Model Airplanes

Three images:  a castle on a hill, a lamppost beneath my cheap hotel room in the early November evening illuminating a trench-coated man within its murky glow, a piazza with half a boy on a wooden platform on wheels.

I knew little of the history of the castle of Sao Jorge, atop the hill sheltering Lisbon’s old city. But it had been there, in some form, in 718 when the Islamic armies conquered the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, except for some white-capped scraps of Atlantic coastline in the north.  It had been there in 1147 during the Second Crusade, when the crusaders’ Siege of Lisbon had been their only military success, taking the castle from the Moors for Christian Europe. It had been there in 1255, heavily fortified against Muslim attempts to retake it, when Lisbon became the capital of the Kingdom.  It had been there between 1373 and 1375 when the new wall with its seventy-seven towers replaced the old Moorish wall.  It had been there in 1498, when King Manuel II welcomed to the Royal palace the explorer, Vasco da Gama, discoverer of the maritime route to India.

And it had been there, too, in 1755 for the Lisbon earthquake, about which I was thinking now, looking at the spectacular view of the city below from the barbican, the low wall built around medieval fortifications to prevent siege engines from attacking the main walls. Lisbon looked peaceful, its red-tiled roofs and white houses in the distance slumbering in the

Article source: http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/26/lisbon-1964-scent-of-the-future/

The answer is so simple, and sad. Mr. Moore’s latest eye-opening documentary, Where To Invade Next visited countries that have learned from and adopted our laws and policies, policies that no longer exist in the U.S. of A.; such as tuition-free public colleges (Slovenia), prison systems that rehabilitate rather than punish (Norway), where drug use is not a crime (Portugal), and eight weeks paid vacation is the law (Italy).

His film shows America on the way to becoming a Third World country, somewhat lost in the last century and falling behind other developed countries and many developing countries, in caring for our citizens.

Perhaps the most moving segment was our failure to secure women’s rights. We who were not able to pass the Equal Rights Amendment that prevented discrimination against women in the 1970s, were imitated in countries like Iceland with the first democratically elected President in 1980, and where women’s rights are enshrined in their constitution (Tunisia, a Muslim country).

For some reason, beginning in the 1970s, these countries began to give more rights to their citizens, while America, the world’s oldest democracy, took them away. Germany has enshrined collective bargaining in their corporations, where 50 percent of the governing board has to be made up of its employees, whereas many states in the U.S. have either banned collective bargaining, or the paying of dues to support collective bargaining, in 25 right to work states.

And Icelandic corporations must have at least 40 percent of each gender on their

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harlan-green/why-did-michael-moore-inv_b_9317088.html

Hailey Clauson looks flawless on the beaches of Turks Caicos, Sofia Resing shares shots from her rookie season with SI Swimsuit, and more. 

Article source: http://www.si.com/swim-daily/photo/2016/02/24/thursday-swimstagram-022516

WINDSOR LOCKS — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy got a crash course Thursday in engineering and materials science as he inspected what public and private investments have yielded at the aerospace parts business of United Technologies Corp.

Malloy, with about a dozen executives, engineers and others in tow, toured laboratories at the UTC Aerospace Systems headquarters, which is known as UTAS, to mark the opening of its $8 million materials and process engineering lab.

Malloy hailed 2014 legislation allowing UTC to use up to $400 million in accumulated state tax credits in exchange for a commitment by the aerospace and building systems conglomerate to spend as much as $500 million on its various businesses by 2020. The legislature approved the deal with bipartisan support, but some critics have called it a giveaway benefiting just one company.

“In a groundbreaking way perhaps there’s a model to other states, but don’t tell them about it, we put together a plan that has United Technologies investing over $500 million in this state and not a single dollar of ours with respect to that $500 million investment comes out of our checking account,” Malloy said.

J. Michael McQuade, senior vice president for science and technology at United Technologies, said the new lab “marks a big step” in advancing materials engineering at UTAS. UTC also is parent company of jet engine maker Pratt Whitney, Otis elevators and Carrier heating and ventilating.

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-aerospace-lab-20160225-story.html

It’s coming to America.

Although the Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase will be aimed mostly at the Asian market, it will come to the United States. Most Americans would rather drive than be driven, which means the long-wheelbase model will be imported from England in very small numbers and quite likely as a limited edition.

For such a simple idea, the execution is complicated.

Every Bentley Mulsanne is hand-assembled by a skilled team of craftsmen. That doesn’t change for the Extended Wheelbase, but it does add some new complexity to the build process. All three Mulsanne models roll down the same line in Crewe, meaning workers have to be trained in the differences of each model. This is true at most plants, but the assembly of a Mulsanne is a rather different process than a Mustang.

In addition to the extra length, all Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase models get optional folding tables for both rear passengers. These are beautiful works of art, and the engineering behind them is almost unbelievable. Each tray table is made from 600 individual parts. Yes, you read that correctly. We’re not sure how Bentley managed to over-engineer these baubles so thoroughly, but we suggest that you treat the metal and leather creations with respect.

But it’s also very comfortable.

Those tray tables can tilt at about a 30-degree angle, which is perfect for displaying content on an electronic device. The center console that holds them when not in

Article source: http://www.autoblog.com/2016/02/23/2017-bentley-mulsanne-extended-wheelbase/