Uncle Sam's Yard Sale: Gov't looks to unload Afghanistan war hardware

It could be Uncle Sam’s biggest yard sale.

After 12 years of war in Afghanistan, officials are now pondering what to do with $50 billion in equipment half a world away — including combat vehicles, dining rooms, gyms, clothing and more.

“A lot of this stuff, you're not really concerned about bringing it back,” said Jim Hasik, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “I mean if a Coke machine falls into the hands of the Taliban, this is just not a big disaster.” 

But eventually, much of the gear will trickle down to the public. With the click of a mouse the spoils of war can be yours on govliquidation.com. Each day, new items appear on the site – as bases around the country release unneeded items – from rafts and trucks, to fire engines and pretzel stands.

But first, the massive effort to bring some of the equipment home. By December 2014, the U.S. military will have transported home some 35,000 vehicles and 95,000 containers at an estimated cost of $6 billion. It is the largest retrograde or pullout in history. 

“There are huge problems getting materiel out of Afghanistan,” said Don Olson, top civilian leader of the Sierra Army Depot, America’s largest repository of military equipment. 

The biggest problem, since Afghanistan is landlocked, is that the U.S. must fly the equipment out or pay exorbitant customs fees to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The cost of moving the containers alone could reach $237 million, officials estimate. 

“At some point, actually it becomes more sensible to destroy that equipment in place than to actually bring it back,” said Hasik. 

That’s exactly what the Pentagon is doing with some 2,000 of the massive eight-ton troop carriers known as MRAPS. Each MRAP cost taxpayers more than $1 million, but with 24,000 already in the Army inventory, officials decided it was more cost effective to scrap 2,000 of the vehicles in Afghanistan rather than bring them home. 

“Did we overbuild, did we overbuy on the MRAP? Almost certainly,”said Hasik, who is also quick to say it was impossible to know just how many of the armored vehicles were necessary. The MRAP is credited with protecting many American lives against roadside bombs. 

Many that did come home are parked at the Sierra Army Depot, 35,000 acres of steel and high desert scrub in California. The depot is home to tens of thousands of combat vehicles and more than $1 billion in clothing. 

“We provide that catcher’s mitt for the Army, for the nation,” says Olsen. “They send that equipment here. We manage it until the Army can make a decision of what to do with it in the future.” 

Most battle tanks remain here, and replenish U.S. stocks. Some personnel carriers are sold to allies. Clothing is recycled and reused. 

The base has its own rail yard and airstrip and trucks arrive daily. Some 1,500 employees, all part of the Army Materiel Command, identify, sort and store each item that comes in. 

“Where it goes next depends on where it is needed,” said Olson. 

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New mammal species discovered: a raccoon-sized critter with teddy bear looks

WASHINGTON –  Imagine a raccoon with a teddy bear face that is so cute it's hard to resist, let alone overlook. But somehow science did — until now.

Researchers announced Thursday a rare discovery of a new species of mammal called the olinguito. It belongs to a grouping of large creatures that include dogs, cats and bears.

The raccoon-sized critter leaps through the trees of mountainous forests of Ecuador and Colombia at night, according to a Smithsonian researcher who has spent the past decade tracking them.

SUMMARY

The olinguito lived in the National Zoo in Washington, mistaken for an olingo.

Olinguitos are smaller, have shorter tails, a rounder face, tinier ears and darker bushier fur.

Researchers guess there are thousands of olinguitos in the mountainous forest

But the adorable olinguito (oh-lihn-GEE'-toe) shouldn't have been too hard to find. One of them lived in the Smithsonian-run National Zoo in Washington for a year in a case of mistaken identity.

"It's been kind of hiding in plain sight for a long time" despite its extraordinary beauty, said Kristofer Helgen, the Smithsonian's curator of mammals.

The zoo's little critter, named Ringerl, was mistaken for a sister species, the olingo. Ringerl was shipped from zoo to zoo from 1967 to 1976: Louisville, Ky., Tucson, Ariz., Salt Lake City, Washington and New York City to try to get it to breed with other olingos.

It wouldn't.

"It turns out she wasn't fussy," Helgen said. "She wasn't the right species."

The discovery is described in a study in the journal ZooKey.

Helgen first figured olinguitos were different from olingos when he was looking at pelts and skeletons in a museum. He later led a team to South America in 2006.

"When we went to the field we found it in the very first night," said study co-author Roland Kays of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. "It was almost like it was waiting for us."

It's hard to figure how olingos and onlinguitos were confused for each other.

"How is it different? In almost every way that you can look at it," Helgen said.

'It looks kind of like a fuzzball ... a cross between a teddy bear and a house cat.'

- Kristofer Helgen, the Smithsonian's curator of mammals

Olinguitos are smaller, have shorter tails, a rounder face, tinier ears and darker bushier fur, he said.

"It looks kind of like a fuzzball ... kind of like a cross between a teddy bear and a house cat," Helgen said.

It eats fruit, weighs about 2 pounds and has one baby at a time. Helgen figures there are thousands of olinguitos in the mountainous forest, traveling through the trees at night so they are hard to see.

While new species are found regularly, usually they are tiny and not mammals, the warm-blooded advanced class of animals that have hair, live births and mammary glands in females.

Outside experts said this is not merely renaming something, but a genuine new species and a significant find, the type that hasn't happened for about 35 years.

"Most people believe there are no new species to discover, particularly of relatively large charismatic animals," said Case Western Reserve University anatomy professor Darin Croft. "This study demonstrates that this is clearly not the case."

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Mini-cow born at Roy farm looks like panda bear

ROY, Wash. (AP) — John Bartheld has been breeding miniature cows on his farm for seven years, hoping to recreate black and white markings in the pattern of a panda to make a "panda cow."

He succeeded on June 28 when Peanut was born. From most angles, Peanut looks like the endangered Chinese bear with a big belt of white fur, a white face and black hair around the eyes.

Peanut never strays far from his mom, Midget, who was artificially inseminated. Another panda cow born July 3, a half-sister named Star, has similar markings, but not as well-defined.

Peanut is different and he knows it, Bartheld said.

"He's got that cocky attitude. From the minute I laid eyes on him I knew he was something special," he said Friday.

"Peanut knew he was a superstar. It's just the weirdest thing. I've never raised anything with this attitude — like he was born Tom Selleck," Bartheld said. "He struts around the field like he's in charge of the other calves and they follow him around. And he's not the oldest calf."

Bartheld runs nine cattle and five are registered miniatures. Two, Peanut and Star, are registered with The International Miniature Cattle Breeders Society, which is a division of Happy Mountain Farm in Covington.

The four other cattle are full-size cows sold as beef. The miniatures are a pet or novelty — "too expensive to butcher," unless they grow too big.

"They butcher them all the time if they breed a miniature and it runs out 40-45 inches tall; it's considered a mid-sized beef."

Bartheld grew up around his grandparents' dairy and the farm, now 11 acres, has been in the family four generations. He has a full-time job with a concrete company in Tacoma, but "I always knew I was going to have cows."

A miniature cow has to be under 42 inches tall at 3 years old. A panda cow has to have the bear-like markings, mostly the white belt around the midsection.

"A lot of cows have black eyes and white faces; the white belt really sets it," he said.

Peanut has been getting a lot of attention since a few stories hit the Internet.

"It's gone bananas," Bartheld said. He's hearing from people he hasn't talked to in 10 years.

"People drive by. They stop and back up and look. They love it," he said.

Bartheld plans to sell Peanut, but he can't guess what he's worth. He said there are 30 to 40 panda cows in the world.

"Somebody's got to want a cow like that. I'd like him to be a mascot for someone," Bartheld said. "I think that would be kind of neat."

Peanut also could be a sire when he grows to breeding age.

"He won't fit into my breeding program because they're all related to him," Bartheld said.

Peanut's parents are a mini-Hereford and a mini-American Beltie.

He's got Midget the mom on the farm. The bull, Rebel, is at Happy Mountain Farm in Covington.

Bartheld says his farm is a solo operation.

"I have no kids. These things are kind of like my children," he said. "I feed them the best hay I can. They're well taken care of."

___

Doug Esser in Seattle contributed to this report.

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Commuters say teakettle billboard looks like Hitler

Do you see Adolf Hitler in the shape of this teakettle? (JCPenney.com)A billboard along the 405 Freeway in Southern California is generating all sorts of buzz. But the cause of the attention does not exactly align with the intended effect. That’s because a number of people are saying the new JCPenney teakettle bears a striking resemblance to Adolf Hitler.

The teakettle in question is formerly known as the “Bells and Whistles Stainless Steel Tea Kettle” and is part of JCPenney’s Michael Graves-designed kitchenware line.

CBS LA reports that the billboard has caught the attention of some Reddit users who say the curvature of the handle resembles the hairline of the former Nazi leader.

“I stare at this from my office building every day and now I can tell my co-workers that I’m not the only one who saw the Hitler in the bells and whistles sign!” wrote user Tishacombs.

In fact, a number of comments are actually suggesting that the company intentionally made the teakettle resemble Hitler just to stir up attention. That, of course, makes very little sense. But it hasn’t stopped people from speculating.

“Well, look at us - we're all looking at and sharing a picture of an advertisement,” writes user LevTolstoy. "If it was done on purpose to get people's attention, but keep the ability to deny doing it on purpose, it's brilliant.”

Of course, most people aren’t taking the billboard too seriously. Americablog author John Aravosis says it looks more like the Eric Cartman character from “South Park” dressed as Hitler. Which, given Cartman’s endless series of anti-Semitic commentary, might make more sense.

JCPenney has yet to comment on the advertisement. Perhaps it's letting the product speak for itself. After all, the teakettle is currently getting overwhelmingly positive reviews from customers on the JCPenney website.

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