USCG Steps Up Marine Interdiction on Det River

**Meddle** · September-21-09, 11:23 PM

The latest weapon in the war against terrorism and smuggling is on the Detroit River today, a sleek 43-foot boat with a quartet of 350-horsepower engines. That’s the most horsepower that can be run with the 20,000-pound boat, given the effective power-to-weight ratio, said Thomas Norton, director of the National Marine Center under the Department of Homeland Security.

The boat, called an Advanced Concept Demonstrator Vessel, is a $900,000 prototype, here to test what could be coming in the next generation of border patrol boats.

It has about 500 more horsepower than the current generation of 39-foot patrol boats, with top speeds close to 75 m.p.h., compared to a top speed of about 62 m.p.h. for the current boats. The boat is a delicate balance of racing versus maneuverability and this morning, the crew demonstrated that by doing donuts at nearly top speeds, heeled over so far, the rail was nearly in the water.

http://freep.com/article/20090921/NE...-Detroit-River

**Grundyke** · September-21-09, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

http://freep.com/article/20090921/NE...-Detroit-River

That is one bad ass machine!

**Gannon** · September-22-09, 06:27 AM

That is one bad-ass WASTE OF FUCKING MONEY.

Our money. Money the country supposedly doesn't have.

Unbelievable. Rah-rah. Anyone who thinks this is cool has their head up their ass.

**ejames01** · September-22-09, 06:46 AM

My head is up my ass.

Originally Posted by Gannon

That is one bad-ass WASTE OF FUCKING MONEY.

Our money. Money the country supposedly doesn't have.

Unbelievable. Rah-rah. Anyone who thinks this is cool has their head up their ass.

**Gannon** · September-22-09, 07:03 AM

Just another lock-step in the militarization of the police, in a time of peace.

Why do you think this is so cool?

Why is it necessary?!

If they positioned submarines in the river, with nuclear engines that could beat anyone in a race...wouldn't that be even COOLER?!

**Gannon** · September-22-09, 07:04 AM

Canada is SUCH a threat.

The Great Lakes are not at risk.

This is a huge waste in every way possible.

**Meddle** · September-22-09, 07:33 AM

USCG has been involved in marine law enforcement for decades along coastlines and borders. Their boats out of Miami are heavily armed. They don't mention armament on this one.

**Sstashmoo** · September-22-09, 08:26 AM

Gannon,

Totally agreed, another million shot in the ass and monument to the fact this country can't keep it's nose out of other people's affairs. These idiots that bought this piece of shit should do a little reading, they had several boats which were state of the art for the era during prohibition and had very little effect. A little reading on the Great wall and Maginot line would help too.

"The latest weapon in the war against terrorism and smuggling is on the Detroit River today" this country gets more like 30's Germany every day.

**Maple Leaf Rag** · September-22-09, 08:40 AM

I must respectfully disagree with Mr. Gannon. As one of the more erudite posters on DY, you should have realised that the boat is NOT to protect Detroit from the mean old Canadians, but instead to keep the taxpayers of the US from fleeing into Canada. Tax revenue BAMN!

**EastsideAl** · September-22-09, 08:47 AM

Thank goodness for this super boat. Goodness knows that so many Canadians are clamoring to get out of the hell hole that is Windsor and flee into the east side of Detroit, where they can be free to buy cheaper cigarettes and pay for their own health care.

As someone who resides near the river, I live in constant fear that some drunk Canadian boater will sneak into my neighborhood and do something awful, like maybe put vinegar on his fries or something.

**Gannon** · September-22-09, 08:49 AM

LOL, @Rag. Perhaps that is why I am so against this thing!

I especially LOVE the one-mile vision with imagery capable of being upheld in court. What are they going to do? Pulverize the hedonists out on the Jobbie Nooner next year?!

This will kill the rest of the pleasure boat industry, they've already maimed until dead Crystal Bay.

Pleasure is illegal...we're one lock-step closer to Orwell's 1984. [[is that better, Ravine?! thanks)

**Detroitnerd** · September-22-09, 08:50 AM

Gannon obviously has a good, active bullshit detector. Need universal health care? We're out of money. Want your social security? We have to cut it; not enough money. Want mortgage relief? No money for that.

But want a $1 million boat to patrol the border? That's cool. We got this. Anything for the empire: War, Wall Street bailouts, hundreds of military bases spanning the globe, border fences, tax breaks for the super-wealthy, money for right-wing paramilitaries, etc. But not a penny for social stuff. That would be reckless spending.

**Gannon** · September-22-09, 08:50 AM

Thanks for lightening this up, guys. Really.

They put vinegar on WHAT?! At least that is better than mayonnaise.

**jcole** · September-22-09, 08:54 AM

IF you read the article, you would know that it is a prototype here for testing, not posted here. Talk about a tempest in a teapot.

The boat, called an Advanced Concept Demonstrator Vessel, is a $900,000 prototype, here to test what could be coming in the next generation of border patrol boats.

http://freep.com/article/20090921/NE...-Detroit-River
Also, there are other borders that the USCG protects than just US/Canada. They do need equipment for those borders too.

**Det_ard** · September-22-09, 09:13 AM

+1 in the head up my ass crowd.

**Gannon** · September-22-09, 09:17 AM

I daresay that three doesn't make a crowd...although I might feel a wee bit suffocated with y'all around me at the bar.

Yeah, this thing will be the pattern for dozens of ill expenditures well into our very poor future...targeting pleasure nationwide. Heh.

Nineteen hundred and eighty four...twenty five years late. Just long enough to get some to forget...

**jams** · September-22-09, 09:56 AM

They don't mention armament on this one.

By Treaty armaments on the Great Lakes are forbidden.

...and I have to agree with Gannon, this whole Homeland Security thing makes me a bit nervous.
If a security situation is declared they automatically become the lead agency, supeceding even the FBI, State and local police. Even without a security situation, Homeland Security is, within 25 miles of the border, the top of the heap in law enforcement.

When I worked in Delray, I watched them make traffic stops daily.

**Grundyke** · September-22-09, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Gannon

That is one bad-ass WASTE OF FUCKING MONEY.

Our money. Money the country supposedly doesn't have.

Unbelievable. Rah-rah. Anyone who thinks this is cool has their head up their ass.

I said the boat was bad ass, not that it was a good deal or worth the purchase. But quite honestly it really does not matter because the government is going to keep developing and buying product [[no matter what type it is) as they see fit. People that do not understand that have more than their head up their ass!

**Bobl** · September-22-09, 11:03 AM

Still more wasted tax dollars.
The real threat to our region, and the Great Lakes, is the plethora of invasive species of plant and animal life that are invading the ecosystem.
While millions of dollars are appropriated for quick boats, the only barrier keeping the Bighead and Silver Carp out is literally patched together near Chicago. One interruption of power to the electric shield will result in devastation of the Lakes, and the tourist industry. DNA from the Silver Carp has been found literally outside the canal barrier.
Phragmites, Zebra Mussells, Gobi, and other pests are flourishing. Few Canadians are attemptong to invade.

**GRALR** · September-22-09, 11:55 AM

[quote=Maple Leaf Rag;71186]I must respectfully disagree with Mr. Gannon. As one of the more erudite posters on DY, you should have realised that the boat is NOT to protect Detroit from the mean old Canadians, but instead to keep the taxpayers of the US from fleeing into Canada. Tax revenue BAMN![/quote

You and Gannon are on target!

Isn't it wonderful! I like the airport security too. They keep us safe.

For those of us who can remember the 70's and air travel it was a different world. Catch me if you Can shows it well. I wonder if you took a traveler in 1972 and instantly put them in an airport today what they would think?

**FlyByDon** · September-22-09, 12:04 PM

Remember the book 1984?
Well as I see it much of that book is starting to become reality, only now it’s called
[[Homeland Security)

"The party also seeks to facilitate this by creating a new language in which all unorthodox thoughts are essentially impossible because the words necessary to formulate them - like “right,” “liberty,” or “justice” - are no longer part of anyone’s vocabulary."

FlyBy

**Gannon** · September-22-09, 01:16 PM

Grundyke,

Point made.

Sounds like a bunch of us will need emergency proctology soon!

**Grundyke** · September-22-09, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by Gannon

Grundyke,

Point made.

Sounds like a bunch of us will need emergency proctology soon!

I pretty much do agree with you but I am a boat guy and I just thought, well, it is bad ass! I spent many years on the Texas/Mexican border and grew up with a huge Border Patrol and Coast Guard presence and saw government go fast boats with guns, helicopters, and jets everyday patrolling so I guess I am just immune to the fact that these exist and I am not startled by them. I do agree that it would be a waist to have that sort of boat on the Detroit River but I do think it has a purpose. By me down in Texas they have been using one of those cameras that can see a mile for ten years at least. It is mounted on top of hotel so they can see down the beach.

**Gannon** · September-22-09, 01:31 PM

Cool, so you're already OK with the unreasonable search features then.

Just because they CAN, doesn't mean they SHOULD.

If you're a boat person, then you know this is a petrol eliminator...every time they fire up those four 350HP engines they will be dumping fuel through them.

Of course, it'll be loud enough for Homeland InSecurity to write it off as advertising...

Cheers!

**Fnemecek** · September-22-09, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

USCG has been involved in marine law enforcement for decades along coastlines and borders. Their boats out of Miami are heavily armed. They don't mention armament on this one.

There was no mention of armament in the article itself. However, if one looks at the video that is one that same page, a mounted machine gun is clearly visible.