Troops May Not Have Enough Kevlar But Thanks To DuPont We Got Some Great Tires From Goodyear

[orleans]

my daughter saw a tv commercial for goodyear tires and noticed that they said their tires are made with kevlar.

"kevlar? isn't that what the soldiers need for their vests?"

why, i do believe it is.

so...my parent's generation, during wwII, had coupon ration books, people "pitched in" for the war effort, women went without silk stockings, coke stopped making coke because of the scarcity of sugar, people donated metal and rubber to the "war effort"
"Most people were glad to have some way to help, to take an active part in the war. They pitched in to help. Americans accepted rationing. They did without consumer goods happily." http://homefront.mrdonn.org/rationing.html

but -- not so fast -- they'll be no rationing here in bush's war
i mean, really! who the hell wants to do that anymore?


john murtha recently wrote:
"Almost two years ago, I publicly voiced my concerns about the U.S. policies in Iraq -- concerns I started having from visiting the region five months after the initial invasion. I wrote to Secretary Rumsfeld on the urgent need for body armor, electronic jammers, Kevlar blankets for humvees, and a severe shortage of vehicle spare parts." (sept. 17, 2007) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-murtha/nothing-petraeus-said-wil_b_64683.html

""In a recent trip to Iraq, I learned of severe shortages in critical equipment," said Rep. John P. Murtha (D., Pa.) in a Sept. 25 statement. "These included a shortage of over 44,000 body armor with life-saving Kevlar inserts, radio frequency jammers that prevent the remote detonation of bombs and Kevlar blankets for HMMWVs that provide additional protection against injury by mine fragments." (this was in 2004) http://www.usmedicine.com/article.cfm?articleID=772&issueID=3

kevlar? did he say kevlar? why, i do believe he did


in 2006 factcheck.org wrote:
"the initial shortage of up-to-date body armor was not the result of any vote in Congress, but instead was a classic supply-chain foul-up. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office laid the shortage to the inability of manufacturers to meet the Pentagon's sudden increase in demand"
http://www.factcheck.org/article438.html

but hey--it's been kevlar well spent:

"Research shows that SUV owners select their vehicles for a reason - they want the quiet comfort of a luxury passenger car, but also the utility of a minivan. The Goodyear Fortera featuring SilentArmor Technology was created with the demands of an SUV driver in mind, allowing them to select a tire that is strong enough to take on the everyday unexpected, while not compromising the quiet and comfort of a passenger car.

"The Fortera featuring SilentArmor Technology is a perfect blend of utility, strength and style," said Todd Hershberger, Goodyear marketing manager for light-truck tires. "SUV owners choose an SUV over a passenger car because the SUV gives them an extra edge in versatility. This new tire mirrors that kind of versatility. It matches the demanding needs of the SUV driver."

"To achieve its no-compromise performance, the Fortera featuring SilentArmor Technology offers a smooth, quiet and comfortable ride, but also employs an Armor Zone. Three key features make up the Armor Zone:

(the first of which is) "A layer made with KEVLAR, a fiber which is, pound for pound, five times stronger than steel."
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PIL/is_2005_Feb_4/ai_n9481897

pound for pound? i wonder how much tire kevlar would it take to make a soldier's kevlar vest?
would it take two tires? ten tires? and then how many soldiers died from not having kevlar in their flak jackets, or having a kevlar blanket for the humvee....ah, too depressing to even contemplate the math. so i won't.

the good news is:

DuPont ramping up Kevlar production
Thursday, Sep 20, 2007
DuPont is investing about $50 million at its Spruance plant in Chesterfield County to increase production of Kevlar, a lightweight but stronger-than-steel fiber best known for its use in bullet-resistant vests.

The local investment, coming during the next 18 months, could be the first of much more. The Wilmington, Del.-based company plans to spend $500 million to ramp up Kevlar production 25 percent by 2010, in part to meet demand for body and vehicle armor for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and for law-enforcement officers.

About 500 people work in Kevlar production at the Spruance plant, which employs about 2,800, a company spokesman said.

DuPont does not release sales figures for Kevlar. The product is part of the company's safety and protection business unit, which had sales of about $5.6 billion in 2006, up from $5.2 billion in 2005 and $4.7 billion in 2004. About a quarter of that business comes from the advanced-fibers unit, which primarily includes Kevlar and another material made at Spruance, fire-resistant Nomex.

Between 2000 and 2006, DuPont expanded Kevlar production four times, at Spruance and in Northern Ireland, raising capacity about 15 percent.

Powell said several trends have been pushing sales of Kevlar. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan and anti-terrorism spending have driven demand for body and vehicle armor in military and law-enforcement uses, though Powell said the company does not expect or desire that to be a long-term source of sales growth.
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/business.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-09-20-0172.html

so, they better make their money now while the gettin's good because this war gravy train possibly won't last forever

let this be a lesson to everyone: we don't just need to have it one way or the other by rationing or conserving or giving up a product so we can protect the troops in harms way. we can actually have it every fucking way we want. (sure, we're supporting them--just not as fast as they'd like us to. after all, if we don't overindulge ourselves in the freedom our troops are dying for, then what purpose would their deaths serve?)

besides, just look at this great product we can have on our suvs

SilentArmor Technology — Wrangler Tough!
Not every Wrangler gets to wear the SilentArmor Technology shield. The key to SilentArmor Technology lies just beneath the tread. Two high-tensile steel belts and a layer made with KEVLAR®, a material that's, pound for pound, five times stronger than steel, helps to give this tire its toughness.

The same layer made with KEVLAR® also acts as a barrier to help absorb road noise for a smooth, quiet, comfortable ride. It's why we like to call this tire “The Strong, Silent Type.”

http://www.goodyearwrangler.com/goodyearwrangler/html/silentarmor/

the dupont website says: "Chances are you either use Kevlar® or come into contact with it on a regular basis." right. except if you are in the armed services in iraq!


i hope the troops hang tough, because someone is probably planning on getting a new set of goodyear tires for their suv this very weekend



goodyear: we never "tire" out!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmsOIjzQ1V8

[man4allcats]

1. Stop being so damned picky!

What's a few thousand soldiers' lives in exchange for tires and oil for our road machines?! What are you anyway, un-American? Damned pinko commie! Good God a'mighty! They're a'comin' outa th' woodwork, Ma! Ain't nuthin' we can do!

[Eagle_Eye]

2. little george said "go shopping more".

Goodyear tires are on *'s shopping list

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 20, 2006

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-1.html

On about the 11th paragraph down little george said:

"The unemployment rate has remained low, at 4.5 percent. A recent report on retail sales shows a strong beginning to the holiday shopping season across the country -- and I encourage you all to go shopping more."

[orleans]

4. yeah, i remember that go shopping more crap.

what a thing to say

some soldier called into randi's show and made the comment about a month ago:
"we're dying over here and america is at the mall"

damn!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. Don't ration tires ...

ration war.

We have plenty of Kevlar. Especially if we pull our troops out of Iraq.

I think we should make more tires.

[Wiley50]

5. A shortage of Kevlar isn't the problem

The problem is getting the stuff the troops need made out of it

Mostly because the bastards won't fucking order those vests and blankets

They're too busy giving the money away to KBR and Blackwater

and, of course, sliding it under the rug to emerge in Cheney's swiss bank account

[lpbk2713]

6. Yeah but they get all the plastic turkey they can handle ....

Service with a smirk

[orleans]

7. and don't forget the contaminated water! n/t