“Kejadian ini karena jembatan overload. Pengawas sulit memberitahu pengunjung karena jumlahnya terlalu banyak,” ujar Wakil Bupati Sijunjung, Yus Arifin kepada wartawan di TKP, Senin ( 18/8/2008 ) dini hari.

Dia menerangkan, rombongan yang tertimpa musibah ini adalah jemaah Satariyah yang hendak berziarah ke makam Syech Abdul Wahab. Bahkan, kata dia, rombongan juga sempat mengikuti upacara penurunan bendera di Kantor Pemkab Sijunjung yang haya berjarak 200 meter dari TKP.

“Kabar yang saya terima, jumlah peziarah mencapai 599 orang. Mereka saling bergantian melewati jembatan Calau. Karena jumlah yang melintas begitu banyak, jembatan pun putus dan mereka jatuh ke sungai,” tandasnya.

Sebagaimana diberitakan okezone sebelumnya, peristiwa ini telah memakan korban sebanyak tiga orang. Mereka adalah Rohanah (82), Nibar (60), dan Nurbaiti (72). Selain itu, sebanyak 10 orang juga mengalami luka berat dan masih menjalani perawatan.

Freygolo

Margarita La Diosa De La Cumbia

The Woggles

Gabriel Le Mar

Geyster

J. Holiday

Micatone

Noon

Noze

Odd Nosdam

Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Al Hibbler

Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Sero.Overdose

The Sunshine Underground

The 2 Live Crew

Carman

Ramsey Lewis and Nancy Wilson

Seamo

The Glimmers

Enemy

DJ Muro

Wild Style

Ida Maria

Shane Alexander

Sonny Stitt and Zoot Sims

DJ Kentaro feat. MC Spank Rock

George Lynch and Jeff Pilson

Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters

Natsukawa Rimi

The Dolphins

Tommy Roe

Les Cowboys Fringants

Troop

Al Pitrelli

Chuck Mangione

Keri Noble

Jonas Bering

Mas Ricardo and Dj Gogo

Roberto Ciotti

Southside Dubstars

Sparta Locals

Dj Lbr

The Gil Evans Orchestra

Agnes Chaumie

Alasdair Fraser

Anais

Blitzen Trapper

Blood Stain Child

Butumbaba

Citizen Kain

Natalie Haas

The George Shearing Quintet and Nancy Wilson

Jeans Team

Dj Greg and Lobotomy

Magic Slim and Son Seals and Lonnie Brooks

Oliver Nelson; Bill Evans; Roy Haynes; Eric Dolphy; Paul Chambers; Freddy Hubbard

Psilodump

Taktloss and Jack Orsen

DJ Spen and Osunlade

Yukmouth

A Wilhelm Scream

Aled Jones

Anis

Andreas Henneberg

Ben Weasel and His Iron String Quartet

Bilja Krstic and Bistrik

Bleed the Dream

Chuck E. Weiss

Clara Hill Meets Vikter Duplaix

Factor 60

Hott 22

Hott 22 feat Angie Zee

Jack Penate

Kajiura Yuki

Kid Massive

Kid Massive feat Antoine

Kid Massive Feat Robert Owens

Space Tribe and Friends

The Gladiators

Taktloss

Albert Griffiths and The Gladiators

Umberto Tozzi

Will Bailey

Wonderland Avenue

Digital Base

Clara Hill Meets Atjazz and Charles Webster

Mats and Yoshimi Gustafsson

Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger

Dark Dancer

Black Mamba

Roach Braheny Stearns

Green Court feat. DeVision

Ilija Rudman

Nelson Ned

Dj Timan

Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway

Thrills

Cepia

Maria

Mikey Brooks Meets The Upsetters

Mocky

Obsessions

Oliver Hacke

Space Tribe Vs Electric Universe

Taktloss and Mc Basstard

Yves Larock

Michael Shrieve, Kevin Shrieve and Klaus Schulze

Pete Tong and Superbass

Ramsey Trio Lewis

Trinity and U Brown

Keny Arkana

M Flo Loves Crystal Kay

Tahiti 80

DJ Spen

Baden Powell

Dannii Minogue

Shlomi Aber

Yuzu

Ben Delay and Chris Powell

Da Muzicianz

Discobuster

Extra Golden

Ed Harcourt

Enon

Groove Diggerz

Hector el Father

James Harcourt

Lusine

Paste

Pop Levi

Richard Dinsdale

Shlomi Aber and Itamar Sagi

Shlomi Aber feat. Lemon

Taktloss and The Rifleman

Velvet Girl Feat. Anita Kelsey

Crystal Kay

Cyrus Chestnut

Del Amitri

Eternal Flight

Hiram Bullock

Pat Metheny Group

Danijay

Gabin Dabire

Dj Ugly Cut Aka Taktloss

Tess

Elkie Brooks

The Viceroys

Tukan

Eddie Higgins Trio

Chaz Jankel

Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs And The Stanley Brothers

Bennie Wallace

Brian Aneurysm

Cachao

Cachao Y Su Conjunto

Claire Lynch

Green Court

Gwen McCrae

L'usine

Montana Max

Paragliders

Simple Simon

Trafik

The Interns

Whirlpool Productions

Marshall Jefferson

Hector Bambino El Father

Joe Montana

Moby Feat. Debbie Harry

Oliver Huntemann

Utah Saints

Os Afro

Stephane Grapelli and Baden Powell

Superbass

Antonio Adolfo E No Em Pingo D'Agua

Avus

Brand New Heavies

Esham

Inertia

Michael Franti

Michael Franti and Spearhead

Mikael Delta

Udaye Rana and James Harcourt

Spearhead

Butane

Delano and Crockett

Eddie Higgins Quintet

Owen Spencer

Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas

Deadstring Brothers

Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodrigues

Chip Taylor

Blue Mitchell

George Shearing and Barry Tuckwell

Carmen McRae With George Shearing

Karizma feat. DJ Spen

Mike Patton and Buckethead

DJ Spen and Thommy Davis

Cachao y su Ritmo Caliente

Neon Heights

Kenny Rogers, Edson Hudson

Crawford (Texas), 19 agosto - Gli USA hanno intimato alla Russia di restituire i mezzi americani sequestrati in Georgia. "Se la Russia li ha presi, deve restituirceli immediatamente", ha detto Gordon Johndroe, portavoce del Consiglio per la Sicurezza Nazionale in un breafing a Crawford, in Texas, dove il presidente Bush sta trascorrendo alcuni giorni di vacanza.
Secondo alcune indiscrezioni di stampa la Russia avrebbe sequestrato nel porto georgiano di Poti, sul Mar Nero, cinque Humvee, le grandi jeep impiegate dall'esercito statunitense. Un giornalista dell'Afp ha riferito di aver visto gli automezzi, che portano sulla fiancata la scritta "Usmc", (Us Marine Corps), trasportati in una base a Sinaki, città georgiana controllata dai russi. I veicoli si trovavano a Poti in vista di una esercitazione congiunta, poi annullata a causa della guerra.
(AGI)

Poveri ienchi!

E lasciamoli divertire, che si godano l'aria condizionata e il frigobar a 12v :-D

A giudicare dai kit per il guado, devono essere di qualche reparto dell'US Marine Corps.

Comunque queste cose non si fanno amici russki! No, no e no! Sgrafignare da magazzini portuali automezzi di proprieta' di un governo straniero, in attesa di essere imbarcati e spediti al mittente! E dopo il cessate il fuoco per giunta!

So che potete fare di meglio.

Sara' la Hummer-fever. I mezzi di questo marchio in Russia rappresentano dei veri e propri status symbol. Lo so che ad alcuni europei la cosa potrebbe fare inorridire, ma e' cosi'. Per quei soldati e' quasi come guidare un auto di lusso, e francamente dopo decenni di spartanissime e spompatissime GAZ e UAZ (che pur apprezzo), la cosa non e' che mi sorprenda molto.

E' anche interessante notare che mentre negli USA le vendite dei modelli civili hanno subito una preoccupante battuta d'arresto, in Russia (come in altri paesi dove la benza costa poco) al contrario vanno a gonfie vele, tanto che la General Motors non molto tempo fa ha inaugurato una nuova linea di assemblaggio a Kaliningrad.

Ma c'e' di piu': sembrerebbe che un miliardario russo, tale Oleg Deripaska, sia interessato ad acquistare il marchio, attualmente nelle mani della GM, che invece vorrebbe sbarazzarsene al piu' presto. Ovviamente tutto cio' non ha niente a che vedere con la produzione militare, da sempre di competenza della AM General, che poi e' la societa' che ha concepito il veicolo originale.

Quasi meglio della vagina dentata, che dite?

]]> http://aggman.wordpress.com/?p=17 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:03:27 +0000 aggman http://aggman.wordpress.com/?p=17 The Iraq War is not over yet but you can’t tell if you base it on its minimal news coverage. Because the numbers of American deaths are down from last year, you probably didn’t read that Sgt. Jose E. Ulloa, 23, of New York, N.Y, died Aug. 9 in Sadr City, Iraq, of “wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.” (U.S. Department of Defense News Release, August 11, 2008.)

            How many of us realize that over 4138 Americans have been confirmed killed in over five years in Iraq, many of them trapped in exploding lightweight Humvee trucks of the Army?

            We are left to wonder how many soldiers might have been saved if the Army didn’t scrap David Tenenbaum’s 1995 project to improve the armored hull on the Humvees.

            David Tenenbaum is a Detroit-area military engineer, a Detroit-born son of a Holocaust survivor, who was hired in 1984 by TACOM (U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command), to design safer combat vehicles, and was accused thirteen years later in 1997 of passing secrets to the Israelis.

The Department of Defense’s own Office of Inspector General admitted in a recent report that Tenenbaum was singled out because he is an observant Jew and targeted because of his Orthodox Jewish faith. The 62 page report, requested by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was issued in July. The report said, “It was well known that Mr. Tenenbaum was Jewish, lived his religious beliefs and by his actions appeared to have a close affinity for Israel.”

John Simonini, a retired lieutenant colonel and TACOM’s counterintelligence chief, launched an investigation after coworkers said Tenenbaum spent too much time associating with Israeli contacts, made his own travel arrangements and stayed in hotels away from colleagues, which Simonini and others regarded as signs of spying. The report said Tenenbaum wore a yarmulke and brought kosher food to work rather than joining coworkers for lunch at restaurants. Colleagues questioned why David was allowed to leave work early on Fridays to prepare for the Sabbath.

The report concluded, “We believe that Mr. Tenenbaum was subjected to unusual and unwelcome scrutiny because of his faith and ethnic background, a practice that would undoubtedly fit a definition of discrimination.”

Anyone who thinks that American discrimination is a thing of the past should read this report or the dozens of articles over the last ten years about the nightmare that Tenenbaum lived through.

            “You have no idea what it’s like to have your loyalty questioned, to be accused of being a traitor,” Tenenbaum told the Detroit Free Press. TACOM counterintelligence officials had Tenenbaum apply for a higher security clearance to launch a spy investigation. The clearance resulted in a 6 ½-hour polygraph examination in February 1997. Tenenbaum said the session was a “horrendous investigation session” conducted by an examiner who repeatedly accused him of passing secrets and demanded a confession. “I’ve done other Jews before, and I’ve gotten them to confess, too,” the examiner told Tenenbaum, according to the report. But the session wasn’t tape-recorded and the examiner destroyed his notes.

            The examiner’s report prompted the FBI to launch a criminal investigation, put Tenenbaum’s family under 24-hour surveillance, searched his home on Shabbat, and then removed 13 boxes of the family’s belongings, including their children’s coloring books. Because the FBI’s search warrant wasn’t sealed, the news media found out and swarmed Tenenbaum’s home. David’s wife, Madeline, admitted that, “It was terrifying. I felt totally violated.”

            After a 14 month leave of absence and no evidence of spying found, Tenenbaum was allowed to return to work in 1998, relegated to lesser duties, shunned by coworkers, stripped of his security clearance, an outcast.

            Tenenbaum’s project to improve the armor on Humvees had been scrapped. David’s lawyer, Mayer Morganroth, reflected, “The discrimination in this case ended up costing American soldiers their lives.” His associate, Daniel Harold, said that Tenenbaum’s persecutors “have blood on their hands.”

            Over 4138 Americans have died in Iraq since 2003, many in ill-equipped Humvees. We are left to wonder if the discrimination and persecution of one observant Jew may have led to the lost lives of American soldiers that the Department of Defense is supposed to protect.

            “Because they did not continue that program—by going after me,” Tenenbaum said in a 2004 interview with the Forward, “soldiers have died.” When asked if the vehicle protection project would have ultimately saved lives, Tenenbaum said, “If this program would have gone through, we would have known the problems, and we would have fixed the problems.”

            Because of blatant discrimination finally admitted by the Department of Defense, we will never know. We will never know.

Hummers were originally built by AM General Corporation, now a part of GM (General Motors of US). The Hummer platform was developed by AM General in 1979 to replace the obsolete World War II Jeep. The initial design work, code named M998 series, was done to produce a "High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle" (HMMWV) popularly called 'Humvee'. In 1983, the LTV Corporation bought AM General from American Motors Corporation and established LTV Aerospace and Defense Company. The first Hummer rolled out off the assembly line on January 2, 1985. These Humvees (Hummers) became the workhorse of the US Armed Forces during the 90s. The civilian version of Hummer was introduced in 1992.

Acquiring 'Hummer Brand' from GM might be an expensive proposition for Mahindra & Mahindra. What could be the purpose, is it a civilian gamble or do Mahindras have some 'Military Supply Plans'? Looking at Mahindras history, it could be a very interesting proposal! The family-owned Mahindra trading group ventured into auto business during the Second World War as a contractor to supply Willys Jeeps to the British Army. The M&M (Mahindra & Muhammad) Company was established on October 2, 1945 by Mahindra brothers (JC Mahindra & KC Mahindra) and Ghulam Muhammad as a franchise for assembling Jeeps from Willys, USA. After the partition of India in 1947, Ghulam Muhammad migrated to Pakistan and became that nation's first Finance Minister. He later went on to become the 3rd Governor-General of Pakistan in 1951. Mahindras meanwhile changed the name of the company to Mahindra & Mahindra and never looked back.

keren. sayang mahal. sayang susah parkirnya kalau di jakarta. sayang sulit papasan di jalan sempit. sayang bakal dianggap sombong. kalau ada blogger datang kopdar naik humvee pasti jadi obrolan. jadi lebih baik tidak punya humvee.

Mais um dos 50 carros que compõem a lista não é exatamente uma ''moça''...O Hummer H1 foi produzido inicialmente a partir do Veículo de Rodas Multiuso de Alta Mobilidade (HMMWV), mais conhecido como Humvee ( projetado para o exército americano pela AM General), e em 1999 a GM comprou os direitos de fabricar os veículos com o nome Hummer. Sendo assim, passaram a ser fabricados os modelos militares (da AM General) e os civis (da GM).

As principais partes da estrutura(como freio, eixo, painéis e a famosa tração permanente são idênticas entre o HMMWV e do Hummer H1, por virem da mesma linha de montagem.

O carro é quase único: Ele pode escalar colinas consideradas impossiveis para a maioria dos outros carros. Também conseguem subir ladeiras íngremes, passar por cima de objetos que para outros seriam um obstáculo e até mesmo transpor 75 cm de água sem nenhum problema.

Porém, nem tudo é perfeito: o consumo de combustível do Hummer é bem alto. E o prejuízo ambiental também. Apesar dos americanos adorarem o tipo ‘'tanque'', agora precisam começar a se preocupar mais com a qualidade da natureza.

Curiosidades:

-O Hummer H1 usa o ligamento do volante do Ford LTD, ignição do Ford Escort, descanso de braço do Jeep Cherokee e assentos do sringhausen.

-No filme Carros, de 2006, Arnold Schwarzenegger, (o primeiro civil a obter um Hummer H1) dá a voz a um carro do mesmo modelo, chamado no longa de ‘'The Governator''.

Ficha Técnica

I won't elaborate on the long final stages. Suffice to say Jalil was involved. Alot. There were trips to the bank. Waiting in queues. $1000 bond was handed over to a nameless man. Signatures were needed. Patience was called for. Tempers flared and were quelled. Elaborate Dari was spoken and thanks were given, repeatedly. Hands were shaken, many times. Men were kissed, sometimes twice, sometimes by accident.

In the long dark corridor of waiting that we slowly traversed, I passed the time by imagining two graveyards out the front of the Ministry of Economy, one for NGO leaders who had grown old and died waiting for registration, another for MOE staff who had been terminated abruptly by NGO leaders who had finally cracked. Fortunately neither of these scenarios eventuated for me, and on Monday afternoon I emerged triumphant, with the Certificate of Registration.

We celebrated by having Qabuli Pilau for lunch, and it tasted all the sweeter for our success. Actually, I made that up. It was not a very good pilau. The meat and the rice were very dry, the sultanas like little mouse poos, and the salad was yellowish. It was hot and foody, that's about all you can say for it.

I took my camera with me on the many trips into town - some photos below.  Some of these I plan to use for Hagar promotion purposes, I have manipulated them a bit in photoshop to bring out the atmospherics. Check out the Humvee - standard transport for the US troops. Ordinary people are required to give them a 50m safety perimeter, or risk getting shot. 'Lethal force may be used' as they say. They don't like people taking their photos either - hence the hurried covert picture. Wouldn't want to be lethally forced just after we get our registration...

As symbol of the worst Republican/right-wing hubris, corruption, and in-your-face Fuck You to the global climate crisis, it was hard to stomach the sight of these cars on the road all over Los Angeles.

Each one may as well have had a little "W" sticker on the rear window. Many did.

The only thing more loathsome (to my mind) than a Humvee? A Humvee LIMO. *puke* *barf* *retch*

Well, Newsweek did a short piece recently on what it was like to drive a rented Humvee in the trendy Los Angeles neighborhoods of Silverlake and Santa Monica. (Okay, so technically Santa Monica is its own city, just calm down.)

It wasn't pretty. We had a tough time finding a lot that rents Hummers anymore, and when we finally landed a big black H2, it already bore battle scars—long key marks scored along the side. After burning a gallon of gas every eight miles, our intrepid car reviewer Tara Weingarten and Business Editor David Jefferson stopped at an outdoor café in the trendy Silver Lake neighborhood, just down the block from an auto shop that converts cars to run on vegetable oil (Lovecraft Biofuels said it couldn't help us with our Hummer). Parallel-parking the beast caused a commotion: David had to hop out to direct Tara, an expert driver who wound up cutting off a biker, blocking two lanes of traffic and rear-ending a bush before pulling into the space. The disgusted diners had had enough. Three flipped us off, and one even dropped trou and mooned our Hummer.

Yep. That's my 'hood. There's a reason I call it Los Prius (Los Feliz, in real life).

Drive your Humvee here and it WILL get keyed. Maybe even slapped with an "I love the Iraq war--send me to the front lines!" bumper sticker. Those Newsweek reporters got off lightly with three middle-finger salutes and a mooning (entertaining video).

And I find it pleasurably ironic that it was Schwarzenegger who popularized this piece of crap--let his popularity as "governator" and "environmentally-friendly Republican" go down in the flames he richly deserves.

Hummer was born in the early '90s, when AM General, the military contractor that made the Gulf War Humvee (High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle), created a street-legal version at the urging of Arnold Schwarzenegger (who has since tried to atone by converting his Hummers to hydrogen and biofuel).

It gives me no pleasure at all to hear that GM is selling the brand. Why not let it die the ignoble death it deserves--why do people in India and China need to drive this car? That'll be the day when there's a documentary called "Who Killed the Humvee?" instead of "Who Killed the Electric Car?"

Stavo navigando su youtube alla ricerca di video sui veicoli MRAP, quando mi sono imbattuto in questo commento che ho trovato esilirante:

"The MRAP fucking sucks, we hate the fucking MRAP, we only use the MRAP's to go back to the fob from our outpost, other than that, we use 1151's all the time. The MRAP's are so fucking big they tear down powerlines, and telephone wires all the time pissing off all of our locals in our sector."

LOL! Roba da "La Miglior Difesa e' la Fuga" (ve lo ricordate?)

Secondo l'autore del commento (tal we5leyz), il reparto nel quale presta servizio si troverebbe meglio con la M1151, che per chi non lo sapesse e' una delle ultime versioni della Humvee. Non corazzata per giunta.

Vai a capire gli ienchi!

Sgt. Kenneth J. Schall
22 years old from Peoria, Arizona
2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division
May 22, 2005

"It was very tough not to be touched by him in some way," said Terri Schall, Sgt. Kenneth Schall's mother.

Kenneth Schall was enrolled at Glendale Community College and was studying to become a history teacher when the country was attacked on September 11, 2001. The event spurred him to join the Army. He served a four and a half month tour in Iraq in 2004 and returned in February of 2005.

Terri Schall last spoke to her son on Mother's Day in 2005. "He sounded great — tired — but he said he was doing OK", she said. Sgt. Kenneth Schall died when the Humvee he was riding in was involved in an accident in Yusafiyah, Iraq.

Along with his mother, Sgt. Schall is survived by his father and two younger siblings.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

via AP

TYNGSBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- The knock on Brian Hart's door came at 6 a.m. An Army colonel, a priest and a police officer had come to tell Hart and his wife that their 20-year-old son had been killed when his military vehicle was ambushed in Iraq.

Brian Hart didn't channel his grief quietly. Committed to "preventing the senseless from recurring," he railed against the military on his blog for shortcomings in supplying armor to soldiers. The one-time Republican teamed with liberal Sen. Edward Kennedy to tell Congress that the Pentagon was leaving soldiers ill-equipped.

And then Hart went beyond words to fight his cause. He became a defense contractor.

He founded a company that has developed rugged, relatively inexpensive robotic vehicles, resembling small dune buggies, to disable car bombs and roadside explosives before they detonate in hot spots like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now, Hart has won over the military brass he so harshly criticizes. Three years after starting Black-I Robotics Inc., Hart and his four employees won a $728,000 contract from the Pentagon in June to further develop the "LandShark" robot.

Technology to protect troops is a subject uncomfortably close to home for Hart, who says the death of his son, Army Pvt. First Class John Hart, left him in "total devastation." Brian Hart can't forget the call he got from his son in Iraq a week before he was killed by a gunshot Oct. 18, 2003.

"He asked me to help him: `Get us body armor and vehicular armor,'" Brian Hart said. "He thought he'd be killed on the road in an unarmored Humvee. And a week to the day later, he was."

The Pentagon contract requires Black-I to supply three of its six-wheeled, electric-powered vehicles this year and provide support.

The military will test two units, while Boston's Logan airport will get one for bomb-disposal duties. If tests go well, soldiers in Iraq could be using the robots as soon as next year, Hart says.

His company also is trying to secure an additional $1.5 million in Pentagon funding next fiscal year.

At 275 pounds and about 4 feet long, Black-I's LandShark looks like a dune buggy without a seat for a human driver. Hart hopes to make them available for commercial sale to law enforcement next year, with expectations that the cost would be $65,000 to $85,000 per robot, including the chassis and add-on bomb-disposing equipment. The vehicle can pull tilling equipment to plow up soil where an explosive or trip wire may be hidden. Or it can drop off "disrupters" that can be maneuvered near a bomb and set off, with jets of water disabling the bomb.

Hart contends LandSharks will be far less expensive than many of the Pentagon's current bomb-disposing robots, including models made by two larger Boston-area companies, iRobot Inc. and Foster-Miller Inc. Those models have more sophisticated electronics, but also are more fragile than LandSharks, which use car batteries rather than lighter and pricier lithium-ion batteries.

"We want to make robots affordable, so that a private first class or a lance corporal could get this equipment," Hart said.

A Foster-Miller vice president, Bob Quinn, called Hart a "superb individual," but countered that the LandShark is too big and heavy to be practical for most soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Quinn said soldiers using his company's $100,000-plus Talon robots typically carry four of the hand-portable, 80-pound bots in military vehicles, along with other cargo. The advantage of this approach, he said, is that multiple robots are needed as backups. Insurgents frequently watch from a hiding spot as a robot approaches to dismantle an explosive, then remotely detonate the bomb to knock out the robot in a war of attrition, Quinn said.

Hart is a clean-cut former College Republicans chapter president who describes himself today as a radical. But he speaks like a Pentagon insider, peppering his conversation with acronyms for battlefield weapons and defense technology initiatives. His sport-utility vehicle has a "Support our troops" bumper sticker, and he posts nearly every day to his blog, which focuses on security and political issues.

While his entrepreneurial intentions are in part idealistic, Hart also hopes to make a buck with Black-I - which he co-founded with longtime business partner Arthur Berube, who helped put up money to supplement startup cash from Hart's personal savings. Hart wouldn't specify how much money they used, but said he and his four employees went without pay until the company won an unspecified amount of private equity funding in May.

While many Pentagon critics, including families of soldiers, have spoken out about better gear for soldiers, Brian Hart stands apart for his decision to launch a company focused on troop protection, said Bill Thomasmeyer, president of the National Center for Defense Robotics. The Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization helps robotics firms like Black-I compete for government contracts.

"I don't know of any other similar company that is headed by someone who has had such a personal loss as he has," Thomasmeyer said. "His company has had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get to this point, without having a lot of resources."

Another company founder is Hart's younger brother, Richard, a former Marine who serves as a Black-I product designer. But the staff is otherwise made up of acquaintances from Hart's previous ventures, which had nothing to do with robotics or military contracting. His prior executive experience has been in such fields as wireless communications and pharmaceuticals.

At Black-I, Hart and his staff relied on basic knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering to design their robotic buggies. They cut costs by pairing custom design features with components already available commercially from other makers of small vehicles and remote-control gadgets. The off-the-shelf parts, such as the car batteries, are also expected to simplify repairs and maintenance.

Black-I operates from a modest office and garage in a small industrial park in Tyngsborough, 40 miles north of Boston, with a paved back lot serving as a testing ground.

In a demonstration for a reporter, a LandShark pushed a trash Dumpster. It was meant to simulate how the buggy could be useful for letting soldiers remain at a safe distance while a robot rams aside a car booby-trapped with explosives. The company is developing versions operated remotely by a human using radio signals, as well as models designed to complete bomb-disposing missions either wholly or partly without human intervention.

Whether or not the company keeps getting defense contracts, Brian Hart doesn't plan to stay quiet on the issues he's been raising since his son's death. He still argues that the military must remake itself to meet ground troops' basic needs and wean itself off expensive high-tech systems.

"We are spending billions upon billions on technologies and equipment we will never use, while we shortchange our infantrymen on basic equipment that will save their lives in combat," Hart said. "The way our military is run and the way our government is run doesn't have to be this bad."

]]> http://stjohnsdemocrats.wordpress.com/?p=201 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:28:36 +0000 Chris Puntarelli http://stjohnsdemocrats.wordpress.com/?p=201 Thursday, September 15, 2005. I was sitting in a class during my freshman year at college at St. John's University. It had been over 4 years since the events of 9/11. The war in Iraq was approaching its 3rd year and President Bush had his approval rating drop to 41%, the lowest of his presidency at the time.

Staff Sergeant Regilio E. Nelom of Queens, New York was in Asad, Iraq at the time. Little did he know when he came to the United States from Suriname in the 1980's he would be there. He would flip burgers, and deliver newspapers, doing odd jobs in order to get by.

He never seemed to be happy with that life and in 1994 he enlisted in the United States Army. He had served in the Army in Suriname beforehand and was trying for years to enlist here. His enlistment in the Army brought him to Iraq in 2005.

He was on an escort mission in a HMMWV or a Humvee as most people know it, when an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated.

The HMMWV did not hold up very well, especially considering the fact that it was never designed to withstand an attack of that magnitude. It was built to transport soldiers on and around the battle field.

Staff Sgt. Regilio E. Nelom, 45 years old was taken from us that day.

A man who was not born in this country, who was a first generation immigrant to this nation, died serving to protect us. You probably did not know him, you'll never read about him in a history book and he'll most likely never have a memorial in D.C. However his sacrifice is the same sacrifice made by millions of other men and women whether in 1775, 1945, or 2008 all of which fought to defend the freedoms we were promised.

This July 4th, take some time out of your day simply to remember everyone who has lost their lives fighting for our freedom and our way of life. Visit a VFW center, talk to a veteran, send a care package. Take your children to a memorial. Enjoy the life which many of us, including myself at times have taken for granted.

I removed all the stickers from the Humvee, then took it apart. I spray painted the pieces separately so as to be able to get every nook and cranny. There were some designed that were painted onto the truck that the spray paint had trouble adhering to, but the paint eventually covered it after using several coats (with drying in between).

It's nothing fancy -- I just wanted an overall "Cobra" color scheme -- but I think it looks okay:

Before:

After:

There was also a "button", of sorts, that stuck out of the front grill. When this button was pushed in, it would smash the hood (i.e. "hulk smashing action!"). I removed this button and super-glued the two halves of the hood together to give them more stability. A more serious customizer would probably want to putty up the crack between the two halves of the hood before painting it.

The cannon also fires a plastic missile an impressive distance.

Also, the Krylon Fusion paint actually melts the plastic, fusing the paint into the plastic itself. If you're thinking of using this stuff, you have to be careful when handling freshly painted plastic as its surface is quite deformable while the paint is still wet.

I had the rear trailer hitch piece sitting on the ground, with the bulk of the weight of the piece resting on a painted surface and the plastic edge there flattened out a bit. If your not careful with this stuff, you can easily end up with fingerprints melted into your plastic parts.

Because of this "fusion" action, you'll want to wait until the paint is nice and dry (at *least* 24 hours) before putting figures in it or you'll risk melting them a bit.

You've seen on the news how Iranian made EFPs are being used as roadside bombs to attack US vehicles in Iraq. But what is an EFP?

Early IEDs in the Iraq War were mostly artillery shells wired to explode. The first Humvees in Iraq had thin armor that would not protect very well against nearby explosions. As up-armored Humvees became available, these early IEDs lost some of their effectiveness. The insurgents reacted in two ways. First, they used bigger IEDs, wiring together several artillery shells at once. The larger blast was more effective, but took longer to emplace and were easier to spot. The second technique, using EFPs, is more difficult to counter.

EFP stands for Explosively Formed Penetrator. Using the concept behind a shaped charge, a disc of metal on one end of a charge can be blasted in the direction of the target. The charge is usually a steel pipe, 6-8" in diameter. When detonated, the concave disc is deformed by the explosion, and reformed into a slug. The explosion pushes this slug at phenomenal speeds- up to Mach 6.

One of the biggest advantages of EFPs is standoff. The damage to the target isn't caused by the explosion, but rather by the slug it fires. This means that the EFP doesn't need to be right next to the roadside to be effective. This means that US soldiers have to scan a much larger area to detect IEDs.

An EFP can usually penetrate as much armor as the diameter of the charge. That is, a charge 6" in diameter should be able to penetrate 6" of armor, more than enough to defeat the armor of any Humvee, and indeed, all but the most heavily armored tanks.

Clearly, the threat posed by EFPs is one of the reasons that the US is putting so much pressure on Iran to stop equipping insurgents. Other countermeasures have included focusing on raiding bombmakers.

Update and Bump:

Because the EFP fires a single slug, timing the explosion is critical. Too soon, the slug goes in front of the vehicle. Too late and it misses behind. To get around this, the insurgents are using a cheap passive infrared sensor, sorta like an electric eye. When a Humvee passes in front of the sensor, off goes the EFP and destroys the vehicle. Ahh, but it didn't take long for the US to come up with a countermeasure. You can see in the photo below a "Rino" device, designed to trigger the EFP before the Humvee reaches the kill-zone. Normally, it would be lowered so it is in front of the Humvee.

An unsuccessful EFP attack can be seen here.

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A prop, from the set of The Incredible Hulk, which has been sold.

Well, after beginning the process of selling off the Life Size Hulk Statues, Marvel has done it again, this time by selling off costumes and props made in their latest film, The Incredible Hulk, which has just crossed the $ 100 million mark.

Items that were or still currently for sale include a humvee from the schoolyard fight, Banner's grey hooded sweatshirt and blue work jumpsuit, and, interestingly enough, a display case from the abandoned Marvel Theme Restaurant Marvel Mania Hollywood, which one could use to display their favorite Marvel memorabilia.

The film is, as of this post, now only barely edging out 2003 Hulk's pace, and it appears Marvel has decided the best way to make back some of that giant budget for the film is to sell everything they possibly can.

"Unfortunately, it's just a sign that once again they're behind the curve," said Peter Jankovskis, a chief investment officer with OakBrook Investments, which owns GM shares in some of its portfolios. "If they were looking to sell the Hummer brand, the more sensible thing would have been to do it three years ago. They're not going to get anything for it. Just in terms of timing, it's a very poor example."

I'm no auto genius -- which I'm at least willing to admit -- but walking past a Hummer dealership this past weekend told me everything I needed to know about the brand and its future. Even the tumbleweeds were avoiding the place.

The Hummer has managed to combine a double entendre and gross conspicuous consumption since it hit the civilian market in 1992. GM bought it in 1999.

At the same time, the Detroit auto maker affirmed its commitment to funding production of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric-hybrid vehicle, with a target of hitting showrooms by late 2010.

An electric car?!?!? What a great idea!!!!! Why didn't GM think of this before ... wait, never mind.

After pulling fellow soldiers out of the Humvee, Pfc. Brown transported the wounded to a dry creek bed and stabilized them. When the convoy came under another insurgent attack, Brown then placed her body over the wounded to shield them from mortar fire landing less than 100 yards away.

Yup - Monica Brown selflessly subjected herself to enemy fire, saving the lives of five soldiers. Two days later, this medic with 4th Squadron of the 73rd Cavalry Regiment was ordered home.

She was told by Platoon Commander Lt. Martin Robbins that Army restrictions on women in combat barred her from such missions and that he should not have allowed her to soldier equally with her male comrades. Oops!

"I didn't want to leave," Brown said, after being pulled from the platoon. Robbins said he and his men, who called Brown "Doc," also wanted to keep Brown as their medic.

Sorry Doc. Even though your heroism in combat merited a Silver Star, your chromosomes indicate that you are an inferior, sweetie.

What am I going on about? Well, the other day three guys broke into allegedly broke into a house in Markham, a bedroom community just north of Toronto. They drove their Hummer up to the house and went right in during broad daylight.  This is the street where the alleged burglary took place:

In other words, the Hummer looked way out of place in the street.  Not exactly the most inconspicuous getaway vehicle in the world.  I mean, why not just put up a neon sign as well while you're at it?

Anyway, some nosy neighbour apparently called the cops - who arrived at the scene just in time to see the three accused walk out of the house, stolen property allegedly in hand.  They got out of their unmarked police cruiser and told the guys to halt.  

So, what did these rocket scientists do? 

Run out to the Hummer, jump into it and try to drive over the cop car, that's what.  And they managed to drive partway up the windshield before reversing into another cop car that had just arrived.

So now, instead of just being charged with "theft under whatever", they've now been charged with "mischief endangering life", "fleeing the scene of a crime", and (my personal favourite) "dangerous operation of a motor vehicle".  And I'm sure the Crown will come up with some more of the hundreds of criminal charges which fall under the loose category of "disobeying the cops". 

Not to mention, no doubt, being read the Riot Act.  And yes, the Riot Act is alive and well up here in Canada:

In Canada, the Riot Act has been incorporated in a modified form into ss. 32-33 and 64-69 of the Criminal Code of Canada. The proclamation is worded as follows:

Her Majesty the Queen charges and commands all persons being assembled immediately to disperse and peaceably to depart to their habitations or their lawful business, on pain of being guilty of an offence for which, on conviction, they may be sentenced to an imprisonment for life. God Save the Queen!

Unlike the original Riot Act, the Criminal Code requires the assembled people to disperse within half-an-hour, and substitutes punishment by death with life imprisonment.

Hmm. Well, it could have been worse for them then, I guess.

But these guys certainly weren't the brightest bulbs in the pack, now, were they?

Unlike this one:

Isn't that cool?  It's in the Royal Scottish Museum in Scotland.  I guess JJ is right when he keeps telling me the Scottish should be known for more than haggis and fried Mars Bars!

Well, back to the mysterious Project Blue which is shaping up quite nicely, thank you. 

Happy Sunday!
 

In our 18^th year, American Car Imports is established as a market leader in the UK at importing new vehicles from the United States. Whatever new American vehicle you want to import, we offer you a premier door to door service. American cars offer great value for money compared to their European counterparts and they can be inexpensive to run from a servicing and insurance angle. With the favourable exchange rates against the dollar, now is the time to buy American through American Car Imports.

Imported American Cars, American Pick Up Trucks and American Vans have been popular in the UK for more than 50 years. Whether it is that dream of driving a classic American car from the rock and roll era such as a 1957 Chevrolet Belair or a Starsky and Hutch 1974 Ford Gran Torino, the Brits have always loved American vehicles. There is a vibrant American car scene in the UK with many American car clubs to join and American car shows all over the UK to show off your modern or American classic.

American Car Imports specialises in making the dream of owning an American vehicle in the UK a firm reality by importing all makes and models of new left hand drive American vehicles in a professional and straightforward way. We also buy and sell used American vehicles in the UK. With the cost of running an American car made affordable by infrequent servicing requirements and cheap American vehicle insurance rates, it makes a great choice to Buy American!

We offer the fairest part exchanges, arrange American car finance packages and supply American car spares. We also help to make your ownership experience a pleasant one, by assisting our customers with any issues that they may face. We provide an excellent 3 year UK and European Warranty on your new imported American car, so that you can have on-going peace of mind.

We import many different makes of American vehicles. These makes of imported vehicles from the USA include Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Dodge, Chrysler, Saturn, Toyota, and Infiniti, - the list is endless.

American Cars

The most popular American car we import is the 4.6 Litre V8 Ford Mustang GT Coupe and Convertible and if customers want real exclusivity we can offer our superb Mustang Outlaw, a true supercar at an affordable price. We also import all versions of the Ford Mustang up to the Shelby GT 500 Coupe and Convertible and including the renowned Bullitt model, a modern reincarnation of the car made famous by Steve McQueen's dark green fastback. The other popular American car imports are the Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Charger, Chevrolet Corvette C6, Corvette Z06, Dodge Challenger, Saturn Sky, Dodge Charger, Lincoln Towncar, Dodge Viper and Cadillac Deville.

American Pickups

American Car Imports supplies all new makes and models of “full size” and “mid size” American Pick Up Trucks to order. The “full size” trucks include the Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Avalanche, Dodge Ram, GMC Sierra, Cadillac Escalade EXT, Ford F-150 (including the Harley Davidson edition), Hummer SUT, Lincoln Mark LT and the other trucks marketed in America by the Japanese vehicle manufacturers such as the Honda Ridgeline, Nissan Titan and the Toyota Tundra. The “mid size” pickups include the Ford Explorer Sport Trac, Ford Ranger, Dodge Dakota, Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. American Car Imports can give expert advice on the payload, towing capabilities, and gross vehicle weight ratings of American pickups and can advise on the tax implications and commercial vehicle status of all models of American pickups.

Depending on the specifications offered by the American pickup manufacturers, we import single cab, extended cab, super cab, quad cab, crew cab and mega cab models in two wheel drive and four wheel drive with either a short bed or long bed. We also supply the super-duty and heavy duty versions of these American made pickups from Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet and GMC with petrol or diesel engines and with either single rear wheels or dual rear wheels. The most popular diesel engines are the Cummins 6.7 litre Turbo Diesel in the Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500, the 6.6 litre Duramax engine in the Chevrolet and GMC 2500 and 3500 models and the new 6.4 litre diesel Ford Engine in the Ford F250 and F350. The popular American petrol engines in pickup trucks, are the 5.3 Litre Flex Fuel engine in the Chevrolet and GMC pickups, the 5.7 Litre Hemi Multi Displacement (MDS) engine in the Dodge Ram, and the 5.4 litre V8 and 6.8 litre V10engines in the Ford F Series range.

When it comes to American Pick Up Trucks, American Car Imports will add whatever accessory you need to personalise your pickup. These truck parts can include a bedliner, tonneau cover (soft, sliding, folding or fibre glass), truck topper with or without windows, bug deflector, side steps, tow bar, toolbox, ladder rack, or bed rug. For our American pick up customers that cover high mileages we can also arrange for any of these American vehicles to be converted to run on Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). Running a vehicle on LPG, doubles the range of your vehicle and can halve the fuel costs. For those vehicles with towing capabilities, we will always provide you with European towing electrics.

American Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV’s)

The most sought after American sport utility vehicles are the Lincoln Navigator L and the Cadillac Escalade ESV with eight seats and loads of luggage space, along with the Flex Fuel powered Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon Denali that can run on Bio Ethanol. We also the import the Hummer H2, Lincoln MKX, Ford Edge, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet HHR, Saturn Vue, Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Infiniti FX 45 and Toyota FJ Cruiser. If you want to import an environmentally friendly vehicle, we can offer you a selection of new American hybrid vehicles in 2009, including the Ford Escape Hybrid, Dodge Durango Hybrid or the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid.

American Vans

Made particularly famous by the “A Team” Van, American vans have always had a strong following in the UK. They are available from General Motors under the Chevrolet and GMC brands, and also from Ford and Dodge. They can be ordered either as commercial vehicles with petrol or diesel engines, or as passenger vans. The Dodge Sprinter Van, Chevrolet Express Van, GMC Savana and the Ford E Series have been our best sellers.

Our Service

With our comprehensive on-line vehicle pricing system we can price your vehicle enquiry while you are on the phone and write to confirm everything within minutes. Once you place your order, we locate or order your American vehicle from our comprehensive network of supplying American dealers, and then arrange the shipping of your vehicle straight away. The vehicle will be physically inspected before it is shipped and will be covered by a comprehensive marine insurance policy when it is in transit.

Once your imported American vehicle has arrived in London, we prepare it for the Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) test. Through our leadership of the American Import Agents Association (AIAA) we have the experience to ensure that your American vehicle is modified to meet the UK SVA requirements in a safe and aesthetically pleasing way. With American Car Imports, you will not have the appearance of your American vehicle spoiled by unsightly and careless modifications that undermine its “American” appearance. Once it has been tested by VOSA and the vehicle has earned its Ministers Approval Certificate, it is then registered.

If requested, we can install a fully integrated UK and European Satellite Navigation system with i-pod interface and built in Bluetooth connectivity for your mobile phone, DVD screens and rear camera. Please ask for a quote. Before our handover to you, your American vehicle will have been professionally valeted, tax disc placed in the windscreen, filled with fuel and given a pre delivery inspection.

At American Car Imports we are PASSIONATE about what we do. We have a professional and enthusiastic approach in helping you buy or import your special vehicle. Our aim is to make your buying and ownership experience a positive and enjoyable one. With 18 years experience, you can trust American Car Imports. Please feel free to give us a ring on 0208-889-4545, to get a quote on your new vehicle or if you need any advice or just want to have a chat. If you need directions to our showroom please click here .