Video English: "Beware of Dogma" billboard of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (Photo credit: Wikipedia) In my interview with Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein, I only asked her one tax question that was not covered in the Green Party Platform. The question concerned the parsonage exclusion, Code Section 107. Code Section
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Jill Stein Lining Up With Freedom From Religion Foundation On Parsonage Exclusion ?
WASHINGTON Legislative leaders from nine states Tuesday, citing a growing polarization on the issue of religious freedom, announced the formation of state religious freedom caucuses. There are plans to have similar legislative caucuses in all 50 states by the end of 2013.
The first wave of caucuses are headed by legislative leaders in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Tennessee. A caucus in Utah is anticipated to be announced in January, although its local leaders haven't been publicly identified.
The Ethics and Public Policy Center's American Religious Freedom Program is heading up the caucus effort to provide resources and expertise to state lawmakers who want to set state-specific religious freedom policy.
The program is targeting states with a strategy to combat threats to religious liberty on the ground level and help create a thoughtful, less polarized approach to resolving differences that will inform federal officials.
"A high percentage of laws are made in state houses, not by Congress, and a high percentage of religious freedom threats materialize in states," said Tim Schultz, state legislative policy director for ARFP. "But states have not been as quick to recognize that this is something they will have to confront."
The exceptions are representatives from the nine states on-hand for a teleconference announcing the caucuses.
"Legislative caucuses focused on religious freedom will help ensure that each statehouse is a bulwark against overreaching government officials and policies that would corrupt or curtail those freedoms," said Kansas Republican Rep. Lance Kinzer, who is chairman of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee.
Schultz said Kansas is where a Jehovah's Witness and Medicaid recipient was denied state help for an alternative treatment because her faith prevented her from having a blood transfusion. It took two years for the courts to finally rule in her favor.
Schultz said those types of cases typically are what religious liberty advocates find on the state level and hope to address through the state caucuses through legislation. He said lawmakers and the public often place religious liberty disputes in the realm of Congress or the courts, or identify with the issue in cases of prayer or Christmas displays in public places.
"Those are actually establishment clauses cases. But the new threat is in the (free) exercise clause of the First Amendment and threaten people's ability to practice their faith outside the walls of the church, synagoge or mosque. States have been a little bit slower to see these threats materialize," he said.
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Do you remember 2003? Of course you don't, nothing happened then. And besides it was ages ago. At least fifteen years ago. There were no iPhones; Harry Styles hadn't been invented; if you said 'Facebook' people probably thought you meant something like this:
Whatever this is
No, 2003 was a really bloody boring year as far as most things were concerned. Except for games, of course, because it was when Freedom Fighters came out.
Launching on 26 September, 2003, Freedom Fighters was a kind of afterbirth to the Hitman series; it used the same engine, was made by the same people, but for some reason never managed to become even half as popular. The plot centred on a ragtag bunch of American rebels, fighting off an invasion from the Soviet Union, which, in this re-imagined history, had become the world's leading superpower after beating the US to inventing the atomic bomb. Combat was squad based, guns were many, and the story was ludicrous. On paper, Freedom Fighters was a turd.
I bought it anyway (or at least my mum did because she was nice like that) and played it beginning to end in one night. First impressions were...meh. Of course, I was thirteen years old at the time and therefore an idiot, but nevertheless, Freedom Fighters was not initially remarkable. Friends who I've lent it to since have said the same; despite lengthy conversations about Freedom Fighters in the pub, and my drunken assurances that its "the bes' *hiccup* game ever" my pals remain unconvinced, often returning it to me after a couple of days and some pretty good excuses.
"It's aged, it's a bit clumsy" they say, and I can't argue. Freedom Fighters is more than nine years old; in computer game terms, it's the equivalent of a silent film. But even sober, I still think it's the best game ever made. Why? I don't hear you ask, because you're reading this days later, in your head and I'm not there: Here's why.
An ideal world
We talk a lot today about "gameplay", and how "gameplay" will, in an ideal world, somehow represent a game's themes and story. Look at pixelated masterpiece Passage: You play as a virile young man, steadily aging as he side scrolls a la Mario from one end of the game to the other. Along the way, obstacles get harder to navigate (ostensibly illustrating how life gets tougher as you get older) and you meet a wife, who doubles the amount of points you get. It's a short but powerful demonstration of how playing a game can tell a game's story; Freedom Fighters pulls a similar trick, but on a much larger scale.
Guns felt awkward and unwieldy; on the PS2, aiming down the sight was mapped to the L3 button, meaning that moving and firing at the same time was difficult to master. Like your character, a plumber from Brooklyn, you weren't very good with guns: The controls prevented you from ever feeling too comfortable with shooting people.
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Exploding Barrels Blog - Freedom Fighters, My Favourite Game
Arnold Schwarzenegger still hopes to win back Maria Shriver, who filed for divorce from him last year after learning that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son with the family's housekeeper. When divorced couples remarry each other, how often does it work out?
Probably less than one-half the time. Anecdotes about divorced couples who remarry each other abound, especially among politicians and celebrities, but there's little in the way of systematic research. A 2004 survey of 1,147 divorcees by the AARP suggested that around 6 percent give their marriage another try, while 4 percent continue to have sex with each other after they divorce.
The most detailed study of the success of second-chance marriages comes from 1938, when pioneering marriage counselor Paul Popenoe compiled 200 stories of couples who married each other two or more times. (His sample, drawn from his patients, acquaintances of his students, and newspapers clippings, wasn't exactly random.) Popenoe reported that 48 percent of the remarried couples were happy together at the time of the study. It's not clear whether that estimate remains accurate today, when the overall divorce rate is nearly double that of the 1930s. The second-chance divorce rate may have risen with the overall divorce rate. On the other hand, some modern couples may divorce too hastily, then find themselves compatible on the second try.
Popenoe's 1938 study suggests that, even if Shriver decides to give Schwarzenegger another chance, the ex-governor might have to wait a while. Couples that have long first marriages Schwarzenegger and Shriver were together for 25 years before separating in 2011 tend to wait longer to get back together, for unknown reasons. Second-timers are, however, quick to pull the plug on the do-over. Popenoe found that, among repeat divorcees, the second marriage typically lasts less than a year.
Popenoe's qualitative analysis is no longer useful, largely because he was a man of his time (a condition also made evident by his fervent support of the eugenics movement). He blamed many second marriages on wives who longed for " 'freedom,' self-expression, or an independent career," only to learn that "the world did not yearn for her talents in art or business." Popenoe would describe the Schwarzenegger-Shriver separation as the result of a "righteously indignant" wife upset that her husband had a "middle age infatuation" with an "adventuress."
Certain societies have, at times, taken a dim view of second-chance marriages. Romanian divorcees were forbidden to remarry their exes during the 19th century, for example. In India, the law that applies to Muslim marriages prohibits remarriage to the same person, unless the wife has first married and divorced another man, in a practice known as "Halala."
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Government plans to better support children at risk of abuse have a range of good ideas but miss some important opportunities to reduce reliance on agencies according to a group using volunteers to improve child safety.
"The white paper plan is almost exclusively focused on professionals and agencies - both government and non-government. We think they have missed a critical piece of the puzzle, which is utilising the healthy, caring adults in communities and neighbourhoods that children are being raised in. It takes a village to raise a child and healthy villages raise healthy children" said Manu Caddie the project manager for Tiakina o Tatou Tamariki, a neighbourhood project focused on keeping children safe in two suburbs of Gisborne and Whanganui.
"We have seen how adults within neighbourhoods can develop their skills and grow their commitment to supporting vulnerable families, including parents and children. Everyone can agree that kids should be safe, and providing opportunities for neighbours to get to know and trust each other reduces isolation and risk."
Mr Caddie said some of the measures in the Government white paper released today sound big brother and intrusive but there are a group of adults who should not have children in their care.
"Its disappointing that most of the measures seem to give more power to the state and professionals, I guess we would have liked to see more focus on Government supporting neighbourhoods and communities to become healthy, trusting and well connected" said Mr Caddie.
"The Vulnerable Kids Information System to identify risks prior to birth may be useful, because it's quite possible to see the train crash coming, but combined with the recently announced Government sterilisation of beneficiaries, there is a risk you are heading down a pathway to eugenics".
A database of at-risk children could be a very powerful tool in child abuse prevention, but Mr Caddie points to existing national databases of at-risk children and wonders how successful these have been.
"We know for all the good work Child, Youth & Family do, their extensive national database that tracks children and families still contains many, many children who are being mistreated."
Mr Caddie said he hoped parents would be supported to access the information agencies held about the families as professionals can misuse their power, even when they think they are helping.
Mr Caddie said Te Ora Hou Aotearoa, the organisation he works for supports the white paper proposal for a national education campaign to identify signs of abuse, but would also like to see a campaign focused on keeping kids safe and cared for.
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Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012
Nine delegates from three countries at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank checked out cutting-edge developments by one of Japan's electronics giants Wednesday, including energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies.
Four delegates each from the Solomon Islands and Nicaragua as well as one delegate from Bolivia visited Panasonic Corp.'s global communications and technology hub in Koto Ward, Tokyo, where the firm shows off its latest technology and products.
With Panasonic putting much of its focus on environmentally friendly products and energy-saving and management solutions due to tough competition with Asian rivals in TVs and similar products, much of the 90-minute tour was related to the environment.
At the "eco ideas HOUSE," where the firm has a model living room, kitchen and garage equipped with a full range of environmentally friendly products, Panasonic demonstrated its HEMS home energy management system.
Home appliances are connected to each other as well as energy storage devices and the system provides a graphical representation of energy consumption levels. The owner can manage the use of electricity depending on the situation, such as switching the power source from a utility to the home's energy storage system.
The tour participants listened intently to explanations of the energy management system and observed products like a fuel cell, a lithium-ion storage battery and a home recharging stand for electric vehicles.
After the tour, they had a brief chat with Panasonic officials. They said energy and environment-related issues are priorities in their countries and are curious to know how much it costs to build a HEMS-ready house.
Alberto Guevara, governor of the Nicaraguan Central Bank, said he was impressed with the technology, but he isn't sure when they will be introduced and become standard in his country.
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KINGSTON, Jamaica Appliance Traders Limited (ATL) announced this week the launch of its Eco-Smart certification.
The programme is designed to earmark energy-efficient electronics in the companys product line-up.
Much like the international trademark standard Energy-Star, ATLs Eco-Smart seal will be affixed to electronics and appliances that are proven to meet international standards in energy efficiency.
With energy costs on the rise many home-owners and businesses are going green and are looking for eco-conscious appliances to reduce their energy bills as well as their environmental impact, said Paul Grey head of ATLs engineering and energy department.
With our new Eco-Smart seal our customers are assured that the product can save them as much as 60 per cent of their energy costs without sacrificing performance, features and comfort, he added.
ATL has had a long history in delivering engineered solutions working with leading international technology companies. Last year ATL leveraged its 32-year partnership with Panasonic to design and install an eco-village at Sandals Montego Bay. This project, which is the first of its kind in Jamaica, boasts an entirely self-sufficient solar power system to operate all the hotels cooling, heating, lighting and entertainment systems. The project was established as a pilot to demonstrate the savings to be accrued from the implementation of alternative energy sources.
The Eco-Smart Certification is the first of many initiatives that ATL plans to spearhead through its energy portfolio. Eco-electronics has become a big part of our business and we are dedicated to delivering to our clients solutions that will impact their bottom line, said Grey.
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KONE Corporation, press release, October 10, 2012
KONE has been awarded a contract by EE Cruz and Tully Construction to supply nine heavy-duty transit escalators as part of the New York City Transit Authority`s (NYCTA) Second Avenue subway project. The new subway station at 96th Street and Second Avenue is part of a plan to reduce overcrowding and delays on the Lexington Avenue line and provide better access for residents of the far East Side of Manhattan.
A total of nine heavy-duty transit escalators will be installed to ensure safe and smooth People Flow at the station where an estimated 200,000 passengers will pass through daily. The escalators are specifically designed to meet the heavy use and demanding conditions of public transportation. In addition, each escalator will feature an energy-efficient sleep mode which reduces the escalator`s speed when no passengers are travelling, allowing the NYCTA to minimize total energy consumption during inactive periods.
"We are pleased to continue providing our expertise in the mass transit market and eco-efficient escalator solutions to New York City`s subway system," said Larry Wash, EVP and Area Director of KONE Americas. "We know our products will continue to provide NYCTA passengers with a reliable, safe and energy-efficient travel experience."
The company`s last NYCTA project was awarded in 2011. For this job, KONE provided nine heavy-duty transit escalators and two inclined elevators for the new subway station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue, part of the 7 Subway Extension. Passenger train service to the new station is scheduled for June 2014.
KONE will install the escalators during the second phase of the station`s construction. The project is expected to be complete by January 2017. The order was booked in the second quarter of 2012.
For further information, please contact:
Anne Korkiakoski, EVP, Marketing & Communications, KONE Corporation, tel. +358 204 75 4775
Kellie Lindquist, Marketing Manager, KONE Inc., tel. +1 630 955 4202
Previous press releases on KONE`s orders in the mass transit market in the U.S. are available at http://www.kone.com including: - March 5, 2012, KONE awarded escalator project at Washington, D.C.`s Historic Union Station - October 12, 2011, KONE awarded project at New York City Subway Station
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KONE to deliver eco-efficient escalators to New York City subway station
I am a cyborg. Please eat me.
Ganesh Khedekar's futuristic cake may not look that appetising but the chocolate creation with skin-like icing won its creator gold in this year's New Zealand Culinary Fare.
Mr Khedekar worked away "bit by bit" on the 45kg cake for 40 hours over three weeks.
The 26-year-old, who works at Browns Bay's Chocolate Earth specialty cake store, won silver last year but topped his result this year by using LED lights and going for the quirky factor.
The cyborg cake was a year in the making in collaboration with his boss Kevin Martin.
It is a "family show", Ganesh says, so the cake could not be "too scary".
The torso is a chocolate shell which can be removed so the cake inside can be eaten and put back together.
Co-worker Felicity Craft, 21, got a bronze for her pure black four-tiered cake with origami birds and a solid egg on top.
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WESTBROOK - Dogs and public beaches are like oil and water: They don't mix well. That's the message of a provision in a proposed town ordinance governing the use of town properties. The section if adopted would ban dogs, whether leashed or unleashed, from town beaches. Last week, after hearing comments from the public, the Board of Selectmen voted to send the proposed ordinance on to a Town Meeting vote in October.
The vote to send the ordinance on to town meeting was unanimous.
It was not a sudden decision. The selectmen have been weighing the ordinance-and making revisions-over the past several months. An early September selectmen's meeting at which a final draft was discussed attracted a big crowd.
Most of those who came to that meeting spoke in support of the ordinance, citing both public health and nuisance concerns that allowing dogs on the beach present. One speaker said that even though the Seaside Beach Association has bought 8,000 doggie bags this summer, some dog owners still fail to pick up after their dogs, leaving a surprise in the sand for others to discover.
Another commenter said that two dog attacks had occurred in the previous month on town beaches. Incidents like these, the speaker suggested, could present a legal liability to the town government.
Those who spoke in favor of beach walks with their dogs countered that most dog owners are responsible and do pick up after their pets. If restrictions are made, these dog owners suggested that selectmen consider just a seasonal ban of dog-walking on the beach. That step would at least reduce the potential of mixing children digging in the sand with the few irresponsible owners whose dogs leave "presents."
After hearing from people on both sides of the dog-ban issue, the selectmen decided to send the ordinance on to town meeting as is, banning dogs at all times from town beaches.
Other provisions in the Use of Public Properties ordinance garnered little public comment. Among the other activities the new ordinance would ban on public properties is the "possession and/consumption of alcoholic beverages on any beach park, athletic field, or playground" except as provided for in a permit for a special event.
The ordinance also prohibits horses and other livestock or pet animals from being ridden or walked on any designated beach, park, athletic field, or playground and also prohibits motorized vehicles, ATVs, motor bikes, and snow mobiles from the same venues.
The ordinance, however, allows leashed dogs on public properties other than beaches, such as athletic fields, parks, and playgrounds.
Originally posted here:
The tagged shark that caused beaches to be closed today. Picture: Twitter/SLSWA
UPDATE 5.40pm: Scarborough and Brighton beaches have been reopened after they were closed for the third time today due to a tagged great white shark being detected in the area.
The shark was detected at 3.54pm resulting in the beaches being closed. The shark has since been detected at 4.09pm, 4.14pm and 4.17pm.
The beaches were also closed at 12.30pm after detections from a receiver at Scarborough at 12.28pm, 12.30pm, 12.33pm and 12.40pm.
The beaches were reopened about an hour later after the shark was undetected following the closure and a helicopter fly-over also failed to spot the shark.
Scarborough Beach was first closed this morning after the shark was spotted there at 6.30am. The shark was tracked south towards Floreat and City Beach.
Floreat and City beaches were closed today after a tagged great white detection.
Surf Life Saving WA detected the shark back in the area about 10.30am and closed the beach again.
City Beach was opened again just after midday but Floreat remains closed.
A 2.5m shark has also been spotted about 50m from shore at North Beach this morning.
See the article here:
The tagged shark that caused beaches to be closed today. Picture: Twitter/SLSWA
UPDATE 5.40pm: Scarborough and Brighton beaches have been reopened after they were closed for the third time today due to a tagged great white shark being detected in the area.
The shark was detected at 3.54pm resulting in the beaches being closed. The shark has since been detected at 4.09pm, 4.14pm and 4.17pm.
The beaches were also closed at 12.30pm after detections from a receiver at Scarborough at 12.28pm, 12.30pm, 12.33pm and 12.40pm.
The beaches were reopened about an hour later after the shark was undetected following the closure and a helicopter fly-over also failed to spot the shark.
Scarborough Beach was first closed this morning after the shark was spotted there at 6.30am. The shark was tracked south towards Floreat and City Beach.
Floreat and City beaches were closed today after a tagged great white detection.
Surf Life Saving WA detected the shark back in the area about 10.30am and closed the beach again.
City Beach was opened again just after midday but Floreat remains closed.
A 2.5m shark has also been spotted about 50m from shore at North Beach this morning.
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The anti-smoking group, Quit, says a move by the State Government to ban smoking on beaches does not go far enough.
Legislation to be introduced to Parliament this week would turn patrolled beaches into smoke-free zones.
Anyone caught lighting up between the flags will face a $140 fine.
Quit's executive director Fiona Sharkie says the ban should cover all outdoor drinking and dining areas.
"We know that such a ban would reach a great many more people in Victoria than a ban on smoking on beaches," she said.
The Health Minister, David Davis, says a new law would send the right message.
"The focus is on patrolled beaches because that is where the greatest number of people and families exist," he said.
The minister says he hopes the have the law in place before Christmas.
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The tagged shark that caused beaches to be closed today. Picture: Twitter/SLSWA
UPDATE 5.40pm: Scarborough and Brighton beaches have been reopened after they were closed for the third time today due to a tagged great white shark being detected in the area.
The shark was detected at 3.54pm resulting in the beaches being closed. The shark has since been detected at 4.09pm, 4.14pm and 4.17pm.
The beaches were also closed at 12.30pm after detections from a receiver at Scarborough at 12.28pm, 12.30pm, 12.33pm and 12.40pm.
The beaches were reopened about an hour later after the shark was undetected following the closure and a helicopter fly-over also failed to spot the shark.
Scarborough Beach was first closed this morning after the shark was spotted there at 6.30am. The shark was tracked south towards Floreat and City Beach.
Floreat and City beaches were closed today after a tagged great white detection.
Surf Life Saving WA detected the shark back in the area about 10.30am and closed the beach again.
City Beach was opened again just after midday but Floreat remains closed.
A 2.5m shark has also been spotted about 50m from shore at North Beach this morning.
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My pal Veronica Belmont hosts a show on TechFeed called Fact or Fictional, where she investigates the science of a movie based on viewer suggestions. She recently took on the wonderful fantastic gawd-awful piece of festering offal "Armageddon", talking to scientist Joe Hanson, who writes the terrific Its OK to Be Smart blog.
Lets just say they agree with me about the movie:
Yay! That was fun. This pretty much follows my own recent thoughts on the movie, as well as my original review of it when it came out in 1998.
If you want to learn how wed really prevent an asteroid impact, and why we need to take this seriously, I gave a TEDxBoulder talk about it. Its a real threat, but one we can prevent if we choose to do so.
Related Posts:
- Astronomy Veronica Anemone - Armpitageddon - Armageddon had bad science. Shocker, I know. - Armageddon, Deep Impact: decadent - Armageddon sick of Shuttle hoaxes
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Bangalore, Oct 9 (IANS) Axis Aerospace and Technologies Ltd (AAT) is scouting for acquisitions to expand its offering in engineering services for civil, commercial and defence offset markets.
"As part of our growth strategy, we are actively scouting the market for acquisitions to expand our portfolio and meet growing demands of our global customers," AAT vice-chairman Sudhakar Gande said in a statement here Tuesday.
The city-based company, promoted by Rajya Sabha member and entrepreneur Rajeev Chandrashekar, has recently set up a new facility at Kirloskar Business Park in this tech hub to offer integrated product development services to its marquee customers, including global aerospace major Airbus.
"We have fostered strong ties with marquee firms like Airbus, Bombardier, Catarpillar, DCNS, a French naval shipbuilder, MBRDI (Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India), Premium Aerotec, Thales and Volvo," Gande said.
The company has set up a dedicated offshore development centre with its subsidiary (CADES) to develop fuselage for Airbus, while the new facility will provide solutions, including product development and manufacturing processes for aerospace, defence, automotive and heavy engineering industries.
"Along with our two subsidiaries (Axis IT&T and CADES), we offer a range of solutions in engineering services, embedded systems, avionics, testing, system integration, manufacturing and life-cycle support," Gande pointed out.
As the principal offset partner for global original equipment manufacturers, the company has aligned its services strategically to provide end-to-end solutions.
"We are on track to achieve Rs.500 crore revenue in this fiscal (2012-13), which will be a growth of about 70 percent over the last fiscal (2011-12)," Gande asserted.
The company has 1,500 employees across 10 delivery centres worldwide.
The company plans to set up a 75-acre supply chain cluster in the upcoming aerospace park near the Bangalore international airport at Devanahalli, about 40 km from the city centre, to provide manufacturing and allied support facilities to global aerospace and defence firms.
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LMI Aerospace Inc. is expanding its St. Charles headquarters and plans to add 100 jobs to keep up with growing demand from aircraft manufacturers and suppliers.
The aerospace manufacturing and engineering services firm announced today the capital invested in this expansion will total at least $4.3 million. The expansion will add about 49,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space to its local facilities.
LMI, which provides structural components, assemblies and kits for aerospace, defense and technology customers, employs more than 300 corporate and manufacturing employees at its St. Charles headquarters. Over the next five years, 100 jobs with an average annual wage of $70,000.
The company already has begun increasing its corporate office space, and construction on the expanded assembly space will begin within the next few months, said the company's CEO and President Ronald Saks.
LMI has 1,600 employees in 17 locations in the U.S. and Mexico, and is expanding several of its facilities. The company had $254 million in net sales in 2011 and expects to reach between $282 million and $298 million in 2012.
We've expanded almost everywhere we are, Saks said. We're investing in places where (employees') skill sets match up with the need for products.
To help pay for the local expansion, LMI is eligible for up to $1.6 million in state incentives through the Missouri Quality Jobs program, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said at a press conference at LMI's headquarters Wednesday afternoon.
"It is a testament to the work force here in St. Charles that when a global leader like LMI needed to expand, they knew they could count on the hard working men and women of Missouri to get that job done," Nixon said.
An increase in business from customers such as Boeing Co. and Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. is leading to LMI's growth, company executives said.
About 39 percent of LMI's business is from large commercial aircraft customers and suppliers, and corporate and regional aircraft account for about 30 percent of its sales.
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LMI Aerospace expanding St. Charles facility, adding 100 jobs
Enlarge Norbert Millauer/dapd
BAE Systems and EADS NV called off merger talks in the face of government objections.
BAE Systems and EADS NV called off merger talks in the face of government objections.
A deal to create a European defense and aerospace giant to rival Boeing Co. collapsed Wednesday when BAE Systems and EADS NV called off merger talks in the face of government objections.
The companies said they had "decided to terminate their discussions" over the proposed $45 billion tie-up because of conflicting interests between the British, French and German governments.
"It has become clear that the interests of the parties' government stakeholders cannot be adequately reconciled with each other or with the objectives that BAE Systems and EADS established for the merger," the companies said in a statement.
The proposed merger between Britain's BAE and Franco-German EADS, the parent of Airbus, would have created a company with a market value just shy of Boeing's.
But from the start, investors were skeptical about the deal because of the political disagreements. All three governments had to approve the deal for it to go ahead.
"It's not up to me to regret or rejoice," French President Francois Hollande said. "The French state as shareholder made known a certain number of arguments, of conditions. Our German friends had a certain number of criteria that were important to them. The British did the same. And the companies came to their conclusion."
The companies confirmed the end of their discussions just hours before a deadline on whether to go ahead with the merger, ask for more time or call it off.
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The European aerospace giants, EADS and BAE Systems, said Wednesday they had failed to win government support for a merger that would have created an entity with a combined market value of about $50 billion.
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DealBook: Political Haggling Thwarts Merger of Aerospace Giants
AEROSPACE MERGER GROUNDED: A European attempt to assemble an aerospace giant to rival America's Boeing Co. collapsed Wednesday. In the end, it was the reluctance of governments in Germany, Britain and France that led to the demise of the $45 billion deal that would have combined Britain's BAE Systems, with EADS NV, of Germany and France.
INTERNATIONAL TURBULENCE: Government officials were immediately concerned about the location and scale of any job cuts. Questions were also raised about what the deal would do to the delicate balance that Germany and France have achieved in EADS after years of bickering. The British government was wary about what the prospective deal would do to BAE's big business dealings with the U.S. Some of the largest shareholders questioned the deal as well.
BIG, BIG BUSINESS: The merger would have created a company with annual sales of $90 billion. Both companies insisted that a tie-up was sought not out of necessity, but with the hope of leapfrogging Boeing to the number one spot in the industry. Boeing last year had sales of about $69 billion.
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