Airbus Spreads its Wings in China

Airbus Spreads its Wings in China
6/23/2009

(Wall Street Journal) European plane maker Airbus delivers its first domestically-assembled aircraft in China as it competes with U.S. rival Boeing to expand in developing markets. Video courtesy of Reuters.

White House to Abandon Spy-Satellite Program

White House to Abandon Spy-Satellite Program

(Source Wall Street Journal) WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration plans to kill a controversial Bush administration spy satellite program at the Department of Homeland Security, according to officials familiar with the decision.

The program came under fire from its inception two years ago. Democratic lawmakers said it would lead to domestic spying.
The program would have provided federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy-satellite imagery — but no eavesdropping capabilities— to assist with emergency response and other domestic-security needs, such as identifying where ports or border areas are vulnerable to terrorism.

It would have expanded an Interior Department satellite program, which will continue to be used to assist in natural disasters and for other limited security purposes such as photographing sporting events. The Wall Street Journal first revealed the plans to establish the program, known as the National Applications Office, in 2007.

"It's being shut down," said a homeland security official.

The Bush administration had taken preliminary steps to launch the office, such as acquiring office space and beginning to hire staff.

The plans to shutter the office signal Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's decision to refocus the department's intelligence on ensuring that state and local officials get the threat information they need, the official said. She also wants to make the department the central point in the government for receiving and analyzing terrorism tips from around the country, the official added. Read Article...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124572555214540265.html

Wide-Body Aircraft

Wide-Body Aircraft

(Source Slate Magazine)
Good news for fat fliers and the passengers who sit next to them: We may be heading toward a compromise involving wider seats.
Two months ago, when United joined other carriers in requiring oversize fliers to buy two seats, I argued that this binary policy was unnecessary. A better model is the extra leg room United sells to tall passengers:
Why shouldn't fat people have a similar option? Most of them don't need two seats side-by-side any more than we long-legged guys need two seats front-to-back. Like us, they just need a few extra inches. ... If United can swap out a row of three normal coach seats for two wide ones, two fat people should be able to buy those seats for an extra 50 percent instead of an extra 100 percent. That's the simplest nonbinary solution. But if the flight is full, or if swapping out a seat row is too difficult, here's an alternative: Let other passengers sell part of their seat width to those who need it.
In today's Wall Street Journal, one flier says he's open to the sale idea: "If people are so large or overweight that they can't get the armrest down, then these people should be required to sit elsewhere, pay for an additional seat or pay me for the part of my seat they are spilling into." But the wider-seats option is less embarrassing and should be easier to implement. And the Journal's Scott McCartney reports interest from both sides:

Frequent travelers and advocates for the obese would like to see airlines offer a few rows of wider coach seats and charge extra—just as they do with rows of expanded legroom. Instead of six seats across a typical single-aisle plane, why not have four or five seats and charge 50% extra on a coach fare? ... "We're willing to pay for what we are rightfully using," says Peggy Howell, spokeswoman for the National Association To Advance Fat Acceptance. ... "What we really need are seats half-again as wide," she says. ... United, which offers extra legroom in "Economy Plus" rows to frequent fliers and customers who pay extra, says it will review the wide-seat idea.

Spreading Consumerism, One Indian Village at a Time

Spreading Consumerism, One Indian Village at a Time
6/9/2009

(Source Wall Street Journal)
Global advertising agencies now have armies of salesmen in India to promote products by staging dances, skits, music, demonstrations and game shows in village squares and country markets. Eric Bellman reports from India.

‘The Man Who Owns the News’

First Chapter: ‘The Man Who Owns the News’
By MICHAEL WOLFF - Published: December 28, 2008
“Rupert Murdoch, a man without discernible hubris — or at least conventional grandiosity — had nevertheless begun to believe that his takeover of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal ... had a certain destiny, a higher purpose of which the world should be made aware.”