Todd Allen will introduce Tracy Hutchins from the Upper Valley Business Alliance who will give us some insights on how the pandemic is impacting businesses in our region.

 

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88229582283?pwd=aS9Hd3o1cS9ZK0hQL0ZhUHZXSEdxQT09

 

Meeting ID: 882 2958 2283

Password: 254494

 

The Zoom Room opens at 11:45 AM.  After the Pledge of Allegiance and opening Password Todd will introduce our speaker. 

 

They are recorded in “speaker view” which means if you do ask questions during the Q and A session you will appear on screen unless you disable the camera. 

 

 

Dick Podolec announced that the Roterac Club at Dartmouth has 30 new member, which means he will need 11 Rotarians to help provide mentoring support. 

 

Bruce Atwood announced the need for volunteers to help with some trail building once the snow melts. 

 

Don Pasini offered a Happy Dollar in honor of his 48^th wedding anniversary. 

 

Soon-to-be new member Gary Miller offered a Happy Dollar in appreciation for the opportunity to join our club after serving in Greenwich, CT. 

 

The Raffle Management Team (RMT) awarded its $10 in-kind donation to Willing Hands to Dick Booma for his knowledge that Hanover is a part of Rotary District 7850. 

 

 

REMINDER: Here’s the link to make your donation in lieu of paying for meals at Jesse’s AND the place to donate your Happy Dollars! For the months ahead, our funds will be earmarked for Willing Hands. https://hanovernhrotary.ejoinme.org/COVID-19.

 

 

Todd Allen will introduce Eric Benn who gave us some insights into national intelligence policies and procedures. Before describing his career in national intelligence, he disabused us of the notion that any massive data collection of civilians was feasible or desirable. Eric’s specialization was remote sensing and analysis of data from imagery collection systems, which he started doing in pre-digital era when photographs developed in secret laboratories where covertly shipped via trucks and airplanes. By the time he concluded his career, intelligence was all computerized and included imagery from satellites, drones & unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft, and various other sources. He informed us that there are currently 5 agencies devoted exclusively to spying and 17 intelligence collection agencies within the various cabinet and Executive branch offices. These agencies not only collect data independently, they also sift through open source data and blogs to gain insights.

 

Despite the massive amounts of data collected and analyzed, Eric reported that errors still occur, citing examples such as the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1978, India’s nuclear devices developed in the late 1990s, 9-11, and the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He noted that based on his experience, when someone in the government complains that they “didn’t get enough intel” what they really meant was “you didn’t give me the intel I wanted”.

 

Eric concluded his talk with a report on the intelligence gathering capabilities of agencies today, and it is astonishing. Thanks to satellite imagery, phone data, and greatly improved drones it is possible for various intelligence gathering units to identify military targets in Syria, poppy fields in Afghanistan, and individuals like Osama bin Laden. 

 

 

March 10 – Len Cadwallader introduces Jim Rubens whose talk, American Promise, will offer some ideas on how to take money out of politics.

 

March 17 – Dick Podolec will introduce Phil Hanlon, Dartmouth College President, who’s talk scheduled for election day was moved to this date. 
 

March 24 – Todd Allen introduces Christine Pederson who will tell us about the Easter Seals campaign in New Hampshire

 

March 31 – Todd Allen brings Noel Pauili, a Senior Scientist at Adimab to tell us about his firm’s efforts to “…turn good molecules into best in class molecules”.  

 

We’re now booked through the first week in June! A few more bookings and Todd Allen can heave a sigh of relief… but Dave Allen will mist surely be looking for speaker ideas!

 

Wayne Gersen