How Birds Can Down a Jet Airplane

Early reports suggest that a bird strike caused a jet plane to crash in the Hudson River near Manhattan today, leaving questions about how a little flying animal could down a big airliner.

More than 200 people have been killed worldwide as a result of wildlife strikes with aircraft since 1988, according to Bird Strike Committee USA, and more than 5,000 bird strikes were reported by the U.S. Air Force in 2007. Bird strikes, or the collision of an aircraft with an airborne bird, tend to happen when aircraft are close to the ground, which means just before landing or after take-off, when jet engines are turning at top speeds.

The incidents are serious particularly when the birds, usually gulls, raptors and geese, are sucked into a jet engine and strike an engine fan blade. That impact displaces the blade such that it strikes another blade and a cascade can occur, resulting in engine failure.

A 12-pound Canada goose striking an aircraft going 150 mph at lift-off generates the force of a 1,000-pound weight dropped from a height of 10 feet, according to Bird Strike Committee USA. More….

Chinese manufacturing shrinks in December

Good evening friends, I was talking with my friend who is selling blinds online with roman shades and vertical blinds products. He says that demand for blinds and other window treatment is shrinking very fast. I was reading different article on web and found following article about china.  China’s manufacturing shrank for a third month in December as export demand fell, suggesting an economic slump is worsening despite government efforts to shield the country from global turmoil, according to data reported Sunday. A key indicator, the Purchasing Managers Index, edged up from November’s all-time low but stood at 41.2, below the 50 level that shows activity is shrinking, the government-sanctioned China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said.

 

Manufacturing is about 40 percent of China’s economic output, and a drop in demand for its exports has triggered thousands of factory closures. That has prompted protests by laid-off workers, and communist leaders worry more job losses could fuel unrest.

 

The index of new export orders stood at 30.7, showing a severe contraction, according to the logistics group. Exports fell in November for the first time in seven years and analysts expect more weakness in December when monthly figures are reported this month.

 

The index is based on a survey of 700 manufacturers across China. China’s economic growth is expected to fall to about 9 percent this year, down from 11.9 percent in 2007. Analysts have cut 2009 growth forecasts to as low as 6 percent — a worrisome sign for communist leaders who need to satisfy a public that has come to expect steadily rising incomes.

 

The government is pressing companies to minimize layoffs and has promised to make sure new university graduates can find jobs.

 

Ref: Yahoo

Celebrating the magic of Christmas

As the world gets into the Christmas spirit buying the Christmas tree, and the mistletoe, it is being debated that these traditions have very little to do with Christianity. Most of these are associated with Winter Solstice, celebrated by the ancient religions and cultures and later adopted by Christianity when they decided to place the birth of Christ in the midst of this festive season.

 

For the Romans, this was the tree of the Sun God. They would hang apples on it to remind themselves that spring was around the corner. They called their festival Yuletide, celebrating the return of the Sun. So does Jacqui who calls herself a witch and is part of a growing tribe in Britain that returns to the old pagan practices each Christmas.

 

“Yule is a pre-Christmas festival. It marks the time of Winter Solstice. It’s when the Earth is farthest from the Sun. So it’s about the longest nights. So you celebrate the Solstice night as the longest night and the re-birth of Sun in the next day. It’s the time of affirmation, of life coming back and returning to boost the light on the air,” said Jacqui, Priestess of Avalon. Jacqui further added that the pagan festival comes out of nature, out of something that is actually happening in nature.

 

“So I think our focus is on nature, greenery and re-birth of nature whereas for Christians it’s of a different sort of birth. Thus, I think their festival is about less of nature and more about organised religion and I don’t think ours is,” she said.

 

Ultimately, it is a similar thing but Christianity has co-opted the symbolism of the Pagan rule like the greenery, mistletoe, trees, and put them into their own festival. It’s the same thing doing with different meaning, Jacqui added. More….

Japan central bank cuts key rate to 0.1 percent

Japan‘s central bank cut its key interest rate to 0.1 percent on Friday, joining the U.S. Federal Reserve in lowering borrowing rates to nearly zero amid an ever-worsening outlook for the global economy. The move was widely expected and comes after the government earlier in the day said it expected Japan’s economy, the world’s second-biggest, to shrink 0.8 percent for the fiscal year through March.

 

The Bank of Japan’s policy board voted 7-1 to cut the uncollateralized overnight call rate target from 0.3 percent. It was the second cut in less than two months. The central bank also introduced new steps to pump more money into the banking system to thaw a growing credit crunch. It plans to start buying commercial paper — the short-term debt firms use to pay everyday expenses — in an effort to funnel cash directly to companies and will increase its purchases of government bonds.

 

In its most bearish assessment of the economy this year, Bank zof Japan cited the harsh impact of tumbling exports, weakening domestic demand and job losses. “Under these circumstances economic conditions have been deteriorating and are likely to increase in severity for the immediate future,” it said in its statement. Expectations for a rate cut jumped following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s move earlier this week to reduce its benchmark rate to a range of zero to 0.25 percent — the lowest level on record. Term Life Insurance Company is also going to be effected with this.

 

Ref: Associate Press

White House pressured by lawmakers on auto bailout

The Bush administration faces competing pressures from lawmakers in different congressional factions as it reviews its options for bailing out the downtrodden U.S. auto industry.

 

Conservative Republicans implored the White House not to use money from the $700 billion bailout for the financial sector to aid carmakers. A leading House Democrat, meanwhile, said the government should secure veto power over the companies’ business decisions as part of any aid.

 

 

Bush administration officials said they were still evaluating options and attempting to avoid a disorderly bankruptcy of the companies while suggesting that concessions from all sides would need to accompany any deal.

 

“We’re trying to do something that’s responsible,” said White House press secretary Dana Perino.

 

But a week after Congress failed to reach consensus on a $14 billion aid package for struggling General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, several lawmakers pressed for an array of terms and conditions in any deal crafted by the White House, complicating matters.

 

Conservative lawmakers, many from Southern states that are home to Japanese auto plants, asked Bush not to use the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, to help the U.S. carmakers.

 

“Congress never voted for a federal bailout of the automobile industry, and the only way for TARP funds to be diverted to domestic automakers is with explicit congressional approval,” wrote 26 GOP lawmakers, led by Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas.

 

Seven Senate Republicans led by Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina sent a similar letter saying that without restructuring, “we do not believe any amount of money will succeed in saving these companies.”

 

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., urged Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to adopt the accountability provisions included in a House-passed auto bailout bill — the product of a deal with the White House — as a condition of any bridge loans to automakers.

 

The measure would have given a Bush-appointed “car czar” oversight over any major business decisions by the automakers while they were taking advantage of federal aid, including the power to veto any transaction of $100 million or more.

 

“Given the serious mistakes that senior auto industry executives acknowledge they have made in the past, such safeguards are absolutely necessary to ensure that taxpayers are protected and that the retooling of this critical industry proceeds as quickly as possible,” Frank wrote.

 

The White House and Treasury Department were in talks with Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who has been seeking big union concessions in exchange for rescue money, on the terms and structure of a possible bailout, said a senior GOP congressional aide.

 

Corker came close last week to striking a deal with the United Auto Workers union for a $14 billion bill that would have forced the carmakers to bring their wages and benefits in line with those of Japanese auto companies in the U.S. by a specific date in 2009. The measure collapsed after the UAW refused to agree to wage cuts that quickly as Senate Republicans demanded. The new contacts with the administration were disclosed on condition of anonymity because the congressional aide was not authorized to divulge them.

 

GM and Chrysler have said they will run out of cash within weeks if they don’t get help. Ford Motor Co. has said it has enough cash to survive 2009.

 

Perino said the administration was still working on details of the package, which could reach $15 billion for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. She said concessions had to be made in exchange for the money.

 

“I don’t think that there’s any possible way that this president would agree to allow taxpayer financing to go toward firms that are not willing to make tough decisions to become viable and competitive in the future,” she said.

 

Bush said Tuesday that his administration was “considering all options” for helping the automakers. He said the already distressed economy could slide further into recession without prompt action.

 

“What you don’t want to do is spend a lot of taxpayers’ money and then have the same old stuff happen again and again and again,” Bush told CNN. At the same time, he said, “we’re trying to get this done in an expeditious way.”

 

Options under consideration by the Bush administration include using part of the $700 billion fund to provide loans to the carmakers or using money from the fund as collateral for emergency loans to the automakers by the Federal Reserve.

 

Associated Press writers Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Ken Thomas contributed to this report. yahoo

Sarah Palin got 150,000 dollar Republican Party spruce up

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is reported to have spent over 150,000 dollars sprucing up Sarah Palin’s appearance

 

According to a report by the web site Politico, the wardrobe makeover began in September and included bills from Sak’s Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York totaling nearly 50,000 dollars, a 75,000 dollar shopping trip at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis in September and 4,700 dollars spent on hair and makeup.

 

A McCain spokeswoman, however, declined to answer specific questions about the expenditures, saying “the campaign does not comment on strategic decisions regarding how financial resources available to the campaign are spent.”

 

Top campaign staff members told FOX News later Tuesday that the purchases would be donated to charity or auctioned off. (ANI)

 

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guaranteed blinds online

We talked about blinds in our last post. As I visited a mall and I visit a blinds store there in side the mall. When I back home I sure on net for blinds and try to compare what I see in mall in real and what people have on web. When I surf for wood blinds I find guaranteedblinds.com. Wow, what a site they have design.

 

At guaranteedblinds.com which is online store offering a wide variety of blinds. The blinds found at this website are absolutely wonderful! You will only find high quality blinds and shades at guaranteed Blinds. The prices are affordable and the service is great. Guaranteed Blinds sold blinds and shades at very affordable price. They had a large selection to choose from when it came to blinds.

 

The windows blinds and shade products include wood blinds, caribbean woods collection that’s a unique kind of natural wood & bamboo blinds, and the best one that I like the most is the natural wood blinds. tropical wood shades are perfect choice for caribbean and bamboo like look lovers, while for traditional look lover they have bella roman shades. You are going to get what you are looking for at guaranteedblinds.com.

Danny visit Blinds Store

In weekend I like to go to shopping and when I go to markets I specially visit stores who are having interior design product. As I was looking at the display of a bed there, I notice a blind on top of that bed.   My eyes were focused there.  I saw beautiful window blind products.

I saw a window blind made of horizontal slats suspended one above the other.  The salesman saw me starring at that window blind and told me that it may be set simultaneously at one of several angles, permitting various degrees of overlapping, or may be drawn together and raised.  I was amazed with what that salesman said to me about that window blinds. 

So I asked him to show me more kinds of this window blinds. He showed me one kind of blinds which is a vertical blind.  He explained to me that it is practical as well as stylish, and are ideal for controlling the amount of light coming into a room.  This kind of vertical blinds are perfect for rooms where everyone wants a bit of extra privacy from prying eyes, as they can be titled at an angle so the room is not on display to others. He told me about fabric verticals blinds and Vinyl verticals blinds.

Danny Talk

Danny is going to talk his experience. Experience related to shopping, marketing, life, finance, stock market all. Danny want to share with his blog readers.

Danny love to talk on marketing and marketing tools, online business. Marketing is on going process and we are learing from our life everyday. Marketing is not just limited with commericial products. Marketing is appllicable to all aspects of life. just think on it.