Idiot Terrorists

A lot of would-be terrorists are stupid or incompetent, and that's good. Sometimes, it thwarts their plans; it at least makes them easier to catch afterward.

The recent bombing attempt at Times Square is an example. The Oklahoma City bombing utilized barrels of ANFO -- ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel oil. It's a powerful explosive commonly used in mining. Ammonium nitrate is also used as fertilizer. The Times Square bomber used fertilizer -- but it was the wrong kind.

Also, it was inside a metal gun locker, not mixed with fuel oil, and not exposed to the firecrackers and fuel canisters he also used.

Earthquakes - Fun Fact

Ah, so that explains it.

(AP) A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes...

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

Women in the Islamic Republic are required by law to cover from head to toe, but many, especially the young, ignore some of the more strict codes and wear tight coats and scarves pulled back that show much of the hair.

Those strumpets!

Update: A student at Purdue tested this by having a bunch of women "dress immodestly," then looking for anomalies in seismic activity. "Boobquake" became an Internet sensation, and over 100,000 women participated. Men can breathe a sigh of relief; no evidence of a correlation was found

"What I learned from Boobquake," Jennifer McCreight, Guardian.co.uk

Pets in a Disaster

An essential part of preparing for an emergency is planning for your pet(s). With Hurricane Katrina, thousands of people in New Orleans were forced to leave their pets behind. They were not allowed to bring them to shelters or on evacuation buses. Many pets died, and with others it was often hard for owners to recover them.

Emergency management authorities are required to have a plan for handling pets in an emergency. Some have more of a plan than others. Fortunately, in the DC area, there's a partnership with the Humane Society to set up emergency shelters for animals in a disaster. (Note: Red Cross shelters do not allow animals, except service animals like seeing-eye dogs.)

It's best to not rely on that alone, however. Other options for hosting your pet may include friends, family, kennels, veterinarians offices, and hotels that allow pets. The Humane Society has information on how to prepare, as well as directories of pet-friendly hotels.

Emergency Driving Distractions

Editorial

Last week, I saw an ambulance with a laptop mounted between the seats. It faced the passenger side. I said, "I'm glad the driver doesn't use it while driving, like the cops do," but I was told that's sometimes done in ambulances too.

In the cops' case, they're constantly typing in license plate numbers they see, on the off chance it will be a stolen car or the driver will be wanted. Contrary to what you see on TV and in movies, cops typically drive alone -- so they're typing with one hand while driving with the other! Needless to say, that's dangerous.

Today's NY Times has an article on this, "Driven to Distraction: Gadgets in Emergency Vehicles Seen as Peril."

Riot Control

Got a presentation from a police firearms instructor again. This time he showed us this target for firing riot-control ammo, namely shotgun-launched beanbags. Only the green areas are safe to shoot; hitting a red area might result in serious injury or even death. Doesn't leave a whole lot, does it? The instructor said cops prefer Tasers for exactly that reason.

Cops also prefer Tasers to pepper spray, because the spray gets all over, potentially affecting innocents and the officers themselves.

[Wikipedia articles on: bean bag rounds, Tasers, and pepper spray.]

There but for the grace...

The plane a tax protestor crashed into a building in Austin today hit 9420 Research Blvd. In late 2000, I worked in 9430 Research Blvd., right next door. What are the odds?

Also, for about a year I was assigned to an IRS building in the Washington, DC area. It's covered by the post-9/11 restricted flight zone, however, so it's somewhat safer -- unless attacked from the ground. (D'oh!)

For that matter, I worked on Capitol Hill for a couple of years. Again, in the restricted flight zone and somewhat safer from the air (key word: "somewhat"), but a prime target for ground attack.

Now I work someplace no more likely to be attacked than any other office building, so all I have to worry about are floods, fires, power outages, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, extreme heat and cold, chemical spills, train crashes, and disease. Oh, and a rising sea level due to global warming. (But not earthquakes or volcanoes!)

Update: Oops. Earthquakes too. Still no volcanoes, though!

Update #2: And sharks.

The Coming Ice Age

"Snowmaggedon" doesn't just disprove Global Warming; it shows we're entering an Ice Age! :-)

The show "In Search Of," narrated by Leonard Nimoy, warned us of the coming Ice Age in a 1978 episode. (Available on YouTube.) Here are some excerpts:

[Scenes of blizzards, glaciers, and snow-capped mountains, and dramatic, axe-murderer-approaching-type background music.]

"Climate experts believe the next ice age is on its way. ... When the weather turns on us again, how thin is the margin between life and death?

Live-blogging Snowmageddon 2010

9:00 am
Running a Red Cross shelter. Awakened by a call at 7:15 saying they'd pick me up at 7:30. Fortunately, the shelter has plenty of coffee and cereal.

We've got two RC volunteers; a nurse and a social worker; two cops; and a few guys who shovel the sidewalks. Only missing one thing: clients.

9:30 am
TV reporter saw a guy come out to "go for a run," but he got scared and went home. Damn, it looked like such great jogging weather.

The rule (we tell ourselves) is that calories don't count on a DR (disaster response). So... lots of cookies, no jogging... I'll have some insulating padding when this is done.