Google Search: author:rclague@yahoo.com: "The AST/AVR turf war is over. Patti Grace Smith and Nick Sabitini have jointly published a Notice in the Federal Register, 68 FR 59977, , that divides up the pie very evenly. Launch vehicles are AST, airplanes are AVR, and hybrid vehicles - those which share characteristics of launch vehicles and aircraft - are both. The dividing line is clear and unambiguous, is the same as what AST pre-announced at Space Access in April, and is trajectory dependent. What this means is that the same vehicle can be an experimental aircraft on Monday, a launch vehicle on Tuesday, and an experimental aircraft again on Wednesday. Which it is depends on how you fly it. If you fly it so it meets the definition of a suborbital rocket, it's a launch vehicle, and you need a launch license. If you fly it so it doesn't meet the definition, it's an experimental aircraft, and you need a pink slip."
The Jodie Lane Project : New York, NY -- February 12, 2004.
The City Council Transportation Committee held a hearing today to investigate the causes of Jodie S. Lane’s tragic electrocution death on January 16th. The testimony revealed a startling lack of oversight on the part of the Public Services Commission, charged with overseeing Con Edison’s compliance with the National Electric Safety Code, last revised in 1913.
With only 5 inspectors at their disposal, the Public Services Commission relies entirely on Con Edison to report safety problems. Because Con Edison only reports incidents resulting in injury or death, the PSC was aware of only 15 shock incidents in the last 5 years. Con Edison has acknowledged that it actually received 539 reports of shock incidents in the same period, effectively admitting to misleading the PSC by an order of magnitude.
It is not only this discrepancy that is alarming, but also the fact that the Public Services Commission, charged with ensuring
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