Tunnel Vision For Baltimore
..."Sustainable" SMART Money Metrics?
On the heels of the recent toxic train derailment in Ohio, and the sketchy details parroted by the Mainstream Media Corpse, the following tunnel story was brought to my attention a few days ago(I’ve published the e-letter after the lengthy intro). Baltimore suffers from journalism anemia like most cities in America, thus it seems par for the course that many of my friends who live in Baltimore are the last to hear about the proposed tunnels.
But first…The MONEY-GO-ROUND
What I have heard about Baltimore (from several insider sources and fringe reports), in street corner parlance, is that the local city economy is built on a foundation of drug trade. I suppose “The Wire” revealed these details to some degree for all the avid fans of that particular TV series. Police and elected officials seem helpless to stem the tide of Fentanyl or crack sales. One former Baltimore mayor (Kurt Schmoke-1987-1999) proposed legalizing street drugs, and this was perhaps one of the best strategies for ending corruption within the Police department, and also a way to thwart the “Prisons for Profit” slave labor scheme. Arresting the teenage street dealers provides a steady stream of prison inmates who provide slave labor for corporate interests. As some will recall, the current VP of the US Corporation— Kamala Harris, got into hot water when during one of the 2016 debates, it was revealed that she had supported ‘Prisons for Profit’ legislation in her own state.
The ‘best’ solution for the black market crime rackets in Baltimore (that goes untaxed—and hence are scrutinized by the local political hacks) seems to be a SMART-City Federal grant of up to $250 million that is sure to fortify the ‘surveillance state’ initiatives. This is one emerging scenario in Baltimore’s near future.
More cameras, police robo-dogs, drones, and in general— the dystopian hellscape we’ve seen prophesied via Hollywood’s darker sci-fi narratives. Once again—local problem-solving logic defers to band-aids rather than prevention,i.e., authentic prosperity and collective well-being are ignored and avoided as a topic of importance in the realm of hackneyed political rhetoric.
The evidence for financial mismanagement rears its head in the form of Baltimore’s infrastructure collapse. Thus, one might ask how shoveling $250 million in SMART CITY development dollars into the Baltimore City government and its select projects is going to help the local citizens in any realistic way.
Below: More evidence for a lack of infrastructure maintenance. Who will be held accountable? This is a typical Baltimore ghetto scene, and like many more, not too far from the well-funded Johns Hopkins corporate complex:
As one observation, from the street level— potholes in Baltimore City are appalling (and dangerous), and apparently are not a maintenance priority for the local government. Maybe it benefits the tire sales biz, or supports front-end alignment services—otherwise, it’s obvious that the Baltimore City Govt. is inept, and seriously distracted by fat-cat bucks in the form of SMART money.
The other factor in the political equation has to do with the Johns Hopkins Hospital-Healthcare & Real Estate Development conglomerate. Not to mention the detail that Johns Hopkins University is subsidized by DoD dollars[the military drone development program is a cash cow for JHU.] Johns Hopkins, Inc. is a significant political player as far as Baltimore’s future design and real estate market are concerned. And not-so-coincidentally, Michael Bloomberg has been giving mega-millions to Hopkins programs for many years. This is par for the Billionaire’s course—citizens need not worry about what will develop over the next 20 years, Big Brother will decide Baltimore’s future for them.
The trouble with the future design of the nation’s cities has to do with a rigid adherence and loyalty to the visions of the globalist technocrats. All of it neatly aligned with WEF initiatives and the allied Digital Banking matrix via Davos HQ. This techno-loyalty seems to suggest that the Technocrats believe that all of society’s infrastructure ills may be ameliorated via the internet and the META-verse. In the most sarcastic sense: Fix those potholes with a clever videogame or CGI, and while we’re at it— drive a virtual vehicle by wearing VR goggles… and then city dwellers never need to leave their apartments ever again—and thus, no worries about the drug gangs fighting for street turf outside the door, or the potholes damaging the car’s front end alignment.
TUNNEL-VISION
The Biden White House press release states the following:
“Replacing 150-Year Old Baltimore And Potomac Tunnel Will Create 30,000 Good-Paying Jobs And Address Largest Rail Bottleneck Between Washington, D.C and New Jersey”—https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/30/fact-sheet-president-biden-kicks-off-major-baltimore-rail-tunnel-project-funded-by-bipartisan-infrastructure-law/
Amtrak’s PR focuses mainly on one single tunnel, and is relevant to passenger transport. But this may be a sleight-of-hand ploy to distract from the other three tunnels and the transport of potentially volatile “freight.” Keeping in mind that Maryland’s latest governor-elect (Rhodes scholar, Wes Moore) stated that the Defense Industry is a very important part of the Maryland economy. In consideration that the Johns Hopkins University’s operating budget is subsidized by the DoD —one estimate is that over 80% of its operating budget is supplied via the DoD(once again illustrating what Eisenhower was telling us about the Military Industrial Corporate Complex.)
Governor Moore is ‘more of the same’ in terms of his devotion to status quo political rhetoric as we see in this PR statement: “Moore pledged to put Maryland on course to ‘generate 100% clean energy by 2035,’ and he called climate change “an existential threat for our entire state.” Moore toes the line for the globalist technocratic smokescreen re the threat of Climate Change(geo-engineered by the dark military, mind you). Perhaps Greta Thunberg advised the governor on his climate policy choices? In assessing Moore’s loyalties and political allegiances we need to look no further than this brief summary of his rise to Governor in a DoD friendly state, Maryland:
“Moore’s path to the governorship was unusual, running through successful stints as a Rhodes Scholar, Army paratrooper, investment banker and non-profit executive. So too was his inaugural. Among the boldface names in attendance: Oprah Winfrey, Chelsea Clinton, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and more.”—https://www.marylandmatters.org/2023/01/18/during-historic-address-gov-wes-moore-renews-promise-to-leave-no-one-behind/
AP recently reported that Moore’s admin. is jockeying for the FBI’s bid: “Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and members of the state’s congressional delegation renewed their pitch to build a new FBI headquarters in Maryland…” We may assume that Moore’s pitch to ‘leave no one behind’ also includes the seriously tainted FBI. Perhaps relocating the Bureau’s HQ in Maryland might also lead to greater access of US Treasury booty located close by in Washington, DC. And perhaps this is also why Gov. Moore mentioned how important the Dept of Defense is to Maryland’s economy. Follow the money trail.
Moore’s administration’s commitment is published on the Maryland Defense Network website as follows:
“The defense sector is an important component of Maryland’s economy, with the Department of Defense awarding more than $13.4 billion to Maryland companies in 2016 alone,” said Maryland Commerce Secretary Mike Gill.
“The Maryland Defense Network is a valuable tool for defense contractors, companies interested in competing in the defense community – and for economic developers and policy makers – and helps our businesses stay in sync with evolving defense priorities.”
The Maryland Defense Network website also mentions special secure access for “registered” defense contractor-wannabes and entrepreneurs looking for a golden investment opportunity:
In terms of 21st century lingo, “economic development professionals” seems to be the equivalent of a secret handshake allowing a ‘player’ the necessary access to the MDN.org database in order to construct a viable bid. Perhaps it’s worth remembering the label, EDP and try it out a cocktail party or reception sometime: “Oh hi Bob, let me introduce a colleague of mine, Stan Andeliver, who is an accredited Economic Development Professional.” One might wonder if Johns Hopkins Univ will offer courses in Defense-related Economic Development(DRED—or DREAD). I might presume that the textbooks are already being published.
“To ask a politician to lead us is to ask the tail of a dog to lead the dog.”
-R. Buckminster Fuller
Follow The Tracks
Getting back on track with the train tunnels, we might also presume that tunnels might possibly connect with profitable DoD-related enterprises, and the potential transport of chemicals, bioweapons, toxic elements (like depleted uranium), or just typical ordinance like say, a nuclear warhead shipment.
The glossy Amtrak sales pitch is adorned with this image:
And there it is again— “Sustainable”, a term used by politicians so often, and loosely defined, that the term is relatively meaningless—except that it does align with a financial objective in the end. Is the Amtrak tunnel venture really sustaining the best intentions for any future human community? Or is it merely another profitable conduit for the next wave of billionaire Oligarchs who serve the established MIC?
Overall, when considering the train tunnel system as part of Baltimore’s crumbling infrastructure, this sounds progressive, right? Except for the gritty slave labor required to construct the tunnel(s)—presumably supplied by Latino males, some of whom may even be illegal immigrants. That’s another taboo topic for another article, however.
Now it’s time to go down a rabbit hole that is in reality, a four-tunnel train system. But first let’s consider the recent derailment track record, in fact—there were three Norfolk Southern derailments last month.
In a local activism e-letter the following details were cited by a Baltimore City resident:
“There are a 1,000 derailments in the US every year. In 2013 There was a derailment in Lac-Megantic, Canada. The fire was so intense it vaporized 47 people It destroyed Half the buildings in the town center and all but 3 of the 39 remaining buildings had to be demolished due to petroleum contamination.
As far as I know there has been little or no financial compensation from the railroads. This horror is coming to Baltimore. There are plans to build four tunnels under homes in West Baltimore. I am on the BOD of Residents Against the Tunnels www.residentsagainstthetunnels.org
We have been fighting this project for 8 years. Biden has funded this project in the Infrastructure Bill. We were in communication with Amtrak over the project and when they lied to us, we knew better and challenged them; and then they hired a PR firm and the public is again being lied to about this project. They are saying no freight but that is a lie.
There is a Record of Decision (ROD) which is the document that states what will happen and “freight” is listed among many other frightening statements. Now that we’ve seen the disaster in Ohio, which the government says affected a 30 mile radius (which I believe to be another government lie, I am sure it is larger than that) we have to realize that a derailment underground with hazardous chemicals could destroy all of Baltimore city. We need to get more people involved all over the city. We need to inform everyone we know in this city.”
“We have committees, recently formed that some of you may want to join. There is much work to do and we need help.” —end of e-letter
This testimonial and plea for support is typical in these times of the US infrastructure-communication-breakdown. In Baltimore, there are too many negative accounts of the current mayor who is seriously under-qualified and incapable of representing the best interests of Baltimore City residents. And this is a nice way of saying he’s another corrupt player who has no idea how to negotiate a winning deal for the taxpayers. Just another asset of a deep state racketeering program, or call it, “crony-capitalism.” The complaints I’ve heard from Baltimore City residents usually begin with an eye roll, and a smirk. The problem with Mayor Brandon Scott’s appearances before a disgruntled population is his lack thereof ,i.e., he doesn’t bother to show up for town meetings. Scott also pushed legislation to ensure that he and his political posse would receive fat checks once they left political office.
Indicative of Scott’s lackluster performance, members of his administration are resigning.
The following comes from the Baltimore Development Corporation’s(BDC)—Smarter City Task Force report, published in 2015. The PDF includes a cheesy looking digital image that I suppose might look smarter than what a talented visual artist might create:
The Money Players:
A Baltimore Playbook: A Closer Look At the Money and Focus on Tech—
or: How to spend $250 million on technology and support the creation of a SMART City.
I might surmise that we are supposed to be impressed by the language and choice of tech-cool lingo. In the end, what we are witnessing is the death knell for literacy and the emergence of A.I. friendly hubris. This is how the universities churn out the next gen of willing tech disciples awaiting their opportunity to serve the corporate technocracy. Call it techno-indoctrination. For the students, it’s truly about the estimated salary in the end.
The basic ‘SMARTer Baltimore’ overview begins:
In the development world, a number of projects have incorporated broadband into their plans, including:
• Remington Row, a planned-unit development with retail, office and apartments that will include state-of-the-art access to broadband.
• Harbor Point, a major mixed-use development that will offer broadband access to tenants and companies.
• Stadium Square, a $250 million project designed to attract technology firms that will make high-speed Internet available to all tenants; infrastructure will be built beyond capacity so that high-speed Internet will also be available to nearby businesses.
The Baltimore Broadband Coalition is leading a multi-community campaign around the city to improve broadband services in Baltimore. This campaign was developed in response to a survey and community meeting that indicated residents throughout North Baltimore want to explore opportunities for more broadband options.
Despite such progress, much still needs to be done to increase deployment of broadband infrastructure, increase the use of technology, and provide residents access to broadband service.
Understanding the city’s current infrastructure assets, limitations and future needs is a fundamental next step in moving towards a comprehensive 21st Century digital infrastructure plan.
To complement the work of this task force, the Mayor’s Office of Information Technology (MOIT) contracted with Magellan Advisors, a broadband consultant, to evaluate the city’s existing broadband infrastructure, forecast future
broadband need, recommend ways to expand the city’s infrastructure and identify potential frameworks to leverage the city’s broadband and conduit assets. That report will provide critically important information about expanding the
city’s high-speed network.”—end of sales pitch
But wait…where was the mention of 5G and potential EMF related illnesses?
What this proposal lacks is: Humanity.
Therefore we may presume that Human well-being must be a secondary concern, or not even a blip on the Technocrat’s radar screen. In between the lines, I read “survival-paycheck-syndrome.” Any entrepreneur who is looking for a profit angle can see a myriad of possibilities for contract bids within the SMART-City sales pitch. Just as the pLandemic players who became billionaires could see a profit margin when considering masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer.
Here’s another example of crony capitalism at play (found in the overview above):
“…the Mayor’s Office of Information Technology (MOIT) contracted with Magellan Advisors, a broadband consultant…”
Keyword: “consultant”
I learned a great deal about the money-making potential of consultants 30 years ago during a decade-long literacy campaign.
Example: say a corporation wants to appear as if it’s aligned with ESG metrics—and they need to know the best sales approach for their product or service future. Hiring a good consultant is the primary step in formulating a plan. The consultant is the winner here. Billing the corporate client for all ancillary accouterments to include: automobile payments, office maintenance, travel expenses, and restaurant tabs—in addition to a salary. What would one charge as consultant? I’d imagine that $250K would be a realistic place to start(in 2023 dollars), and move upwards depending on the caliber of the client. Working for Apple or any other multi-billion dollar company would increase the consulting fee, say 50-100%.
Magellan Advisors:
Press release from 2013—
“Baltimore City hires broadband consultant as it looks to expand fiber network”
“On Wednesday, the Board of Estimates awarded a consulting contract worth $157,000 to Magellan Advisors.”
—https://technical.ly/civic-news/baltimore-broadband-fiber-magellan-advisors/
The Money Metrics:
“But investing in newer technologies that could help the city is tricky, given MOIT’s $40 million budget per year, an amount from which just $6 to $7 million can be spent on new technologies “if we’re judicious,” Tonjes said. His goal is to increase MOIT’s allowance to 1 percent of the city’s general budget, which is about $5 billion, but even then that amount of money would be roughly one-quarter of what Howard County spends on technology each year, he said.”—https://technical.ly/startups/chris-tonjes-cio-presents-city-it-departments-new-mission-at-dec-techbreakfast-video/
I’ll conclude with a few statements that bear reconsideration and also suggest that the new paradigm political jargon that is emerging(aligned with ESG filters)is a large part of a bigger problem: Money and profit still rule the roost in a realm where the people are secondary and Technology is the designated priority.
I’ll end with Bucky quotes as examples of humanitarian logic.
– R. Buckminster Fuller quotes:
“Nature is a totally efficient, self-regenerating system. IF we discover the laws that govern this system and live synergistically within them, sustainability will follow and humankind will be a success.”
“We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.”
“I am convinced all of humanity is born with more gifts than we know. Most are born geniuses and just get de-geniused rapidly.”
“The World has become too dangerous for anything less than Utopia.”
“If I ran a school, I’d give the average grade to the ones who gave me all the right answers, for being good parrots. I’d give the top grades to those who made a lot of mistakes and told me about them, and then told me what they learned from them.”
“There is enough for everyone. People think that there isn’t enough, so they get as much as they can, so many people don’t have enough.”
“I am not a thing, a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process, an integral function of the universe.” [especially relevant re the transgender wokelings]
“Either war is obsolete or men are.”
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
“You either make sense or you make money.”