Tag Archives: economy

Poky Car Cruise, Memorial Burnouts!

The 12th of April, 2025, was the first cruise of the year by the Pocatello Car Club.  It also became a memorial cruise for a couple of people; one killed in a crash and another killed in a tragic shooting.

The cruise was down United States Route 91 (aka Highway 91), through Pocatello, Idaho. Highway 91 is called South 5th at the south end of town, moving north it splits into separate one-way streets; South 5th and South 4th.  There were two staging areas for the cruise:

Cars warming up, lining up:

But for more confusion, South 5th and South 4th come together halfway through Pocatello and the name changes to Yellowstone Avenue.

As Hwy 91 passes through the City of Chubbuck it retains the name Yellowstone Ave.  The maintaining of the Idaho section of U.S. 91 is done by the Idaho Department of Transportation.

(Idaho’s Chrysler DeSoto)

A happy hopper!

It begins:

Burnout fund-raiser event was at C & G Sales and Service in honor of Ethan Wright, recently killed in a motorcycle crash.  Burnouts part-1:

Part-2:

If you can, support family of Victor Perez, recently shot-down in his front yard in front of his mom: Justice for Victor Perez-GoFundMe.com

Burnouts part-3:

One more burnout:

Check out more vehicular videos on my ‘Cars Showing Off’ Playlist on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkZrLGwZbnj9l1IMiwgu49bsmVG95CIaM

Idaho’s Chrysler DeSoto

This old car has been around town, appearing at last year’s “…car-show that almost wasn’t?!” And on 12APR2025, the bomber DeSoto arrived for a Pocatello Car Club cruise that doubled as a memorial event:

The original DeSotos were actually Chryslers, and at first were called Series-K and were simply remodeled Plymouths.

The DeSoto brand was created in 1928, to do battle in the growing mid-price car market.  The name was chosen to honor the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto (and many people don’t know that at one time De Soto was even featured on U.S. $5-hundred bill).

DeSoto ‘DE MIJO’ is a Series-13 (S-13), all-new for post-World War Two, produced from model year 1949 to 1952 (it got a ‘face-lift’ for 1953).  Base price was around $3-thousand.

Chrysler’s DeSoto brand ceased to exist after the 1961 model year.

Check out more vehicular videos on my ‘Cars Showing Off’ Playlist on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkZrLGwZbnj9l1IMiwgu49bsmVG95CIaM

Idaho State University: Chrome in the Dome, 2025!

Car crushing tracked vehiculars!

 

The pland-emic didn’t stop the U.S. Marine Corps from conducting ‘Gator Week’ on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 06APR2023.  The event included crushing cars with an AAV7A1 (Amphibious Assault Vehicles-7A1).

U.S. Army M1A2 SEP wows the crowd on the Bemowo Piskie Training Area, in Poland.

Polish Leopard 2A5(?) and United Kingdom Challenger-2 battle-tanks do damage to puny little European cars, on Grafenwöhr Training Area, Germany. I edited together videos via Kevin S. Abel and Daniela Vestal (recorded between 04-06JUN2018):

Swedish Stridsvagn (Strv) 122 Leopard crushing cars during Strong Europe Tank Challenge-2018.

Austrian and German Leopard battle-tanks smash PT Cruiser, and more! I edited from videos (recorded from 05-07JUN2018) via Emily Houdershieldt & Markus Rauchenberger:

They created a pile of crushed European cars.

United States M1A2 Abrams crushing cars on Grafenwöhr Training Area, 06JUN2018. Video via Kevin S. Able:

Here is some more car crushing courtesy the M1A2 Abrams, video  via Emily Houdershieldt:

Austrian Leopard 2A4(?) and German Leo 2A6(?) attempt to smash puny VW cars on Grafenwöhr Training Area, MAY 2017.

I edited this from videos via the U.S. 7th Army Training Command:

HERCULES stands for Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lifting Extraction System, only ‘A2’ version is called HERCULES.

U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) video of their M88A2 crushing a car on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 24APR2014:

Check out more tank videos on my ‘Forever Wars’ Playlist on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkZrLGwZbnj93-HZy9E6tQvyrXyMi_-x7

BBN Vehicle I-D: M88A2 HERCULES (another tool of the British empire?)

NORINCO’s drone carrying VT4A1 Battle Tank

Whatever happened to Ukraine’s Tanks? or, How to shoot yourself in the foot, and make NATO pay for it!

Is the combat proven A-10C being replaced by a crop-duster on steroids?

The use of crop-duster aircraft as combat aircraft is nothing new, and it seems the United States is simply following a global trend, because the agricultural aircraft are relatively cheap and easy to maintain.

U.S. Air Force (USAF) Special Operations Command (SOC) loves its latest crop-duster, the OA-1K, which is actually based on the Air Tractor (based in Olney, Texas) crop-duster and fire-fighting aircraft.  The USAF boasts that its new Skyraider-2 is “cost effective”Air Tractor calls their combat crop-duster the AT-802U Sky Warden (the AT-802 first flew in 1990).

In January 2025, the finalized version of the crop-duster on steroids arrived on Hurlburt Field, Florida.  In February, USAF-SOC christened the OA-1K the “Skyraider-2”.

On 03APR2025, the USAF-SOC officially accepted its first OA-1K during a ceremony on Hurlburt Field: “Skyraider-2 represents not just a new platform, but a modular solution to our national security needs. It will redefine how we approach joint campaigning, crisis response and the evolving landscape of modern warfare.”-Lieutenant General Michael Conley, SOC commander.

I edited this together from two USAF promotional videos:

The Skyraider-2 is already being offered for sale to Central American and Caribbean countries.  On 27AUG2024, the OA-1K was flown to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, being presented during the Industry Day/Air Chiefs conference for the air forces of those countries.

Actually, most A-10C units are turning in their Thunderbolt-2s for the F-35 Lightning-2.  The OA-1K Skyraider-2 is specifically a ‘special operations’ aircraft, the crew are known as Air Commandos.

This is the AT-802U trainer version.

Training on the OA-1K will officially take place on Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, in Oklahoma.  Interestingly, the training version has been arriving on Will Rogers Air National Guard Base since July 2024, months before the official acceptance of the OA-1K.

The A-10C:

Idaho’s heritage A-10C ‘8N’

Afghan Phase Inspection

 

Vehicle I-D: M88A2 HERCULES (another tool of the British empire?)

Development of the M88A2 was started in 1991, after it was realized the A1 version could not tow the M1 Abrams by itself; it required two M88A1s to tow the 70-ton battle-tank. The first M88A2 went into service in July 1997. Only the A2 is called the HERCULES, which stands for Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lifting Extraction System.

U.S. Marine Corps HERCULES near Al-Karmah, Iraq.

In May 2010, the U.S. Army’s 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was on the National Training Center (Fort Irwin, California) preparing for deployment to Iraq. Here’s a quick explanation of what the M88A2 can do:

U.S. Marine Corps HERCULES lifts a battle damaged French Mirage 2000D, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

(See more of the Mirage 2000D crash by clicking here.)

From 1961 to 1994 the M88 was built by a company originally called Bowen & McLaughlin. Here is some confusion; Bowen & McLaughlin supposedly started in Phoenix, Arizona, during World War Two. However, by 1950 Bowen & McLaughlin apparently setup shop in York, Pennsylvania, changing their name to Bowen McLaughlin York (BMY).  BMY became a division of U.S. based Harsco Corporation, which ‘went public’ in 1956.  In 1994, Harsco and FMC (Food Machinery Corporation) joined forces and created United Defense.  Harsco still exists today, but changed its name to Enviri Corporation.

U.S. Marine Corps HERCULES pulls the ‘power pack’ (turbine-transmission combo) of an M1 Abrams, on Combat Outpost Shir Gazay, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

More confusion; from 1994-2005, M88 production was done by United Defense and Anniston Army Depot.  In 2005, BAE Systems took-over United Defense. BAE Systems was created in 1999 when the Italian Marconi Electronic Systems merged with the United Kingdom’s British Aerospace. Since 2005 production is officially done by BAE Systems.  The estimated cost of each M88A2 HERCULES is a little more than $2-million (as of the year 2000).

U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) video of their M88A2 crushing a car on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 24APR2014:

The ‘A2’ is larger and heavier than the previous versions. A more powerful Diesel piston motor, and efficient transmission, allows the use of only one recovery vehicle to tow the M1 Abrams.

U.S. Army HERCULES about to lift a Cold War era M47 range target on Hohenfels, Germany.

In 2017, the U.S. Army requested that eleven M88A2s be modified with even more powerful power-packs (engine/transmission combo), a hydro-pneumatic suspension and a seventh roadwheel (per side), for a cost of $28-million.

USMC HERCULES lifts a bulldozer onto a trailer, on Twentynine Palms, California.

Vehicle I-D: M88A1 ‘mud-bug’

Yankee tools of the British empire: National Guard, older than the United States itself!

A-M-P-V making profits off U.S. taxpayers, for the British Empire!

BAE’s M109A7, DON’T CALL IT A PALADIN!

M777 artillery, more proof the Yankees are the Tools of the Red Coats!

Uncle Sam preps for War, 1941: Going Airborne!

Although the first official United States Army (USA) Airborne unit was created in 1943 (82nd Airborne Division), the USA had been experimenting with the idea of having Soldiers jump out of perfectly good aircraft since the end of World War One.

Most of the early Airborne training took place on Fort Benning (recently called Fort Moore, previously known as Fort Benning [a different Benning than the current Benning]), Georgia, with the Airborne Test Platoon (ATP) becoming the first to drop on Lawson Field, 16AUG1940.  The ATP consisted of 48 ‘volunteers’.  The 16th of August is now officially National Airborne Day in the U.S.

I edited together this video, taken from 1941 U.S. Army Air Corps/Forces (USAAC/USAAF) newsreels about the U.S. Army’s paratroop training:

Here are some more USAAC/USAAF Airborne newsreels from 1941:

Paratroopers have their own official National Airborne Day! Video shows you why!

Uncle Sam preps for War, 1941: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

Jumping out of a perfectly good C-130, over Morocco: African Lion 2023

LDS connection to new military training center in Utah!?

The federal U.S. Army Reserve is having a new training center built on the Utah Army National Guard’s Camp Williams.  Army Reserve training personnel will be redeploying from their home on Fort Douglas, Utah, to Camp Williams.

Fort Douglas was one of many locations, during World War One, where German prisoners of war (PoW) were held. This photo purports to show German PoWs building model ships.

Fort Douglas was established during The War Between the States, in 1862.

In the 1960s, the Army deployed a mobile recruiting post out of Fort Douglas. The photo was made by J. Hargreaves in Murray, Utah, 12OCT1965.

The Civil War era base was officially shutdown in 1991, at least for active duty (Regular Army) use as the federal Army Reserve continued to conduct their training on the now historic site.

The project would not be possible without direct help from the University of Utah and the people of Utah: According to the Army Reserve’s 358th Public Affairs Detachment, the taxpayers of Utah will spend “…$17 million to purchase the land and an additional $100 million to build the new Army Reserve Center and a maintenance facility.”  

Construction is being done by a contractor (Jacobsen Construction) who builds/renovates temples for the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Video report via Specialist Ronald D. Bell, 06MAR2025:

The Army Reserve expects to move onto Camp Williams by Spring 2026.

Soldiers on Fort Douglas taking a University of Utah carpentry course in 1917, during World War One.

The University of Utah has a long history of cooperation with Fort Douglas and will takeover the remaining 50 acres of the historic site.

August 2023: Utah State Militia

2022: Utah’s new FEMA Region 8 Urban Disaster Training Site

2014: Utah, home base for massive NSA data center, training National Guard to spy on you using LLVI!

Utah not only home to massive NSA data centers, but to massive military intelligence wargames aimed at you?

2013: ebay, Dell, HP, federal & state governments build World’s largest data collection spy center system in Utah! Real time data stream monitoring!

2012: Utah National Guard base to become site of largest personal data center in the U.S. You are the target!

Like Riceburners? Join the U.S. Air Force, see Japan!

To boost lagging recruitment (and apparent lack of desire to deploy to Japan), the U.S. Air Force is promoting its Auto Hobby Shop on Yokota Air Base. It is open seven days per week, with six self-service lift bays, an oil-change pit, and they provide the tools!

U.S. Armed Forces Network video report released 17MAR2025:

Cold War to Near Peer Threats:Japan’s ‘lowrider’ Type 74, finally retired?

Idaho: British Austin + Japanese Suzuki = The Duke!?

Idaho’s Bold Tigers invade Japan?

Saving Private Boeing, with a ‘Top Secret’ price tag?

On 21MAR2025, U.S. President Donald John Trump announced the purchase of a top secret fighter jet for the U.S. Air Force (USAF), called the F-47. He also revealed that the cost of the aircraft is ‘top secret’, ostensibly claiming that revealing the cost would also reveal the latest and greatest ‘top secret’ technologies used by the ‘6th Generation’ fighter:

A USAF news release revealed that “Over the past five years, in strong partnership between the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, X-planes have been laying the foundation for the F-47.” 

The USAF news release also points out that the contract for the F-47 is for only “a small number of test aircraft”, a price for production aircraft is still up-in-the-air.

Education Revolution: Idaho among several states praised by Trump for the Education Revolution!

Idaho among several states praised by Trump for Education Revolution!

On 20MAR2025, United States President Donald John Trump issued Executive Order “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities.”

The purpose of the order is to reduce taxpayer funding of a system that has failed to meet even international standards (for decades) by returning direct control of public education to each State (prior to 1979 there was no federal-level Department of Education).  Continued federal taxpayer funding (via the U.S. Secretary of Education) for schools can be terminated if ‘DEI’ programs are still in effect.

In a press conference conducted on 21MAR2025, President Trump added that the Small Business Administration will take over Student Loans, and Health and Human Services will take over Special Needs and nutrition programs:

Trump’s Wall War: February 2025.