FLYING WIND TURBINES

We’ve seen wind turbines fit for backyards, balconies, even oceans- and now pioneering wind-power engineers are looking to take wind turbines to new heights—15,000-30,000 feet in the air! Harvesting just 1% of the energy from jet-stream winds could produce enough power for everybody on the planet. Sky WindPower and Magenn Power are just two of the companies in the race to develop flying generators for high-altitude winds.

San Diego based Sky WindPower is developing a kite-like 1,100 pound Flying Electric Generator (FEG) capable of producing power for as little as two cents per kilowatt hour and flying

between 15,000 and 30,000 feet. Four rotors at the points of an H-shaped frame provide the necessary lift to keep the platform floating in the air like a kite. Electricity generated by the spinning rotors is transmitted to the ground through aluminum cables tethered to the frame.

Sky WindPower hopes to build flying farms one day; the proposal calls for FEGs clustered in a 200-square-mile restricted airspace zone. Turbines constructed of aircraft materials would feature four 130-foot-diameter rotors and weigh in at 45,000 pounds. The FEGs would function like helicopters on liftoff, powered by the ground station until they can begin harvesting wind power. Once in the jet stream, the FEG’s vertical stabilizers would tilt the rotors at different angles to balance the platform and optimize wind speeds.

Canadian company Magenn Power has developed the Magenn Power Air Rotor System (M.A.R.S.), a helium filled wind generator that rotates around a horizontal axis and sends electricity down a tether that can be used immediately, stored in a battery or routed to the power grid. The M.A.R.S. flies at lower levels than the FEG, between 600 and 1,000 feet, and works with speeds from 4 mph to greater than 60 mph...

www.inhabitat.com

Free Bert Tatham from Dubai Prison

Bert Tatham’s Story

Bert’s job in Afghanistan was managing a team of Afghans to work on the ground with farmers, government officials, NATO forces, and aid agencies to try and bring drug production under control in a country that produces over 90% of the world’s heroin. He lived and worked in Kandahar, in the middle of a war zone, as an official with the Ministry of Counter Narcotics. Over the course of the 13.5 months that he was there, 44 of our country’s soldiers died in Kandahar, along with hundreds of Afghans including several with whom Bert worked directly. Bert himself narrowly avoided being killed several times by suicide bombers, including one whose remains rained down on his office after detonating short of his target. Despite these challenges, his team helped reduce the heroin yield by 18% in Kandahar during the first year, and similar results are anticipated this year. Bert credits this achievement to the Afghan members of his team, who risked death by both working in counter-narcotics and by working with Westerners.

Another hazardous aspect to Bert’s work was a nearly constant exposure to drugs. Hashish, which is a refine form of marijuana, is sadly a deep part of Afghan culture in the region where he worked. It was not unusual in the course of his day to be offered this substance, even by police and government officials. In fact, he often had to accept these “gifts” and dispose of them discretely after finishing meetings. Another occupational hazard encountered while working in Kandahar was actually consuming hashish without knowing it, in food where it was used in its preparation. One such example was an incident in which Bert was offered yogurt at a lunch a few weeks before leaving the country which was later found to have contained a large amount of hashish.

After a year of service in Afghanistan, Bert began his journey home. While on a 2-day stop over in Dubai, his bags were searched and customs found two poppies that Bert was bringing back as artifacts representative of his efforts in Afghanistan. This find triggered an extensive search of his belongings that revealed a trace amount of hashish melted into the seams of his trouser pockets. Although the poppies were 2 years old and contained no usable amount of opium, and the 0.6g could not be proven with out a doubt his, Bert was sentenced to 4 years in a Dubai prison. His only hope for release now, is that he be granted Amnesty by the Rulers of the Dubai.

www.freebert.ca

Thanks to Ian Adams from www.east-end-underground.com

'$100 laptop' production begins

Five years after the concept was first proposed, the so-called $100 laptop is poised to go into mass production.

Hardware suppliers have been given the green light to ramp-up production of all of the components needed to build millions of the low-cost machines. Previously, the organisation behind the scheme said that it required orders for 3m laptops to make production viable.

The first machines should be ready to put into the hands of children in developing countries in October 2007.
"There's still some software to write, but this is a big step for us," Walter Bender, head of software development at One Laptop per Child (OLPC), told the BBC News website.

The organisation has not said which countries have bought the first machines.

ON STAGE AT MEAFORD HALL

THE PREMIER ARTS & CULTURAL CENTRE IN SOUTHERN GEORGIAN BAY

Here on the Flight Path, a Norm Foster Comedy

August 7, 2007
Times:8:00pm - 10:00pm

The Georgian Theatre Festival presents Here on the Flight Path, a comedy by Norm Foster. Here On The Flight Path centres around John Cummings, a divorced newspaper columnist, who lives in an apartment with a balcony in a large city. Over a period of some three years the plot traces his various degrees of friendship with three women who inhabit the next-door apartment and adjacent balcony. John's intentions are obvious with each of the ladies, and Foster the playwright takes great delight in showing how John tries to find the right approach to achieve his goal, but somehow manages to fumble the ball almost every time -- and I did say almost. Flight path is a hilarious look at a screwed-up nerd's relationships with three attractive women. For John Cummings, living on the edge of Toronto's Pearson Airport, the coming and going of jet planes is simply a metaphor for the way life flies by. When you don't grab tomorrow by the tail, you're left on the edge of the runway, on the outskirts of life. Tickets are $30 from the Meaford Hall Box Office

"Crammed with howlers that have married folks in the audience chortling with elbow-nudging recognition." - Hamilton Spectator

"Keeps audiences in fits of laughter." - Montreal Gazette

"Fall down funny, heart-tuggingly sad and wildly romantic." - Mississauga News

"Fresh and hilarious. The one-liners fly by at top-gun speed." - London Free Press

"Laugh-out-loud funny. Foster takes aim at lawyers, country music, poets, Leonard Cohen, bankers, theatre culture, male sexual insecurity, and plenty more." - Sarnia Observer

"You will laugh. The humor is infectious, and in the role of John, playwright Foster proves to be engaging, and with some great comic timing, delivers the humor in button-down Bob Newhart style." - Brantford Expositor

"Sparkling dialogue. Brilliant humour. The audience laughed from beginning to end." Kitchener Waterloo Record

"Fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a lively trip through the world of male-female relationships. The laughs are nearly non-stop." Simcoe Reformer

Location: Meaford Hall
Contact: Box Office
Phone: 1-877-538-0463
Email: ticket@meaford.ca
Website: http://www.normfoster.com/flightreview.html

Hard Workin' Men -Brooks and Dunn Tribute

August 9, 2007
Times:8:00pm - 10:00pm

Al Dollar (Brooks) and Rob Dice (Dunn) have been performing their tribute to Brooks & Dunn since 1999. Al and Rob bring over 20 years each of professional performing experience to this duo, backed up by a superb 5 piece band. The result is a lively, up-tempo recreation of what it might be like to attend a real Brooks & Dunn show. Ticket: $30

Location: Meaford Hall
Contact: Box Office
Phone: (519) 538-0463
Email: ticket@meaford.ca
Website: http://www.meafordhall.ca

George Fox

August 10, 2007
Times:8:00pm - 10:00pm

With a mantle of country music awards, 8 albums to his credit and a street named after him in his hometown, George Fox has traveled the world. He has opened for some of the biggest names in country music and sold out shows from coast to coast. George Fox is definitely a headliner for the Country Festival. Ticket: $40

Location: Meaford Hall
Contact: Box Office
Phone: (519) 538-0463
Email: ticket@meaford.ca
Website: http://www.georgefox.com

Study suggests Canadians try to be GREEN

OTTAWA — Windsor has one of the highest car-commuting rates in the country, according to a Statistics Canada report released Wednesday. The majority of Canadians continue to commute to work solo in a car or truck, with 57 per cent saying they drive to work in the warm months and 64 per cent in the cold months. Car-commuting rates are highest in Saskatoon, Abbotsford, B.C., and Windsor, and lowest in Victoria and Ottawa-Gatineau.

In general, Canada’s largest cities had the lowest rates of car use and more people using public transit. In all, 83 per cent of households own at least one vehicle. The study found Canadian households have gone green in some areas, but still have a few bad habits to break. Curbing energy use is a big trend, with almost six in 10 households (59 per cent) using compact fluorescent light bulbs in 2006, triple the proportion in a similar survey from 1994. Four in 10 households (42 per cent) have a programmable thermostat, up from 16 per cent in the mid-1990s. Canadians are more dedicated to water conservation, too, with 60 per cent reporting they have a water-saving showerhead (up from 42 per cent in 1994) and 41 per cent owning a water-saving toilet, up from 15 per cent a dozen years earlier). On the other hand, the use of chemical pesticides has declined only slightly from mid-1990s levels, to 29 per cent from 31 per cent. The exception to that rule was Quebec, where strict regulations were imposed and pesticide use dropped by over one-half. Use remains highest in the Prairie provinces (44 per cent in Manitoba and 43 per cent in Saskatchewan).

The Network Newspaper

The Network newspaper was a monthly publication serving the Georgian Triangle (Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, Town of the Blue Mountains, Meaford and area), one of North America's leading four seasons destinations, north of Toronto. The Network was established in 1998 and was printed in a tabloid format on newsprint. It's a long story, but we didn't publish in 2004/05/06, or a short story, to say the least...

The Network has networked to include such greats as... Andy Rooney, Caeleigh Fowler (Caeleigh's Canada), Linda Leatherdale, Barbara Colorosso, Bob Pennington (Marketing-Ideas), Tony Aspler, Pamela McDermid (Writing), Michele Landsberg, Tom Lamont, Bruce Brigham (Genesis Creative- Graphic Arts), Britanny King (Dam Nation comic strip), Amnesty International, Dale Goldhawk, Allan Fotheringham, Graphic News (London), David Suzuki, JC MacDonald (Interesting Internet), Louise Davidson (Marketing-Ideas), Dave Barry, Rosie Dimano, Richard Gwynn, Christopher Hume, General Lewis MacKenzie, Jeff Malloy (the Bear Facts, ask Clarence), Marilyn Linton, Kate Russel (Writer), Your Other Half and many more...

Great news for my family... My nephew Ryan McNevin is a recent addition to the soon to be famous group "Stutter". Ryan, with the band recently spent time with the world famous Billy Idol who is producing the band. Best wishes to the band, we hope to be tickled PINK .

Check out there pro site at...
www.stuttermusic.com

During the summer of 2006 I had a chat with Gough Lewis, who shared with me his idea for the Meaford International Film Festival. Almost a year later my friend has partnered with the Meaford Hall Arts & Culture Foundation and the rest will soon be history...

www.meaford INTERNATIONAL FILM festival.com

The Meaford International Film Festival has put together a stellar collection of compelling new dramatic and documentary films from award-winning international filmmakers, and some of the most exciting and highly-anticipated films in the world.

This year's Line Up represents the thematic diversity of contemporary cinema, selecting films that have received numerous Jury Awards and Audience Awards, as well as this years Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. The Meaford International Film Festival is excited about
the Drama, Comedy, and the two extraordinary Documentaries.

The Sundance Film Festival smash hit "An Unreasonable Man" will kick off our Gala Opening Night on Thursday August 30th at The Meaford Hall. We will have Ralph Nader joining us Live, via
iConference Technology, after the screening. Yes...the Ralph Nader.

We have a "Scoop" Premier on Friday Nights Main Event on August 31st, and all details will be withheld until the actual night of the screening. We are pretty excited about this one. This will sell out, so get your ticket early.

The Saturday Night Main Event in a masterpiece of a film called "In The Shadow Of The Moon", and the prestigious winner of this year's Sundance Audience Award. This compelling documentary explores man's journey to the moon and is nothing short of remarkable. I am honored to announce Director David Sington will be joining us live from England-after the screening. We are very excited about this film, and looking forward to screening this to our audience. This will also sell out, so get your tickets early.

Closing Night Gala is "The Lives of Others" being presented in all its high definition glory thanks to Sony Classics. This masterpiece has not only won this years Academy Award, but to many International awards to list. We are negotiating having Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck join us live from Germany, via iConference Technology.

See you at the movies…then lets have a glass of wine afterwards.

www.meaford INTERNATIONAL FILM festival.com

Dave Lougheed “Photographer”

www.davelougheed

for great art, illustrations and caricatures ...
www.samgorrie.com

Local, High Quality Produce, Direct From Our Farmers.

Expect Fresh, Seasonal Fruits & Veggies.
Organic Baked Goods & Sweets.
Enjoy Premium Meats.
Stay & Treat Yourself to a Prepared Meal Someone Else Had to Make!
A Family & Friends Event!
Under the Rotary Pavilion at the Harbour
Our Vendors Make, Bake & Grow it all within a 100 km radius of Meaford

www.meaford.com