MIT does it again - designs airliner that uses 70% less fuel

It's always impressive to see what they come up with next. Very cool.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers recently released a concept aircraft design that could use 70 percent less fuel than current commercial airliners. The simple secret, they say: Optimize the aircraft for modern, efficient jet engines.

Jet engines these days burn much less fuel at slightly slower speeds than the original designs that influenced the swept-wing designs of the ’50s and ’60s. One of the main problems is that most airliners still use leftovers from those designs even though the older jet engines they were designed around haven’t been used by most airlines for many years.

Today’s modern jet engines are much bigger in size, and much more efficient and quieter, says professor Mark Drela, the lead designer on the MIT team.

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State capitalism & you

Thanks to the BP spill and the excellent coverage of it by people like Chris in Paris and a host of others, the relationship between the state and capitalism is coming under the microscope — a very good thing. This post offers a bit of orientation, and a small peek forward.

So let's look at three concepts and see how they interact. The first two are:

• The state (the federal government, the People's Republic, the Thousand-Year Reich, whatever)


• The owners of the means of production (capitalists, bankers, the "Big Boys," that ilk)

The third concept to notice is the national interest (sometimes mislabeled "patriotism" or "chauvinism," after M. Chauvin).

The first group, the state, has all the political power — if it wishes to hold onto it. And the second group, the ownership class, has the money and economic power. So what are the various ways the state and the owners can be related, and how is the national interest affected?

1. Independence. The state and the capitalists (owners) can be more or less independent of each other. This version has flavors, ranging from laissez-faire capitalism to the modern notion of independence-cum-regulation.

Under the Independence model, the state controls what it cares about, and the owners control what they care about. National interest ("patriotism") is usually attended to, since it's something the state cares about. Mostly, the owners just want to roll around in cash.

This is the form of capitalism the U.S. used to be in.

2. Capitalists run the state. In this model, the capitalists have neutered the state, and taken over its territory as their own. The state still exists, but the owners (bankers & CEOs) tell it what to do.

What happens to patriotism in this model? Well, that tends to run to extremes. At one end of the spectrum, the capitalists operate a highly chauvinistic state — and one word for this form of government, in fact, is "fascism." You could look it up if you like.

And what about patriotism at the other end of the spectrum? Well, there is none. The capitalists still want to rinse down in loot, and since the state is an extension of what they care about, no one minds the "national interest" store. The only good news here is that the Big Boys usually work independently while they're busy selling out the national interest. Thus they they operate like a minor league check against each other.

This is the form of capitalism the U.S. is in right now.

BP owns our sorry butts, and you can bet this will continue. Eric Holder is putting on a very good show, but don't put money on it lasting. (If you want to put down money and roll in it like the Big Boys, wait until everyone says BP is D.O.A. thanks to the DOJ, then B-U-Y.)

3. State capitalism. I mentioned this model as a footnote in this post on Social Security. In this model, the state owns the means of production, period. The two groups have become one, with the state calling the shots.

We, the Chinese, and the Soviets have been mislabeling this model as "communism" ever since Lenin hijacked the real Russian revolution — the popular one — from the Mensheviks. This isn't communism in any meaningful sense, just another, particularly pernicious form of capitalism.

Since in this model the capitalists work for the state, state capitalism can create an especially powerful entity. Reason — the capitalists don't ever work against each other. Thus the state still serves the national interest, and the owners serve the state. If a state like this ever gets its act together, and if the economy in question is on the rise, defeating its goals becomes very difficult.

This is the form of capitalism that China is in.

My bottom line? You have two of the strongest economies in the world:

• One, an aging, but still attractive U.S. economy, which sold its manufacturing capability so that a short list of people could grow even richer than rich (and a whole lot of people could feel like they're still getting even with the hippies); and


• The other, a young, supple, my-best-years-are-ahead-of-me Chinese economy, which bought the U.S. manufacturing capability — because, well, it was for sale.

Both are now poised to duke it out over the next 30 years or so. The difference between them? In China, everyone serves the national interest. In the U.S., no one does. More here.

Serving the national interest,

Gaius Read More......

AT&T; to cut off unlimited Internet to new iPhone users

Apple, please get rid of these people. Read More......

Don't believe everything you hear on FOX News

From Mark Halperin in Time:

The late, longtime New Yorker critic Pauline Kael was said to have expressed confusion over Richard Nixon's landslide re-election in 1972 — because no one she knew had voted for him. To borrow that notion, conservatives today imagine that everyone views the current occupant of the White House as they do: Barack Obama is the worst President ever. Conventional wisdom posits that this potent right-wing, anti-Obama sentiment will diminish the President's power — enough for Republicans to vanquish Democrats in November, regain control of Congress and weaken the incumbent for 2012.

But this myopia has been created within an electronic cocoon of Fox News, talk radio, conservative websites and rhetoric from Republican leaders, all passionately reinforcing the message that the Obama Administration is disastrous on a historic scale. It's a message that is being transported as gamely by rank-and-file Republicans as it is by erudite conservative columnists with national readerships. (See 10 elections that changed America.)

Within the overheated conservative bubble there is little room for discussions of serious policy alternatives to deal with America's problems, reminders that the country is typically drawn to optimistic candidates (like Reagan and Obama) and weighty appeals to the center of the electorate. If Obama is the worst President ever, as conservatives seem to believe, why do they need to say anything more than that to take control of Congress and then get rid of him? But while the conservatives' ultimate condemnation rallies their core supporters and resonates with some centrist voters, over time it is unlikely to produce a majority against the Administration.

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White House allows new drilling off Lousiana coast

Apparently "shallow" water drilling like the 1979 spill is safe again. So was the big talk in Pittsburgh today more talk or was Obama serious? If he's serious, does this make sense right now? It's not always easy matching the speeches and reality. Heckuva speech though.

The Minerals Management Service granted a new drilling permit sought by Bandon Oil and Gas for a site about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana and 115 feet below the ocean's surface. It's south of Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve, far to the west of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the BP spill.

Obama last week extended a moratorium on wells in deep water like the BP one that blew out a mile below the surface in April and is gushing millions of gallons of oil. But at the same time, the president quietly allowed a three-week-old ban on drilling in shallow water to expire.

"I'm outraged," said Kieran Suckling, executive director for the Tucson, Ariz.,-based Center for Biological Diversity, after a reporter told him of the new permit. "How is it that shallow water drilling suddenly became safe again?"

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In Pittsburgh, Obama blasted GOP and vowed to find the votes for energy bill

Today at Carnegie Mellon, the President will talked about his "New Foundation." And, he repeatedly blasted Republican tactics and their failed policies. For example, there's this, from the transcript:

As November approaches, leaders in the other party will campaign furiously on the same economic argument they’ve been making for decades. Fortunately, we don’t have to look back too many years to see how it turns out. For much of the last ten years, we tried it their way. They gave tax cuts that weren’t paid for to millionaires who didn’t need them. They gutted regulations, and put industry insiders in charge of industry oversight. They shortchanged investments in clean energy and education; in research and technology. And despite all their current moralizing about the need to curb spending, this is the same crowd who took the record $237 billion surplus that President Clinton left them and turned it into a record $1.3 trillion deficit.

So we already know where their ideas led us. And now we have a choice as a nation. We can return to the failed economic policies of the past, or we can keep building a stronger future. We can go backward, or we can keep moving forward.

I don’t know about you, but I want to move forward.

Me, too. That's why I voted for Obama. I want to move forward. I want change. And, the GOPers do want to take us backwards -- on economic policy and social policy.

Then, there's something else we haven't heard from Obama. He talked about actively seeking votes for the Senate energy bill:

The House of Representatives has already passed a comprehensive energy and climate bill, and there is currently a plan in the Senate – a plan that was developed with ideas from Democrats and Republicans – that would achieve the same goals. The votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months. I will make the case for a clean energy future wherever I can, and I will work with anyone from either party to get this done. But we will get this done. The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century. We will not move back. America will move forward.

Now, that sounds downright Presidential. And, it's counter to a lot of the rhetoric that has come from the White House over the past 18 months. We want a President who leads, not one who keeps saying Congress has to do it.

Let's hope this isn't just a one-time speech, but sets a new tone for the Obama Presidency.

If Obama wants to find the votes, I'd suggest a trip to Maine. He waited until after health care passed to visit that state. This time, he should go during the debate on the energy bill and challenge Snowe and Collins to side with the people of Maine over the oil industry. Read More......

Chicago Trib editorial calls Mark Kirk out for lies

Chicago Tribune editorial:

This is not Kirk's finest moment. It reflects the hubris he shows from time to time. We'd like to hear the congressman acknowledge that the award listed on his bio was inflated, not "misidentified." We'd like to hear him say he's sorry. But no.

"Let's be clear: I misstated the name of an award that I actually received for service that I actually performed in a conflict where I actually served," Kirk said.

Let's be clear: Kirk claimed the U.S. Navy had named him its top intelligence officer when in fact he'd shared in an award presented to his entire unit by an outside organization. He knows the difference. The public does, too.

"I think he's got an honorable record," Giannoulias said. "I don't know why he feels the need to embellish the record and not tell the truth."

Neither do we.

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Palin says oil spill proves the need to drill offshore

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A few points of view on the flotilla incident

Both links have interesting points of view and analysis of the event earlier this week. One is suggesting this is all about Israel being in control of its own destiny without limitations by the US and the other explains the PR campaign in historical context. It's a complicated story no matter how you look at it and is likely to lead us into a new phase in the region.

And finally, another perspective from a former Mossad agent, Victor Ostrovsky. He believes this is more of the same "shoot from the hip" that has been seen in the past from Netanyahu.

The commandos could have easily sneaked up to the ships and boats from behind in “wet submarines” (which look like open torpedoes) and disabled their propellers, he said.

“Eventually they’d run out of food and water and they could be towed to shore,” said Ostrovsky, now chief executive of TheBookPatch.com, a Web site for writers.

Ostrovsky said it was also inexplicable that the commandos were sent to land on the top decks in the middle of the ships, where they were vulnerable to resistance from terrified and angry passengers and crew. A better tactic would have been to have the commandos board from the stern and bow and work inward.

In any event, the episode has become a public relations debacle for Israel, Ostrovsky said.

“We look like the British stopping the Exodus,” he said.

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Oil slick approaching Florida beaches

That self-regulation theory sure has been a success. It's important that businesses are not burdened with overreaching government restrictions because they only hamper businesses ability to grow and create jobs. Tourism isn't that important for Florida anyway compared to the benefits Big Oil can deliver.

In Florida, officials confirmed an oil sheen about nine miles from the famous white sands of Pensacola beach. Crews shored up miles of boom and prepared for the mess to make landfall as early as Wednesday.

"It's inevitable that we will see it on the beaches," said Keith Wilkins, deputy chief of neighborhood and community services for Escambia County.

Florida would be the fourth state hit. Crude has already been reported along barrier islands in Alabama and Mississippi, and it has impacted some 125 miles of Louisiana coastline.

More federal fishing waters were closed, too, another setback for one of the region's most important industries. More than one-third of federal waters were off-limits for fishing, along with hundreds of square miles of state waters.

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Another setback in the Gulf: BP's saw is stuck

There's been another setback in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP's latest effort to cap the oil spill were stalled when the saw cutting through the pipe got stuck:

BP early Wednesday used robot submarines and a complex maneuver in an attempt to stop the massive flow of crude oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.

The company tried to cut into the undersea well's riser pipe, the initial steps toward placing a cap over the well that has spewed hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico every day since late April.

BP's effort stalled after the blade of a diamond wire saw got stuck, said U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the oil spill.

What else can go wrong? Read More......

Alabama's party-switching Congressman lost in GOP primary

On March 6, the GOP House leaders let their new prize, party-switching freshman Parker Griffith, deliver the weekly radio address for their party. Yesterday, Republican voters delivered a different message to Griffith. He lost in the GOP primary:

Five months after U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith switched parties, the voters of North Alabama switched congressmen.

On Tuesday, Republican challenger and long-time conservative Mo Brooks handily won the three-way GOP primary, earning 35,712 votes, or 51 percent, and sending the incumbent home. Brooks avoided a runoff by about 600 votes.

Griffith received 23,495 votes, or 33 percent, and former Navy pilot Les Phillip earned 11,066 votes, or 16 percent.

That's quite a first (and only) term for Griffith. He was a lousy, unreliable Democrat anyway and even the GOPers don't want him.

Also, in Alabama, Congressman Artur Davis, who voted against most of the Democratic agenda items in the House (including health care reform), lost in the Democratic gubernatorial primary to Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks. Read More......

BP loses $21.1 billion in market value on Tuesday

Even with a jury-rigged system, there are times when the market works. Then again, remember how battered Goldman Sachs was and they've managed to recover, even with the latest investigation hovering. It won't be a surprise if BP also bounces back strongly as well since there is so little competition. The Republicans can also be thanked for that consolidation which is yet another miserable legacy of their policies.

As BP hacked away at a pipe gushing oil at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, investors sawed off 15 percent, or $21.1 billion, of the company's market value Tuesday.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., during a trip to the Gulf Coast, announced that the Justice Department had launched criminal and civil investigations, adding to pessimism among BP investors reeling from the failed attempt to plug the leaking well over the weekend.

BP, the world's fourth-largest company before the April 20 blowout on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, has lost a staggering $74.4 billion, or 40 percent, of its market value in six weeks.

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Obama is heading to Pittsburgh today. He's going to talk about the economy at Carnegie Mellon University. According to the "Daily Guidance" email, "He will talk about the progress we’ve made in building the New Foundation he discussed at Georgetown last year, as well as the work we have left to do." I'm not sure what the "New Foundation" so had to do a search. Apparently, it's the "New Foundation for growth":

“We must lay a New Foundation for growth — a foundation that will strengthen our economy and help us compete in the 21st century,” he said, only hours after the Senate voted to approve a nonbinding budget resolution that mirrors most of Obama’s previously stated priorities.

The phrase “New Foundation” was capitalized in the text of Obama’s remarks, as though the administration hoped it would be adopted as an identifying slogan for his presidency.

Hmmm. Not sure it's become the slogan for the Obama presidency. But, maybe they're trying again.

Congress is still on recess. The Speaker did a conference call with bloggers yesterday. She took a number of questions on a broad range of issues. Answering a question from John on DADT, she said, "This is over." Let's hope she's right. More from Ryan Grim on COBRA/State aid and Jason Rosenbaum on net neutrality.

Meanwhile, the heat wave continues in DC. It's going to hit 90 again today and we have an "air quality" alert. It's not even summer.

Start threading the news... Read More......

Oil trader Trafigura hit with criminal charges over dumping

No, this has nothing to do with the oil disaster in the Gulf. Trafigura (here's some history from last year) is now being pursued by Dutch prosecutors for putting "self-interest above people's health and the environment." Sounds familiar, though in this case it was about charges of knowingly dumping toxic waste into an already poor African country. This is an industry that like Wall Street, believes that it's above the law. They've been fortunate enough to have friends in the right places though those ties are being tested now.

At the start of a trial in Amsterdam – at which Trafigura is accused of an initial attempt to get rid of the waste cheaply in the Netherlands – prosecutor Look Bougert told the court the company had put "self-interest above people's health and the environment".

He said Trafigura first tried to conceal how dangerous the waste was, then pumped it back on board its tanker and left the Netherlands with hundreds of tonnes of oil residue, contaminated with foul-smelling sulphur mercaptans and toxic hydrogen sulphide.

Instead of paying for specialist disposal, Trafigura "dumped it over the fence" in Abidjan, the main port of poverty-stricken Ivory Coast in west Africa. "Cheap, but with consequences," Bougert said.

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March in Namibia over forced sterilization

When I first saw the headline, I assumed that this was something dating back to the former South West Africa days. Amazingly, it's something much more recent. BBC:

Three women in Namibia are suing the state for allegedly being sterilised without their informed consent after being diagnosed as HIV positive.

The women say the doctors and nurses should have informed them properly about what was happening.

The rights group representing them, the Legal Assistance Centre, says it has documented 15 cases of alleged HIV sterilisation in hospitals since 2008.

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Debt collection agency owes $1.5 million after leaving racist, vulgar messages

Sounds like an expensive way of trying to collect $200. Especially when even the $200 was being disputed. When you think about the credit problems in the US, this is probably one of many similar abusive situations. Owing money is one thing but the collection agency went too far and got what they deserved. Compare this to the gentle touch treatment for Wall Street who made off with slightly more than $200 after causing a global crisis. Read More......