South African of the Day

[Jenny Croft]

Re:South African of the Day - Fri 18 June 2010

The south African store in our town just closed down . Must have been the Hampster incident .

Which country are Hampsters wild in ?

Jenny :kiss:

 

[Rudi Richardson]

Hamsters

jenny croft wrote:

Which country are Hampsters wild in ?

A bit OT but I'll bite (not the hamster ), but hamsters are indigenous to Asia: Syria, Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Siberia, Dzungaria, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Manchuria, India, Nepal, North Korea, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Moldova, Pakistan, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine.

There's also a European hamster: found from Belgium and Alsace in the west, to Russia in the east, and Romania in the south.

 

[Rudi Richardson]

South African of the Day: Sat 19 June 2010

I hope you all are enjoying this thread - feel free to comment if you are (or not)

For today I'm going to post a few pictures of that most infamous of South African Defence Force vehicles, the "Casspir" (and a few variants). Wikiwiki has plenty of info on the vehicle so I won't bore you too much. I honestly have no idea who holds the copyright on these photos; I've had them uploaded in an album for a few years now.

Rudi

 

[BradJ]

Hey Ruders
Is this vehicle a complete SA design and build, or an improvement on a base model?

What is the gun on the back of the vehicle in one of the pics? Looks almost like a recoiless rifle... But then what do I know about modern stuff

Brad

 

[Rudi Richardson]

BradJ wrote:

Hey Ruders
Is this vehicle a complete SA design and build, or an improvement on a base model?

What is the gun on the back of the vehicle in one of the pics? Looks almost like a recoiless rifle... But then what do I know about modern stuff

Brad

Hi Brad,

The vehicle was a SA design and build. Sponsored by the Apartheid government, hence my 'infamous' comment Even as a whitey growing up in a quiet town in the Cape Province, we knew when we saw the yellow Casspir rolling along the road, or on TV, that some serious shit was going down and that some poor bastards were in for rubber bullets :pinch:

If you're talking about the photo I think you're referring to, yes, that's a recoilless rifle.

More about the Casspir, courtesy of WikiWiki:

The Casspir is a landmine-protected personnel carrier (APC) that has been in use in South Africa for over 20 years. It is a four wheeled armoured vehicle, used for transport of troops. It can hold a crew of two, plus 12 additional soldiers and associated gear. The Casspir was unique in design when launched, providing for passive mine defence. The main body of the vehicle is V-shaped and raised above the ground, so that if a mine is detonated, the explosion is less likely to damage the crew compartment and kill the occupants. The cross-section of the hull is V-shaped, directing the force of the explosion outwards, further protecting the occupants. The vehicle is also armoured for added mine safety, as well as protection from small arms fire. The Casspir was the inspiration and prototype for the US Marines MRAP project.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casspir


I think we'll make that today's entry

Rudi

 

[shawngehling]

Sweet,
Thanks for sharing.
Shawn