Obviously none of the weaponry is functional, and the seating position was also altered. Instead of lying face down like on the Batpod, the PS-Pod's rider sits in a manner more similar to a chopper bike rider - far more practical and you won't look like an idiot when stopped at the traffic lights.
The PS-Pod was constructed using all metal bodywork, no fiberglass was used at all. Mounted within the custom made frame is the drivetrain from an Aprilia Mana 850. The bikes builder, Dave Welch, bought the Aprillia brand-new, and then proceeded to strip it down for its parts.
The massive 18"x13" wheels of the PS-Pod were custom made for the bike. The rims were specially machined, and each has five Batman logos cut into their center.
The Jenolan Caves near the Blue Mountains west of Sydney is about to become possibly the first tourist attraction in the world to launch tours in the fictional Star Trek language of Klingon.
The link between the world's oldest dated limestone cave system and the fictional Star Trek language is through a spaceship, the USS Jenolan, which featured in an episode of the Next Generation series.
Earlier this month two Klingon scholars from the United States flew to Australia to tour the caves and finalise the translation of a self-guided tour.
Are the Jedi big government advocates? That's unclear. I think it would be more accurate to describe them as cartelistic -- they refuse to permit a free market in learning the ways of the Force. After all, the Jedi Council's initial inclination is not to train Anakin Skywalker despite his obvious talents, using some BS about fear as a cover. Only when Qui-Gon threatens to go rogue do they relent. The Council does not inform the Senate that their ability to detect the force has been compromised. They're reluctant to expand their assigned tasks -- they're keepers of the peace, not soldiers. Just as clearly, their anti-competitive policies weakened their own productivity, given the fact that they were unable to detect a Sith Lord walking around right under their noses for over a decade.
So, were the Jedi perfect agents of liberty? No, probably not. But neither were they handmaidens to the greatest concentration of state power in galactic history.
