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Silly String Goes to War Against IEDs

Luban Doyle writes "In an age of multimillion-dollar high-tech weapons systems, sometimes it's the simplest ideas that can save lives. Which is why a New Jersey mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq. American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq."

32 of 460 comments (clear)

  1. President Bush will love this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    New slogan? "Iraq: It's a Party Over There!"

  2. Re:Shipping by Random+Destruction · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its for the war on iraq!!

    If they don't accept it they're TERRORISTS!

    --
    :x
  3. Boom! by tttonyyy · · Score: 2, Funny

    1,000 cans of the neon-colored plastic goop are packed into Shriver's one-car garage in this town outside Philadelphia Just needs one unstable can, and BOOM! One explosion in a spaghetti factory. :)
    --
    biopowered.co.uk - catalytically cracking triglycerides for home automotive use since 2008. Just say no to big oil!
  4. Re:IED? by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 2, Funny

    WTOWA? IDK.

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  5. Re:Government should pay by Brewskibrew · · Score: 2, Funny

    We also need to send pallets of Silly Putty for training Iraqi militas to fingerprint insurgents and cases of sugar-free Trident for detecting bubbles of mass destruction.

    --
    For sale: Signature. One owner. Low miles. Always garaged. New punctuation, just installed!
  6. What do you expect? by AltGrendel · · Score: 3, Funny
    It's the military. The same group that calls a zipper a "sliding interlocking fastener".

    No, I'm not kidding.

    --
    The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination

    - Douglas Adams

  7. Re:And in a pinch by emor8t · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's like Napalm in a can! "I love the smell of Silly String in the morning!" Surfs Up!

  8. Re:Poor Choice of Icons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    See, you're missing the subtle irony of posting the Monty Python foot in an article about light-weight silly string. If the foot were to come down on a room with a tripwire, it would surely set off whatever device the wire was hooked up to. However, silly string doesn't have that effect. Pure brilliance on samzenpus's part!

  9. Re:Government should pay by veganboyjosh · · Score: 5, Funny

    hell, if Lockheed could create something which does the same thing and uses the same mundane process and chemicals, they can charge $5,000 per can, and the government may be interested.

  10. It has other combat uses too... by weatherguy48 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Seriously, silly string can be used during skirmishes as well.....has anyone ever gotten an eye-full of that stuff? Hurts like hell....

    --
    Quite a bit of assembly required, actually....
  11. Silly String goes to war by British · · Score: 2, Funny

    Isn't this the 2nd time war and toys have crossed paths? IIRC Silly Putty was made by accident in WW2, attempting to make an explosion. While no explosive was made, the designers pressed it on a newspaper photo and went "but hey! Look what you can do with Hitler's face!"

    Let's look for other toys with the word "silly" in them to see if they are usful in military applications. I'm betting now there's some research funds diverting towards it.

  12. Re:Government should pay by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 5, Funny

    Req. Order #12308-129

    Item Description: Can, Aerosol, 12 oz., String, Silly, Camouflage
    Quantity: 100,000
    Destination: US Army, Baghdad, Iraq
    Status: Approved
    Comment: Can be weaponized as flame thrower if we purchase optional birthday cake.

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  13. Re:IED? by MachineShedFred · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the post Janet Jackson FCC gestapo tactics landscape, anchors on CNN are afraid to use the following terms:

    boob
    booby
    boobies
    tit
    titties
    fun bags
    dirty pillows
    natty-sags

    I'm sure there are plenty more. This is the reason for the INAs we're hearing (Improvised Non-sensical Acronyms) such as "IEDs".

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  14. Re:This was on The Daily Show 2 days ago by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    They use dogs with bees in their mouths, and when they bark they shoot bees at you.

    It's a devastating weapon.

  15. Re:IED? by plover · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's what I said! Booty traps!

    --
    John
  16. Name Change by writermike · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Silly String?"

    Couldn't we at least change the name to Freedom String-In-A-Can?

    --
    If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
  17. Re:IED? by somersault · · Score: 4, Funny

    At least they're Very Apt Germane Improvised Nonsensical Acryonyms

    --
    which is totally what she said
  18. Slashdot tipping of the insurgents ;) by edxwelch · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The military is reluctant to talk about the use of Silly String, saying that discussing specific tactics will tip off insurgents."

  19. Re:LOL, you said booby!!! by jomama717 · · Score: 3, Funny

    As a consultant a few years back I worked on a product called GIS which ~half of the clients (the naive ones I guess) pronounced "jizz", with the unfortunate consequence of me sometimes being referred to as the "jizz expert". Hard work maintaining a professional air at one of those meetings...

    --
    while [ 1 ]; do echo -n -e "\xe2\x95\xb$((($RANDOM&1)+1))"; done
  20. IIEDDD by fuggo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Would that then make silly string an IIEDDD?

    improvised improvised explosive device detection device

  21. Re:IED? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wait a moment, you'll hear the sonic boom...

    Don't you mean Waveform Originating Oscillating Sub-Harmonics?

  22. Re: Almost perfect Req. order. by TaoPhoenix · · Score: 4, Funny

    Except in military usage, it wouldn't be called "silly". (This, besides being pejorative and politically incorrect, might infringe upon trademark.)

    Expect instead "long-chained nontoxic polycarbon semi-liquid fast drying compound."

    Also, some of your information seems to be missing. Accounting forwarded the following rejection notice:

    Please supply

    Department
    Cost Code
    Category type
    Expected use rates for prepaid asset scheduling
    Routing number
    Authorized sign-off official

    --
    My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
  23. Re:IED? by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Funny
    Military also uses VBIED a lot - that's Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device.

    Phew, that's a relief! I thought for a moment it meant "Visual Basic Improvised Explosive Device" -- one of those could be the end of us all!

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  24. Re:Government should pay by Technomonics · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hmm, I think I need to buy this stuff up by the truckload, pay cheap labor to take off the labels and replace with a drab green, milspec-titled part number and name such as "Substance XKR-12", giving it a 300% mark-up and make a ton of money.

  25. Re:Government should pay by Brummund · · Score: 2, Funny

    It would be delivered in 2015 and certified for field use around 2020. There would also be a specop edition using depleted uranium for extra can protection.

  26. Re:IED? by mkro · · Score: 4, Funny
    Most of us would call them booby traps.

    After the whole Janet Jackson/FCC thing, mainstream media prefer IED.
    --
    I shall go and tell the indestructible man that someone plans to murder him.
  27. Re:IED? by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 4, Funny

    I thought IED was some kind of contraceptive.

  28. Re:This was on The Daily Show 2 days ago by jeffmeden · · Score: 3, Funny

    -1 inaccurate...

    Homer: (taunting Mr. Burns) What are you gonna do? Release the dogs? Or the bees? Or the dogs with bees in their mouth and when they bark, they shoot bees at you?

  29. Re:LOL, you said booby!!! by CthulhuDreamer · · Score: 2, Funny

    Try keeping a straight face during a DCMAO conference. More than one person has stumbled over "dick-mayo".

  30. Re:IED? by yumyum · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bet your wife is not too happy about that...

  31. Re:I bet they refer to Kleenex(TM) as facial tissu by SomeoneGotMyNick · · Score: 3, Funny
    Booby Traps are trademarked?

    Playtex(tm)

  32. Re:This was on The Daily Show 2 days ago by Pfhorrest · · Score: 2, Funny

    Homer: (taunting Mr. Burns) What are you gonna do? Release the dogs? Or the bees? Or the dogs with bees in their mouth and when they bark, they shoot bees at you?

    Homer: ...Well go ahead, do your worst!

    Burns: My worst, eh!? Smithers - release the robotic Richard Simmons!

    --
    -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
    "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."