Sunday, November 28, 2010

Bi-Metal Powered Moon Rover for Frednet Mission

Into FREDNET Lunar Mission: Wiki - November 28, 2010

Moon Rover powered by a Bi-metal strip 'Thermal Motor'


The "Toaster Engine"


I was thinking about the thermometer type thermal motor (my first Lunar Rover idea, see above) while I was burning some toast this afternoon. I was airing out the room and I was thinking, I need a new toaster. While considering these newfangled $100.00 toasters that use a chip and some fancy censors to pop-up your toast when it's ready - it hit me: why not use the difference in temperature from sunny to shade on the moon to power a rover using a system of bi-metal strips?

(Bi-metal strip rover drawing 7)
(I can draw a lot better by hand than I can - so far - with Microsoft Paint (I need a scanner), but I hope this helps see the idea.)

Previously published drawings

Drawing 6:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iovMGXiNw4M/TPHubO_WAOI/AAAAAAAABwE/qjLCy10Rxis/s1600/Bi-metal+strip+rover+6.bmp


The front axial runs through a short slot in the 'chassis rail', basically fixed but able to pivot for turns. The rear axial extends through a much longer slot in the rail at the rear. All four wheel hubs are connected by rods that connect at the tip of a pyramid, a universal joint, which can articulate on the 'x' axis as well as the 'y'.


This 'inch worm' type drive reaches it's apex (it's shortest length), in the shade of the "umbrella" - which is pre-positioned according to the celestial latitude of the sun before a given journey. The umbrella is articulating with the chassis to block the sun from shining on a series of "expansion strips", that are made of a material that changes length considerably between -100 C at +100 C.

When the vehicle reaches it maximum potential point, it's shortest length (as in the Image), the umbrella has moved off from shading, causing the expansion strips to expand in the intense heat of the sun. With the back wheels now locked - (also via a expansion strip breaking system - which could be as simple as a poker sticking through the spokes of the wheels) - the the front wheels move forward.


As the vehicle reaches it's longest point, or it's position of least potential, the umbrella once again has come back over the expansion strips and the period of gaining potential energy begins (ironically through a cooling down towards the temperature of 'empty' space - 4 Kelvin).

[Makes one wonder if this motor is in fact a dark matter engine. :)]



Steering

To change direction, the bi-metal strips on the side one wishes to go are kept in shade (perhaps a shading device flips into place on the previous cycle) thus the wheels on the far side get further apart while the inside wheels stay close together and with the breaks 'on' the vehicle turns.



Next

Lots of problems with it that I've seen while writing this concept outline (especially the turning). A prototype could be made with a Maccano Set.

Test: use a heat gun on a cold January day here in Toronto. Need to research the best metal to test here on earth.

Best material for the conditions on the moon?

Find a test chamber that can go from -100 C to +100 C.



mh

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Ball-Type Moon Rover driven by a 'Thermal Motor'


I Joined the Wiki at Team FREDNET, the 'Open Source Team' at the Google Lunar X-prize.

I had an idea.

"The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014."

They're probably well along in their engineering of a Moon Rover, with the dealine only 2 years to go, but looking at video of Joshua Tristancho's "Picorover" - I was inspired - and imagined this:

A "Thermal Motor"
Using the difference between shaded and not shaded temperatures on the moon as a motive force.

The 'thermal motor' is a number of thermometer-like tubes, inside the skin of a ball, that travel 1/4 (for example) around the diameter of the ball. The 'thermometers' contain a liquid that at 107°C (moon sunny-side temperature) expands to almost fill the length of the tube - while at -153°C (the shadow side moon temperature) must shrink to fill less than half of the tube.

Through the use of Smart Glass membranes on the skin of the ball, the tubes are alternately exposed to sun light and then not, the resultant movement of the liquid up their tubes, around the inside of the skin of the ball, causes the ball to roll.

I don't know what that liquid is yet.

Also 'chambers' could be added to the ends of these thermometers, the idea being to change the position of as much liquid mass via warming and cooling by solar radiation as possible.

To add steering to this thermal motor driven rover, layers of tubes running at right angles to the first layer are shielded by a separate layer of Smart Glass screening - by exposing elements of the second layer you would create momentum at right angles to the forward inertia, thus causing angular momentum which would cause the ball to change direction.

As the relative position of everything is changing all the time when the ball is in motion, one would need to have position technology of some sort, so the on-board computer, that controls the smart glass screening could maintain a relative position in space. The position technology could be as simple as a flies eye cluster of light sensors - for direction only - plus solar astrometric data.

(It cannot roll into shadowed areas, or it's 'off' until the moon's rotation brings it into the sun again.)

An area of the ball will need to be covered with photoelectrics to supply electricity to a series of capacitors as the energy required to change the opaqueness of the screens is a voltage burst, plus the on board processor requires a steady voltage, so battery storage is also required.

The vehicle could be made of a polysilicon of some sort or perhaps polyurethane.


Now, somebody make a prototype and get famous. :)

The Google Lunar X-prize, Team FREDNET Wiki - User: Michael Holloway Page.

Joshua Tristancho's "Picorover"






mh

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

A Cartoon

At The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest:

"Table four wants to know how long for the Free Range Chicken?"


Drawing by Tom Cheney
Contest #265 ends November 29, 2010

Enter: The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest.



mh

Thursday, November 18, 2010

David Bryne is just really good at expressing ideas with poetry

Saying that you 'get' a song just like the artist intended - or in other words that if you tried you could do that too. Or, that you're just like they are, that, so here's some writing that shows I think just like musician 'X'.

That just shows that you're insane.

This video by Talking Heads shows that I 'get' this song.



I'm just like Bavid Bryne.

He thinks that identity is the most important factor in the things that you do and vide-versa - and so do I (and so do I do not).

:)

Or perhaps David Bryne is just really good at expressing ideas with poetry.



mh

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

National Security State becomes matter of fact - we're left arguing the details

The election of President Obama has done nothing to slow the institutionalization of The National Security State*. In fact, not wanting to appear soft of security the White House may have speeded its triumphant ascendancy.

It's our fault, the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) needs our fear - it feeds on it. On a personal level we must stop being scared of those with less, those squalid squatters who dress in uniforms we don't recognize. Stop staring at the sidewalk, start talking, start helping. It's an old idea - love thy neighbour. This will be the MIC's ultimate undoing. On a political level demand more public resources for social programs, schools, roads. As in the process of getting out of a war, the first step is to withdraw troops, in the process of getting out of The National Security State, the most effective device is to demand spending on caring rather than fear.

The newly installed back-scatter body imaging devices coming to more and more airports in North America, 44 are being placed as we speak at Canadian Airports (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax).They are another example in the ever spiraling spending on National Security that is big business's best weapon against The Liberal Democratic State, which limits they're ability to produce profit. Our tax dollars are being used to scare us into more sending on the military and less spending on our fellow human beings.

***


Bruce Schneier is my go to expert on security issues. He always has an informed and usually unexpected take; and with the propaganda surrounding The National Security State prompted by 9/11 and the rising of the military industrial comple to primacey in American life now in full swing, his take is unfortunately increasingly necessary to remain both informed and sane at the same time.

He calls security aimed at preventing the loss of life through terrorist actions a waste of money, He calls it “security theater”, designed to make the government look good and you feel better about the holocaust they are protecting you from. Schneier says spending on "intelligence, investigations, and emergency response" to terrorist events is money best spent.

You can't stop a lone nut with a bomb in a crowded place, you can only mitigate the effects on society that the horror of a sucessful terrorist action causes. That means you have top notch investigators finding the perpetrators who organized the suicide nutter after the fact, and shut down those networks, after the fact. Our belief in justice is another kind of "security theater", but a much more healthy one than the brand of jack booted military on our streets - like what Israel, for example, has become - this one rather, is based in a belief that perpetrators of evil will be caught and judged and that although there are nutters out there our common love for each other is stronger and will limit their effect at causing general fearfulness in society.

I would add that in a perfect world foreign policy would be geared to support local governments where we do business, and less towards imperial objectives that steal raw materials, impoverish local governments and cause "failed states" which lead to local social in-justices and then to a pool of discontents from which evil doers draw cadre. (Blow-back.)

At the Atlantic Monthly Jeffrey Goldberg has a special understanding of security issues, his experience as a security guard in an Israeli prison (research for a book), and as a frequent flier. In 2008 he wrote a great piece with the help of Bruce Schneier entitled "The Things he Carried".

The sub-header goes,

"Airport security in America is a sham— “security theater” designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items—as our correspondent did with ease."

Jeffrey Goldberg:

Nov 14 2010: TSA Opt-Out Day, Now with a Superfantastic New Twist!
Nov 4 2010: American Airlines Pilots in Revolt Against the TSA
Nov 1 2010: 'Are Any Parts of Your Body Sore?'
Oct 29 2010: For the First Time, the TSA Meets Resistance

***


On Saturday November 13th 2010 'Johnnyedge' - blogger since July of this year - decided to take an fight to be with family. Knowing that the new backscatter scanners were coming to more and more airports, he looked up Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) website and found it said that San Diego hadn't yet received the new technology. Knowing that he would refuse the "porno scan" (a device that basically sees through your clothes) he was worried that refusing the scan might cause him problems, so as soon as be saw the scanners had been installed at San Diego after all, he switched on his cell phones camera and began recording. He doesn't feel comfortable being 'porn scanned' by the backscatter x-ray so he prepared for the "pat down" search. But now he learns from the security guard that the 'opt-out' alternative, the pat down has changed it is now a much more invasive - a full testicular 'fondle', which he also refuses. So that simply means he can't board the airplane, right? End of story right? Off you go - no fly for you.

Nope, not so simple.

After the long "discussion" (interrogation) with the initial TSA security guard, and his supervisor and the supervisor of that supervisor, Johnnyedge was told to leave the airport under escort --- but as he's doing so a plain clothed agent he's never seen before tries to stop him, claiming he must submit to the "porno scan", or the "fondle", before he can not get on an airplane!

Johnnyedge understands his rights and the correct way to frame discussions with authority figures, so he asks if he's being detained. And when the answer comes back, sort of, well no not really ... I'm just trying to help you co-operate with us - Johnnyedge says, "I'm leaving" - thus placing the officer in a situation where either he makes an arrest, or lets him leave.

"We'll sue you, you know" the officer finally retorts.

As he walks away Johnnyedge says "Bring that suit".

Still no word on whether the TSA has the balls to follow through, perhaps the 5,000 comments on the post about this and the hundreds on subsiquent post about it - almost all of which support him - has the TSA thinking it over a little first... .

The law is political - never underestimate a political movements ability to change law. The TSA and the White House are sitting on a powder keg of public outrage on this, and they know it. And what the hell is this lawsuit/fine stuff? Is that actually in the law? That has got to go.

***


Stories of harassment by low paid, badly trained TSA security guards with power lust are abounding around these recent "upgrades" to airport security. (see "For the First Time, the TSA Meets Resistance") Added to "porn scan" metric is the fact that most (all?) TSA employees don't want to preform these hand searches and because most of them aren't too bright it appears many describe the full-fondle search in such a way that it sounds like they are convincing you to take the back-scatter x-ray, like the hand search is a punishment for being un-cooperative, rather than an option. So now the person who is about to feel your genitals is threatening you. By making the full-feel body search so intrusive at this time the TSA seems to be hoping that people will choose the naked picture and the radiation exposure over the high-school dropout feeling you up. If everyone chose the hand option airline schedules wouldn't be meet, the airlines would complain and the scanners would be removed.
Man at San Diego airport opts out of porno scanner and grope, told he'll be fined $10K unless he submits to fondling
Cory Doctorow at 4:22 PM Saturday, Nov 13, 2010
***


This isn't the first issue that's arisen from these over the top screening procedures that keep on getting more and more intrusive, a fund raiser for Senator Ron Paul's (Independent - extreme libertarian) Campaign for Liberty was recently detained by a TSA employee...

Reason.com article, Detained by TSA:


"In town for a conference, a director of Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty is detained by TSA at the St. Louis airport because when asked to explain why he's carrying $4,700 in cash (it was proceeds from book and ticket sales at the conference), he asks the agents to tell him what law requires him to do so. He managed to surreptitiously record his conversations with TSA officers on a cell phone. The audio is infuriating."
The screenshot shows the embedded Youtube video is no longer up because the account has been "terminated":
"This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement."


The "Reason.com" Youtube Channel is still up - so where at Youtube this video was uploaded remains unknown. Was it Steven Bierfeldt's Youtube channel? If so, the recording is his own property and certainly not the reason the channel has been "terminated". Who complained about copyright infringement - we'll never know. But that link is now dead.

(Note: You don't get a hearing on the "multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement" your account is simply terminated. This is the Millennium Digital Copyright Act (MDCA) in action. It's international version, Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), has not been passed into law around the globe yet and secrete meetings - that include only the rich nations of the planet - continue. With-in the MDCA service providers (your cable provider, the internet site, the phone service provider etc..) is required to take down content that rights holders complain is posted with out permission. They are caught between you as a user of the technology, and a lawsuit launched by a corporation with lots of lawyers and deep pockets - thus you lose and you have no recourse to face the accuser.)

This is the first time I've come across a "terminated" account that was directly involved in an unfolding political issue, in my experience these terminations have always involved entertainment copyright violations. This one is particularly scary - it is directly connected to a citizen suing a federal government agency, Steve Bierfeldt and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) versus Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, (which has authority over TSA).


The recording is available at the ALCU site,

Audio Recording of ACLU Client Steve Bierfeldt's Detention and Interrogation by the TSA.

In the tape Steve Bierfeldt repeatedly asks the security personel for advice in the law, "..are you allowed to ask me that question?" he asks, "Am I legally required to answer that?" One security guard takes these questions as double speak, (perhaps he doesn't know the answer) and becomes violent slamming the top of the money box and raising his voice.

***


It should be noted that the officer detaining you doesn't have to act as your council - in fact, why would you ask an officer detaining you to tell you what your rights are? In our adversarial system the person detaining you is the last person you should be asking advice; it's your responsibility to know the law. Steve Bierfeldt finally gets the wording right near the end of the interrogation when he says, "I decline to answer the question." (about his employer and where he got the money).

The only time an officer is required to "read you your rights" is when they arrest you, and a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security guard is not an officer of the law.

Here in Ontario you have to answer some questions put to you by police - like what your name is, your address. You have to produce ID (which you are legally required to have with you), answer where you're coming from, where your going to - and that's about it.

At a Canadian airport the "Canadian Air Transport Security Authority" (CATSA) is our TSA. They're requirements of passengers are almost identical to the TSA framework because Canada is responding to Homeland Security edicts that require carriers and airpot authorities to preform securty proceedures that mirror US law and TSA policy. The responsibilities of CATSA security guards vary from TSA's protocols.

Here's a link to the Canadian Government site, "The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada" that explains your rights and responsibilities at Canadian airports. Nowhere on the page, "Checking In. Your privacy rights at airports and border crossings", is there guidance on a possible interrogation scenario; what questions security guards can ask, what they cannot ask and do. An oversight I assume, and one that should be corrected as soon a possible as the interrogation is where the mot intimate contact happens between passenger and security, and thus is the place where the individuals privacy rights are most likely to be abused.


This is a handy page at the ALCU that goes into some of the American experience on this,

"Know Your Options at the Airport" (updated November 2010)

Specifically this section:
Border Interrogations


Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have the authority to ask your immigration status when you are entering or returning to the United States or leaving the country. They have the power to determine whether or not non-U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents have the right of entry.

Law enforcement officials reportedly ask some people about their political and religious beliefs, where they worship, and how often they pray. The ACLU believes that such questions are inappropriate.

Option: Decline to answer

If you think you are being asked inappropriate questions, you may say, "I am sorry. I believe you are asking me questions about my protected religious and/or political beliefs and practices. I do not wish to answer these questions." This may cause you delay, but is permissible.

Option: Ask to speak to a supervisor

If you think you are being asked inappropriate questions, you can ask to speak to a supervisor--but be aware that this might cause you further delay. Also ask to speak to a supervisor if you are denied the right to use a restroom or to have family or friends told where you are. You may also file a complaint with the Civil Rights Office of the Department of Homeland Security if you have been held for a long time, asked inappropriate questions, or treated inhumanely. See below.


Option: Ask to have an attorney present

If you are selected for a longer interview by law-enforcement officials and you are a U.S. citizen, you have the right to have an attorney present. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you generally do not have the right to an attorney when you are having an extended interview.

Option: Ask for help

If you are delayed a considerable length of time, you can ask CBP officials to allow you to make a call, or make a call for you. At Logan Airport in Boston, MassPort officials have said they can provide help on many problems. You can look for agents with jackets that say "MassPort" on them and ask them for help. Or you can call 1-800-23LOGAN.


* Creating the National Security State: A History of the Law That Transformed America, Douglas T. Stuart, Princeton University Press, 2008)




mh

New Cartoon: Relativity

Relativity is a subjective thing. For example, if I 'feel' like it's taking forever to get to my office - which is just down this hall, then it is, by any measure that matters - a long way down this hall - don't you see?


This isn't my exact entry to The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest; the picure they allow me to take a screen shot of is full of book keeping notations; so I cleaned it up a bit in Microsoft Paint and added what I think is a slightly better caption.

LOOK OUT! Here come lawyers from Condé Nast Digital.

The fall-back to the Cartoon Kit, the good old "Cartoon Caption Contest" at The New Yorker! :)

You can enter a witty caption of your own for the cartoon; this time drawn by Christopher Weyant. Entries for this contest will be accepted through Monday, November 29th, 2010.



mh

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Back to Empire - Remembrance Week 2010

After some articles are 'put to bed' at FilterBlogs they get a Posthumous Long Tail Aperitif (PLTA); links to related articles published after my original post

Below I said, "With the Afghan war next year entering it's 10th year, the talk is of a 20 year Afghan campaign."

One month later my opinion is now too optimistic:

PLTA for December 6, 2010

CommonDreams: "Petraeus: Expect No 'Victory Parade' in Afghanistan... Ever"



----------------------------


Halifax International Security Form works the term "failed state" - the Empires euphemism for imperial conquest - through every conceivable conversation.


I joined the Common Dreams mailing list the other day, it's a US group championing social justice issues. On November 9th they twigged me to the 2nd Annual Halifax International Security Form.

One week after the US midterms weakened the Obama Administrations grip on power in Washington, the neo-cons are once again chomping on the bit for a US attack on Iran (Washington Post). This time they're proposing a sustained bombing campaign that would wipe out Iran's naval power and air power (no mention of their missile capability).

And the venue for these hawkish speeches? Our very own Halifax Nova Scotia, and on the eve of Remembrance Week!


The Peter MacKay organized 2nd Annual Halifax International Security Form, co-sponsored by the German Marshal Plan Fund of the United States and the Government of Canada, was held this past weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday November 5-7. To me it looked like a G20 conference, but with Defence Ministers attending rather than Finance Ministers. Participants included NATO member states defence ministers, NATO applicant countries representatives, NATO think-tank theorists, former military people now working in private defence enterprise, and foreign affairs journalists from many large news organizations.

US President Obama set a deadline of July 2011 for success in the Afghan mission when he announced a 30,000 troop "surge" in Decmeber of 2009. Canada will begin to withdraw her forces next year, Poland in 2012, and the UK in 2014 or 2015.

Canada's Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay gave the keynote at the Halifax Form in which he highlighted 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Republican Senator John McCain, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, and Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel.

The great theme of the form was the idea of "forward defence", better known as preemptive war, the idea that you take the war to your enemy, rather than wait for them to attack and fight them on your turf. The enemy here it should be noted is not a state, but rather the state of states, the potential of 'failed states' to generate terrorist cadre and organizations --- and thus represents a global national security state lead by the US and policed by NATO troops. NATO is morphing from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (one side in the Cold War) into a global entity.

The War in Afghanistan is central to all this. The continuing Halifax meetings are a philosophical discussion by NATO member states and "applicant states" with troops on the ground. For Canada the idea of keeping our 3,000 troops in country is not on the table, according to the Harper government; but leaving behind 500 to 850 training personal to create a viable Afghan Army, is.

The war against failed states, a euphemism for a series of wars to move oil from central Asia west into refineries owned by US interests, rather than east to refineries owned by the worlds great industrial juggernaut China. It is the framework of the new world order; the uni-polar, American lead Global Empire of capitalist states head together, if necessary, through an un-ending "police action".

Much like Rome in the era of the Ceasars, local institutions and infrastructure can represent the Empires interests - but if this fails - then conquest and sanction are used to force the country in question to submit to the Empire's will.

Kinda like Star Wars. We're the Empire, they're the good looking rebels.

In 2001 the hawks said the war in Afghanistan was going to be a long term commitment, but that the military phase of the war would be short - the mission they said would primarily be about nation building. The distraction of the Iraq war basically guaranteed the hot phase of the Afghan war would be endless - an occupation, an un-winnable war. With the Afghan war next year entering it's 10th year, the talk is of a 20 year Afghan campaign.


Here's the entire speakers list:

Stéphane Abrial, NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation (SACT)
Mohammed Ali Abdullah Abu Luhoum, Head, Department of Economic Relations, General People's Congress, Yemen
James Appathurai, Spokesperson, NATO
Audronius Ažubalis, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania
Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister, Israel
Gitte Lillelund Bech, Minister of Defense, Denmark
James Blitz, Defence and Diplomatic Editor, Financial Times
Luvsanvandan Bold, Minister of Defense, Mongolia
Susan Bonner, Washington Correspondent, CBC News
Davor Božinovic, State Secretary for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Croatia
Mark Carney, Governor, Bank of Canada
Carme Chacón, Minister of Defense, Spain
Nick Childs, Defence and Security Correspondent, BBC World Service
Edward Chow, Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Roger Cohen, Columnist, The International Herald Tribune
Nusret Cömert, Chairman, PETFORM (Petroleum Platform Association)
Ronald Covais, Vice President, Corporate International Business Development, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Premvir S. Das, Distinguished Fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, India
Pieter De Crem, Minister of Defense, Belgium
Francis Delon, Secretary General for National Defense, Office of the Prime Minister, France
Pavol Demeš, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshal Fund of the United States
Karen DeYoung, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, Associate Editor, The Washington Post
Paula J. Dobriansky, Senior Vice President and Head of Government Affairs for the Americas, Thomson Reuters
Jill Dougherty, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, CNN
Dan Dugas, Journalist
Richard L. Engel, USAF (Ret), Director, Climate Change and State Stability Program, Long Range Analysis Unit, National Intelligence Council
Golnaz Esfandiari, Senior Correspondent, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Daniel P. Fata, Transatlantic Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States; Vice President, The Cohen Group
Mark C. Fischer, Director of Major Conferences, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Michèle Flournoy, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, United States
Iulian Fota, Presidential Advisor on National Security, Romania
Lisa Friedman, Deputy Editor, ClimateWire
Alexander Garza, Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, Department of Homeland Security, United
Amos Gilad, Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Israel
Misha Glenny, Broadcaster and Author
Lindsey O. Graham, Senator, United States
Camille Grand, Executive Director, The Foundation for Strategic Research
Stephen Hadley, Senior Advisor for International Affairs, United States Institute of Peace
Joseph Hall, Senior Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa, National Democratic Institute
Michael Hastings, Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone
Rex Hughes, Visiting Fellow for Cyber Security, Wolfson College, Cambridge University
Arben Imami, Minister of Defense, Albania
Alina Inayeh, Director, The Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Masafumi Ishii, Ambassador for Policy Planning and International Security Policy and Deputy Director-General, Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
Craig Kennedy, President, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Jim Kolbe, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
David J. Kramer, Executive Director, Freedom House
Charles Kupchan, Professor of International Affairs, Georgetown University
Ian O. Lesser, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Robert G. Liberatore, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, Canada
John Manley, President and CEO, Canadian Council of Chief Executives
Gerald Martone, Director of Humanitarian Affairs, International Rescue Committee, New York
John McCain, Senator, United States; Co-Chair, Halifax International Security Forum Congressional Delegation
Murat Mercan, Founding Member and Deputy Chairman, Justice and Development Party, Turkey
Barbara Mikulski, Senator, United States
Michel Miraillet, Director of the Policy Planning Staff, Ministry of Foreign Defense, France
Kunihiko Miyake, Research Director, Cannon Institute for Global Studies
Saad Mohseni, Director, Moby Media Group
Neil Morisetti, Climate and Energy Security Envoy, Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Commonweath Office, United Kingdom
Sean Mulvaney, Director, Economic Policy Program, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Janet Napolitano, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Walter Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff, Department of National Defence, Canada
Pauline Neville-Jones, Security Minister in the Home Office, The United Kingdom
Natalie Nougayrède, Correspondent, Le Monde
Hiroshi Oe, Director General for International Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Japan
Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Farah Pandith, Special Representative to Muslim Communities, U.S. Department of State
Victor E. Renuart, Jr., Vice President for National Security and Senior Military Advisor for the CEO, BAE Systems, Inc
Condoleezza Rice, Professor of Political Economy and Political Science, Stanford University
Milan Rocen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Montenegro
Janis Sarts, State Secretary, Ministry of Defense, Latvia
Jeanne Shaheen, Senator, United States Senate
Stefan Schirm, Senior Fellow, Transatlantic Academy
Claudia Schmid, Director, Verfassungsschutz, Berlin
Christian Schmidt, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Defense, Germany
Jeff Sessions, Senator, United States
Najam Sethi, Editor-in-Chief, Friday Times and Dunya TV
Robin Shepherd, Director, International Affairs, the Henry Jackson Society
Mohammad Shtayyeh, Minister, Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction
Andrew Small, Transatlantic Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Min-soon Song, Member, National Assembly, South Korea
Janice Gross Stein, Director, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto
Constanze Stelzenmüller, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Dragan Šutanovac, Minister of Defense, Serbia
Sylke Tempel, Editor-in-Chief, Internationale Politik, German Council of Foreign Affairs
Victor Toews, Minister of Public Safety, Canada
Frances Townsend, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Government, Legal and Business Affairs, MacAndrews and Forbes Holdings, Inc.
Daniel Twining, Senior Fellow for Asia, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Mark Udall, Senator, United States; Co-Chair, Halifax International Security Forum Congressional Delegation
Peter Van Praagh, Senior Director, Foreign Policy and Civil Society, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Ivan Vejvoda, Vice President, Programs, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Joshua Walker, Non-Resident Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Pamela Wallin, Senator, Chair of the Senate Defence Committee, Canada
James Winnefeld, Commander, U.S. Northern Command and Northern American Aerospace Defense Command


Remembrance Day (Week), in my humble opinion, is a time to remember, and learn from, the folly that has lead us here-to, into the dammed thing - not as is much evidenced this year - celebrating the 'Heroes' - those unlucky limbless/headless bastards, the fodder for imperial profit.

The heroes are the ones who stand up against injustice day after day and thus prevent wars from ever starting.

Not too many of those around theses days, but the folks at CommonDreams.org certainly are.



mh

Monday, November 8, 2010

Daily Lunch for the Hungry - Daily Table with Map thumbnails

Update: 24 December 2011
Some venues have changed since this was first published in November 2010 - new maps have been made and thumbnails of them with links have been added to the table
mh



In September I published a table that showed where you can eat if you don't have any money, but still all the same, you're hungry. Today I've placed all that data into a prettier box. :) Updates and more places where you can find sustenance will be added to this better interface as information become available.

Interfaith Lunch Program in the Beaches Neighbourhood, south-east Toronto, offers a free lunch for the hungry Monday to Friday from the second week of October to the third week in May. If you're near Queen East, Dundas, Kingston Road or Gerrard, between Greenwood Ave and Victoria Park, there's a free hot meal nearby five days a week!

I made this table to help people remember where and when the lunch program is on any given day. To make it easy for those of us who don't like reading when a picture with do, I made four Google Maps that show the locations, times and dates of the lunches for each day of the week. You can look at them by just clicking on the appropriate map in the table below.

Each Google Map is set up so you click on the blue map marker and see more info in a pop-up window, then click on "more" which will open a drop-down box, then click "Street View" and see the exact door of the church where you're supposed to enter (sometimes they're difficult to find). Then you can zoom out and you'll probably recognize the street corner.


Beaches Neighbourhood Interfaith Lunch Program


Day/Time
Address (click for Map)
Organization
Monday
11:00 AM
to
1:00 PM
Corpus Christi
Catholic
Tuesday
11:00 AM
to
1:00 PM
St John's Norway Anglican
Wednesday
11:00 AM
to
1:00 PM
Beaches Hebrew Institute
Thursday
11:00 AM
to
1:00 PM
St. Aidan's Anglican
Friday
11:00 AM
to
1:00 PM
Kingston Road
United Church


If you've been to any of these lunches and want to relate your experience, add some insights, suggestions - feel free in comments; anonymous is fine.



mh

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Cartoon Caption Contest entry at The New Yorker

"Sir, there's a Unicorn waiting to see you..."




A lot of talk around here lately about The New Yorker Cartoon Kit going on Hiatus, but there's a fall-back, the good old Cartoon Caption Contest at The New Yorker! :)

You can enter a witty caption of your own for the cartoon; this month drawn by Michael Maslin. Entries for this contest will be accepted through Sunday, November 7th, 2010.



mh

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Canada, US Midwest gets it's own Catagory 3 Hurricane (Strong Extratropical Cyclone)

A week ago, (October 25 - 27, 2010) this system developed over the Great Lakes lowlands and the Midwest. I've been seeing large events like this develop periodically, especially in the months where we change from fall into winter, or winter into spring.

Look as the size of this thing! And the speed! And apparently the air pressure dropped REALLY low under the centre of the event - like happens in a Category 3 hurricane!



The climatologists at NASA call this a "Strong Extratropical Cyclone". The name they use seems to indicate it's pretty unusual.

As I say here at FilterBlogs; Climate change = Various Weather. How's this for "Various"?

via:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD...

via:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bad...

via:
http://www.misscellania.com/miss-cell...

And ultimately,

via BoingBoing.



mh