Update February 2014

Peeta can stop taking his saltpeter before his newscasts. His lustful imaginings for Claire will only be dreams now that Claire is high-tailing it to the west coast. All strange things must come to an end. The flirtatious juvenile bantering between the senior newsreader and the bubbly climatologist will now have to be carried out privately via Skype.

Claire stated on air she is moving back to Vancouver to run a TV production company.  3,500 kilometres will separate the two puppy lovers.  Good snoops out there should check Peter’s travel records over the next few months. He may become a frequent flyer to Vancouver. Or maybe they will meet at a discreet motel in Winnipeg, which is halfway between Vancouver and Toronto.

Depending on Peeta’s libido level (he will have the final say on who is hired) it is possible that the next weather reporter on the National could be another 35-45 year old cutie pie.  And Peeta could start to make playfully romantic overtures once again. 

 

Update

November 2012

In September 2012, the CBC senior management consolidated weather services, and moved Martin to CBC Toronto to work on the local supper-time and 10 PM national newscasts.

Now Claire is in the same studio as Peeta.  It looks like they may get off their shifts at the same time.  Maybe a nightcap in a hotel room down the street from CBC world headquarters. Or possibly Peeta has a private, fully furnished suite at world headquarters, with a wet bar?  Oh, the possibilities are endless!

The constant on air flirtation between CBC news reader Peter Mansbridge and CBC meteorologist Claire Martin is annoying.  Why don’t they just get a motel room?  They could meet in Winnipeg as Claire is in Vancouver and Peter is in Toronto.  2500 miles apart.  Winnipeg is dab smack in the middle of those two cities.

When weather time comes on during The National newscast Peter lights up like a horny schoolboy.  Then Claire comes on and is all bubbly as she acknowledges PETA.  Their eyes glow and the wide smiles are hilarious. 

Peter is married to actress Cynthia Dale ( a former hottie in her own right) but I’m sure he would jump on Claire at the drop of a hat.  If only it wasn’t for that 2500 miles.  There is no information on Claire’s marital status.  When Claire comes on it likely isn’t only Peter that is drooling,  Chantal Hebert likely has dreams of Claire as well.

This flirtatious television relationship gets in the way of Claire’s weather forecasts.  The juvenile banter is exasperating.  Just let us know that it is raining in Vancouver and snowing in Calgary Claire.  And Peter should think about his wedding vows when the feed from Vancouver approaches.

Peter likely goes home and watches clips of Claire.  And I don’t want to imagine what he does to himself when he watches those clips.  I think the Super 8 motel on Fermor by the East Perimeter would be the perfect thing for these two lovey doveys.

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It can be said that the United States has created many enemies across the world due to its geopolitical policies.  Some of these enemies are absolutely irrational and may be highly dangerous if they acquire lethal capabilities.  Two examples are North Korea and Al Qaeda.  Therefore the U.S. military is developing a strike capability where if the threat is definite and is located, anywhere in the world, it can be taken out by a weapon system launched from the U.S. mainland within two hours.

Prompt Global Strike (PGS) is a United States military initiative to develop a system capable of a conventional weapon strike anywhere in the world in 2 hours just as a nuclear attack can currently be carried with intercontinental ballistic missiles. As stated by General James Cartwright, “Today, unless you want to go nuclear, it’s measured in days, maybe weeks” until the military can launch an attack with regular forces. The aim of the system is to provide rapid precision strike capability from the United States mainland to any region in the world in case of a conflict or emergency. The PGS system will be designed to complement Forward Deployed Forces, Air Expeditionary Forces (which can deploy within 48 hours) and Carrier battle groups (which can respond within 96 hours) with a system that can deliver a strike anywhere on the planet or in near space within 60 minutes.

The weapon is seen by some, including the Obama administration, to be a way to reduce the nuclear arsenal while maintaining deterrent and quick strike capabilities. Potential scenarios that would require a fast response currently only available in nuclear weapons include an impending North Korean missile launch or an opportunity to strike Al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan. However a major problem with an ICBM-launched weapon is that it may trigger the nuclear warning system of Russia or even China, which caused George W. Bush to shelve plans for the system. It is currently unclear what designs or precautions would be certain to assure these countries that launched missile is not nuclear-tipped. Potential measures include a low-trajectory missile design or allowing Russian and Chinese inspection of missile sites.

Boeing X-51 Hypersonic Cruise Missile.  It could reach speeds of +Mach 7 which is 5,000 miles per hour.

 

X-51 fitted to a B-52 in 2009

Four test flights were initially planned for 2009. However, the first captive flight of the X-51A on a B-52 was not conducted until 9 December 2009, with further captive flights in early 2010. On the vehicle’s first flight, it will be released from a B-52 at 50,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean.  The first flight is planned for spring 2010.

The Americans never let up when it comes to developing state of the art military technology.  The newest player in the top secret high tech game is the RQ-170 Sentinel Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).  It very much resembles the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber in design.  It’s dimensions are classified but reliable sources determine it’s wingspan is between 65-90 feet.

It was sighted at the Kandahar Airbase in Afghanistan in late 2007.  Why the U.S. would use a stealth UAV in Afghanistan considering the Taliban have no radar has raised some questions.  Some analysts contend that the U.S. is using the Sentinel to spy on Pakistan or Iran.  It is possible it was in Afghanistan to be tested in live theatre conditions.

A stealthy unmanned aircraft system developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division has secretly joined the US Air Force inventory.

The USAF confirms that the RQ-170 Sentinel is in development, and is expected “to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward-deployed combat forces”, according to a statement released on 4 December.

The announcement comes after a series of images of a jet-powered, stealthy aircraft have appeared on the internet since last April, including a clear shot of the aircraft that circulated widely in early December.

But it was not immediately clear whether the aircraft shown in pictures and the RQ-170 are the same. Besides describing the RQ-170 as stealthy, the USAF released no further technical information about its new UAV, or any photos.

Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev is one big bloody boxer.  The Russian from St. Petersburg is 7 feet tall and weighs 330 pounds.  He is a former two time WBA champion.  He almost appears to be a Sasquatch that suffers from mange which has caused him or it to lose its hair. 

Arch rival and the last man to beat Valuev, Englishman David Haye described him like this: “He is the ugliest fricking thing I have ever seen. I have watched Lord of the Rings and films with strange looking people, but for a human being to look like he does is pretty shocking.”

Some pics of this giant beast boxer.

But David Haye wasn’t intimidated and he fought the Giant toe to toe and ultimately beat him to become champion.

Environmentalist and esteemed scientist David Suzuki held a press conference today calling on the Iceland volcano that is spewing millions of tons of ash into the atmosphere to cease and desist immediately. 

The volcano named Eyjafjallajökull (try saying that rapidly 5 times in a row) has affected air travel across most of Europe and many other parts of the world.  Airlines have been leery of flying through the ash. In the past ash particles have shut down jet engines.

Suzuki said this brutish volcano has spewed more toxic emissions into the atmosphere in the last week than all the cars in the world did in the last year.  Suzuki lamented that high-flying geese could be knocked from the sky.  The lungs of mountain goats will get coated with ash causing the goats to black-out and fall off mountains, Suzuki asserted.  The eminent scientist then declared that this contemptuous volcano is disgorging more pollutants into the air in an hour than 30 million flatulent cows do in a decade.

When a reporter refuted Suzuki’s logic stating that a volcano is a natural phenomenon that possesses no conciousness of its own and can’t make rational decisions, Suzuki blasted back, “poppycock!”  He said “the Earth is a living, breathing entity, and every part of it knows what in the hell it is doing!”  Suzuki then started rambling in an ancient Egyptian dialect and had to be restrained and taken away in a straight jacket.

A Suzuki aide later said the professor had a bad reaction to his latest diet.  He said Suzuki was trying a life extension diet consisting exclusively of  seafood stew, beets and rutabagas.  And that Suzuki had an allergic reaction to the rutabagas immediately prior to the press conference. 

Hangovers are a horrid part of existence.  They make you question your sanity as to why you indulged in that debauchery the night before.  But as social animals many people use booze, beer, liquor or any other type of alcoholic drink to let loose and relieve the stress.

That is the strange part about drinking.  You basically go from sweet ecstasy to the pits of hell in a 12 hour period.  The intermediate part is a deep comatose like sleep.  But when that alarm goes off in the morning the brain and body will let you know you acted very badly the night before.  And you will pay with great suffering.  Especially if you have to get into work. 

Easy tasks become confounding stress filled predicaments.  When you speak to co-workers you call them by the wrong names.  And the constant rush to the water cooler to fill the bottle up, which in turn leads to constant trips to the can.  And your work performance diminishes to that of an intelligent chimp.  The constant self-loathing, mumbling rabid insults about your own stupidity to yourself.

So we conclude that we will never do that again.  Until the emails start that the gang wants to get together to watch a big hockey game. And the sauce will be flowing hard again.

Here are some possible cures:

Sleep. Rest is your best friend at this point to give your body a recover. It is best to stay in bed so call in to work if you have to, tell them you have the stomach flu. You will sound so horrible on the phone they may believe you (unless they saw you at the bar, not a good idea then).

Replenish your body with fruit juice and water.

Avoid caffeine. A weak cup of coffee may be okay but a lot of caffeine will continue to dehydrate you, the opposite of what you want right now.

Drink orange juice for Vitamin C.

Drink a sports drink like Gatorade or Powerade.

Eat mineral rich food like pickles or canned fish.

In Poland, drinking pickle juice is a common remedy.

Drink a Bloody Mary. While the popular phrase “hair of the dog that bit you” may sound logical with a shot of whiskey left in the bottle next to your bed, it’s only temporary. Try a Bloody Mary instead, while your blood is dealing with the new alcohol it is ignoring the old and in the mean time tomato juice and celery are full of vitamins. If you drank the last of the vodka make a Virgin Mary. Another spicy morning after drink option is Hair of the Dog, in which gin and hot sauce are sure to bite your hangover back.

Take a shower, switching between cold and hot water.

In Ireland it was said that the cure for a hangover is to bury the ailing person up to the neck in moist river sand.

President Obama unveiled his administrations future space strategies today in Florida.  It is comprehensive and far-reaching.  Obama is not looking at going back to the Moon, but a future mission to Mars!

But Obama did not mention mining minerals on Mars as George W. Bush did.  Bush is the consummate Oilman and regards everything as potential profit.  Obama said the exploration of Mars and deeper reaches of space will ultimately lead to new technologies that will benefit humankind.  No profit motive here.

A heavy lift rocket and the Orion capsule concepts are a major part of the plan and by 2015-16 some big launches will take place.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) — President Obama said Thursday that he is “100 percent committed” to the mission of NASA and its future.

Speaking at the Kennedy Space Center, the president sought to try to sell his vision for the space program and assuage workers’ concerns about his plan.

Obama’s proposal would pump an additional $6 billion into NASA over the next six years, but would pull the plug on a project to send astronauts to the moon.

The White House budget office said the Constellation Program, which had sought to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, is behind schedule, over budget and overall less important than other space investments.

The administration would instead invest in deep space exploration and scientific development.

White House officials insist that while the president wants to shift priorities, space exploration is not in trouble.

NASA’s future, as outlined in the White House documents, would include a multibillion-dollar modernization of Kennedy Space Center, expansion of private-sector and commercial space industries, creation of thousands of jobs and eventually human travel to Mars. Instead of being scrapped as originally proposed, the Orion crew capsule would be used as an emergency vehicle to reach crews at the International Space Station.

The main space centers in the United States are Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Marshall Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; and Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Allard Beutel, news chief at the Kennedy Space Center, told CNN that layoffs there will likely reach the 7,000 range with the end of NASA’s space shuttle fleet and the cancellation of the Constellation program.

The space shuttle fleet is scheduled to be retired at the end of this year, leaving the Russian Soyuz capsules as the only avenue into space until commercial ventures are ready to do the job, expected to be years away.

NASA says it’s much less expensive to use Russia’s Soyuz to transport astronauts to the space station. Private companies say they’ll be able to do it for even less.

Leroy Chiao, a former astronaut and the current vice president of Excalibur Almaz, a private manned space flight company, said it’s time to “give the commercial guys a chance.”

“NASA’s job really should be to focus on pushing outside of low-earth orbit, of either going to explore near-earth asteroids, going back to the moon to test architecture and modules and hardware, operations for an eventual visit to Mars. So, NASA really should be thinking farther,” he said, adding that private companies could serve as a “taxi service” for NASA.

Some well-known astronauts criticized Obama’s plan on Wednesday, saying in a letter that, “the USA is far too likely to be on a long downhill slide to mediocrity.”

“America must decide if it wishes to remain a leader in space. If it does, we should institute a program which will give us the very best chance of achieving that goal.”

The letter was signed by the first and last men to walk on the moon — Neil Armstrong from Apollo 11 and Eugene Cernan from Apollo 17 — and James Lovell, who commanded the heroic Apollo 13 flight.

They praised Obama’s increase in total funding for space exploration, which includes money for research, the international space station and a heavy-lift rocket. But the astronauts said the decision to cancel the Constellation program for manned space flight “is devastating.”

They also said that relying on private companies in the immediate future is not realistic.

“America’s only path to low Earth orbit and the international space station will now be subject to an agreement with Russia to purchase space on their Soyuz (at a price of over 50 million dollars per seat with significant increases expected in the near future) until we have the capacity to provide transportation for ourselves,” they wrote.

Obama’s proposal to use commercial transport to reach orbit “cannot be predicted with any certainty, but is likely to take substantially longer and be more expensive than we would hope,” the astronauts said.

But Armstrong’s crewmate, Buzz Aldrin, says NASA needs to explore new frontiers, not retrace 40-year-old footsteps.

Aldrin is hitching a ride aboard Air Force One to join Obama in Cape Canaveral on Thursday, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

Pre model jet engines, rc jets have always lacked the authenticity of having a true gas turbine until recent years; previously jets needed to be powered by either gas or electric motors with a propeller (thus spoiling the look of the aircraft) or noisy ducted fan and ‘pulse jets’ (which are more rocket motors than anything else). But now they can be powered by a fully functional and realistic looking jet turbine, thanks to manufacturers like JetCat!

A model jet engine design can vary from one manufacturer to another, but they all work on the same basic principle. The most common type nowadays is the centrifugal flow turbine, as opposed to the lengthier axial flow turbine.

The big difference between centrifugal and axial flow turbines is in the stage of compression. In a centrifugal flow unit, air entering the turbine is thrown outwards as it passes over the spinning impeller. The air hits against the inside of the can and so is compressed greatly before passing into the combustion chamber. This intense compression increases the pressure and hence temperature of the air, making it more effective when it mixes with the fuel.

The fuel, which is nearly always kerosene (‘Jet A1‘), is introduced into the combustion chamber as a very fine mist, and so mixes easily with the now highly compressed air. This fuel/air mixture is then ignited by a small glow plug, much the same as the one found on a 2 or 4 stroke model airplane engine.

Boeing and NASA are testing blended-wing technologies that could lead to a revolution in airframe design.  The experts contend we will see this new aircraft design flying the skies in 12-15 years.

Currently, both NASA and Boeing are exploring BWB designs under the designation X-48.  Studies suggest that BWB aircraft, configured for passenger flight, could carry from 450 to 800 passengers with some designs having room for 1400 passengers and achieve fuel savings of over 20 percent. NASA has been developing, since 2000, a remotely controlled model with a 21 ft (6.4 m) wingspan. This research is focused on establishing the base data concerning the lift, stall and spin characteristics inherent in a Blended Wing Body design.

Ever since Boeing introduced the 707 in the 1950s, passenger jets have looked pretty much the same: long tubes with tails, engines mounted below the wings. That shape may one day be transformed into the graceful silhouette of a manta ray. In February, a 400-pound, 21-foot (6.4 m)-wide prototype of just such a bird will start practicing unmanned takeoffs, landings, and tricky slow-speed maneuvers at Edwards Air Force Base. Called the X-48B, it’s a scaled-down model of a theoretical 500-ton, 240-foot (73 m)-wide blended-wing aircraft. Aeronautical engineers have long known that this design could be much quieter, more fuel efficient, and far roomier than a conventional cylinder. But recent advances—lightweight composite materials, fly-by-wire controls, sophisticated flight systems—have made building one of these planes more feasible. Commercial versions have been proposed—imagine a flying auditorium—but the X-48B is more likely to debut as a US military transport plane circa 2022.

A very unusual phenomena occurred over the weekend at Winnipeg Beach.  Strong north winds forced ice to batter the shore and ultimately make huge piles.  The locals at Winnipeg Beach (located on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg just south of Gimli) said it all happened within 20 minutes.  This weird situation terrified the beach front property owners as they thought their cottages and houses were going to be destroyed by massive ice chunks. 

It stopped as quickly as it started.  Now the people are hoping the Great Ice Wall of Winnipeg Beach melts or recedes back into the lake before another strong north wind blows in.