Alberto Alemán Zubieta, CEO, Panama Canal Authority

Panel discussions explored global commerce,  trade and transportation, as well as the Panamanian government’s plans to meet its future energy demands. The business forum was sponsored and chaired by The Economist.

The conference concluded with the president of Panama,  Ricardo Martinelli, discussed his vision and economic priorities  in a “Keynote Conversation” with Justin Thody, Regional Director for Latin America, Economist Intelligence Unit. Panama is in the midst of a booming economy and infrastructure development.

Foreign corporations were the primary audience,  some with U.S. representation – Global agribusiness giant, Syngenta, has a U.S. NAFTA office, while Hamburg Sud is a port tenant at Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT). Domestic corporations included  Procter and Gamble, Caterpillar, Ernst & Young, and Merrill Lynch.

Alberto Alemán Zubieto, the CEO of the Panama Canal Authority underscored that the canal is positioning itself to become the transportation and logistics hub of the Americas.

There are many opportunities to capture the value of our location, particularly by investing in logistics and infrastructure. Panama offers something very unique to world commerce. It is a port with terminals in two oceans.

(L-R): Mayor John Peyton (Jacksonville, FL), Alberto Alemán Zubieta, Rick Ferrin and JAXPORT Board of Directors Chairman, David Kulik

INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT PANDEMONIUM  ~~~

The ACP has signed 18 Memorandums Of Understanding (MOU) with U.S. Eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico  port authorities as of April 22, 2010. For competitive reasons Flipside Florida is really only interested in Jacksonville – America’s Logistics Center.

PANAMA CITY, Panama, April 20, 2010 –   The Panama Canal Authority and Jacksonville Port Authority launched a strategic partnership with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

In essence, the parties agree to undertake a joint marketing effort to generate new shipping business. These joint marketing efforts may include, but are not limited to:  advertising activities aimed at promoting all-water routes;  joint exhibitor booths at maritime events;  joint press conferences; and editorial. An ACP press release was helpful for this particular article.

This partnership is especially important as both the ACP and JAXPORT undertake landmark expansion projects to spur trade and increase economic opportunities. Further, it is emblematic of the Canal’s goals to constantly look for creative ways to serve the  needs of the international maritime community and provide safe, reliable and efficient service to our customers. — Mr. Alberto Alemán Zubieta.

JAXPORT is already strongly connected to the Panama Canal by 13 ocean carriers and more than 600 annual calls in Jacksonville. We regard the opening of the new locks as the beginning of a profound transformation in global cargo patterns, specifically for cargo flowing from and into the United States. We’ll be ready for the completion of the new locks and the dramatic increase of our Canal cargo volume. —   Rick Ferrin, CEO, Jacksonville Port Authority.

JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Meanwhile, JAXPORT needs to dredge the St. Johns River another 10 or so feet. Its current depth is 40 feet. The Army Corps of Engineers – Jacksonville District will release a cost and benefits analysis next year to see if deepening the St. Johns River up to 50 feet is worth $500 million. At the same time, the St. Johns River Water Management District is studying how Orlando’s use of the   St. Johns for drinking water is affecting salinity levels and/or the river’s basic ecosystem.

SAVANNAH, Georgia —  The Georgia Port Authority is light years ahead of the State of Florida in terms of  coordinating its port authorities.  Florida has 14 ports each operating as separate entities with inadequate State funding  to develop its very lucrative trade potential.

In fact, published in the ground-breaking and quite popular magazine, Dredging Today, is Georgia Port Authority explains Savannah River Dredging Impact . The State of Georgia would like to remind  the Jacksonville Port Authority that:

Let us also not forget that Savannah is the only East Coast harbor that is tide regulated.

Panama Canal May 2010 courtesy of ACP

Flipside Florida assumes  the ACE – Jacksonville District will have “learned from past mistakes” to find a $500 million dredging expenditure to be cost effective in a year’s time.

The Florida Times-Union has an interesting overview of Ports 2010, a conference organized by the American Society of Civil Engineers, where this study was announced.

Update REBUTTAL:

I take issue with the Georgia Port Authority (portion).  Florida has 14 ports operating as separate entities and we have inadequate funding. However, you leave out the reasons Georgia might is able to be “light years” ahead. There are only TWO ports there AND they are state owned and operated. JAXPORT is quite content as an independent agency acting as a landlord not an operator. Our tenants prefer to be allowed to run their facilities as they see fit. It is an attractive part of our situation here and does attract business to JAXPORT!

~Nancy Rubin,  Director of Communications, JAXPORT

Fake Air Force One plane courtesy of NY Daily News

JACKSONVILLE — Flipside Florida commemorates the first anniversary of Air Force One’s disastrous  April 27, 2009  flyover of New York City in an ill-conceived public relations photo op. This AF1 commemoration miraculously coincides with an equally disastrous mistake which resulted in wiping out a new post while this old one published instead.  At this time, Flipside Florida would like to thank  the New York Daily Newsfor running the Photoshop AF1 contest in the the first place which allowed for the original post. Most importantly, Flipside Florida would like to thank Jan Korb, Creative Director at Jacksonville-based BroadBased Communications for doing  all of the work.

[Originally published May 3, 2009]

JACKSONVILLE – AIR FORCE ONE infuriated New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on April 27 with a low-flyover of the city, which petrified the entire New York metropolitan area, reported the Daily News of New York.

This in no way deterred Air Force One. The airplane simply refused to Photoshop itself and headed south on Interstate 95.

The customized Boeing 747 bypassed the White House, continuing  through the Delaware tunnel, stopping rush-hour traffic.

Air Force One was next seen over  ”South of the Border” on the North/South Carolina border terrorizing an  RV camp.

A Jacksonville resident reported the plane disrupted a flock of Sea Gulls over Trail Ridge landfill a short while later.

“I was afraid of another ‘Miracle on the Hudson,’” the resident said.

The Miracle on the Hudson refers to a flock of Canadian Geese, which accidentally flew into US Airways Flight 1549 on Jan. 16, forcing an emergency landing of the passenger plane, in which all passengers  miraculously survived.

The next sighting of the plane came from St. Augustine Beach, where a group of surfers anxiously texted and Tweeted reports to  local media.

Air Force One narrowly avoided an imminent crash over the St. Augustine Lighthouse.

NASA officials reported Air Force One landed safely at Cape Canaveral.

Update:  This post was original published on May 3, 2009.  Sorry for the confusion.

… today’s “smart” cities tend to be smaller, compact and more efficient: places like Amsterdam; Seattle; Singapore; Curitiba, Brazil; and Monterrey, Mexico. This is not an entirely new notion: Between the 14th and 18th centuries, modest-sized cities like Venice, Italy; Antwerp, Belgium; and Amsterdam nurtured modern capitalism and created canals and vibrant urban quarters that remain wonders even today.

Lo and Behold!

Not  only is Curitiba, Brazil a Jacksonville Sister city, it is also a Forbes Smartest city. And in  Joel Kotkin‘s opinion, what makes a city smart is savvy urban planning, attractive economies and strong infrastructure.

… Not all the world’s “smart” cities are trading giants like Hong Kong and Singapore. They also include well-run metropolises, such as the city of Curitiba. The south Brazilian city is regarded as an innovator in everything from bus-based rapid transit, used by some 70% of residents, and its balanced, diverse economic development strategy.

Curitiba may not have the canals of Venice, Antwerp or Brussels, but its urban transit system runs as smoothly as a gliding gondola.

… Curitiba’s bus system is composed of a hierarchical system of services. Minibuses routed through residential neighborhoods feed passengers to conventional buses on circumferential routes around the central city and on inter-district routes. The backbone of the system is composed of the Bus Rapid Transit, operating on the five main arteries leading into the center of the city like spokes on a wheel hub. (Courtesy of Kotkin’s provided link)

Curitiba's Bus Rapid Transit by Inhabitat/Emily

Curitiba’s  transportation system is integral part of its “diverse economic development strategy.”   According to a Curitiba Metropolitan Economic Strategy Report (Be forewarned –  the MESR is a 30-page PDF file and is not particularly light reading):

… The growth of the city was not haphazard; the cultivation of the environment and the careful planning and integration of public transportation played a large part in the decision of workers and corporations to move to the metropolitan area.

… Curitiba’s four industry networks (automotive manufacturing, communications software and information technology (IT), infrastructure, and tourism) have grown since the 1970s due to the ability of the metropolitan area to attract skilled workers and international employers. [Nissan, Renault, Volkswagen, Audi, Volvo, HSBC, Siemens, ExxonMobil, Electrolux and Kraft Foods].

THE ECOLOGICAL CAPITAL OF BRAZIL!

Beyond the current connotation of an energy-efficient   “Green City,”   Curitiba is literally green:  Twenty-eight city parks ~ 5,190 acres of linear parks along rivers and streams act as  buffers between flood-prone rivers and the city.

Curitiba’s trademark park, Botanical Garden  of Curitiba, is styled after French gardens ~ fountains, waterfalls and lakes, a massive art nouveau greenhouse inspired by the Crystal Palace in London. The Botanic Museum is a global research center for botanists of native flora from Atlantic Forests of eastern Brazil. The fourth largest herbarium in the country is located  on the grounds, as well as campus of Federal University of Paraná. (Curitiba is the capitol city of the Paraná, Brazil).

Opera de Arame

Another of Curitiba’s impressive parks is  Parque das Pedreiras (Quarry Park) and home the 2,600-seat Ópera de Arame (The Wire Opera) – The structure is built on three-levels around an old quarry, complete with waterfall and carp pond.

And this completes this post’s savvy tour of Curitiba, Brazil.

p.s.  Go there and back again to Brazil-Jacksonville Alliance, June 2009 - Based on the minutes of one BJA meeting  updating status on educational and business ties with Curitiba).

Since Jacksonville’s most eastern border is  the Atlantic Ocean, marine biology is a subject of interest to some. In fact, Jacksonville University is building it’s own Marine Science Research Institute. The completion date is scheduled for August 2010, which isn’t that far into the future in the grand scheme of things (about the time of Talk Like A Pirate Day 2010). The MSRI will be JU’s first “green building”  seeking Silver LEED Certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.

So anyway,  over at Southern Fried Science are those two marine biologists. One calls himself southernfriedscientist, but his name is actually Andrew.

Andrew is a graduate student in North Carolina studying deep sea biology. When not in the lab, he spends his time out on the water, usually swearing at his boat while simultaneously sacrificing some important tool to Poseidon in a desperate attempt to make the motor start. That is, assuming he can get his truck running long enough to actually put the boat in the water.

The other calls himself  WhySharksMatter, but his real name is  David.

David is a graduate student in South Carolina studying shark conservation. He is the author of the upcoming book “Why Sharks Matter: Using New Environmentalism to Show The Economic And Ecological Importance of Sharks, The Threats They Face, and How You Can Help”. His time is divided between educating the public about sharks, spending days at a time at sea playing with sharks, and eating horribly unhealthy foods.

Under what Southern Fried Science calls it’s The Best Marine Invertebrate Blog Posts is posted incredibly useful information, such as Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets: Can’t We All Just Get Along? ; The Other 95%: Man-Sized Sea Scorpion Fossil Found In Germany ;  or Echinoblog: Giant Green Brittle Stars of DEATH!! When they ATTACK–AGAIN! (this one might be useful  for TLAPD 2010).

dolphins are actually jerks?

Still drifting  along on our deep-sea journey, we find that WSM believes “Dolphins are actually jerks”.  This belief might be offensive to JU because its university’s mascot is a dolphin. He did, however, recieve the 2009 3 Quarks Daily science blogging prize, so JU should overlook the transgression. In the post, The ecological disaster that is dolphin-safe tuna, WSM makes the following observation (among many others):

Tuna is one of the world’s most economically important fisheries, directly employing tens of thousands and feeding millions. The main way that tuna is caught is through purse seines in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Basically, after a large group of tuna is located, a miles-across purse seine net is closed around them via a group of small boats associated with a large factory ship.  It’s an effective way to catch large amounts of fish for not a lot of money.

WSM’s post explains [why WSM thinks dolphins are jerks]  some environmentalists  (such as Greenpeace)  mean well, but are not always helpful.  This is indicted by the title of the post, which includes the phrase “ecological disaster”.

Mmmm ... Yellow Fin

Yellow Fin image courtesy of Sustainable Sushi

Many restaurants across the country,  even if they’re not solely dedicated to sushi,  serve  seared, rare Ahi [Yellow Fin] tuna.  I think it makes sense to catch as much tuna as possible. (Maybe Ahi wouldn’t be so pricey).

So WSM may be right – dolphins are actually jerks despite a long maritime tradition of respecting dolphins.

[ AVAST ME HEARTIES !! ]

(Hat Tip to Reuters blogger Felix Salmon, who despite all his blathering about economics, occasionally posts hilarious links, which is where I found  Southern Fried Science and associated blogs.

CORRECTION: Hat tip to commenter Doug for rightly pointing out the pink dolphin’s natural habitat. The dolphin shown is not a jerk.  According to Cryptomundo, which is where this image is courtesy of,  the dolphin is an Amazon River Dolphin (or Boto), Inia geoffrensis.

Although just last week its TITAN Salvage team [was] involved in the dramatic, 12-hour cliff-top rescue of the 25 crewmembers onboard the grounded cargo ship Fedra crew during rough storm conditions at Gibraltar’s Europa Point, so there’s that.

And then just yesterday, Crowley issued a press release about  how  it shipped  196 audio speakers, 12-LED video screens, scaffolding, six sound-mixing consoles, 25 microphones and stands, 30 musical instruments, six electrical generators, four portable power plants, and other elements  to Havana for the Peace Without Borders concert this Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009.

Apparently the Concierto Paz Sin Fronteras is important because more than half-a-million Cubans are expected to gather at Havana’s storied Plaza de la Revolución for the highly-anticipated concert.

Fifteen artists from six different countries will be performing including international music star and noted humanitarian Juanes; Latin Grammy award winning Spanish musician and actor Miguel Bose and Grammy and Latin Grammy award winning Puerto Rican merengue and pop music star Olga Tañon.

Crowley has taken part in several cultural and historical moves to Havana throughout the years, including the transportation and logistics for The Royal Ballet, Great Britain’s largest and most prestigious ballet company.

Also ESPN television production equipment for the historic U.S.-Cuba 2010 World Cup qualifying game.

In less than a month, the company also expects to transport cargo for the New York Philharmonic.

At this point I’ll have to concede Crowley does more than chemical parcel transportation and bulk petroleum transportation throughout the North American coasts, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and to a lesser degree internationally.

Who knew?

Image courtesy of  ”Solo Sabor ~ Your Latin Entertainment Connection“

The Japanese discovered the secret of turning cows into solar space satellites.

The station is slated to use 4 square kilometers of solar panels to generate 1 gigawatt of power, enough to power 294,000 homes, according to this report from Bloomberg.

Unfortunately, there are an estimated 47 million households in Japan, according to the CIA’s World Factbook.

IN RELATED NEWS –

HTV/H-IIB Successfully Launched!!

“The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) Demonstration Flight aboard the H-IIB Launch Vehicle Test Flight (H-IIB TF1) at 2:01:46 a.m. on September 11, 2009 (Japan Standard Time, JST) from the Tanegashima Space Center. The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and, at about 15 minutes and 6 seconds after liftoff, the separation of the HTV Demonstration Flight was confirmed.”

[The launch is relevant to Jacksonville because NASA is in Cocoa Beach - a couple of hours south on I-95. NASA - TV is linked from JAXA's  Web site.]

Not Space Cows

MEANWHILE –

The Los Angeles Times reported Oct. 13, 1985:

The Soviet Texas:  Cattle Drives, Space Station, Heavy Industry – In the Wild, Wild East, Kazakh Cowboys  Still Ride the Range

LOS ANGELES – The Kazakhs, a Turkic-Mongol people who trace their roots back to the 13th Century, were once nomads who roamed the range with horses and livestock.

The horse still is celebrated in Kazakh folklore and dances. In the big farmers’ market at Alma Ata, horse meat is sold for the equivalent of about $2.10 a pound and mare’s milk, known as kumiss , is also available.

Independent Frontier Spirit

The republic “is something like Texas,” said a Soviet official who has lived in the United States. “They are both places where cowboys and cattle played an important historical role and they both retain a lot of the independent frontier spirit.” …

]]> http://www.flipsideflorida.com/cattle-in-space/feed/ 3 http://www.flipsideflorida.com/pirates-are-ruining-everything/ http://www.flipsideflorida.com/pirates-are-ruining-everything/#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:27:20 +0000 k. a. gardner http://www.flipsideflorida.com/?p=1173 AVAST ME HEARTIES!!

AVAST ME HEARTIES!!

THE PIRATES.-DRAWN BY M. BIARD. HARPER'S WEEKLY 1861

SAVE THE DATE!!   SAVE THE DATE!!

September 19, 2009 is The Original INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!

Apparently, seven years ago Dave Barry [you know, the extremely boring columnist from the Miami Herald] mentioned an amatuer pirate crew who talked like pirates one day a year in one of his columns and then wrote an introduction for the book:

Pirattitude!: So you Wanna Be a Pirate?: Here’s How!

Authors John “Chumbucket” Baur and Mark “Cap’n Slappy” Summers CLAIM they have become an “international PHENOMENEM that shows no sign of letting up”

So if you too want to talk like a pirate on a designated international holiday, you have nine days to practice.

How do know  this USELESS bit of trivia?

I BLAME TWITTER:

RT @FromCarl Pirates? You have 13 days to prepare: http://bit.ly/pirate13 (via @black_von Pirates are all the rage: http://bit.ly/TZEEI )

AND STILL MORE TWITTER PIRACY!!

@ecocomics Economics of Pirates http://bit.ly/Czkzq

UPDATE: Link reference –  The Atlantic/DailyDish/TheHiddenEconomicsofPirates

WILL IT NOT END? A link within another link … !

Steamboats are ruining everything. X MARKS THE SPOT

courtesy Caleb Crain www.steamthing.com

RT @thecapnslappy This is the best I can do to remind people that September 19, 2009 is The Original TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!

The “international phenomenon that shows no sign of letting up”  is only nine days away!

Where there is sea there is pirates

The script of a summer blockbuster movie?

No – the Challenge of Tutankhamen is an interactive “dark  ride” at an amusement park in Brussels, Belgium. Jacksonville-based Sally Corp. creates custom-designed and fabricated animatronics. The corporation manages complete show production for  amusement and theme parks; retail and restaurants; exhibition/expos;  and museums and heritage centers all over the world.

Akshardham scene, New Delhi

The Ashkarhdam Cultural Center is a massive monument carved entirely from pink sandstone in New Delhi, India. A global Hindu religious order built the center to showcase India’s ancient culture and traditions.   Sally Corp. created the original ‘living exhibitions’ for the center 17 years ago -  since time, the representations have performed over 210,00o performances to audience of over 25 million.

Sally Corp. is currently creating a new ‘living experience’ for  the cultural center.  “My experiences with Sally have been culturally invigorating since day one,” said Chairman and CEO,  John Wood. He recalled a monkey-king in Seoul and a Minatour in Madrid.

Sally’s executive management team co-ordinates industrial-design technology; character design and sculpting; interactive and digital control systems; script-writing and sound-track production. Project management handles internal production, co-ordination  with subcontractors, architects and engineers – both globally and domestically.

LegoLand Theme Park - Windsor, England - Merlin Entertainment Group

Wood said while the  amusement park industry was born in Europe, it’s now a “great export” business for the U.S.  He’s headed to London on May 16 to meet with his largest customer, Merlin Entertainment Groups - the biggest attractions operator in Europe and the second largest in the world.

Expanded business in Europe, perhaps?

-k.a. gardner