[SpaceProgram] Request: accountability frameworks for makerspace governance?

Thu May 26 18:03:37 CEST 2016

"You have to admit, Michael, that nearly every email you've sent has been a
slash and burn."

I'm destructive? What's more destructive: criticism of corruption, or
corruption?

Regards,
Michael Turner
Executive Director
Project Persephone
K-1 bldg 3F
7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682
turner at projectpersephone.org
http://www.projectpersephone.org/

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

On Fri, May 27, 2016 at 12:57 AM, David <ainut at hiwaay.net> wrote:

> You have to admit, Michael, that nearly every email you've sent
>
> On 05/18/2016 11:02 AM, cole santos wrote:has been a slash and burn.
>
> David Merchant
>
>
> Lol you just don't get it troll
> On May 18, 2016 1:03 AM, "Michael Turner" <michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> "Mike no one wanted to work with you because of emails like you just
>> sent."
>>
>> I thought there should be more openness and oversight, and so nobody
>> wanted to work with me? Interesting. I hadn't realized that openness and
>> oversight were such unpopular things when spending taxpayers money. Unless,
>> of course, you're a taxpayer. Are you?
>>
>> "Since I wrote the grant, and got the Corp formed, and followed through
>> until the project start, I think it's ok moraly."
>>
>> I always assumed an education in philosophy would acquaint a person with
>> the difference between morals and ethics. You learn something every day, I
>> guess.
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>> Michael Turner
>> Executive Director
>> Project Persephone
>> K-1 bldg 3F
>> 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
>> Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
>> Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
>> Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
>> Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682 <%2B81%20%2890%29%205203-8682>
>> turner at projectpersephone.org
>> http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>>
>> "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
>> together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>
>> On Wed, May 18, 2016 at 1:48 AM, cole santos <cksantos85 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Mike no one wanted to work with you because of emails like you just
>>> sent. We are amateurs hacking it. Ps haesh was my project and it was
>>> somewhat a sweetheart deal. I had to choose between a project or a job.
>>> Since I wrote the grant, and got the Corp formed, and followed through
>>> until the project start, I think it's ok moraly. The other projects were
>>> all random submissions. The principal aka jerry got overwhelmed and didn't
>>> even really want the job. I kinda forced it on him as I had a full time
>>> job. Reality is not nearly as sensational as u wish.
>>> On May 16, 2016 9:07 PM, "Michael Turner" <
>>> michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> First things first:
>>>>
>>>> I'm interested in setting up a framework in which every iota of effort
>>>> on funded projects can be tracked, and every penny of spending can be
>>>> recorded. I'm interested in this because I'll need donors at some point,
>>>> and donors typically require high transparency -- and results. I'd like to
>>>> hear from makerspace leaders who've been successful at setting up such
>>>> frameworks.
>>>>
>>>> Now, about the "drama":
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 2:51 AM, gmc < <gmc at hackerspaces.org>
>>>> gmc at hackerspaces.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Yay, drama. It's what hackers are best at! Bye bye mailing list.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Clearly, some disillusionment and malaise has set in.
>>>>
>>>> Hackerspaces.org? No blog update since just about two years ago.
>>>>
>>>> Interesting critique there, though:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> https://flux.hackerspaces.org/2014/01/19/diversity-and-the-hacker-scene/
>>>>
>>>> Drama will never go away permanently. Sometimes the only way to quell
>>>> drama is with rules.
>>>>
>>>> If you're going to have rules, you can try counting on ideas like
>>>> legitimizing all decisions through the rule of relying on consensus (it
>>>> always breaks down). Or on rules set by some "benevolent oligarchy" (the
>>>> "oligarchs" often get tired of arbitration and moderation, and go missing.)
>>>> There are a variety of other dodges of the basic responsibility of
>>>> collective governance, which is tedious and stressful compared to making
>>>> things.
>>>>
>>>> In the case of SpaceGAMBIT, the dodge took the form of locating all
>>>> authority over spending that $500,000 in a tiny handful of people who
>>>> operated in a pretty opaque fashion. In at least one case, the opacity was
>>>> defended by a SpaceGAMBIT principal in terms of DARPA's tight regulations
>>>> about the release of information. When I asked for chapter and verse of
>>>> those regulations, there was no answer. Wait: you're saying you got money
>>>> from a government agency that doesn't tell taxpayers the basis on which it
>>>> allows awarded organizations to release information about how taxpayer
>>>> money is being spent? Interesting.
>>>>
>>>> Given the nature of the political differences over taking money from
>>>> DARPA, I can see a reason for not identifying winning teams when the awards
>>>> went out. It might have been defensible as a way to protect the awarded
>>>> teams from harassment by those who were most loudly opposed to that money,
>>>> and to what any hackerspace group taking that money symbolized to them.
>>>>
>>>> The problem was: opacity could enable sweetheart deals. Waste. Lax
>>>> controls.
>>>>
>>>> And what do we have at the end?
>>>>
>>>> Examples:
>>>>
>>>> $20,000 for an open source satellite mission design project that
>>>> apparently never checked anything into a repo.
>>>>
>>>> The HAESH project, which, by some odd coincidence, was based in Hawaii.
>>>> (And apparently on Maui.)That was statistically unlikely, especially when
>>>> you consider that the main SpaceGAMBIT executive exulted at one point about
>>>> how great it was to work internationally, not just in America, and not just
>>>> in his tiny home region of -- you guessed it -- Hawaii. Maui, in fact.
>>>>
>>>> How about the thousands of dollars for the open source Make-a-Space
>>>> Kit? It had a laudable goal.
>>>>
>>>> "The goal of this project is to complete the content--finalize the
>>>> entire kit-- and then create a turn-key online template which a new or
>>>> existing space can use to instantiate the online project management, assign
>>>> specific tasks to board members, track accountability, and effectively
>>>> communicate about the status of the activities as the space is launched and
>>>> formed."
>>>>
>>>> Where is it? Dead links on the SpaceGAMBIT site. Try to get something
>>>> back from the Wayback Machine? Unsuccessful.
>>>>
>>>> How about that Asteroid Badge?
>>>>
>>>>   https://github.com/CuriosityHacked/Learning/wiki/SpaceAsteroids
>>>>
>>>> There's something in there that looks like a rough draft of
>>>> Make-a-Space Kit, but certainly nothing that looks "finalized."
>>>>
>>>> Thousands of dollars spent on those two projects. And this is all there
>>>> is to show for it?
>>>>
>>>> It's what happens when there's no openness or accountability, and when
>>>> money can be spent without significant oversight by a small group of people.
>>>>
>>>> So, to repeat my request:
>>>>
>>>> I'm interested in setting up a framework in which every iota of effort
>>>> on funded projects can be tracked, and every penny of spending can be
>>>> recorded. I'm interested in this because I'll need donors at some point,
>>>> and donors typically require high transparency -- and results. I'd like to
>>>> hear from makerspace leaders who've been successful at setting up such
>>>> frameworks.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Michael Turner
>>>> Executive Director
>>>> Project Persephone
>>>> K-1 bldg 3F
>>>> 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
>>>> Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
>>>> Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140 <%2B81%20%283%29%206890-1140>
>>>> Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158 <%2B81%20%283%29%206890-1158>
>>>> Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682 <%2B81%20%2890%29%205203-8682>
>>>> turner at projectpersephone.org
>>>> http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>>>>
>>>> "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
>>>> together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 16 May 2016 18:26:04 CEST, Michael Turner <
>>>>> <michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com>michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 12:55 AM, cole santos <
>>>>>> <cksantos85 at gmail.com>cksantos85 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Actually we took the DarPA money and the project was a great
>>>>>>> success. <http://Www.spacegambit.Com>Www.spacegambit.Com
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A great success for some people, I suppose.  In a certain sense.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I pick a project at random.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> <http://www.spacegambit.org/satstatsim/>
>>>>>> http://www.spacegambit.org/satstatsim/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Funding: $20,000
>>>>>>
>>>>>> SpaceGAMBIT claim: only open source projects will be funded.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Reality: well, ta! ke a look.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>    <http://satstatsim.blogspot.jp/>http://satstatsim.blogspot.jp/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Excuse: "schedules slip". OK, but you can't check in any code,
>>>>>> anywhere?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   <https://code.google.com/archive/p/satstatsim/source>
>>>>>> https://code.google.com/archive/p/satstatsim/source
>>>>>>
>>>>>> At least, that's the only repo I could find.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There's nothing in it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It was largely because of my concerns about openness, clear
>>>>>> communication, democratic process, and leadership accountability that I
>>>>>> decided to have nothing further to do with SpaceGAMBIT. This was after
>>>>>> feeling enthusiastic about it and even defending it against what I thought
>>>>>> was unfair criticism.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Really, I'd prefer to have been wrong in my suspicions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>> Michael Turner
>>>>>> Executive Director
>>>>>> Project Persephone
>>>>>> K-1 bldg 3F
>>>>>> 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
>>>>>> Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
>>>>>> Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140 <%2B81%20%283%29%206890-1140>
>>>>>> Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158 <%2B81%20%283%29%206890-1158>
>>>>>> Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682 <%2B81%20%2890%29%205203-8682>
>>>>>> <turner at projectpersephone.org>turner at projectpersephone.org
>>>>>> <http://www.projectpersephone.org/>http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking
>>>>>> outward together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Monday, May 16, 2016, Michael P Weber II <
>>>>>>> <michaelweberii at gmail.com>michaelweberii at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Mon, May 16, 2016 at 3:05 AM, Michael Turner
>>>>>>>> <michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> > Whether intentional or not, the choice of watercress could be very
>>>>>>>> > space-relevant.
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> > (1) Biosphere II saw the direct participation of the late Roy
>>>>>>>> Walford, MD, a
>>>>>>>> > pioneer self-experimenter in CRON (calorie restriction with
>>>>>>>> optimal
>>>>>>>> > nutrition) as a strategy for life extension. This research
>>>>>>>> interested the
>>>>>>>> > Biosphere II organizers because, in feeding long-duration space
>>>>>>>> mission
>>>>>>>> > participants, fewer calories eaten means, to a good first
>>>>>>>> approximation,
>>>>>>>> > less mass for the ecological life support system, leading to
>>>>>>>> lower mission
>>>>>>>> > cost, etc.
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> > (2) Research into how CRON appears to increase lifespans (in part
>>>>>>>> by
>>>>>>>> > reducing cancer risk -- a big issue in space travel because of
>>>>>>>> space
>>>>>>>> > radiation) reveals that it's more about protein restriction than
>>>>>>>> about
>>>>>>>> > calorie restriction per se.
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> > (3) Further research has suggested that it's specifically
>>>>>>>> reduction of
>>>>>>>> > methionine intake that is the main driver of life extension in
>>>>>>>> CRON (hence,
>>>>>>>> > presumably, lower cancer risk);
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> > (4) High-glycine diets sop up excess methionine. (To be sure:
>>>>>>>> methionine is
>>>>>>>> > an essential amino acid; glycine is not. But it seems that with
>>>>>>>> methionine,
>>>>>>>> > you can get too much of a good thing.)
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> > (5) Watercress is very high in glycine, quite low in methionine.
>>>>>>>> Watercress
>>>>>>>> > might be ideal for offsetting the cancer risks from space
>>>>>>>> radiation in
>>>>>>>> > long-duration space missions.
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> > I think a good next step in such work would be to try to optimize
>>>>>>>> watercress
>>>>>>>> > production in an aeroponic rather than a hydroponic style.
>>>>>>>> Hydroponics is
>>>>>>>> > great, highly productive, but ... water is heavy. Aeroponics can
>>>>>>>> give you
>>>>>>>> > much of the benefit of hydroponics but with a fraction of the
>>>>>>>> equipment
>>>>>>>> > mass. Aeroponics should be more adaptable to low-g and
>>>>>>>> microgravity
>>>>>>>> > environments since it's not gravity-dependent -- it's basically
>>>>>>>> just the
>>>>>>>> > deposition of nutrient-enriched mist droplets on plant roots.
>>>>>>>> Aeroponics may
>>>>>>>> > have gotten its start from NASA funding.
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> > Regards,
>>>>>>>> > Michael Turner
>>>>>>>> > Executive Director
>>>>>>>> > Project Persephone
>>>>>>>> > K-1 bldg 3F
>>>>>>>> > 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
>>>>>>>> > Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
>>>>>>>> > Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
>>>>>>>> > Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
>>>>>>>> > Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682
>>>>>>>> > turner at projectpersephone.org
>>>>>>>> > <http://www.projectpersephone.org/>
>>>>>>>> http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> > "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking
>>>>>>>> outward
>>>>>>>> > together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> > On Mon, May 16, 2016 at 4:35 PM, Michael Turner
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Michael,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Are you going to take over the list then?
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> SpaceProgram mailing list
>>>>>>>> SpaceProgram at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>>>>>>> <http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/spaceprogram>
>>>>>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/spaceprogram
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> SpaceProgram mailing list
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>>>>>>> SpaceProgram at lists.hackerspaces.org
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>
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