"China, Xi Jinping and Security Threats in Asia"

Michael Glosny is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Post Graduate School. He is also an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, and previously was China Security Affairs Fellow, at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. His expertise centers around Chinese foreign policy and East Asian security.

Michael received his Ph.D. from MIT and has been a Fellow at Harvard’s Center for Science and Technology and its Institute for Strategic Studies. He focuses on Chinese foreign and security policy and U.S. alliances in East Asia.

Currently, he is working on a book dealing with the effect of China’s grand strategy on the response by the other major powers. Michael has spent more than 3 years in China and Taiwan and speaks fluent Mandarin.

Here is a link to presentation slides.

"Putin's Russia and the Ukraine War"

Aleksandar Matovski, Ph.D, Department of Graduate Affairs, Naval Post Graduate School, will bring us an informative presentation with visual aid PowerPoint slides. Alek is a recognized expert on the subject. He is stationed at NPS but is also an Associate at the Harvard University Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. His focus is on strategic behavior of authoritarian regimes with emphasis on the former Soviet Union. In addition to his PhD from Cornell University, he holds an MA in War Studies from King’s College in London, and a law degree. Alek is from Eastern Europe and was a National Security Advisor there with the Macedonian government. He speaks Russian fluently and has been in Russia some 30 times. Do not miss this timely talk.

Here is a link to the presentation slides.

The Carmel Pine Cone's Jerry Gervase will disclose how he became a newspaper columnist with little experience beyond having a paper route.

For almost a quarter of a century Jerry peddled medical books in several states. Among the titles he sold was "The Kinsey Report." He regrets that the authors never selected him to participate in any of their research projects. He became a Regional Manager in Los Angeles for a large multi-hundred dollar medical instruments company. He left when his boss balked at relocating Jerry's office from LA to the rear deck of Kimo's Bar in Lahaina, Maui. He was fortunate to have extraordinary teachers who fanned into flames the embers of potential they saw inside him.

He is a widower with three astonishing children, two nurses and a teacher, who continue to amaze him. He has been favored with a small group of steadfast friends whose loyalty he counts as his personal wealth. He shares his life with a lovely talented singer, an author, and a voice teacher, all in one person, who is his best friend, linguistic sparring partner, and whose constancy is an ongoing blessing.

For the past 18 years he was been writing a newspaper column which he describes as, "Once a week I get to empty out a cluttered mind."

Jeannine Pacioni is the current District Attorney for the County of Monterey, Elected in 2019, she is the first female District Attorney in Monterey County. She received her Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of San Diego, School of Law in 1990 and after serving as Deputy District Attorney for Kern County, joined the Monterey District Attorney's Office in 1992. Serving until 2001, she left to serve with several Monterey County legal organizations and is an elected Board Member of the California District Attorney Association.

Ms. Pacioni has devoted her entire legal career to the pursuit of justice while handling virtually every type of criminal case prosecuted in Monterey County. For 20 years as a prosecutor, she has tenaciously represented victims of crime in numerous high-profile cases involving murder, gang crimes, vehicular manslaughter, assault, robbery, child molestation, adult sexual assault and edler abuse.

Jill is the President/Executive Director of MATE Inspiration for Innovation and the Principal Investigator of two National Science Foundation grants at Monterey Peninsula College. Highlights of her 24 years with MATE include working with the Marine Technology Society (MTS) ROV Committee to establish the global student MATE ROV Competition and coordinating the development of MATE’s Underwater Robotics: Science, Design & Fabrication textbook.

Download slide presentation here

The speaker for our August meeting will be Dick Crowell, who will present a program titled, “Bye Bye Blackbird” about the family of amazing spy planes designed and built by Lockheed Aircraft during the Cold War era. Dick is an ardent military history buff and enjoys the arcane stories of events and hardware used in warfare.

In 2010, Ms. Valentine began advocating for medical cannabis, speaking at professional conferences and other events. Four years later, she transformed her passion into a success story for others by creating Synchronicity Holistic.

Synchronicity initially offered medical grade and adult use products. Now, it has the distinction of the only CA cannabis dispensary with a pharmacist and nurses. Synchronicity Holistic, is a state of the art cannabis wellness center and will speak to us on the potential of cannabis use.

We are honored to have Mr. Steve John, the Chief Executive Officer of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Tournament Director for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, as our June luncheon speaker.

Steve is the past President of Ocean Honda in Soquel, CA. A graduate of Albion College in Michigan, Mr. John is active in the community having served on the boards for Santa Cruz county Bank, Cabrillo College Foundation, O’Neill Sea Odyssey, and First Capital Bank.

Ron Read, with his deep experience and involvement with the game of golf will be our speaker on May 12th. Ron joined the USGA in 1982 and served in many positions for 32 years. He was a starter for US Open Championships from 1986 to 2010. He also was a key contributor to the creation of the USGA GHIN computerized handicap system.

Based on Ron's experiences as starter for our national golf championship, he wrote a very popular book, STARTING THE U.S. OPEN -- From Shinnecock HIlls to Pebble Beach. It takes the reader inside the ropes of the US Open Championship. Ron is a well-informed and dynamic speaker who will share some fascinating stories with our group.

Nick was born in Sussex England and began playing golf at 12 years old. Immediately after leaving High School, Nick turned pro at 16 years and became the youngest, fully qualified member of the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland at the age of 18.

He visited the USA for the first time in the winter of 1979 to prepare for playing tournament golf. Six years later he turned his attention to the business side of golf and started a golf club manufacturing company in southern California. In 1994 Nick founded his own youth and adult golf academy at Bayonet and Black Horse GC. It was at Bayonet and Black Horse that John Zoller and Ollie Nutt approached him to help establish The First Tee Monterey County.

Nick is the CEO of First Tee Monterey County, and he has seen it grow into the largest youth development organization in the County. The organization serves over 10,000 young people a year and has reached over 100,000 children since its inception. First Tee enables kids to build the strength of character that empowers them through a lifetime of new challenges integrating the game of golf with a life skills curriculum. It also operates the Taylor Farms Center For Learning: providing academic programs, educational support and continued life skills training; and Pay It Forward Scholarship and Mentoring Program: supporting and holding first generation college students accountable for success.

Nick is married to Elissa, and they have two children; Pierce, 19, and Kensington, 18. Pierce is a United States Marine, and Kensington hopes to attend college on an equestrian team in 2022.