Weird News

[Gravdigr]

Frank Miles, and everyone between his keyboard and the rest of the world, is a fucking moron.

Self-propelled vessel intercepted smuggling more than 3,800 pounds of cocaine near Texas

Fuck the coke. This vessel is self-propelled. It moves under its own power.

Man, if the rest of the world could just get their hands on this "self-propelling" technology.

And, just in case you think the geniuses at Fox News simply mis-spoke, and actually meant 'autonomous', or 'self-steering', the [on-board] crew of three was arrested.

Morons.

[Happy Monkey]

I blame the headline writer. Frank Miles just repeated the quote he was given; he's only guilty of an extremely lazy article (paraphrase upcoming quote, print quote, add random facts about the quotee's organization, publish). The headline writer for some reason glommed on the adjective "self-propelled", rather than the much more interesting "semi-submersible".

Though I would be interested in seeing a non-self-propelled semi-submersible, though.

I think they had at least one human-powered one in the Civil War, doomed by incomplete information about how water transmits the shockwave from an underwater explosive.

Though I would be interested in seeing

[xoxoxoBruce]

In the past I saw articles about submersibles being towed behind what appeared to be sport fishers or pleasure craft. In case of detection they would just cut it loose. When the feds caught on, the push for "self-propelled" was on. Semi-submersibles are much easier to build than subs.
Way back I read than some South Americans bought a couple of surplus Soviet subs, but haven't heard any more about it.

[Undertoad]

Of course you haven't heard any more. Silent service!! (Neither the ship nor the submariners should give off any noise. I kind of hope the tradition follows to the smugglers.)

[xoxoxoBruce]

Of course.

[Carruthers]

This is a self-propelled gun.



It isn't a tank. Definitely not a tank.
What's the difference? Well, in the case of an MoD contract about £2.5 million each.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

In the past I saw articles about submersibles being towed behind what appeared to be sport fishers or pleasure craft. In case of detection they would just cut it loose.

That makes sense. It's the type of info that would have made the article much better if included.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The self-propelled gun probably only has armor for small arms fire.

[Pamela]

I always thought that a tank had a fully rotatable turret on it and a SPG only could traverse a few degrees?

[Gravdigr]

From Quora:

Tank - an armored fighting vehicle armed with a high-caliber cannon on a rotating turret designed for direct engagements against other armored fighting vehicles.

Self-propelled artillery - an artillery platform with its own propulsion system. They are equipped with guns of a usually higher caliber than tanks (most have around 155 mm. cannons compared to the standard 120-125 mm. guns used on tanks) but are positioned on a higher angle for bombardment of long[er]-range targets. Also, unlike tanks, the armor of an SPA is usually only effective against small-arms fire and shrapnel since they are not designed for frontal engagements.

Self-propelled guns - also known as assault guns or tank destroyers. They're used for direct infantry support destroying fortifications and defensive emplacements with high-explosive shells. Can also be used either to take down other armored vehicles or as "short to medium ranged" artillery in some cases. Self-propelled guns are built around a forward-facing casemate placed on top of a tank chassis forcing the entire vehicle to turn around or rotate if facing a target in another direction.

FWIW

[Carruthers]

Thanks for that, sir!

Now I know.

[Gravdigr]

I make no guarantees as to the truthiness of those definitions.

[sexobon]

Jeepers! The sheriff's department that stole Christmas.

Elderly couple says 60 pounds of pot was for presents

YORK, Neb. — An elderly couple who was arrested in Nebraska with 60 pounds of marijuana in their truck told officers that the drugs were meant to be Christmas presents.

The York News-Times reports the couple were arrested Tuesday by the York County Sheriff's Department after they were stopped for a traffic violation.

Officers found the bags of marijuana in the Toyota Tacoma driven by the 80-year-old man and 83-year-old woman. They said they were driving from California to Vermont.

The couple was being held in York County jail on suspicion of felony drug charges.

[sexobon]

This gets even better ...

Couple busted with marijuana 'Christmas gifts' ID'd as parents of Vermont prosecutor

An elderly couple who were busted in Nebraska last week with 60 pounds of marijuana “Christmas presents” for relatives on the East Coast have been identified as the parents of a Vermont prosecutor who has handled some of the state’s most high-profile cases.

Patrick Jiron, 83, and Barbara, 70, of Clearlake Oaks, Calif., were arrested on Dec. 19 in York after police found weed in the back of their pickup truck. The Burlington Free Press later identified them as the parents of Justin Jiron, who is the Chittenden County chief deputy state’s attorney.

"Justin is in no way connected to this allegation other than by relation," Chittenden County State Attorney Sarah George, his boss, told the newspaper. "Justin is and has been a dedicated public servant for over 15 years, and I assure you he is as surprised and upset about these allegations as anyone." ...

[DanaC]

Poor sods. Not doin anybody any harm.