Folks be all blowed up in Boston...
#61
Tour de Franzia
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The man on the roof pic is great because he's on the wrong side of the building to see his work. It's time we banned stair cases that go to the roof.
Now, where is that celebrity that blamed the bombing on the 2nd Amendment again?
Now, where is that celebrity that blamed the bombing on the 2nd Amendment again?
#68
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Boost Pope
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From: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
A conventional pipe bomb is of a relatively compact and efficient shape, and it could easily be concealed inside any number of plausible containers. You could hide a large one inside a thermos or a toy car, a number of small ones could be laid side-by-side inside the shell of a laptop computer, etc.
By comparison, a pressure cooker seems pretty damn conspicuous to me. Why on earth would anyone bring a pressure cooker with them to watch a marathon?
The other reason is because the person who made it was not an expert. He was talking about the blast itself and how it was actually really ineffective for the size of the device and density of the crowd. The blast was very asymmetrical and reminded him a lot of simple IED's that were used in Iraq.
What I cannot understand is why people started using this packaging in the first place. Is there a shortage of threaded iron pipe in the middle-east? Because it certainly seems to me, purely on the basis of speculative analysis, that the ole' tried-and-true pipe bomb would produce a more effective device in terms of yield for a given mass of material.
In trying to resolve the pressure-cooker conundrum, I'd been thinking a bit about propellants. Initially, I had simply assumed that the material used in the device was something like ordinary smokeless powder, which is cheaply and easily available all over the US. (It's used both by people who re-load their own cartridges, as well as by people who own and use muzzle-loading arms such as civil-war era Muskets and cannon.)
Then I got to thinking "Well, what if I'm wrong in that fundamental assumption? If a high-order explosive such as TNT or RDX or even something like ANFO were used, then the container of the device becomes less an active agent in determining its yield than simply a thing to put the explosive agent in and provide an affordance for packing shrapnel around."
But this notion kinds of ruins that, and puts me back at square 1. Cordite, for those who don't know, is simply a type of propellant which is used by numerous armies as an alternative to conventional gunpowder for both rifle cartridges and artillery shells. It is functionally similar to the powder which you'd find inside any civilian handgun or rifle cartridge.
#69
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Boost Pope
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From: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Regardless of how paranoid one is about any given government, I don't see a lot of similarity between these two scenarios:
A: Military aircraft, under the control of an organized military agency reporting to a civilian leadership, are used to strike specifically designated targets. These targets are selected based upon their perceived strategic and tactical value to what is judged to be a belligerent entity. Collateral damage in the form of civilian casualties and damage to civilian property sometimes occurs as a result.
-vs-
B: An explosive device is detonated by an individual in the middle of a crowd gathered to witness an athletic event. This individual is acting outside of any recognizable military chain of command. The target of the attack is of no military value, and 100% of the individuals present at the target location are non-combatants.
A: Military aircraft, under the control of an organized military agency reporting to a civilian leadership, are used to strike specifically designated targets. These targets are selected based upon their perceived strategic and tactical value to what is judged to be a belligerent entity. Collateral damage in the form of civilian casualties and damage to civilian property sometimes occurs as a result.
-vs-
B: An explosive device is detonated by an individual in the middle of a crowd gathered to witness an athletic event. This individual is acting outside of any recognizable military chain of command. The target of the attack is of no military value, and 100% of the individuals present at the target location are non-combatants.
#70
Re: pipe bombs. I remember an exercise with pressure vessels back in college. The premise was, you have a pressurized container, and it is well past it's working limit. Based on various configurations, which blows first, the sides or the ends? In almost all cases, the ends blow off first.
So, for maximum damage, you want more of a spherical container to give maximum dispersion.
So, for maximum damage, you want more of a spherical container to give maximum dispersion.
#74
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From: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
I'm just thinking of materials which fit the definition of "improvised" in that they can be procured from common civilian suppliers (eg: Wal-Mart, ACE Hardware, Tractor Supply Co., Bass Pro Shops, etc.) Off the top of my head, I can't think of any spherical containers of this nature.
Perhaps something like a paintball-style CO2 tank?
I can't quite rationalize how one would analyze such a structure in this context. I do know that they are designed to routinely hold 800+ PSI while simultaneously being dropped on rocks, sat on, etc.
#76
What I cannot understand is why people started using this packaging in the first place. Is there a shortage of threaded iron pipe in the middle-east? Because it certainly seems to me, purely on the basis of speculative analysis, that the ole' tried-and-true pipe bomb would produce a more effective device in terms of yield for a given mass of material.
There quite possibly IS a lot more ready access to pressure cookers among Middle East-based Islamic terrorist groups. I could see them being in every house and every corner market. I do not imagine a lot of Home Depots or Ace Hardwares in Pakistan and Yemen.
Furthermore, what if the lid of the pressure cooker allows for some degree of directional control of the blast and shrapnel?
The same witness who described smelling cordite also said he saw the window of one of the storefronts blown out in a distinct fan-shaped pattern. I have no idea what that means as I have literally zero experience with explosives of any kind beside almost blowing my fingers off with an M80 as a pre-teen.
#77
WASHINGTON — On May 17, 2013, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D - CA) introduced the Assault Crock Pot Ban of 2013, a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of consumer grade slow cookers and high-capacity obese people feeding devices.
When asked to comment Rep. Diana DeGette (D - CO) provided the following:
When asked about the difference between a slow cooker and a crock-pot, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D - NY) had this to say:
During an interview with Good Housekeeping Vice President Joe Biden (D) advised crock-pot owners seeking delicious slow cooked meats to "Just visit their local neighborhood Arby's, home of the '5 for $6.95' combo".
Credit: Reddit
When asked to comment Rep. Diana DeGette (D - CO) provided the following:
Originally Posted by DeGette
What’s the efficacy of banning these crock-pots? The people who have those now, they’re going to cook with them. And so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high-capacity crock-pots is going to decrease dramatically over time because the hams and casseroles will have been cooked and there won’t be any more available.
Originally Posted by McCarthy
A crock-pot has the glass thing that goes up.
Credit: Reddit