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Washington D.C. — The company responsible for producing 44,000 defective helmets for the U.S. Army has suspended its helmet manufacturing and waived its first right of refusal for all future military contracts, according to the office of Congressman Chris Carney from Pennsylvania.

Federal Prison Industries (FPI) was subcontracted by ArmorSource to build the helmets and it employs inmates withing the Federal Bureau of Prisons to assemble them. FPI, one of the nation’s largest military helmet manufactures, made its decision to suspend production just as Congressman Carney introduced an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act that would have forced FPI to use competitive bidding procedures. The amendment, it appears, is no longer needed.

“Our military men and women deserve only the best equipment and it has become clear that Federal Prison Industries cannot meet the standards required in manufacturing helmet,” Congressman Carney said in a statement to Fox News.

The Department of the Army announced earlier this month that the helmets failed to meet standard ballistic tests and that certain parts of the helmets could not protect against multiple rounds of ammunition.

The Army issued a recall for the 44,000 helmets on May 14, admitting that soldiers in combat could be wearing the helmets without knowing it.

“We don’t know where they are,” said Brigadier General Pete Fuller, who oversees equipment contracts for the Army. “So they could be on some soldiers’ head in either Iraq or Afghanistan. They could also be anywhere else in the world.” The Army has already received some returns from soldiers in Afghanistan.

Carney’s office says Federal Prison Industries is already behind on two separate helmet contracts it has with the U.S. military. One contract it has with Army calls for 600,000 helmets and another with the Marines calls for 100,000 lighter weight helmets. Carney says both products have failed to pass first article testing and not a single helmet has been delivered either contract, both at least 18 months overdue.

Jerusalem the only holy city of the Jewish people

“Jews in Arab east Jerusalem defy Obama peace push”[Seattletimes.com, May 20] is distorted and one-sided.

Jerusalem has had a Jewish majority for more than 100 years except for the illegal occupation by Jordan from 1948 to 1967. It is therefore incorrect to describe east Jerusalem as “Arab.”

Israel annexed east Jerusalem when it was recaptured from the Jordanians after the 1967 Middle East war waged by neighboring Arab states.

On May 24, 2007, now-President Obama said Israel is the United States’ most reliable ally and the only established democracy in the Middle East. Israel’s security — which is of vital importance to the United States — could best be guaranteed by reaching negotiated peace agreements with its neighbors. But Israel must have credible partners with whom to negotiate.

At present, Israel does not have credible peace partners.

Israel rightly cannot accept a divided Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel and the Jewish people. It is not “the third holiest city,” as it is for the Muslims. It is the only holy city of the Jewish people. It has been so for more than 3,300 years.

A lasing peace could only be achieved if Hamas and Fatah nullify their charters calling for the total destruction of Israel, renounce violence and end their hate campaign against Israelis and Jews living in their ancestral home.

— Josh Basson, Seattle

‘Uninformed masses’ want illegal immigrants out of Arizona

“The Arizona Syndrome: propaganda and the politics of fear” [Opinion, May 23] suggests that the decline in illegal border crossings should be a reason to negate the new Arizona law. But it does not alleviate the burden Arizona bears from the cumulative effect of past and present volumes.

The column fails to come face-to-face with the truth that the serious illegal immigration problem is a legitimate criticism of the federal government. The “uninformed masses” are the citizen taxpayers and voters, and they want illegal immigrants out of Arizona and the United States.

— Richard Starr, Sammamish

Hatred, violence the result of failed vigilance and scapegoating

Thanks to David Altheide for exposing the tired lies and political opportunism that led to Arizona’s shameful legislation.

The public needs much more light and far less heat in order to deal rationally with the issue of immigration reform. We need to remind ourselves that time and again, when good people have failed to be vigilant and expose this kind of scapegoating, hatred and violence have been the result.

— Lisa Dekker, Seattle

Enforce immigration laws

In his column about Arizona’s statute requiring enforcement of immigration laws, David Altheide said “Fear is driving the legislation and emotions in Arizona these days.” More than two-thirds of Arizonans support the law and perhaps they are driven by fear. As I cannot read minds, I withhold judgment.

In a Zogby Poll in April, John Zogby, who is the son of a Lebanese illegal immigrant, found that 61 percent of Americans polled supported deporting illegal residents or prosecuting the employers who hire them. Thirty-one percent of those polled supported amnesty for illegal immigrants. More about this poll can be read at Forbes.com.

Clearly, whatever motivates voters, most Americans do not support amnesty and they believe that immigration laws should be enforced.

— Linda Thom, Coupeville

[YouTube link]

Another welcome feature uncovered by many of you in Android 2.2 is the ability to work in apps through 270 degrees of rotation. That is, if you turn the phone to the landscape position to the left, it’ll rotate. And it’ll rotate to the right now, as well.

But, wait, there’s more. The car app has gotten smarter. So when you’re using the car dock and need to pull up a contact, you don’t have to turn the phone back to portrait (or worse, tilt your head) just to find whom you’re looking for. We’d prefer that the home screen rotate, too, but custom Froyo ROMs will take care of that soon enough.

(Thanks, Mike B! Though try to turn your caps lock off, m’kay? 🙂 Find a cool new feature in Froyo and want to tell the world about it? E-mail us here and we’ll make you famous!)

This is a post by Android Central. It is sponsored by the Android Central Accessories Store

Meet the most advanced Arcitec shaver! New Flex & Pivot technology follows every curve and shaves the shortest stubble comfortably close.

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The uniformed officers at the top of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, & Air Force have individually written letters to lawmakers on Capitol Hill expressing concerns about the impact of changing the law affecting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” before a comprehensive review is complete.

“I felt that an organized and systemic approach on such an important issue was precisely the way to develop ‘best military advice’ for the Service Chiefs to offer the President,” Marine Corps Commandant James Conway wrote.

Army Chief of Staff General George Casey expressed a similar view. “I remain convinced that it is critically important to get a better understanding of where our Soldiers and Families are on this issue,” Casey wrote. “I also believe that repealing the law before the completion of the review will be seen by the men and women of the Army as a reversal of our commitment to hear their views before moving forward.”

This letter writing campaign comes after Senate and House proponents of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” reached a compromise that if it passes would eventually allow gays to openly serve in the military. Defense Secretary Gates has wanted a Pentagon review of the impact of a change in policy to be finished before Congress took action. When a deal on Capitol Hill was struck, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said, “With Congress having indicated that is not possible, the Secretary can accept the language in the proposed amendment.” The change is expected to be offered as an amendment to the annual defense spending blueprint known as the Defense Authorization.

Since then, the Service Chiefs have been writing to express their concerns.

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead wrote, “We need this review to fully assess our force and carefully examine potential impacts of a change in the law.”

General Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, wrote that acting before the review is complete would be “presumptive and reflect an intent to act before all relevant factors are assessed, digested and understood.”

The Respironics Profile Lite Nasal Gel Mask features a softer, lighter gel cushion and forehead pad that gently rests against a patient’s face for a soft, pillowy fit. A simple, 10-minute customization process molds the Profile Lite to the patient’s facial contours.Patients can customize the Profile Lite on their own and repeat the process as needed to find the perfect fit.The Profile Lite mask consists of four parts and just two that need to be cleaned, making it easier to use and care for than other masks.Uses a one-size adjustable headgear that is interchangeable with most Respironics masks.Requires less tightening to ensure a seal, which means better patient comfort and may lead to improved compliance.A silent exhalation port on the Profile Lite minimizes disturbances for you and your partner.1004089 – Respironics Profile Lite CPAP Mask with Headgear, Medium – 1/Ea

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The Honda CR-Z is, to me at least, a bit of a confusing car. Honda absolutely nailed the sporty hatchback look, and this car can certainly pass for a contemporary cousin of the now-classic CRX. But while it looks sporty, and it even has a six-speed transmission, the engine output is, well… about the same as a 20 year old CRX. So they went and made it a hybrid. But for a hybrid, it gets sub-par gas mileage. So it kinda fails, for me at least, on both fronts, and I feel like I’m not alone on this.

Apparently though, across the Atlantic, British car reviewers are raving about the CR-Z. Did I miss something?

(more…)

It’s good to know that Nom de Guerre has finally opened their online shop to the public. As part of their Spring/Summer 2010 collection, various 3/4 sleeve shirts have gotten some looks from us. Two standouts from the collection are the green and blue pieces. Definitely simple and straight to the point. Amazing collar detail and clean construction. Available now at Nom de Guerre.

What is it with politicians and their problems with free speech? Apparently, the mayor of Bordentown, New Jersey, one James E. Lynch Jr., is pretty damn upset about the website BordentownMayorReallySucks.com. I guess you can understand why. Now, of course, when you have critics like that, there are all sorts of things you can do in response. You can respond to the criticism. You can ignore the criticism. You can take legal action against specific statements if you believe they are defamatory. What you don’t get to do is pass a law that requires the company that hosts the site to shut it down.

But, it appears, that’s exactly what Bordentown Mayor James Lynch is doing.

Apparently, Lynch convinced the town council to agree to a “resolution” demanding the ISP that hosts the site take it down, saying that it “violates New Jersey’s consumer affairs law and possibly other state and federal laws.” I love the vagueness of “possibly” violating other laws. Now, as the article notes, the site was, at one time (briefly) just called BordentownMayor.com, but quickly renamed itself. So it’s unlikely that there’s any confusion going on these days. Sucks sites have been found to be legal time and time and time again.

If there’s specific defamatory content, as the mayor claims, I could see a reasonable case for dealing with that (though, in all honesty, doing so would just call more attention to the content). But demanding that the entire site be shut down? That’s going way beyond what the law allows, and no town resolution gets to ignore things like the First Amendment. But, the best part may be the quote from Mayor Lynch:

“This website has to be removed,” the mayor said. “I’m not going to go down the freedom of speech road. But some of the stuff that’s on there is fraudulent. You want to put information out? Fine. Say you don’t like me? Fine. But attacks on my wife, my daughter? I won’t stand for that.”

Except, you are going down that freedom of speech road by trying to take down the whole site, in pretty clear violation of the First Amendment. If there is specific content that is defamatory, then sue over that content. Do not use your position is mayor to pass a special resolution demanding a website be shut down completely.

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After years of denial, Floyd Landis–the cyclist who was stripped of his winning title to the 2006 Tour de France after failing a drug test–admitted last week that he did take performance enhancing drugs. And his confession is causing a stir, partly because he also implicated former teammate Lance Armstrong, seven-time-winner of the Tour de France (Armstrong denies the accusation), and partly because of the particular drugs he fessed up to taking:

Mr. Landis said in [several emails to cycling officials] that during his career, he and other American riders learned how to conduct blood transfusions, take the synthetic blood booster Erythropoietin, or EPO, and use steroids. All these practices are banned in cycling. Mr. Landis said he started using testosterone patches, then progressed to blood transfusions, EPO, and a liquid steroid taken orally. [Wall Street Journal]

EPO shook the cycling community in the 1990s, when police raids during the 1998 Tour de France (dubbed the “Tour de Dopage“) found that several riders were using EPO. It looks like the drug, believed to be thwarted by drug tests, has returned.

Our kidneys produce most of our natural erythropoietin, a hormone that leads to the creation of red blood cells. Since red blood cells carry oxygen, more cells means more oxygen in the blood. More oxygen means longer, harder workouts.

Anemics, who suffer from fatigue, naturally have low levels of the hormone. Dopers, who take a synthetic version, have high levels, which can give them endurance but also lead to dangerous side effects such as blood-thickening (and thus strokes).

Regulatory agencies like the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency have developed tests to combat the use of such drugs in competitive sports. For example, the biological passport program, unveiled in 2007, uses repeated sampling to make an electronic record of the cyclist’s natural levels of various hormones, which become benchmarks to test against before a particular race. And since a urine test introduced in 2000 could determine EPO levels, apparent use of the drug declined over the past decade.

But Landis’s confession forces regulatory agencies to face a loophole that helped riders pass urine tests. It’s called microdosing:

“In 2003, the athletes started to use a new procedure together with blood doping,” said Francesca Rossi, the director of antidoping at the International Cycling Union, the sport’s governing body. “I know that this microdosing strategy can be difficult to detect.” Working with doctors, cyclists discovered that carefully controlled, small doses of EPO eluded the urine test while still raising their red cell count. Microdoses of EPO let athletes put in superhuman hours of training without suffering the natural consequence of fatigue. [New York Times]

The debate over how much EPO doping is going on in competitive cycling will certainly continue in the messy aftermath of Landis’s claims. In one allegation, Landis claimed that Armstrong was caught with EPO in 2001 Tour de Suisse, but that officials had covered it up.

Landis suffered another blow to his credibility. The International Cycling Union said no riders tested positive for EPO at the 2001 Tour de Suisse, disputing comments made by the disgraced cyclist. [Boston Globe]

Related Content:
80beats: Can “Biological Passports” Save Sports From Doping?
80beats: First Hard Evidence: Human Growth Hormone Gives Sprinters a Winning Edge
80beats: Geneticists Are On the Lookout for the First Gene-Doping Athletes
80beats: Warning All Competitive Male Cyclists: Less than 5% of Your Sperm May Be Normal

Image: flickr / whileseated

by Grist.

They’ve tried underwater robots, a containment dome, a riser
tube (which has been siphoning up at least a bit of the gushing flow), and relief
wells (still being drilling, a process that will take months).  They’re
now attempting a top kill.  They might
still try a junk shot and top hat, and—what the hell—even nukes.

But, at least so far, total fail.

So what would you, dear readers, propose?  Share your best—or at least most entertaining—ideas in the comment section below.

Related Links:

Obama’s finally connecting the Gulf spill and clean energy. Champagne time?

The federal government needs to take command of the disaster response

Will Obama admin allow Shell Oil to do to Arctic waters what BP did to the Gulf?

It really does seem like yesterday, as I remember standing outside the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, more than a world away from Pakistan. It was my first assignment back, covering the new phenomenon ‘American Idol’ and the crowd had gathered around to see Randy, Paula, Simon and the final two…Kelly and Justin. Who knew so many years later it would come to this!

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Every year I have had some sort of assignment here at Idol and for season nine our coverage has evolved as I will now be standing on the red carpet as we stream live onto foxnews.com. If you want to see the stream, just head to the main page and click on the link. Before you go, make sure you tell me who you think will be this year’s Idol and who out of the top 12 will make it. Is a successful recording artists amongst this group, will someone make it big on Broadway like we’ve seen before? Give me your thoughts and who do you think will win…Crystal or Lee?

I was in the audience last night and will again tonight. As I sat there and watched the thousands pack into the theater here in downtown Los Angeles, I was amazed at how many people came from all over the country…some driving more than 400 miles to make it to the show on time. It seemed to me Lee had the most support in the audience by the numbers of signs and loud cheers. By the end though, that may have changed. While Lee sang well, Crystal blew it out of the theater. Her voice was extremely strong and on point for the most part and I was most impressed with both, but especially her performances.

Afterwards I got to interview the top 12 and even some idols from seasons past. I will update you on how those went and also all about tonight on the red carpet.

As part of J.Crew recent inventory updates, the online shop now has the Timxe Vintage Field Army Watch. According to the J.Crew site: It’s based on an iconic 1940s military style from the Timex archives (and only available here), we gave it a new, subtly distressed off-white dial face, Arabic numerals and an olive-toned watch strap. Like our other version, this piece is built for the trenches: it has a quartz analog movement and is water resistant to 50 meters. Definitely a must have for someone looking for something in the vintage department in terms of watches. Would also go well with the military motorcycle we just posted below. Available now at J.Crew.

Earlier today, the FT reported that China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) was reviewing its $630 billion in Eurozone holdings, with an eye towards dumping them (maybe).

The news helped contribute to the dive in the euro, and subsequent late-day fall in stocks.

The problem is… the story doesn’t make any sense.

If anything, China has been in the market buying euros in hopes of propping up their currency.

Why? Because Europe is China’s biggest export market, and a decline in the Eurozone will hammer its exporters.

All of this is reminiscent to when the US dollar was getting hammered, and there were countless warnings about China dumping our Treasuries. It didn’t happen, and it’s not going to happen this time.

Join the conversation about this story »

Filed under: Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Earnings/Financials

Daimler began developing fuel-cell vehicles way back in 1994. To date, the company has spent $1.23 billion on the propulsion technology. Toyota entered into the hydrogen realm even earlier by kicking off development back in 1992. With decades of combined experience, both companies have become front runners in fuel-cell technology. Toyota and Honda became the first automakers to put commercial hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles on the roads back in 2002.

As you are likely aware, Toyota has teamed up with Tesla for development of electric vehicles at NUMMI. Now, a new report suggests that the company may join forces with Daimler (which also holds stake in Tesla) to develop affordable hydrogen-powered vehicles.

According to the Financial Times Deutschland (as reported in Reuters), Toyota and Daimler plan “extensive cooperation in the field of fuel cells for electric cars.” The Financial Times also suggests that the collaborative work could take the form of a joint venture. The newspaper contacted both companies for official confirmation, but Toyota denied knowledge of any such deal and Daimler was not available for comment.

Last year, some of the major players in fuel cell technology agreed to work together to promote the adoption of the hydrogen-powered vehicle. Within that group, we saw names like Daimler, Toyota, General Motors, Ford, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai. With so many companies pledging to combine their might on fuel-cell vehicle development, we assumed that some sort of joint venture would emerge. Tim Urquhart, an analyst at IHS Global Insight suggests that a Toyota-Daimler joint venture could benefit both companies. As Urquhart said:

The high development costs associated with trying to bring fuel-cell powertrain technology to production means that it is a highly logical step for Daimler and Toyota to try and share the costs and their extensive knowledge in fuel-cell technology.

At this point, it may just be wishful thinking, but we’d love to see a joint venture between the two companies. It would surely help out the hydrogen vehicle programs of each respective company and a joint venture might even bring more jobs back to NUMMI.

[Source: Reuters]

Report: Toyota and Daimler planning “extensive cooperation” on fuel cell development originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 May 2010 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Etc., Videos, Canada

Google may have grounded its Street View fleet, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still plenty to see on the search engine giant’s most immersive of online tools. We’ve recently brought you news of the Street View team taking to the Woodward Dream Cruise, the Lotus test track and Laguna Seca, to name just a few. But as the proprietors of countless unsecured networks can tell you, Google’s reach extends far beyond pavement.

In the ramp-up to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, just a few months ago, Google strapped its cameras to snowmobiles to map out the extensive winter sport playground at Whistler. Still feeling the Olympic fever? Planning a trip to Canada’s West Coast? Just plain curious? Check it out in the video after the jump.

[Source: Google]

Continue reading Google Street View takes to the slopes of Whistler [w/video + map]

Google Street View takes to the slopes of Whistler [w/video + map] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 May 2010 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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30. Kate Walsh

Age: 42

29. Catherine Keener

Age: 51

28. Joely Richardson

Age: 45

27. Eva Larue

Age: 43

26. Nicole Kidman

Age: 42

25. Jane Seymour

Age: 59

24. Sheryl Crow

Age: 48

23. Naomi Watts

Age: 41

22. Michelle Forbes

Age: 45

21. Holly Robinson-Peete

Age: 45

Click here for the 50 hottest cougars 20-11!

SLA IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!

Back to Basics. Back to Schools. Back to the Future of Training.

The Illinois Education Association Summer Leadership Academy (SLA) will be held July 27 – July 30, 2010 at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois.

Last summer all IEA local presidents were invited to a Training Assessment and Development Summit to help shape the future of the Summer Leadership Academy (SLA). Now you are invited to the 2010 SLA to experience the beginning of a much anticipated reshaping of IEA leadership training.

The theme for the 2010 Summer Leadership Academy is Leadership Fundamentals: Power, Endurance, Strength. Leadership is fundamental to achieving the mission of IEA, which is “to effect excellence and equity in public education and to be THE advocacy organization for all public education employees.”

Alan Atkisson wonders, Can a Glass of Orange Juice in Sweden be “Climate Smart”? He concludes, Maybe consumer items like this could be labeled, “Relatively less climate-stupid.” I agree.

For green labeling to actually work, there must be a “green information” system parallel to the money economy, and people must pay attention to it. That’s a booming business right now.

Optimistically assuming that all end users have the insight and altruism needed to make the correct environment/money tradeoff, that creates tremendous evolutionary pressure on the production system to evade the intent of the labeling by using cheaper not-so-green alternatives in hidden upstream locations. To paraphrase Groucho, greenness is the key to business success – if you can fake it, you’ve got it made. The evasion need not be so cynical; it simply requires incomplete information, for example sourcing products from places where measurement systems are incomplete. I really rather doubt that we’ll ever have life cycle analysis for every product performed with the same stringency now enforced by money auditing systems.

The optimistic assumptions above are probably misplaced. Altruism is great, but I hate to rely on it, as it’s not clear to me that it’s an ESS. But insight is probably the real constraint. Life cycle analysis is good stuff, but even if it were practical to pass many attributes through the supply chain, with firm-level attribution, the result is complex information about tradeoffs that’s better suited for engineers than for consumers. Add to that the challenges people already face, like making good decisions about saving for retirement and educating children, and I think it’s hard to do much more than muddle minds.

Just as marketers associate cars with love, green labels foster the paradoxical conclusion that some consumption benefits the environment. That may be true for a few goods, but for the most part, it’s not. We should be using green information to examine our broad patterns of consumption, more than to choose what to put in the shopping cart. That might mean non-consumptive tradeoffs, like having more leisure time and less stuff.

Green labeling is great in many cases today, where prices and other incentives are blatantly misaligned with public goods, but ultimately fixing the incentives will get us a lot farther than labeling. That means pricing resources we value upstream, so that value percolates through supply chains as a price signal. In my ideal world, the price tag itself would be a green label.