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Agency’s request for 52,000 rounds of ammo for Hoover Dam prompts an inquiry
Las Vegas Sun ^ | July 9, 2015 | Kyle Roerink

Posted on 07/09/2015 6:05:37 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement

In a move that’s prompting questions about the stockpiling of weapons by the federal government’s nonmilitary agencies, the Bureau of Reclamation wants to buy 52,000 rounds of ammunition for use in law enforcement at Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.

After learning about the purchase request, Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei vowed to inquire with the bureau about its operations, number of officers carrying firearms and how much ammunition it uses, according Brian Baluta, a spokesman for Amodei.

(Excerpt) Read more at lasvegassun.com ...


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: 2a; ammo; ammunition; banglist; bureau; congress; crime; firearms; guncontrol; hooverdam; tyranny
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To: ConservativeStatement

I understand that is rattlesnake territory (sarc)


41 posted on 07/09/2015 8:20:15 AM PDT by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: Norm Lenhart

Not bad. Someday they’ll figure out how to really do faces in CGI. Getting closer every day.


42 posted on 07/09/2015 8:32:10 AM PDT by zeugma (The best defense against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun)
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To: zeugma

Half of the ‘people’ in movies today are CGI. They topped that challenge in 2001 with Final Fantasy: Spirts Within. Most people thought the black dude in the commercial was real.

The pic above is from a video game. If the same model and textures were reimported to 3DS and rendered in proper lighting, I think she’d look completely real.


43 posted on 07/09/2015 8:44:13 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Farmer Dean
LOL, and you know that Platoon sized attacks happens all
the time here in America.


44 posted on 07/09/2015 8:47:33 AM PDT by MaxMax (Call the local GOP and ask how you can support CRUZ for POTUS,)
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To: ConservativeStatement

I can tolerate this one, because Hoover Dam is a huge strategic target, not just for terrorists, but for foreign powers. Knocking it out would put five western states in immediate water crisis, as well as possibly crashing a big part of the western power grid. Annual power generation 4.2 billion kWh.


45 posted on 07/09/2015 8:59:37 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("Don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative." -Obama, 09-24-11)
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To: NorthMountain; Darksheare

Good info...thanks for the correction....


46 posted on 07/09/2015 9:00:24 AM PDT by Squantos ( Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet ...)
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To: Darksheare

How about gas powered flame throwers? Hoover Dam is one of the most dangerous places on earth!


47 posted on 07/09/2015 9:30:02 AM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (My Batting Average( 1,000) (GOPe is that easy to read))
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To: Norm Lenhart
Half of the ‘people’ in movies today are CGI. They topped that challenge in 2001 with Final Fantasy: Spirts Within. Most people thought the black dude in the commercial was real.

Not if they have to do close-ups on the faces. If you saw the movie "Gravity", you saw a movie that was almost completely rendered in CGI, except for one thing - the faces.  Recognising faces is one of the first things we learn as infants, so it is awefully hard to fool us with CGI  It's one of those things that folks who do CGI and similar stuff are well aware of. They can do a pretty good job, but ultimately, folks can tell the difference between a real face and a rendered one. It's easier to do with stills, because many visual cues are lacking in a still, that will be instantly recognisable in a 'real' image.

The pic above is from a video game. If the same model and textures were reimported to 3DS and rendered in proper lighting, I think she’d look completely real.

I disagree. She'd be close, but no cigar. I've yet to see a rendered face that didn't look at least somewhat 'cartoony''  There is a lot of work going on though, in bringing this kind of thing to 'life'. I suspect they'll eventually be able to make characters that you can't distinguish between CGI and live action. They are still a few years down the road from that.

 

48 posted on 07/09/2015 9:52:00 AM PDT by zeugma (The best defense against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun)
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To: zeugma

The tech is there but with movies it’s a cost/benefit ratio.

Take “lydia’ above. The 3d Model is dead on. It’s the details of the textures/mapping that would be the issue.

Her textures are 4000x4000 pixels because to go higher rez would take a lot of memory and CPU to render at 30 FPS video framerate. And she still looks pretty good.

If you jack up the texture resolution, thats all it takes. The lighting render tricks like subsurface scatter and the rest are all there now. the hardware is there now. But time is money. If Hollywood isn’t making it real yet it’s a cost thing. But it CAN be done if the animator/artist has the skill.


49 posted on 07/09/2015 10:04:18 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Norm Lenhart
We'll have to agree to disagree on this. I've never seen a CGI face that looks real. The real test is to have a series of side-by-side shots of various 'characters' and have human beings determine which is 'real' and which are 'fake'. I just don't think they are there yet, except for distant shots, where you can't really see details.

For anything else, yeah, there is no way to tell. Bodies, clothes, fixtures and whatnot are up to par, but I do not believe faces are. However, it's extremely rare that you can be fooled when you see a CGI character walking, or just generally moving around. Generally, the movements are too smooth to be real.

50 posted on 07/09/2015 10:57:28 AM PDT by zeugma (The best defense against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun)
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To: zeugma

I don’t ‘totally’ disagree with you. So far it’s absolutely true that if you really pay attention you can likely tell. I just think that’s a matter of the $$$ and people rather than the tech.

But there are cases IMO they pull it off. The black dude in the commercial was a close up. BUT it was a fairly fast cut so no time to linger on it and study the details in context.

The distance thing is purely a texture issue. The animation/movement is probably the big one here. Most animators are pretty good but there is a lot of detail in movement that contributes to actual realism. And thats a time/money thing.

Just as a side note, I did 3D as a hobby back in the Amiga/Video toaster days as a hobby. When Commodore tanked, it was too expensive for me on the PC and SGI systems were fantasyland.

Every time I play modded Skyrim I marvel at 60 FPS at HDMI rez when I remember a 320x200 pixel mirrorball/checkerboard was an all night render for a single frame.

We have come far ;)


51 posted on 07/09/2015 11:12:58 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Norm Lenhart
We have come far ;)

You're not kidding. I haven't done any 3-d stuff, mainly because I have zero artistic ability. Unlike my daughter, who actually draws playing cards for a living. (She obviously didn't get that from me)

On the other hand, I remember doing deep zooms with Fractint on a 33Mhz 386 that would take literally a week or more to render. (i.e., I couldn't use my computer for the week that it took to draw the screen.

Today, the same zoom level is practically real-time given improvements in pipelining, floating point processers, and the speed of the multi-core CPUs in general.

Astounding. Couple that with the multi-GB of RAM, and there really is no comparison. My desktop has 18GB of ram, whereas that lowly 386 had 1MB originally, though I eventually upgraded to 4MB, and used 2MB for a ram disk most of the time.

AmP

52 posted on 07/09/2015 12:51:04 PM PDT by zeugma (The best defense against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun)
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To: Squantos

Am I ever relieved. I was thinking that the number of ND incidents had skyrocketed. All those professional being so much smarter than the rest of us.

;>)


53 posted on 07/09/2015 1:02:38 PM PDT by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who 4refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: kennedy
One reason the Feds are stockpiling ammunition is to remove it from the market. At the same time they are enacting new regulations to make ammunition more expensive to manufacture and sell. Back door gun control. If you can’t disarm the populace then prevent them from buying ammunition.

Have you been to a sporting goods store lately? They are awash in ammo, including finally now, .22. Cabelas gas as much, if not more ammo now than before the Newtown scare.
54 posted on 07/09/2015 4:01:48 PM PDT by rickomatic
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To: ConservativeStatement

Are there any fedgov agencies that HAVEN’T received bulk orders of ammo?


55 posted on 07/09/2015 6:17:05 PM PDT by artichokeholder
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

He/she will be made the new head of OPM cyber security.


56 posted on 07/10/2015 6:46:43 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.-JFK)
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To: rickomatic
Have you been to a sporting goods store lately? They are awash in ammo, including finally now, .22. Cabelas gas as much, if not more ammo now than before the Newtown scare.

Thank goodness! I can use some 40mm HEDP for my M79, and another dozen rounds for the recoilless would certainly be nice.

The Panzerfausts are okay, but at only 60 meters range, they're kind of short-sighted.

57 posted on 07/10/2015 11:16:01 AM PDT by archy
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To: archy
Have you been to a sporting goods store lately? They are awash in ammo, including finally now, .22. Cabelas gas as much, if not more ammo now than before the Newtown scare. Thank goodness! I can use some 40mm HEDP for my M79, and another dozen rounds for the recoilless would certainly be nice. The Panzerfausts are okay, but at only 60 meters range, they're kind of short-sighted.

Yeah, I hear ya. I still remember the good old days when JC Penny's had barrels full of 40mm HEDPs sitting out on the floor for $6 each. Those days are gone.
58 posted on 07/11/2015 11:34:14 AM PDT by rickomatic
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To: Squantos

Me too. But memories of the dam pale in comparison to memories of a young lady standing atop the dam in sheer white pants and underwear that read Satisfaction Guaranteed easily visible through them.


59 posted on 07/15/2015 1:57:32 PM PDT by gundog (Help us, Nairobi-Wan Kenobi...you're our only hope.)
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To: All

Hey guys,

They needed dos 52 tousand rounds to defend the river against the EPA.

Da EPA released ol dat polution an now dey need to atack dem!!!


60 posted on 08/12/2015 3:19:33 AM PDT by kennyboy509 (Ha! I kill me.)
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