The people at Occupy Tampa have posted pictures of a large, specialized vehicle they say the Tampa police department drove past their camp. Occupier Heidi Halsworth writes that police helicopters overhead are loud enough to drown out general assemblies, and the tank-looking-thing is unsettling:
The city is making these flagrant displays to be intimidating while not actually doing anything antagonistic enough to draw the national media spotlight down on Tampa as has happened in New York, Denver and Oakland.
A Yahoo contributor says Occupy Tampa is being silly -- the vehicle in question is just an amphibious rescue vehicle, not an assault tank. FWIW, the city of Tampa says it bought the armored personnel carrier from the military with a "Federal security grant." More:
The APC is bullet resistant, can hold 13 passengers and it is virtually unstoppable. On pavement, it can reach speeds of 60 mph.
A second picture from Occupy Tampa shows a list labeled "our sponsors." Tampa police also have a smaller "amphibious tank type vehicle" used by the Marines in Desert Storm.
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The Reagan era War on Drugs just called. They want their urban assault vehicle with Nancy Reagan riding shotgun back!
The last thing in the world you should ever do is drive an APC anywhere near some mechanical engineering students on a college campus ...
... because it has to have an air intake and all you need to know is how to affix a bag full of wet concrete to turn it into a stationary science fair project.
Are you planning on spilling the details? I just want to know because I'm a fan of science fairs....
I can see who is sponsoring them, I wonder if ALEC the union representing corporations is a secret sponsor of the police. Does that mean the are only serving and protecting the interest of corporations of is their objective still to serve and protect the people including the protesters.
Afrommi, who else would the protect? The people? Hunter S. Thompson observed that money in large quantities gathers its own armies. He was speaking of security around casinos in Vegas but there is no bigger casino than Wall Street.
Well ... you know ... the wet cement delivery system needs to look quite a bit like a large colostomy bag with a sticky face surrounding a hole about the size/shape of the air intake (one side of the bag needs to be coated with 2 sided tape and protected with wax paper while filling the bag). Quite a bit of tape is needed. A very thick trash bag would work best.
The inside of the bag needs to have some plastic pipes tied together into a spider shape with tennis balls on the ends to hold the bag open so that the intake vacuum does not collapse it.
An alternative much lighter substance is polyurethane foam (touch and foam). Much harder to handle because it acts like super glue. It is also very flammable (uses propane for expansion - no smoking).
The bag needs to be tied to the end of a long pole suitable for delivery using a long string and a slip knot so the stick can be removed quickly.
Something like a large spatula is needed to press the sticky tape against the target.
The stick and the spatula could be the same device.
I suspect the air intake is on the top so the spatula may need to have a mirror and the handle may need a 90 degree bend.
This is just a crude recipe. I need to know more about the APC to make blue prints.
The air intake looks like it is in the left rear on the top, about 12 inches in diameter, and it looks like it sticks up about 5 inches. Looks like it may have antennas or punji sticks around it. I can only see one intake, but it might have 2.
That means the ostomy bag needs to be large with a thin wall that looks like a large pillow after you fill it with a big hole in it.
The only thing that you can use to fill the bag is polyurethane foam (touch and foam will work if you cannot locate anyone in the organic chemistry department).
A flap is needed over the hole to prevent the foam from spilling out until the bag is in place.
This would work so much better at night if you dress all in black with socks over your shoes and spray paint the entire appliance powder black.
25,000 pounds of scrap metal if you have steady nerves because I bet AAA won't tow.
Heheheh! Urban safari anyone? Want to bag a TANK?
It's not a tank, it's an M-113 Armoured Personell Carrier. All aluminum armour (special alloy) is what makes it so fast. I used to get rides in them in the Corps.
I bet if you do that, they'll jump out and pepper-spray your ass....
I was mistaken, apparently. The Army guys tell me its an M556, a modified M113. My bad. Never saw one in the Corps.
I am so gonna get a spankin if someone actually does this.
A second picture from Occupy Tampa shows a list labeled "our sponsors."
Irony, anybody? Ha!
Wow, they literally do have privatization written all over them.
I can see who is sponsoring them, I wonder if ALEC the union representing corporations is a secret sponsor of the police. Does that mean the are only serving and protecting the interest of corporations of is their objective still to serve and protect the people including the protesters.
At the intersection of Keystone Street and Tiananmin Square ...
Either Tampa has that much crime, or can you say way over reaction!!
Gee, I do not see the RNC logo. Must be implied. This is for the Convention, right?
Would the genius who labeled this APC an amphibious rescue vehicle please publish a retraction or go back to 2nd grade.
smiling and the M113`s i drove never got much over 30 mph.
yes this look more like a old M557.
...it IS an M557...check out the differences on the interwebs. <smile> and no, it is NOT virtually unstoppable nor is it capable of 60 MPH even with a tail wind and going down hill.
well the M113 could swim. not so much for the M557 to top heavy.
Oh where is Sgt Hulka went we need him.
I once got my M113 up to 35 mph! CO was delighted, but my TC wasn't amused. Darn thing like to have shaken our teeth out on those silly cobblestones... At Ft. Knox they told us they could get up to 45 on a paved surface, but I never tried.
The M557 was used in Germany as either command tracks, communication or medical vehicles. Handy for the ability to stand upright (mostly) in one, or to hang more equipment (or injured soldiers) on the walls.
Do you think the smaller "Marine " version could be an LAV? It's amphibious, and my lady saw it on the Military Channel, and thought it would be a great way to get around traffic jams here in the Puget Sound region. Plus she likes the 25mm bushmaster to clear the ignoramuses. (Kidding)
I've got wood for an amphibious vehicle. From road to the middle of a lake for fishing, no stopping. Nice!
LOL. It only gets about 4 or 5 mpg, but IS bulletproof...literally! And it's 8 wheel drive, so offroading is a snap!
Reminds me of police helicopter flying over an Occupy Pasadena (CA) General Assembly. Oh and the 2 cruisers with lights flashing. 30 people sitting on the grass talking. SCARY!
What's Tampa doing with this thing anyway? Getting ready for the Cuban invasion? Police departments need to learn another military term.. STAND DOWN!
Getting ready for the War on Drugs. Rumor is that the geriatric population of Tampa has lots of drugs in their homes. Can't take too many chances with those Grey Panthers!
Yeah their going to start drug testing seniors before they get their Social Security checks.Hey its Florida ai'nt it.
What's Tampa doing with this thing anyway?
getting ready for the republican i mean teapubliecant convention ,,, i here its going to be one long hot week.
"A Yahoo contributor says Occupy Tampa is being silly -- the vehicle in question is just an amphibious rescue vehicle, not an assault tank."
How does this amphibious rescue vehicle work? Does it float?
Even if the yahoo on Yahoo knows what he/she/other is talking about, the objective reality of the thing is kind of unimportant. Even if it isn't a tank, it looks like a tank. Why is it being driven around in the vicinity of the Occupation? Because it has the psychological impact of looking like a tank. What it is, subjectively, is intimidation.
Don Quixokie -- love your comment! lol GibsonGoof -- tells you WHO they protect doesn't it? Jack -- reminiscent isn't it?
Dump the APC in Tampa Bay for a week and get back to me on the "amphibious" part- It'll be ready to take it's rightful place as an artificial reef.
When you people a toy they will play with it every chance they get. The vehicle is overkill. I don't buy the amphibious garbage; the side says POLICE.
and the scary sad part on the back it said Sponsor by anyone other then the people we are suppose to protect.
Could be the new home for some FL that couldn't afford to keep theirs
"Rescue"! Who are they "rescuing" with this? Maybe they should replace the number "2" with "1%"
Who are they rescuing with it? Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Chase, Citi, AIG, you know the drill. The kind of "people" whose prosperity, "free speech," well being and pursuit of happiness are such a high priority for a certain political party. Heck, some of their names are right there on the side of the thing.
BTW, not too long ago, as I recall, they didn't have the money to pay teachers and buy school books in Florida, but apparently they dug into their sofa cushion and found the money for an urban assault tank.
"... amphibious rescue vehicle"
I didn't know Occupy Tampa had a pool, too. Duh, it's Florida. Why wouldn't they? Well that's nice of 'em ... in case anyone drowns, they can be rescued! Oh, I get it now—are the helicopters like lifeguards? wow. If the rest were so lucky!!
More like "ambiguous rescue vehicle."
Yeah, what's it rescuing? Little fishies?
Are we trying to intimidate?
It looks like the ridiculous tank that Dan Aykroyd uses in the movie Dragnet to ram through the driveway gates on his way to rescue the Virgin Connie Swail from the "smut peddlers."
Crazy stuff.
I would think they would be driving by crack dealers houses with these instead of people sitting in a park and talking
It's the substance, not the pacifism. Drugs are a game, a money-making and imprisoning one at that; freedom is not.
Gotta keep those private prison full so the tax dollars flow to the "investors".
Crime fighters!...Hmmmm. What happened to RESCUE 1? Was it attacked and commandeered by graduate students?
"WOW". Its almost like China's tank except theirs was bigger because they have more money for these type things.
WOW...This is AMERICA! Looks like another country......when you spit on others it comes back on you.......SCARY!
It's Los Angeles in the '80s without the house cracking ram. Old stuff.
LOL
one wonders if they will get Steven Segal to ride on the top?
The Arizona reference was inevitable, wasn't it?
smiling yes it was.
As if we needed any further proof that America has become a police state.
Gee wasn`t Mitt just at a BAE plant?
There is no reason whatsoever for a local police force to have such a vehicle. Period.
But just think how effectively you could pepper spray 84 year old ladys? After all they have many more of those radicals down in Tampa than in Seattle where the police must do these actions hand to hand er... hand to face.
(Sarcasm)
With the right attachment you could pepper spray an entire crowd from a single platform. Now we are getting into to mid-80's Central American kinkiness. Noreiga used to do that to his own civilians execpt with caustic acid.
Do you suppose NATO will provide air support to protect civilians in America? No. Neither do I.
You know ... the last thing in the world you should ever do is drive this kind of brain fart anywhere near some mechanical engineering students on a college campus ...
... because it has to have an air intake and all you need to know is what size funnel fits in the hole so you can fill it with concrete.
Bad me for pointing out that you shouldn't drive an APC unless you are armed with at least half a brain.
Can someone please explain WHY it was necessary to drive this vehicle...which would sink like a rock in water BTW...past the Occupy camp for any reason OTHER than intimidation? OTOH...is it really Tampa PD over the camp or just news helicopters?
It really is a TPD helicopter and it's shown up every night. And Occupy Tampa filed freedom of information act requests and found out this thing costs $600 per HOUR to opperate. They will be filing additional FOIA requests about it and other TPD actions.
So what happens when non-violent protests no longer work? Because we're approaching that real soon. This is a police state.
Two bogus wars, attempts to roll back women's rights, attempts to make a college education a franchise for the elite only, attempts to make this a Christian nation and the Constitution a Christian document, labeling the unemployed "lazy" and gays the downfall of America and undocumented immigrants the source of drugs and crime ...
Next, staging the Second Coming of Christ. I hope to be in Canada by then.
**Noted by a well-respected author, the imbalance of post World War wealth in America vs. the rest of the world will never happen again. I agree.
You keep with the non-violence. Because when the other side gets violent, it's essential to make it very clear to observers who's doing the hitting and who's doing the bleeding.
Put another way: when non-violent protests stop working is when they start really working. Meditate on that until you understand it.
There was this guy named Gandhi who made that point rather more than most Americans appreciate. One of the people taking notes was Martin Luther King. And he kept a very tight lid on the young men who wanted to go eye-for-an-eye. To the extent of having marches led by women and children.
Except when the media isn't allowed to cover it, then it'll be left to Fox News to make it very clear who's shedding blood. Any guesses whose side they'll take?
Btw, did Gandhi have this above-here thingy pointing at him? I imagine it would be a wee little game changer when the operator is hiding behind, how many tons of steel is that? "oops, now you see him, now you don't!" "out of sight, out of mind. oops." "uh, anyone see where Gandhi went? I swear, he was just ... oops."
oh, and I forgot ... privatizing everything so there is no more loyalty to nation. Oh yeah, we're already there—we've already sold it out. Hi, China. Is your language hard to learn? Oh, so we don't need to learn it b/c grunting in a factory, on a farm, or in a mine is preverbal? Oh, okay, then. Noted.
Of utmost noteworthiness: My commitment to non-violence includes myself, too. First and foremost, to be precise. Meditate on that one. Put another way: You guys taking one for the team ... make sure you understand for what, why and whom. **hey, unless, you know, you're just into that sorta thing!! (there are better venues. just ask around. wink, wink.)
You might want to look up the body count from the Indian independence movement. And I don't mean how many British soldiers died.
"Where the hell did all those people go ... I swear, they were just ... Uh-oh. The throttle got stuck. Oops. When will they give us the real thing and not just a demo? Ah well, out of sight, out of mind."
The media (TV/radio/print) isn't the gatekeeper it used to be. I've now got relatives, all to the right to one degree or the other, emailing me links about police brutality. As if I wasn't the one who clued them in in the first place. But, the point is, the protestors are covering themselves to a degree and stuff is getting out despite the corporate media.
Social networking is definitely on our side. People waking up, too.
Then apparently there's the SOPA bill in Congress designed to give corporations the power to blacklist sites they deem contain copyright violations (Save The Internet / Free Press).