Being an entrepreneur is no easy feat. If you aspire to be a successful businessman one day, you need to be willing to work very hard, develop useful skills and have solid mental fortitude. There will be times when youll have to put yourself in a risky position. However, you should know that success and risks are two sides of the same coin. You should also be open to receiving harsh criticism for your products and services as negative feedback will help you improve what you have to offer.

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Of course, running a business is not for the faint-hearted. You should, therefore, concentrate on making the following five mental shifts early on to help yourself evolve into a successful entrepreneur.

If you feel that your education ended the day you received your degree, you need to change your mental attitude right now. Entrepreneurship is all about building your knowledge and thinking beyond the things you were taught in the classroom. Also, dont restrict yourself to the subjects that are relevant to your business. When you develop a holistic awareness, youre more likely to succeed as an entrepreneur.

The best investment is the one you make in yourself. You should therefore indulge in activities like reading or listening to podcasts for at least 30 minutes every day. You can also go for a run every morning or hit the gym in the evening to help relieve your stress levels and prevent health problems that occur due to a sedentary lifestyle. Reinventing yourself will increase your concentration levels and will help you prevent a mental burnout.

Great entrepreneurs are able to maintain high concentration levels for several hours in a day. If you aspire to be a successful businessman, you need to be able to work productively for long hours. However, that wont be possible till you take the time and effort to consciously develop your mental stamina. Start by recognising things that distract you easily and work towards eliminating those things.

There is no such thing as permanent or real failure. If you want to achieve meteoric success as an entrepreneur, you need to understand that youll have a lot of learning experiences, disguised as temporary failures. Worrying too much about failure will ensure that youre never able to move ahead in life.

Dont be that person who uses people as stepping stones to get ahead in life. Instead, try to help and be of assistance to as many people as you can on your way up. When you build meaningful relationships, youll be able reap the rewards of those relationships for many years to come.

Success isnt served to anyone on a platter and you are no exception. If you want to make a true entrepreneur out of yourself, you need to work hard every day of your life to fulfill your big dreams.

Also read: How to become an entrepreneur who wants to solve actual problems

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5 mental shifts you need to make to become an entrepreneur - YourStory.com

Head coach Leo Cullen at St Marys College for a media event ahead of Leinsters match against Gloucester at Templeville Road on Friday night

The out-half is close to being back available to train now that he is out of a splint.

Fellow British & Irish Lion Robbie Henshaw is on course to make round five or six of the PRO14 League as the centre works his way back from an operation to his pectoral muscle.

Ireland's Rob Kearney could make his return from injury in Leinster's second pre-season match at home to Gloucester at Templeville Road on Friday night.

The experienced full-back was able to have repair work done to his knee and bicep at the end of last season.

There are a host of other internationals closing in on their return to play dates.

Training

His brother Dave has to come through training this afternoon at UCD to convince Cullen he is ready for The Cherry and Whites.

Hooker Sean Cronin will set his sights on Bath in Leinster's final pre-season hit out next weekend.

Garry Ringrose's recuperation from shoulder surgery is a more complicated healing process.

As of yet, there is no definitive timeline on his journey to match fitness.

Number eight Jamie Heaslip "is not a million miles away," according to Cullen, as he also makes the move from the surgeon's table to the field of play. Utility back Joey Carbery will be back sooner rather than later from his ankle injury.

In terms of the overseas signings, Scott Fardy is settling in well in the aftermath of his highly impressive Super Rugby season for the ACT Brumbies.

The hard-nosed experience of Fardy will be another source of information for second rows James Ryan and Ross Molony.

During the summer, Ryan joined Brian O'Driscoll in making his Ireland debut before he played for his club.

"Yeah, James is obviously someone who missed a big chunk of last season with an injury," said Cullen.

"He is someone who was earmarked since he was 16, probably. He has come through the system.

"He works hard. He has a good mental attitude on top of that.

"I am looking forward to seeing him playing," issued Cullen.

"He is raring to go. He is training well, at the moment.

"He has integrated into the programme and will be involved in the next few weeks."

The same goes for physically gifted Andrew Porter as he continues to find his feet in transitioning from loose-head to the tight side.

New Zealander James Lowe will remain at home until Tasman Makos end their interest in the ITM Cup.

Unfortunately, the newly formed PRO14 will be poorer for the drip feed of the Irish internationals back to the Blues.

Leinster will bid to become the first Irish province to win on South Africa soil in rounds three and four of the League.

They will travel to and prepare for the Southern Kings and the Toyota Cheetahs over twelve days next month.

The sad reality is that the South African clubs will not get to sell the new competition as well as they should be able to, as Leinster will not have too many of their marquee names with them on the plane.

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Sexton well on the mend again - Herald.ie

Its time to lace up your cleats and get out your pads and helmet, football season returns once again to Pincher Creek.

The Mustangs senior football team had their first practice on Aug. 16 and their first game on Aug. 26 an away match against Drumheller. Head coach Wayne Alexander is confident about the teams chances heading into the 2017 season.

Im excited about the upcoming season, Alexander said. This year I think we are definitely going to win more games and were going to be an exciting team.

Last years season saw many rough and hard-luck losses for the Mustangs. Over the course of their regular games, the Mustangs went 1-6.

Last year, on paper and skill wise, we had a great team, Alexander said. It just didnt transfer to wins on the field. It was a disappointing season.

Despite hard luck and a disappointing conclusion to their season, the Mustangs played their hearts out every single game. In over half of their games, the Mustangs had more offensive yards and they outran five out of seven teams. Even in their last playoff game in Claresholm, the Mustangs had more yards and more first downs.

Many of the players who played last year have graduated, but Alexander said the boys coming up from bantam to the senior level of play are great additions to the roster.

Its a big jump from bantam to senior, but Im excited for many of them. Ive watched them play for a number of years, Alexander said. I know what their capabilities are and I know their mental attitude.

Last years bantam team improved greatly across their season, as their smaller roster forced the boys to play iron man football: participating in almost every position and pushing each player to their absolute limit.

Bantam coach Travis Liscombe did a nice job with those boys and we saw a lot of improvement, Alexander said. Were getting some of those players and theres no doubt in my mind they will be playing like iron men.

The team will also see some returning athletes playing in their final year. Quarterback Beau Walter played the position last year, but Alexander said this year will definitely be his time to shine.

He was strong last year, but this year hes going to be great, he said. Hes got a strong arm.

Despite practices and the first game coming up fast for the Mustangs, Alexander said they are always looking for more players to come out and join the team.

The first home game will be against the Bow Valley Wolverines at 1 p.m. on Sept. 9, so be sure to come on out and cheer for the Mustangs.

amccutcheon@postmedia.com

@echo_agmc

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Mustangs return to the field | Pincher Creek Echo - Pincher Creek Echo

The mouths of babes

Independent.ie

Parents are often asked about the moral values and life lessons that they would like to teach their children. It's less common for them to be asked about the lessons their children have taught them.

http://www.independent.ie/life/health-wellbeing/the-mouths-of-babes-36022577.html

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Parents are often asked about the moral values and life lessons that they would like to teach their children. It's less common for them to be asked about the lessons their children have taught them.

William Saroyan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, said, "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

Paulo Coelho, writing in The Fifth Mountain, was a little more specific: "A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires."

Here are a few other lessons we can learn from them.

QUESTION EVERYTHING

Children are always asking 'why?'. This never-ending inquisitiveness can exasperate parents, especially if they don't know why the sky is blue or why the moon is round. Yet every so often a child will ask a 'why?' that an adult can't deflect or defer. When a six-year-old wants to know why you're always working, or why you're always looking for your keys or why you smoke, you can no longer hide behind self-deception. Some adults discover great power in the practice of self-inquiry, which Sri Ramana Maharshi termed "the most sacred of sacred". Children practice it without even thinking.

GET OVER IT

A child can be having a mini-meltdown in the frozen food section of a supermarket one minute, and then chasing a butterfly down a pathway the next. In other words, they don't waste energy dwelling on perceived misfortune, constructing victim narratives or holding grudges, just as they don't hang around the climbing frame in the playground bemoaning their 'nightmare morning'. If a child could detail their approach to overcoming adversity, it would probably go like this: Deal with it, move on, get an ice cream.

PRIORITISE PLAYTIME

We all know the proverb 'all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'. The late play theorist Brian Sutton-Smith took it a step further when he pointed out that "the opposite of play isn't work. It's depression." Adults need playtime too, of course. And children can teach us how to prioritise it.

DON'T BE STATUS-ORIENTED

"Grown-ups love figures... When you tell them you've made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, 'What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?' Instead they demand, 'How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?' Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him." So goes a famous quote from The Little Prince. The point Antoine de Saint-Exupry was making is that children aren't status-oriented. They judge people on the work they do or the car they drive - largely because they have more important things to be thinking about...

JUST SAY IT

Every so often a child will leave everyone in the room red-faced when they innocently bring up a touchy subject. They have yet to realise that complicit avoidance and collective denial are the markers of adulthood Timothy Ferris, writing in the 4-Hour Workweek, says a "person's success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have." Children remind us that these conversations don't have to be so uncomfortable.

FIND STILLNESS IN NATURE

Many teachers of the Zen Buddhism school of thinking talk about becoming mindful through nature. Jack Kornfield says, "If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change." Eckhart Tolle says, "Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in being. Allow nature to teach you stillness." These teachings can seem abstract until you watch the way a child responds to nature. They don't just look at a flower - they experience it. Children teach us how to truly connect to the natural world, just as they remind us to stop and smell the flowers every now and again.

ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE JOYFUL

It's easy to spot the people who have retained a sense of their childlike spirit. When they get good news, they clench their fists and deliver an emphatic 'YES!' The rest of us learn to moderate our joy when we become adults. Rather than risk disappointment, we remind ourselves that good things don't last forever. Rather than allow ourselves to be exultant, we tell ourselves that things are too good to be true. Because they live entirely in the moment, children allow themselves to experience the totality of joy. Luckily for us, it's contagious.

BE SPONTANEOUS

I once answered the door to my nephew's six-year-old friend from across the road. He had in his hand an extra-large bar of chocolate and he wanted to know if my nephew could come to his house to eat it with him. I often think about that day and how much easier adult friendships would be if they were that spontaneous and straightforward. The busyness of modern life means most of us have got into the habit of scheduling our friendships. Children remind us that the best moments are often unplanned.

Health & Living

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The mouths of babes - Independent.ie

IN MY travels around Japan or anywhere else across the globe, have I ever seen a Zen rock garden? I honestly can't even recall. If I did, this one erased all my memories of the others, and if not, then Im in luck.

On my third stop for the day on the third day in Kyoto I found myself in the Ryoan-ji, an aristocrats villa during the Heian Period converted to a Zen temple belonging to the Myoshin-ji school of the Rinzai branch of Zen Buddhism in 1450.

I sat before a most calming sitea Zen rock garden, said to be the most famous rock garden in Japan and considered one of the finest surviving examples of kare-sansui or "dry landscape" composed of large rocks formation and small, smooth and polished river pebbles which were carefully selected.

How the garden is designed in a 248 square-meter rectangular plot with 15 stones of varying sizes arranged in five groups: a group with five stones, two with three stones, and two groups of two stones. The groups float on patches of moss, the (only) vegetation providing the green against the sea of white pebbles, which is carefully raked daily by the monks.

As to what the garden means, no one really knows. Some say it represents the theme of tiger carrying its cubs across a pond while others claim its an abstract concept like infinity.

The veranda of the hojo (the residence of the abbot of the monastery) is the best seat in the house, or its the spot meant to view the garden.

Heres the interesting feature of the garden it reveals only 14 stones at one time when viewed at any angle from the hojo. To be able to view the fifteenth stone one has to attain enlightenment, so it is said.

Clearly, I won't be able to view all fifteen stones on this visit not unless I can fly over the formation, or I can take the realistic path and see the scaled replica.

Just as the gardens meaning is uncertain, so is its history. No one can peg the date when the garden was actually created (15th century, perhaps?) and who designed it.

The small garden at the rear part of the hojo bears another interesting feature the tsukubai, a round stone trough with a square water basin in its center. Tsukubai literally translates to crouch and because of the basins low elevation, the user must bend over to use it, a sign of reverence and humility.

The basin may look like an ordinary rock mimicking the shape of a Chinese coin, but if one knows kanji, the square is a part of a Zen inscription. With the four kanji inscription combined with the representation of the square on the basin, the characters will reveal I only sufficiency know, which can mean, I know only satisfaction. The saying is a part of the Buddhist teachings that one already has all one needs.

The temple grounds of the Ryoanji also hold a sizable park with a pond, the Kyoyochi Pond. It was built in the 12th century as part of the aristocrats estate.

Another one off the Kyoto significant places list. The Ryoanji temple and its gardens are listed as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, and as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

For more photos of this feature and other travel stories, visit http://www.jeepneyjinggoy.com. For lifestyle stories, visit http://www.ofapplesandlemons.com Email me at jinggoysalvador@yahoo.com

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In Kyoto: The Ryoan-ji and the Zen rock garden | SunStar - Sun.Star

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, (AICPA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) have announced the appointment of Babatunde Osho to the first Africa Regional Board.

Regional Vice President of the Association, Badibanga Promesse, who made the announcement, said the appointment, which takes effect from August 2017, followed a call for nominations and elections for the first Africa Regional Board under the association.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Babatunde Osho and others from various countries to serve as board members for the next one year of extended term, he said.

Osho, a multi-functional business professional, is currently Director and Chief Executive Officer, MTN Liberia.

According to Promesse, the Regional Boards serve as a key conduit between the customers, stakeholders and the CGMA Board of Directors.

They also serve as the eyes and ears of the profession from their individual and geographical representative perspective in identifying key macro and micro trends in the local marketplaces, among others.

He said the boards understand the demand and potential value proposition of products and offerings along the entire value chain continuum, representing, engaging, presenting and advocating for the CGMA designation among the CIMA and AICPA members.

He noted that the Chairman and Vice Chairman would serve a one-year term with the Vice Chairman becoming the Chairman.

Promesse said members of the Regional Boards could serve a maximum of three one-year term to provide continuity while creating opportunities for a large and diverse stakeholder groups to serve.

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AICPA, CIMA appoint Osho Africa regional board member - Guardian (blog)

Zoltan Istvan is launching his campaign to become Libertarian governor of the American state of California with two signature policies. First, hell eliminate poverty with a universal basic income that will guarantee US$5,000 per month for every Californian household for ever. (Hell do this without raising taxes, he promises.)

The next item in his in-tray is eliminating death. He intends to divert trillions of dollars into life-extending technologies robotic hearts, artificial exoskeletons, genetic editing, bionic limbs and so on in the hope that each Californian man, woman and AI (artificial intelligence) will eventually be able to upload their consciousness to the Cloud and experience digital eternity.

What we can experience as a human being is going to be dramatically different within two decades, Istvan says, when we meet at his home in Mill Valley, California. We have five senses now. We might have thousands in 30 or 40 years. We might have very different bodies, too.

I have friends who are about a year away from cutting off their arm and replacing it with a prosthetic version. And sure, pretty soon the robotic arm really will be better than a biological one. Lets say you work in construction and your buddy can lift a thousand times what you can. The question is: do you get it?

For most people, the answer to this question is likely to be, Erm, maybe Ill pass for the moment. But to a transhumanist such as Istvan, 44, the answer is, Hell, yes! A former National Geographic reporter and property speculator, Istvan combines the enthusiasm of a child whos read a lot of Marvel comics with a parodically presidential demeanour. Hes a blond-haired, blue-eyed father of two with an athletic build, a firm handshake and the sort of charisma that goes down well in TED talks.

Like most transhumanists (there are a lot of them in California), Istvan believes our species can, and indeed should, strive to transcend our biological limitations. And he has taken it upon himself to push this idea out of the Google Docs of a few Silicon Valley dreamers and into the American political mainstream.

Twenty-five years ago, hardly anybody was recycling, he explains. Now, environmentalism has conditioned an entire generation. Im trying to put transhumanism on a similar trajectory, so that in 10, 15 years, everybody is going to know what it means and think about it in a very positive way.

What were saying is that over the next 30 years, the complexity of human experience is going to become so amazing, you ought to at least see it

Zoltan Istvan

I meet Istvan at the home he shares with his wife, Lisa an obstetrician and gynaecologist with Planned Parenthood and their two daughters, six-year-old Eva, and Isla, who is three. I had been expecting a gadget-laden cyber-home; in fact, he resides in a 100-year-old loggers house built from Californian redwood, with a converted stable on the ground floor and plastic childrens toys in the yard. If it werent for the hyper-inflated prices in the Bay Area (Its sort of Facebook yuppie-ville around here, says Istvan) youd say it was a humble Californian homestead.

Still, there are a few details that give him away, such as the forbidding security warnings on his picket fence. During his unsuccessful bid for the presidency last year he stood as the Transhumanist Party candidate and scored zero per cent a section of the religious right identified him as the Antichrist. This, combined with Lisas work providing abortions, means they get a couple of death threats a week and have had to report to the FBI.

Christians in America have made transhumanism as popular as its become, says Istvan. They really need something that they can point their finger at that fulfils Revelations.

Istvan also has a West Wing box set on his mantelpiece and a small Meccano cyborg by the fireplace. Its named Jethro, after the protagonist of his self-published novel, The Transhumanist Wager (2013). And there is an old Samsung phone attached to the front door, which enables him to unlock the house using the microchip in his finger.

A lot of the Christians consider my chip a mark of the beast, he says. Im like, No! Its so I dont have to carry my keys when I go out jogging.

Istvan hopes to chip his daughters before long for security purposes and recently argued with his wife about whether it was even worth saving for a university fund for them, since by the time they reach university age, advances in artificial intelligence will mean they can just upload all the learning they need. Lisa won that argument. But hes inclined not to freeze his sperm and Lisas eggs, since if they decide to have a third child, 10 or 20 or 30 years hence, theyll be able to combine their DNA.

Even if theres a mischievous, fake-it-till-you-make-it quality to Istvan, theres also a core of seriousness. He is genuinely troubled that we are on the verge of a technological dystopia that the mass inequalities that helped fuel US President Donald Trumps rise will only worsen when the digital revolution really gets under way. And he despairs of the retrogressive bent of the current administration: Trump talks all the time about immigrants taking jobs. Bulls**t. Its technology thats taking jobs. We have about four million truck drivers who are about to lose their jobs to automation. This is why capitalism needs a basic income to survive.

And hes not wrong in identifying that emerging technologies such as AI and bio-enhancement will bring with them policy implications, and its probably a good idea to start talking about them now.

Stephen Hawkings question to China: will AI help or destroy the human race?

Certainly, life extension is a hot investment in Silicon Valley, whose elites have a hard time with the idea that their billions will not protect them from an earthly death. Google was an early investor in the secretive biotech start-up Calico, the California Life Company, which aims to devise interventions that slow ageing and counteract age-related diseases. Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel has invested millions in parabiosis: the process of curing ageing with transfusions of young peoples blood.

Another biotech firm, United Therapeutics, has unveiled plans to grow fresh organs from DNA. Clearly, it is possible, through technology, to make death optional, the firms founder, Martine Rothblatt, told a recent gathering of the National Academy of Medicine in Los Angeles.

In attendance were Google co-founder Sergey Brin, vegan pop star Moby and numerous venture capitalists. Istvan fears that unless we develop policies to regulate this transition, the Thiels of this world will soon be hoarding all the young blood for themselves.

Clearly, it is possible, through technology, to make death optional

Martine Rothblatt

Istvan was born in Oregon in 1973, the son of Hungarian immigrants who fled Stalins tanks in 1968. He had a comfortable middle-class upbringing his mother was a devout Catholic and sent him to Catholic school and an eye for a story. After graduating from Columbia University, he embarked on a solo round-the-world yachting expedition, during which, he says, he read 500 works of classic literature. He spent his early career reporting for the National Geographic channel from more than 100 countries, many of them conflict zones, claiming to have invented the extreme sport of volcano boarding along the way.

One of the things he shares in common with Americas current president is a fortune accrued from real estate. While he was making films overseas in the noughties, his expenses were minimal, so he was able to invest all of his pay cheques in property.

AlphaGos China showdown: Why its time to embrace artificial intelligence

So many people in America were doing this flipping thing at the time, explains Istvan. I realised very quickly, Wow! I could make enough money to retire. It was just quite easy and lucrative to do that.

At his peak, he had a portfolio of 19 fixer-upper houses, most of which he managed to sell before the crash of 2008. He now retains nine as holiday rentals and uses the proceeds to fund his political campaigns (he is reluctant to name his other backers). Still, he insists hes not part of the 1 per cent; the most extravagant item of furniture is a piano, and his groceries are much the same as you find in many liberal, middle-class Californian households.

Istvan cant think of any particular incident that prompted his interest in eternal life, other than perhaps a rejection of Catholicism.

Fifty per cent of me thinks after we die we get eaten by worms, and our body matter and brain return unconsciously to the cosmos [] The other half subscribes to the idea that we live in a holographic universe where other alien artificial intelligences have reached the singularity, he says, referring to the idea, advanced by Google engineer Ray Kurzweil, that pretty soon we will all merge with AI in one transcendental consciousness.

However, when Istvan first encountered transhumanism, at university via an article on cryonics (the practice of deep-freezing the recently dead in the hope that they can be revived at some point), he was sold. Within 90 seconds, I realised thats what I wanted to do in my life.

After a near-death experience in Vietnam he came close to stepping on a landmine Istvan decided to return to America and make good on this vow. I was nearing 30 and Id done some great work, but after all that time Id spent in conflict zones, seeing dead bodies, stuff like that, I thought it would be a good time to dedicate myself to conquering death.

He spent four years writing his novel, which he proudly claims was rejected by more than 600 agents and publishers. Its a dystopian story that imagines a Christian nation outlawing transhumanism, prompting all the billionaires to retreat to an offshore sea-stead where they can work on their advances undisturbed (Thiel has often threatened to do something similar).

Istvan continued to promote transhumanism by writing free columns for Huffington Post and Vice, chosen because they have strong Alexa rankings (ie, they show up high in Google search results).

I wrote something like 200 articles, putting transhumanism through the Google algorithm again and again, he says. I found it a very effective way to spread the message. I covered every angle that I could think of: disability and transhumanism; LGBT issues and transhumanism; transhumanist parenting.

Hes proud to say hes the only mainstream journalist who is so devoted to the cause. A lot of people write about transhumanism, but I think Im the only one who says, This is the best thing thats ever happened!

Why your biological age may hold the key to reversing the ageing process

Istvans presidential campaign was an attempt to take all of this up a level. It sounds as if he had a lot of fun. He toured Rust Belt car parks and Deep South mega-churches in a coffin-shaped immortality bus inspired by the one driven by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters to promote LSD in the 1960s.

His platform Make America Immortal Again earned a fair amount of publicity, but Americans seemed ill-prepared for such concepts as the AI imperative (the idea that the first nation to create a true AI will basically win everything, so America had better be the first) and the singularity. At one point, he and his supporters were held at gunpoint by some Christians in Alabama.

The experience taught him a salutary lesson: unless you are a billionaire, it is simply impossible to make any kind of dent in the system. Hence his defection to the Libertarian Party, which vies with the Greens as the third party in American politics. Every town I go to, theres a Libertarian meet-up. With the Transhumanists, Id have to create the meet-up. So theres more to work with.

The Libertarian presidential candidate, Gary Johnson, received 3.27 per cent of the votes last year, including half a million votes in California. About seven or eight million are likely to vote in the California governor race, in which context, half a million starts to become a lot of votes, Istvan explains.

His own politics are somewhere between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, he admits, and he has a hard time converting the right wing of his new party to causes such as basic income. (The general spirit of libertarian America is, Hands off!) But he believes transhumanism shares enough in common with libertarianism for the alliance to be viable; the core precepts of being able to do what you like as long as you dont harm anyone else are the same. And the gubernatorial campaign serves as a primary for the 2020 presidential election, when he believes the Libertarian candidate will have a feasible chance of participating in the television debates.

But whats wrong with death? Dont we need old people to die to make space for new people? And by extension, we need old ideas and old regimes to die, too. Imagine if William Randolph Hearst or Genghis Khan were still calling the shots now. And imagine if Mark Zuckerberg and Vladimir Putin were doing so in 200 years. Innovation would cease, the species would atrophy, everyone would get terribly bored. Isnt it the ultimate narcissism to want to live forever?

Istvan does concede that transhumanism is a very selfish philosophy. However, he has an answer for most of the other stuff.

Im a believer in overpopulation Ive been to Delhi and its overcrowded, he says. But if we did a better job of governing, the planet could hold 15 billion people comfortably. Its really a question of better rules and regulations.

And when discussing the desirability of eternal life, he turns into a sort of holiday rep for the future.

What were saying is that over the next 30 years, the complexity of human experience is going to become so amazing, you ought to at least see it, Istvan says. A lot of people find that a lot more compelling than, say, dying of leukaemia.

Still, it comes as little surprise that hes finding live for ever an easier sell than give money to poor people in 21st-century America.

I cant imagine basic income not becoming a platform in the 2020 election, he insists. And if not then, at some point, someone is going to run and win on it. The Republicans should like it because it streamlines government. The Democrats should like it because it helps poor people. Right now, Americans dont like it because it sounds like socialism. But it just needs a little reframing.

Basic-income experiments are already under way in parts of Canada, Finland and the Netherlands, but how would he fund such an idea in the US? He cant raise taxes libertarians hate that. And he doesnt want to alienate Silicon Valley.

If we did a better job of governing, the planet could hold 15 billion people comfortably

Zoltan Istvan

How do you tell the 1 per cent youre going to take all this money from them? It wouldnt work, he says. They control too many things. But Istvan has calculated that 45 per cent of California is government-controlled land that the state could monetise.

A lot of environmentalists are upset at me for that, saying, Woah, Zolt, you want to put a shopping mall in Yosemite? Well, the reality is that the poor people in America will never be able to afford to go to Yosemite. Im trying to be a diplomat here.

And he insists that if Americans miss those national parks when theyve been turned into luxury condos and Taco Bells, theyll be able to replenish them some day if they want.

Theres nanotechnology coming through that would enable us to do that, Istvan argues. We have GMOs [genetically modified organisms] that can regrow plants twice as quick. In 50 or 100 years, were not even going to be worried about natural resources.

Such is his wager that exponential technological growth is around the corner and we may as well hurry it along, because its our best chance of clearing up the mess weve made of things thus far.

The safety of genetically-modified crops is backed by science

Didnt the political developments of 2016 persuade him that progress can be slow and sometimes go backwards? Actually, Istvan argues that what were witnessing are the death throes of conservatism, Christianity, even capitalism.

Everyone says the current pope is the best one weve had for ages, that hes so progressive and whatever. Actually, Catholicism is dying, says Istvan. Nobodys giving it any money any more, so the pope had better moderate its message. As for capitalism, all of this nationalism and populism are just the dying moments.

Its a system that goes against the very core of humanitarian urges. And while its brought us many wonderful material gains, at some point we can say, Thats enough. In the transhumanist age, we will reach utopia. Crime drops to zero. Poverty will end. Violence will drop. At some point, we become a race of individuals who are pretty nice to each other.

But now weve talked for so long that Istvan needs to go and pick up his daughters from childcare. He insists that I join him. What do his family make of all of this?

My wife is a bit sceptical of a lot of my timelines, he says. Lisa comes from practical Wisconsin farming stock, and its a fair bet that her work with Planned Parenthood keeps her pretty grounded. They met on dating website match.com. Does she believe in all this stuff?

I dont want to say shes not a transhumanist, he says, but I dont think shed cryogenically freeze herself tomorrow. I would. Im like, If you see me dying of a heart attack, please put me in a refrigerator. She thinks thats weird.

We arrive at the community centre where Istvans daughters are being looked after. They come running out in summer dresses, sweet and sunny and happy to be alive. Both of them want to be doctors when they grow up, like their mum.

The Times/The Interview People

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Posted: Monday, August 14, 2017 2:43 pm

Families Can View Solar Eclipse At Glenview Library By DENISE FLEISCHERLifestyles Editor Journal & Topics Media Group

Families will be able to observe the total solar eclipse at the Glenview Public Library, 1930 Glenview Rd., during its Monday, Aug. 21 viewing event.

Sally Baylander, assistant head of youth services, said the drop-in event will feature both televised feeds from NASA on drop-down screens in Community Room West. Children will be able to make a pinhole viewer and step outside onto the South patio to observe the eclipse.

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Posted in News, Glenview, Lifestyles on Monday, August 14, 2017 2:43 pm.

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Families Can View Solar Eclipse At Glenview Library - Journal & Topics Newspapers Online

RIPLEY, Ohio A two-hour program will explore Is Higginsport School Haunted? in Ripley on Aug 19.

The program will be held at the Ripley Library Annex, located next door to the main library.

Justin Brown, founder and lead paranormal researcher for Interface Death, will explain how research into the Higginsport School was done.

According to its website, Interface Death is a paranormal research group based in Hillsboro, Ohio. Its objective is to acquire data and conduct experiments in the field to test hypotheses and develop theories that correlate paranormal phenomena with scientific principles.

Brown will have examples of equipment that is used in the groups investigations. This will be followed by a question and answer session and a short intermission.

Its low budget, Brown said, Entry level equipment. But you make sure the logistics are covered.

After intermission, there will be a viewing of the Higginsport school documentary. The video is a collaboration between Interface Death and Shadowforge Studios. The documentary is about the history and haunting at Higginsport School.

According to Brown, the Higgensport School has had several paranormal reports since around the 1960s. Some instances reported include phantom footsteps, voices, and apparitions.

An urban explorer from Cincinnati went in and got video of child-shaped apparitions in period clothing, Brown said, They were as solid as you or me. That footage will be in my video on the 19th.

The school, built in 1880, was designed to hold 250 students. The population of Higginsport at the time was just 297.

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The school was expanded in 1930 and 1932. In 1952, the school was consolidated into the Ripley Union Lewis Huntington school district. It remained an elementary school until it was closed in 1987.

Brown said getting the history correct is very important to paranormal researchers.

You want to make sure the history is right so you can see if there is a connection to the paranormal, Brown said, A janitor may have died in the boiler room [of Higginsport school] in the 1800s. You want to get the documentation of that so you can see if there is a connection to the paranormal occurrences.

DVDs of the documentary will be available at the program for a cost of $10.

The Ripley Library is located at the corner of U.S. 52 and Main Street in downtown Ripley. For further information about the program call 937-392-4871 or http://www.facebook.com/Ripleyohiolibrary.

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Higginsport haunting program at Ripley library - Ledger Independent