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A Denver judge halved the bond today for a suspected eco-terrorist accused of setting firebombs in large SUVs after his father, a Colorado Springs lawyer, agreed to post the bond. Bond for Grant Barnes, 24, was reduced from $200,000 to $100,000 after defense attorney Phil Cherner told the judge that Barne’s father, Thomas Barnes, a former deputy district attorney in El Paso County, would ensure that his son appears in court. Prosecutor Ryan Younggren said he and the victims objected to a bond reduction because Grant Barnes might plant more firebombs if he gets out. Grant Barnes, suspected of using...

Federal regulators are investigating the Hummer H2 after receiving three reports of wheels falling off the vehicle, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday. Involved in the investigation are Hummer H2s from the 2003 and 2004 model years. General Motors Corp. said there are approximately 59,670 of those on the road. Four drivers reported a fracture in the steering knuckle, which allows the wheels to turn. All said they lost control, including one driver whose H2 veered into oncoming traffic and ended up in a ditch on the other side of the road. In three of the cases, a...

DETROIT - A long-simmering dispute between the beefy sport utility brands Hummer and Jeep has heated up with one-upmanship claims and accusations of copied designs. The mud-slinging between the off-road SUV brands began nearly three years ago when DaimlerChrysler AG’s Jeep claimed the about-to-be launched Hummer H2 from General Motors Corp. copied its grille. That battle ended when a judge allowed the H2 to go into production, but now the war has moved from the courtroom to television commercials, the printed page and the auto show floor. At stake is one of the fastest-growing and most profitable segments of the...

<p>Buy a shiny new Hummer or a fully loaded Cadillac Escalade, then get a hefty tax deduction on the monster vehicle, all compliments of Uncle Sam.</p> <p>Dozens of wide-eyed customers packed into the Valley's Hummer and Cadillac dealers on New Year's Eve to take advantage of a federal tax windfall allowing them to buy the oversize gas guzzlers and deduct the purchase from their 2003 tax bills.</p>

GM enjoying profits from licensing deals DETROIT (AP) -- The discerning child this year is definitely not interested in a hand-knitted sweater or Barney. Wal-Mart Store Inc. says the most-demanded toys this Christmas are the radio-controlled replicas of General Motors Corp.'s Hummer H2. It's a vehicle that has gone from the deserts of Iraq to a box under the Christmas tree of thousands of American families. The battery powered mini-Hummers, which are made by New Bright Industrial Co., can reach speeds of 11 mph and feature a honking horn, revving engine and an alarm that beeps when the vehicle is...

Greek composer and cultural icon Mikis Theodorakis added his contribution to the anti-Semitic miasma rising in parts of the world by characterizing the Jews as the root of the world's evils. Theodorakis, a towering figure in Greek music best known outside his native land for scoring the music for the film Zorba the Greek, took his shot at the Jews at a press conference to launch a new book. "We, the Greeks, did not turn aggressive like them because we have more history," Theodorakis was quoted by Y-net as saying. "Today it is possible to say that this small nation...

BERLIN, Oct 31 (AFP) - A German member of parliament faced charges of anti-Semitism Friday for a speech in which he played down the Holocaust and described Jews as a "race of perpetrators". Deputy Martin Hohmann of the conservative opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) said in a speech to constituents on the 13th anniversary of German reunification October 3 that primarily Jewish Bolsheviks were responsible for crimes against civilians during the Russian revolution. He went on to draw a comparison between what he claimed was bloodshed orchestrated by Jews during that period and the murder of Europe's Jews in the Holocaust....

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - If you've got a theme, you might as well stick with it. LeBron James' first series of Nike shoes, which have been dubbed the Air Zoom Generation, have been modeled after, get this, his famous Hummer H2. The design and look of the shoe were inspired by James' $100,000 vehicle, which his mother bought for him for his 18th birthday last December. The shoes, which will likely be priced in the $150 range, are scheduled to hit stores on Dec. 26. Nike prepared several mockups of the signature shoe when the company pitched itself, with about...

Wed, October 29, 2003 Hummer inspires shoe design By AP CLEVELAND -- LeBron James' new sneakers should help him drive to the basket. After all, they're modelled after the Cleveland Cavaliers rookie's infamous Hummer. Tonight, James will make his NBA debut in Sacramento wearing his signature Nikes, dubbed the Zoom Generation. The shoes, which will retail for $160 US per pair, are the first of six models James will wear as part of the $90 million sports apparel deal he signed with Nike in May. The design was inspired by James' Hummer H2 sports utility vehicle, which made headlines earlier...

Japan's revamped space agency [JAXA] plans new rocket to cut launch cost TOKYO (AFP) Sep 17, 2003 Japan's revamped space agency plans to develop a new rocket to halve launch costs and will cut staff to increase its efficiency, the head of the organization said Wednesday. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which will formally start operations on October 1, will develop a new rocket that costs about half the 8.5 billion yen (73 million dollars) needed to launch the present H-2A rocket, said Shuichiro Yamanouchi, who will become head of JAXA. "We want to pursue space technologies that...

Models and cars will both be on hand at the motor show. (TRJ) DETROIT - General Motors Corp. will sell the Hummer H2 sport utility vehicle in Russia under a three-year agreement with Russian automaker Avtotor. The companies announced the deal Wednesday during the Moscow International Motor Show, Detroit-based GM spokesman Pete Ternes said. Hummers are produced in Mishawaka, Indiana, in a partnership between GM and AM General Corp. GM is to ship 500 H2s to Russia during the next three years, Ternes said. The vehicles will be fully assembled in Mishawaka, then partially disassembled and shipped to Russia in...

(staff photo, Jim Evans) Dave Violette, owner of Corvette¹s North, calls his 2003 Hummer H2 amazing - a big, wide vehicle that runs like a Cadillac. WATERVILLE — High, wide and handsome, a white 2003 Hummer H2 hit the highway on a recent morning with a quiet roar, its 17-inch tires hugging the road as the vehicle picked up speed. "It's got a nice powerful sound," said David Violette, owner of Corvettes North, as he maneuvered the big sport utility vehicle into traffic. "It's amazing. Good visibility, nice handling. It's a big, wide vehicle that runs like a Cadillac." Violette,...

Perhaps, Chevrolet and Hummer cars will be assembled in Russia soon, a source close to the negotiations between the Avtotor company and General Motors Corp. told RBC. At present, an agreement to assemble Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Chevrolet Tahoe and Hummer H2 models at the Russian plant is in the stage of coordinating technical details, and, if everything goes well, it will be signed at a car show scheduled for August 25-31 in Moscow. However, Avtotor’s press service refused to confirm or refute this information. But it said that Chevrolet cars were indeed considered as the third model to be assembled at...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US environmentalists launched a Web site targeting General Motors Corp's Hummer H2, the civilian version of the US military's gas-thirsty Humvee vehicle, for its fuel economy and hulking size. The site, hummerdinger.com, is sponsored by the Sierra Club (news - web sites) and is aimed at dissuading consumers from buying the vehicle. The same group in 1999 dubbed Ford Motor Co's then-new Excursion sport-utility vehicle the "Ford Valdez", likening it to an oil tanker that ran aground off Alaska, soiling miles of coastline with its spilled cargo of crude oil. Ford announced last year it would phase...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Call it the latest salvo in the SUV wars. The Sierra Club calls it "Hummerdinger."</p> <p>On a new Web site, www.hummerdinger.com, the California-based environmental group attacks the Hummer H2 -- one of the stars in General Motor Corp.'s portfolio of sport utility vehicles -- as a backward-looking behemoth.</p>

<p>The Hummer helped win the war in Iraq, but a civilian version may not be such a winner in your driveway.</p> <p>For the first time, a closely watched quality survey by J.D. Power & Associates revealed some of the dogs of the auto industry as well as its stars. The Hummer had the worst quality of any brand. Owners who were involved in the survey criticized the $50,000 H2 for everything from poor mileage to lack of power.</p>

\GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 4/2/03 - H2, Mosul, Al Hindiyah, Abu al Khasib, Thunbah Al Hamra, Basra Baghdad, Iraq - Crescendo shock and awe from the Presidential compound to Presidential guest compound Baath telecommunications building, Baath Security Bldg. Information Ministry, Iraqi State TV Studio H2 - western Iraq - Coaltion Forces take western airfields AC-130 gunships Arbil - Iraqi retreat Mosul - Missile Facility and Enemy gets Shock and Awe Al Hindiyah - Red Badge of Courage at the Euphrates River Abu al Khasib - 'Operation James' and the British Commando Regiment Royal Artillery Date Groves...

On Friday, March 14, at 7:20 a.m. MST — five days before the official start of the war — two B-1B bombers struck the H3 airfield complex about 250 miles west of Baghdad. The bombers also hit another airfield complex nearby, according to the Associated Press. The Air Force did not say where the B-1Bs were based. Ellsworth Air Force Base has two squadrons of B-1Bs — or 26 aircraft. The other 34 aircraft in the nation's B-1B fleet are based at Dyess AFB, Texas. Nearly 1,000 Ellsworth personnel and an undisclosed number of Ellsworth B-1Bs are deployed overseas for...

Ravaged by guilt, I was about to cancel my order for a new, three-ton, fly yellow, 300-jillion horsepower, gas-swilling Hummer H2 and spec out a Chinese-built, 20-speed Mountain Bike. But Whoa! Wait a minute! Hold on I'm keeping the Hummer in play and while I'm at it, ordering a set of Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires, with studs, and an Everest-level parka from Eddie Bauer. Just as I was completing my conversion to a full-Green, politically-correct, anti-global warming fanatic, comes word that the world is about to get colder, not warmer. Club Med is canceling resort plans for Spitzbergen and Steve...

30 years after the Wright Brothers made their first successful powered flight a young and successful businessman, Howard Hughes, decided to build the world's fastest land plane. The aircraft was Hughes' first design and was therefore dubbed the "H-1." Howard Hughes had three major goals in the design of the H-1: it had to be the fastest land plane in the world, it had to have a range that would carry it from coast to coast without refueling, and it had to be a practical aircraft to fly and to operate. Howard Hughes and his design team met each goal...