Even though the Aeros craft dwarfs the largest commercial airliners, it requires less net space on the ground than any plane because it doesn't need a runway The airship takes off and lands like a helicopter straight up and down. This is not a Blimp. It's a sort of flying Queen Mary 2 that could change the way you think about air travel.
It's the Aero craft, and when it's completed, it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin or relax in their staterooms Unlike its dirigible ancestors, the Aero craft is not lighter than air It's 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two-thirds of the craft's weight. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body, driven by huge rear-ward propellers, generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising During takeoff and landing, six turbo-fan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent. This two-football-fields-long airship is the brainchild of Igor Pasternak, whose privately funded California firm, Worldwide Aeros Corporation, is in the early stages of developing a prototype and expects to have one completed by 2010.
Pasternak says several cruise ship companies have expressed interest in the project, and for good reason - the craft would have a range of several thousand miles, and, wit h an estimated top speed of 174 mph, could traverse the continental United States in about 18 hours. During the flight, passengers would view national landmarks just 8,000 feet below, or, if they weren't captivated by the view, the cavernous interior would easily accommodate such amenities as luxury staterooms, restaurants - - even a casino. To minimize noise, the aft-mounted propellers will be electric, powered by a renewable source such as hydrogen fuel cells. A sophisticated buoyancy - management system will serve the same purpose as trim on an airplane, allowing for precise adjustments in flight dynamics to compensate for outside conditions and passenger movement. The automated system will draw outside air into compartments throughout the ship and compress it to manage on board weight.
The company envisions a cargo-carrying version that could deliver a Store's worth of merchandise from a centralized distribution center straight to a Wal -Mart parking lot, or, because the helium-filled craft will float, a year's worth of supplies to an offshore oil rig. Courtesy Worldwide Aeros Corp.
"You can land on the snow, you can land on the water, " Pasternak says "It's a new vision of what can be done in the air. "
Aero craft: Purpose - Long-range travel for passengers who are more concerned with the Journey than the destination. Dimensions (feet): 165 H x 244 W x 647 L
Kurt Anderson has written a book entitled How to Back up a Trailer and 101 Things That Every Real Guy Should Know. The book is a humorous how-to manual regarding things that real men should be able to accomplish. As the title suggests, one of the things that Anderson says a real man should be able to do is to back up a trailer. In addition, he says that every real man should be able to change a tire, change a car's oil and spark plugs, throw a curve ball, start a fire outdoors in rainy weather, and ride a motorcycle.
I was put in mind of Anderson's book when I read Roger Ailes' comments about Tony Snow. Ailes is the chairman of Fox News, and upon hearing of Tony's death, Ailes noted that Tony was “a renaissance man.” It occurred to me that a renaissance man is the ultimate real man -- the man who knows how to do everything. And so if we really want to know how to be a real man, then maybe we would be better served by looking at a good example of a real man rather than by reading a book. After looking at the life of Tony Snow, we can make the following co
A real man should know how to work as an advocate for the mentally ill and the developmentally disabled.
A real man should know how to teach calculus and art.
A real man should know how to teach physics and East African Geography to Kenyans.
A real man should know how to play the flute, alto flute, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, and the guitar.
A real man should know how to tell the President of the United States that he will take the job offered to him only if it does not interfere with his time with his family.
A real man should know that his priorities are always faith first, family second, and everything else third.
After receiving the news that he has colon cancer, a real man should know how to stay up-beat and positive in a manner that brings guilt to the conscience of anybody who ever complains about having a bad day.
After having his colon removed, a real man should know how to forget his own difficulties and fulfill the responsibilities of one of the world's most stressful jobs and to do it in a superior manner.
On a day in which he receives chemotherapy, a real man should know how to ignore his own exhaustion and join his band in playing at a fundraiser for cancer research.
When on his death bed, a real man should know how to continue working on his latest project by means of speaking into a tape recorder.
A real man should know how to do all of the forgoing with an humble attitude and with a constant smile on his face.
When confronted with the life of Tony Snow, many of us must admit that we fall far short of that which is expected of a real man. When can only be thankful for his example and strive just that much harder to be the real men that we should be.
Lord, you have taken one of your servants home to be with you, and, quite candidly, there are some of us here on earth that are not too happy with your decision to do so. We know that Tony was a real man, and we believe that we could have learned a great deal more from him in the matter of how to be a real man. We defer to your greater wisdom in these matters, but we request a favor. Many of us never had the opportunity to meet Tony, and so, being the humble, unassuming man that he was, he has no idea how he impacted our lives. Please just let him know that we are thinking of him. Please tell him that we are grateful for the example that he provided during that short time that he was here. Please tell him that we are all striving to be real men.
A Salute to Our Nurses, During National Nurse's Week
Written by Cisco
Thursday, 08 May 2008
When one lives in the Midwest, the weather that you encounter on Easter Sunday each year tends to vary drastically. This variation is, of course, partly due to Easter's temperamental adherence to the lunar calendar and it's resulting random-seeming hopping from date to date on our solar calendar. But in the Midwest one also encounters great variability in weather patterns during March and April. I recall one year in which my son's Easter egg hunt was carried out in the middle of a snow storm – hardly the type of weather that comes to mind when one thinks of Easter.
In stark contrast to that white Easter of which no one dreams was the Easter Sunday in 1986. The day was sunny with just a smattering of lofty, white clouds. The temperature hovered in the seventies and there was a light breeze blowing. It was an Easter Sunday of a kind that we wish all Easter Sundays to be – a day perfectly prepared for the wearing of newly-purchased Spring outfits to church and for the consumption of chocolate bunnies without too much attending melted mess.
With the backdrop of the latest edition of God's annual creation of Spring, I held in my arms His latest creation, my daughter, Natalie. She had been born just a few hours prior, and as I looked at her through tear-clouded eyes, I marveled at her beauty. Twenty-two years later, my recollection of that emotion-filled day still centers on her perfect button-nose. Natalie was perfect in every aspect save the most critical: she was not alive. Natalie was stillborn.
There are hundreds of aspects of the design of the human body that are awe-inspiring and that cause me to express daily gratitude to my Creator, but perhaps the one design characteristic that is most indicative of God's mercy is in the functioning of memory. The complicated memory processes of the human brain could be discussed at length by those who are much more knowledgeable than I. I only wish to note that God's mercy is particularly evident to me when it comes to the way in which I am able to deal with painful memories. I find that I am able to compartmentalize painful memories so that, with the healing passage of time, an event in my life that caused great anguish when it occurred, will eventually cause just a short period of internal sadness when brought to mind.
Of course, this merciful compartmentalization only works if I do not begin to intentionally recall the details of the painful event. Once I begin the process of recalling details, the anguish, the sadness, and sometimes even the anger will return. I am certain that psychologists have a name for the memory functions and the emotional turbulence that I am describing, but regardless of the scientific description, I am going to recall today the details of a painful memory of mine and share those details in this article. This is not something that I want to do. Hell, I have tears coming to my eyes right now even though I have only just begun to contemplate the event that I will describe. But I believe that what I have to say here may possibly save a life in the future, and I can endure the pains of my past memories if by doing so I can assist someone with realizing the joys of their future hopes.
Today is an anniversary for me, but it is not one that I celebrate nor one that I care to remember. It was on this date six years ago that my mother passed away.
PRODUCT REVIEW: DUPONT'S MODEL WF-FM350 FAUCET MOUNT WATER FILTER
Back in 1988 while I was living in St. Louis, a Shell Oil pipeline broke near Vienna, Missouri and spilled 20,554 barrels of crude oil into the Gasconade River. That crude oil flowed from Vienna to Gasconade, Missouri where it dumped into the Missouri River. Once the crude oil reached the Missouri River, there was no chance of preventing it from mixing with the Mississippi River a short time later. For the geographically challenged, I will mention here that the Missouri River empties into the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. So a few days after the spill took place in Vienna, the 863,268 gallons of crude oil reached St. Louis. Can you guess the source of all the drinking water for the city of St. Louis? That's right. The metropolitan water district of St. Louis was now challenged with making sure that the crude oil was removed from the city's drinking water.
Shortly after the crude oil reached the St. Louis area, the City of St. Louis Water Division began testing samples of their treated water and pronounced that the crude oil had no adverse effect on the city's drinking water. They proclaimed the water safe to drink. But the City of St. Louis Water Division's largest customer disagreed.
At the time of this crude oil spill, it was reported that the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis used over one million gallons of water each day in the brewing of their beer, and all of this water was supplied by the city of St. Louis. Anheuser-Busch tested the crude-oil-tainted water and proclaimed it unfit for their beer and shut down brewing operations for two weeks. It then became clear to me that I should not just glibly accept the tap water in my house as being clean. If it was not good enough for the brewing of beer, then I doubted that it was good enough to drink. I began to consume bottled water and I began to filter the tap water that I drank.
Back in 1988 while I was living in St. Louis, a Shell Oil pipeline broke near Vienna, Missouri and spilled 20,554 barrels of crude oil into the Gasconade River. That crude oil flowed from Vienna to Gasconade, Missouri where it dumped into the Missouri River. Once the crude oil reached the Missouri River, there was no chance of preventing it from mixing with the Mississippi River a short time later. For the geographically challenged, I will mention here that the Missouri River empties into the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. So a few days after the spill took place in Vienna, the 863,268 gallons of crude oil reached St. Louis. Can you guess the source of all the drinking water for the city of St. Louis? That's right. The metropolitan water district of St. Louis was now challenged with making sure that the crude oil was removed from the city's drinking water.