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Then why not go by luxury airship (but it will take you 37 hours)

Towering, kite-shaped airships could herald a new era of luxury transport following today's introduction of the Aircruise concept.

Standing 98ft taller than Canary Wharf, packing 330,000 cubic metres of hydrogen gas and capable of lifting 396 tonnes, the Aircruise concept features penthouse apartments, bars and even dizzying glass viewing floors.

Aircruise was created as the antithesis of a hurried, crowded passenger jet. London-based design and innovation company Seymourpowell wanted to rethink transport - on the premise 'slow is the new fast'. It could ferry 100 people from London to New York in a leisurely 37 hours as opposed to the seven it takes now by airplane.

At home in the clouds: In this image two of the airships are tethered above Hong Kong. Its developers believe the craft will offer luxury transport which focuses on comfort over speed

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Here, the kite-like airship comes to rest on a landing pad. It can fly at a maximum altitude of 12,000ft but if there are specific locations of interest en route, the ship can drop down to within a few hundred feet of the ground

Design director Nick Talbot says: 'The concept questions whether the future of luxury travel should be based around space-constrained, resource-hungry, and all too often stressful airline travel'

Silent and pollution free, the Aircruise combines solar power with a primary hydrogen drive for a cruising speed of around 90mph.

It can fly up to a maximum of 12,000ft but if there are specific areas of interest en route it can drop down to a few hundred feet.

Seymourpowell design director Nick Talbot said: 'The Aircruise concept questions whether the future of luxury travel should be based around space-constrained, resource-hungry, and all too often stressful airline travel.'

He said the Aircruise straddles the line between a cruise ship and a floating hotel.

Mr Talbot explained: 'In a world where speed is an almost universal obsession, the idea of making a leisurely journey in comfort is a welcome contrast.'

Airships had their heyday in the 1930s with the famous German zeppelins. However, new technology has made them increasingly attractive from an environmental standpoint.

LET'S GO FLY A KITE...

Height: 265m, from docking rig at the base to the tip

Volume of airship's 'main envelope': 330,000 cubic metres

Primary structure, envelope and systems: 270 tons (same weight as an airbus A380 super jumbo)

Consumables, water, ballast: 20 tons

Max number of people on board: 100

Max altitude it can fly at: 12,000ft.

Crew: Six, including two flight engineers

Support staff: 14 to look after passengers

Theoretically, it could ferry 100 people from London to New York in a leisurely 37 hours or from Los Angeles to Shanghai in just under four days.

Seymourpowell's early Aircruise designs attracted the attention of Korean giant Samsung Construction and Trading (C&T) - the primary contractor of the tallest man-made structure the Burj Khalifa in Dubai - who commissioned Seymourpowell to produce a detailed computer animation.

Seung Min Kim, design director at Samsung, said: 'This was a dream concept project for us, helping to realise a future of sustainable buildings combined with innovative and luxury lifestyle.

'In an age when environmental impact is a key consideration for architecture, we are keen to extend this vision of the future by searching for solutions that can be realised by 2015 - the year that many futurologists foresee as the turning point for the future.'

Technological advances mean lightweight, semi-flexible structures can now be built on a big scale. Although large, this is nevertheless a semi-rigid ship, the main structure consisting of eight vertical, composite lattices supporting four main flexible envelopes, which contain 330,000 cubic metres of hydrogen gas.

A room with a view: Passengers would be able to look out over the clouds from their luxurious surroundings

Advances in technology have enabled designers to come up with airships which are more robust than their 1930s forerunners

Lower decks are 'hung' off these primary supports. Each of the four external envelopes contains modular self-sealing lifting bags, minimising the incidence of bag rupture and ensuring safe flight even with a major external skin rupture.

Hydrogen, the lightest gas, is used as the lifting gas, and is capable of lifting around 1.2Kg per cubic metre of volume. Large Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cells will provide on board power and some drinking water.

These fuel cells are the type typically used in cars. A PEM fuel cell uses hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electricity.

Dizzying: There is even a glass-floored viewing room for those passengers who don't suffer from vertigo

Six-flight crew will include two flight engineers, and will fly the ship in shifts. There are then a further 14 support staff will look after the passengers

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/01/states-seeking-ban-manda...


AP

Conservative lawmakers in many states are forging ahead with constitutional amendments to ban government health insurance mandates.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Although President Barack Obama's push for a health care overhaul has stalled, conservative lawmakers in about half the states are forging ahead with constitutional amendments to ban government health insurance mandates.

The proposals would assert a state-based right for people to pay medical bills from their own pocketbooks and prohibit penalties against those who refuse to carry health insurance.
In many states, the proposals began as a backlash to Democratic health care plans pending in Congress. But instead of backing away after a Massachusetts election gave Senate Republicans the filibuster power to halt the health care legislation, many state lawmakers are ramping up their efforts with a new enthusiasm.

The moves reflect the continued political potency of the issue for conservatives, who have used it extensively for fundraising and attracting new supportersThe legal impact of any state measures may be questionable because courts generally have held that federal laws trump those in states.
Lawmakers in 34 states now have filed or proposed amendments to their state constitutions or statutes rejecting health insurance mandates, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit group that promotes limited government that is helping coordinate the efforts. Many of those proposals are targeted for the November ballot, assuring that health care remains a hot topic as hundreds of federal and state lawmakers face reelection.

Legislative committees in Idaho and Virginia endorsed their measures this past week. Supporters held a rally at the Pennsylvania Capitol. And hearings on the proposed constitutional amendments were held in Georgia and Missouri . The Missouri hearing drew overflow crowds the day after Obama urged federal lawmakers during his State of the Union address to keep pressing to pass a health care bill. The Nebraska Legislature plans a hearing on a measure this coming week.

The legal effect of any state measures may be questionable, because courts generally have held that federal laws trump those in states.

Yet supporters of the state measures portray them as a way of defending individual rights and state sovereignty, asserting that the federal government has no authority to tell states and their citizens to buy health insurance.

"I think the alarm bell has been rung," said Clint Bolick, the constitutional litigation director at the Goldwater Institute in Phoenix , which helped craft an Arizona amendment on this November's ballot that has been used as a model in other states.

"These amendments are a way to manifest grassroots opposition" to federal health insurance mandates, Bolick said. "They kind of have a life of their own at this point. So while some of the pressure may be off, I think that this movement has legs."

Separate bills passed by the U.S. House and Senate would impose a penalty on people who don't have health insurance except in cases of financial hardship. Subsidies would be provided to low-income and middle-income households. The intent of the mandate is to expand the pool of people who are insured and paying premiums and thus offset the increased costs of insuring those with preexisting conditions or other risks.
The federal bills also would require many businesses to pay a penalty if they fail to provide employees health insurance that meets certain standards, though details and exemptions vary between the House and Senate versions.

Obama and Democratic legislative leaders were working to merge the two bills when Republican Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat long held by the late Edward M. Kennedy on Jan. 19, leaving Democrats one seat shy of the number needed to break a Republican filibuster.
Since then, the federal legislation has been in limbo. But state lawmakers have not.

"We need to move ahead no matter what kind of maneuvering continues in Washington , D.C. ," said Missouri Sen. Jane Cunningham, a Republican from suburban St. Louis .

Since suffering resounding defeats in the 2008 elections, Republicans have seized upon voter unease over the federal health care legislation to help revitalize their fortunes.

A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted the day after the Massachusetts vote found that about 55 percent of respondents -- including a majority of self-described independents -- favored putting the breaks on the current health care legislation. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
State laws or constitutional amendments clearly could bar lawmakers in those states from requiring individuals to purchase health insurance, such as Massachusetts has done. But it's questionable that such the measures could shield state residents from a federal health insurance requirement.

"They are merely symbolic gestures," said Michael Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Cornell University . "If this Congress were to pass an individual mandate, and if it is constitutional -- which I believe it is -- the express rule under the supremacy clause (of the U.S. Constitution) is that the federal law prevails."
Many Democratic lawmakers are skeptical of both the intent and the effect of the state measures, entitled in many states as the "Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act." Some have derided it as "political theater" or an attempt to merely shape the public debate.

"We need to do something about health care," said Idaho Rep. Phylis(cq)King, a Boise Democrat. "And the federal government is trying to do something. It hurts our companies and it hurts our people to be uninsured

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Incentive Part of Ongoing Effort to Stabilize Neighborhoods

WASHINGTON, DC - Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) announced today that people purchasing a Fannie Mae-owned HomePath® property will receive up to 3.5 percent of the final sales price to be used toward closing cost assistance or their choice of appliances. The offer is available to any owner-occupant who closes on the purchase of a property listed on HomePath.com before May 1, 2010.

"Attracting qualified buyers to the market and reducing the inventory of vacant homes is critical to stabilizing neighborhoods and helping the market recover. Many families are taking advantage of the federal homebuyer tax credit to buy a new home so this is a great time for Fannie Mae to offer some additional help," said Terry Edwards, Executive Vice President of Credit Portfolio Management. "Homebuyers have the option to choose between financial assistance toward closing costs or new appliances for their home."

Properties eligible for this incentive are listed on HomePath.com and most listings include detailed property descriptions, photographs, community and school information and more. In addition, many Fannie Mae-owned properties are eligible for special HomePath Mortgage and HomePath Renovation Mortgage financing which offers homebuyers an opportunity to purchase with as little as 3 percent down.

Fannie Mae Resource Center

Telephone 1-800-7FANNIE
(1-800-732-6643)