There is a thread on Reddit engaging the OccupyEMS individual who posted the picture. Some are calling him a troll.
I’m not buying that. If you read his comments, it’s not the typical fare for a troll.
Others are saying his sign says he’ll do his job. I’m not buying that either. He’s threatening the police with less that 100% effort. Otherwise, why post the sign at all?
As promised, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) looked into the safety of lithium batteries after a Chevrolet Volt caught fire back in May. After conducting three different tests two weeks ago, the NHTSA found that the Volt’s battery either caught fire or began to smoke in two out of the three.
General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Volt underwent several tests in a NHTSA Wisconsin facility earlier this year. On May 12, 2011, it experienced the side-impact crash test. Three weeks later, the plug-in electric vehicle (EV) caught fire while parked in the NHTSA testing center.
The fire, which was fierce enough to burn other vehicles parked nearby, prompted an investigation of the Chevrolet Volt and the safety of lithium batteries.
The NHTSA conducted side-impact crash tests for the Chevrolet Volt on November 16, 17 and 18. After each test, the batteries of the three separate Volts were then rotated 180 degrees. Out of the three tests, two resulted in fire, smoke or sparks while one remained normal.
The November 16 test had normal results, while the November 17 test led to a battery fire one week later and the November 18 test caused the battery to smoke and emit sparks. The battery packs of the three Volts were not drained after any of the crashes.
The results have led to a formal investigation of the safety of the Chevrolet Volt and its lithium battery.
As if the Volt’s sales weren’t horrific enough, learning that you can most likely expect a battery fire if you get T-boned won’t be a feature most motivated buyers are looking for in their green machine.
However, GM has started a program where first responders are dispatched to “immediately depower the battery of a Chevrolet Volt after a severe crash.”
I feel safer already.
Update from the comments:
This is simply not accurate reporting. DailyTech got it wrong and people are running with their mistake.
“The NHTSA conducted side-impact crash tests for the Chevrolet Volt on November 16, 17 and 18.”
No, NHTSA conducted tests on the battery packs themselves, trying to duplicate the conditions that led to a fire in a crash tested Volt last spring. Here’s what NHTSA says they did:
“In an effort to recreate the May test, NHTSA conducted three tests last
week on the Volt’s lithium-ion battery packs that intentionally
damaged the battery compartment and ruptured the vehicle’s coolant
line. Following a test on November 16 that did not result in a fire, a
temporary increase in temperature was recorded in a test on November
17. During the test conducted on November 18 using similar protocols,
the battery pack was rotated within hours after it was impacted and
began to smoke and emit sparks shortly after rotation to 180 degrees.
NHTSA’s forensic analysis of the November 18 fire incident is
continuing this week. Yesterday, the battery pack that was tested on
November 17 and that had been continually monitored since the test
caught fire at the testing facility. The agency is currently working
with DOE, DOD, and GM to assess the cause and implications of
yesterday’s fire. In each of the battery tests conducted in the past
two weeks, the Volt’s battery was impacted and rotated to simulate a
real-world, side-impact collision into a narrow object such as a tree
or a pole followed by a rollover.”
The November tests were not “side-impact crash tests” on the Volt. They were tests on the battery packs themselves.
You can read the full NHTSA press release here:
http://www.carsindepth.com/?p=…
The conditions that led to the fire are not very common in real life. There was first a side impact into a pole at 20 mph, then the car was rolled over, and even then it took three weeks for the fire to start. Nobody has to worry that their Volt is going to start burning while they wait for a tow truck after a fender bender. Still, it’s worth looking into. Already as a result of the fire last spring, GM is starting to educate first responders and second responders (tow truck and salvage workers) on the need to discharge the batteries in the event of a serious collision. There’s a learning curve here. I’ve spoken with people working on the Volt project and my impression is that they are genuinely trying to make the best product they can make. Outside of the cost and political considerations, the Volt is an impressive piece of engineering.
Rep. Barney Frank, who has served in the United States Congress for seventeen terms, has decided he’s had enough:
The Boston Globe says the 16-term lawmaker will be making the announcement himself.
The news comes about a month after Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.) announced his retirement and just after Gov. Deval Patrick signed the new Congressional map. The new lines significantly shifted Frank’s 4th district.
The newly drawn 4th meanders from his longtime base of support in the liberal town of Newton and the city of Brookline down to a portion of Fall River. It will remain a Safe Democratic seat.
It wasn’t even Barney’s defense of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the House floor.
It was redistricting. Al least Florida had the decency to get rid of Alan Grayson. Massachusetts kept this guy around for seventeen terms!
I can’t wait to see what rises from the ashes of this liberal giant to take over where he left off. He could be a transvestite, crack smoking, serial killer, but if he’s got a “D” after his name, Massachusetts Democrats will vote for him.
The first time I went to CPAC, I went as a paid attendee, not as a blogger. I eventually got a seat on Blogger’s Row, and early one morning, I was the first one to take a seat there.
Then another person showed up. It was Dr. James Joyner of Outside the Beltway. I introduced myself and he said he was pleased to meet me. Then he asked if I was going to the breakfast.
Breakfast? What breakfast?
The Gingrich breakfast, he said. “For bloggers.”
I said I hadn’t been invited. And he told me to just come with him. And so I did. I got to meet Newt for the first time and attended my first blogger briefing by a top political figure.
It was very exciting. For me anyway.
Without James reaching out to a small blogger, I wouldn’t have been able to attend that breakfast. It wasn’t much, but it meant a lot to me. And I think gives me a glimpse of the type of guy James is. He could have just said, “Sucks for you.” and left me there. But he he didn’t. He took me along.
She leaves behind two little girls she loved more than anything, Katie, who turns 3 on New Year’s Eve, and Ellie, who was born June 21.
We met in August 2004 and were married on October 8, 2005. She had just turned 35 and I was a few weeks shy of 40 but neither of us had been married before. We shared religious and political worldviews but very different personalities. She was extroverted, sunny, and patient to my introverted, grumpy, and antsy. I almost certainly got the better of that bargain.
Kim was my partner, helpmate, and confidante. Her passing leaves a gaping hole in my life.
I have repeatedly said that the All American Wife is the best thing to ever happen to me. If I were to lose her, I wouldn’t know what to do next.
My prayers to out to James and his little girls. I pray they find support in the friends and family they have and they find strength to get through this time.
I also pray that you use the death of Kimberly Webb Joyner to recognize that time on this planet is finite and tomorrow isn’t promised. Hold close to those you love and make sure they know you love them. You may not get another chance to tell them.
I threw a few more links in since my blogging was so sparse this week. The Steve Miller Band was inspired by something the All American Wife said to me this morning to help get me out of bed and moving.
The All American Wife called me at work today with a funny story from the local Wal-Mart. It’s in a town of about 10,000 people, give or take a few hundred.
Last night, the Wal-Mart did some Black Friday type sales at 10 pm and midnight. According to a woman who was there, a pregnant woman was standing in one of the lines for the midnight sales. The man behind her touched her. Then touched her again.
She asked that he stop. He touched her again.
The pregnant woman became rightfully agitated and again asked the man to stop touching her.
He touched her again.
Then, the Marine standing the behind the man touched him. Right on his chin.
He didn’t touch the pregnant woman again. God bless Marines.
A woman trying to improve her chance to buy cheap electronics at a Walmart in a wealthy suburb spewed pepper spray on a crowd of shoppers and 20 people suffered minor injuries, police said Friday.
The attack took place about 10:20 p.m. Thursday shortly after doors opened for the sale at the Walmart in Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley.
The store had brought out a crate of discounted Xbox video game players, and a crowd had formed to wait for the unwrapping, when the woman began spraying people “in order to get an advantage,” police Sgt. Jose Valle said.
“Faces were red,” shopper John Lopez told ABC News Radio. “This one guy was coming up to my wife going, ‘Call an ambulance! Call an ambulance!’”
Matthew Lopez, 18, told the Los Angeles Times he heard screaming and yelling.
“Moments later, my throat stung. I was coughing really bad and watering up,” he said.
In the aftermath, video showed dozens of shoppers milling around while employees urge them to back up and make room.
There is no XBOX discount so deep that it’s worth facing a felony battery charge, which is what this woman is now looking at.
I have yet to be off work on Black Friday, so I have not had the pleasure of facing the hordes. I think I’d bring my Flip, rather than my shopping list.
It’s like humanity turns into a mass of honey badgers. (Language not safe for work.)
I will call this Ron Paul porn, for all the Ron Paul supporters I have offended in the past.
This interview was conducted during Dr. Paul’s run for president as the Libertarian Party’s candidate.
Enjoy.
I find it hilarious that the first thing Buckley says is that he had never had as much mail regarding having someone on his show as he did for Ron Paul. It seems his supporters have been energetic for decades.
