Comments on: Most of my heroes don't appear on no food stamps

Most of my heroes don't appear on no food stamps

Mayor Curley — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 06:48:24 -0800

Fight the Powah! Small-town Maine teens set off bombs at their local Wal-Mart. Maybe they were hopped up on Skowhegan Martinis. Perhaps they wouldn't have been so angry if The Revolution had happened.

By: antifuse

antifuse — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:03:22 -0800

At least their parents turned them in. Good for them.

By: the painkiller

the painkiller — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:09:47 -0800

i think mayor curley is just looking for an excuse to talk about Allen's Coffee Brandy again. not that i blame him; that stuff makes you crazy.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:12:56 -0800

"There is no evidence that this was any type of protest against Wal-Mart."

By: stam_broker

stam_broker — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:15:01 -0800

"Acid bomb"? Like vinegar and baking soda in a bottle? Might the journalists do a little more journalism, please?

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:16:43 -0800

"There is no evidence that this was any type of protest against Wal-Mart." That's what THEY want you to believe, man! Like, read between the lines!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:20:19 -0800

"There is no evidence that this was any type of protest against Wal-Mart." No but it was almost certainly a protest against the election of 1976, or the practice referring to sombreros as skowhegan martinis, or perhaps to the practice of randomly arbitrary collections of links being posted to MetaFilter.

By: beaucoupkevin

beaucoupkevin — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:29:00 -0800

Man, I really want some Allen's Coffee Brandy in this mediocre iced java from Dunkin Donuts. That shit is made for functional alcoholics. I'm sure the lobster industry accounts for about 90% of its sales. Can you imagine how much more pleasant bringing up cages would be with a nice caffeine-and-liquor buzz on?

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:29:11 -0800

"There is no evidence that this was any type of protest against Wal-Mart." That's what THEY want you to believe, man! Like, read between the lines! You must mean the lines where they found another one of these acid bombs on the roof of a Chinese restaurant! And two more on the lawns of the kid's best friends! Right arm, dudes!

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:38:00 -0800

on the roof of a Chinese restaurant! And two more on the lawns of the kid's best friends! Dialectical disagreements with Maoists and former friends turned Menshaviks. Do I have to draw you a diagram?

By: sciurus

sciurus — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:44:34 -0800

Now I want some grits.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:44:46 -0800

So is the fact that the newspaper web site renders properly and then goes to a different screen telling me I need cookies and javascript to view it part of the plot?

By: spitbull

spitbull — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:44:58 -0800

Where is the Department of ~~HeimatSekurität~~ Homeland Security when you need them? Busy taking away bottles of mouthwash from old ladies at the airport, no doubt. Or tapping the phones of peace protesters. No doubt this incident will raise the security alert level to orange. Good thing too, since we haven't had one of those since, oh, the week before the last presidential election.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:48:05 -0800

Sounds like a couple of idiot yahoos' idea of fun, as in the case of a teenage boy in B.C. who put baking soda on a instant teller during the anthrax scare.

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:49:26 -0800

I've spent a summer in Skowhegan, Me. Its an odd place.... a bluecollar Maine city/town, with a well known international (summertime) art school/residency on its outskirts. Every summer, young artists from NYC, LA, Berlin, Tokyo (& everywhere else) desend on Skowhegan. The Walmart is just outside the downtown. Coming from NYC, it was the first time i had ever been in a Walmart... never mind one that sells shotguns and ammo.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 07:53:42 -0800

Will former President Muskie come to town and negotiate a peace?

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 08:00:06 -0800

Skowhegan also has been home to a Darwin Award recipient ... The owner of the Carrier Chipping Company inadvertently reproduced the chilling climactic scene in the movie Fargo, and was rent asunder by his own wood chipper....

By: hal9k

hal9k — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 08:07:28 -0800

The owner of the Carrier Chipping Company inadvertently reproduced the chilling climactic scene in the movie Fargo, and was rent asunder by his own wood chipper.... He shall be mist.

By: eustatic

eustatic — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 08:18:13 -0800

boom! Investigators had already identified the boys by showing the pictures taken by Wal-Mart security cameras to teenagers at a Skowhegan McDonalds. McDonalds and WalMart, in cahoots!

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 08:24:31 -0800

I hereby sentence them to 5 years. Of working at Wal-Mart!

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 08:33:00 -0800

Do I have to draw you a diagram? Well, you don't have to, but if it's a nice enough one, I could have cafepress.com^® make some mugs and sell them to Wal-Mart . . .

By: gompa

gompa — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:46:53 -0800

Dialectical disagreements with Maoists and former friends turned Menshaviks. Splitters!

By: spicynuts

spicynuts — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:51:31 -0800

A Wal Mart that does not sell guns and ammo is like tits on a bull.

By: davy

davy — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:51:53 -0800

I still don't know what an "acid bomb" is. Do they mean one of these? Ingredients 2 - 3 oz Bacardi® Limon rum 1 bottle Corona® Extra lager 1 slice lemon salt Or are they thinking of an HCB? (Which does sound like a bad idea.) If the latter there is obviously only one solution: use the same kind of controls on sodium hypochlorite and dry cells as they do on methamphetamine precursors. Do it for the children!

By: suki

suki — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:59:40 -0800

It seems some residents of Maine are still honing the art of protest

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 10:10:16 -0800

"Acid bomb" = aluminum foil and Drano in a 2 liter pop bottle. Makes it go "boom" after a while. The comments on the news page are amusing to me. Unjustified moral outrage over a couple of kids acting like kids. The single comment stating that before 9/11 this would not even be a story is the only one that makes sense. My little brother got in deep shit years ago for blowing up mailboxes with homemade pipe bombs. He was dumb enough to take pictures of his deeds, and was caught showing them to a friend. While smoking a joint. Poor little bastard. Cop tells him "this isn't a good place to be doing that, son" and without a blink he replies "could you tell me where a good place might be?" Good damn thing this was all pre-9/11 or he'd still be in jail, instead of just showing up on FBI watchlists.

By: haveanicesummer

haveanicesummer — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 10:19:11 -0800

"These are two teenagers who had too much time on their hands and we are very fortunate that the injuries were as minor as they are," McCausland said. Too much time on their hands! I wish they used this explanation for every bombing. Unabomber? Long weekend. Dresden? Couple hours before dinner and no more homework. Hiroshima? Nothing on tv.

By: Megafly

Megafly — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 10:52:51 -0800

These were not bombs. They were not devices. They were soda bottle that popped. If I put baking soda and vinegar in a balloon, is that a bomb? The boys were reckless, they could have caused some bad chemical burns, but they are not bombers. Their craft doesn't meet the definition. bomb (bŏm) pronunciation n. 1. 1. An explosive weapon detonated by impact, proximity to an object, a timing mechanism, or other means. 2. An atomic or nuclear bomb. Used with the. 2. Any of various weapons detonated to release destructive material, such as smoke or gas.

By: quin

quin — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 13:23:57 -0800

From the reader comments: Katrina Nov 27, 2006 2:33 PM I cannot believe that they released the boys to their parents' custody! Isn't that whose custody they were in WHILE THEY WERE MAKING THE BOMBS?? They should be spending some time in jail! They KNEW what they were doing and that there was a very real possibility that people, CHILDREN would be injured! My GOD Katrina, you are RIGHT!! Those are terrible PARENTS!! But I have a QUESTION! Why are we TALKING like THIS?? It's really IRRITATING!! WON'T someone please think of the CHILDREN?!? Megafly, I thought the same thing. I really like how the article's phrasing is designed for biggest scare value: The two acid bombs detonated in two separate aisles as the store was crowded with shoppers Acid bombs were detonated! Lordy! Next year when I light off some bottle rockets I fully expect them to document it as "Ballistic explosive projectiles were targeted skyward. No one is certain if they were intended to bring down aircraft." Still, the kids are idiots. You don't set things like this in places people aren't expecting it. The 'devices' themselves are unlikely to hurt anyone, but if people panicked someone could have been injured.

By: quin

quin — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 13:26:55 -0800

Apply punctuation as needed. It's been a long day.

By: sergeant sandwich

sergeant sandwich — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:08:11 -0800

don't be asinine. vinegar and baking soda in a pop bottle isn't going to evacuate a wal-mart. this was a drano bomb. and in case you're wondering what drain cleaner does when it gets on kids, click. (and yes, i know that drano isn't an acidic drain cleaner, it's a basic drain cleaner, and for those of you i point to here to see what sodium hydroxide does to your skin.) i mean, i think we live in an overprotective, alarmist society sometimes, but a cloud of vaporized strong acid or base is a fucking awful thing, and a good way to permanently ruin someone's life. and in the toy section where it's clearly meant to do the most damage? this is nothing like a pipe bomb in the mailbox.

By: mistermoore

mistermoore — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:30:17 -0800

I came pretty close to blowing myself apart with a homemade bomb around age 13. Haven't touched a bomb since. My point is that perhaps these kids hadn't had any bomb experience before this one that gave them an idea of the seriousness of what they were doing. Do you really think kids that age are thinking clearly all the time? I sure wasn't, I was just fucking around 'cause it was fun. I hesitate to ascribe any kind of grand motive to these kids.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 18:24:54 -0800

Well, pure sodium hydroxide is already a "protected" chemical, which is why all commercial drain cleaners have metal shavings in them now. I have personally had to meet with Homeland Security because I was buying a 700 pounds of it in 50 pound bags. (I'm a soap maker.) Also...sulfuric acid != sodium hydroxide. And there's nothing in the article to suggest that there was any sort of lye or sulfuric acid in the containers. Me, I'm betting they watched Mythbusters and did dry ice and a soda bottle. And Sarge, I have had multiple sodium hydroxide burns...and they don't look anything like that. In fact, if you just wash it off, and pour a little vinegar on it, you'll be fine. That said, I still keep mine in locked hazmat containers in a locked steel cabinet and have warned local fire officials that I have thermogenic chemicals in certain areas.)

By: rough ashlar

rough ashlar — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:58:32 -0800

point to here to see what sodium hydroxide does to your skin. Oh Noze. NaOH on the skin! *yawn* There was only one chemical I never wanted on my skin - Fuming Nitric Acid. The fuming sulferic acid wasn't fun either. Fuming hydrochloric acid...not a crisis, but not all that dangerous either. But NaOH - a cakewalk. You want pain - play with the nitric acid. Tales of security people gone nuts - I walked in one day with 3 12VDC batteries into a courthouse (power plant for an electric bicycle). On the xray it got questioned (seems wires were an issue). Nuckle-draging mouth breather #1 asked if it was dangerous, and I mentioned that the 18 mJoules could be. He called over a supervisor who looked at the label and said "they are batteries" amd 'you have an electric bike? That's cool - is that what the bike messengers use now?' That and 'take off your shoes' looking for bombs when you are wearing sandels......Damn nutters.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:39:01 -0800

Sounds like a couple of idiot yahoos' idea of fun, as in the case of a teenage boy in B.C. who put baking soda on a instant teller during the anthrax scare. That horrid British Columbia anthrax scare that gripped the Canadian nation's collective bowels in sheepy terror? Yeah, I seem to remember that.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:39:15 -0800

Which is to say, more power to the little bastard.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:50:39 -0800

But not these American kids, I hasten to add. They oughta fry!

By: iamck

iamck — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 05:28:53 -0800

If I remember my Anarchist Cookbook correctly, it was probably Ammonium Hydroxide and tin foil in a two liter plastic bottle.

By: sergeant sandwich

sergeant sandwich — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 05:53:48 -0800

dejah, i agree that it's easy to deal with a little bit of NaOH on the skin if you know a little acid-base chemistry, if you know what the spill is, and if you deal with it right away. most kids in the toy aisle (and indeed, probably most wal-mart parents) don't know how to neutralize acids/bases, and unless you're the person who put the stuff in the bottle, how would you know which one it is to start with? drain cleaners can be either acidic or basic (which is why i mentioned sulfuric acid). also a kid might not go flush their skin right away until it starts to get unbearably itchy or whatever. also, in an explosion of this kind you end up with an aerosol, a bunch of finely dispersed droplets in the air. someone standing next to the thing when it popped would probably end up breathing a good deal of it, which would land on the delicate inner surfaces of the lungs, where you can't just rinse it off or neutralize it in any way.