- Flying cars: absurd dream of the future or the preferred method of travel at Newt Gingrich’s proposed moon colony? Oddly enough, the answer might be neither. Instead, the Terrafugia Transition flying car is the star attraction at this week's New York International Auto Show. The car-plane hybrid completed a test flight last month and was cleared for production last July by the U.S. National Highway Safety Administration. The "street-legal airplane" is a two-seat vehicle with folding wings that can be driven on highways and flown in the air with unleaded gasoline, all while looking like a huge dork. During a test flight out of the Plattsburgh International Airport in Plattsburgh, N.Y., the Transition stayed airborne for about eight minutes and reached an altitude of 1,400 feet above the ground. An official announcement on the Terrafugia website announced the test flight and said the two-seater Light Sport Aircraft can drive on roads and highways and park in a single-car garage. However, the Transition won't have the flying car market to itself. It could soon be joined in the skies by the Dutch-built PAL-V (Personal Air and Land Vehicle). While Terrafugia is furthest along in the process, the PAL-V, which flies like a gyrocopter with lift generated by an auto-rotating rotor and forward speed produced by a foldable push propeller on the back, is well on its way to becoming reality as well. The only question is whether the Dutch can push ahead of Massachusetts-based Terrafugia Inc. and claim the first big win in the flying car battle for the Netherlands. National pride (and more importantly, money) is on the line here, so the competition should be intense…………
- There is almost no way a band comprised of four children of Beatles members can succeed. While the concept of putting John, Paul, George and Ringo’s offspring seems cool on the surface, dig deeper and the pitfalls are plentiful. The concept is being discussed because. James McCartney, son of Beatles guitarist Paul McCartney, was asked about the idea and didn’t specifically rule it out. And yes, that’s enough to make it a story. "I don't think it's something that Zak wants to do," McCartney said, referring to Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey. Maybe Jason would want to do it," he added, citing Starr's other son, a drummer. "I'd be up for it. Sean seemed to be into it, Dhani seemed to be into it. I'd be happy to do it." Sean and Dhani would be Sean Lennon, son of the late John Lennon, and George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison. James McCartney has previously collaborated with his father, playing guitar on Paul McCartney's albums "Flaming Pie" and "Driving Rain." He also has a band of his own, but said that forming a next generation Beatles band could happen someday. "I don't know, you'd have to wait and see. The will of God, nature's support, I guess. So yeah, maybe," he explained. So karmic forces and the Almighty need to be a part of the mix as well. Of course, if there is a God who cares about bands, then he’ll make sure this never happens. With their collective musical legacy and name recognition, expectations and hype for the band would be out of control. The hype would build to absurd levels and many would expect them to sound like their fathers. Even if they were solid, the band would likely be a disappointment to many and would never rise to Beatles-esque status. Forty-two years have passed since the Beatles broke up, but they are still adored by many across generational lines. A beautiful memory is exactly what the Beatles should remain……….
- Cambodia is a long way from the United States. It’s stuck on a peninsula far, far away and the southeast corner of Asia is remote enough for Nike to put its factories and production facilities and ignore them when subhuman working conditions and criminally low wages become an issue. By tucking its factories in some remote corner of the world, Nike can minimize outrage when at least 107 garment workers faint at a factory and the cause is likely to be exposure to chemicals and poor ventilation. Mass fainting incidents have become a disturbing trend in the country, as last year 284 workers passed out at a factory that provides supplies for H&M, and 49 workers fell ill at a factory that produces apparel for Puma. Liberal activist groups have long rallied around the issue of low wages and subpar working conditions for employees at garment shops in Third World countries, but their efforts obviously have not had a substantial or widespread effect. Protests on the ground in affected regions haven't been effective either, probably because police violently attack those who speak out. A March 27 incident in which protesters rallying outside a factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, were reportedly attacked by the police illustrates the problem clearly. Those protesters were members of a garment workers' union who are employed at a factory that produces clothes for J.C. Penney Co., but they just as easily could have worked for any number of apparel manufacturers who look to maximize profits by shipping low-level jobs off to the far corners of the map………..
- Congratulations, Detroit. You’ve staved off a state takeover of your entire city now that the Detroit City Council has passed a financial consent agreement with a 5-4 vote, granting the city the power to void contracts and slash costs but not provide state funding or loans to bail the city out of its financial problems. The council passed the agreement late Wednesday, beating a Thursday deadline to save the city from the threat of looming financial insolvency or a takeover of city government by Michigan. Mayor Dave Bing and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder backed the agreement, although t he deputy mayor of Detroit, Kirk Lewis, signed off on the consent agreement on behalf of Bing, who is recuperating from a hospital stay. Snyder issued a statement shortly after the vote and saluted the council for acting "responsibly" while cautioning that there is still work to be done. "The magnitude of the city's financial challenges means that many difficult decisions lie ahead," the governor said. "We must build on this spirit of cooperation and be willing to act in the city's long-term interests." If the city’s trade unions had their way, the agreement would not have happened. Unions loudly opposed the deal and in a city that remains a nucleus of labor power, their opposition could have stymied efforts to pass the rescue package. Had the council rejected the deal, Snyder could have, by law, appointed an "emergency manager" who would have assumed the powers of the mayor and council to run day-to-day operations. The council found itself in a difficult spot and given that its only recent action to deal with the crisis was to double the city's corporate income tax to 2 percent, it clearly needed to step its game up. A dwindling population, deserted neighborhoods and empty factories and office buildings have drastically shrunk Detroit’s tax base in recent years and pushed the city into a deep financial hole despite the auto industry’s resurgence. The city still must cut more costs in order to continue paying its bills, but the new measure will help. A January estimate put the amount of money the city had left in the bank at $20.9 million by the end of this week. Making matters worse, Bing recently released from the hospital after serious intestinal surgery and won't return to work for two weeks. Had the council rejected the consent agreement, chaos could have resulted…………
- If it’s possible to feel bad for an athlete who is about to have his dream come true and sign a multimillion-dollar contract, then LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne deserves a healthy dose of sympathy. Claiborne, ranked by many as the top defensive back prospect in this month’s NFL Draft, was the annual player who records a low score on the Wonderlic intelligence and cognitive reasoning test administered each February at the NFL scouting combine. Every year, one player posts an über-low score on the test, which is graded on a scale of 1 to 50, and that score is mysteriously leaked to the media. Claiborne was that guy this year and news of his 4 of 50 score on the test quickly become joke fodder for bloggers and Twitter loudmouths. Instead of taking the usual route of denying the score, Claiborne’s agent Bus Cook reacted with hurt and anger over the leak. He insisted he was aware of no “deficiency” in Claiborne, but his reaction seemed odd for some reason. Now, the truth is coming to the forefront. While Cook has not admitted it, multiple sources have reported that the reason Claiborne scored so low on the test was that he has a learning disability. However, if that’s true then Claiborne could have obtained what is known as an “untimed accommodation” to take the test. According to Jeff Foster, president of National Scouting and the National Invitational Camp (also known as the combine), in such cases the player communicates the existence of the disability in advance of the test and provides documentation of the disability. From there, combine officials research the accommodations provided to the player when taking tests at his college and the untimed accommodation is applied. The player takes the test like everyone else, but only the questions he completes during the 12-minute time limit are graded and the unanswered questions do not count against him. He then completes the rest of the test without a time limit, although his answers are not graded. Ultimately, the responsibility for obtaining the exception falls on the both the player and the agent and either Cook didn’t know about Claiborne’s disability or didn’t go through the proper process to obtain the accommodation. Players could also refuse to take the test, something Foster said has never happened. Regardless of the outcome, Claiborne can’t be happy with the situation and there is plenty of blame to spread around. However, having your learning disability exposed in order to explain why you’re not stupid for a low score on an aptitude test is not a proud life moment…………
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