$1 billion "ghost city" to be built in New Mexico...

[MinionZombie]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/scientific-ghost-city-test-future-technology-005707004.html


A "world first" $1bn scientific ghost city will be built in New Mexico to test the latest next-generation technology.

Researchers will use the facility in Lea County, near Hobbs, to look at everything from intelligent traffic systems and next-generation wireless networks to automated washing machines and self-flushing toilets.

The town will be modelled on the real city of Rock Hill, South Carolina, complete with roads, houses and commercial buildings, old and new.

No one will live there, although they could as houses will include all the necessities, like appliances and plumbing.

The point of the town is to enable researchers to test new technologies on existing infrastructure without interfering in everyday life.

For instance, while some researchers will be testing smart technologies on old grids, others might be using the streets to test self-driving cars.

Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb said: "It brings so many great opportunities and puts us on a world stage."

The city will be built by Pegasus Holdings and its New Mexico subsidiary, CITE Development.

The Centre for Innovation, Technology and Testing (CITE) is being billed as a first-of-its kind smart city that will be developed on about 15 square miles west of Hobbs.

Bob Brumley, senior managing director of Pegasus Holdings, said work on the city will begin by June 30 .

The initial development cost is estimated at $400m, although Mr Brumley estimates the overall investment in the project to top $1bn.

The project is expected to create 350 permanent jobs and about 3,500 indirect jobs in its design, development, construction and ongoing operational phases.

Sounds pretty neat - but I couldn't help but think of it in a zombie apocalypse sense - block off the access streets and you've got a nice place. :D

[Danny]

heard about this being proposed a while back and my thoughts then are my thoughts now:

'so this is who they are getting rid of portlands giant hobo colonies, they are taking the south park approach"

[LouCipherr]

Where's the money coming from to build this?

Wherever, it's a colossal waste of money.

[mista_mo]

This looks really interesting. I can't wait to see what sort of advances this brings to the scientific community, even if it just means improved infrastructure and better traffic lights, lol. Really cool idea.

[bassman]

Why not use an existing abandoned area? You could even add on and repair for far less. Fort Ord and Centralia spring to mind....

[Danny]

Why not use an existing abandoned area? You could even add on and repair for far less. Fort Ord and Centralia spring to mind....

because its not just to test new technologies but ways to install them so you dont have 6 months of traffic jams because of new hi tech lights being installed or something. its a combination experiment and blueprint for easier real world implementation or future technologies.
also, centralia? burning coal hell thats collapsing down on itself? really?

[AcesandEights]

Where's the money coming from to build this?

Wherever, it's a colossal waste of money.


Washington, D.C.-based Pegasus Global Holdings estimates that the cost of construction of The Center will be about 200 million U.S. dollars. It will be one of only a few private companies to have built such a testing site. Pegasus Global Holdings also expects to create 350 jobs with this project, and indirectly create 3,500 more as a result of associated needs. The company currently has a Memorandum of Understanding with the State of New Mexico to study the project’s requirements, and plans to conduct a five-month feasibility study. The State of New Mexico, which has already been working with Pegasus Global Holdings for over a year, is assisting with this study through non-financial means.

So an unholy alliance between private capital and state funds/tax credits, I'd guess.

[bassman]

also, centralia? burning coal hell thats collapsing down on itself? really?

It's not as bad as all that. There are still a few residents that live within the town and many people still visit the location, although most of the buildings have since been demolished or destroyed by nature. Anyway, Centralia just popped into my head as one example of hundreds of abandoned areas that could be used to build upon and conduct tests rather than starting from scratch at a billion bucks...

[LouCipherr]

The project is expected to create 350 permanent jobs

In a 'ghost town' that's uninhabited? *scratches head*


So an unholy alliance between private capital and state funds/tax credits, I'd guess.

Yes, but who exactly is behind this 'Pegasus Global Holdings' is what I want to know...

*wanders off to do some digging*

[EvilNed]

Well, to be fair, even if it's "uninhabited", it'll still need maintenance. Pipes will freeze and break (Ok, maybe not in New Mexico), there has to be some kind of security to prevent squatters to move in, etc. etc.

Not sure about this. Just sounds weird. But maybe I'm just backwards and not open to new experimental techniques.

[AcesandEights]

Well, to be fair, even if it's "uninhabited", it'll still need maintenance. Pipes will freeze and break (Ok, maybe not in New Mexico), there has to be some kind of security to prevent squatters to move in, etc. etc.

Not sure about this. Just sounds weird. But maybe I'm just backwards and not open to new experimental techniques.

The first two things I thought of were Eureka (that Syfy show I've never watched) and to a much lesser extent soviet era "closed" cities (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_city).

[Sammich]

In a 'ghost town' that's uninhabited? *scratches head*



Yes, but who exactly is behind this 'Pegasus Global Holdings' is what I want to know...

*wanders off to do some digging*

I only did a little digging and here is what I found:

In september 2011 the company announced that the ghost city was going to cost $200 million and to be paid by private investors. Another interesting bit is about the city being located near 2 DOE labs.

Why Is a Tech Company Building a Ghost Town in New Mexico? (http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/next-generation/why-is-a-tech-company-building-a-ghost-town-in-new-mexico)

Pegasus chose New Mexico for the project because it's the location of two Department of Energy labs—and also because it has a lot of undeveloped land. The company expects the Center to span up to 20 square miles, about the size of New Haven, Conn. Brumley says private investors are footing the $200 million bill, and once the personless metropolis is up and running, Pegasus plans to fund operations with access fees and by selling excess power the facility's energy experiments generate to nearby communities.

Now less than 8 months later the cost is quintupled to $1 billion and no mention of it being privately funded. You don't base a corporation in D.C. unless you are going to be engaging in lots of lobbying for government funding, government contracts or favorable legislation. Being conveniently located near the 2 DOE labs, gee, I wonder if the taxpayers might possibly be kicking in the other $800 million or may be even the whole $1 billion?

One of their lobbyists named Peter Hughes. He is described as a "Specialist Consultant" who works for Pegasus and has extensive ties to Bechtel, one of the corporations linked with Alcoa that was involved in that country's economic crash according the Inside Job documentary. The Pegasus site states: "He provided counsel and lobbying support on pending federal legislation and regulations, particularly energy, environmental, labor and international business matters."

Bending All the Rules, Just for Alcoa (http://www.savingiceland.org/2010/10/bending-all-the-rules-just-for-alcoa/)

The Impact of Heavy Industry Whitewashed – The Report of the Special Investigation Commission (http://www.savingiceland.org/2010/06/the-impact-of-the-heavy-industry-whitewashed-the-report-of-the-special-investigation-commission/)

[LouCipherr]

Now less than 8 months later the cost is quintupled to $1 billion and no mention of it being privately funded. You don't base a corporation in D.C. unless you are going to be engaging in lots of lobbying for government funding, government contracts or favorable legislation. Being conveniently located near the 2 DOE labs, gee, I wonder if the taxpayers might possibly be kicking in the other $800 million or may be even the whole $1 billion?

One of their lobbyists named Peter Hughes. He is described as a "Specialist Consultant" who works for Pegasus and has extensive ties to Bechtel, one of the corporations linked with Alcoa that was involved in that country's economic crash according the Inside Job documentary. The Pegasus site states: "He provided counsel and lobbying support on pending federal legislation and regulations, particularly energy, environmental, labor and international business matters."

Thanks, Sammich. This is exactly what I suspected was going to go down.

Our country is almost in 15 TRILLION dollars in debt, and these people think this is a responsible way to spend money? :rolleyes:

[Rumsfeld]

We aren't the first country to be in debt. I'm not trying to say that having debt is good, just that it's not the end of the world. Spain in the 1600's declared bankruptcy three separate times and they survived.

[Sammich]

We aren't the first country to be in debt. I'm not trying to say that having debt is good, just that it's not the end of the world. Spain in the 1600's declared bankruptcy three separate times and they survived.

When, not if, the the U.S. defaults and if the majority of countries are still using the fiat dollar as a reserve currency, add in all of the credit default swaps and assorted derivatives (which didn't exist in the 1600s) that get triggered then, yes, it would be the end of the world as we know it.

Many countries see the writing on the wall are getting out of the dollar and instead are buying up all of the precious metals they can get their hands on. There is even a group of nations- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) who have agreed upon the creation of their own trade currency.

What happens if the US defaults? (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8659658/What-happens-if-the-US-defaults.html)

So, the US has exhausted its options and run out of time. What happens then?

The US fails to meet an interest payment on its debts, typically paid on 15th of the month, or can not repay debts that are due for redemption. At that point there is a technical default. If the rating agencies haven’t already, they will slash the US’s prized AAA rating and credit default swaps (CDSs) will be triggered. The world’s safe haven will have just become high risk. Panic would grip the markets.

Panic? What kind of panic?

The kind that would make the financial market seizure in the wake of Lehman Brothers’ collapse look like a mild irritation. Credit markets would freeze across the world as US treasuries are used as collateral in most transactions, and they would no longer be accepted. CDSs would begin to pay out with the same unknowable exposures. Inter-bank lending lines would close. Without even treasuries to store funds, investors would do the market equivalent of stuffing cash under the mattress. “It would be like Lehmans but without any government safety net,” says Mr Ward. Or in the more apocalyptic words of Mr Lewis: “The global financial system collapses. You get political and economic meltdown. It would be the end of the world as we know it.”

End of the world? Come on.

Global credit flows underpin global capitalism. Without them, countries would re-erect protectionist barriers and globalisation would come to a crashing halt. Asset prices would tumble, prices for core goods would rise and the world would become a lot smaller. Almost without exception, for the average person it would mean a massive destruction of wealth and a severe reduction in living standards.


Here is another interesting bit:

Investment Banker: It’s Going To Get Nasty — Buy Land, Barbed Wire And Guns (http://www.cnbc.com/id/37549417)

“If the nightmare scenario plays out as I suspect it may then the debt situation gets worse. There is currently no exit strategy and the reaction to the crisis of policy makers remains a big worry.”

As a result, Fry is telling investors to play it safe and buy physical assets like land.

“I don’t want to scare anyone but I am considering investing in barbed wire and guns, things are not looking good and rates are heading higher,” he said.

Oh ya, and if you think another bailout from the U.S. Federal Reserve will fix everything:

Big Risk: $1.2 Quadrillion Derivatives Market Dwarfs World GDP (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/06/09/risk-quadrillion-derivatives-market-gdp/)

One of the biggest risks to the world's financial health is the $1.2 quadrillion derivatives market. It's complex, it's unregulated, and it ought to be of concern to world leaders that its notional value is 20 times the size of the world economy. But traders rule the roost -- and as much as risk managers and regulators might want to limit that risk, they lack the power or knowledge to do so.

A quadrillion is a big number: 1,000 times a trillion. Yet according to one of the world's leading derivatives experts, Paul Wilmott, who holds a doctorate in applied mathematics from Oxford University (and whose speaking voice sounds eerily like John Lennon's), $1.2 quadrillion is the so-called notional value of the worldwide derivatives market. To put that in perspective, the world's annual gross domestic product is between $50 trillion and $60 trillion.

The effect of printing money to alleviate debt results in devaluation of the currency. If some genius like Bernanke decides to create $1.2 quadrillion to bail out his banking and wall street crook buddies again it will probably devaluate the u.s. currency to where it would take a semi-truck full of dollars to buy a loaf of bread.

[Mike70]

interesting story for sure. i don't know if there are any sinister implications but...

anyhoo, i found it interesting that it was modeled on Rock Hill, SC. isn't our own clanglee from Rock Hill? I think clang's gone all Doctor Evil on us. he says he doesn't get much of a chance to come around anymore because of work. ha! i think it's because he's busy hatching plans to build lasers on the moon and fake cities in NM. if there is a nefarious plot afoot, he's at the center of it, you can bet that. you can also bet that Moon or Bassman put him up to it.:D

[Rancid Carcass]

Imagine one of those 'shoot-zombies-in-an-abandoned-mall' type events spread out across an entire city over a couple of days. You'd need a shed load of zombie actors but it would be pretty wicked, dump some food supplies and 'ammo' at various locations and tell the survivor team they have to last out as long as they can - either until the food runs out or they all get chomped! Or better yet, turn it into a reality TV gameshow and track the team live with hidden cameras 24/7 and have a big cash prize at the end of it... :D

[MinionZombie]

Imagine one of those 'shoot-zombies-in-an-abandoned-mall' type events spread out across an entire city over a couple of days. You'd need a shed load of zombie actors but it would be pretty wicked, dump some food supplies and 'ammo' at various locations and tell the survivor team they have to last out as long as they can - either until the food runs out or they all get chomped! Or better yet, turn it into a reality TV gameshow and track the team live with hidden cameras 24/7 and have a big cash prize at the end of it... :D

The former sounds like the ultimate experience day! That would be awesome! :cool:

[LouCipherr]

interesting story for sure. i don't know if there are any sinister implications but...

There are always sinister implications when the government is involved, you just have to look hard enough.

*puts on tinfoil hat and waits for the aliens*