We're All Going To Die!!!

Dum de dum... 3 am on July 4th. It'll be a busy day, but right now everyone's nestled all snug in their beds, and the region's Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) are closed. Just for the heck of it, though, let's take a look at WebEOC. Yep, nothing much in the logs, let's look at the "Incident Scene" map...

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does This Smell Oily to You?

"An expressive bouquet, sassy and complex, with elements of slate, sea breeze, and benzene."

Federal seafood inspectors are checking fish and shrimp for oil contamination by smelling them. Um... 'Kay.

"We train people to ... fine-tune their sense of smell to the oil and dispersants from this particular spill ... A panel of 10 expert assessors will smell each of the raw samples and record the odor. The samples are then cooked, and the process is repeated so that the experts may smell and taste the fish in its cooked state."

Fish that passes these tests does get sent for further chemical testing, so we don't have to worry about being poisoned if an inspector has a cold. Still... That must be a heckuva job: professional fish sniffer.

Update: I just noticed in that last line, "smell and taste the fish." So even without crude oil issues, they're eating fish to find out if it's spoiled. Yep, a heckuva job.

Sit-Along Cassidy

Just finished my sit-along at the Montgomery County 911 call center. Interesting and educational, but just my luck, no chases or fun stuff.

[Thick accent, barely intelligible English] "My neighbor won't let me park in front of his house. But I'm on the street." "Sir, what is he doing to stop you from parking there?" "He says I can't." "Sir, the street is county property, so you can park there." "But what if he calls me poopy-pants?" "Then you say, 'sticks and stones...'"

OK, I made up that last bit.  But people arguing (quietly & w/o violence) was a significant percentage. "I need you to send an officer. The towing company won't give my son his car, and they're being sarcastic and obnoxious..."

Idiot Terrorists, Part 3

The new issue of The Atlantic has an article about incompetent terrorists -- clearly inspired by DisasterMan's blog posts. :-) They cite the same incidents described in DM's Idiot Terrorists, Part 1 and Part 2, and also provide a few more fun facts.

The Case for Calling Them Nitwits

...it’s fair to say that the Taliban employ the world’s worst suicide bombers: one in two manages to kill only himself. And this success rate hasn’t improved at all in the five years they’ve been using suicide bombers, despite the experience of hundreds of attacks—or attempted attacks.

The Sky Could Fall. Seriously.

[Update: Video added. Click "Read more" to view.]

A NASA-funded study found that a solar flare the size of one that occurred in 1921 could leave 130 million people without power, and cause a collapse of the power infrastructure in the Northwest, Midwest and most of the East Coast.

Similar to the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) caused by nuclear weapons, a geomagnetic storm could induce currents that fry anything electrical. In 1989, a storm melted transformers and knocked out power for 6 million people in Quebec. The one in 1921 is estimated to have been 10 times stronger, and it knocked out all communications east of the Mississippi.

Fuggedaboutit, Part 2

A Slate columnist says, "If you see something, say something? You'd never shut up."

"I set out to see how much disturbing behavior I could encounter in Times Square during an hour and a half around lunchtime...

"I met a Brazilian tourist who had way too many shabby bags in tow, and an off-duty Indian pilot who was carrying a grocery bag around his neck like a cape, food stains running down his shirtfront. I sidled up to a guy scalping Broadway tickets because he was wearing a sweatshirt in the heat.

"Several guys ... tried to sell me a ride, including Abdullah Ghazi, a bearded young man in a yellow City Sights polo. I asked Ghazi what sort of 'unusual' behavior might grab his attention. 'Someone panicky or paranoid,' he said. 'You make a logical assumption that he's off his meds.' And how often does he see that? 'Oh! Every day.' ...

"Investigators announced that they were hunting for a man who was shown on a surveillance tape taking off his shirt immediately after the incident. This was deemed suspicious activity by the police, though Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't necessarily agree: 'It was a hot day,' he said. 'Maybe he was just changing his shirt? And this is Times Square, where you have the Naked Cowboy.'"

If you see something... eh, fuggedaboutit

The Huffington Post reports that someone left a shopping bag labeled "Suspisious Package?" [sic] on an electrical box in Manhattan...

...and everyone ignored it.

New Yorkers don't scare that easily, and besides, much like DC, people are busy and they have places to be!

In any case, it seems some people know the lesson in my "Scary Things" section: how to recognize when something's not a bomb. (You know, like when it's a name badge, bacon, or a coin. I'm just sayin'....)

Dulles Airport Emergency Exercise 2010

On Saturday, May 8, Dulles International Airport held its triennial full-scale emergency exercise. It simulated a plane crash, and 120 volunteers (including DM) played casualties. Fun was had by all.

We had to be there at the crack of dawn, 5:30 a.m., then get breakfast, and get moulaged (made up with fake wounds). The exercise started at about 9 a.m. It rained for a short time beforehand, so we had lie on wet ground, but they gave us blankets to lie on, and the temperature was very comfortable. (Except when they poured fake blood on us. That stuff was cold!!) It wrapped up in time for lunch.

Pictures from this exercise and past ones are in the photo gallery:

Dulles Airport Drill 2010	National Airport Drill 2007	Dulles Airport Drill 2007