Sunday, September 29, 2013

2013 Wisconsin National Horse & Pony Pull

The Dunn County Recreation Center in Menomonie, Wisconsin was once again the scene of one the premier events of the year for working draft horses on the weekend of Sept. 13-15, the Wisconsin National Pull.  Horse pullers from all over the midwest gathered to test the strength of their horses against other teams in pulling either a weighted stone boat or the marvel of early twentieth century engineering, the Lance Machine.  photo 2013nationalhorsepull003_zpsbe8b1d15.jpg One of a number built at the University of Iowa in 1927 to determine the actual horsepower of a team of horses, the apparatus is used in lieu of the boat, eliminating the need to add concrete weights during the course of the contest.  photo 2013nationalhorsepull004_zps2d8ccb21.jpg  photo 2013nationalhorsepull005_zps83083087.jpg Prior to the Sunday contest Mike Larsen's heavy-weight Belgian drafters, Ted and Rusty, homebred half-brothers from the Larsen farm near Denmark, WI, wait for their entry into the arena.  photo 2013nationalhorsepull010_zpsa19f3c59.jpg Ted and Rusty were the only team to pull the required 27'06" with a number of 3900 on the Lance machine.  photo 2013nationalhorsepull015_zpsd0c55402.jpg Mike Larsen with his team and his championship trophy.

Replacement For the Galaxie 500



DSOMRAP.JPG
The surplus "MRAP", developed for and used by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan at a price of supposedly $600,000 per copy, is being distributed to various US law enforcement agencies for use in serving warrants, as mentioned here.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

SWAT Team Kills 107 Year Old Man

In what may be a new record, the Pine Bluff, AR police have given the death penalty to a 107 year old fellow that refused to cooperate, as explained here.