CG Christmas Party
Dear Editor: The annual Coast Guard children’s Christmas party was a great success. It wouldn’t have been possible without our generous contributors: the Air Station Command/Morale Office, the Maple Command/Morale Office and Harry Race Pharmacy.
A special thanks to all the people who helped make this possible: Lt. Matt Vanderslice, AMT1 Antonio Rosas, AMT1 Todd Regan, Leticia Otero-Kawaiaea, Jeanette Farah, Cheri Vislay, Angela DeWinter, Betty Conklin and many other bakers, decorators and spouse donations.
Events like this truly make Sitka a great place to work and live for Coast Guard families. Thank you for making it such a special occasion.
Maia Nendza, Chairperson
CGSWA of Sitka
Climate Change
Dear Editor: It is encouraging, even exciting, that the World Conference on Climate Change is happening. Hopefully it will result in clearing the air AND clearing the way for several very exciting energy innovations that are approaching marketing status. Innovation enthusiasts will want to check the Internet for those that I am about to mention.
Energy could be used as an index to standard of living. Presently, it is a have/have-not situation. Those who have it or can afford it are most fortunate. Those who sell it do even better. There are a few promising technical innovators who have clean, cheap methods and ready-to-go-to-market power plants that will, no doubt, change the way we use energy. These energy sources will no doubt close most of our oil wells and coal mines and clean up our air worldwide. And, even the poorest people will be able to have a more abundant life.
Among the leaders and near-to-market is E-Cat, an Italian company. Theirs is a process of low-temperature fusion gnerating heat. They have units in the megawatt range, one of which has been operating for months.
Another is “brilliant light power” (the name has recently been changed from “blacklight power”). They have a working unit which converts hydrogen into a lower atomic state where the electron orbits closer to the protron, which gives high energy, for it is another atomic process; but it is clean and safe. They use water as a source of hydrogen, plus a catalyst which is recycled.
There are also many developments using permanent magnets. And, attention could also be given to the science of NikolaTesla, the genius who brought us AC power. Also, over a year ago, the EM drive (electromagnetic drive) was making news. It uses microwave energy in a tuned cavity to create a few ounces of thrust, and it was tested by NASA and verified. It could get a space mission to Mars in 10 days – with great savings in fuel. However, it breaks a law of physics which says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Current science, being unable to explain the EM drive phenomenon, has limited its progress.
A significant impediment to bringing these new technologies into general acceptance is resistance to change. Engineers and educators are saying it can’t be done. Yet, many are doing it.
Let’s hope that scientific innovation prevails so that we can all soon benefit from clean air and a high standard of living.
Richard D. Smith, Sitka
