Quality Weenie

Happy Halloween

Successful Missle Test w/Japan

Brother-in-law works for a defense contractor and is working on the missle defense system on Navy ships.

Another successful test he reports!

Japan/U.S. Missile Defense Flight Test Successful

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the successful completion of an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) intercept flight test, in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, off the coast of Kauai in Hawaii. The event, designated Japan Flight Test Mission 3 (JFTM-3), marked the third time that a JMSDF ship has successfully engaged a ballistic missile target, including two successful intercepts, with the sea-based midcourse engagement capability provided by Aegis BMD.

The JFTM-3 test event verified the newest engagement capability of the Japan Aegis BMD configuration of the recently upgraded Japanese destroyer, JS MYOKO (DDG-175). At approximately 6:00pm (HST), 1:00 pm Tokyo time on Oct 28, a separating, medium-range ballistic missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. JS MYOKO crew members detected and tracked the target. The Aegis Weapon System then developed a fire control solution and, at approximately 6:04pm (HST), 1:04 pm Tokyo time a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IA interceptor missile was launched. Approximately 3 minutes later, the SM-3 successfully intercepted the target approximately 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean. JFTM-3 is a significant milestone in the growing cooperation between Japan and the U.S. in the area of missile defense.

Also participating in the test, were the Pearl Harbor-based USS Lake Erie (CG 70) and USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) which detected and tracked the target and conducted a simulated engagement.

Before returning to Japan, JS MYOKO will be loaded with additional SM-3 Block IA missiles. The ship will arrive in Japan ready to provide additional ballistic missile defense capability against the increasing ballistic missile threat present in that region.

This is from a Navy news release

California Hates Garage Door Openers

I did a post in the past about California enacting new glass regualtions that will block out so much of the "harmful" sun rays going into your car that will heat your car up and make you use the AC more.

Well Californians, that time has come and it's not good for you.

The California Air Resources Board said Friday that when it issues its final "cool car" regulations, which will require vehicles to reduce the amount of heat entering vehicles starting in the 2012 model year, it will exempt soft-sided plastic windows.

Jeep had thought that they wouldn't be able to sell soft sided Jeep Wranglers in California anymore because the new glaze couldn't be applied to soft plastic windows.

The regulation takes effect in 2012, with a three-year phase-in, and requires all vehicles to prevent 45 percent of the energy from the sun from entering a vehicle by 2014, and 60 percent by 2016. The regulation applies to new vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less.

The board rejected suggestions from some companies that the new proposal hasn't been tested enough.

This is the government, of course it hasn't been tested enough yet.

They (editor note:"they" are companies that make GPS, cell phones, etc)noted that "ankle bracelets for parolees," along with cell phone calls and laptops, "may be adversely affected by the metallic reflective standard" because the signals "must be able to penetrate the glazing in vehicles."

Garmin's initial testing said the signals from GPS devices were degraded.

A board document issued Friday said its testing has shown no impact on parolee ankle bracelets. Other testing showed cellular phones, GPS systems and electronic toll payment systems should work, the board said. (emphasis mine)

California government says that garage door openers and the like should work when used within the deletion window area (the deletion window area is a small area in which the glaze is not applied so devices will work.

Car companies are not happy about this added glaze, of course the costs will not be rolled down to the customer (roll eyes at this point)

Toyota Motor Corp. told the board in June the new regulation will require significant redesigning of its vehicles. All of Toyota's GPS antennas are mounted inside the vehicles; the new regulation will require the Japanese automaker to "redesign our GPS antennas to mount them on the roof even if deletion areas are allowed." The initial regulation will cost $111 over the life of a vehicle; the 2016 standard will add $250 to a vehicle's cost. California says it will take five to 12 years for consumers to recoup the costs through reduced gasoline use.

Jenny's Veto Pen

Michigan's Governor says she will veto any item of the budget plan that she doesn't like.
All the items she plans on vetoing are cuts to her "pet-project" and she is also pissed because the senate/house budget plan handed to her (with no help from her) doesn't include raises taxes on Michigan's residents.

Granholm isn't going down without a fight this year. But if you thought she would come out Thursday with a comprehensive plan for this state, you'd be sorely mistaken. She merely reasserted her constitutional right to veto cuts she didn't like (duh) and tossed out her tired ideas for tax hikes.

Michigans government was shut-down last year because she didn't like the plan that was presented to her and it will be the same for next year too.

And since Jenny can't run next year she's trying to save her reputation in hopes Obama will give her a job.

The guv's goal, as always, is to rehabilitate her personal reputation in hopes that someone, anyone -- the Obama administration, preferably -- is still watching and waiting to whisk her out of this backwater state. (Anyone who thinks Granholm plans to stay in Michigan after her term's up, please raise your naïve little hand).

So she had these cute notices splashed on state buildings several hours before Thursday's midnight budget deadline:

"State offices are CLOSED effective Thursday, October 1, 2009 due to the Michigan Legislature's failure to act to meet its constitutional responsibility to enact a balanced budget for the fiscal year that begins October 1, 2009, as of this posting."

Childish but wrong, the legislature has given her a balanced budget. She doesn't like it because it makes cuts to her projects and doesn't raise taxes on the citizens who can't afford tax increases. She is already using the federal stimulus funds to fill in holes in the budget, next year there won't be any extra federal money lying around for her to avoid doing what needs to be done.

She is definately not helping the democrats next year any with her tantrums.

Not to mention the fact that 2010 happens to be a watershed election year in Michigan, with term limits sweeping out the governor and every elected executive officer, three-quarters of the Senate and about one-third of the House.

That is right almost the entire State of Michigan government is up for re-election and also many Congressmen and our 2 boot-licking, Obama loving democrat senators.

The election season next year is going to be brutal.

Oh and her pet-projects that she will veto is cuts to them are included?

Maneuvering over the state budget continued Monday, with Gov. Jennifer Granholm saying she will use her veto pen to find money to pay for her priorities and Senate Republicans warning her against it.

The governor declined to say what she would veto to fund college scholarships, local police and firefighters and Medicaid if lawmakers don't send her bills with revenue increases. But she did say she would not veto entire budget bills.

Medicaid, the welfare, democrat voters pay-off and college scholorships for every graduating high-school senior in Michigan. The "scolorships" are enough to pay for maybe the first year of college, while it's a great idea I would think not raising taxes to pay for it is the greater responsibility. Also her priorities need to be re-thought if she thinks those are the most important things that need to be taken care of in the state of Michigan.

I am going to put it out there again, I beleive Michigan will go red in the 2010 elections.

Toyota Refuses Blame For Recall

As usual, Toyota will not accept the blame for recalling 3.8 million vehicles last week.

The Japanese automaker officially launched its largest recall in the United States, saying in a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it was "willing to identify this campaign as a safety recall."

But Toyota said it "has not determined that the vehicles ... contain a safety-related defect."

So they admit their is a "safety issues" but are not willing to admit that it has anything to do with their vehicle.

And this isn't the first time that this issue has killed people.

In September 2007, Toyota recalled an accessory all-weather floor mat sold for use in about 50,000 2007 and 2008 model year Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry vehicles because of similar problems.

A crash and death instigated the above recall

And it sounds like the only reason Toyota agreed to the recall was because NHTSA was going to begin and investigation into the crashes that had happened.

NHTSA says that under certain conditions, the mats from 2004-09 model year vehicles could cause the accelerator to stick in the full open position, which may result in high speeds and serious crashes.

The agency said the incidents appear to be related to factors including unsecured mats, accelerator pedal configuration, and the shutoff procedure in some vehicles with keyless ignition.

If Toyota hadn't agreed to the recall, NHTSA was planning to open an investigation into the vehicles. NHTSA received 100 complaints, with 17 crashes and five deaths, including the California accident.

So at this point no investigation will be done by NHTSA because Toyota agreed to recall the vehicles.

Got to wonder what Toyota is hiding?

Brillant Idea - Raise Taxes in Michigan

As everyone knows Michigan is beyond being in the shithouse. Our state government was shut down for a day last week becuase they couldn't agree on a budget again this year.

To get the budget passed a lot of cuts were undertaken but now the democrats want those cuts back.

So there brillant idea is to raise taxes.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm met with House Democrats this morning, as they devised plans for new taxes to restore some of the budget cuts the Legislature approved last week.

The reason the cuts were made is because we can't afford them and since republicans said they wouldn't pass the budget if new taxes were included the democrats backed down.

But I guess they had their fingers crossed behind their backs.

Granholm said she’s urging them to adopt narrowly targeted taxes, rather than raising general taxes such as the income and sales taxes. She has called for more revenue to pay for the Michigan Promise college grant program, revenue sharing for local communities, Medicaid and aid to public schools – all items cut significantly in the 2009-10 budget lawmakers approved, but which still hasn’t reached Granholm’s desk for signing.

I just don't get it, you made the cuts to get the budget passed but now you want all those cuts back. And they wonder why Michigan is such a mess.

So Long Saturn, Nice To Know Ya

General Motors has been trying to sell off Saturn, they had a buyer and the deal was suppose to close yesterday.

Instead of closing the buyer backed out.

On Tuesday, General Motors Co. thought it had a deal to sell its storied brand Saturn. But Wednesday afternoon, a day before the deal was to be announced, the Detroit automaker was blindsided by the news that businessman Roger Penske's deal to acquire Saturn had collapsed.

Penske was going to buy Saturn and then have Renault-Nissan actually make the vehicles for him after the sale was complete but Renault-Nissan backed out.

Penske’s plans for Saturn depended on securing another manufacturer to build future vehicles — a critical part of deal that fell apart when the board of directors for that unidentified automaker rejected the arrangement.

That manufacturer was Renault-Nissan, a person close to the talks told the Free Press.

This is a huge blow for General Motors, 350 dealerships and thousands of employees will lose their jobs.

But the ironic part of all this?

GM was making Saturns at several of it's plants, including the original Saturn plant in Spring Hill, TN.

All but one plant that was making Saturns will stay open as they all make GM vehicles also, the only plant that will be closing is the Spring Hill, TN plant.

Looks like Senator Bob Corker is getting his karmic payback for being such as asshole to the Auto Makers in January.