New Honda Jet Makes First Flight

Honda Motor Co. says the first FAA-conforming version of the small business jet it has been working on for years made its first flight. The plane, called the HondaJet, flew from the company’s Honda Aircraft Co. operation at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C.

While an earlier version called a proof-of-concept aircraft has logged more than 500 hours of flight testing, flying the version built to Federal Aviation Administration rules is what really counts toward bringing the plane to market.

Honda’s project is part of a renewed and growing intersection between automobiles and aviation that is occurring around personal- and business-transport. Honda touts the same qualities for the plane, such as “dynamic performance” and efficiency, as it does for its cars. The company has said it is essentially applying lessons learned in auto manufacturing to the aircraft business.
Cirrus Aircraft, a longtime maker of small single-engine propeller-driven planes is developing a small jet designed for personal use that it has described as a minivan with wings. Terrafugia, a small aircraft start-up in Woburn, Mass., plans to start selling a flying car called the Transition late next year.

Honda says it will build five FAA-conforming jets for testing before ramping up production in 2012. The company says it has more than 100 orders for the light business jets, which have a top speed around 483 mph and a ceiling of 43,000 feet. Honda plans to deliver the first one in the third quarter of 2012.

Source;
http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2010/12/22/new-honda-jet-makes-first-flight/

Acura Will Keep Flagship Sedan Conservative, May Add High-End Sporty Vehicle to Lineup

The launch of the refreshed Acura RL flagship gave us a chance to drill the company’s executives and PR reps with questions about the car’s successor as well as Acura’s latest plans to bring back something sports-car-like to the lineup. The information firewall was up in full force, so we were left to read between the lines. Following numerous conversations with Acura’s ebullient product chief, Vicki Poponi, and others, this is what we can surmise about the top of Honda’s top line.

The next Acura flagship likely will be called RL, not Legend or anything else terribly evocative, and it most certainly will not have a V-8 (we were told to stop asking). A former chemical engineer, Poponi is a numbers person, and she cites surveys that Acura believes disprove any notion that cylinder count is of real importance to luxury customers. “The market is moving to us,” the Acura folks said, citing increasing demand for higher fuel economy as well as the economic downturn prompting luxury customers to rein in their extravagant ways. We also kept hearing statements such as “Honda is a very conservative company,” and “the RL customer is a conservative customer.”

These hints suggest that the next RL will build upon the improvements made for 2011 in the areas of quietness, safety, and material quality, although the car will probably not feature terribly radical styling, nor will it grow all that much. So it won’t be a Lexus LS fighter but more like an Infiniti M fighter. Given that, we would also be very surprised if the next-gen car doesn’t add 25 to 50 horses so it can at least match the M37’s base output of 330 hp. When will we see the next-gen RL? With the current model’s age—and abysmal sales of about 3000 per year—it can’t come soon enough. Nods and nudges from Acura folks suggest that it will arrive very soon, perhaps within the next 12 to 18 months. We think the RL had better be at least a bit flashy if Acura hopes to get newfound attention from consumers in the brutally competitive $45K–$70K luxury-car segment. In this case, erring on the side of conservative may be an error indeed.

Details were far sketchier regarding additional members of the Acura lineup. We were told that Acura will soon introduce something unconventional sometime around the launch of the new flagship sedan. Will it be sporty? Probably. Will it be called NSX? Who knows. Will it be the front-engine supercar we saw lapping the Nürburgring a couple of years ago? No. Although that car was all but finished, according to Acura insiders, it was cancelled—not even shelved—due to Honda’s concerns that it might be crass to offer a $150K–$175K sports car in the face of worldwide economic hardship. However, much of the technology developed for that car will appear in the new car. Whatever it’s called.

Source;

http://blog.caranddriver.com/acura-will-keep-flagship-sedan-conservative-may-add-high-end-sporty-vehicle-to-lineup/

SOUTH KOREA'S MILITARY DRILLS

SEOUL: South Korea Military on Thursday started a main live fire drill in which tanks, artillery and jet fighters were participated to show country’s strength in response one month after North Korea’s deadly attack on a border island. 

A defence ministry spokesman said that one hour live fire exercise at Pocheon, 30 K.M. south of the tense land border with North Korea start at 2.43 PM.  It is the major ground-air joint fire drill of this year.

About 800 troops are participating including 30 K-1 tanks, 11 K-200 armored personnel carriers, two F-15K jets, four KF-16 jets, 36 K-9 artillery pieces, three multiple long-range rockets, four 500MD helicopters, three AH-1S Cobra helicopters, and other equipment. The navy is also launching a 4 day exercise off the east coast, which began Wednesday.

The South Korea says its exercises are only self-protective purpose but tensions have been raised since November 23, when North Korea shelled a South Korean island near the challenged western sea border. The North said the shelling was in the reaction to a live fire drill on Yeonpyeong Island.

The South said that it had been performing such type artillery exercises for more than 37 years and the North was looking for a cause to attack. The South perform a revised drill on the same island on Monday with jet fighters and warships but North did not chase through with the danger to hit back.

Some experts say that South’s demonstration of force is for discouraging to North. Others said the hard-line regime had been told by close friend China to workout restraint before a visit to Washington by President Hu Jintao starting on January 19.

The South’s government requested students and other civilians to observe the exercises. Kim Tae-Dong, a 70-year-old Internet businessman told the reporter “We are facing severe crises due to North Korea, So I came to see these air and ground exercises. “I would like to be aware and see the rank of South Korea’s armed forces,” Kim said.

Another Korean said that when North Korean aggression will start, our army must be prepared for responding with force.

The South’s claims that the drills are routine were an attempt “to cover up the challenging and offensive nature of the exercises” the North’s official news agency said.

By North Korea’s standards, the wording was relatively soft. In another aspect that apprehensions are easing, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had lowered a military alert issued for frontline areas before and during Monday’s drill.

The US, which has deployed 28,500 troops in South Korea, warned North Korea there was no motive for it to respond to the present exercises.

White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said these exercises had been announced earlier and the purposes were very clear and defensive, so North Korea neither should not considered endanger and nor respond this.

According to the Korean Daily newspaper “Joong Ang” that as the North had not succeeded to respond to Monday’s drill, the two militaries were jockeying for position behind the scenes.

The newspaper extracting Seoul military basis said the North had made preparations to fire anti-aircraft missiles.

RETIFICATION OF NUCLEAR ARSENALS PACT BETWEEN US & RUSSIA

The New Start nuclear treaty between the US and Russia has cleared a key procedural barrier in the US Senate and now appears set to be endorsed.

Senators voted to end dispute on the issue, clearing the way for a final vote on the pact, set for Wednesday. Ratification would be a success for President Barack Obama and the Democrats, who have put forward firmed for it. Some senators of Republican oppose the treaty on a diversity of grounds, yet Mr Obama has considered it crucial.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry said after the vote “we are on the edge of writing the next episode in the 40 years history of wrestling with the danger of Nuclear weapons”.

The 67 votes in support of the parliamentary motion to end debate puts the treaty above the doorstep needed for approval at the final ballot, and Mr. Kerry said he likely as many as 70 votes.

The New Start Treaty would trim US and Russian arsenals to 1,550 arranged nuclear warheads - a cut of about 30% from a limit set eight years ago. It would also allow each side visually to inspect the other's nuclear arsenal to verify how many warheads a missile carries.

President Obama was agreed to sign a treaty with Russia of arms control way back in April but the Senate has been hesitant to give its approval.

In the disappearing days of this Congress strongest have lined up to convince reluctant Republican senators to vote for it. All the living secretaries of state have considered in behind it from Kissinger to Rice, and so have America's top military officers.

Even so only 11 Republicans voted for a motion to restraint debate and move to a vote... but that's enough. Opponents say they are worried that the confirmation process isn't good enough and the treaty may concern America's missile Defense Program but most simply don't like this dying Congress pushing through business so close to the president's heart.

They say the vote should have been held next year, when there will be more Republicans in the Senate. But possibility exists that it will now be accepted within days if not hours, a great relief to the president whose authority would be solemnly damaged if the delay continued much longer.

W. Virginia McDonald's to Have 2 Charging Stations for Plug-in Cars

Come July 14th, a new “green” McDonald’s will be opening in Cary, NC. It will be the first U.S. location for the fast food chain to offer electric car recharging.

The restaurant–located at 1299 Kildaire Farm Road in Cary–will be using a ChargePoint station to provide the service. ChargePoint is a private fee-based network of charging stations. They provide grid access and related services for owners of plug-in cars.

Also, the building is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED). It is part of a LEED for Retail pilot program.

Details from this McDonald’s will be used to create two new LEED for Retail rating systems.

“Our customers will have a dedicated place to park and recharge their vehicles,” said Ric Richards, the independent owner of the McDonald’s.

The restaurant will also feature an interactive component for educating customers about the building. It will use an Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard (EEED) that can display live data about a building’s energy efficiencies and green initiatives streamed from the building’s automation system.

“QA Graphics is excited to help McDonald’s inform the public on all the green features they have integrated into this new building,” said Dan McCarty, president and founder of Quality Automation Graphics. The system was designed by Quality Automation Graphics.

It will show a 360 degree digital tour of the inside of the building, where users can select different features to learn more about the innovative designs like water efficient equipment, recycling areas and more. It will also provide users with local transportation information, including pedestrian paths and bicycle paths.

Other sustainable highlights include:
Use of solartubes designed to use 97 percent natural light
LED lighting fixtures
Renewable materials like sunflower seed board and bamboo
Drought tolerant landscape plants

Of course, McDonald’s has been criticized for decades about their environmental practices. Most notably, the destruction of the rainforest to make way for cattle ranching.

I don’t wanna be a half-empty and just chalked this all up to Shamrock Shake-flavored greenwashing. Not that I would argue it isn’t. But a lot of people visit McD’s. I just think there are definitely some educational opportunities here.

Source:
http://gas2.org/2009/07/06/mcdonalds-debuts-plug-in-car-charging-station/

The new US Special Campaign against Terror suspects

The clandestine U.S. operation of drone attacks on terror suspects in Pakistan is one of the most awful kept secrets in international diplomacy.

Now U.S. military leaders allegedly are asking for an even greater presence in the country.

According to the New York Times reports the military commanders are approaching for an enlarged special operation campaign in Afghanistan. It is the new change that West continues to strive in coping terrorist stronghold in the Pakistani tribal areas, given that the country, at least officially has prevented direct US involvement out of fear of a local reaction. The said Special operation expansion into Pakistan,

The proposed Special Operations expansion into Pakistan, explained to the Times by American officials in Washington and Afghanistan, takes with it a sense of need due to the intended withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan starting next year. But deploying forces across the Pakistan border would be controversial and bring its own various threats. 

One of unnamed senior American official told the Times that “we have never been as close as we are not to getting the go ahead to go across”.  Pakistan's tribal areas are home to thousands of militants performing or sustaining attacks in Pakistan and on U.S. and other allied troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Islamabad's assistance is seen as crucial to the fight against terrorism and to strengthening the situation in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's military has opened several offensives in the country's remote northwest, where the insurgents are based, but Islamabad still comes under criticism in the West for not doing adequate to remove the threat. Most of the criticism is related to North Waziristan, which is successfully under the supervision of Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other affiliated groups.

The U.S. does not accept that it carries out missile attacks in the tribal regions, but there have been more than 110 this year, more than double last year's total.

On Friday, 54 militants were killed in three American drone attacks close to the Afghan border. The high death toll included commanders of a Taliban-affiliated group who were holding a meeting when the missiles struck.

Honda trials solar-powered EV charging station in Japan

One of the main problems that electric vehicles (EVs) face is that lack of support infrastructure. You wouldn’t want to drive interstate only to find that there isn’t a charging station for your EV in the area. Honda’s vision for a solar-powered home-based hydrogen production station is an effort to ease the transition from fossil to alternative fuels. The company has since revealed plans to trial a solar-powered public EV charging station. The program will be tested over in Japan and the ultimate goal of it is to achieve what Honda calls Total Energy Management, which is a system that supplies households and communities with energy for personal use, while supporting a comfortable low-carbon lifestyle.

Source;
http://ubergizmo.com/2010/12/honda-trials-solar-powered-ev-charging-station-in-japan/