nerdgirl

Sounds like a great strategy by ABC marketing or whomever is distributing the DVD. Generate commercial media interest and internet discussion (aka gossip) to generate sales. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I've used Alpine Ascents http://alpineascents.com/ for mountaineering and high-altitude trekking the developing world, e.g., Nepal. Don't think it quite applies to you, I've used Chicks With Picks http://chickswithpicks.net/ for ice-climbing. No complaints - only good experiences - with both. Don't know anything, positive or negative, about the company you mentioned. VR/ Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I’m of mixed mind on this event; (1) Transparency is good (part 1). We should not lose accountability of nuclear weapons … ever. Accountability increases with transparency. (2) Transparency is good (part 2). Dang, I’m impressed at how fast this story was reported. We (the US) used to fly secret B-52 training flights with nuclear weapons, some of which had the Pu detonators installed. The US has lost at least 11 nuclear bombs; the full number is still classified. We recovered the ones we dropped on Spain in the 1960s, & the US taxpayers paid for the clean-up and transport of contaminated soil back to the US. (BTW: Reasonable ‘guestimates’ of lost Soviet nuclear weapons exceed 50.) (3) Is there a way to tell, just by looking at the outside, whether a warhead is installed on an ACM (the missile in question)? Some missiles have dime-sized eyelets (windows); some don’t. My knowledge base is not that good on missiles. More importantly and the reason why it is critical for knowing where the SOP broke down: Is this symptomatic of something in our nuclear MPC&A or was it a screw-up? … one that should have never happened. (4) (Pure hypothetical): Was it really transparency … or were the officers who leaked the story concerned regarding a re-occurring pattern? This would have been a classified incident. (5) It was originally reported in the Army Times. I have observed that it is sport within all the services to make fun of the “Chair Force.” Heck, foreign militaries make fun of their Air Forces. (6) Don’t overhype it. Unsecured or less than adequately secured fissile material in former Soviet states; the DPRK and Pakistani nuclear programs; Iran’s nascent nuclear program; and some of the leaks from Los Alamos are much bigger risks (probability X consequence) than a US nuclear warhead in the hands of a non-state actor, which is not to in anyway imply that securing all nuclear material and devices should not be of primary concern. Two H-bombs & a U core are somewhere off the coast of Georgia, in Washington’s Puget Sound, and in a North Carolina swamp. (7) The RRW: what’s going to be the impact on the Reliable Replacement Warhead Program? There’s no obvious connection but ... VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

But at least we didn't drop them on Spain, Greenland, or off the coast of Georgia ... this time. Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

One other that I requested last week, which may be more appropriate for Speaker's Corner

Great topic! I just got Barry Kellman's "Bioviolence: Preventing Biological Terror and Crime" to review. The other one sitting on my desk that looks very good (to me

Actually per Ohio state law Title 29 Chapter 2921.29 (C) "Nothing in this section requires a person to answer any questions beyond that person’s name, address, or date of birth. Nothing in this section authorizes a law enforcement officer to arrest a person for not providing any information beyond that person’s name, address, or date of birth or for refusing to describe the offense observed," (http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2921.29). Righi's blog points to the Ohio Revised Code. I think I would characterize Righi as strong-willed, which can be a very good thing, e.g., "Michael Amor Righi started his own business when he was 8 years old, bought his first house at 19 and, now 25, is owner of a half-million dollar information technology training and computer consulting business based in his Downtown (Pittsburgh) loft." "'I'm looking forward to (being a millionaire), but I'm more interested in helping Pittsburgh and seeing Pittsburgh do well,' he said. 'My biggest hobby is the city of Pittsburgh.'" http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/multimedia/s_471949.html It's not the proverbial battle in which I would chose to invest my time or money, but I'm glad someone is. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

John, For the commercial media: "if it bleeds, it leads," and if it's controversial, that is also a bonus. Generating a whole list of "positive upbeat stories" that the commercial media doesn't do is easy; we can all do that, e.g, skydivers are safe, smart, upstanding citizens. That's a straw man argument. (Illustrative thought experiment: Name the last 4 winners of the Nobel Prize in physics or chemistry versus name 4 young, scantily-clad Hollywood women who have been arrested or jailed recently - you get the idea.) Nonetheless, specific pro-gun stories from the US commercial media (ABC): http://newsbusters.org/node/12556, and the related subsequent story: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=3083618 Another story: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3518019', 'popup', 800, 635 At the heart of the dialogue, there seems to be an implied casualty: Guns --> less violence *or* Guns --> more violence Lotts’ data (whether perfectly valid or purely fiction) implies the former without having shown which (guns or violence level) is the dependent and which is the independent variable. Much of the gun-control argument is centered on implying the latter relation. What if guns & violence are independent variables? The 2007 Small Arms Survey (“an independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland”) noted that the US is the most armed country in the world (# guns per civilian) yet it is neither the most nor the least dangerous country in the world. The next three highest per capita are Switzerland, Finland, and Yemen. Popular press/commercial media accounts: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/28/europe/EU-GEN-Switzerland-Small-Arms.php http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2834893820070828 Primary data: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/sas/publications/year_b_pdf/2007/CH2%20Stockpiles.pdf The variables that reflect gun ownership were found to be (1) wealthy countries or (2) countries with recent, intense violent conflicts. The former is the case for US & western Europe; the latter reflects the situations in places like Angola and Columbia. See page 21 of the pdf file for a graph showing the range of GDPs and correlation with per capita civilian gun ownership. The authors discuss where that model breaks down. Follow the $: “The Small Arms Survey project is supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and by contributions from the Governments of Canada, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.” VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

you forgot an obvious choice in your poll ... * The news media is biased against guns. * The news media treats the gun issue fairly. * The news media is biased pro guns. ... sorry, couldn't vote. Cheers, T I was looking for that option as well. What's your reasoning? VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

The U.S. National Public Radio (NPR) radio show "Weekend Edition Sunday" did a very respectful story on the brothers and their family: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13957546 VR/ marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Inane on so many levels. Flour has been used as an inexpensive methods for marking cross-country running trails for years. Although - did that mean that the IKEA wasn't a mad-house on a weekend at the start of college term afterwards? VR/ Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

A simililar question was asked last night on the news program of US National Public Radio (NPR). "All Things Considered, August 22, 2007 · To find out which historical analogy best suits the U.S. situation in Iraq, Robert Siegel talks with several scholars:" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13872684 Prof Francis Fukuyama (School of International Studies at Johns Hopkins University) thought the analogy was "not bad" and thought that it was much better than the "way overstated" comparison to WWII or the Cold War. Prof Joseph Nye (Harvard) generally agreed with Bush's comparison. He did note the lack of strong central power to take over and "preserve order" in Iraq after a potential fall, unlike North Vietnam. He also suggested the Britain in Iraq in the 1920s and Boer Wars as useful analogies. Dr. Max Boot (Council on Foreign Relations) didn't disagree but suggested that given that the Iraq and Afghanistan are ongoing, the best historical analogy is yet to be determined. He also suggested that the British in Malaysia and the French in Algeria might be more apt analogies. Prof Ronald Steel (University of Southern California), like Kallend, references the counterinsurgency and occupation of the Philippines. I'm inclined to look to the Algerian and Philippine cases for lessons, although none seem to capture the heterogenous culture and internal religious conflicts as exist in Iraq. Sri Lanka may provide insight. A potential analogy if a Biden-like plan was enacted is the former Yugoslavia -- some parts are doing a lot better than others -- which is itself a less-than-perfect analogy. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Yes, ... & you identified what has been one of the long-standing criticisms of Heinlein's Starship Troopers -- it starts to resemble an oppressive communist or fascist state. Heinlein was no leftist or 'alternative' writer. --- Again, there's a more comprehensive message that one can read into the novel with regard to the importance and value of service, community, and committing to ideals larger than oneself. The fun of these intellectual arguments (aka 'dialectic' in acadmic jargon) is taking them to hyperbolic ends of the spectrum & no one gets shot ... unlike in the real world of military-dominated states (Idi Amin, Franco, Pinochet, SLORC, etc.) Literary fundamentalism, whether it's Muslim salafist who want to impose their version of the 7th century as described in the Koran or Biblical fundamentalists building museums showing humans and dinosaurs interacting, is scary. Heinlein was too good of an author to be made into an L. Ron Hubbard - either through Starship Troopers or Stranger in a Strange land. Grok? VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I don't know what oaths firefighters take but US federal civil servants, as well as many State employees (e.g., Georgia) do sign or say an oath very similar to the US uniformed services, which include the Coast Guard and Public Health Service. Per US Code 5 Part III.B.33.II Section 3331: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode05/usc_sec_05_00003331----000-.html "An individual, except the President, elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services, shall take the following oath: 'I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.' That's remarkably similar to the USA, USN, USMC, and USAF Oath. SES's (Senior Executive Service) have a similar oath. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

A critical component of the strength of the US military and the overall US nation-state is being missed in this discussion - the importance of civilian control of the military. The fundamental notion of civilian controlled military has long been shown to be a necessary (but not solely sufficient) characteristic of stable, liberal democracies like our own (... & that's "liberal" in the political theory meaning of the word, i.e., Western Age of Enlightenment ideas like rule of law, property rights, market capitalism, private enterprise, as opposed to Divine Right of Kings, autocratic dictatorship, Communism, radical Salafism, theocracy, etc,) by folks like Samuel Huntington, Clausewitz, Michael Desch, etc. (The importance of a strong civilian controlled military is another topic.) I was curious exactly what oath the member of the US military actually take. The USMC Oath of Enlistment, which is similar to the oaths of USA, USN, and USAF: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." http://www.marines.com/page/usmc.jsp?pageId=/page/Detail-XML-Conversion.jsp?pageName=Oath&flashRedirect=true Supporting and defending the Constitution -- which gives responsibility & power to raise & pay for military to Congress and vests executive authority in the President "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into actual Service of the United States," -- is the critical part. Most convincingly, at least to me, historically what have been the results of military-controlled societies? None have been/are places I would want to live: Myanmar (nee Burma), Pinochet's controlled Chile, Argentina under Videlia, Greece in the late 60's/early '70s, Nicauargua under the Sandanistas, Uganda under Idi Amin (or any of the dozens of other military-rules in Africa), Franco's Spain ... VR/ Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

It's an interesting argument (as well as a fantastic book, even if not my favorite of Heinlein's). Two counter-arguments immediately come to mind: (1) What about firefighters? They willingly put themselves in danger in service of society. (2) What about those opposed to war or who serve the state or society through non-military service? A couple dozen (or more) countries have mandatory service - both traditional or a "home guard" (somewhat akin to full time National Guard or Coast Guard); many have exemptions for conscientious objectors who are required to engage in some sort of civil service. e.g., Norway, Greece, Switzerland. Or Ameri-Corps or un-armed Peace Corps volunteers (see http://www.daytondailynews.com/projects/content/project/peacecorps/index.html)? My recollection from reading Starship Troopers (probably >10y ago) is that Heinlein's federal service went beyond traditional military. My reading of Heinlein is more holistic - stressing the importance and value of service, community, and society. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Actually, from what I understand, the NRC not only isn't part of the DHS, it's a standalone from the DoE. That surprised me. He's right: the NRC's primary responsibiity is w/r/t civilian use of nuclear material and licensing. Their primary authority is derived from the Atomic Energy Act (of long ago). Some of the state-level authority is part of federalism, and some of it is a result of deregulation and past efforts to reduce the size of the federal govertment. NRC's scope does impact homeland security, as does the EPA and USDA (e.g., terrorism directed at water supplies or agriculture). W/r/t DHS, the House Committee on Homeland Security did release a report yesterday expressing concern over the 24% vacancy rate (or 138 of 575) among “executive resource” positions. Of the eight DHS “at risk” departments: the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy has 11 of 23 executive positions open (48%); the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Intelligence has 8 of 22 senior positions unfilled (36%); and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has 24 of 77 executive positions open (31%). Source: http://homeland.house.gov/SiteDocuments/20070709112923-81091.pdf VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

A couple more “truths” fall or at least wobble on their salt pillars, including one that disputes the origin of an assertion in the Psychology Today article and another occasional assertion invoked here: (1) Crime rates linked to lead poisoning Popular press write-ups: - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/07/AR2007070701073.html - “Research Links Childhood Lead Exposure to Changes in Violent Crime ...” http://www.icfi.com/Markets/Community_Development/doc_files/LeadExposureStudy.pdf Primary data (i.e., technical refs): - “Understanding international crime trends: The legacy of preschool lead exposure” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WDS-4NJP3V8-2&_user=10&_coverDate=07%2F31%2F2007&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=80ef8fc0a8ed65512174764240fb5e62 (full text: http://pic.plover.com/Nevin/Nevin2007.pdf) - “Validation of a 20-year forecast of US childhood lead poisoning: Updated prospects for 2010” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WDS-4JCCG5B-2&_user=10&_coverDate=11%2F30%2F2006&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3acbaeda7170a137704fad84224b3adf (full text: http://pic.plover.com/Nevin/Nevin2006.pdf) - “How Lead Exposure Relates to Temporal Changes in IQ, Violent Crime, and Unwed Pregnancy” http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/er/2000/00000083/00000001/art04045;jsessionid=bys0qugsrh85.henrietta (full text: http://pic.plover.com/Nevin/Nevin2000.pdf) - “Trends in environmental lead exposure and troubled youth, 1960–1995: an age-period-cohort-characteristic analysis” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WX8-4B6CP1M-1&_user=10&_coverDate=06%2F30%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3e5bf01abebefa86189f946844d614f9 (2) Women Don't Really Talk More Than Men Popular Press: “Do women really talk more than men? Research refutes popular belief” http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/uota-dwr062907.php Original Article: “Are Women Really More Talkative Than Men?” Science, http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/317/5834/82 Of course, there is an older book that highlights previously long-held UN-PC “truths” that are no longer accepted widely: Stephen Jay Gould’s original “The Mismeasure of Man.” Makes me wonder what “truths” I accept currently that will be found untruth-worthy in the future? Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Congressional earmarks. Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

For the primary data addicts out there: see http://www.house.gov/hinchey/issues/mora.shtml My reading of the old draft text (it was introduced in 2004 & 2005 as well) is that it may have the effect of increasing the range of opinions available by increasing the local-originated content. Nothing on low-power FM, however. Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Thanks for the link. That's a different effort. That's being discussed in the current Congress and is a call for a National Intelligence Estimates (NIE), which would be executed by the Intelligence Community (i.e., CIA) rather than an FFRDC for the DoD. "Senators of both parties are pushing for U.S. intelligence agencies to assess the danger to the nation's security posed by global warming." "Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Wednesday [28March07] introduced legislation that would 'require a National Intelligence Estimate to assess the security challenges presented by the world's changing climate,' according to a statement from their offices." http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/us_spies_urged_to_assess_global_warming/20070328-071343-7456r/ The proposed bill "also funds additional research (beyond the study mentioned in my first post) by the Department of Defense to examine the impact of climate change on military operations" - which likely means that it was part of the DoD's FY08 budget request. Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

QuoteI saw a news report about this last week. It was a directive from Congress if I recall, Sen. Hagel being one of the proponents of the initiation of the study.Quote Do you have the link to the Appropriations Bill? I have not heard that. There is discussion of Congressional hearings in response. And furthermore, if it was requested by Congress, it was requested by a Republican-controlled Congress. The DoD got their FY07 funding on time; they weren't on continuing resolutions this year. (The study would have been initiated with FY06 or FY05 funds in all liklihood.) Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

In response to the DoD study, the Washington Times published a related opinion piece (http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20070421-103141-6343r.htm) Climate of subtle conflict By Bryan K. Mignone/Mark D. Drapeau April 22, 2007 In the segregated world of Washington politics, environmentalists rarely cross paths with four-star generals. It's not that these groups avoid each other deliberately; there has never been a compelling reason to seek each other out. In light of this, last week's release of a report by the CNA Corp. titled "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change" seems especially significant. It just might indicate the start of a new era of cooperation between military planners and environmental advocates. The report, backed by a panel of 11 retired three-star and four-star admirals and generals, summarizes the results of an eight-month study on the implications of climate change for the U.S. military and for the national security community more generally. This is not the first time the Defense Department has grappled with the uncertain threat of global warming. In 2003, the Pentagon made headlines by commissioning a study on the security implications of abrupt climate change. But the authors of that assessment -- including Peter Schwartz, a former head of planning for Shell Oil -- found themselves the subject of some ridicule when they delivered a report that resembled a Hollywood thriller. This report is more significant, more pragmatic and much timelier. By coincidence or not, the report was released only a week after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- an international body of professional scientists and researchers -- released a report in which it concluded many consequences of climate change, once only speculative, have begun to emerge around the globe in subtle -- and in some cases, not so subtle -- ways. Whatever scientific uncertainties remain, two conclusions -- highlighted in both reports -- seem virtually inescapable. First, current trends in temperature and water availability will continue in the near future, leading to a greater incidence of heat-related illness, severe drought and infectious disease. Because some additional warming is unavoidable -- even if policies can be put in place soon to limit the atmospheric build-up of heat-trapping gases -- these outcomes can no longer be wished away. Secondly, modest changes in temperature and water availability will be far more disruptive in poorer communities, where adaptive capacity is weak, than in more prosperous ones where adaptive capacity is reasonably robust. In Africa, for example, between 75 million and 250 million people are projected to experience an increase in water stress due to climate change by 2020. In addition, yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50 percent in some regions over the same period. In other regions, and especially in Asia, even moderate sea level rise -- a robust prediction of climate models -- could threaten millions of coastal inhabitants. By focusing on near-term probable outcomes, rather than on those that are more dangerous but less likely to occur in the next several decades, the CNA report provides a foundation upon which practical policies can be built. In fact, the report advocates several policies that could be pursued today at limited cost. One example is a technology program that would make our military more agile and efficient but more resilient to changes in climate. More challenging are the panel's proposals to improve how our intelligence community anticipates emerging threats and our military responds to disruptive impacts in vulnerable regions. Successfully implementing such programs will require an unprecedented cooperation among subject experts, military personnel and indigenous professionals and a sophisticated appreciation for the ways in which climate, resources and culture interact. There are some encouraging signs that our national security community understands the need for transformation. For example, the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review concluded that future military operations would require enhanced capability to understand "social and cultural terrains" as well as various dimensions of human behavior. Programs of this sort -- if they could be expanded to include "environmental terrains" -- might be employed in a dual-use capacity, supporting the global war on terror and preventing or mitigating environmentally induced conflict. Ultimately, indigenous cultural and environmental knowledge could be integrated into a global early warning system, detecting subtle changes that might signal instability and a need for intervention. Such a program will require understanding and transforming our own military culture. The institutional barriers may be great, but what we have to lose is even greater. A posture of complacency only increases the likelihood of state failure and the possibility that our military -- already stretched thin -- could be thrust into the center of violent civil wars, costing billions of dollars and hundreds or thousands of American lives. Paradoxically, the stability of fragile cultures may depend on the flexibility of ours. Bryan K. Mignone is a Science & Technology Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. Mark D. Drapeau is an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy of the National Defense University. These views are their own and not the official views of the National Defense University, the U.S. Defense Department or the U.S. government. Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

The subject line study was released last Monday. “A blue-ribbon panel of eleven retired three-star and four-star admirals and generals will release a report in Washington on Monday (April 16) looking at how changing global climate may present serious threats to U.S. national security and to American armed forces at home and abroad. "This Military Advisory Board and the CNA Corporation are unveiling the report, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change. The eight-month study examines how potential climate change may impact our military and recommends steps the Pentagon and national security community should take to prepare for any changes and to help mitigate damage. The military board members come from all branches of the U.S. armed forces. "The military advisiory board consisted of senior retired military leaders including: Gen. Gordon Sullivan, U.S. Army (ret), former Army Chief of Staff and current president of the Association of the United States Army (board chair) Adm. Joseph Prueher, U.S. Navy (ret), former Commander in Chief of all U.S. forces in the Pacific (Pacific Command) and former U.S. ambassador to the People's Republic of China Gen. Chuck Wald, U.S. Air Force (ret), former Deputy Commander of all U.S. forces in Europe and Africa (European Command) and former Director of Strategic Planning and Policy at Air Force Headquarters VAdm. Richard Truly, U.S. Navy (ret), former NASA Administrator, shuttle astronaut and the first commander of the Naval Space Command Lt. Gen. Larry Farrell, Jr., U.S. Air Force (ret), former Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs at Air Force Headquarters." Full report available at http://securityandclimate.cna.org/report/. --- The study hardly represents the DoD first recognition of the connections between climate change & national security. In Feb 2005, the DoD Under Secretary for Acquisitions, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L), Ken Kreig (former VP International Paper, Inc, http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/biographydetail.aspx?biographyid=73) and the former Office of Force Transformation (OFT) launched a monthly series on Energy: A Conversation About Our National Addiction on “the central role energy plays in achieving national and program goals.” http://www.nps.edu/cebrowski/conversation.html (RIP Adm Cebrowski) and http://www.energyconversation.org/cms// I've been able to attend a little less than half - fascinating discussions in a context that one might not expect. Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Quote Which is a worse thing? The risks associated with preventing the outlier event or the risks associated with a state that closely monitors the thoughts and writings of its citizens in an attempt to avoid wrongdoing? Am I the only one who sees the great dangers implicit in these thoughts and ideas that so many are espousing? Quote Interesting & intellectually provocative post. So many possible directions to take it!