Jack "Marvel" Whiteside Parsons was the right hand man to Aleister Crowley, a founder of modern US rocket science, and early partner to L Ron Hubbard. Celebrate July 4th by investigating this major character in the birth of our age.
posted on Jul 4, 2008 - View this thread

Remember Tang? The news from England is that the 2006 terrorists were going to use it to create an in-flight bomb.
posted on Apr 4, 2008 - View this thread

"There is not a bomb by the entrance of the museum" was the telephone message delivered to a museum employee at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum Wednesday evening. This, along with the posting of a video on YouTube entitled The fake bombing at the ROM, Toronto, 28.11.07 led to the cancellation of a gala AIDS fundraiser at the Museum and a massive police investigation. Today, Ontario College of Art and Design student Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson claimed responsibility for the "art project".
posted on Nov 30, 2007 - View this thread

They claimed they would destroy all television with their business. $100 million and one cast member of First Kid later, all they had were massive amounts of failure, tremendous parties with Bryan Singer, and many, many, many allegations of sexual molestation. Now they hide in the Spanish Riviera and hire Chinese sweatshop workers to mine for World of Warcraft items. Check as well the original 2000 LA Times expose on the company, to say nothing of the "gay pedophile version of Silver Spoons" which remains their finest artistic achievement. via boingboing
posted on Nov 16, 2007 - View this thread

Four scanned pictures of the French nuclear test codenamed Canopus, which was fired on 24th August 1968 in the Fangataufa Atoll. The photographs are amazing.
posted on Nov 7, 2007 - View this thread

The "Nuclear Nav." On March 11, 1958, Captain Bruce Kulka was the navigator on an Air Force B-47 Stratojet carrying nuclear bombs to an airfield in North Africa. Somewhere over the southeastern US, the captain sent him to back the bomb bay to check on a cockpit warning light. As he climbed through the narrow space around the Mark 6 nuclear bomb, Kulka grabbed the emergency release pin by mistake.
posted on Oct 10, 2007 - View this thread

Star Simpson, a MIT student, wears her art project to the airport. Fearing her to be some sort of bomber, she is arrested for having a fake bomb. It sure looks like a bomb to me. I call the Boston tag.
posted on Sep 21, 2007 - View this thread

Well boys I reckon this is it. A B-52 loaded with six nuclear cruise missiles leaves North Dakota and arrives in Louisiana with five prompting the ACC to schedule (and announce) an Air Force wide standown on September 14, 2007. What's next Major Kong?
posted on Sep 12, 2007 - View this thread

Erie bomb victim was the dupe in a greedy plan. This story has always freaked me out...and now it freaks me out in brand new ways.
posted on Jul 11, 2007 - View this thread

"I've always wondered why, if I was called to search an airplane and some luggage … why did they let the airplane go before I arrived there." A former police officer says he believes he could have found explosives on Flight 182, but the plane had already left a Montreal airport by the time he arrived to check it.
posted on May 10, 2007 - View this thread

Went to a dance, looking for a man, found John McCain, he was singing Bomb Iran. (Warnings: Single link YouTube Newsfilter)
posted on Apr 22, 2007 - View this thread

Supertrain. A show about a supertrain that costs an assload of money and has no real direction or over arching story? why the hell not? link clips(youtube)
posted on Feb 8, 2007 - View this thread

Seven bombs rock Bangkok as the New Year's countdown begins. At least two are dead. Is it related to the recent coup? Some photos here.
posted on Dec 31, 2006 - View this thread

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.
posted on Nov 27, 2006 - View this thread

1962 Fallout Shelter handbook. (more about nuclear survival and shelters, if that kind of thing worries you).
posted on Nov 22, 2006 - View this thread

Dealing with Iran after Rumsfeld. Seymour Hersh details the ongoing debate over how to deal with Iran's nuclear program. There's something here for everyone to worry about.
posted on Nov 19, 2006 - View this thread

This is what the end of the world looks like. Photos of ballistic missiles, especially reentry vehicle tests. (Sound on last link.)
posted on Oct 21, 2006 - View this thread

Air samples over North Korea show no radiation "It is possible there was no radiological data. That could be the case if: the North Koreans successfully sealed the site; it was such a small detonation and so deep underground there was no escape of nuclear debris; or the test was actually conventional explosives."
posted on Oct 13, 2006 - View this thread

The Poor Man's Air Force: A History of the Car Bomb Part 1 & Part 2. Written by Mike Davis, the two-part essay argues that the first car bomb was actually a horse-drawn carriage filled with dynamite that Italian anarchists used to blow up Wall Street in 1920. (more inside)
posted on Jul 31, 2006 - View this thread

...Yet set against contemporary values of transparency and accountability, the Nixon-Meir deal of 1969 is now a striking and burdensome anomaly. Not only is Israel's nuclear posture of taboo and total secrecy anachronistic, it is inconsistent with, and costly to, the tenets of modern liberal democracy. At home and abroad Israel needs a better way to handle its nuclear affairs. The deal is also burdensome for the United States, not only because it is inconsistent with U.S. values of openness and accountability, but also because it provokes claims about double standards in its nuclear nonproliferation policy.

Israel crosses the threshold
Shorter version: The Untold Story of Israel's Bomb
posted on May 2, 2006 - View this thread

Sticker causes panic. This bike is a pipe bomb sticker causes Ohio University officials to call the bomb squad. Pic here.
posted on Mar 3, 2006 - View this thread

Marine's One Finger Salute becomes an iconic image in the Iraqi War. Analysis and politics aside, this guy is one tough mother.
posted on Feb 1, 2006 - View this thread

Bomb blasts in New Delhi. The three explosions seemed to target shoppers preparing for the festival of Diwali (previous post on Diwali here).
posted on Oct 29, 2005 - View this thread

Are cars stolen in the US used in Iraq suicide attacks? The FBI's counterterrorism unit has launched an investigation of US-based theft rings after discovering some vehicles used in deadly car bombings in Iraq were probably stolen in the United States.
posted on Oct 3, 2005 - View this thread

More bombs and newsagencies. It looks like this is not going to be a destination for some time. Fuck. [via]
posted on Oct 1, 2005 - View this thread

If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst forth at once in the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. ---> part one and Part two of Operation Crossroads, one of many atomic testing operations conducted during WWII, documented extensively on film and preserved in excellent condition here at the Archive. For further viewing: Operation Ivy, the testing of the first hydrogen fusion bomb. Operation Cue (1955 version), testing bomb damage done to housing and infrastructure. Special Delivery, a look at the preparation and technology, especially planes, used for the testing. Duck and Cover, a classic safety film from 1951 detailing the best schoolyard response to a nuclear attack. Caution! Interesting, disturbing, and at least an hour's worth of viewing!
posted on Sep 29, 2005 - View this thread

Operation Crossroads: Bikini Atoll. Paintings from the site of the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests. Some personal favorites. (via)
posted on Aug 22, 2005 - View this thread

Countdown To Annihilation
Follow the Lancasters and their adventures with the marvelous Origins bomb. next, next, next, next, next.
You'll have to wait until Friday for the conclusion. Hope you enjoy the story and still believe in the best of the web.
posted on Jul 21, 2005 - View this thread

The atom bomb is 60. It's very popular now and becoming more so daily. The most recent nuclear nation to threaten to use theirs is China. The U.S, Europe, and the U.S.S.R. got through a half century Cold War without immolating themselves. Will South and East Asia be as successful and/or lucky in the near future?
posted on Jul 16, 2005 - View this thread

Police evacuate Birmingham centre
West Midlands police have evacuated the second largest city in England tonight as a precautionary measure. Sky News are reporting that a series of controlled explosions (I heard on Sky News TV that one of these was on a bus, but this may be innacurate) have been carried out in the Broad Street area. I hope that any and all UK MeFi-ites in Birmingham are keeping sane through out all this.
posted on Jul 9, 2005 - View this thread

Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), also known as acetone peroxide, is the explosive of choice for Palestinian suicide bombers since it's easily made using commonly available materials. It was also part of the mixture in Richard Reid's shoe bomb. It contains no nitrogen and is thus undetectable by commonly used methods such as NQR, though an effort to cheaply detect it shows promise. What I find most interesting is the way it detonates; unlike most high explosives, it doesn't combust, but instead decomposes rapidly to form acetone and ozone.
posted on Jun 22, 2005 - View this thread

American's censored Nagasaki A-bomb report unearthed after 60 years: The first reporter to reach Nagasaki following the August 1945 “Fat Man” atomic attack had his newspaper stories censored and banned by US General Douglas MacArthur’s office. The reporter, George Weller, who worked for the (defunct) Chicago Daily News, was prevented from reporting on a mysterious “Disease X” out of fear that the stories of radiation poisoning would horrify the world and shift public attitudes regarding the bomb.

Weller died two years ago. Carbons of the articles were discovered by his son, Anthony.

Four of them were published today for the first time by the Tokyo daily Mainichi Shimbun, which purchased them from Anthony Weller.
posted on Jun 17, 2005 - View this thread

May 13, 1985: Police drop bomb on occupied Philadelphia rowhouse. On the morning of May 13, 1985, police commissioner Gregore Sambor spoke thusly through a bullhorn: "Attention MOVE, this is America!" A furious 90 minutes gun battle ensued, in which police fired an estimated 1,000 rounds. After a long stalemate, the decision was made to drop a bomb from a borrowed Pennsylvania State Police helicopter. The bomb did not dislodge the rooftop bunker as it was designed to do. instead, it started a fire that killed 11 people, including five children and destroyed 61 row homes leaving 250 people homeless.
posted on May 12, 2005 - View this thread

Richard Feynman wrote letters to all kinds of people. Here are some of them.
posted on May 12, 2005 - View this thread

Hitler's bomb. Adolf Hitler had the atom bomb first but it was too primitive and ungainly for aerial deployment, says a new book by German historian Rainer Karlsch. The book indicates that Nazi scientists carried out tests of what would now be called a dirty nuclear device in the waning days of World War II. US historian Mark Walker, an expert on the Third Reich's atomic weapons program, supports Karlsch's claims: "I consider the arguments very convincing". More inside.
posted on Mar 4, 2005 - View this thread

The Coalition's lack of preparation left 380 tons of high explosives unprotected in Iraq. Now it looks like the DoD tried to cover it up. Where is your surprise now? (first one is NYT)
posted on Oct 24, 2004 - View this thread

CNN reports that Jakarta has been bombed. Here's the explosion cloud rising. Here's a shot of Plaza 89 after the explosion, and here's another from a different perspective. Has flickr beaten textamerica in the race to beat CNN? Are ma_girl and fauzanazmi so different that they must use moblog services to suit their personalities or is it something else? How much specialization and differentation can we expect in the moblog arena? Will there be moblog streams of current events like this bombing in Jakarta? Will tagging suffice for such a task? Or is this just another terrorist bombing in Jakarta, I'm up late, and found a photo from a bombing before the story even broke on any of the major news sites? Ennui.
posted on Sep 9, 2004 - View this thread

33 40' 31'' N - 106 28' 29'' W, 7/16/45, 05:29.45
posted on Jul 16, 2004 - View this thread

Bomb plot threatens rail system in France Give us money ($5M) or we blow up your tracks! And the threat contained hints on where authorities could find samples. Is this the start of a new trend, will the French Gov pay, and why France?
posted on Mar 3, 2004 - View this thread

While the tragedy of the bombing in Bali was bad enough, evidence has surfaced that the bomb was incorrectly assembled, resulting in less than 1/3 of the device exploding (bare-bones link). Experts using computer modelling have worked out the net explosive quantity of the vehicle bomb outside the Sari Club was between 150kg and 300kg – as opposed to a potential 1150kg and that the toll could have been in the thousands had the bomb exploded as planned.
posted on Oct 1, 2003 - View this thread

About 2, if not more blasts rocked Mumbai on Monday afternoon. About 40 people are dead, and numerous injured. The bombs were apparently placed in taxis, and the two confirmed explosion sites are the historic Gateway of India, a huge tourist spot and the Mumba Devi temple, after which the city get its name. The city has been prey to a string of deadly bomb attacks since December last year, with the most recent, on a bus, killing three in July, and suffered a simliar serial blast back on March 12^th, 1993.
posted on Aug 25, 2003 - View this thread

Handy tips for those new to the bomb threat call in line. This "FAQ" from the LAPD's website is actually a checklist of things novice police phone operators are instructed to ask anyone calling in to leave a bomb threat. Useful information being collected includes tone of caller's voice (raspy? pleasant?), background noise (party atmosphere?) and important personal data about the soon to be bomber (what is your name? what is your address?). Sleep soundly, Los Angeles, your days of random explosions are a thing of the past.
posted on Feb 6, 2003 - View this thread

"Hitting Home: Coercive Theory, Air Power and Authoritarian Targets" will answer your questions on how aerial bombardment fits into the range of options between coercive diplomacy and total war, questions such as: -- What should be targeted for bombing? -- Exactly how much do you need to destroy to achieve your government's political objectives?
posted on Dec 17, 2002 - View this thread

Pentagon readies microwave bomb for Baghdad There go the blogs in Iraq! Might be worthwhile going to war just to test this new toy, says one cynic, the poster of this link.
posted on Nov 18, 2002 - View this thread

Someone set us up the bomb. The Bomb Project is a comprehensive on-line compendium of nuclear-related links, imagery and documentation. It makes accessible the declassified files and graphic documentation produced by the nuclear industry itself, providing a context for comparative study, analysis and creativity. (courtesy of Bruce Sterling's Infinite Matrix)
posted on Nov 11, 2002 - View this thread

in nineteen hundred and twenty eight
disturbed by an increase in the property tax rate
andrew kehoe, a deranged man,
blew up the school in bath, michigan

Suprisingly, not many people know about the worst school related attack in US history. Do you?
posted on Oct 24, 2002 - View this thread

The shockwaves from Bali ripple outward. John Sidel explains the likely impact on Indonesia, whilst Clive James and Germaine Greer discuss the impact on Australia. Thanks to Miguel for the two lost links. The Independent leader which caused such offence is here. For many, for whom 9/11 was remote, Bali is close and personal.
posted on Oct 17, 2002 - View this thread

Gujarat rocked by a series of bomb blasts. "It appears that the bombs are crudely made bombs and intended to create a panic" says a police spokesman. About a dozen people were injured in three explosions in the city of Ahmedabad.
posted on May 29, 2002 - View this thread

Suspicious package found in downtown Minneapolis. Ok, this is a little too close to home...
posted on May 28, 2002 - View this thread

Media Silent on Pipe Bomber's Leftism So newsmax says The same media establishment that is quick to label right-wing extremists refuses to call admitted pipe bomber Luke John Helder a left-wing extremist.
I did a little (very little) digging, and they might have something there, more below.
posted on May 9, 2002 - View this thread