by the President of the United States to take steps to defeat tyranny. This goes for the leaders of NATO Nations. Russia is conducting a fierce Information War that may result in Nuclear War. We are in a New Cold War that is more dangerous than the first due to the invasion of Ukraine. My grandfathers were born in Berlin and the Czech Republic.
James Bond – is dead! We saw him die. The only way he can be reborn is as a politician running for office so he can serve his fellow citizens, his State, and his County! A vote for me, is a vote for Bond. As Governor, I will fight a War of Words with ‘The Evil One’. I will form ‘The Oregon Fuselier’s’ – a Foreign Legion – in order to aid the Ukrainian People, and other Nations.
I am a artist, poet, and author who created Victorian Rosemond Bond, and Miriam Starfish Christing. I used three young models – as models for my Bond characters. For months I have sent Alina Timo messages encouraging her to get into acting, and, read for a part. She is a natural. She has not replied to me directly, but has made acting the centerfold of her tik tok videos. I am very concerned that she has not posted a new video since Russian invaded Ukraine. We both shared an identify crisis. She bids me to take full responsibility for my creations and creation. Starfish dies at the beginning of my Bond book. I found this sad song that went with, that is applicable to both the Russian and Ukranian People. The Road of War…is a lonely road. Be safe my dear Miriam. You will be reborn in the Land of the Free!
I am posting this for those of you guys who still don’t believe what I have said before. As I already mentioned from my previous post, after the end of NTTD, it says “James Bond Will Return”. So here is the end credits of NTTD for those of you guys who still believes that this is the end of the James Bond series. This end credits proves that it says “James Bond Will Return” at the very end. You can either wait or just fast forward it to 5:40 where it says “No Time To Die” and then at 6:00, it says “James Bond Will Return”. So the bottom line is that this is not the end. We can get some more.
An hour after I posted the above, I read about the missel ATTACK on foreign fighters – that is right out of a James Bond movie – but for the fact these fighters were asleep. Cowards! This is an attack on all the Freedom fighters and Democracy lovers of the World.
LVIV, Ukraine — Six Western fighters who came to Ukraine to join the new international legion described a scene of utter devastation and chaos when Russian missiles crashed down on a NATO training center as they slept on Sunday.
“We woke up to shooooooo….” said James, a former British soldier and experienced artillery and surface-to-air missile operator, describing the terrifying whoosh of the missiles that exploded dozens of meters from him. “I just lied there and thought, I’m going to die. And then there was just a big bang.”
A video of the missile attack taken by one of the fighters and provided exclusively to BuzzFeed News shows two of the strikes hitting the training center and exploding into balls of fire. The missiles can be heard in the video flying overhead for several seconds before they come crashing down, seen at about 35 seconds into the video:
Video provided by a foreign fighter in Ukraine captures the sound and explosions of missiles from Russia.
At least 35 people were killed and 134 more were injured when eight Russian cruise missiles struck the International Center for Peace and Security in Yavoriv, a town that sits 10 miles from the border with Poland and had hosted US troops until last month. In the nearby western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, Mayor Ruslan Martainkiv said Russia’s missiles struck the airport for a second time.
“All legionnaires are safe. No killed, no injured!” Colonel Anton Mironovich, director of public affairs at the National Army Academy in Lviv and a point person for foreign fighters, told BuzzFeed News. (Details about the people who were killed have not been released.) He said the air strike had been carried out by warplanes that took off from the Saratov airport in western Russia but approached from the south, from the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.
James, who did not want his last name used for security reasons, confirmed that, saying he did not see anyone from the foreign group at Yavoriv wounded in the attack.
The attack on the Yavoriv base came a day after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned that it would consider weapons deliveries from the West to Ukraine as legitimate targets. A Ukrainian officer with whom BuzzFeed News spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press described the attack on Yavoriv as “a message to the international community” that their weapons assistance to Ukraine will be “targeted” and foreigners streaming in to fight will be viewed as troops from outside nations participating in the war.”
“Russia has asked China for military assistance in Ukraine, including drones, as it continues its unprovoked invasion, a senior US official told CNN.
Potential assistance from the Chinese would be a significant development in Russia’s invasion, and could upend the hold Ukrainian forces still have in the country.
When asked by CNN about the reporting of Russia’s request for military aid, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US, said in a statement, “I’ve never heard of that.”
Liu expressed concern for “the Ukraine situation” — calling it “indeed disconcerting” — and said China has and will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.”
The Winston-Salem Journal published an op-ed titled “Our view: Cawthorn is deplorable,” in which they blasted the North Carolina Republican for calling Zelenksy a “thug” and “evil.” He also claimed that the Ukrainian government is “incredibly corrupt” and that Zelensky pushes “woke ideologies.”
“Of all the many, many, many reasons we could find to legitimately criticize North Carolina’s gift to Crazytown, Rep. Madison Cawthorn…it’s perhaps his latest exploit that has us truly seeing red,” the Journal wrote in its op-ed.
“This is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Cawthorn was bad-mouthing, who has been leading his nation against a foreign invasion conducted by an unhinged dictator,” it added. “This is the Zelensky who has defied an invasion force probably a hundred times mightier than Ukraine—one that has committed atrocities and war crimes by destroying hospitals and schools and homes, sending at least 2.5 million refugees to other countries.”
My ancestors were wealthy Prussians. Were they investors in Prussia’s attempt to purchase California, that did not happen possibly due to the Revolutions of 1848? Did some Germans realize California could be had by a intensive migration? The six million dollars could be used to buy portable homes, and other necessities. The chances Count Cipriani purchased a portable home from Carl Janke, is high. Unless he brought one in his wagon train.
The Jankes were members of the California Fusiliers. Did they have any contact with my kin, John Fremont, who was talked out of founding a new nation in the West during the Civil War. Consider the Manifest Destiny propaganda of his father-in-law and John Astor, who paid Washington Irving to author a propaganda novel that clamed the right of Americans to take the Oregon Territory – from BRITISH ROYALS. Astor launched a financial conquest of China – that could be the model for China today! If they take over Central America, will they manufacture Chinese cocaine after exterminating the criminal cartel and all gangs south of the border? Texans would be – pleased as punch! As long as China does not take away their right not to wear masks – or their guns! What about – their God? China could get its powerful think tank to invent a Cocaine Jesus for anti-Democratic cult followers, who will honor the day the Democrats cheated them our of their birth right with fake elections. To the Chinese, we look like members of a superstitious Cargo Cult, we easy pickens when it comes to….Divide and Conquer. Our tribal system is open to covert bribes, pitting one tribe against another tribe.
I went down to the Waterfront, again. And, there was no one there -there! Four years ago the city put on a show for the last Olympic Trials, but, there was much tension in the air. Biden and Trump were having debates. Joe wanted secular solutions while Trump’s Base wanted The End Time, wanted not to pay any taxes, and only wanted to go to church once a week to be with – THEIR KIND! The crowd count – was way down. This year there were no – SIDE SHOWS! The Ghost and Mist of Jesus was everywhere. The idea that He only came for half the citizens of Eugene – made everyone feel insane!
It’s a known fact the Greys parked their saucers atop the Potrero Power-stack and recharged their engines. Children who grew up by the bay, saw them all the time! The night guards didn’t want to mess with them, nor, be called “crazy”.
I just got a response from a historian who pretended she did not know what I am talking about. She sent me to the library, as faraway from Site 9 as they could.
Above is the same old trick they use to render us worker-slaves. I went to another of their civic “brainstorming” sessions, and they took everyone in the room, but two. Folks that go to see ‘The Planners’ are lonely and unemployed. They are not missed. They are plum tuckered out after a month of hard labor they have no memory of.
When I took a pic at this Gathering Place, the woman at the door asked if I was the press.
This group was transported to San Francisco on a chartered flight, and are now doing hard labor, verses, using their mind. The Greys hate our old stuff, and our seniors, who are tricked into believing new cities will be designed around them. Why cater to humans on the way out?
The invasion of Glenwood was led by Apex Investments of Dubai. Springfield and Eugene refused my history of the Miller Brothers, and John and Jessie Fremont. What are they giving the people? What are they giving women, and men? Who wants this empty clean space of the mind? Why did so many women vote for Trump? Who is bankrolling these projects? The Arabs got wealthy from the oil they own. They pretend there is a cultural exchange. There is not. Araba leaders are barbarians, family run oligarchies that our President emulates to the delight of squealing white women.
Oregon 2022 primary elections set: 36 candidates for governor, many contested races
Primary election races at the local, state and federal levels are now set.
With new legislative and congressional district maps and the parting of many senior political officeholders, this year is shaping up to be one of the most uncertain election cycles in recent Oregon history.
Gov. Kate Brown cannot run for reelection due to term limits, Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, announced he would retire after his current term and a number of senators and representatives are either resigning from office or are leaving after short-term appointments.
Republicans are looking to break Democrats’ multi-year supermajority control of the Oregon House and Senate as well as elect a Republican governor for the first time since 1982. Democrats are pursuing to maintain that control as they weather shifting leadership at the top of the party.
With the legislative session completed and only 10 weeks before the May 17 primary election, some political analysts have remarked on how quiet the races have been so far. Even among serious candidates, the overt indications of the campaign season — such as ubiquitous television political advertisements — have so far been largely absent.
“You have to introduce yourself to the voters. All the forums you go to in the world won’t do that. You have to use mass media,” Oregon political analyst Jim Moore said. “It’s stunning to me that it has all seemed to be in suspended animation.”
In general, candidates whom politicos consider to be “serious” are those with previous governmental experience and — arguably more importantly — those with a lot of cash on hand. The size of one’s political action bank account isn’t important in and of itself, but having a substantial war chest allows candidates to shape a race to their benefit.
Before the filing deadline, if a candidate already in the race has considerable fundraising success, that alone can discourage potential opponents from contending for the position.
Once campaign season begins in earnest, candidates need to introduce themselves to voters while simultaneously setting themselves apart from their rivals. Much of this comes down to framing: how does a candidate define themselves and how do they attempt to define their opponents.
Money makes this much easier. It pays for highly produced television and radio advertisements, boosted social media posts, mailers, yard signs, billboards and webpages. And in Oregon, there is still no limit on how much money an individual can contribute to a campaign.
As the primary campaign season begins, here is a look at some of the top races:
Three dozen candidates for governor
The last time Oregon had a gubernatorial race this unsettled was in 2002, when the two primaries were fought for by three strong candidates on both sides of the aisle. In total, 11 candidates participated in the election, with future governor Ted Kulongoski receiving less than 50% of the vote in his primary and Republican primary winner Kevin Mannix getting 35%.
Two decades later, more than three times that number are in the running to replace Brown — a staggering 17 Democrats and 19 Republicans. Moore speculated the winner of the Republican primary this year might do so with less than 30% of the vote.
“For the first time in 20 years, it’s just totally wide open,” he said. “There’s no favorites. No one’s been anointed as the successor to Kate Brown.”
The Democratic race is considered a two-person contest between former House Speaker Tina Kotek of Portland and Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read. Both have landed noteworthy endorsements and numerous campaign contributions. As of Tuesday, Kotek had about $950,000 in her campaign account, while Read had about $610,000.
Things are a bit more crowded at the top of the Republican primary with at least half a dozen candidates with experience, money or both:
Christine Drazan, former House Republican leader — $1 million in campaign account.
Bud Pierce, Salem oncologist and former gubernatorial candidate — $175,000 in campaign account.
Bob Tiernan, former Oregon representative — $1 million in campaign account.
Stan Pulliam, mayor of Sandy — $280,000 in campaign account.
Bridget Barton, GOP consultant — $410,000 in campaign account.
Jessica Gomez, entrepreneur — $110,000 in campaign account.
The full list of candidates for this and every other race can be found on ORESTAR through the Oregon Secretary of State’s website.
James Bond: Born in Germany?
Agent 007 is definitely one of the most famous British fictional figures ever created. But according to some sources, he was actually born in the Ruhr valley. An exhibition in Bochum promotes the spy’s German roots.
In his first James Bond novels, Ian Fleming didn’t offer much information about the spy’s origin and background. Bond obviously had to be British, given the fact that 007 worked for the UK’s secret service, but that’s all that was officially known.
Following the popularity of the first James Bond film, Dr. No (top picture), released in 1962, the author provided a few biographical details in his next novel that tied in with the background of actor Sean Connery, who played the secret agent in seven films.
In Fleming’s You Only Live Twice (1964), Bond goes missing, and an obituary written by his superior, M., the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, mentions the names and nationalities of 007’s parents.
His father was Andrew Bond, a Scottish man like Connery, while his mother, Monique Delacroix, was a Swiss national — adding to the spy’s international flair.
There are several editions of John Pearson’s biography of 007
The ‘authorized biography’
Later on, John Pearson, a former assistant of Ian Fleming at the Sunday Times newspaper, wrote a biography of the James Bond creator, titled The Life of Ian Fleming (1966); he went on to write a related work of fiction, James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, which was first published in 1973.
In the book, Pearson includes himself as a character of the plot: After the success of his Fleming biography, he is commissioned by MI6 to write the life story of agent 007.
Based on elements found in Fleming’s novels, Pearson thereby fills in the blanks surrounding Bond’s background.
While the biography was not actually commissioned by the publication company behind Ian Fleming’s books, Pearson knew the Glidrose Publications chairman and obtained his permission to publish the work, making it an authorized biography.
Born in the Ruhr region — because of a train strike
In Pearson’s book, 007 fans discover that James Bond was born in Wattenscheid near Essen, in the Ruhr region, on November 11, 1920.
While it used to be a separate town, Wattenscheid now belongs to the city of Bochum, where the exhibition “On a secret mission: The spy who came from Wattenscheid” opens on February 1.
According to Pearson’s account, Bond’s father Andrew, an engineer with Metro-Vickers, was stationed in Wattenscheid to dismantle Krupp’s armament factories for the allied military government.
His wife, Monique Delacroix, had actually planned to go back to England to give birth, but she was caught up in Wattenscheid because of a rail strike.
Bond became an orphan at an early age; his parents died in a climbing accident in the Swiss mountains. Still, even after his aunt became his guardian, the young James would regularly return to Wattenscheid, where the family kept a summer house.
But maybe it was Zurich or Berlin
There are, however, contradictory accounts surrounding Bond’s place of birth.
‘Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier’ profiles the character
For example, according to Charlie Higson’s Young Bond books, another official series based on Fleming’s story, the secret agent was actually born in Zürich.
But then, according to the passport given to Daniel Craig as a prop in the movie Casino Royale, Bond was born in West Berlin — and way later, on April 13, 1968.
Experts who have tried to crosscheck James Bond’s biography in detail, such as John Griswold in Ian Fleming’s James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming’s Bond Stories, have noted different background inconsistencies emerging from the author’s own novels. Apparently, that didn’t bother Fleming too much.
Film journalist and Bond expert Siegfried Tesche sees Pearson’s version as the authoritative one, since the biography author knew Fleming very well. Tesche also argues that many official events still celebrate Bond’s birthday on November 11, based on Pearson’s account.
In the end, for some fans, Bond works best as a character without all those details about his background.
On show at the Bochum exhibition, the Lotus Esprit S1 Bond drives in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ can convert into a submarine
Fleming’s experience of Germany
Nevertheless, the exhibition celebrates 007’s Ruhr valley roots. Siegfried Tesche, who also curated the exhibition, definitely sees links between Germany, the fictional figure and the author of the novels.
“A little bit of James Bond can be found in Ian Fleming,” he told DW. For example, like agent 007, the author also worked for the Royal Navy’s Intelligence Division during World War II, before he started working as a journalist and an author.
“Fleming had to deal with the Nazis and German spies, and with the Cold War afterwards; and he built in the stories and things he experienced during the Second World War into his novels later on,” explains Tesche.
Fleming also studied in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, points out the Bond expert. The author was fluent in French and German, and spoke Russian and different other languages too. He also loved the Alps, where he learned to ski and climb — all these passions would later emerge in his fictional character’s adventures.
Among the exhibits Tesche organized for the James Bond exhibition in Bochum are different vehicles, including the Sunbeam Alpine S II the secret agent drives in Dr. No (1962), the one-man helicopter he flies in the 1967 You Only Live Twice and the Lotus Esprit S1 sports car seen in a chase in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Costumes, films scripts and other Bond accessories also make up the exhibition.
Along with the exhibition, the program includes different film screenings and talks with physics professor Metin Tolan, renowned for analyzing the science behind 007 movie stunts.
The Bond exhibition can be seen in Bochum until March 31.
‘No Time to Die’: A Rare In-Depth Interview With the Keepers of James Bond
For nearly 60 years on the silver screen, James Bond, the rakish secret agent who jets from one exotic port of call to another, romancing women and besting bad guys in the name of queen and country, has answered to one person. M, the no-nonsense intelligence chief, is the only one who can revoke the British spy’s license to kill. And even M isn’t always successful at reining in 007.
Off screen, it’s a different story. One family, the Broccolis, has long maintained an iron grip on the franchise. Thanks to a highly unique deal, they have been able to exert an unprecedented level of creative control, serving as the final arbiter on everything from the scripts to the casting to the promotional materials.
Eon Prods., the family’s company, splits profits with MGM/UA, the studio that has the right to finance and distribute all of the Bond movies.
“For better or worse, we are the custodians of this character,” says Barbara Broccoli, who oversees the franchise with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson. “We take that responsibility seriously.”
It’s an arrangement that was first hammered out by Broccoli’s father, the producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, when John F. Kennedy was president and the Twist was all the rage. Miraculously, that pact has prevailed through the decades and generations, enduring everything from corporate mergers and bankruptcies to shifting consumer tastes and geopolitical upheavals. The elder Broccoli died in 1996. but not before ceding control to his two children with the 1995 release of “GoldenEye,” a film that proved a sexist superspy, conceived by novelist Ian Fleming in the 1950s, still had a role to play in post-Cold War cinema.
Hollywood’s longest-running — and one of its most lucrative — franchises, the spy series has spawned 24 films that have collectively amassed $16.3 billion in global ticket sales, adjusted for inflation, according to a 2018 Forbes story on Bond by the numbers ($6.9 billion unadjusted, per data site The Numbers).
On April 10, “No Time to Die,” Eon’s 25th Bond adventure, will hit U.S. theaters, representing a moment of both triumph and uncertainty for the series. It serves as the culmination of Daniel Craig’s critically acclaimed, massively successful five-film run as 007; this time, after threatening to turn his back on the series for years, the star is insistent that he is finally holstering Bond’s Walther PPK for good.
“I’m in total denial,” says Broccoli. “I’ve accepted what Daniel has said, but I’m still in denial. It’s too traumatic for me.”
Broccoli, who joined Wilson in a rare sit-down interview with Variety last month, conducted in a drab Brooklyn studio far removed from the casinos, five-star hotels and villas that Bond habituates, weighs her words carefully. She’ll cast a reproachful eye at Wilson when his attempts at humor strike her as ill-considered. “Americans don’t do irony,” he notes at one point, gesturing toward his U.S.-born interrogator.
Russian forces have abducted a second Ukrainian mayor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.
Yevhen Matveyev, the mayor of Dniprorudne in southern Ukraine, was abducted, the minister said.
12 photos show Ukrainian families fleeing the Russian invasion amid warnings of a mass refugee crisis
Putin announced a “special military action” against Ukraine in the early hours on February 24.
Less than 24 hours later, photos show Ukrainians fleeing as the war escalates.
Photos show traffic jams, couples embracing, and a mother trying to distract her child.
Ukrainian citizens fled their homes after the first day of a full-scale invasion.
Train stations were packed with people on the move and roads filled with cars of people leaving the country, with their loved ones and prized possessions in tow.
Before the invasion took place, there were warnings of a mass refugee crisis.
“It is frightening to imagine what scale the refugee crisis could reach in the event of escalating hostilities in Ukraine. It will be a continent-wide humanitarian disaster,” Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general, said in a statement before Putin invaded.
On Thursday, Callamard said that the Russian invasion has made the group’s “worst fears” come true in a new statement.
“After weeks of escalation, a Russian invasion that is likely to lead to the most horrific consequences for human lives and human rights has begun,” Callamard said.
Russian forces have abducted a second Ukrainian mayor, this time targeting the leader of the southern town of Dniprorudne, the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister said.
“Today, Russian war criminals abducted another democratically elected Ukrainian mayor, head of Dniprorudne Yevhen Matveyev. Getting zero local support, invaders turn to terror,” Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet.
Fantastic illustrations and details, like the the King card, holding a Walther PPK gun.
Dear Governor Kotek:………
My message to the Governor of Oregon is almost complete. However, I now know I must play my cards closer to the vest. Of course I want a cut of the billion dollars Jeff Bezos paid Broccoli – to own it all. After reading a rival film studio could be founded in 2035 when Fleming’s novels become part of the public domain, I was forced to consider the truth I got five Bond books in the works. Not all movies are made from finished books. I consider myself – a screenwriter!
Yesterday I read the terrible reviews of Amazon’s The Citadel. I watched two trailers and knew why Jeff wasted 350 million dollars. I will not TELL – for free! Why should I? I am seventy-eight, and poor. There is a chance I will end up on the street – where I will die – with my Russian Blue. This is it
MY LAST HAND
I’m……
ALL IN!
This morning I antied up and will play Jezz Bezo’s card game. He provides a list he bids his follower to choose from. All of them are – empty! There’s nothing there – there! Enter
THE UNINVITED! What’s with his guy, this……Baby-faced Poker playing – killer? Is he bluffing? Does he have – a hand? Here is my pick….Nicholas Hoult.
John Presco
Copyright 2025
“I know what you’re thinking: How long has it been since Nicholas Hoult and Jennifer Lawrence called it quits, and when did he start dating Bryana? Ahead, find everything we know about Nicholas Hoult’s wife, Bryana Holly.
Bond villain Jeff “Blofeld” Bezos will exclusively dictate the future of 007, leading to online speculation that the franchise will evolve from film series into a fully fledged media universe similar to the MCU.
Complicating matters, Ian Fleming’s original James Bond novels are expected to enter the public domain in 2035 — which could hypothetically lead to rival film studios making their own movies about the Bond books. Amazon better get their skates on, then. To that end, the announcement of Daniel Craig’s successor feels closer than it has since 2021. Bezos even straw-polled X on who the next Bond should be — and the replies were dominated by blue ticks clamouring for Henry Cavill.
Yes, some are calling for the likes of Venom star Tom Hardy, the MCU’s Idris Elba, Professor X actor James McAvoy, Magneto actor Michael Fassbender, and Kraven’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who was previously rumored to be top of the list) to be given the role. But the clear fan-favorite is Henry Cavill.
Who’d You Pick as the Next Bond?
Henry CavillTom HardyJames McAvoyMichael FassbenderAaron Taylor-JohnsonIdris ElbaSomeone else (tell us who in the comments!)AnswerSee Results
It didn’t take long after Bezos’ tweet for Henry Cavill to trend online, and that’s because of the sheer number of James Bond enthusiasts calling for the Superman and Witcher actor to take over where Daniel Craig left off.
During a 2023 interview with The Express, Campbell said of Cavill: “He looked great in the audition. His acting was tremendous. And look, if Daniel didn’t exist Henry would have made an excellent Bond. He looked terrific, he was in great physical shape… very handsome, very chiseled. He just looked a little young at that time back then.”
“It was ultimately down to, and this is what I’ve been told, it was just down to me and Daniel, and I was the younger option,” said Cavill in an interview with Josh Horowitz.
“They obviously went with Daniel and I think it was an amazing choice to go with Daniel. I probably wasn’t ready at the time and I think Daniel did an incredible job over the past movies, so I’m happy they made that choice.”
I want to make a movie about…..The Peoples Pope of America…..What could got wrong? I have sent many suggestions to Governor Kotek about making Oregon a film capitol due to Jeff Besoz and Amazon getting big tax breaks – but they don’t make films in Oregon.
The California governor, Gavin Newsom, has proposed a $7.5bn tax credit program and offered to work with Donald Trump to boost US film production after the president threatened to slap 100% tariffs on films made abroad, alarming industry executives in Hollywood and abroad.
Newsom – who has had an often fractious relationship with Trump – unveiled his idea after Hollywood reacted nervously to the president’s tariffs plan, which sent share values in some film and media companies plummeting.
In a statement, Newsom said California – the historic home of the US film industry – was “eager to partner with the Trump administration to further strengthen domestic production and Make America Film Again”.
“America continues to be a film powerhouse, and California is all in to bring more production here,” Newsom said.
A spokesperson for his office told the Washington Post that the program, if it came to fruition, would be the biggest government tax initiative for the film industry in US history and the first at a federal level.
The initiative was triggered after Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the US film industry was “dying” and unveiled plans for a tariffs on overseas-made productions to reverse the trend, which he called “a national security threat”.
Tax incentives and subsidies have seen an increasing number of big productions being shot on location in countries like Britain, Canada and the Czech Republic, reversing a historic trend that saw most Hollywood films during the 20th century shot in Los Angeles
This year’s biggest-grossing film, A Minecraft Movie, was shot in Canada, while the next film in the Mission: Impossible series, due for release on Memorial Day, was shot in the UK and other foreign locations.
Hollywood executives reacted with alarm to Trump’s tariff plan, the Wall Street Journal reported, noting they “expressed confusion over how a levy could be applied to intellectual property with no specific monetary value”. The Journal also noted that the executives were fearful of retaliatory tariffs as they could impact their overseas business.
On Monday, shares in media companies and movie theater chains like Disney, Netflix and beyond fell.
The Journal also reported that Jon Voight, the 86-year-old actor and Trump appointed “special ambassador” to Hollywood, discussed a federal policy with tax incentives and infrastructure subsidies to encourage studios to conduct more of their production work in the US at a meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last weekend.
In a statement on Monday, Voight said: “We look forward to working with the administration, the unions, studios and streamers to help form a plan to keep our industry healthy and bring more productions back to America.skip past newsletter promotion
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“By creating the right environment through smart incentives, updated policies, and much-needed support, we can ensure that American production companies thrive, more jobs stay here at home, and Hollywood once again leads the world in creativity and innovation.”
Voight and his manager, Steven Paul, reportedly submitted a “comprehensive plan” to Trump about “what changes need to be made to increase domestic film production,” according to NBC News.
Newsom’s tax credit proposal would be based on an existing film and television tax credit program that his office says has generated more than $26bn since it was introduced in 2009. Last October, the governor announced a plan to extend the scheme to $750m annually, more than doubling its $330m annual allocation.
Some critics have questioned the effectiveness of such credits. In testimony to the state’s Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee in March, Michael Thom, a professor at the University of Southern California who studies the financial implications of state incentives to attract the film industry, said such initiatives “fail to stimulate enough economic activity to justify their substantial cost”.
“Simply put, California cannot afford the existing incentive, much less a substantial expansion to it,” he said.
I’ gathering all my posts about making movies in Oregon, and my inclusion of Phil Knight and tennis shoes in my book and movie ‘The Royal Janitor’. I shared this post with Tina Kotek on her Facebook.
Carolyn Chambers made two movies. One of them was filmed in Oregon. I met Carolyn when she came over to my friend’s house to see his huge garage on 4th. Street in The Whitaker. Jeff had lined ip Whit musicians in 1990, and wanted to broadcast them live on KEZI. It did not happen.
The Sisters was shot in Eugene, and may be the worst movie every made, followed by Puerto Vallarta Squeeze a James Bondish – thing. Daniel Craig’s character in Knives Out has been revealed as a homosexuals’, making my Bond book, The Royal Janitor, more credible. Both of these movies can be turned into Shakespearean plays. I can do it.
I see a new kind of movie theatre located in industrial parks across America. There will be catering trucks in the parking lot. You can call in a order from your I-phone and it is delivered to…
I am overwhelmed with stories. I need help! So does Governor Kotek – who may be overpowered by Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffet. This moring I saw a segment on a new movie ‘Last Breath’.
John Presco
“I will be very frank,” Kotek said at the meeting. “I would prefer to have had this conversation maybe a couple months ago, so we’re not feeling like a little under the gun to make an approval when I think we probably have more we want to discuss.”
Last Breath is a 2019 British documentary film directed by Richard da Costa and Alex Parkinson. It relates the story of a serious saturation diving accident in 2012, when diver Chris Lemons had his umbilical cable severed and became trapped around 100 metres (330 ft) under the sea without heat or light, and with only the small amount of breathing gas in his backup tank.[2]
‘Avatar’ land heading to Disneyland. Disneyland Resort; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett
“I think I actually played some music, didn’t I?” D’Amaro joked, referencing his Destination D23 presentation in September, which saw him reveal artwork showing off an Indy-inspired temple in place of the existing Dinosaur thrill ride, all while John Williams‘ iconic score played overhead.
“We’ve got so many stories to tell, we have so many things we want to make even better in the theme parks. My plan is to continue to share that with the guests,” he continued. “I know people are like, ‘My gosh, I can’t believe he’s saying this. Is he serious, is he not?’ The answer is, we are absolutely serious.”
The fires were among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history. They killed nine people, burned more than 1,875 square miles (4,856 square kilometers) and destroyed upward of 5,000 homes and other structures.
The Oregon lawsuits say PacifiCorp negligently failed to shut off power to its 600,000 customers during a windstorm over Labor Day weekend in 2020, despite warnings from state leaders and top fire officials, and that its power lines caused multiple blazes.
Representatives of PacifiCorp and Berkshire Hathaway Energy declined to comment about the new liabilities. The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the potential lawsuits.
Buffett said that in extreme cases like with Pacific Gas and Electric in California or Hawaiian Electric utilities could face bankruptcy and the country may have to decide whether to turn to public power if private investors are no longer willing to take the risks associated with the utility business.
Oregon’s coast is attractive for tech companies looking to install under water cables. A past case shows what can go wrong.
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Amazon’s plans to install an undersea fiber-optic cable off the Tillamook County coast gained approval from state leaders last week, though with some reluctance.
During a state land board meeting on Wednesday, Gov. Tina Kotek and Treasurer Tobias Read both said they wanted the state to adopt more robust regulations of undersea cables, particularly after a disastrous cable installation by Meta, Facebook’s parent company, in 2020.
That spring, contracted workers with construction companies Edge Cable Holdings and SubCom were drilling into the seafloor off the coast of Tierra del Mar in Tillamook County when the massive drill’s bit broke. Workers weren’t able to retrieve the equipment, so they left about 1,100 feet of 6-inch steel pipe, an 11-inch diameter drill tip, and 6,500 gallons of drilling fluid in the ocean. Two sinkholes later formed along the cable’s pathway.
State regulators didn’t find out about the incident until two months later, when they heard about it from county leaders. At that point they hired environmental consultants to analyze the incident and its aftermath. Researchers concluded the metal equipment now stuck in Oregon’s seafloor will have minimal environmental impacts, though it will likely corrode over time.
Facebook and Edge Holdings executives paid the state $250,000 for damages, and a one-time easement fee of $135,700 — which essentially allows them to leave the abandoned equipment where it is.
During last week’s meeting, Oregon Department of State Lands staff recommended the land board — which consists of Kotek, Read, and Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade — approve Amazon’s easement application. The permit would allow the company to operate a subsea cable off Oregon’s coast for the next 20 years.
Amazon’s Bifrost fiber optic cable will feed through steel pipe under Oregon’s sea floor then land at a manhole in the Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp in Tillamook County.Map courtesy of Google Maps
Amazon’s cable will stretch about 9,500 miles from Singapore, across the Pacific Ocean through Guam, to a landing site at the Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp in rural Tillamook County. It will also have a branch reaching down to Southern California.
The cable will be buried about 5,000 feet deep along Oregon’s sea shelf to ensure it doesn’t interfere with commercial fishing routes. It will run from the ocean to a manhole at its coastal landing site in Tillamook County, where workers will be able to access it for maintenance. From there, workers will bury it at least 3 feet deep along its route from the coast to Hillsboro.
Trenching work for burying the cable has already begun near Highway 6, according to Tillamook County officials. Amazon workers plan to finish installing the cable by April 2024.
In its easement application, Amazon said it had considered landing in Washington instead of Oregon, but that state’s outer coast lacks enough fiber infrastructure to connect to other cables in Olympia.
Kotek called the land board vote a “status quo” decision, saying Amazon’s easement mirrored another permit given to Facebook three years ago for a cable stretching from Japan and the Philippines to Oregon and California. Department heads said the company followed existing state rules around subsea cable permits, and that the land board decision was the final step needed to meet Amazon’s construction timeline.
“I will be very frank,” Kotek said at the meeting. “I would prefer to have had this conversation maybe a couple months ago, so we’re not feeling like a little under the gun to make an approval when I think we probably have more we want to discuss.”
After Facebook’s drilling incident, lawmakers passed House Bill 2603. That 2021 legislation requires an advisory council to propose revisions to Oregon’s Territorial Sea Plan, the document that governs how the state utilizes its portion of the seafloor. It hasn’t been updated in more than two decades.
So far, proposed revisions include requiring cable installers to hold public information meetings, analyze socioeconomic and environmental impacts, and provide detailed accident response plans.
The bill also requires the council to consider a new way of calculating permit fees. Oregon currently charges a flat rate of $5,000 for an easement, with no additional annual fee. By contrast, California charges annual rent for easements. Rent is calculated based on the property’s value, how long the cable is, and a number of other factors.
Oregon’s easement agreements currently include a “future imposition” clause that says if state law changes to require additional fees, the applicant must pay them. Applicants have the option of paying $300,000 to remove the clause from an agreement, which Amazon did. Kotek proposed approving the easement only under the condition that Amazon still be beholden to future legislative changes, but after some discussion, the board ditched that idea.
Members of the territorial sea plan work group say creating a new way of charging easement fees goes beyond their jurisdiction, so lawmakers will have to take up the issue. The advisory council plans to provide lawmakers with its recommendations during the 2025 legislative session.
Facebook’s fiber optic cable also runs through Tillamook County, though it built its landing site between residential properties in unincorporated Tierra del Mar. The company didn’t notify residents of its plans, so many were alarmed when they’d heard about the proposed industrial cable landing site near them. Facebook staff declined to comment for this story.
Amazon has taken a different approach. Company officials chose a landing site well away from residential areas. Amazon staff also participated in town halls along with state and local officials, and worked with county leaders to bring cell service and broadband to rural areas that previously lacked them.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever run across a company that’s asking us what they can do for Tillamook County,” said Commissioner David Yamamoto.
Amazon is partnering with Astound Communications to help connect about 270 homes to the high-speed internet provided by the fiber optic cable along its route to Hillsboro, company staff told state leaders last week. The company is also working with Verizon to build cell towers along Highway 6 to bring cell service to the area.
Yamamoto said about seven trans-Pacific cables run through Tillamook County, many running a few feet underground on their way to Hillsboro.
Oregon has several active and inactive ocean cables along its coastline, as illustrated by Marine Cadastre, a federal mapping program.Graphic courtesy of Marine Cadastre
There are about 19 subsea cables off Oregon’s entire coastline, some dating back to the 1990s. Many earlier cables helped people connect by telephone, while newer ones help people connect to the internet and transmit data. Some undersea cables also transmit renewable energy, including Oregon State University’s recently approved PacWave cable.
Oregon will likely see more proposed ocean cables as demands increase for faster data transmission between countries. Companies like Facebook and Amazon benefit from having their own fiber optic infrastructure, because they profit when others want to buy that data transmitting capacity.
Oregon and California have prime landing sites for cables because they host inland data centers. Companies also tend to favor landing in Southern California because that part of the state has fewer regulatory hurdles.
Even so, California overall still has a more robust regulatory structure in place than Oregon.
“California has a very long coastline, much longer than Oregon,” said Cameron La Follette, executive director of the Oregon Coast Alliance. “But it also has very high cable landing fees, and often residents of areas ashore that don’t want a cable landing in the area.”
La Follette said she’s concerned about increased industrial activity in the ocean, since drilling into the seabed can be highly intrusive to sea creatures.
Some state regulators share her concern. During the public comment period for Amazon’s cable permit, staff with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said the company’s plans for drilling coincide with endangered gray whale migration. State officials feared the whales’ routes would be disrupted by the drilling noise, or that migrating whales could become entangled in equipment.
In a response from 48 North Solutions, an environmental consultant hired by Amazon, workers said they would slow the drilling vessel if whales approach, and they will use specialized muzzles to reduce noise. The consultant also said entanglement was unlikely, since its cable installation process moves slowly.
Buffett and President Obama in the Oval Office, July 14, 2010
In addition to political contributions over the years, Buffett endorsed and made campaign contributions to Barack Obama‘s presidential campaign. On July 2, 2008, Buffett attended a $28,500 per plate fundraiser for Obama’s campaign in Chicago.[185] Buffett intimated that John McCain‘s views on social justice were so far from his own that McCain would need a “lobotomy” for Buffett to change his endorsement.[186] During the second 2008 U.S. presidential debate, McCain and Obama, after being asked first by presidential debate mediator Tom Brokaw, both mentioned Buffett as a possible future Secretary of the Treasury.[187] Later, in the third and final presidential debate, Obama mentioned Buffett as a potential economic advisor.[188] Buffett was also a financial advisor to Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger during the 2003 California gubernatorial election.[189]
On December 16, 2015, Buffett endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for president.[190] On August 1, 2016, Buffett challenged Donald Trump to release his tax returns.[191][192] On October 10, 2016, after a reference to him in the second presidential debate, Buffett released his own tax return.[193][194] He said he had paid $1.85 million in federal income taxes in 2015 on an adjusted gross income of $11.6 million, meaning he had an effective federal income tax rate of around 16 percent. Buffett also said he had made more than $2.8 billion worth of donations last year.[194] In response to Trump saying he was unable to release his tax information due to being under audit, Buffett said, “I have been audited by the IRS multiple times and am currently being audited. I have no problem in releasing my tax information while under audit. Neither would Mr. Trump—at least he would have no legal problem.”[194] Buffett has said he would judge President Donald Trump by his results on national safety, economic growth a
Pete Hesgeth is now claiming he never put down women serving in the armed forces, which is in compliance with Victoria Bond’s primary edict at BAD headquarters. She was called Sabrina, back then. I began The Royal Janitor six years ago. I created this guy, Cian O’Hannesy, to be the mortal enemy of Annie who owned a leftist socialist radio show. This guy was inspired by Sean Hannity. To see Pete emerge from Fox News Hosts to challenge women in the service as Trump’s nominee for…United States secretary of defense
Above is Sea Lord, Caspar John, the son of Augustus John. He is kin to Ian Fleming, and myself. the father of and uncle of Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, sold John’s art, and lived in his home. The Royal Janitor has come true, and is an entity unto itself.
John Presco
President: Royal Rosamond Press
“Let them smell cake!”
At the stainless steel door, Sabrina stopped, pointed up, and asked;
“What does that say?”
It says……….”I can tell that you are quite left-leaning.”
“Why is it there?” Sabrina asked.
“To remind us to never underestimate anyone. And, never think for a second a whacked-out poet-artist and Bohemian type, is not a true patriot.”
Annie was Victoria’s GO TO. Whenever she was in trouble, or, needed a hand. The Right-wing Christians called her the Anti-Christ ever since she knocked Cian O’Hannesy out of the ring that was built for their wrestling match. They built it under near the giant Ferris wheel, and tripled the price to get on it and watch their Jacob wrestle with a demonic fallen angel. Cian was the only human being Annie hated.
“Everyone of his opinions, is a hateful one! Even Hitler had a nice opinion, or two. I wish I could get that ‘Catholic Starver’ in a ring with me! I don’t fight fair. I fight to win!”
Secretary of Defense-designate Pete Hegseth argued Monday that his comments about women in the military have been “misconstrued,” before pledging to be a “secretary for all our warriors.”
“I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued, that I somehow don’t support women in the military,” the 44-year-old Army veteran told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
“Some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there, are women,” Hegseth said, noting that female service members defend the country “every single day around the globe.”
His war service continued as Director-General of Naval Aircraft Production, as naval air attaché at the British embassy in Washington, D.C., and then as Commanding Officer of two aircraft carriers. He went on to serve as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the early 1960s. In that capacity he was primarily concerned with plans for the building of the new CVA-01 aircraft carriers.
Here are the vessels that Sir Caspar John served upon. He was born into a artistic family. I would like see the College of Defence Studies founded by the Artist, Sir Winston Churchill, expanded to include Creative People in Britain and the U.S. As a rule artists, writers, and musicians do not take slaves, gas people, and loot other people’s art. Hitler did all three. He was a bad artist who cost the world many lives, and a trillion dollars to put him down. We took back the art he stole and put it in sacred public places. I support Theresa May’s strike against Assad, who gassed his own people.
Below are the warships that Sir Ian Easton served on.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (9457036l) Members of the armed forces in protective suits investigate a property in Winterslow near Salisbury in Britain, 12 March 2017. Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were attacked with a nerve agent on 04 March 2018. Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain in a ‘very serious’ condition. Investigation into possible poisoning of former Russian spy, Salisbury, United Kingdom – 12 Mar 2018
‘The Royal Janitor’
by
Jon Presco
Copyright 2018
Sabrina Victoria Eastman could not get to Osborne House fast enough. When she got behind the wheel of her 1961 Jaguar she named ‘Grey Cloud’ the young women who picked her up at the airport tried not to show that she had been warned. She was two shades a pale grey when they arrived at the palace built for Victoria and Albert. She tried to keep up on unsteady legs. The blood was returning to her hands now that she unloosened her grip. As they made their way into the basement she realized she had an experience better than sex. She was a virgin. All her blood veins were alive with an energy she did not know existed. She felt adventurous, and nauseous. She knew she would never be the same.
At the stainless steel door, Sabrina stopped, pointed up, and asked;
“What does that say?”
It says……….”I can tell that you are quite left-leaning.”
“Why is it there?” Sabrina asked.
“To remind us to never underestimate anyone. And, never think for a second a whacked-out poet-artist and Bohemian type, is not a true patriot.”
A Russian Government hacking operation aimed at the US power grid did not compromise operations at any of the nation’s commercial nuclear power plants, federal regulators and the nuclear industry say.
I am going to have my Bond Women do walk-ons in my movies made from my books ‘The Royal Janitor’. Thank my Lucky Stars for discovering Candida Bond in my blog on Howard Waldon! The women of the rich and royal will play the roles of waitress, maid, flower girl, janitor ect. all those who Serve Man. It will be really chic to spotted in my Bondish flics.
With the marriage of Meghan Markle to Prince Harry, a bond will be made between America and Britain. Royal and rich males will do walk-ons in my second movie. I will be the conduit, an Atlantic Chunnel.
Candida’s kin, Lord Howard de Walden, had his portrait sculpted by Rodin. Does Candida know? I will be the Western Cultural Merlin. Howard was a great genealogist and expert on heraldry. When I looked at his genealogy and cote of arms, I saw one of the most complex and detailed family trees I have come across. I wonder if I am Howard reborn. He died in 1946.
I posted this Bond blog yesterday morning. Around three I went shopping and did some composing. I tend to walk around stores in a trance. About nine last night I found Candida. I am blown away. The opening of my book finds Serena on a couch in the basement of Osborne House, fast asleep with a chisel and hammer in her hand. She is covered in marble dust. She is having her dream……………….
“I just found The Muse for my Bond, who will be a woman, who believes she is the embodiment of Camille Claudel, who like Gwen John, was Rodin’s lover. She refused to be his loyal disciple, and for being true to oneself, was shut away in a asylum. When I went to visit Rena in 1970, she took me to the art studios and unraveled a life-size clay statue her new lover was doing of – himself!
“Why isn’t he using you as a model?”
What I am doing is shuffling in the Getty Family Tree with the Waldon Tree. Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in Britain and was knighted in a feminine manner that Howard understands like no other. Did he meet Camille in Rodin’s studio? Did he ever consider he was playing God. SometimesI wonder if I descend from Scribes.
President Trump met with Russian officials at the White House last week. American journalists were barred, but Russia released photographs. Credit Russian Foreign Ministry
WASHINGTON — President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a document summarizing the meeting.
“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
Mr. Trump added, “I’m not under investigation.”
The conversation, during a May 10 meeting — the day after he fired Mr. Comey — reinforces the notion that the president dismissed him primarily because of the bureau’s investigation into possible collusion between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives. Mr. Trump said as much in one televised interview, but the White House has offered changing justifications for the firing.”
It is clear to me what the Trump Buddies are up to. They want to make the Rich of the World even richer so they will invest in, and stay in, their Luxury Hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place. If they have to take food stamps from children, and put poor seniors out on the street, the will do so with a snigger, a snort, and a chuckle! A crazy nut is someone in power who is not willing to join the boys in the locker room and go after The Poor – with glee! The Press is not the enemy, The Poor, is their main target.
Jon Presco
Banke International director Niraj Masand, far left, poses for a photo with Eric Trump, second left, Banke International director Porush Jhunjhunwala, center, Donald Trump Jr., second right, and DAMAC Properties chairman Hussain Sajwani, during festivities marking the formal opening of the Trump International Golf Club, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Feb. 18.
Source: AP
President Donald Trump’s adult sons, who now manage his sprawling business empire, were guests of honor at the launch of a new luxury golf course in Dubai, the first opening of a Trump-branded property since Inauguration Day.
Eric and Donald Jr. presided as the red carpet was rolled out at the 30,000-square-foot (2,787 sq meter) clubhouse for the Trump International Golf Course, the first Trump golf resort in the Arab world.
The Trump International Golf Course in DubaiClaudia Maedler
The plush kick-off event started just after sunset on a clear, blustery evening. Guests — a mix of local and foreign business people — were treated to canapes of quail egg, tuna tartar and spring rolls, and a string orchestra played Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” No alcohol was served.
The 18-hole course is part of a larger villa and apartment building project by Dubai-based developer Damac Properties Dubai Co. PJSC, which is owned by billionaire Hussain Sajwani. The layout was designed by architect Gil Hanse, who also designed the 2016 Olympic course in Rio de Janeiro.
A corporate membership is about $15,000 (55,000 dirhams) up front plus about $21,800 per year, according to a rate card distributed at the event. A single person can join for $6,800 plus a $9,530 annual fee.
Damac has a second resort under development, the Trump World Golf Club Dubai, which is being designed by golfer Tiger Woods. Damac paid Trump as much as $10 million in 2015 and the first part of 2016, according to his financial disclosure filed in May.
Mar-a-Lago Party
As president-elect, Trump said he turned down a $2 billion deal with a major property developer in Dubai because he didn’t “want to take advantage of something.” Damac confirmed the talks with Trump, without specifying whether the deal involved properties in Dubai or when the discussions took place.
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