Car Bombs Kill 14 in Iraq, Officials Say

A series of car bomb explosions in and around Baghdad killed 14 people including seven policemen on Thursday, police officials said, adding that dozens were also wounded.

The officials said the deadliest attacks took place late at night when a suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden car into the headquarters of a police commando unit in the Taji area, killing seven policemen and wounding 12 others.

Taji is 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Baghdad.

Violence has spiked in Iraq in recent weeks, raising fears of a return to widespread sectarian bloodshed.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,045 Iraqi civilians and security personnel were killed in May. The tally surpassed April’s 712 killed, making May the deadliest month recorded since June 2008.

Earlier in the day, police officials said a car bomb exploded at a livestock market in the southeastern suburb of Nahrawan, killing four civilians and wounding 22. A second car bomb went off in the industrial area of the southwestern neighborhood of Bayaa, killing three people and wounding 11.

Three medical officials confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.

The attacks came just a day after gunmen ambushed a group of travelers at a fake checkpoint at a desert site in western Iraq, killing at least 14 of them.

Tesla’s next electric car line: What we know

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There are barely 10,000 Tesla Model S electric cars on the roads, and its Model X crossover won’t arrive for more than a year.

Still, at yesterday’s Tesla Motors annual meeting, CEO Elon Musk’s comments on the startup automaker’s long-range plans for a second, less expensive line of electric cars caught many ears.

We’ve known for a while that Tesla wants to launch a smaller, much less expensive compact electric sedan within a few years.

Adding in some material from a lengthy Musk interview with the Bloomberg news service–and a host of other sources–here’s what we know so far.

CODE NAME: The new compact sedan is often referred to as “Blue Star,” following in line with “White Star,” which turned into the Model S.

BODY STYLES: A compact sedan, described as a BMW 3-Series competitor, will come first, to be followed by a crossover utility vehicle on the same platform.

POSITIONING: Musk told Bloomberg that the new model will be a “compelling, affordable car” that’s far less costly than the Model S, but nicer than the high-volume Nissan Leaf.

“What the world really needs is a great, affordable electric car,” Musk said in the interview. “I’m not going to let anything go, no matter what people offer, until I complete that mission.”

RANGE: The new model will have a range of about 200 miles, Musk told Bloomberg.

TIMING: With the Model X now going on sale at the end of 2014, Musk said the new, smaller Tesla will go into production in late 2016. If history is any guide, the design will likely be unveiled sometime in 2015.

COST: The new model is planned to cost roughly half of what a Model S does, with Musk admitting that the large luxury sedan is “too expensive for most people.”

Various estimates have ranged from $30,000–technically half of the now-canceled 40-kWh, $59,900 version of the Model S–to less than $40,000.

We suspect that Tesla may be quoting post-incentive prices for the lower of those numbers. Even by 2016, it seems unlikely that the company will have built the 200,000 vehicles that trigger a wind-down of the $7,500 Federal purchase incentive.

STYLING: Musk said the Generation III car will have “a family resemblance” to the Model S.

BATTERY TECHNOLOGY: Tesla has said nothing about its battery technology for the new vehicle, but we know that its cell partner and part owner Panasonic continues to work on more energy-dense cells and cost reductions for high-volume cell fabrication.

Musk said at the annual meeting that it is working with Panasonic on new chemistry for cells optimized for use in electric-car applications. He said he was “pretty optimistic” that the necessary advances in battery technology are achievable without “any miracles happening.”

Tesla has not addressed the more interesting question of whether part of the cost reduction will come from using fewer, larger lithium-ion cells, as do other automakers. Both the Model S and Tesla’s earlier Roadster model use several thousand small commodity cells wired together in their battery packs.

OTHER TECHNOLOGY: Musk hinted that the new line might have some elements of autonomous driving, but suggested those might not be offered right at the launch.

With Tesla and its Silicon Valley neighbor Google working together, those elements might be based on Google’s research into self-driving cars.

You can rest assured that between now and the launch of the next line of Tesla cars and crossovers, there will be more coverage of every detail.

Magic Cars and Silver Bullets: Will the Self-Driving Car Save the World?

Back in the day, we beheld the future, and in it, we were zipping about in electric cars. Yes, on that day way back in the aughts, we beheld a future in which a passel of problems were about to become passé: crippling gas prices, entanglements with oil-rich frenemies, dirty air, and climate-changing emissions would all disappear through the magic of automotive engineering. Chevy’s Volt, Nissan’s Leaf, and next generation EVs would mitigate car culture’s costs. And we would still get to drive all over kingdom come.

What happened to the fantasy of EVs should provide a reality check to our understanding of self-driving cars — but that doesn’t seem to be happening.

Just over 71,000 of the vehicles now traversing America’s roads are electric — less than 0.03 percent of the total. Their share is likely to remain in the single digits through 2035. The revolution so heavily televised hasn’t happened.

New CAFE standards championed by environmentalists and set by the EPA have had a more profound effect, forcing incremental improvements to models across automakers’ fleets. Model year 2012 saw the greatest annual boost in fuel economy since 1975; from MY2006 to 2011, emissions dropped 10 percent as fuel economy improved 11 percent. Still, overall fuel economy remains under 24 mpg, far from the triple-digit dream that electric cars presented when rolled out. Experts also caution that the used-car market could undermine these standards, keeping old gas-guzzlers on the road longer as people avoid buying pricier new cars.

The evolution toward a less gas-guzzling car fleet is a slow one, nudged along by force of advocacy and regulation, and so too will be the evolution toward safer, self-driving cars.

It’s hard to tell this, though, from the coverage of self-driving cars in the media, which might be even more breathless than the coverage of EVs. Hopped-up headlines blare that self-driving cars will “change our lives.” They are going to “change everything.” Crash rates and insurance and medical costs will go down! Fuel efficiency up! Pollution and traffic congestion down! Productivity up! And everything’s going topsy-turvy“faster than you think” — our dramatic new future is once again moments away. Get ready.

Of course, self-driving cars have their critics. Some say consumers will resist them, distrusting their new technology or disbelieving they’d be fun to drive. Others claim that consumers should resist them because they are part of a government plot. Still others worry whether or not regulators can keep up with technology well enough to protect the public interest. NHTSA’s policy statement on “automated vehicle development,” released last week, gives credence to this concern, explaining that the agency “is conducting research on self-driving vehicles so that [it] has the tools to establish standards for these vehicles.”

EVs faced similar charges pre-launch. Yet one argument used against electric cars has not been employed against self-driving cars, though it is among the most compelling: that they benefit only elites.

Hay has been made of the Volt’s roughly $40,000 price compared to the $30,000 average amount paid for a vehicle. Driverless cars could cost many thousands more. Yes, savings may come in the cost of ownership of these vehicles, but a high purchase price remains a hurdle only the well-financed can cross. The companies integrating some early self-driving technologies are mostly luxury purveyors: Audi, Mercedes, Volvo. And if the entire fleet ultimately turns over to self-driving cars, the last to have them will be the car-dependent poor, which means that if these cars are all they’re cracked up to be, the poor will be the last ones stuck driving the most dangerous, most costly-to-operate vehicles on the road.

Even Randall O’Toole, who predicts “fully self-driving cars” will be sold in the U.S. by 2020, admits that flow-through would take another 18 years, so now we’re talking 2030-2040. More cautious forecasters, including some auto execs, don’t see truly autonomous cars arriving for several more decades. A few automotive journalists have acknowledged cars that entirely or largely drive themselves may never come to be (although headlines such as “At High Speed, on the Road to a Driverless Future” fail to reflect that tempered view.) So we should expect — or hope — that the process will be slow if we expect regulators to help maximize safety. Viva la Evolución.

So, is there any harm in the hype? Full-bore enthusiasm may be needed to produce incremental improvements, and every increment in lives saved is a good thing. Pedestrian detection systems alone could advance traffic safety. Viva la Evolución.

The harm is this: Perpetuating the belief that a magic car will be the silver bullet that solves our transportation problems doesn’t just focus too narrowly on automotive solutions to transportation problems — it slows down progress on non-automotive solutions. Detractors of transit like to point out that it can take decades for investments in rail infrastructure to be realized, claiming that nimble private car companies can and will bring us a better future more quickly. Media salivation over self-driving cars helps sustain this myth.

It also furthers the notion that the only really cool transportation technologies are automotive ones, preserving the car as a key marker of social status and symbol of progress. This makes it harder to encourage healthier and more sustainable and efficient modes, and harder to rally taxpayers behind transit investments.

“Mobility is freedom, at least a part of it,” O’Toole states, and that’s not wrong. What’s wrong is the persistent conflation of mobility with cars, born of a fascination with the latest gee-whiz technology. The expansion of mobility and freedom must work for all — not just those who can shell out for the latest vehicle.

Homeless man struck by 2 cars in Anaheim; 1 driver sought

The search is under way for a hit-and-run driver, who struck a homeless man in Anaheim.

According to investigators, the victim was hit by two cars Thursday night. First, he was struck by a small white car on Katella Avenue just west of Euclid Avenue.

Moments later, he was hit again by another vehicle. That second car stopped, but the driver of the white car took off.

The victim was taken to an area hospital in critical condition. He is expected to survive.

Marin Sonoma Concours d’Elegance — classic and vintage cars, including a few owned by movie stars.

Many of them look pristine enough to eat off — careful with that fender, son; watch your ice cream. And the work (not to mention the money) that has gone into these cars makes them worth a visit.

The concours will be held this Sunday (May 19, 2013) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the greensward near the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, Calif. Among the cars are a 1961 Cooper Formula Junior once owned by Steve McQueen; a 1960 Rolls-Royce convertible that belonged to Elizabeth Taylor; Jean Harlow’s 1932 Packard Sport Phaeton; and a 1953 Muntz Jet once owned by Gloria DeHaven.

The concours will also feature a custom car made by Oakland designer and builder Steve Moal; and various Corvettes and Lamborghinis, cars celebrating, respectively, their 60th and 50th anniversaries.

Salisbury man combines love for family, cars and wood carving

He is the father of two children, Tori and Taylor, both 19 and adopted from Guatemala. They are his priority and inspiration, which he expresses in the wood carvings he has made to adorn his home.

He cuts the wood for the sculptures from his 38-acre backyard. He keeps hens for eggs and hopes to raise horses. In the meantime, he works in auto body repair, his career for more than 35 years.

DeAngelis talks very little but there is plenty of evidence around him to speak for his life.

The antique car is reminiscent of the first ride he owned at age 15. Like his first fixer-upper, the yellow Ford did not run when he acquired it. He worked for three years until it did. The family now uses the relic on weekend trips.

He worked just as intensely to construct his house, which he built with help from his father, while working a full-time job. His brother also bought land nearby, so they built two homes simultaneously in nine months. A few years later, he helped to build homes for his sister and parents.

“I like to stay busy,” he says.

The wood carvings are now his greatest passion. It began with his desire to own a cigar-shop Indian for his “man-cave.” He couldn’t afford to buy one, so he attempted to carve one. It turned out better than he expected, and it wowed his friends.

He then started carving animals, including giraffes, lions, alpacas, squirrels and eagles. He tried carving totem poles and angels. Most recently, he finished a life-size Lehigh Valley Phantoms minor league hockey player.

The 8-foot giraffe in the living room is impressive, but it doesn’t match the sculptures he has made of his wife Denise and their children. Stand by Tori’s real-life carving and you can feel much of what DeAngelis doesn’t express with words.

“That was really important for me to do that,” DeAngelis says about the sculptures of his family. “I wanted to make something that would last forever.”

The deep look on the wood carving that DeAngelis made of his children demonstrates that he puts his whole being into these pieces of art that will survive him.

Lately, he has been obsessing over the hockey player, which he hopes will find a home in the new Allentown arena.

“Sometimes it’s hard to stop,” he says about his carving projects. “But I have to move on to the next piece because I have so much in my mind.”

He attributes his gift as an artisan to his father, who he describes as “a heck of a carpenter.” His children have yet to take an interest in wood carving but he finds ways to bond with them. He enjoys snowboarding with his son and running in the yard after the chickens with Taylor.

He is loyal to weekly date nights with Denise, which some days include riding around in his 1934 Ford. Despite the pride he takes in keeping his car in mint shape, he is often self-conscious to call attention to himself on the road.

He prefers to remain under the radar, tending to his family and his hobbies. Mindful of this, Denise contacted The Morning Call to boast of his accomplishments.

At 55, DeAngelis has lived a life worth telling, and his realistic carvings tell his tale.

Smashed U.S. cars get a second chance in Afghanistan

They sit in the sun harboring their lost histories, their forgotten dreams, their traces of funerals, graduations and stolen kisses. On dusty windshields, insurance stickers from Travelers and State Farm bear witness to wrecks in “Metro DC,” “Hardin, Texas,” and “North Hollywood,” some with bright orange “total loss” decals.

For their former owners, that was it, nothing left but a story to recount of a corner rounded too quickly, a red light run, one too many drinks for the road.

But here on the highway to Iran, thousands of used cars from America and Western Europe begin a second life.

Afghanistan doesn’t manufacture its own cars, or much else, so most vehicles sold here are “pre-owned” (and many pre-crashed — but with barely a dent thanks to deft repair work by local body shops).

Most begin their journey by ship to a new world of unpaved roads, kidnappers and Islamist militants after being auctioned to middlemen by U.S. or European insurers. The vehicles land in Dubai or other ports and are then transferred onto other ships bound for Pakistan or — after being resold to circumvent U.S. and European sanctions — Iran.

The final leg of their trip to this “graveyard of empires” (and Toyota Corollas) is via transport truck.

American brands don’t sell as well as Japanese and are hard to find parts for, said Abdullah, a salesman with Herat’s Tamin Ansar Autos who, like many Afghans, uses only one name. “I know one guy who sells Fords,” he said. “He sold them very cheap. They use too much gas.”

Musty interiors reveal vestiges of former lives, from sweat-stained lumbar supports and air-freshener strips to coffee-stained upholstery and shag carpeting.

Dealers in this Muslim country are careful to remove such potentially offensive hitchhikers as liquor bottles and pork-sandwich wrappers. “No one worries if ‘infidels’ drove them, as long as they’re cleaned,” said car-lot owner Abdul Aziz, 35.

Some lots sport frayed colored flags and one has a rusting model airplane out front, but there isn’t much devoted to marketing, as evidenced by dealers who apparently see insurance “collision” stickers as a point of pride.

Prices range from $15,000 for late-model used Toyotas to $2,500 for aging wrecks. Unlike their American cousins, most northern European cars here aren’t accident victims and thus command higher prices.

“I think Germans and Swiss must be better drivers, neater, more law abiding,” Aziz said as a chicken strutted past. “Americans have that cowboy history.”

Used-car importing became a lucrative business after Taliban rule ended in late 2001. But uncertainty tied to the departure of foreign combat troops in 2014 is now hurting the Afghan economy.

On a recent Friday, normally the week’s busiest shopping day, a handful of shoppers browsed the half-mile strip of 30 or so used-car lots lining both sides of the road a few miles west of Herat.

“We have nothing but time,” said Aziz, watching as his 3-year-old son, Omar, and friend Kaihan, 8, took one of his cars for a spin. Kaihan sat atop a booster on the driver’s seat, and Aziz said Omar also sometimes took the wheel. Sure, he said, the kids are too young for driver’s licenses, but they stay inside the lot and have never had an accident.

Three years ago, customers snapped up two or three of the road warriors a day, dealers say. Now two weeks can pass without a sale.

Sangin, 40, said he’s lucky to clear $50 a month as both salesman and security guard, compared with $200 a couple of years back.

“People are worried about the future,” he said, standing near a Toyota 4Runner bearing Virginia safety stickers splattered with bird poop. “They’re just not spending.”

Amid a sea of Corollas sit a few used trucks, Korean ambulances and high-end SUVs. “I don’t deal with warlord customers,” Abdullah said. “Besides, most don’t buy used cars. Armored vehicles are specially ordered.” Toyota Land Cruisers and Lexus are the models of choice, with most “hardened” in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Shams, 33, pulled into the Baharan Jadid Auto Co. lot on a dented motorbike and looked over a Suzuki sedan without air conditioning for $3,000 as salesman Rahmatullah popped open a hood to reveal a dust-caked engine. Shams then considered a nearby air-chilled sedan for $500 more.

“The price is negotiable,” Rahmatullah added plaintively as Shams headed to the next lot.

Despite the economic turndown, traffic jams in Kabul and Herat have become world class. The rare traffic signals are all but ignored in a driving culture that dictates going as fast as possible, zigzagging in and out of oncoming traffic and beeping the horn incessantly while ignoring demoralized traffic policemen in ill-fitting uniforms.

But it will be awhile before Afghans catch up to Americans in terms of numbers: At last check in 2010, there were 20 cars per 1,000 people, up from 17 per 1,000 in 2006 in a population of 34 million, the World Bank reported. That compares with 797 cars per 1,000 Americans.

In Herat’s crowded Shahin market, electrician Sufiullah Herawi double-parked his 1996 Toyota Corolla DX as two workers installed a checkered strip on his doors, complementing his dashboard carpet, leather steering wheel cover and DVD player. “My friends are jealous,” he said. “Whenever I add something, they copy me.”

“It’s good to see Afghans become more car-conscious,” added Abdul Zahir, owner of a nearby accessory shop, surrounded by high-end tires and metallic-sheen rims. “And it’s great for my business.”

In the 1950s and 1960s, Ford, Mercedes and GM cars graced Afghanistan’s hot, dusty roads, giving way to temperamental Volgas after the 1979 Soviet invasion.

Once the Taliban took over, dealers said, used made-in-Japan cars grew more popular. After the group’s ouster, regulations were imposed requiring that steering wheels be on the left side, opening the door for a torrent of imports from the U.S. and Europe.

For Anna Patterson, author of a study on Afghanistan’s used-car market, there’s a certain magic in the aging autos. “It feels a bit like a camel herd in medieval times, with so many stories around these vintage vehicles,” she said. “It’s rather romantic.”

For local dealers, it’s just a paycheck. “I don’t know why Americans don’t fix their cars after an accident and keep using them,” salesman Abdullah said. “Perhaps they have so much money they don’t care? Anyways, we sell ’em all.”

The way to Get rid of a Car Stereo

You are able to take away your current previous car stereo audio as well as install an another one with only easy instruments as well as a tiny work. Eliminating a vehicle music system yourself. Furthermore, helps you save the bucks you would in any other case shell out a professional. Here is how to do it.

Research your vehicle’s user guide to see if it’s just about any recommendations on removing the present music system. It could possess a plan of the wiring and also the place the location where the stereo can be installed.

Disconnect the car battery to prevent a power little bit dealing with your wiring.

Use a screw driver to get rid of the actual holding onto screws possessing with your automobile stereo system. Seize their hands on the actual stereo system and take it to that you take it out of the actual dashboard.

Get yourself a set of DIN tools to slip on both sides of the music system, in the event the stereo audio joins to the rush utilizing spring movies and bolts. These kinds of thin tools slip throughout very easily, relieve your movies, and permit the particular music system to be removed quickly. You may need to eliminate dash panels while products maintain within the stereo. Sign up for the screws as well as screws which contain the stereo within, then just move against each other.

Go through the wiring around the back again of one’s auto stereo. You should discover only two wiring attached to the stereo. The wiring show shields the particular stereo audio from moaning as well as supports the wires harness regular.

Pry the cables upward through the stereo along with loosen these people using a pulling/pushing movements. A year your wire connections backwards and forwards, you should be capable of pull the cables direct out and about.

Prowlers hit 42 unlocked cars in West Linn

West Linn police are investigating 42 unlawful vehicle entries over the past month, resulting in a total loss of $7,500.

Officer Mike Francis, West Linn police spokesman, said the burglars are targeting unlocked vehicles in the Willamette, Savannah Oaks and Parker Crest neighborhoods, striking at night. In some cases, Francis said, the vehicles were sitting in open garages.

“Leads in these cases are few, and no suspects have been identified,” Francis said. “Our officers on nights have been working diligently in the neighborhoods locating unsecure premises and notifying home owners.”

He said police have noticed 110 open garage doors over the past month and have notified the homeowners. He said an open garage door can make the owner vulnerable to a crime of opportunity.

Francis offered the following tips:

* Do not leave valuables in your car.

* Take a moment to make sure your car is locked and the alarm is set.

* Before going to bed, check to see that your garage door is closed.

Additionally, Francis urged residents to lock the doors in their homes from their garages and to leave their driveway lights on.

“Most importantly, if you see something, say something,” Francis said. “Call 911 immediately when you see suspicious activity occurring. This dramatically increases our opportunity to apprehend criminals.”

Dozens of cars vandalized at elderly housing complex

Dozens of cars had their tires slashed at a Shrewsbury elderly housing complex.

Ivy Murphy’s two new front tires were slashed while she was playing bingo.

“They’re sick and I hope they catch them and give them a good penalty,” said Murphy.

Sixteen cars were hit at the complex around 9 p.m. Monday, most had damage to more than one tire.

One car, belonging to a nun, was set on fire.

“The fact that someone would vandalize cars [of] senior citizens living on fixed and low income is just appalling,” said Dennis Osborn, executive director of the housing authority.

Shrewsbury police said another two cars were set on fire less than a mile away at the Green Apartments. On Friday, someone slashed the tires on seven cars there.

“The kid must have been quick. This was all done within 15 minutes,” said Bill Kelly, whose tires were slashed.

People at the elderly housing complex are working to fix the damage. Workers from Pete’s Tires Barn gave away free donut tires to help any way they could.

“It’s probably somebody who is either very angry or sick,” said one woman.

People who have rooms facing the parking lot at the complex said they saw someone suspicious, but they were unable to give police a good description.

Investigators believe all of the incidents are related.