Hi folks, welcome to my presentation room in the Skopika. By the way, it's been two years since the COVID situation and the Skopika events are still virtual this year again, so hopefully just everything will be over really soon and I do hope everyone to be safe and well wherever you are living and are working at. Okay, let's get out of our business today and the topic of my presentation is API Server Builder extending COVID-19 spare and aggregated API Server. My whole presentation is going to start with a very detailed introduction about the technique of API Server aggregation per se. In the next one, I'm going to expand the details about the subprojects named API Server Builder and also its successor new subprojects named API Server runtimes. And in the end, there will also be a Q&A section in which I will be addressing all the questions from you if there's any. And the time is limited, so we can probably extend our Q&A sections to the Slack channels. Over there you can just DM me or whatever you want. Okay, I'm going to start with a brief introduction about myself. My name is Min Jin and I'm a software engineer working at Alibaba Clouds and I'm also a Kubernetes maintainer working in CIG API machinery. I'm the subproject owner of multiple Kubernetes subprojects and I'm also the speaker of Kubica 2019 Europe 2019 of America 2020 of America. And besides Kubernetes, I'm also actively running the project of open custom management. I also maintain the API Server aggregation related libraries for most failures. And you can contact me via my mailbox or just mention me in the GitHub or DM me in the Slack channels or Discord. So I outlined my presentations into basically five parts. The first is the background around the API Server aggregation in which I will be sharing the basic fundamental knowledge of the technique.  And in the third part, I will announce the new project of API Server runtime, which is incubated by the API Server builders similar to the relationship between the co-builder and controller runtime. And in the first part, I will have a demo of how API Server runtime works. And there are also a few projects I will show you. In the end, I will share with you the future roadmaps of these projects. Okay, let's move on to the second part to the first part of my presentation. It's the background about API Server aggregation. Over the years of community support, I found many developers are stuck in a builder complaining that a technique is too complicated to understand. And most of them are stuck at the, for example, the installation of API Server obligations or the management of certification or something like that. So today, in this part, I will be elaborating the details of how the API Server aggregation works and the share share the detail of the fundamental knowledge because so the AA is actually the acronym of API Server aggregation. And it's an API that's beta in 1.6 and graduated into GA since 1.10. And from the perspective of a user, the AA works by we just bring one resource named API Service into the Kubernetes cluster. And in the, in the spectrum of API Service, you can specify the endpoints of the AA Server instances, or you can just passing in reference of the service, then the Kubernetes cluster will automatically resolve the endpoints for you. As for how to build an AA Server, there are basically three physical approaches. The first one is just copy and pasting from another official projects named sample API Server. And, but the projects, it's actually hard coded. So you will have to edit the, for example, the resource name of the, the, the aggregate, the AA Servers. And the second approach is extending the API Servers where the scuffle beams provided by the API Server Builder, which will be similar to the user experience of how could we do the works. And the third phase, by the way, will be just importing the libraries of API Server runtime, which I will elaborate later. You can just initialize a brand new Cologne projects and just add the API Server runtime into the dependency list and the magic will happens. As for, as for the insights of API Server applications, we're going to expand the internal technique from four aspects of the authentication and authorization, emission controls, and last but not least, the API quality fairness. By, by leveraging the technique of AI, you can basically do any kinds of customization, if you want. For example, you can even replace the persistent layer for an API Server. The normally, the storage layer of an API Server is supposed to be ETCD, but you can, by, by, by leveraging AI, you can just replace it with any kinds of further storage if you want. And this picture shows how an AI works in the architecture. So, an AI Server is a standalone API Server outside of Kube, Kube API Server. And by the spec of API Service, you can make the traffic going through the Kube API Server successfully proceed to the downstream of AI Servers. And you can even develop your custom controllers working based on the AI Servers. The custom controllers are supposed to connect the AI Servers while the proxy of Kube API Server instead of requesting direct speed. However, direct requesting will also be working, which I will also be explaining later. So, before we dive into the authentication of API Server creation, we have to understand how the TRS, the general technique of TRS works. Basically, there are two kinds of TRS in the world. The first is vanilla TRS, or we can call it the simple TRS, which is widely used in the in the HTTPS Servers. In the vanilla TRS, the only verification that happens is that when the client is trying to request download the contents from the server, then the server will be returning its server certificates back to the clients. Then the clients can check the signer CA, the authority of the server certificate, and check whether the CA is seen in the client's trusted list. Also, the clients can verify the server certificate's SAN, which is the SAN stands for Subject Alternative Names, which is a list of domain names or IP addresses. So, the SAN basically restricts the usage of the server certificates. And as for the mutual TRS, in addition to vanilla TRS, the mutual TRS has some other rounds of verifications, which is the server will also verify the client's certificates from the clients. So, there's a trusted authorities in memory inside of servers. The server is supposed to reject any request that doesn't contain, doesn't have the client's certificates signed by that CA. So, this is basically how the mutual TRS works. In the end, there's also an optional step of verifying the client's SAN. But actually, in the Kubernetes native libraries, it's skipped by defaults. Okay, after knowing how TRS works, let's take a look at how authentication works. This picture is the typical case when a client is trying to request a server by the proxy of Kube API server. So, the normal authentication happens between the Kube console and the Kube API server. The Kube API server will check whether the client certificate is signed by a CA authorities, which is specified by a flag named dash dash client CA file. This is rather simple, but, however, let's take a look at the authentications, the mutual TRS happens between the Kube API server and the aggregated API server. The AI server is actually, sorry, the Kube API server is the client when processing the request to the AI servers. So, the client verification happens when the AI server returning the server certificates back to the Kube API server. So, the Kube API server will check whether the server certificates of the AI server is signed by the CA bundles specified in this API service. And the AI server will also perform another round of server verifications by checking whether the client certificates from the Kube API servers are checking the client certificates. It's signed by the CA, CA authorities specified by the dash dash request slider CA client file with the flag. And optionally, if the AI servers are deployed inside of Kubernetes clusters, you can also looking for a config map under the interface of Kube system named extension API server authentications. There's a key named request header CA file that the content will be the expected signer of client certificates. And this is the indirect approach when a client is accessing AI servers where the proxy of Kube API server. However, a client can also access a AI server directly without the result proxy by the Kube API server. In this case, the case can be different when the client, if a client is requesting using any signed certificates, then the Kube API, then the aggregated API server will just checking whether the client certificates by the CA authorities passed from the flags dash dash client CA file, which is identical to the flags of Kube API server. And the AI server will also be looking for the config map under the Kube system, the same config map, but the key is client dash CA dash file, which is happening inside of one minus deployed inside of Kubernetes clusters. And repeated, repeated, okay, the servers will just, which is verified whether the client certificates is signed by this CA. And however, if the client is the credential, if the credential is service account tokens, the AI servers will do not understand how to verify the essay hook and solving some reasons. So instead of verification, manually, you just delegate the verification of service account tokens back to the Kube API servers, where an API named token review, and after getting the response from Kube API server, the AI server will know whether the tokens are valid or not. So this is how the authentication works between Kube API server and AI server, which is a bit complex than the simple Kube Kato Kube API server authentication. Then after the authentication, the next thing happens is the authorization. The authorization works inside the AI server is pretty easy. First of all, for clarification, the Kube API server will just forward all the requests to AI servers without performing any kinds of authorization check. So all the authorization checks are happening inside of the AI servers, but the AI server doesn't contain any logic of authorization. So again, the AI servers will be delegating the authorization back to Kube API server, where in dedicated API named the subject access review, and the results of authorization check will be cashed in inside of AI servers. And also we can also wipe off the authorizations in the AI servers, but this is strongly not recommended because this will be leaving the AI servers unprotected, can be attacked by hackers, and similar to authorizations. The admission controls inside of AI also happens by delegating the admission control request back to the Kube API server. The Kube API server do not perform any kinds of admission controls upon receiving requests. Instead, they just proceed redirect the request to AI. And after that, the AI servers can either execute the built-in admission controllers, such as namespace controllers or resource coders, or the AI servers can just delegate the admission controls back to Kube API server. They are in similar API named admission review. And we can also wipe off the admission controllers inside of AI, but this is still not recommended. But disabling the authorization and admission controls can sometimes can be useful, helpful when you are debugging in your local environment, because sometimes you just don't need that security check. You just, when you just want to verify the logic of your API servers. And this is how everything works in a piece on the host bill. When a Kube Cato sends a request to Kube API server, this is how authentication works. It just works in the flow. The mutual TRS between clients and Kube API server, then the mutual TRS between the Kube API server and the AI servers. And then upon authorization, the AI servers will be delegating the authorizations back to Kube API server and returning the responses. Then in terms of admission control, aggregated API server delegates again, then the responses are returned. And finally, the AI servers will be returning the actual results back to the clients. And there's also an advanced feature named APF added to Kube API server and AI servers since 1.18. And it's also a beta since 1.20, which means that the feature will be enabled by default. So this can be useful for you to understand how APF works between the Kube API server and the AI servers. So in the original design of APF, we disabled the flow controls by defaults so that in order to avoid cyclic blockups or the cyclic dependencies between Kube API servers and AI servers. So every request will be Kube just for only once inside of Kube API server or aggregated API server. As it's shown in the picture, the request will be Kube upon its first arrival at the Kube API server and Kube again inside of AI servers upon arrival. But the however delegated authorization will never be throttled. And because of this will be classified into the Excel products across also the omission control will not be throttled. Okay, after understanding the details of implementation of AI servers, let's take a step back and take a look at the CRDs in a higher level. Let's take a comparison between the CRDs and AI. The CRD is basically a declarative API, however, the AI is in collaborative. Though by the declarative API we can easily define the schema of CRDs by using the grammar of OAS or the OAS server. But there's some inconvenience when we are trying to do development in multi-version CRDs. This CRD has a mechanism of conversion by both collaboratives can be somehow difficult to develop one because it requires much more background knowledge of how Kubernetes API works. And as for sub-resources CRDs only have skill sub-resources and status sub-resources. So when you are trying to extend your arbitrary sub-resources, then AI will be probably something you're looking for. And the technique AI can help us to replace the ETCD as the precision layer. We can build an AI working based on MySQL or other kinds of SQL storages or even you can be working on a local file pass. But the top slide of AI is that we're going to define our schemas in Golang and it requires actual work of coding. It can be more costly comparing to just writing a YAML in your local computers. So after the comparison, I have some personal suggestions for choosing between CRDs and AI. The rule number one, if you are extending a trivial custom resources, for example, if you are just trying to structuralize the schema of your custom resource, then you can try CRDs. However, if you are looking for offloading API costs from Google API servers, for example, for example, to get some data out of the main ETCD clusters, if you want your AI servers working on dedicated ETCD clusters, and this will be offloading some ETCD within write costs. And also, if you are using the cost, the burden on Google API server will be reduced in a sense. And also, if you are trying to develop a specialized API, for example, extending custom subresources such as proxy, the proxy subresources is already used in the Kubernetes such as pulse proxy, service proxy. So if you are looking for a custom proxy, implementation, or other any kinds of subresources, then you should probably try AI. And also, if you want to get rid of ETCD storage, I think the AI will be the only choice to go. So by replacing the storage layer of the ETCD, we can easily encapsulate a third-party API into Kubernetes resource, and also adopting other kinds of other types of storages, and even integrate your legacy systems into the Kubernetes concepts. And let's move on to our second part, the evolution of API server to Kubernetes from the control runtime to API server runtime. So in the past, there are a bigger general debate between CRDs and NA. And at that time, the CRDs and NA, they are neither mature and developers are having trouble getting on board any of techniques. So the Kubernetes is actually trying to provide users a converging obstruction layer that eliminates the gaps between CRDs and NA. So the users will be just facing running on the obstructions provided by the Kubernetes builder or API server builders, and let the builders do all the rest to do the dirty things for you. The second goal will be scaffolding. The scaffolding basically covers, first of all, is the templating of your projects, no matter if it's a controller or an AI servers. And also, we need a scaffolding to setting up the local testing environment. In the past, setting up having a local environment, they say, actually a luxury thing because it involves too many dependencies. But for now, we have the KNB projects, which help us to easily customize, develop over on Kubernetes clusters. And the builders, the API server builders are also trying to provide the users user-friendly API concepts that's hiding some complicated details from the users. So as you can see in the peak, actually, the Kubernetes falls from the API server in the very beginning. The picture is the very first development commit of the Kubernetes builders. So the original idea is that the Kubernetes is supposed to running all the defects, running the fading lessons from the API servers, then have a better viewing toolings for the developers. And after the Kubernetes builder, then we have the controller runtime. This picture shows how the obviously controller runtime is moving over time. In the very beginning, the only thing we have is a project named sample controller. The sample controller is very well documented, but it's not user-friendly for developers because you will need to read the internals and every developer may have their own understanding of how a controller works. After a period of time, we extracted a Go template from the sample controller. So we don't have to manually copy and paste it from the sample controllers anymore, but it's still not user-friendly because we don't have the unified obstruction of controller. So in the end, we initiated the project controller runtimes. If you notice, many packages inside of controller runtimes are defined as go-longs internal packages. And that's the point of hiding the internals, hiding the underneath details from the users as much as possible. And the controller's controller runtimes have a standardized interface of a controller. It's an easy SDK for work for developing and testing. Yes, the testing is also covered in the controller runtime. However, the dark side of controller runtime is that some packages are conflicting with the native libraries from the Kubernetes. But sometimes the diverging can be misleading because sometimes the obstructions in the controller runtimes are just not correct anyway. And by learning from the success of Koobi Builder and the controller runtime, we made a new project named the API Server Runtimes. So the name is similar. So I think you can get it. The first drop-level API Server Runtime is drafted in 2018 by the founder of controller runtime, Soli. And the source is still available in his repositories. And now it's incubating into an official Kubernetes 6 sub-project which is now publicly available here. And the different thing comparing to the controller runtime is that the API Server Runtime is completely honoring the original implementation of the sample API Server. It works by just importing the sample API Servers into the API Server Runtimes. And then the API Server has its own lightweight overriding layer or obstruction layer over the sample API Servers for users to be looking on. And as you can see in the link, the sample API Servers is unaligned into API Server Runtimes as an internal package. So users will not have to care about the API Server Runtimes but still getting help from the sample API Servers. And after telling the evolution of the projects, let's clarify the scope of API Servers and API Server Runtimes. Overall, the API Servers will be a project of doing scoff loadings for API Server Runtime, which is similar to the relationship between controller and controller runtime. And also the API Server Builder provides users a set of useful utilities that can analyze to operate the API Servers inside your Kubernetes clusters. As for templating or the code generations, note that the API Server Builders will only do those one-shot code generations for you, including the project initializations or adding your custom resources. All of these work will just happen once and it's not consistent. And as for the scope of API Server Runtime, it's aiming at being a user-friendly library for building aggregated API Server. And it's also providing one lightweight toolings for code generations, which is the consistent code generations, not comparing to the API Server. The API Server does one type of things, but in the API Server Runtimes, the code generation is actually referencing the original code generators such as the copy generator and conversion generator, client generator, informer, and list generator. The aim of API Server Runtime Jam is just saving your time, but you don't need to download all the binaries on your own anymore. Then let's take a look at how the original sample API Server works in the code from the code wise. In the code, you can see that the rest storage implementation is initialized, is instantiated manually in the code. You need to organize all the resources into a Golan map, which is a bit hard to understand. Then you can just install the API groups in generic API Servers. But ideally, we hope users don't touch any internal details like this. Instead, in the API Server Runtimes, we developed a Fluent Builder Flow for developing an aggregated API Server. We call this the Fluent Builder Flow or Wildlife Flow. This is pretty common in the Java world. We found this, it's really useful. We decided to move it to the Golan world. As you see, we can just build our own custom Servers in one line by registering the resources and tuning a few configurations. We can also adjust the flag registrations. There are many, the extensibilities are sufficient for your customers. Also, by the API Server Runtimes, we can develop our new Kubernetes resource by one line API Service Interface Assertions. If your ID is supported, you can just assert your custom API types with a resource store object interface and assert your list type with a resource store object list interface. Then after you make the interface, as I said, the new Kubernetes resources are supposed to look like a charm. Optionally, this is the mandatory required step of developing a custom resources. However, there are some optional steps of advanced customization. For example, the validators, you can assert your custom type with an interface named validator. In the implementation of validator, you can do advanced projects like cross-bill validations or any kinds of non-trivial validations if you want. This picture also shows you how to develop non-ATCD API Servers using the API Server Runtimes. As you can see, in the builder flow, we can call without ATCD methods. Then this will be completely disabling ATCD-related settings and flags from the custom servers. And then if we replace the storage layer with something other than the ATCD, then the server will be running completely ATCD-free. Then let's move on to the demo. By the API Server Runtimes, the cluster of gateways will be easily developing any kinds of sub-resources. This time, it's going to be the connector sub-resource or the proxy sub-resource. As you can see in the picture, I asserted the sub-resource with an interface named connector. Then in the implementation of connectors, the connector method will just return an HTTP.handler, which is the API that's under this group. After setting up the AAT connection between Kubi API Servers and AAT, then the Kubi API Servers will be understanding. Inside of AAT, there's a new resource named the cluster gateways, and there's a sub-resource named proxy. First of all, I'm going to show you how to probe the happiness of cluster when I'm dead using the proxy sub-resource. Okay, this is how the proxy sub-resource works. The proxy sub-resource will be redirecting all the requests under the proxy sub-resources to the actual real cluster. Okay, I will leave my time to the last Q&A sections, so if you have any questions, I think this is a media record, but during my presentation, I will also be available in the presentation room, so if you have any questions, see if you like. Thank you.


So we're gonna go to page 68 68 68 Look at the image being shared Kebabs and fluja chapter 4. Oh Thank you all they're got Okay, chapter 4 Kebabs and fluja and we're gonna read The caption here for this picture. I got a feeling. This is the same stuff. Darchemal rent. What the f? Okay This Sadik Zoman was detained from his home In Kirkuk Kirkuk by the US military Held for one month then dropped off at a Salah Hadid hospital in Tick tick Rick tick writ by US soldiers He was comatose with electrical burn marks on his feet and genitals The back of his head was bashed in and he had multiple bruises on his legs chest and back January 4 photo unknown photographer chapter 4 Kebabs in fluja Beyond the green zone dispatches from unembedded journalists in occupied Iraq. Darchemal forward by Someone that lost their soul Chapter 4 Kebabs and fluja on December 19th 2003 Nearly fortnight after the event the coalition provisional authority Released this official statement about an attack on Paul Bremer's convoy the civil civil administrator announced that he had survived in Quote in prompt to attack on December 4th December 6 The CPA at that point was still unwilling to acknowledge that the Iraqi resistance was already a well-coordinated Sophisticated movement backed by an efficient intelligence system the official line from the US government therefore projected this and other attacks as random unorganized Incidents less than two months earlier on October 26 2003 US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfewitz the number two civilian in the Pentagon was nearly killed when between eight and ten rockets slammed Into the heavy Defended al-Rashid hotel where he was staying The future president of the World Bank Narrowly escaped death when the rockets reached the eleventh floor just one floor beneath his own At this point we were delivered What what what what was soon to become the ref the refrain of the official US line Line on attacks by the Resistance it was first mouthed by Brigadier General Martin Dempsey commander of the first armored division and Echoed later by Secretary of State Colin Powell and repeated ad nauseam in the following years on Occasion on occasions that marked each tipping point or turning of the corner for the occupation Dempsey told reporters quote If we look back at some of what we might describe as more Sensational attacks. I think you'll see it's usually the case that they follow some positive event in the lives of the Iraqi people end quote He added referencing Referencing a recent lifting of the curfew that that shrouded Baghdad quote This is another example of that We take three steps forward and they try to pull us one step back and in fact it doesn't work end quote Dempsey told reporters he didn't believe wolfowitz was the target of the attack Quote, I think this probably took a couple of months to prepare His travel itinerary certainly wasn't known at that point in time end quote This was the exact line taken by Pentagon officials to describe the attack on Bremmer In that instance the press was told that the attackers probably didn't know that it was the CPA heads Convoy that they were attacking it may have been Pure coincidence that the rockets were aimed at the side of the hotel Well wolfowitz was and had missed his room by a few yards a Coincidence similar to the attack the day before On the Arashit Hotel when a US Army Black Hawk helicopter guarding wolfowitz in Tick-Ritt was hit by our by RPG fire Which wounded some of his crew some of his crew According to US Officials, this was certainly another opportunistic random and desperate attack This same propaganda was recycled to describe the attack on Paul Bremmer's convoy on December 6 2003 the day Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited Iraq Coalition spokesman dawn center Let reporters know at a press conference that their quote was no evidence of a planned assassination attempt on Bremmer end quote and that quote it was probably a random kind of attack end quote To reinforce the point further He elaborated quote attacks occur there all the time and he happened to drive through it Three months after Bremmer was attacked General John Abbe Zed the top ranking US general in the Middle East was attacked by a flurry of RPGs That struck his convoy when he was visiting Major General Charles Swanak in Fallujah General Abbe Abbe Zed Commander of US forces in Iraq was confident that the group who carried out the attack was not Respons representative of the rest of people in Fallujah Every day on the streets of Baghdad. I was witnessing the deterioration of conditions in Iraq I had been in Iraq for barely a month and had seen the steady rise in the number of people begging on the streets Women sent their children after me with their hands stretched out as I walked to an internet cafe or to buy some food There were times when I had a child grabbing onto either arm and as I walked This grew worse when the temperatures dipped as the winter months set in In a cold wet rainy day. I sat in the lobby of the Agadir Talking with Baha Staring out the window at the falling rain. He said quote see how there are fewer cars now Fewer people can afford the petrol and now people will be freezing in their homes and quote Meanwhile, there was also escalation in the number of murders and kidnapings after the pro Saddam Hussein Demonstrations following his capture in which more than 40 Iraqis were killed by the Americans Baghdad had settled back into a hesitant hesitant tense quiet piercing this relative calm would be random bombs and sporadic gunfire along since normalized aspect of night in Baghdad Christmas Eve in Baghdad was a surreal experience for a Westerner after a day of interviews Akhil and I arrived at the Agadir to find the lobby filled with people Flurring around Discussing the attack on the big hotel We obtained we obtained enough sketch sketchy details to send us out Once again in the direction of the most heavily fortified hotel compound in Baghdad that of the nearby Shira Sheraton Palestine hotel complex We did so purely by trial and error since accurate details are hard to come by in such situations We asked the US soldier who did not know what happened But directed us towards the French embassy down the street where we had been told the attack took place He seemed quite friendly, so I asked where he was from. I am from California He said I could tell I could tell he wasn't sure if I was American due to my beard and The Kaffaya wrapped around my neck to continue the conversation. I said quote. I'm from Alaska How are you doing mad and quote he replied quote? Hanging in there brother hanging in there. I was born in Anchorage, but now I live in San Diego and quote I Told him to keep hanging in there and he thanked me as we began to walk away I heard him say quote Merry Christmas in court I swung around and wished them the same and saw him smiling at the instant Instance of normals normalcy amid the chaos of war and torn Baghdad We eventually reached the small field outside the hotel complex and were met by several Iraqi police Manning a small checkpoint. They told us the attack had been launched from the field Situated between the teach tickeries and the hotel Tigris tickeries Between the Tigris and the hotel one of them who was smoking a cigarette and eyeing us nervously Filled in the details quote at approximately 8 30 p.m. A car pulled up near a palm tree in this small field two men got out of the car calmly and Unloaded a small Russian made collision collision a missile by the time it had launched and Slam into the top floor of the hotel. We realized what was happening and started shooting at them We had a big gun battle and the shot over Shot and shot over 120 rounds at them, but they managed to escape and quote Walking down at Unlit side street back towards my hotel. We stopped at a tea vendor About two blocks from where the where the missile had been launched a keel didn't think the guards Guard story really stacked up. And so he asked the tea man what he had heard There had been no shell casings around where they had Where they where they said they had fired 120 times and the guards Had not been able to tell us what type of car it was even though they said they had shown Their spotlight on it The tea man confirmed our hunch when he said he had heard the huge missile explosion But no bullets at all stories of incompetent hastily trained Iraqi police Abandoned as did stories of resistance fighters joining the police as Infiltrators which is probably what the men that we had talked with outside the hotel had been the trend of Infiltration into the into both the Iraqi police and army by member of members of the resistance Increased exponentially in the coming months what we had just witnessed of the Collab collaboration between the Iraqi police and Iraqi resistance at the Sheraton Hotel Incident was but a prelude to infiltration on a massive scale to occur in the security forces This was a this reading was a different reading than what Darjumal read The video that I posted on my channel So this basically this book is basically Darjumal giving an account on a daily basis of Some of the things he does some of the stuff is very Just routine stuff. Some of the stuff goes into detail and I believe it gets Heavier as Darjumal Continues his stay in Iraq because he gets to know people and Some of the people he gets to know they die Okay, and there's some pictures that he has here District about that the day after so that was saying was captured Right, and this is Darjumal's This is Darjumal Huge respect to this guy Will kill the the person in the bottom, right? and he lived in Alaska and When this thing happened when the invasion of Iraq took place basically If I recall click correctly, he sold everything he had Put some stuff in storage packed up his bag bags and flew to Iraq to be an Uninvented journalist, and it wasn't a journalist before I forget what he was doing before Okay, let's read his little write-up Darjumal is an independent journalist who has covered the Middle East for more than four years He has reported extensively from inside Iraq for eight months and has also reported from Syria Turkey Lebanon and Jordan Jamal writes for the inter-press service Asia times and many other outlets His reports have been published in the national the Sunday Herald the guard the guardian foreign policy and focus and the Independent among other publications on radio as well and television Jamal has reported for DN and Numerous other stations around the globe Jamal is also special correspondent for flashpoint on K P F a radio Pacifica He lives in, California. Okay, and this book came out in in in 2007, okay


Back for segment four for manual asparaza of banyos. All right, there you go And that translates loosely maybe I don't know and to why do you consider yourself a mindful cyborg? So I like to turn mindful cyborg. I like it more than most connected man So I consider myself a mindful cyborg because when I see a piece of technology or I have an interaction with a piece of technology I first consider is it making me more aware of who I am and what my values are if the answer is that is no I try not to use those systems So I'm not a big fan of Facebook because when I find when I use it I find that I don't become introspective I become extra specter So that's the first way I think I'm a mindful cyborg The second way that I feel I'm a mindful cyborg is I believe that a lot of the technology that my friends and peers and family And the world starts to use is making them Maybe have a shorter Set of emotions so it's limiting them So I try to use technology in a way that makes people feel delighted. So for example my soon-to-be husband and I will Take screen captures of each other's snapchat just because it lets the other person know they screen shot it because that makes them feel special like it's a digital kiss or Will leave each other notes inside other applications just let each other know we're thinking about each other So I think being a mindful cyborg the second part is really using Technology and service of and support for love and that's something that we often don't talk about with technology I'll talk about it being in support of love and I think the last way that I am a mindful cyborg is I Can completely unplug and just meditate without anything No technology and be completely okay with that. So to kind of go back to your question earlier about getting anxious I don't get anxious. I get annoyed and I That's okay because there's one thing in life you need to do and that's get okay with not being okay And some days you're good at that and some days you're not so good. So go on from there Se siente seguro va a ver que un robo de alguno de tus aparatos puede a crear el robo de toda su información personal Do you feel secure knowing that the theft of one of your gadgets carries without the ball your information? I Don't know if I feel insecure about it. I Get asked a lot about data theft and privacy. I just always have a similar answer. I just don't believe in privacy I think it's a it's a it's a social system for the middle class because if you're poor, you don't have privacy And if you're rich, you don't care about it So I mean I wouldn't want my phone to be stolen Only because like it's a hassle But like if my FitBetter Apple Watch or any of my other wearables got stolen or a sensor at home with my dad And I don't care. I mean, I don't think what I do is that interesting So I think the obsession that some people have about their data being stolen is misplaced Because when someone says aren't you afraid that someone will steal all your data what they're really saying in my opinion is I'm afraid what I do is so unique and so special that if someone were to find out that I would be judged. I Don't have that problem.  That's why I'm post-privacy I believe if we all were a little bit more honest about what we wanted we wouldn't be so judgmental about ourselves Last question so what do people around you think about your lifestyle do they have opinions that influence? on your personal life, so I don't often ask people what they think I've had problems with relationships in the past with people who maybe weren't As Compassionate as they could be about my use of technology, but then again, I might have done things that might have made them not happy My I asked my current partner my current fiance what he thought about it and He had you know a roundabout answer you remember your answer You want to answer I It says what what do people around you think about my lifestyle you want to answer? Don't think I'm Sure He won't do it without a hat. See I don't care. You can see see again. I'm post-privacy. You can even see my messy hair Hold on. Here's Fernando Well before that I met Chris I was also in a little bit I was with I was writing my My dream What time do I sleep the steps that I take in the day I think I was like Chris Using me that my information para Ayudarme en el futuro y No, eram algo grande Porque yo estaba haciendo lo mismo So that's it. I hope those answered your questions and I'll probably put this on YouTube because I never put anything on my channel Because usually I let news people deal with us, but this was fun. We're in Chicago We just got back from two months in Europe We're gonna be back in the United States for a week and then we're headed back to Europe so thank you so much and good luck on your project meanwhile And thank you for reaching out and being patient with my schedule be good and stay connected


The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 11367, in the name of Beatrice Wishart, on future island and rural transport infrastructure. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request-to-speak buttons, and I call on Beatrice Wishart to open the debate. I thank the members who supported the motion that allowed the debate today, which is really about future-proofing transport connectivity for rural and island areas. We already know the impacts of poor transport connectivity on women, fixed income households, older and younger people, and today I am calling on the Scottish Government to listen to communities who feel that they would be better served with bridges or tunnels. You will not be surprised that today I will focus on moving away from carbon-intensive inter-island ferries, particularly in Shetland. The tunnels debate is not new. Today in Shetland it is set against the backdrop of an ageing ferry fleet with high-carbon emissions, and ferry crew recruitment and retention are difficult, all of which ever-increasingly impact the reliability of services. There is proof of concept. The short bridge between Muckel Roe and Shetland Mainland was seen as a means of reversing depopulation over a century ago. The islands of Borough and Trondha were connected by bridges in the 70s and have seen their populations grow. Trondha, from its lowest of just 17 to an eight-fold increase. It is the issues of depopulation, the economy and social links that are driving the campaigns calls for short subsea tunnels. The economies of the islands are being stifled, and that, in turn, impacts on Shetland's wider economic contribution to the national economy. Two ferries are needed to get to Unst, home of the new Saxaford spaceport, in the most northerly location of the UK. It is of national strategic importance, something that former First Minister agreed with in December 2021, saying, and I quote, a development like that would be of strategic importance, as well as being important to the local community and economy. In Yell, a local haulier transports significant quantities of fish landed at Cullibow pier and salmon from the local processing factory, but because of ferry delays out of Yell, there is a risk that they miss the onward ferry connection from Llerwick to Aberdeen and markets. Delays cost money for the haulier and for those exporting seafood. With tunnel infrastructure, it is anticipated that social and cultural links would be enhanced, including better public transport, increased tourism opportunities and improved health and public services, not least emergency services provision. There is a danger that some view discussions about inter-island fixed link connections purely through the lens of benefiting only those people living on those islands, rather than saying holistically the benefits to Shetland and ultimately to Scotland. If island communities are valued, they must be supported to reach their full potential, and there is no shortage of potential in Shetland from space, fishing, aquaculture, offshore and onshore energy in various forms. In February 2022, my MP colleague Alasdair Carmichael and I hosted an online public discussion about the possibility of short subsea tunnels in Shetland. We followed that up with our first tunnel vision event in the summer of 2022 and islands tour hosting discussions in community halls to gauge the views from each island about the opportunities and challenges of tunnel connections. Community-led grass-roots Unston Yealtown tunnel action groups, known as UTAG and YTAG, were developed. A further round of community engagement events this past summer saw the creation of a tunnel action group in Walser, home of Shetland's pelagic fleet, where yesterday one of its island ferries, the 41-year-old Henry, broke down yet again. UTAG and YTAG have been busy this last summer crowdfunding for geotechnical investigations to complement the work that has already been done on the concept of tunnels. I would. I thank Beatrice Wishart for taking intervention, but I also congratulate her on the work that she and Alasdair Carmichael have been taking forward. I think that the point that she makes about the community-led aspect of this campaign is vitally important, and certainly the message that I pick up speaking to my constituents in Orkney is very much amongst the younger population that the drive for these fixed links is coming and that in terms of retaining population in some of our island communities, this is absolutely integral going forward. Beatrice Wishart, I think that Liam McArthur makes some very good points, especially about the new generation. A recent visit to the Faroe Islands from representatives of the TAGs culminated in a report, a copy of which was sent to the transport minister. I, too, was able to visit the Faroe Islands earlier this summer. I met with the minister of fisheries and infrastructure, while Lansworth, the agency in the Faroe Islands responsible for the transport network, took me through the newest tunnel network, which was then under construction. When it opens later this month, almost 90 per cent of the Faroeese population will be connected by tunnels. I also saw the world's first subsea roundabout, it's very impressive. A recent report relating to the potential construction of a further subsea tunnel in Faroe concluded that it was significantly more environmentally sustainable than ferries. From our online meeting in February 2022, the development of TAGs and their work for geophysical surveys to Shetland Islands Council funding the development of the business case, Shetland PLC is working together to investigate whether tunnels can become a reality. That co-operation of working together extends to Shetland's engagement with the Scottish and UK Governments. Tunnels have an initial price tag, but will pay off in the long term when compared with several cycles of ferry replacements. It's not just Shetland that could benefit from fixed links. My Highlander Council colleague Angus MacDonald has also called for communities served by the Corren Vehicle Ferry to be connected with a fixed link. Earlier in the year, the ferries withdrawal for maintenance meant that those in the community faced a 42-mile road detour. Over 100 years ago, the bridge to Muckle Row was built to address depopulation. I would urge Scotland's Governments to emulate that foresight today. Investment now in sustainable transport infrastructure like tunnels or bridges would serve communities for many decades to come and would avoid replacing ferries with shorter lifespans. Vessels are often continuing in service well beyond their intended lifespan for the purposes of savings, like the 41-year-old Henry. Too often, those savings are short-term and wiped out by the eventual need to replace the asset. There are some island communities that, because of their geography, will continue to need ferries, and the replacement of those vessels must avoid the Scottish Government's west coast ferry fiasco from ever arising again or being replicated elsewhere in the country. Where communities make the case for tunnels, we should look beyond the next 20 years and invest in the future. To conclude, Presiding Officer, I agree with the sentiment that fixed links could improve communities' access to goods and services and make islands more attractive for people to live and work in and visit. A sentiment that the former Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero Energy and Transport spoke of in this chamber in January 2022, is that political will and investment are crucial to ensure progress. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I want to thank and congratulate Beatrice Wishart for getting this debate to the chamber today. I know that she has a deep commitment to serve her island constituents. I am grateful to stamp for you to speak in a matter of vital importance to Scotland, particularly for rural and coastal communities such as those that I represent in Bamshire and Bucking Coast. Although I admit that we are not an island, there are threads of the same running theme when it comes to connectivity. The coastal aspect of rural living adds in an extra dimension that raises issues that must have proportional attention in Parliament. While we are here to acknowledge the significance of connectivity in Scotland's rural and island areas, I want to acknowledge the Parliament's commitment to Scotland's net zero targets, as it is essential that our actions align with those environmental aspirations. The essence of my address today is the importance of localised decision making in infrastructure projects. Our rural and coastal communities, each with unique sets of needs and challenges, must have a say in the projects that directly impact their lives. Whether it is implementing fixed links such as tunnels or enhancing other transport services, the voice of the local community is paramount. When local communities are at the forefront of those decisions, it not only ensures that the solutions are tailored to their needs but also instills a sense of ownership and commitment to the success of those projects. Safety and economic vitality are at the heart of our concerns. Connectivity is not just a matter of convenience, it is a lifeline that supports local economies, tourism and ensures the safety of our residents. In that context, I would like to highlight the exemplary work and any chance to plug the campaign for north-east rail CNER. As an ardent supporter, I have raised their work in the chamber and previously met by the former transport minister Jenny Gilruth to discuss the transformative impact of railing the north-east. The Scottish Government's allocation of funds from the Just Transition Fund for CNER's Feasibility Study marks a significant step forward. It awarded £0.25 million from the Just Transition Fund. That feasibility study has made great leats forward in the past few months, with the appointment of world-leading consultancy firms, ACOM and Stantech, to explore the possibility of passenger and freight services running north of Dice and onwards to Peterhead and Fraserborough for the first time in more than half a century. My office's recent conversation with Jordan Jack, the general secretary of CNER, highlights the campaign's focus on collaboration with local interest groups. That approach, aligning with the former transport secretary's advice, ensures that our efforts in improving transport infrastructure are inclusive and community-driven. I thank the member for taking an intervention. Would she also like to see the jewling of the A19 north of Ellyn up to places like Peterhead and Fraserborough? I think that needs to come under part of another feasibility study, but we need to start looking out of the box and looking more towards rail. If you meet with CNER, which I hope you have, and talk to them about their future plans, we are talking about getting cars off the road and decarbonising. If we look towards electric rail for the future, that would be the best investments to make. I am looking forward to the feasibility study that is due in the spring of 2024. It is eagerly anticipated. I hope that it will play a crucial role in shaping our transport landscape. The need for an integrated approach in transport involves all modes, from ferries to rail, and deeply engages with local communities that cannot be overstated. The motion before us today is not just about building tunnels or enhancing ferry services, it is about building a more connected, sustainable and inclusive Scotland, one that I know our now transport minister is dedicated to create. I thank her for our communications and outreach with local projects in my constituency, which I have raised with her. As we consider the recommendations of the STPR2, the aspirations of Shetland's grass-roots tunnel action groups and initiatives such as the campaign for north-east rail, let us remember that the heart of those projects are the people that they serve, and let us commit to a future where every decision made is a step towards a safer, more prosperous and more connected Scotland for all. I now call Sharon Dowie to be followed by Kenneth Gibson. Thank you to Beatrice Wishart for securing today's debate, which acknowledges the importance of connectivity in Scotland's rural areas. We all agree that reliable transport infrastructure is essential for local communities, economies and tourism. The member's right to mention Scotland's net zero targets, because reaching them will depend on better transport services across the country. The fact is that various aspects of Scottish life, particularly our economy, receive less attention as we move towards more rural areas. In Ayrshire, there is a pressing need for a much better transport network. Take the A77. It serves as the main artery connecting the central belt to Northern Ireland through the Port of Cairnryan. It is a vital route for businesses, college companies, commuters, farmers and also brings tourists to the beautiful south-west corner of Scotland. That is why it is unbelievable that the average speed on such an important road is just 37.7 miles per hour. The Government's own south-west Scotland transport study identified the A77 as the slowest A-road in the country. It takes an average of 69 minutes to travel a 43-mile stretch. Thank the member for taking intervention. Do you agree with me that, given that the UK Government is providing £8 million for a business plan to build up the case for Bipassons, Crociford and Springhome on the A75, that the Scottish Government step up to the mark and at least match fund the UK Government in investing in the A77? I absolutely agree with that and I think that the local communities would welcome any extra investment in their infrastructure. Because it is so slow, it is not safe and people take unnecessary risks. The number of accidents on it is unacceptable. We have been asking for years to have the A77 fully dulled, which would stop many of those dangerous incidents and save lives. I have been speaking about this road since my maiden speech. Small towns in rural areas are disadvantaged by the out-of-date infrastructure. The lack of investment limits job creation. It holds back local businesses and the local economy. What incentive is there to start your business near the slowest A-road in the country? What incentive is there for people to move to the area when it takes so long to get to your work? While we all aspire to meet net zero targets, the necessary actions are lagging behind, such as investing in our public transport services. Numerous towns in my area could benefit from having a train station such as Mochland or Cumnock, but currently there are no trains going south from Ayr following a devastating fire. It has been almost three weeks since the First Minister assured me that I would be provided with a written update on the actions that the Scottish Government has taken, along with full details of its interactions with the local authority. I am still waiting on a response. This may not be an urgent situation for the SNP Government, but it is for the people of Ayrshire. The closure of the station is having a detrimental impact on local businesses and the local economy. We need to get the trains up and running, which will have the added benefit of helping us to reach net zero. To help people to ditch their cars, we need to provide them with reliable alternative transport options. Improving rural connectivity is a matter of urgent necessity for the wellbeing of our communities and the prosperity of our local businesses. The SNP Government must make it their priority, otherwise they are letting down our rural communities and the risk-missing of our net zero targets. I too congratulate Beatrice Wishart on bringing this matter to the chamber. As a constituency MSP for Arn Cymru in Holyale, I am all too aware of the specific challenges related to island connectivity. In the context of my own Cunningham North constituency, it has been a disappointing month in relation to connectivity, with partners and the Addrossan Harbour project having further work to do after the aim of going out to tender was paused this summer as the scope of the necessary works to be completed has been expanded. There are genuine concerns locally about delays to this project due to increased costs in their fresh business case. Are an axe in Addrossanites wonder why the extents of winter and pier in the Irish berth, which ferries need in winter weather to manoeuvre up the harbour, was not initially anticipated? When a visit to Ireland on 23 August, the First Minister gave assurances that Addrossan will remain the main port for Arn once the improvements are complete. That is welcomed by people in Arn and Addrossan who previously expressed concerns that Arn ferry might move to Trun permanently. The MV Glen Sarnach is now scheduled for spring next year with a view to its commencing services in the summer to be followed soon after by the MV Glen Rosa. The motion refers to the high output of carbon emissions from ferries serving Scotland's islands, and both glens will eventually have dual fuel propulsion systems using its traditional marine diesel and liquefied natural gas, with the latter producing fewer exhaust pollutants and potentially 25 per cent less greenhouse gases. However, we must ensure that the supply chain of LNG is resilient and as environmentally friendly as possible. The recommendation of the second strategic transport projects review 2, and I quote, investigate potential fixed link connections such as tunnels along ferry routes to the sound of Harris, the sound of Barra, and between Mill and the Scottish mainland, is one that I wholeheartedly support. Having visited the ferries islands myself in 2018, I am a big fan of the ferries undersea tunnel network. The ferries used to cut passes through their mountains before building 21 undersea tunnels from the early 60s until now. That has revolutionised life and travel in the ferries islands. For example, the travel time between the capital Torshaven and Runavik has fallen from an hour and 14 minutes to just 16 minutes. Such tunnels are also of good value for money. Fully connecting communities through the ferro archipelago enabling them to thrive and grow. A planned tunnel from the southern most island of Sudoroid to the end of Sandoy of around 13 to 15 miles is estimated to cost around £390 million. When one considers a price tag of the Queensferry crossing, which was a tenth that length, are new ferries that have to be crewed and are impacted by the weather, tunnels can be cost effective. Of course, all UK procurement projects are much more expensive than elsewhere in Europe. A matter, I believe, requires investigation. Shipping is often a polluting form of transport, but subsea tunnels could also contribute to reaching our net zero goals, although not all cars using the tunnels would be electric or indeed they would also have emissions, so that's a matter that has to be assessed. While that's appropriate for the Clyde to Arran or Cumbria islands, I share the motion sentiment that subsea tunnels in Scotland should be explored for the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland, where talks are reported to be an advanced stage. I was pleased that a delegation of Scottish MPs, including Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan, travelled to the ferro islands on Friday to engage with the nation that has led the world in undersea tunnelling. Of course, a Danun to Gwyrwp Tunnel could be a future possibility, which is no doubt why Ronnie was there. It's clear that our island constituents deserve transport infrastructure that is reliable and as resilient as possible. Although that hasn't always been the case, I'm hopeful that the future looks brighter with the delivery of low-emission ferries, as well as potentially fixed-link connections ushering in a new era of prosperity for our island communities. I again thank Beatrice Wishart for bringing this interesting motion to the chamber. I now call Rhoda Grant to be followed by Jamie Hulker-Johnson. I want to congratulate Beatrice Wishart on securing this debate and a debate that highlights the importance of connectivity, especially in our island communities. Much has been said about the ferry fiasco in the western isles, but issues are going on in Shetland as well regarding an ageing fleet. The council owns the ferry fleet. It's ageing, it's unreliable and it needs to be renewed, but councils, because of funding commitments, are unable to do that themselves. The council has been in talks with the Scottish Government looking for assistance to renew their ferry fleet. However, every time you renew a ferry, you need to look at replacing that in the future as well. Is it better value for money to build tunnels and fix links? That's certainly an argument that has been coming from Shetland for decades, asking for tunnels and bridges instead of ferries to link their communities. It's quite sad that communities are now crowdfunding to try and make this a reality when Governments should be listening. Beatrice also spoke about the Cordon ferry and the length of time it was off this summer, creating a huge detour for communities over what is a very narrow strait to get communities to Fort William much, much quicker, and that should be considered certainly for a fixed link as well. I totally agree with that. Beatrice also talked about the benefits to communities of fixed links, and we need to look at the western aisles and how they used European funding to build bridges and causeways. Harris and Sculpey were joined together, Burner and North US, Bimbacula, South US and Erisgy, all joined together and Barra and Battersea as well. We saw as a result of that. There was an economic benefit, but there was also a social benefit because people had much easier access to services. Obviously, there are links between Erisgy and Barra and Burner and Harris that need to be looked at for the future, which are still served by ageing ferries, but it would benefit those islands to have fixed links as well. I guess more controversially is having fixed links from island groups to the mainland, and I know that people are not so keen on that because they lose the benefits of island life and we look to the sky very often and see that there has been a huge economic benefit to the sky of having a bridge. However, there are people now that see that that economy is overheating with the lack of houses for young people and the like. So we have to be careful and plan with local communities to listen to what they want and how we can fulfil their ambitions. Government must also listen to those communities and make a strategic plan that fulfills their wishes and ambitions. Everyone knows that this cannot be done overnight, but it certainly will never be done if we do not start making a plan. So I would urge Government to look at this and start our strategic plan immediately. Deputy Presiding Officer, can I congratulate Beatrice Wishart on bringing forward this motion and debate today? I apologise that she did not formally support the motion. It was merely an oversight and I would like to put on record my support for the sentiments in it because it is an important issue, not just in Shetland but in Ireland and other rural communities right across my Highlands and Islands region. Can I also apologise that I am not able to be with you in the chamber today to take part in the debate? I am having to take part remotely because my ferry yesterday was cancelled at the last minute due to technical issues, and this was the same ferry brought back into service to allow the MV Alfred to cover gaps in the Calmer fleet on the west coast. I have repeatedly warned of Orkney being impacted by the growing ferries crisis on the west coast, and I feel that this kind of proves my point. If I can start by talking briefly about Shetland during the summer, I met with those campaigning for tunnels in for their communities, but also with Shetland Island Councils a council about their efforts. I have countless approaches from local residents, businesses and other groups in Shetland making the case for fixed links. It is quite clear that tunnels or bridges should be considered when considering linking islands and other rural communities, as is the case in countries right across the world, but they have not been given enough consideration by this SNP-led Government, and while they have, as the motion states, now been included in STPR2 in the western isles, Scotland continues to focus on replacement ferries, where ferries are currently operating. That is despite there being examples of successful fixed links projects right across Scotland already. Yesterday on my abortive attempt to cross the Pentland Firth by ferry, I headed across the Churchill Barriers, which linked Orkney South Isles. They were originally built to defend scaper flow against attacks during the war, but they now provide a vital road link for the communities they connect, and there is, of course, the Skybridge, as previously mentioned, built under the Conservatives, which links Skye with the mainland of Scotland and which has transformed connectivity for that island. But it is not just about island communities that could benefit from fixed links. I have repeatedly raised the issue faced by local residents and businesses reliant on the Coronarrows ferry link, as mentioned earlier, and the damage being done to their communities with both the main ferry and the replacement boat out of action for long periods, including at peak times over the summer. The Coronarrows is a vital crossing, yet local people have suffered a year of disrupted services, which has put real pressure on their communities, and for some put into question the very sustainability of the local area for the future, some are already talking of packing up and moving elsewhere. In the Chancellor's Autumn statement, the UK Government announced that £20 million worth of funding could be made available for infrastructure improvements, and while this is welcome, it won't help with the immediate challenges being faced by local people. There are many within the local community, as highlighted by local surveying, who want a fixed link, whether that's a bridge or a tunnel, and I would support that ambition. Looking longer term, it should be part of any consideration of how to deliver a Coronarrows crossing for the future. However, in the shorter term, those local residents and businesses need a ferry service that they can rely on, and they need it now. Most in the communities that I spoke to when I was there in the summer don't care if it's an electric ferry or another diesel ferry, they just need it to run when it's supposed to. Can I ask the Transport Minister, either now or in her closing speech, if she can advise what consideration, if any, is being given by the Scottish Government in consultation with the Highland Council, who operate the route to procuring or securing a diesel replacement vessel to strengthen resilience across the Coronarrows? Deputy Presiding Officer, I could speak for longer and in more detail about some of the other areas that could be included, but this is only a very short or very welcome debate. I hope, however, that it has highlighted to the Transport Minister and to her SNP and Green colleagues just how important those links are and just how devastating the loss of those links can be to our local communities. I hope that she will accept that, although recently rejoining the Scottish Government herself, her party's record on supporting existing and delivering new lifeline links to our island and remote communities simply hasn't been anywhere near good enough. Thank you. I thank Beatrice Wishart for bringing this debate on island connectivity and fixed links and framing it in the context of our climate ambitions. I'd also like to thank the Shetland grassroots tunnel action group, because without them, I don't think we would be here this evening spurring Beatrice on to bring the motion here. I'm really grateful to be able to speak in this debate on behalf of communities that I represent in the Highlands and Islands. As I was preparing for this debate, I actually remembered and people have talked this evening about how Shetland has been making a noise about fixed links for some time. I remembered a Shetland newspaper headline revealed ambitious plans for a six-line aisle-wide underground rail network with a fantastic image of the London underground imposed on the Shetland aisles. That was published on 1 April 2011. April is full, but a tremendous provocation to having these conversations about the importance of fixed links. Fixed links are transformative, and that's been already described this evening. Economically and socially, they bring benefits. Also, I think if they are part of a multimodal shift of transport, they can also bring those environmental benefits. As we've heard this evening already from Kenneth Gibson, the international store of the Faroe Islands is a tremendous one. I remember hearing about that and then seeing it with my own eyes. One of the things that really struck me was that they said that this was a democratic act, that they wanted to provide the fixed links so that everyone could have access to the capital city. I was really struck by that aspect of what they were trying to do there, but we have, as we've heard, fixed links in Scotland. Thank you very much. I think that the point is not just that people can access the city, but it allows far-flung communities in the Faroe Islands to survive and thrive. Instead of all the young people moving to the capital, Torshaven, they can stay in the communities that they grew up in and those can thrive because everyone is so close to the capital if they need to get there. I thank the member for that intervention and for bringing that balance, and that is absolutely right. We have them in Scotland, and we've seen that happen. We've heard the church hall barriers being mentioned, built in 1945, transformative. Of course, it would be remiss of me not to mention who looks after those. They were built a long time ago, and that seems to be a missing link of those fixed links. We've got the sky bridge. Again, Rhoda Grant talked about the need for the balance of do we want to open up an island to that access. I think that it has brought a tremendous amount of benefit, but I would want to listen to the communities there. Smaller, but no less an impact, Erisgay Causeway, which was opened in 2001, brings a tremendous benefit to the communities. We have a duty to address rural and island population loss. Rural and island connectivity is a big part of that, and we must listen to islanders and rural communities. I thank the member for taking an intervention. When we talk about listening to rural communities, do you not think that we should listen to the rural communities who are demanding that the A9 be fully dualled? The thing about the A9 that we need to be doing is right away addressing the safety issues. I think that that is being tackled. Those are the things that we can do right now. I would also like to see much more work being done on addressing the dualling of the rail line between Inverness and Perth. As I was saying, we have a duty to rural and island communities, and they must be listened to. I think that that is reflected in the work of Transport Scotland. The second transport project review points out that the current ferry routes on the sound of Hara, sound of Barra and between Mull and the Scottish mainland face a number of issues and challenges. Replacing ferry services with fixed links, bridges, causeways and or tunnels can improve reliability, connectivity, capacity and travel times and allow for a wider reconfiguration of services. The STPR recommends that further work is undertaken on business cases to better understand the benefits, costs and challenges associated with those interventions. Of course, I would align my thoughts with Beatrice and others here around bringing the Shetland fixed links into that process, as well as, as was mentioned by Jamie Hock or Johnson, the current ferry. However, in all of this, we need to be considering the context. We are in the current cost of living crisis with impacts of inflation. I hear on both of the committees that I sit on, the rising cost of construction and the lack of skilled people often brought on by Brexit. We are also leading up to a budget process that we are going to be hearing about in a few weeks' time, so how are we going to afford these initiatives? One of the things that I wonder about is, could we invite business and industry who will certainly benefit from fixed links to participate through investment, for example those in space, energy or salmon farming sectors, to consider actually investing in our links? To conclude, Presiding Officer, we all do need to get behind fixed links, but we need to ensure that we are listening to the communities who are taking the lead and that we ensure that we get the right fixed link in the right place. I now call Douglas Ross, who will be the last speaker before I ask the minister to respond. Mr Ross. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It's a pleasure to take part in this debate, and I congratulate Beatrice Wishart for securing this debating time. I think that we've heard a range of positive speeches from around the country, but particularly and rightly so, I think that the Highlands and Islands region, a region that I'm proud to represent, because this is an issue of critical importance to our communities. We've heard and we know about the on-going issues in the Western Isles and the failure to build ferries that were promised to those communities. Jamie Halcro Johnston has shown in his own contribution today the difficulties of living and working in our island communities. Ferries' failures, be that due to weather or maintenance and mechanical issues, have a direct impact on the daily lives of people who live and work in our island communities. I was up in Shetland earlier this year, and at my surgeries, be that in mainland Shetland or out in the islands, this issue came up time and time again. Indeed, I met with the Unst and Yell Tunnel Action Group in one of my surgeries and was very proud to support their campaign and the work they've done, and I think that they should be rightly credited in our Parliament today for everything they have done, because this is an issue that has grown in momentum. It was just last year that they, I believe, rightly criticised Transport Scotland for looking at fixed links elsewhere in Scotland, but largely ignoring their calls in Shetland. I was encouraged by the comments from the new transport minister just back in September of this year in her discussions up in Shetland that this is something that there will now be more discussion on. Anoda Grant commented on this, and I again commend the group for the current online auction that they've got going. There's 80 lots that are currently up for auction, donated by local businesses and supporters of the group, and that is commendable, and I wish them every success with it, but it's also disappointing that they have to fund raise in this way for work that I believe should be done by the Scottish Government. They are saying that fund raise will help get work on the geotechnical investigations and the socio-economic and environmental impact work. That's vital, but surely it should be done by the Scottish Government on behalf of our constituents in Shetland and in these islands. Kenny Gibson, Beatrice Wishart, Rhoda Grant and many others have spoken about this as being, yes, a big initial cost to build tunnels, but in the long run this will save taxpayers money. This will be a better method to move people between and from and to our islands, but also in the long run will, I believe, be a spend to save measure that the Scottish Government could take forward. I really think that the work being done there is something that we all need to get behind and I've been encouraged by what I've heard so far this evening. We should also look at the impact that this will have on encouraging people to move to our islands. There is a big issue getting young people, getting families to move to our islands, and there's no doubt that the unreliable service that is often received from the ferries for various reasons does put people off and with fixed links. That could really revitalise some of these communities who have so much to offer. I would hope that the work done, not just here in Parliament, but we should also recognise the work done in local council when I was up in Shetland earlier this year. The chief executive, the leader of the council, the convener of the council, the representatives on the transport committee were united in this and I hope they are encouraged by what they hear in Parliament this evening. Finally, this debate is titled connectivity in rural and island communities. For a moment, if I could just speak about rural issues, not an island community, but coming from Murray, we are a rural constituency, a rural part of Scotland, and connectivity issues are significant in Murray, in other parts of the highlands and islands, and as we've heard from Sharon Dowey and Finlay Carson, other parts of Scotland. We have a lot of debates in this place, rightly, about the A9. It would be interesting if the minister would take the opportunity tonight to say when the A9 will be fully dualled, but we've also had a commitment and promises made to fully duall the A96, which goes through Murray. And we're rightly here from Fergus Ewing calling for an IRM bypass, but what about the bypass for Elgin? What about the bypass for Keith? These are vital infrastructure upgrades that we need. It's been called for for many, many years by constituents in Murray. It's been called for by businesses in Murray. That is a connectivity that we need to open up further opportunities in Murray. It was a pledge by the SNP many, many years ago. I don't want to see them backsliding on that pledge because of the Greens in government. That was a promise they made, a promise they have to deliver, and one the people and businesses of Murray expect. Thank you, Mr Ross. I now call on Minister Fiona Hyslop to respond to the debate around the role that transport plays in connecting and sustaining all our island and rural communities across Scotland. Ms Wishart has regularly raised the potential for fixed links to play a part in future thinking and, indeed, future-proofing connectivity for the aisles that she represents. She knows that inter- aisles connectivity is the lead of Shetland Island Council, but I hope that she and other members will be pleased to note that I have met the council in recent weeks where they relayed their plans for their inter-island transport connectivity programme and look forward to seeing the outcome of their preliminary business case work on short sea crossings. We have consistently offered the assistance and advice of my officials at Transport Scotland in this process. Of course, that is connected by the drive of Unst and the Yell tunnel action groups to get the research on the table. I also had the pleasure of meeting them in this summer in Larwick. As I said at the time, I am interested in this aspect of connectivity. Much is drawn from the fairways experience, which, interestingly and importantly, is privately financed and underwritten by the state government of Denmark. With the need for reliable access for workers travelling across inter-islands, particularly in developing space and energy sectors, there is clearly a common interest with business. We have heard from members about the challenges and concerns faced by communities in different parts of Scotland. That very much reflects my own discussions and observations while visiting Shetland, Orkney, Fort William and Mull over the summer and more recently Stornoway and in the many virtual meetings that I have held with community groups from Arran, Islay and others. The Isles and Connectivity plan, due to being published, will recognise much of what has been articulated this evening. It will set out that wider understanding and recognition of future needs and strategic vision for the future, as well as setting out the long-term vessel and port plans and for consultation with our island communities to establish an agreed way forward. Supporting that are the 45 recommendations set out in the second strategic transport projects review published last December. That represents a repositioning of our transport investment priorities with a focus firmly on how transport can help us to protect our climate and improve the quality of people's lives. SME R2 recommends that we continue our significant investment in port and vessel infrastructure to improve our ferry network. There will be six new major vessels serving Scotland's network by 2026, helping to improve reliability and resilience across our networks. That will then be followed by the small vessel replacement programme that is on track and will deliver vessels between 2026 and 2028. As the motion notes, SME R2 further recommends the investigation of potential fixed links at the sound of Harris and Barra and between Mull and the Scottish mainland, which could improve communities access to goods and services, making those islands more attractive for people to visit, live and work in. The convention of the Highlands and Islands meeting that I attended last week set out that the initial community sense of desirability for fixed links now be explored. My officials and I both understand the critical need to listen to the communities in order to arrive at solutions that work for them, and that opinions on the issue differ between communities. I think that the Order of Grant made that point very well. While we explore solutions to the transport needs of our island communities, we know that the ferry networks will continue to be needed until any suitable fixed link is developed and are operational. We also recognise the challenge for local authorities that have responsibility for ferries, and the Government has provided those councils with more than £178 million in revenue since 2018 to support the running of those services. The Scottish Government continues to work closely with Orkney and Shetland Islands through the ferry task forces, the latest of which was on 23 November, when the Deputy First Minister and I met Shetland Islands Council about progressing the work of the Shetland task force. I should also point out that, on the replacement for the Coron Ferry, we are engaging with the Highland Council who are responsible for the Coron Ferry future design, allowing them to benefit from work on the small vessel replacement programme, which have implemented, may offer the additional resilience to the local ferry network that being a part of what a standard roll-off ferry design offers. However, the situation remains that decisions on the future of local ferry services, including the replacement by a fixed link, are decisions for the respect of local councils to make. The issues that we are addressing today have to also be put in the context of the fiscal environment that we are facing. We are clearly operating with an extremely challenging fiscal environment, and the Government is faced with some very stark decisions. Those were clearly set out in the Deputy First Minister's letter to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 23 November. Those choices are even starker because we no longer have access to European funding. Independent Scotland, on the other hand, would offer greater flexibility in the funding levers that could be applied and access, once again, to EU funds. It would also offer the power and opportunity to make potentially different strategic investment decisions to the Westminster Government. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, the importance of resilience, yes indeed, Douglas Ross? I'm grateful to the Minister for Giving Way, because I think that until she moved on to independence, there was largely consensus in terms of what we're looking to achieve as a Parliament cross-party on fixed links.  Can she tell us when the A9 will be fully dualled and her plans for dualling the A96? As the member will be aware, because it has been stated a number of times in this chamber, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport will make a statement about the A9 that will set out those plans. Indeed, in terms of the reference to the motion, I'm not sure that the road aspect of it was central to Beatrice Wishart's approach. I do want to reflect and respect the motion that has been put forward that has been signed by a number of members in this chamber. Minister, could you resume music for a second? Just for a sake of clarification, and obviously how members responded to what issues they raised as an entirely matter for them, I did take the trouble to reread the motion at the start, given that the number of issues that were being raised. However, I did satisfy myself that the references in the motion to the importance of reliable transport infrastructure, for example, allowed that wider focus in minister. No, Presiding Officer, I'm upset at that point. I think that I would need more than seven minutes to cover the range of all the different issues that have been raised in the debate today. That's why I've focused particularly on the points that were reflected in the opening speech by the member who laid the motion in the first place. Presiding Officer, in conclusion, the importance of resilient, reliable and affordable transport for rural and island communities needs to be addressed with intent and purpose. What that looks like and how it can best serve these communities is something that this Government continues to work on in close consultation with the communities and local action groups. Financial uncertainties, inflation and 10 per cent reductions in a capital budget are the realities that we face. Funds received through the levelling up funding fall short of the funding we in our island communities received from the European Union, which it's meant to replace. While fixed links could be a solution for some communities at some point in the future, they must be considered at the same time as the short and medium-term needs as well as that. That is the challenge in marrying those two issues. However, I can assure members that fixed links are an important consideration as we deliver future transport solutions for our island communities. Thank you, minister. That concludes the debate. I close this meeting.


Hey, this is Brett, and this 2019 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew Cab Short Box is stock number 12780Z. We're here at Summit Automotive in Fond Lac, Wisconsin. You're new and used heavy-duty truck headquarters. This 2019 Chevy Silverado has the 6.6-liter Duramax diesel engine with the L5P engine, which puts out 445 horsepower. This truck has been fully-safetyed and inspected by our service shop per the state of Wisconsin inspection process. It has a fresh oil and filter change. All the fluids have been checked and topped off, and this truck is 100% ready to go. We're going to go all the way around in this video, inside, underneath, start it up, and take a look under the hood. Black clear coat is the color, and we shoot all of our videos in 4K. So if you have HD capabilities on your computer, tablet, smartphone, or television, I highly recommend turning them on right now because it is your best way to check out the quality, condition, options, and cleanliness of the vehicle before seeing it in person. And if you like the video and how we do things here at Summit Automotive in the lower right-hand part of the screen is a subscribe button to our YouTube channel. Click that, and then click the bell notifications. You'll get updates on the videos we do each and every day here at Summit Auto. This one comes with the 20-inch painted and polished aluminum rims. These are some of my favorite rims on the GMs. It has Goodyear Wrangler SRA 265 LT 265 60R 20 tires. And these tires have right around, I'd say, 50 to 60% of the tread left. Frame and underbody, maybe a little dusty, but pretty nice shape. It does have the Rancho shocks, part of that Z71 off-road suspension package. Front fender is in excellent condition. I didn't see any dents or dings on there. It does come with the projector style headlamps, the factory fog lights, and the front bumper is in excellent condition. I didn't see any major dents or dings on there. And it does have the front bumper parking sensors. This truck comes with the chrome trimmed grille, the blacked out bow tie, has the true cowl induction hood, fully functional air intake there. And I'll show you that at the end of the video, how that works. Passenger side front fender, I didn't see any dents or dings on there. And the passenger side rim, no major scuffs or scrapes. Very nice condition. And as you go down this side of this 2019 Chevy Silverado 2500, take note of how clean that body is, how reflective, and mirror like that paint is. We take these HD videos, so if you are far away, or even if you're close by, and you just cannot make the trip down, but you're still interested in purchasing the vehicle, you can see the truck, hear the truck, and have confidence in the vehicle that you're looking at before you even get here. So when you do get here, there's absolutely no surprises. And you can make a smart and informed buying decision from wherever you're at. And if this video helps you make that decision, let your salesmen know that you saw the video, that it was helpful, and that Brett sent you. Like I said, if you like the video, subscribe to our YouTube channel in the upper right hand part of the screen. There's a link. Back rims in excellent shape. Back tires have just as much tread as front tires. And the frame and underbody, other than a little bit of surface rust on the welds there, is in really nice shape. Has all the remaining factory exhaust. So it hasn't been altered in any way. And the lower rockers, cab corners, all look really good as well. Comes with the factory chrome step bars. So you may have been wondering, these are just stickers on here. So if you didn't like them, you could always remove them. They're just like a vinyl sticker. Anyways, coming down, I think they look good. Coming around to the back, rear bumpers in nice shape. Has a full towing package, which includes the receiver hitch, four-pin and seven-pin wiring, backup parking sensors, and the rear bumper steps. The tailgate is in excellent condition as well. Does have a locking tailgate. Shocked down assist tailgate. Spray and bed liner has fifth wheel bed rails back here. And the bed is in really nice, clean condition. Didn't see any major dents or dings. And that bed liner goes onto the tailgate, which is a nice feature as well. Now it does have a trifecta soft tonneau cover. I think that's a fold-up tonneau. I will say there is one little rip on there. But that's why we do the videos, because these are used vehicles. And they're not going to be perfect, but we try to make them as nice as possible. But sometimes on accessories and stuff, stuff happens. Anyways, coming down the driver's side, the box looks like it's in great shape. Didn't see any major dents or dings on there. This back room is in pretty nice condition as well. And down the rest of the side of the truck. Box, doors, and cab all look really good. This one does come with the power mirrors. These are heated and have built-in directional signals. Driver's side blind spot mirror. Inside the LTZ package gives you the gray leather interior. There are no rips. There are no tears on those seats. They are in very nice condition. Smells very clean inside this truck. I don't think it's ever been smoked in. Has factory all-weather formats. Both of these front seats are heated and cooled. You do get auto headlamps turned out full-wheel drive. Factory brake controller. Tilt, telescopic steering wheel. Power windows, power locks, power mirrors, and memory driver's seat. This one does have the Bose sound system. And you can see that these mirrors do power fold in. I always like showing both sides so you know that both sides are working properly. Hop inside, check out the miles, the radio, and everything that this truck has to offer on the interior. You can see that this one has 49,342 miles. You do get a compass and digital speedometer display. The nice Z71 instrument cluster on there comes with the heated leather-wrapped steering wheel. That thing is in nice shape. Blue tooth and information center controls on the right. Cruise controls, forward collision warning controls, and heated steering wheel controls on the left. And you do get audio controls on the back of the steering wheel. This one does have the Allison heavy duty six-speed automatic transmission with the optional tap shift. Has the Chevy MyLink system with the factory navigation system on there. You can see that that is working nicely. You do have AM, FM, and Sirius XM radio capabilities. CD player, this is also where your backup camera shows up. This one has projection manager. You can project your cell phone to the screen via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. So if you have a nav system on your phone that you like better than the factory one, project it right up there. You can also play music and songs through the radio from your phone. So that's pretty cool too. Has the heated and cool seat buttons.  That's for your cargo lamps. Parking sensors, you can turn those off and on. Lane departure warning, downhill assist control, and factory exhaust brake. This one comes with two USBs, two 12 volt power points, and a 110 volt, 150 watt plug-in. Dual glove boxes, passenger side format and seat are in excellent shape. I didn't see any rips or tears on there. And the headliner is in nice condition as well. No rips or tears up there. Up here you get map lights, home link buttons for your garage door security systems and lane systems, power sign rear window with the built-in rear defrost, and your on-star and SOS buttons in the mirror. You also have a wireless cell phone charge pad right there. It's a nice feature. We'll check out the back seats and then we'll start it up and take a look under the hood. Back seats are just as clean as the front seats. No rips, no tears back here. It does have the latch child safety system for any child car seats you may have. Once again, power sign rear window with the built-in rear defrost. Seats are in excellent shape. Back carpeting is in nice condition as well. And you do get the all-weather floor mats back here. This one does come with side curtain airbags. And the bottoms of the doors all look really good on this truck. We'll start it up and take a look under the hood. Starts right up. No check engine lights or anything like that. And I would personally like to thank you for checking out the video today. And hopefully from this HD video, you'll be able to verify the quality and condition of this truck all the way around inside and out. Really a nice ride, sharp looking. Under the hood we have the 6.6 liter Duramax diesel engine. Engine bay is very clean, runs very smooth. Once again, this truck has been fully safe and inspected by our service shop as a fresh oil and filter change. All the fluids have been tracked and topped off. And this truck is 100% ready to go. Like I said, I'll show you how that... So the air comes in there, comes down the side of the hood, right into the air box right here. Here's your emissions sticker. And this truck is 100% ready to go. I would highly recommend this 2019 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew Cab Short Box LTZ from a quality and condition standpoint. And to see more pictures of this truck or one of other 450 new and used cars, trucks, SCVs, minivans, Wranglers, halftones, three-quarter tons, one tons. You name it, we got to go to that website right there, summitauto.com. Full pictures and descriptions of every single vehicle from two locations all at summitauto.com. And if you'd like to check out more HD videos, you can go to youtube.com slash summitauto. Number two, like, subscribe and share on this video and all the videos that you see there. Click the bell notifications to get updates on the videos we do each and every day here at Summit Automotive. In fact, in a second, you'll see a link to subscribe to our YouTube channel in the upper left. A link to more Chevy 2500 truck videos like this one in the upper right. A link to this vehicle on our website in the lower left. And a link to one of our latest YouTube videos in the lower right. Click those check us out and we're super excited to help you with this Ultra Clean 2019 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew Cab Short Box LTZ in black. Clear coat, thanks again for checking out the video. Remember to like, subscribe and share.