NATO drone project set to continue

Deutsche Welle, 25 May 2013

Pulling the plug on Germany's Euro Hawk project won't have consequences for NATO's surveillance program "Global Hawk." But critics argue a joint European drone project would have been better.

The canceled German Euro Hawk drone project will most likely not have consequences on a similar project by NATO. The alliance plans to use five drones of the Global Hawk Block 40 type for its "Alliance Ground Surveillance" (AGS) system.

According to NATO, plans will not be affected by the German decision. The Global Hawk drone built by US company Northrop Grumman is basically the version the system's based on - the Euro Hawk drone Germany ordered is a modified version of the Global Hawk 20 model, an earlier version of the Global Hawk 40 which NATO now plans to use. 

German Defense Minister Thomas de
 Maiziere (left) pulled the plug on the
 drone project

Exact images from far away

At the May 2012 summit in Chicago, the allies had agreed on aquiring unarmed surveillance drones. They are scheduled to be used by 2017 and to be stationed in Sicily. Estimates put the cost for the five drones at around 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion).

Fourteen NATO states are involved: Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and the US. The Global Hawk drone could fly as high as 20 kilometers (12 miles) and is able to take clear pictures of the ground even from such heights - precise enough to still spot individuals.

No European project?

The NATO project is going to continue despite the German decision to halt its program. But the situation in Germany has been met with criticism in Brussels. Michael Gahler, security spokesman of the conservative European People's Party (EPP) in the EU parliament, told DW that Germany should rather have pushed for a European solution than trying to go it alone.

Gahler argues there should have
been a joint EU project instead

After all, European countries were facing the same security threats, and every state had too little money to develop a system on its own.

"Such projects are very good examples of how such things can be done in a joint effort - especially when something new is being developed. I hope that everybody will learn from that mistake," he said.

Gahler believes a European project would have made more sense from an economic perspective as well.

"You can't see this simply as a military issue. Those drones are first and foremost not a means of fighting." In about 90 percent of the cases, they would "be used in a civilian manner for surveillance," for instance in agriculture or forestry in order to spot pollution or fires. With that many areas of use, "it really makes sense to bundle civilian and military resources."

Northrop Grumman dismisses criticism

The US company producing the drones has come forward to defend itself against German complaints. Berlin had criticized an allegedly missing feature to avoid collisions and lacking documentation needed for getting the drones approved for European airspace.

A Northrop Grumman spokesperson told German weekly "Die Zeit" that Germany had in fact never specified what kind of papers were needed for approval and that it was only a prototype that operated without collision protection. That feature would have been implemented in the four other drones Germany had ordered.

A civilian drone used by China's State Grid to check power

lines. (Photo/Xinhua)

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An Hour with an Angel with Archangel Michael, December 17, 2012

”.. Lay Down Your Arms

SB: Thank you, Lord. I am going to be asking you about the who, why, what, where, when, how of Ascension, about December 21st. But before I do that there is one question that I have to ask you because I know our listeners and readers want me to. I think they would like to know something about the Newtown tragedy. Was it mind control? Was it the cabal trying to take attention away from Ascension? Was it simply a deranged individual?

Why was it permitted to happen, Lord? It shocked a lot of people.

AAM: It was a tragedy in Newtown, and it was a sacrifice of innocents, both children and adults. And yes, there is divine purpose that comes out of this. Was it a planned action on our part? Absolutely not, that is not the way we operate. It was the action, yes, of a very deranged, ill, dis-eased individual. It was not the act of the cabal. They are in far too deep containment to ever effect such a strike.

Let us talk about the meaning. And the Mother has talked about this also. It is time for all of humanity, east, west, north, south, to come together as one community. And this atrocity, this killing of children needlessly, brings to the forefront what is taking place on your planet.

The beings of Newtown, Connecticut, and this emotional energy, have acted and do act as a surrogate and a catalyst for the human race to come together and say, “No more,” that the slaughter of innocents is not acceptable in any realm.

And what that means, dear ones, is it is not acceptable through missile or drone strikes, in neighborhoods, in marketplaces and schools, or anywhere else. It is not acceptable for children to be hit by stray bullets, by gang wars or by drug lords, in any country, in any nation, in any civilization. It is not acceptable for children to die of disease, poverty, hunger, and starvation.

So these bright angels, this soul group has sacrificed and acted as a surrogate. Now, I wish to tell you that all of these angels were well out of their body and already in the arms of the Mother prior to their death. She had already gathered them up.

So it is not just for them that you weep. It is for each other. Because what you are seeing, what you are witnessing, is the pain and suffering that violence does to humanity, to families, to friends, to siblings, to parents, to communities, to neighbors, to nations. And it is all of you saying, “No more!”

SB: If I may intervene, what do you say to people who advocate the right to bear arms in America? What does one say to organizations that think that they’ll fall under somebody else’s rule if they give up their rifles?

AAM: Let me say this, and I do not simply say it to Americans, I say it to all nations that carry weapons to destroy families and friends. I say it to all beings that carry guns or weapons. And I am talking about missiles or chemical weapons.

When you live in fear, then what you create is fear. When you live in harmony and community and unity, that is what you create. Understand, the opening of 11/11 and 12/12 was not simply some esoteric exercise. You have been unified.

And as I have asked you, and as most of you are doing, that grid is to grow and inflame and ignite more and more every single hour, every single minute of every day. It was not just an hour-long exercise or a day-long exercise.

How can you live in unity and love and carry weapons, guns, ready to kill someone you don’t like or you don’t care about? And it is particularly dangerous when you have those weapons available to those who are unbalanced.

And we suggest to you that there is no way to safeguard against someone who is in the throes of a psychotic episode. There is no way to prevent them from getting a weapon if in fact they are available. That is a fool’s belief.

So if you expect harm to come to you, then harm will come to you. It is a time of change, and you cannot build Nova Earth with guns, missiles, and chemical weapons. You cannot do it. It is not possible. Not in any universe, not in any realm.

I had thought, this day, that I would come before you with my blue flame of truth. And I would say to you, “I am laying down my sword and shield,” because that is my desire and creation, and that it would be symbolic for you to understand that these are no longer necessary.

I did not begin today by saying that because I am still using my sword to cut some cords of illusion with some of you, and some of you are feeling exceptionally vulnerable right now. And so I want you to know that I’m also shielding you.

But my sword is also the scepter of truth. It is the staff of wisdom. It is the staff that you can lean upon when you are exhausted. Your guns do not serve that purpose.

Lay down your arms. This I ask of you. And more importantly, lay down your fear.

SB: Thank you, Lord. I don’t mean to single out Americans. I’m more referring to the Constitution and the provision that the right to bear arms shall not be interfered with. But thank you. You anticipated my questions on Newtown, so I’ve had all my questions answered. 

"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS"– Sep  29, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

New subsidies for green cars in China

Want China Times, Xinhua 2013-05-24

A BYD F6DM sedan. (Photo/Xinhua)

A new subsidy policy is intended to promote the use of energy-saving automobiles, according to a Thursday report by the China Securities Journal.

The previous policy, which expired at the end of last year, provided a subsidy of 50,000 yuan (US$8,150) to automakers for every hybrid vehicle sold, while 60,000 yuan (US$9,800) was provided for every electric vehicle sold.

Miao Wei, head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said in March that a new subsidy policy for energy-saving cars will be issued in the first half of 2013.

The China Securities Journal report cited an MIIT official as saying that the policy will need final authorization from the State Council, or China's cabinet, after several government departments pass a draft version of the policy.

Li Weili, chief of the manufacturing division under the State Information Center, said the new policy is expected to last until 2015 at least. He said detailed provisions regarding subsidies for electric cars will likely be implemented before the end of June 2013, although provisions related to hybrid vehicles may come out later.

Standards for the evaluation of hybrid vehicle energy consumption have yet to be created, which has postponed the creation of special subsidies for hybrid vehicles based on how much fuel they save, Li added.

The MIIT has shown a tendency to support hybrid vehicles with lower energy consumption, which has led many automakers to boost research and development for such vehicles.

Ling Tianjun, chief engineer of green vehicles at the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), one of China's four largest auto groups, said SAIC has started selling hybrid cars at lower prices with the help of subsidies totaling over 100,000 yuan (US$16,300).

Chery, one of China's largest private automotive enterprises, has decided to spend more on electric vehicle research, the report said.

The MIIT, together with Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Science and Technology, announced a program to encourage innovation in green vehicle technology in September 2012.

But Duan Zhihui, Chery's chief hybrid vehicle engineer, said the three-year time limit for the new subsidies may cause auto companies to rush their research and development in order to avoid missing the opportunity to receive the subsidies.

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Plug-in hybrids may outpace other new-energy cars in China

Want China Times, Staff Reporter, 19 May 2013

A new-energy car show in Jinan, Shandong province. (Photo/Xinhua)

Electric cars continue to face cooling global sales, while many in China debate which way the country should go forward with its own energy development, reports the China Youth Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Youth League.

Some industry insiders say that China should continue developing electric cars, while others say that they should be abandoned in favor of hybrid cars. The government plans to subsidize both electric and hybrid cars according to their oil-saving ratio divided by 16 degrees, with the minimum subsidy as high as 3,000 yuan (US$490) per car, but the specifics of the plan have yet to be revealed.

There are currently three types of new energy vehicles in development: electric cars, which uses electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device; plug-in hybrids, which combines an internal combustion engine with rechargeable batteries; and conventional hybrids, which has an internal combustion engine and can save energy, but cannot be recharged.

Plug-in hybrid cars have been the main focus and priority for research and development, according to industry insiders, while some ventures continue to explore possibilities for both electric cars and hybrids, such as Toyota and PSA Peugeot-Citroen.

Dr Herbert Diess, a BMW director in charge of research and development, said that plug-in hybrids will be a very good choice for future development, because it can satisfy the needs of short-distance and longer-distance travel. BMW's new i3 electric cars are targeting the needs in drivers in larger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, but it's not the best choice for long-distance travel, Diess said.

Volkswagen said it will focus on developing plug-in hybrids and will soon mass produce its Porche Panamera and Audi A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid cars. The German automaker will also continue to develop electric cars, and will soon commence production of its Volkswagen up! and e-Gold models.

Mercedes-Benz has been comparatively conservative regarding the outlook for electric cars, the China Youth Daily said, but the company will introduce an S-series of plug-in hybrids, and is cooperating with the Chinese automaker BYD to develop an electric car.

Ford Motors, which is now the second-largest US hybrid carmaker with a market share of 15%, said it is developing both electric cars and plug-in hybrids, adding that once China's new-energy car market has chosen its direction, Ford will be able to immediately introduce its products into the market.

BYD, China's most experienced carmaker in the electric car field, has also adopted a strategy to develop plug-in hybrids for the private passenger-car market, and also develop electric passenger cars and buses to target the public transportation markets.

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Hong Kong Launches First Electric Taxis

Jakarta Globe – AFP, May 18, 2013

Cars drive past high rise buildings in Hong Kong on April 30, 2013.
(AFP Photo/ Philippe Lopez)

Hong Kong. Hong Kong saw its first electric taxis hit the streets on Saturday in a step towards reducing the city’s high levels of roadside pollution.

The 45 bright red cars were launched by Chinese electric vehicle producer BYD, which is partly backed by US investment titan Warren Buffett.

Called the BYD e6, the five-door crossover sedans are powered by iron phosphate batteries and take two hours to charge, a statement from BYD said, adding that they can then travel for 300 kilometers (more than 180 miles).

The cars have been rented by the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association, which is testing them over the next six months.

“The idea of being environmentally friendly is a global trend and the electric car is one good example,” said Wong Chung Keung, president and chairman of the association.

“An electric car saves the cost of fuel and will allow our taxi drivers to earn more,” he added, saying that a normal taxi would cost HK$0.8 (10 US cents) to run per kilometer (0.6 miles) while an electric car would cost HK$0.2-HK$0.3.

He called for more charging stations around the city to encourage taxi drivers to go electric, BYD said it is setting up 47 chargers in nine charging locations near car parks.

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary John Tsang was quoted in a BYD statement as welcoming the electric car and saying he was committed to “promoting environmental sustainability by laying the foundation for Hong Kong to become a zero emissions city”.

The government announced revisions to its air quality objectives for the first time in 25 years in January 2012, after University of Hong Kong research showed pollution-related illnesses killed more than 3,000 residents a year.

Agence France-Presse

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Indonesian Poor to Receive Rp 14 Trillion in Aid Ahead of Fuel Hike

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, May 13, 2013

A street vendor sells fuel in a plastic containers in Samarinda,

 East Kalimantan on March 24, 2013. (Reuters Photo)

The Indonesian government is poised to distribute up to Rp 14 trillion ($1.4 billion) in aid to the poor ahead of the central government’s planned fuel price hike.

The central government is trying to ween Indonesian motorists off the nation’s costly fuel subsidies — which cost the state some Rp 211.9 trillion in 2012 and heavily favor middle class drivers. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has issued instructions which require the government to simultaneously slash fuel subsidies and increase welfare spending.

This round of payouts will reach some 15.5 million households living on less than $2 a day, Coordinating Minister of Welfare Agung Laksono said. Additional spending in the form of school aid and subsidized rice will be handed out as the fuel subsidy cuts take effect, Agung explained.

The coordinating minister said the government must spend some of the savings on the nation’s poor.

“The potential budget savings [from subsidy cuts] is up to Rp 37 trillion,” he said. “It must be returned to the poor people through compensation programs and also infrastructure development.”

Previous efforts to raise the price of subsidized fuel sparked days of chaotic protests. The plan was scuttled by Golkar Party and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) factions in the House as protests peaked in Jakarta.

Critics of the plan argue that higher fuel prices will hurt the poor by causing food prices to rise. But the government spends more on energy subsidies than it spends on either education or health care.

The government has floated raising the price of premium subsidized fuel from Rp 4,500 per liter to Rp 6,000. The price hike is expected to take effect next month.

Lion Air Accused of Extortion

Jakarta Globe, SP/Robertus Wardi, May 11, 2013.

A Lion Air airplane takes off at Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta, in this
file picture taken March 18, 2013. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta/Files)

Indonesian airline Lion Air has been accused of extorting one of its Saudi Arabian business partners.

“Our client [invested] $18 million with Lion Air,” Guntur P. Daulay, businessman Miski Omar Hassan’s lawyer, said at a press conference on Saturday.

“Because our client maintained that there was no transparent business report delivered by [Lion Air’s] management, our client demanded that he get his money back. However, because the [the airline] couldn’t afford to return the funds, Lion Air owner Rusdi Kirana put up $1.5 million of his own money.

“Later, though, the money that was lent [by Rusdi] was said to have been embezzled by our client,” Guntur continued.

Omar was summoned by the Jakarta Police office on May 6 after missing two previous summons.

“Our client was unaware of the two previous summons because he was abroad at the time,” Guntur said. “Then, on May 6, he was detained.”

On May 7, a representative with Lion Air requested that Omar pay back the $1.5 million debt to settle the conflict. The company also asked Omar to give up his assets and his apartment if he could not afford to return the sum.

Omar, however, refused to pay, and Guntur maintained that Lion Air is guilty of extorting his client.

Edward Sirait, the general affairs director of Lion Air, denied the accusation.

Edward claimed that Omar is a travel agent who paid Lion Air a deposit to sell the airline’s tickets. He also questioned how Omar could think that he would receive a 100 percent return on his earlier investment.

Additionally, he said that Omar should handle the matter of the investment separately from the Rusdi Kirana loan.

“If it is related to business, there has been an agreement between both parties. We’re open to talking about the tickets and other [business related] matters. But the $1.5 million is a different thing.”

Furthermore, Edward accused Omar of running away after receiving the money.

“He had no intention of returning the money … that’s why we reported him to the police.”

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Airliner 'had narrow miss with UFO'

BBC News, 1 May 2013

The aircraft had been flying at 4,000ft
when the incident happened

A passenger aircraft had a narrow miss with an unidentified object over Glasgow, a report has revealed.

The Airbus A320 was making its final approach to Glasgow Airport on 2 December when an object passed about 300ft underneath it.

The pilot of the aircraft said the risk of collision with the object, which did not show up on radar, had been "high".

A report by the UK Airprox Board said investigators were unable to establish what the object had been.

The A320 was flying with its landing lights on, in clear conditions and at an altitude of about 4,000ft above the Baillieston area of Glasgow, when the pilot and non-flying pilot of the aircraft saw an object "loom ahead" at a range of about 100m.

Cockpit transcript

The Airprox report included a transcript of the conversation that took place between the aircraft and the controller at 12:55:

A320: "Glasgow Approach [A320 C/S]"

EGPF: "[A320 C/S] pass your message"

A320: "Er yeah we just had something pass underneath us quite close [1255:30] and nothing on TCAS have you got anything on in our area"

EGPF: "Er negative er we've got nothing on er radar and we're n- not talking to any traffic either"

A320: "Er not quite sure what it was but it definitely er quite large [1255:40] and it's blue and yellow"

EGPF: "OK that's understood er do you have a an estimate for the height"

A320: "Maybe er [1255:50] yeah we were probably about erm four hundred to five hundred feet above it so it's probably about three and a half thousand feet."

The object passed directly beneath the aircraft before either of the crew members had time to take avoiding action or had "really registered it", although they both agreed that it appeared to have been blue and yellow or silver in colour with a small frontal area, but that it was "bigger than a balloon".

The pilot asked the controller at Glasgow Airport if he was "talking to anything in the area" as he had "got quite close" to a blue and yellow aircraft, travelling in the opposite direction, which had passed just below him.

The controller stated that he was not talking to anyone else in that area and that nothing was seen on radar.

Search action was taken with no result and the A320 pilot stated his intention to file a report to Airprox, which investigates near misses.

Air traffic control said they had no trace of any other objects in the area at the time of the incident, although the radar at Prestwick did spot an "unidentified track history" 1.3 nautical miles east of the A320's position 28 seconds earlier.

Once the aircraft had landed, the pilot told the Glasgow Aerodrome Controller: "We seemed to only miss it by a couple of hundred feet, it went directly beneath us. Wherever we were when we called it in it was within about 10 seconds. Couldn't tell what direction it was going but it went right underneath us."

When asked if he thought it may have been a "glider or something like that" the pilot replied: "Well maybe a microlight. It just looked too big for a balloon."

The Airprox report concluded: "Investigation of the available surveillance sources was unable to trace any activity matching that described by the A320 pilot. Additionally there was no other information to indicate the presence or otherwise of activity in the area."

The report said the Airprox board had been of the opinion that the object was unlikely to have been a fixed wing aircraft, helicopter or hot air balloon, given that it had not shown up on radar.

It was also thought that a meteorological balloon would be radar significant and unlikely to be released in the area.

A glider could not be discounted, the report said, but it was unlikely that one would be operating in the area because of the constrained airspace and the lack of thermal activity because of the low temperature.

Similarly, the board believed that a hang-glider or para-motor would be radar significant and that conditions precluded them, as they did para-gliders or parascenders.

The report stated: "Members were unable to reach a conclusion as to a likely candidate for the conflicting aircraft and it was therefore felt that the board had insufficient information to determine a Cause or Risk".

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Hyundai Unveil the World’s First Mass Produced Fuel Cell Vehicle

greenerideal.com, Ashleigh-rose Harman, April 11, 2013

Hyundai have sped off the start line in the hydrogen vehicle production race, by rolling the first fuel cell vehicle intended for mass production off of the assembly line.

Hyundai have created a version of the ix35 which runs completely on hydrogen, meaning the only by product this car produces is water. The zero emissions vehicle is the product of the millions that has been invested into fuel cell research by the Korean company. The competition is beginning to build when it comes to environmentally friendly driving, with car manufacturers publicising future plans for a zero emissions driving environment.

Hyundai motor Vice Chairman, Eok Jo Kim announced the new ix35 as ‘the most eco-friendly vehicle in the industry.’  He went on to add that it ‘proves that hydrogen fuel cell technology in daily driving is no longer a dream’.

Fuel cell engines are not a new concept, in fact the first fuel cell vehicle came about in 1959. However, the technology has always been too expensive to develop for the mass market, hindering its advancement for the past fifty years, but Hyundai’s commitment to the cause has allowed the technology to be developed to mass market potential.

Fuel cell engines work by replacing gas with hydrogen. The hydrogen is combined with oxygen within the engine, creating a chemical reaction. This chemical energy is then converted into electrical energy, which in turn powers the motor in the engine. When fuel cell technology is compared to the current ‘plug in’ electric engines, the results show us that fuel cell engines are a way of sustaining our current driving habits, without causing any harm to our environment.

One thousand ix35s are due to be built by 2015. They are first to be made available as fleet vehicles across Europe, available for public and private vehicle leasing. After this Hyundai are planning to release the vehicle for consumer sales, with the hope of lower production costs and a more developed refuelling network.

The European Union has established a hydrogen road map, containing plans for new hydrogen refuelling stations throughout the continent. With hope that fuel companies will help develop the necessary technology to help put this plan into action across Europe and then the US.

Our attitude towards oil is unsustainable when it comes to our planet as well as our supplies, and this is forcing the automotive industries priorities to change. Car manufacturers are finally using their resources to develop technologies that will sustain the vehicle industry and the planet.  Responsibility is now being handed to the gas companies, with the automotive world asking them to help develop the necessary technologies to make electric driving a viable option.

Ashleigh-Rose Harman writes on behalf of Tilsun Group, on a number of automotive topics including vehicle technologies, the future of driving and the benefits of vehicle leasing. Visit tilsungroup.com for information on vehicle leasing, including contract hire on the latest EV’s and Hybrid vehicles.

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Lion Air Passenger Plane Crashes in Bali

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, April 13, 2013

The Lion Air airplane that crashed into the ocean 50 meters from the
runway at Ngurah Rai Airport, Denpasar. (Twitter Photo)

  

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A Lion Air airplane carrying 101 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing on the ocean after it overshot the runway at Ngurah Rai Airport on Saturday afternoon.

Sherly Yunita, a public relations officer at Ngurah Rai Airport, told the Jakarta Globe that the passenger plane did not touch the runway and landed directly onto the sea.

“The cause is not known yet,” Sherly said. “It was an emergency landing.”

Dozens of passengers have been sent to hospitals in Denpasar with 10 passengers hospitalized at the Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar and two at the Kasih Ibu Hospital.

Victims with serious injuries have been taken to the Siloam Hospital in Kuta.

A passenger, identified as Dewi, complained that the pilot did not alert the passengers before the emergency landing.

“Suddenly I saw the airplane was so close with the sea and hit the water with a loud sound,” Dewi said. “All passengers were panicking, screaming. Passengers tried to get the life jackets and were rushed to the emergency exits.”

Dewi, who suffered an injury to her head, managed to swim to the beach after getting out of the plane.

The Lion Air Boeing 737-800 ER jet was traveling from Bandung to Denpasar when it was forced to make an emergency landing, Eko Diantoro, the general manager from airport operator Angkasa Pura II, told TVOne on Saturday.

Eko said there were 101 passengers — 96 adults, five children and one baby — and seven crew members on board the flight that left Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Bandung at 12:56 p.m. The flight was due to land at 3:40 p.m. local time. The flight crashed into the water at 3:35 p.m, 50 meters from the runway.

Eko said that weather conditions in Denpasar were good.

“We don’t know the cause of the accident,” Eko said. “We don’t have the detail of the passengers condition, but all are alive.”

In October 2011, a Lion Air flight overshot the runway at the Sepinggan airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. There were no casualties as the passenger plane managed to stop on a soft surface in place to trap an aircraft from running on from the landing area, or even into the sea, in the case of an emergency.

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Up to 3.39 mln Japan-brand vehicles in airbag recall

Google – AFP, 11 april 2013 

File photo of motorists being caught in a traffic jam along a highway in Tokyo,

on September 20, 2009 (AFP/File)

TOKYO — Up to 3.39 million vehicles made by major Japanese manufacturers will be recalled worldwide because of possible problems with airbags, the companies said Thursday.

Four carmakers -- Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda -- separately said they would recall a combined 3.39 million vehicles globally in accordance with local regulations, all citing the same malfunction of passenger-side airbags.

Japan's transport ministry, which received recall reports from the manufacturers, said the number of vehicles affected would reach 2.92 million. There was no explanation for the discrepancy in the total.

A Toyota spokesman said his company alone was recalling a total of 1.73 million vehicles, manufactured between November 2000 and March 2004 in Japan or abroad, due to a defect in passenger-side airbags.

Toyota USA said in a statement it was recalling 170,000 vehicles in the United States, out of the company's total recall.

"The involved vehicles are equipped with front passenger airbag inflators which could have been assembled with improperly manufactured propellant wafers," the statement said.

"Improperly manufactured propellant wafers could cause the inflator to rupture and the front passenger airbag to deploy abnormally in the event of a crash."

The company's spokesman in Japan said this abnormal inflation "could also burn part of the vehicle's inside and cause fire".

However, he said, there were no recorded instances of this happening.

Nissan and Honda released statements giving similar explanations.

A Nissan spokeswoman said the company was recalling a total of 480,000 vehicles globally, all of which were manufactured in Japan between August 2000 and January 2004.

Toyota and Nissan said the airbags were made by Tokyo-based Takata Corp., while the ministry said the airbag parts were supplied by a single company but declined to disclose the name.

"This is a global recall that affects all regions where we do our business," said a spokeswoman with Honda, which is recalling 1.135 million vehicles.

Mazda said its recall target would reach 45,463 units worldwide, including 4,384 at home.

"We will recall the cars at home while taking the same action in accordance with local regulations of each country," a company spokeswoman said.

Fasten seatbelts for bumpier flights: climate study

Google – AFP, 8 April 2013 

A plane prepares to land at Frankfurt airport, western Germany, on

November 22, 2011 (DPA/AFP/File, Frank Rumpenhorst)

PARIS — Flights will become bumpier as global warming destabilises air currents at altitudes used by commercial airliners, climate scientists warned Monday.

Already, atmospheric turbulence injures hundreds of airline passengers each year, sometimes fatally, damaging aircraft and costing the industry an estimated $150 million (115 million euros), scientists said.

"Climate change is not just warming the Earth's surface, it is also changing the atmospheric winds ten kilometres (six miles) high, where planes fly," said study co-author Paul Williams of the University of Reading's National Centre for Atmospheric Science in southeastern England.

"That is making the atmosphere more vulnerable to the instability that creates clear-air turbulence," he told AFP by email.

"Our research suggests that we'll be seeing the 'fasten seatbelts' sign turned on more often in the decades ahead."

Turbulence is mainly caused by vertical airflow -- up-draughts and down-draughts near clouds and thunderstorms.

Clear-air turbulence, which is not visible to the naked eye and cannot be picked up by satellite or traditional radar, is linked to atmospheric jet streams, which are projected to strengthen with climate change.

The study authors used supercomputer simulations of the North Atlantic jet stream, a strong upper-atmospheric wind driven by temperature differences between colliding Arctic and tropical air.

The jet stream affects traffic in the aviation corridor between Europe and North America -- one of the world's busiest with about 300 eastbound and 300 westbound flights per day.

They found that a doubling of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere from pre-industrial levels, predicted within 40 years, would cause turbulence to be 10-40 percent more forceful at typical cruise altitudes.

"Turbulence strong enough to make walking difficult and to dislodge unsecured objects is likely to become twice as common in transatlantic airspace by the middle of this century," said Williams.

"As well as making flights bumpier and less comfortable, this could also increase the risk of injury to passengers and crew" -- especially in winter when Northern Hemisphere clear-air turbulence is thought to be most intense.

Williams said CO2 causes non-uniform warming, which increases the jet stream winds.

"A stronger jet stream means the atmosphere is less stable, which creates more turbulence," he explained.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, said planes already spent about one percent of their cruise time in strong clear-air turbulence.

Frequent flyers have reported bumpiness to be on the rise, but this is the first study to actually measure the projected impact of climate change, said the authors.

"Flight paths may need to become more convoluted to avoid patches of turbulence that are stronger and more frequent, in which journey times will lengthen and fuel consumption and emissions will increase," they wrote.

"Aviation is partly responsible for changing the climate in the first place," added Williams.

"It is ironic that the climate looks set to exact its revenge by creating a more turbulent atmosphere for flying."

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"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism, Higgs Boson), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version) 

"...The Weather... Again

My partner has been "against the grain" in the past years, giving you what I have channelled about the weather. Is it global warming? No. Is it going to get better? No. This is a two-generation cycle. There will continue to be earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and storms. This is a recalibration of life in the ocean, and humanity must go through this in any way they can. This is a cycle, a known and expected one, but since you haven't gone through it in modern times, it's not well understood yet. ..."

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

“… So now we've refreshed that which we have said before, a review. You are in the middle of a cycle that will bring cooling to the planet. It is not a heat cycle, but rather a cooling cycle. But it always starts with a short heat cycle. It has been here before. It will come again. It is a long cycle - one generation plus five years. That's how long it's going to last. It starts with the melting of the ice caps, which is far more than any of you have seen in your lifetime or those of your ancestors. It is a cycle whose repetition is thousands of years long, but one that has not yet been recorded to the books of Human record. But it's definitely been recorded in the cores of the ice and in the rings of the trees.

Thousands of years old, it is, and it happens in a cyclical way. It's about water. It starts with that which is the melting of the ice caps to a particular degree, which has a profound effect on the planet in all ways. You can't have that happen without seeing life change as well as Gaia change and you've seeing it already. What happens when you take that which is heavy on the poles [ice] and you melt it? It then becomes cold water added to that which is a very, very gentle and finite balance of temperature in the seas of the planet (1). The first thing that happens is a redistribution of the weight of water on the thin crust of the earth from ice at the poles to new water in the seas. The results become earthquakes and volcanoes, and you're seeing them, aren't you? You are having earthquakes in places that are not supposed to have earthquakes. Volcanoes are coming to life in a way that you've not seen before on a regular basis. There will be more. Expect them.

Is it too much to ask of a Human Being that if you live by a volcano that you know might erupt, maybe you ought to move? Yet there will be those who say, "It hasn't erupted in my lifetime or my parents' lifetime or my grandparents' lifetime; therefore, it won't." You may have a surprise, for all things are changing. That is what is happening to Gaia. ….“

THE RELATIONSHIP TO GAIA - April 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

New Mini Ice Age

"The weather you have today, and all the alarming attributes of it, is a scenario of what was scheduled to happen on Earth anyway. I review again that the weather changes you are seeing prophesied by myself, 21 years ago, are not a surprise. The changes are not caused by the pollutants you put in the air. You call it global warming and that's a nice phrase, and perhaps that will get you to put less pollutants in the air – a very good thing. But what you are seeing in the weather shift today was not caused by Humans putting things into the air. It would have happened anyway in about 300 years."

"We've called this process the water cycle, since it's all about water, not about air. The water is the predominant attribute of Gaia and of the weather cycle you're seeing. More predominant is the temperature of it. The cycle is ice to water and water to ice, and has been repeated on this planet over and over and over. It is not new. It is not exceptional. It is not frightening. But it's a cycle that modern humanity has not seen before, and it's a long cycle that is beyond the life span of a Human Being. Therefore, it tends to be overlooked or not seen at all !"

"In the days of the Lemurians, the water level of the Pacific Ocean was almost 400 feet lower, and that's only 50,000 years ago. [Kryon invites science to check this out – the water level at that time.] That was a water cycle working, and the reason it was lower was due to so much of the water being stored as ice. Today you're going through another water cycle that will eventually lead to cooling. The last one was in the 1400s."

"Science sees that at about 1650. As mentioned, they are so slow there is no remembrance that a Human has of them except in past writings and in the rings of the trees. The time span of the changes is so great that environmental record keeping does not exist in the form that it does today. But you can still look at the rings of the trees and at the striations of the rocks and can generally figure out that a few hundred years ago, you had a mini-ice age. Now you're going to have another one."