Faulty Body Armor May Have Endangered Bush

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TunnelRat
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Faulty Body Armor May Have Endangered Bush

Post by TunnelRat »

Faulty Body Armor May Have Endangered Bush
- By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer
Monday, September 26, 2005

The Justice Department is investigating whether a company sold defective bulletproof vests for President Bush, federal agents and local police and then waited nearly two years to alert customers that the body armor could be unsafe.

A former research chief for Second Chance Body Armor Inc. is cooperating with the criminal investigation and testified this month that the Secret Service tested and bought some of the defective vests for the president and first lady Laura Bush. The Pentagon obtained the same armor for elite troops who guard generals, according to transcripts obtained by The Associated Press.

Many sales occurred well after Michigan-based Second Chance had been alerted that the Japanese-made Zylon synthetic material in the vests was degrading faster than expected from heat, light and moisture exposure, allowing bullets to potentially penetrate the armor, according to the former employee's testimony and other company documents.

Prosecutors have gathered documents showing that Second Chance was alerted as early as 1998 by the Japanese material maker, Toyobo Co., that there were problems with Zylon maintaining its protective properties under certain conditions.

By 2001, Second Chance's research chief, Aaron Westrick, was pleading unsuccessfully with his company's president to replace the vests after his own tests showed them degrading rapidly, the memos show.
More at:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... 740D97.DTL
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Post by Daniel »

Isn't this old news? I heard about this like a month ago.
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Post by NavyChief »

I'll be curious what the final story on all this is. My impression (could be way off base) has always been that 2nd Chance was pretty much at the forefront of the good guys. Have I had my head in the sand the whole time? Or did they lose the bubble somewhere along the way?
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Post by Brian D. »

Navy Chief, my understanding is that the development, testing, and eventual use of Zylon was carried out overseas, Japan perhaps? One version of the story is that the testing just wasn't thorough enough, but it was reported differently. It was a huge savings compared to the similar products made here, where supposedly Dupont has a monopoly, so Second Chance and at least one other U.S. company 'took the bait'.

I dunno who's telling the truth. The original guy behind Second Chance, Rich Davis, hasn't been in day-to-day management of the company for some time now , before they were using zylon I think. (He was/is the dude who has many many times literally "stood behind" the quality of his body armor, by donning a vest and then shooting himself!)
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Post by Petrovich »

Brian D. wrote: (He was/is the dude who has many many times literally "stood behind" the quality of his body armor, by donning a vest and then shooting himself!)
I saw a documentary on TV once that showed a guy shooting himself then getting off two shots. It must have been this guy.

He actually did it. He was scared, though...you could tell.
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Post by Brian D. »

Yes, that was sometimes part of the demo too. In fact, I think the first time he "returned fire" after the self-inflicted hit on the vest, he shot a couple of bowling pins to show that he wasn't out of the fight. (He appeared to be doing the test at a dump, and they made likely targets I guess.) And that's how bowling pin matches were thought up, as the legend goes.
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Post by NavyChief »

Brian D. wrote:The original guy behind Second Chance, Rich Davis, hasn't been in day-to-day management of the company for some time now , before they were using zylon I think.
Ahhh... OK, wasn't aware of that. Used to follow that stuff. Haven't for several years now.
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Post by Illuminaughty »

Too bad they stopped using that vest for bush.
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Post by TunnelRat »

Illuminaughty wrote:Too bad they stopped using that vest for bush.
Do you really mean to imply that you would like to see the President wearing a defective vest? Does that then also mean you would like to see the President less protected against an assassin's bullet?

Now who is talking about hate...?
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"Applying the standard that is well established in our case law, we hold that the Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States." ~ McDonald v. Chicago

When your only tools are a hammer and sickle, every problem starts to look like too much freedom.
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Post by Illuminaughty »

tommcnaughton wrote:
Illuminaughty wrote:Too bad they stopped using that vest for bush.
Do you really mean to imply that you would like to see the President wearing a defective vest? Does that then also mean you would like to see the President less protected against an assassin's bullet?

Now who is talking about hate...?
I think if someone was to try to make the notion of a president legitimate, having one that knows the english language a bit better would be a priority.
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Post by jualdeaux »

Too bad they stopped using that vest for bush.
Do you realize how close you just came to a MAJOR criminal offense?
Illuminaughty
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Post by Illuminaughty »

jualdeaux wrote:
Too bad they stopped using that vest for bush.
Do you realize how close you just came to a MAJOR criminal offense?
No. 'the hell are you talking about?
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Post by Petrovich »

It was bound to happen. A liberal has stumbled on to our friendly chat. Do as you please, guys...but I ignore trolls. If you ignore them they go away.
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Post by Illuminaughty »

Petrofergov wrote:It was bound to happen. A liberal has stumbled on to our friendly chat. Do as you please, guys...but I ignore trolls. If you ignore them they go away.
Hardly. It was a joke, the same as your liberal one. I'm an anarchist. A true believer in free market economics.

But far be it from a simpleton like you understanding anything but right wing and left wing.
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Post by Illuminaughty »

tommcnaughton wrote:
Illuminaughty wrote:Too bad they stopped using that vest for bush.
Do you really mean to imply that you would like to see the President wearing a defective vest? Does that then also mean you would like to see the President less protected against an assassin's bullet?

Now who is talking about hate...?
I really should elaborate. I don't mean to imply anything. I think bush should die. I don't plan on wasting my life killing him or even spend time to that end. I just kind of wish he'd choke on a pretzel or something.

Keep in mind I've thought the same for about every president besides the real early ones, because I do believe our forefathers weren't corrupt, hollywood-whoring bastards.

I'm talking about hate, silly. That's what emotion drives people to want people dead. :) I never said hate was a bad thing, I just said hating people because of stereotypes and not precise reasons is lunacy.
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