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The Boring Company and Musk’s Grand Idea to End Gridlock

Published on May 18, 2017

I5 Traffic Seattle Congestion

There is not a person on the planet that doesn’t despise having to sit in gridlock traffic. After a long day, heading home and having to sit in traffic is one of the biggest pet peeves for almost everyone who drives a car. A majority of larger cities are growing at an exponential rate and do not have the roadway infrastructure to handle the amount of cars that come along with that type of influx. Even sometimes with construction, roadways and freeways still are unable to deal with the congestion. Cities on the west coast like Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles have tried yet failed at trying to ease the amount of traffic that commuters experience on a daily basis. Even with the addition of commuter systems like trains, buses and ride shares, there is still an alarming amount of gridlock that is a daily frustration for people commuting in and out of a city. While it maybe boring, Elon Musk moves forward with a solution to help eliminate traffic congestion with The Boring Company.

Traffic frustrations don’t just affect the average Joe, even tech billionaires get upset with the amount of time wasted sitting in gridlock. Last December, Elon Musk was sitting a an epic traffic jam when he tweeted out “Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging…” He then followed up with another tweet that said, “It shall be called ‘The Boring Company,’?” he wrote. “Boring, it’s what we do.” In case anyone doubted his claim he followed up with a tweet that said, “I am actually going to do this.” Even with this last tweet, people were still hesitant to believe that Musk was even considering such an outrageous venture.

However, for those people who doubted Musk, they should know better by now. The man, now considered one of the most inventive entrepreneurs of this century, has been doubted before and has consistently proven those doubters wrong. His current venture SpaceX received a lot criticism in its infancy and now the company has successfully launched and landed rockets designed in-house by SpaceX. He has also been known to made some pretty outlandish statements to the press in the past so the statement about the Boring Company was another one that the media assumed was designed to troll them. This time Musk was not joking.

Within days of the tweet about the Boring Company, Musk acquired the domain www.boringcompany.com. Even though there is no information on the site yet, Musk has appointed a leader for the project. Steve Davis was personally picked by Musk due to his excellent work on the first SpaceX rocket guidance system. Davis was a senior engineer at SpaceX who was up for the challenge that Musk presented him. There was not a very detailed plan for this tunnel endeavor but it included digging tunnels that could not only accommodate cars but high-speed trains as well. Musk is approaching this his usual way; he was going to wing it. It’s an approach that has worked for Musk in the past so he has no reason to not trust his instincts on his latest project.

Once the domain was purchased and a project leader was assigned, Musk decided it was time to start digging. Most normal companies would have a difficult time securing the type of heavy-duty equipment needed to perform such a monumental task. But as mentioned above, Musk is no ordinary man nor are the companies he runs. Due to the fact that Musk currently is running two very large industrial companies, he was able to secure the proper heavy-duty equipment to create tunnels large enough to accommodate his vision. Then he was able to start digging.

One would never guess that the large pile of dirt sitting next to a pit near the SpaceX Campus is the beginning of Musk’s dream to create the tunnel system that he envisioned when he first thought up of the idea. This last January, the Boring Company’s excavation crew was able to break ground on the beginning of Musk’s tunnel system. Legally it made the most sense to begin the dig at the SpaceX headquarters. The pit is just the beginning of Musk’s tunnel project. He plans on taking the pit and making it wider so it can accommodate a tunnel boring machine. Once the hole is wide enough, the machine can fit down through the pit and begin to grind through the earth horizontally to create a tunnel system that is wide enough to accommodate cars. He ultimately plans on building at least 30 levels of tunnels in the hopes to create a three dimensional concept of an immense and sophisticated travel system. There is no proposed destination yet for the end of the tunnel and Musk is mum on the subject.

Elon Musk
http://www.spacex.com/elon-musk

Another aspect to this project is the fact that Musk also wants to create a better and faster tunnel boring machine. Tunnel boring and building technology has stayed pretty much the same for the last 50 years. There has been very little progress in updating the machines and the time it takes to bore through the earth. The speed at which most of these machines chew through the earth is shockingly slow. Most of these tunnel boring projects take years to complete. Musk is looking to cut that time in half in order to complete tunnel faster than ever before. The Boring Company will make a significant investment in creating tunnel boring machines that are unlike any other heavy-duty earth-moving machine that exists.

The company has yet to employ any full time employees and the business model is not entirely clear. There is speculation that government contracts will be involved based on the Musk’s relationship with the White House. Even though the Boring Company has a long way to go, Musk is determined to make this project a reality.

Juniper Publishers BAD Review! Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical

Published on May 15, 2017

Juniper Publishers Review

Early in February 2017, I was emailed by someone named Sylvia Rose working with
Juniper Publishers, and representative of Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical
Research. She asked me to write a mini review to be published in this Journal. I did
so and I submitted to them on 25th Feb 2017. Before it was published online, they
requested $519 as a processing fee, and I had not been told about this in advance,
and after some debates over the phone from an unknown number, they reduced the fee
to be $199 which I paid using PayPal. Later, they have been violating all ethics,
intellectual rights and everything. For example, each academic article nowadays has
its own digital object identifier (DOI) which could be checked at www.doi.org &
www.crossref.org

My article title: Cuminaldehyde: A potential drug candidate, and its DOI which is
mentioned in the article is 10.19080/JPCR.2017.02.555585, in Volume 2 Issue 2, 2017
DOI is extremely important to protect publications from Plagiarism and to be cited .
After some complaints to several DOI and Crossref, the journal had to activate my
DOI. One week later, I checked this DOI, and I found it not working, to be accurate
this DOI is still maintained in Crossref but the link to the publisher is not found.
I did not know that this journal/publisher is a predatory at the time they initially
emailed me. People, may be one person, does not follow any standards in publishing
research work. For instance, they do not have real peer-reviewing process. Also, I
discovered that DOI mentioned on most articles in this journal are not working. This
means this publisher receives money (publishing fees) to keep in their bank account,
and they do not pay a penny for DOI. Please note that as far as I was told by
Crossref, publishers have to pay fees to Crossref to activate DOI and have to
maintain the link to the article. Another point which they used to enforce me to
submit them another article has been that they limited searching features of my
article using Google. To make it clear, for my article compared to others in the
same journal, prior to complaining about fake DOI, my article as a PDF file used to
be found as a first suggestion in Google when my article’s whole title was searched
for. Now, it is not possible to find any direct link from this predatory publisher
to my article. I uploaded my article as a full text on my ResearchGate account to
make it exist online. The publisher have gone mad and I found so many visits to my
ResearchGate from USA downloading all full texts, in particular my PhD thesis, and I
had to remove full text of m y thesis. I think they did download many times,
thinking my account on ResearchGate could be blocked in this case, but thankfully I
could manage to stop them. I am accusing them of stealing my money and violating all
standard ethics. I have opened and escalated a dispute on PayPal. The last thing
was that this publisher, I do not know how, assigned 2 DOI for my article, the one
which I previously mentioned, and the second one is 10.19080/JPCR.2016.01.555585.
The second DOI is wrong indicating my article was published in 2016 in Volume 1 and
the link to this DOI is working!!

What I understand from this, the publisher wanted to make my article inaccessible at
all. Anyone could use the DOI provided in the article which is not working. I
complained about this to Crossref, and waiting for them to investigate this
terrifying act from this Juniper publisher’s journal.

Kindly, I could provide a PDF showing all communications by email with this journal.
The mentioned DOIs could be retrieved using Crossref.org/metadata
http://search.crossref.org/?q=cuminaldehyde%3A+a+potential+drug+candidate

I have uploaded my article on my ResearchGate account, Mohamed Elsaed Ebada.
Yours Faithfully

Dr Mohamed Elsaed Ebada
PhD, BPharm
Researcher
Pharmacology Department
NODCAR
Agouza, Giza, Egypt
ORCID: 0000-0002-1922-4376

UPDATE: 5/24/17

This is Part II following my recent report, published on 15 May 2017, about my bad
experience with Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Research, Juniper Publishers
violating my copyrights for my article ‘Cuminaldehyde: A potential drug candidate’,
published online on 08/03/2017, whose right originally assigned DOI has been
10.19080/JPCR.2017.02.555585. I said in my previous report that a dispute was opened
on PayPal against this publisher, and they refunded me $199 two days ago without
responding to my case. However, nothing else has much changed.

Before refunding me, the journal’s and publisher’s websites had gone through a phase
of maintenance over the past week! No one could access any articles or submit a
manuscript. After refunding me, their websites returned back, thinking money is the
only concern. They also left a message in PayPal asking me to remove my bad
comments. I thought they had changed and I emailed them asking them to complete 4
points to remove my fair comments and to act positively describing how they have
fixed this problem at a professional level. Unfortunately, they could not be
trusted.

After making my article searchable on Google as a PDF file like all other articles,
only for 2 days after I received the refund, my article disappeared again today,
Sunday 22/05//2017, from Google as a PDF file like other articles.

I do not want to receive any emails from them again. Just accomplishing these 4
points would be enough.
1- Sylvia Rose, someone has been emailing me working with this journal, shared my
article’s abstract on LinkedIn without showing my name/affiliation, and this shared
file appears in Google when anyone searches for my article’s whole title under the
name of Sylvia Rose! I have requested to remove this file or to add my details.
2- There are still 2 working DOIs, digital object identifiers, on Crossref, the one
above which is right, and the second one which is wrong
10.19080/JPCR.2016.01.555585. Juniper Publishers maintains links to both DOIs,
meaning at any time they could, as they had already done, inactivate the link to the
right DOI and let the other DOI working making my article inaccessible and unlikely
to be cited. I requested them to only maintain the right DOI. I also emailed
Crossref to provide an explanation telling how they could assign two DOIs to the
same article with exact details but they have not replied yet.
3- Because I can not and I should not trust them, I asked them to provide me with an
official print of my article or, because they only have online journals, an official
letter (signed and stamped) showing details of my articles, volume and dates of
submission & publication. They sent a piece of paper showing sufficient details but
no signature or stamp, which I refused to accept. They also refused to add their VAT
code, although they claim that their journals are registered in the USA. I believe
VAT code is not confidential.
4- Because they list a number of indexes at the bottom of this Journal, I only asked
them to make my article indexed in Google Scholar (piece of mind) to avoid any
interaction with them regarding appearance of article in Google.
They have not completed any of these points, and have made my article unsearchable
again in Google. Only could be found from my ResearchGate account as a full text or
inside the Journal’s website (until now). Finally, all articles in this Journal have
DOI but most of them had not been working and now about a half of articles have an
active link to their DOI. This has only happened after I raised this issue
everywhere. I have more to say, but the space may be limited and the publisher does
not deserve.

I would like to thank Emerald City Journal who has given me the chance and published
my previous report in order to tell people about my worst ever experience with
Juniper Publishers.

Everything is documented and could be provided upon request.

Yours Sincerely

Dr Mohamed Elsaed Ebada
PhD, BPharm
Researcher
Pharmacology Department
NODCAR
Agouza, Giza, Egypt

*User submitted. Statements do no reflect the views of the Emerald City Journal.

Club13 A Newcomer’s Guide To The Kratom-Verse

Published on May 1, 2017

You’ve seen the charts with the little gold stars that outline specific benefits of the different strains of kratom – Red Bali gets two stars for stimulating and five stars for pain relief, Maeng Da gets five stars for stimulating and enhancing mood but only two stars for pain relief, Ultra Indo gets five stars for pain relief and mood enhancement and two stars for pain relief. But can any of this information be trusted? The answer is: it depends where you read it and who you speak with. Different consumers have different experiences and there isn’t any true guidelines on how it may help you or not. Companies are not allowed to speak of their results, however, many customers have spoken about how great they have been for them.

Club13 Herbals is a Kratom company located in St. Augustine, Florida. Their website sells pure Kratom powdered and capsules. Their products are lab tested to make sure everything is free of contaminants. Learn more about Kratom and Club13.com here on the Emerald City Journal.

Much of what you get out of Kratom depends on what your goal is going in. Calling Club13 customer service was very helpful to me. So are you looking for an alternative to prescription medication? Are you looking for a relaxing feeling after a long day? Are you looking for a companion to your morning cup of coffee that will provide a jolt of energy as you start the day off right? Some users online have expressed it helps.

When I first began researching Kratom, I wanted it all. I’ve long had chronic pain from peripheral neuropathy, and I was looking for relief. I was also looking for something to balance my mood, and a boost or energy is always nice, as is relaxation. I’ve heard that Kratom could be the solution so I looked and researched the Internet. I found the Club13 Herbals website.

My multiple needs led me to Green Bali for its multiple benefits, and I had pretty much stuck to that until recently. I was happy with its effects, it worked for me on several levels.

But I realized recently there was no harm in experimenting, and after some more reading decided to try Red Vein Maeng Da because of positive reports on its ability to stimulate and add energy to your day without making it hard to sleep at night.

Going in, I was kind of convinced that any difference in effect would be minimal. I didn’t think my kratom-ometer was refined enough to tell the difference in strains. Hey, I used to drink wine out of a box.

But the first time I swallowed a few capsules of the Red Vein Maeng Da, I knew right away that it was different. It was energizing, it was vibrant, it had just a tinge of euphoria glittering around the edges, but it was very smooth. Caffeine makes me jittery at times, kratom did not.

My lovely wife has tried kratom a couple of times. She found the Green Bali sedating and wasn’t a fan.I offered her a few Red Vein Maeng Da capsules, and an hour later I could tell by her delighted laughter that she enjoyed it. She said it was stimulating and just made her feel good.

So there you go. Turns out reading or looking at a chart only gets you so far. Words are helpful, but they’re just words. We need to branch out, experiment, try new things for ourselves. Try different vendors like Club13 and ask questions if needed.

That’s how I found kratom in the first place, and as a neophyte kratomnaut I’m going to try a white-veined variety next. I’ll let you know what I think.

How about you? What strain of kratom works for you, and why? What other strains have you tried, and to what effect?

And, most importantly, what are you going to try next?

Natalie Khawam Fights to Save Members of the Military From a Broken Military Medical System

Published on April 16, 2017

Imagine fighting for your country and sacrificing your very own safety only to come home to a very broken military medical system. Imagine, that you are misdiagnosed by the same military hospital that was gave you a clean bill of health. That misdiagnosis then leads to terminal cancer and now neither you nor your family has any legal recourse against the same military hospital that put you and your family into that horrible position. This type of scenario happens far more than people believe it does in the United States. The standard of military medical care is subpar for active duty members and Natalie Khawam’s latest case is a prime example of how the system has completely failed the men and women of the military.

Natalie Khawam’s name is very well known amongst veterans and active duty members that have been failed by the very system that was designed to help them. The military medical system is broken and Natalie Khawam is fighting hard to make sure laws and safeguards are put in place in order to ensure that military members are protected from medical negligence. She understands how imperative it is that these individuals who have fought so hard for our country receive the proper benefits.

As an attorney, Ms. Khawam, makes it her duty to help protect the nation’s veterans and active duty members. Her law firm, the Whistleblower Law Firm, employs dedicated team members that have a wide breadth of legal knowledge and the firm focuses on numerous practice areas. Although, as the name suggests, the firm predominately focuses on whistleblower laws, they are in no way limited to that particular practice area. Veterans and active duty members in particular are very important to the firm so Natalie makes it her mission to make sure that their rights are protected.

Unfortunately, the members of the military are having difficulties getting access to proper medical care through the military medical system. Even though there have been numerous reports about the lack of adequate medical care and ineptness of the VA and the military hospitals, there are still a variety of issues. There are so many people and families that have horror stories about dealing with life or death issues and how the military medical system has let them down. Even in the case of outright medical malpractice, there is no legal recourse that veterans can take in this particular event.

According to the Emerald City Journal, a Green Beret from North Carolina and his family are finding themselves in this same horrible position. Sgt. First Class Richard Stayskal is currently facing the worst possible outcome from an inept medical care. He is dying from terminal cancer and because of a misdiagnosis; he has very few medical options left at this point. What is even worse about this situation is that Sfc. Stayskal might have had medical options to help him fight the cancer that is ravaging his body. After his service and his sacrifice, he is dying because of a terrible and preventable mistake. Even though it was huge oversight on the part of military hospital, Sfc. Stayskal and his family have no recourse to sue the military for malpractice.

Thanks to a case from the 1950’s, it became law that a service member could not sue the military for medical malpractice. In 1950 in Feres v. United States, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not be held liable under the FTCA for injuries to members of the armed forces that arise from activities conducted during time served. This established what is now known as the “Feres Doctrine”. The principle behind this doctrine is that members of the military are routinely injured in the course of duty based on the inherent dangerous nature of being an active duty member.

While in theory the law makes sense and should apply to most circumstances and injuries and arise during combat. For example, if medical care is rendered during a combat situation or when emergency care is needed in a training environment, the military and their medical staff make quick decisions. These quick decisions are made under incredibly stressful situations. It makes sense that the military should not be held responsible for treating an injured active duty member during a triage situation that arises during combat or training. The Supreme Court did not want to compromise the ability of military medical staff to treat a wounded warrior.

There are some circumstances however that should be exempt from the Feres Doctrine. When it come to medical malpractice outside of the purview of combat, there should be some exemptions made for soldiers. Medical care at a military hospital, during a non-combat situation should be exempt. Members of the military that face gross negligence should be allowed legal recourse during medical care received during non-combat situations. For some individuals, they have been left with no way to provide for their families after a medical mishap and those responsible should be held accountable.

Sfc. Stayskal almost died in Iraq in 2004 when he was shot by a sniper. After recovering from this horrific incident, he joined the Special Forces. He was selected to attend Special Forces Under Water School and Combat Dive Qualification Course and during the required school physical examination in January of 2017, the civilian radiologist at the Womack Army Medical Center in Fort Bragg failed to identify a large tumor midline his right upper lobe. Due to this gross medical negligence, and other mishaps through the military medical system, Sfc. Stayskal now has months to live.

His story is not unheard of when it comes to dealing with the military medical system. There are thousands of other active duty military members that are suffering at the hands of a broken system and they have no legal recourse. There was a basic right that has been stripped from the nation’s soldiers. The right to sue for medical negligence is a right that everyone should be able to exercise, especially the men and women of the military. They should not be exempt from being able to protect themselves and their families from medical negligence.

Attorney Natalie Khawam and her firm are fighting to help enact critical legislation that will amend this wrong. She wants to help make sure that no solider or their families ever suffer from the same fate at Sfc. Stayskal and his family. Her team will fight hard to help defend the rights of the soldiers just as they have fought and sacrificed for the nation. She firmly believes it is her duty to protect the soldiers and the veterans of the country. She understands how much they sacrifice for the country and their very own families and she wants to make sure that they are safeguarded against medical malpractice. Natalie Khawam is committed to challenging this outdated law so that no man or women has to suffer from this form of injustice ever again.

Natalie Khawam and Veterans’ Rights

Natalie Khawam is a whistleblower law attorney in the Tampa, Florida area. As the founder of the Whistleblower law firm, she doesn’t only tirelessly work to protect the rights of the clients that seek her help – she also works to serve and protect the rights of US veterans, both in work-related matters and volunteer work.

The Whistleblower Law Firm and Veterans’ Benefits

True to Khawam’s dedication to serving veterans, the Whistleblower Law Firm provides veterans’ benefits services. The attorneys help with navigating the difficult phases of the Veterans’ Claim Process, from initial applications to appeals and renewals. For veterans who have claim denials or aren’t receiving appropriate levels of benefits, the assistance of the Whistleblower Law Firm helps resolve these issues, giving veterans the support they deserve for their dedication.

Additionally, Khawam has worked to include a specialized team of VA accredited attorneys among the team members of the Whistleblower Law Firm. She is proud to work with individuals like military officers, a VA Medical Officer, a VA Claims Examiner, and an attorney from the Board of Veterans Appeals to help provide veterans with the expert legal assistance they deserve when seeking help.

Whistleblower Claims for Veterans’ Rights

Khawam’s dedication to veterans’ rights doesn’t just stop at directly supporting them. Khawam also works to defend those who would stand up for veterans. One such instance involved a claim from March 2018, where a social worker at a Bay Area VA facility, Karen Chwick, faced repercussions for noting gaps in veteran patient care at the facility.

Chwick’s concerns originated from the lack of appropriate care for veteran cancer patients. Because the facility itself did not provide radiation treatment, veteran patients would need to go to other services to receive the treatment. While the VA hospital was supposed to help with referrals, there were numerous delays in treatments that, while on average were within the 30 day timeframe permitted by current guidelines, sometime stretched longer than permissible. When she noticed this, Chwick documented the delays and reported them to her superiors.

While she had hoped to see a change in patient procedures she instead faced harsh repercussions, including orders for a disciplinary hearing and becoming prohibited from patient meetings. Chwick ultimately chose Khawam as her attorney for a whistleblower claim against the VA institution. Khawam represented the case, acknowledging Chwick’s efforts and the importance of protecting US veterans.

In another case, the Whistleblower Law Firm represented an Iraqi War Veteran who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to a violent IED attack. While the veteran had been able to return home afterwards, he did not receive the appropriate diagnosis and disability support deserved for the condition. The Whistleblower Law Firm worked to help earn the appropriate compensation, better enabling the veteran to live a fulfilling life.

PTSD drastically impacts anyone who suffers from it, and veterans often have some of the worst cases due to the potentially violent nature of deployment. Without proper treatment, those who suffer from PTSD are likely to develop other anxiety disorders and commit suicide. By advocating for appropriate benefits of veterans, the Whistleblower Law Firm can help them receive the treatment they deserve.

Panel Moderation at the Summit for Civil and Human Rights

Aside from representing clients and advocating for veterans’ rights, Khawam also brings these issues forward for discussion with her fellow attorneys. She has made appearances at the Whistleblower Summit for Civil and Human Rights. This summit works to acknowledge how whistleblowing has an impact on the law and curbing incidents of fraud. At the 2018 Summit, Khawam and her fellow Whistleblower Law Firm members, Sabrina Mentor and Daniel Maharaj, worked to host a panel related to veterans’ rights.

The panel, Blowing the Whistle at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs – Another Perspective was a discussion-based panel, focusing on the recent 2017 legal implementation of the Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. Specifically, the panel focused on discussing the state of affairs within the VA for whistleblowers following the new act. Aside from Khawam and her fellow Whistleblower Law Firm members, panelists included three VA whistleblowers and an investigative reporter to take part in the discussion.

Conversations like these are an essential part of protecting veterans’ rights. As the VA is responsible for administering and caring for veterans’ benefits, issues inside the core of the system could hurt the veterans who depend on it. Having an active whistleblower culture that discourages and stands up against these issues allows for veterans to receive the support they deserve. As someone who wants to protect these rights, Khawam encourages those who have recognized corruption and errors within or impacting the VA system to speak up.

Jon Lloyd Stryker Biography

Published on April 9, 2017

Jon Lloyd Stryker was born in 1958 and is the heir to the Stryker Corporation. The Stryker Corporation, based in Kalamazoo Michigan, is a medical technologies company. The following products are sold by the company, joint replacement implants, surgical equipment, surgical navigation systems, emergency medical equipment, neurosurgical, neurovascular, and spinal devices and a variety of other essential medical products used across the field of medicine.

Stryker is a philanthropist and architect. He was born in Kalamazoo and attended Kalamazoo College and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology. He also received a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He serves as a board member of multiple organizations like Kalamazoo College’s Board of Trustees, and the board of trustees of The Museum of Modern Art and he served on the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles from 2018 to 2021. Stryker is a registered architect in Michigan and is the President of Depot Landmark LLC. Depot Landmark specializes in the rehabilitation of historic buildings.

Stryker is also the founder and president of the Arcus Foundation. The Arcus Foundation has offices in both New York City and Cambridge UK. The mission statement of the foundation is as follows, “Arcus believes that respect for diversity among peoples and in nature is essential to a positive future for our planet and all its inhabitants. We partner with experts and advocates for change to ensure that LGBTQ people and our fellow apes thrive in a world where social and environmental justice are a reality.”

Although the two main causes, Great Ape conservation and LGBTQ causes, seem to be unrelated to one another, Stryker believes that the two causes are interlinked. He thinks that both are bound together by justice and compassion.

The Arcus Foundation has two main goals. The goal of the Great Apes & Gibbons Program is to ensure that viable populations of great apes and gibbons are protected from extinction and living in habitats that are managed sustainably. The goal of their Social Justice Program is to increase the safety, inclusion, acceptance and affirming protections for LGBTQ people.

He has donated to multiple other causes as well. He has donated to the Equal Justice Initiative, the New York Community Trust, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, Spelman College, the ACLU and many other organizations that are fighting for equality and justice.

Stryker was named one of the nation’s Top 50 donors by the Chronicle of Philanthropy multiple years in a row and he was named to Forbes’ list of America’s Top 50 Givers in 2018. He received the Jeanne and Joseph Sullivan Award from Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center in 2012. Also due to his contributions to Kalamazoo College, he received their Distinguished Service Award in 2010. In 2018, he also donated millions of dollars to establish a 10-year scholarship program for students of color, first-generation students and those from lower-income families.

Stryker is married to his partner, Slobodan Randjelovi? and they currently live in New York City. Over the course of his lifetime, Stryker has given away $675 million.

Kratom Powder: Unlocking An Ethnobotanical Powerhouse

Published on April 5, 2017

Photo of Kratom leaves to be turned into powder

We can learn a lot from what has come before us, with herbal health aids passed down through the centuries unaided by the direct-to-consumer marketing campaigns of today. Word of mouth was how one generation spread the news to the next about which plants were helpful, and which should be avoided.

With the advent of the Internet age, word of mouth is still an important tool for spreading the news about beneficial plants, and it is largely responsible for the growing use of the leaves of a tree that grows in Southeast Asia.

The leaves of the Kratom tree, Mitragyna speciosa, have been chewed by indigenous people for hundreds of years to provide energy and a sense of well-being. That method of ingestion is still used today, but a more popular route is the consumption of kratom powder. There are many companies like Club13.com. You can also find more on many review websites about Kratom.

The dried leaves of the Kratom tree are ground down into a fine powder, which can then be mixed into a favorite fruit juice (grapefruit juice is a good choice for maximum absorption) or put into capsules for even easier consumption.

On Internet bulletin boards and online forums, users of Kratom share their experience, and the benefits they report are amazing and powerful.

They include:

An energy boost
Pain relief
Soothes the nerves
A sense of well-being
Increased concentration
A feeling of euphoria and optimism
Lowers blood pressure
Eases symptoms of depression
Boosts cognitive performance
Kratom powder has also been used to help those addicted to opiates like prescription and pain medications get off those drugs. Kratom is not an opiate but does attach itself to the same receptors that opiates use to affect behavior.

There are three main forms of the Kratom tree in use:

Raw Kratom leaf – Kratom leaf has been used for hundreds of years in Southeast Asia to provide energy and a sense of well-being. The leaf is usually chewed without swallowing it, which releases the active alkaloids in the leaf.

Kratom powder – Dried raw Kratom leaves are ground into a fine powder. Users can make the powder from leaves or buy them from reputable online vendors in bulk or capsule form.

Kratom extract – Extracts are made by boiling leaves in liquid down to a resin, which is then ground up into powder.

Kratom powder is considered safe when used at responsible serving sizes. At high does, nausea can occur.

A member of the coffee family, Kratom is not considered any more addictive than a cup of morning Joe.

Serving sizes of Kratom powder depend on the preferences of the user and the effect they are looking to produce.

A small serving size of about four grams is enough allegedly to produce a stimulant effect, while larger serving sizes of nine grams can produce a calming effect similar to a sedative some individuals have reported.

Kratom powder and other Kratom products are legal in the United States, with the exception of a handful of states. It is legal in Seattle, Washington.

SpaceX Plans to Send Two People on a trip around the Moon

Published on March 28, 2017

SpaceX has plans to send two private citizens around the Moon. The pair approached Elon Musk and SpaceX to prepare for this trailblazing adventure. This mission presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years. They will travel faster and further into the Solar System than any before them.

The trip around the Moon would take roughly one week. The mission would skim the surface of the Moon, go further out into deep space, and loop back to Earth, reaching approximately 300,000 to 400,000 miles. The launch is set tentatively in 2018 with the SpaceX yet untested Falcon Heavy rocket. It will be a private mission with two paying customers. The passengers are “very serious” about the trip and have already paid a “significant deposit,” according to Musk.

The two individuals going on the trip, who weren’t named, already know each other. They will begin initial training for the trip later this year. They wanted their identities to remain private for the time being. It was also stated that neither of these space explorers are from the Hollywood realm. Musk declined to comment on the exact cost of the trip, but said it was “comparable” or a little more than the cost of a crewed mission to the International Space Station- let’s just say it’s no small price tag for a trip around the moon. These trips are costly to the individual traveling to space, but could greatly benefit SpaceX. Musk commented that regular private trips like this could significantly impact SpaceX revenue for future explorations and innovation. “There’s a market for at least one or two of these per year,” Musk said, adding that lunar flyby missions might eventually constitute 10% to 20% of SpaceX’s revenue each year.

The passengers going on this expedition know that the risks are high. Musk said the flight would be on a self-directed spacecraft that needs no astronauts on board. It would be necessary for the two paying travelers to undergo “extensive training before going on the mission.” Musk commented that Dragon is designed to be an autonomous vehicle. The space explorers would be launched from the historic Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center late next year on SpaceX’s Dragon 2 vehicle on a Falcon Heavy rocket. That’s the same launch pad used by NASA for Apollo missions to the moon, as well as many space shuttle missions, including the last one. SpaceX flew its Falcon 9 from the KSC pad for the first time earlier in February.

NASA and SpaceX have a good working relationship. In a statement, NASA said it commends its industry partners for reaching higher. “We will work closely with SpaceX to ensure it safely meets the contractual obligations to return the launch of astronauts to US soil and continue to successfully deliver supplies to the International Space Station,” the agency said. SpaceX said that Nasa has encouraged privately crewed missions, saying that through them “long-term costs to the government decline and more flight reliability history is gained, benefiting both government and private missions.” NASA has financed much of SpaceX’s spacecraft development, and Musk said the agency has priority. If NASA wants to put its astronauts on the Falcon Heavy’s first moon flight, he said, SpaceX will comply. But the Falcon Heavy has not been through NASA’s rigorous reviews to be judged safe for astronauts.

SpaceX is not the only company trying to race to space. Rival spaceflight company Blue Origins, headed by Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, has also announced plans to eventually take people and cargo to low Earth orbit with its own reusable rockets. In 2001, billionaire Dennis Tito became the world’s first space tourist for an estimated $20 million, booking a trip on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, and about half a dozen others followed him into orbit. Space explorations seems to be heating back up after decades of little to no new exploration.

Many details about the Moon mission have yet to be made public. Mainly the names of the passengers, the reason they are so interested in going, what spacesuits and equipment will be necessary, whether the Federal Aviation Administration will give SpaceX the go-ahead, how the passengers will prepare, what emergency support and plans are in place, etc. The lack of information from this announcement has made some experts uneasy.

Chris Newman, an expert on space policy and law at the University of Sunderland in the UK, said that the aggressive timeline and budget are “extremely ambitious, and it remains to be seen if the practical difficulties associated with human spaceflight can match this ambition.” Some have expressed doubt about Musk’s aggressive timelines often falling short.

On the other hand, some experts have reacted more optimistically. Phil Larson, a former Obama administration space policy adviser and former SpaceX employee, said, “It will act as a stepping stone for the eventual human exploration of Mars, which is everyone’s ultimate goal.” Larson recognizes Musk’s timing is opportune “as a new administration grapples with their plans for NASA.” It seems that many of Musk’s goals are dependent on the upcoming decisions and favor of the new administration. “This goes to show that America’s commercial space industry is ready to go beyond Low Earth Orbit not in 10 years, but now,” he said. Dale Ketcham, chief of strategic alliances for Space Florida, said Musk’s announcement was somewhat of a surprise in the space community. “I do think most of us didn’t see it coming, but maybe we should have,” Ketcham said, referring to Musk’s reputation for innovation and challenging the status quo. Ketcham called Musk’s announcement “very exciting,” and said it will help drive competition among NASA and commercial space companies that could lead to an accelerated timeline for space exploration.

Whether you think it is a good or bad idea to send two people on a trip around the moon, it is hard to deny that the prospect is quite exciting.

You can follow Elon Musk on Instagram or his much more popular Twitter.

Elon Musk and the Mission to the Moon

Published on March 14, 2017

Elon Musk is one of the most ambitious entrepreneurs on the planet. Most CEO’s or business owners struggle to juggle one company, and Elon Musk has his hand in multiple companies and ambitious projects. SpaceX started as one of those ambitious ideas. When Musk announced that he was going to colonize Mars someday, most people were very skeptical. Musk at the time was known for helped to create PayPal and his involvement in Tesla. So when he started his company, SpaceX, industry experts were quick to point out that Musk doesn’t know the first things about space travel. SpaceX was created to build cheaper, reusable rockets designed for interplanetary space travel in order to help realize his dream to colonize Mars.

SpaceX has grown into a company that is changing the way that the world approaches space travel. SpaceX has already successfully engineered and launched their own spaceship and now they announced that they are going to send two astronauts to the moon. If successful, this space mission will be the first time that the people have gone as far as the moon since the famed Apollo missions.

SpaceX announced that two unnamed individuals have paid in advance to take this historical trip to the moon in the second half of 2018. In a company statement, “Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration,” This feat has not been attempted in 45 years so this trip to the moon hopefully will mean the revitalization of the space program.

Although their names have not been released, Musk has stated that both individuals have paid a significant deposit in advance for the trip and that they are very serious about the trip. The only thing that Musk will say is that, “It’s nobody from Hollywood.” The mystery has led to a lot of speculation. The two individuals will be taking the Dragon spacecraft. There have been many names that have been thrown around but no definite identification has been made yet. SpaceX and Elon Musk have been keeping the names tightly under wraps. He says that he does not have permission to release those names.

The proposed plan is to travel to the moon in the SpaceX designed and produced Dragon 2 capsule and to also bring supplies to the International Space Station. The Falcon Heavy rocket will be used for the mission. The mission should take about a week and there will be no landing on the moon. Lift-off is slated to take place at the Kennedy Space Center’s historic Pad 39A near Cape Canaveral. This is the same pad that was used for the Apollo program for its lunar missions. According to Musk, the would-be astronauts will travel to Moon and back around the Earth covering about 300,000 to 400,000 miles.

Even though SpaceX has made several successful trips to the International Space Station, the space community has raised some obvious concerns about sending two individuals into space who are potentially untrained. Even though the passengers will have to have some type of training , it is doubtful that in the short time frame that Musk announced, that the potential astronauts will receive the full training that traditional astronauts receive. The mission is scheduled to take place in early 2018 and that is only a year and a half away. To put it into perspective, the NASA Astronaut Candidate program has some very rigid and intense physical and educational requirements. Educational requirements include a bachelor’s degree in “engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or mathematics, and that degree must by followed by 3 years of related, progressively responsible, professional experience or at least 1,000 pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Also, the astronauts should have 20/20 vision in each eye.

Even though the names of the future space travelers have not been released, it is highly unlikely that either person has the same qualifications that NASA requires for their candidates. NASA also requires a two-year training program once the candidates are selected and Musk’s time frame does not allow for a two-year program. Former Chief Scientist for the NASA Human Research Program, Mark Shelhamer, expressed his doubts about the announcement. He told the popular online publication Gizmodo that, “I applaud Musk’s efforts and his enthusiasm and what he’s accomplished,” Shelhamer told Gizmodo. “But sending two amateurs to the moon in a new spacecraft on a new rocket, in less than two years? It won’t happen.”

Musk did address some of the concerns that experts have voiced about this future moon mission. In interviews he gave post announcement, he does not seem worried about the concerns brought up by industry experts. He acknowledges that the mission is risky but is very confident about the mission and SpaceX’s rockets. He also stated that the two potential space travelers understand the risk that they will be taking if they go through with this moon mission. During a phone conference with reporters he said, “They’re certainly not naive, and we’ll do everything we can to minimize that risk, but it’s not zero. But they’re coming into this with their eyes open,” said Musk, adding that the pair will receive “extensive” training before the flight.

Musk also would not say what he meant by “extensive” training nor would he say how it would compare to that training that NASA puts their astronauts through. However, Musk told did tell Gizmodo that, “If health checks are good (no heart conditions particularly) and they have good bone density, as there will be some bone density loss in zero g, which is regained on the ground, most of the risk is probably reentry or having to deal with a system malfunction in deep space when passing through the deep shadow of the moon, where we may lose comms briefly,”

Musk, as always, is confident in SpaceX’s latest monumental announcement. He is hoping that this mission will renew America’s interest and excitement in interplanetary space travel. NASA has publicly commended SpaceX on the latest announcement and Musk has said that NASA is more than welcome to join a SpaceX mission if they so choose. This mission is the next big step for SpaceX and one step closer to making Musk’s dream of making interplanetary space travel a reality for everyone.

Seattle To Beijing – And Then We Found An Apartment

Published on March 7, 2017

Seattle To Beijing… and we found an apartment.

A friend said this to me via email, “You know, you’re not selling Beijing to me. You really aren’t. To be fair I never had much of a desire to go there before, but now? Not at all.” I live in Seattle now and going to Beijing China was not on my most popular places to visit list.

That’s not an overexposed shot, that’s the view from my desk. The sky was clear and the view was amazing! According to BeijingAir right now it’s “unhealthy” levels. Last night it was perfectly clear and rated “good”. It comes, it goes, and after a month of living here, it’s as much a part of our life as the weather. Is it sunny out? How’s the air?

I thought about leaving, came close to doing it, until I researched other cities in China (like Harbin in the north) and Beijing isn’t even the worst. It’s not even in the top 10 for worst air quality. I could go south, but then I’d be in areas where Cantonese is spoken on the street, not Mandarin. It’s only six months. It might cause me to have a cold longer or aggravate my allergies, but from everything I’ve read, spending six months here won’t do any permanent damage, even for small children.

So we decided to stay.

Why? I think I’m slowly becoming charmed by Beijing. I like the idea of going somewhere unpopular but culturally important. I feel like I’m on an adventure. If nothing else, I’ll learn a lot. Plus, we finally found an apartment.

I had no idea how unprepared I was to live with an almost 2-year old in a hotel room for a month. He needs space! Or at least warm weather. If he doesn’t have either, he’s kind of a mess… bursting into tears when we put on his clothes, clinging to me, refusing to walk anywhere, just wanting to be at home, with mom, in bed. So I did that. It’s not his fault that I wanted to go to China, so I made myself as flexible and malleable to his desires as possible. We snuggled. I stayed in. I sent Drew out for food and read books while Cole used my body as a jungle gym. Slowly he’s been adjusting, but the biggest breakthrough came when we stepped into our new 2-bedroom apartment. He can be naked. He can run! He can climb things! He can have his cut-up bananas on the sofa and watch cartoons. He can shove his toy cars under the couch and then throw my books off my desk. There’s drawers for hiding mom’s shoes and full bathtub for mini-swims. We’re back in business. We found a lot of new toys he loves since we left most of it in Seattle Washington.

Granted, our apartment hunt took a long time, even if you let me play the “But I’ve got a toddler!” card (you are letting me play that, right?). I had a lot of people giving me advice, but the first thing you should know: I’m cheap.

I really don’t like the idea of paying an agent a month’s rent (or $1000) to find me an apartment I’ll be in for six months. Plus, landlords in China want a few months rent in advance for a year rental. For short term rentals, they often want the entire rent (all six months in our case), plus a month’s rent deposit.

Apartments are kind of expensive here. For us that means at least $1000 but realistically more like $1500. So that’s $9000 for rent, $1500 for the agent, and $1500 for the deposit. Oh and they want that in cash — in this case, all $12000 of it. Which means doing a wire transfer to a bank in China and withdrawing it here (not even sure how that would work) or trying to take out that money via ATM which at $300 withdrawal per day, it would take me 40 days just to get the money on hand (assuming I spent nothing else). I’m sure I could have worked it out if I had to but I wanted to avoid that. Second thing you should know: I’m stubborn.

Finally, Beijing is big. It’s about an hour cab ride from one end of the city to the other, and that’s not even all the way out to the suburbs like Shunyi. I really hate the idea of being stuck somewhere lame, so I wanted to find the perfect place that’s close to everywhere, cheap and has flexible short term living arrangements.

To modify a popular expression in graphic design (cheap, good or fast): There are three things you can have in Beijing:

1. Cheap
2. Good location
3. Clean, nice apartment

Now, pick two.

Third thing about me: I can be obsessive.

So we started in Wangfujing (near the Forbidden City) and moved hotels every couple of days, checking out different areas, coming close to staying in Haidian (near the universities), then perhaps Xidan St. (nice apartment, but located in the middle of a mall), then near Sanlitun (too expensive) and finally Wangjing (Koreatown, a hike from downtown but cheap).

I was determined to find a place that met all three. I’m cheap, stubborn and obsessive. I failed, but I did get a month-long tour of Beijing, and I’m sort of pleased to say I know my way around the different districts pretty well now. (I can also find the silver lining in just about anything).

In the end we went for the big, clean, nicely appointed apartment in Wangjing, in an area that fits us well (mostly locals living here, an art scene at 798 Art Zone and a great market next door) but we’re about a $10 cab ride from any of the tourist-related activities, a concession since I’d still like to visit the old Hutongs more and take some cooking classes, but one I felt the best about making.

It’s a serviced apartment, so we’re renting month to month. It’s still pricey ($1500/mo) but if you factor in agent fees and deposits, then it’s not bad compared to straight rentals for short term leases. (Sorry I won’t share the name of the place until after we leave, but you can find similar places online).

Resources:

Timeout Beijing has an excellent housing guide which is pretty damn accurate about the pros/cons of different areas. Their color-coded map of Beijing is practically a guide to everywhere we looked. The Beijinger is a good resource, but chock-a-block full of scammy listings where the photo isn’t real or the agent does a swap (“Oh that place *just* got rented, but here’s a twice as expensive option”). Craigslist, Homeaway and Roomarama weren’t helpful. For agented rentals there are these sites: Beijing Relocation, Fangeasy, Homelink. Ctrip and Agoda are good for finding hotels, although check both, sometimes the price is cheaper on one or the other. They also list serviced apartments or hotel rooms with kitchens or multiple bedrooms. Student and Beijing resident Nate Nault recently wrote about his experience “Finding My First Apartment Abroad” and Timeout Beijing also has a round up this month called Apartment Horror Stories.

And that, my friends is how I found my Beijing apartment from Seattle. I’m going to take a nap now.

10 Tips for Traveling by Dug-out Canoe in the Amazon Basin

Published on March 4, 2017

If you’re planning an adventurous trip into the Amazon basin of South America, then you might like some tips for traveling by dug-out canoe.

By that I don’t mean those larger motorized boats that are use to ferry tourists to their luxury eco-lodge, but a canoe that’s carved from a single tree, normally with an outboard, that the locals use to get around on the river. This is the sort of thing you might do if you arrange to stay in a local village a little off the tourist trail, such as Sarayaku, where I spent a few days in Ecuador. You may spend a few hours on this kind of canoe, going to your village base, or being taken to other villages or parts of the river to explore. Here are my tips for getting the most out of this kind of journey:

Travel light
Even if you’re doing the grand tour of South America, you’ll need to leave some of your luggage behind at the offices or homes of the people who arrange your trip. The dug-out canoes can take an amazing amount of stuff when they’re packed, but even so, you’ll need to take as little as you need for that part of the trip. If you fly out of your village by light aircraft, you’ll have a strict limit on the weight of your luggage too – so leave that heavy rucksack behind.
Bring snacks to share
Before you head off, stock up in the local town or village on small snacks, such as dried fruit, biscuits and boiled sweets. If you’re in the canoe for a few hours, you may not get a chance to eat properly and it’s always much appreciated when you share what you have with your boatmen – I never knew them to refuse! When you’re feeling damp after a heavy shower, you might need a little sweetening.
Don’t drink too much water
It may sound obvious, but you’ll probably only get the occasional stop on a sand-bank every hour or so. The river bank is not always ideal for a quick stop, with mangroves and thick vegetation, and even then you’ll have to venture into the snake’s home territory for a bit of privacy. Obviously you don’t want to get dehydrated, but probably not the time to have that second cup of coffee before you leave.
Give away what you don’t need at the end
When I travel to these kind of places, I always try to take stuff with me that I’m happy to give away at the end of the trip. Any T-shirts, flip flops, and food that you don’t need to keep at the end of the trip will be appreciated by your boatmen or other locals, who will gift it around their extended family. Depending on what financial arrangement you made at the beginning, you may also want to give a tip to those who especially helped you.
Buy Wellies
Don’t leave for the rain forest without buying wellies at the nearest town. It’s what the well-dressed local will be wearing, and will be essential for jumping in and out of boats onto a muddy shore and for tramping around paths in the rain forest. I never used my walking boots in the rain forest. When you leave the area, just leave them behind for a local to use.
Buy a poncho
I hear you saying, ‘but I have this fantastic, expensive high tech rain jacket’. Ok, but still invest in a cheap poncho for boat trips like this. When the heavens open on you sitting in the canoe, you’ll find your legs and day sack are much better protected than with that expensive rain jacket.
Keep your day sack with you
Be aware that your backpack or luggage will be packed carefully in the bottom of the canoe, wrapped in plastic sheeting and you probably won’t be able to access it until your journey’s end. So make sure you have a day sack to keep with you with all the essentials of food, water, hat, poncho, camera etc that you’ll need on the journey.
Pack in lots of plastic bags
Obviously the rain forest is called that because …it rains….a lot. The air is humid and so you’ll need to protect everything, especially camera gear from steaming up or getting splashed in the canoe. A good supply of plastic bags and bin liners will do the trick. If you want to splash out (pardon the pun), you could invest in those roll-over top waterproof bags that come in all sizes – it’s probably worthwhile if you have lots of expensive camera gear.
Ask for life jackets
If you’re arranging your trip with an established company, then this will be taken care of, but if it’s a one-off that you’ve arrange locally you can’t assume that life jackets will be provided. Better to ask in advance, as even if they’re not to hand, the locals can usually find or borrow them from somewhere. When the river’s fast flowing after heavy rain, you’ll be glad to have that peace of mind. Rather than the balsa logs we were once given when they had no life jackets.
Get to know the locals
Above all, take some time to get to know the locals, your boatmen and their families. They are the guardians of the river and the rain forest and their knowledge and culture will enhance your travels – my memories of trying fried winged ants at breakfast and hearing the stories of the river turtles in the stars will stay with me for ever.

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