Captain Heal (who, as well being a cop served as a Marine in Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Somalia and advised the UN as a civilian expert in the Balkans) did comment that he respected the tactics and strategies used by Ruckus Society as "sound." He suspects that many dissident groups have been schooled by sharp military veterans.
But he said low tech solutions like sheltering behind vinyl banners supported by aluminum poles and using magazines as shin guards against bean bag projectiles could encourage some police officers to ratchet up their tool choices to more lethal ones.
But there's no resentment, he says. "You can't blame someone for trying to defeat you when you're acting counter to their purposes," he said.
Sorry that not everything was able to fit in the article -- usual problems with space in printed publications.
As for the "phaser" -- reactions with oxygen do indeed make the beam, or ray, from some models glow green. Some potential users say they want the ray to be visible so that it's easier to apply and to track weapons fire from colleagues.
I hope these clarifications help. It's always a cool thing to learn new things about research/article subjects from reading SlashDot commentary!
Erik
Before "White Plague"
on
The DNA Bomb
·
· Score: 1
Thanks for discussing the article. When my editor told me that it was picked up by SlashDot, I was thrilled to know it would get intelligent feedback.
Just a side note that was cut from the article. Fiction ran behind non-fiction in this case. Before "White Plague" was even a dark thought, the U.S. intelligence community was abuzz with rumors that the Soviets had created a "gender bomb," but one that killed men and boys, aka potential soldiers.
Dr. Ken Alibek explains how that false rumor got started. In 1979 there was an accidental anthrax release from a secret Soviet weapons plant when a worker punched out in the middle of changing a ventillation filter. He took the spent one out, and failed to let the next shift know to put the new one in. When workers arriving on the scene started up the machinery, a plume of anthrax issued forth from the plant for some time. In the small town nearby, men began dying while women were largely unaffected.
The Soviets of course denied that there was any bioweapon involved -- they said there was a natural outbreak of disease. But American spies sent back the hot tip that the accident may have revealed that the Soviets had created a strain of anthrax that kills only men.
Well, the sexual division (redundant in Latin) was caused by sociology, not biology. The venting of spores occurred on a cool night when women and children were shut in their homes, leaving only graveyard shift factory workers, predominantly men, vulnerable. By morning most of the contamination had blown through.
Just something I wanted to share even though it didn't make it into the Voice's limited space.
Sincerely,
Erik
Slashdot Mirror
Captain Heal (who, as well being a cop served as a Marine in Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Somalia and advised the UN as a civilian expert in the Balkans) did comment that he respected the tactics and strategies used by Ruckus Society as "sound." He suspects that many dissident groups have been schooled by sharp military veterans. But he said low tech solutions like sheltering behind vinyl banners supported by aluminum poles and using magazines as shin guards against bean bag projectiles could encourage some police officers to ratchet up their tool choices to more lethal ones. But there's no resentment, he says. "You can't blame someone for trying to defeat you when you're acting counter to their purposes," he said. Sorry that not everything was able to fit in the article -- usual problems with space in printed publications. As for the "phaser" -- reactions with oxygen do indeed make the beam, or ray, from some models glow green. Some potential users say they want the ray to be visible so that it's easier to apply and to track weapons fire from colleagues. I hope these clarifications help. It's always a cool thing to learn new things about research/article subjects from reading SlashDot commentary! Erik
Thanks for discussing the article. When my editor told me that it was picked up by SlashDot, I was thrilled to know it would get intelligent feedback. Just a side note that was cut from the article. Fiction ran behind non-fiction in this case. Before "White Plague" was even a dark thought, the U.S. intelligence community was abuzz with rumors that the Soviets had created a "gender bomb," but one that killed men and boys, aka potential soldiers. Dr. Ken Alibek explains how that false rumor got started. In 1979 there was an accidental anthrax release from a secret Soviet weapons plant when a worker punched out in the middle of changing a ventillation filter. He took the spent one out, and failed to let the next shift know to put the new one in. When workers arriving on the scene started up the machinery, a plume of anthrax issued forth from the plant for some time. In the small town nearby, men began dying while women were largely unaffected. The Soviets of course denied that there was any bioweapon involved -- they said there was a natural outbreak of disease. But American spies sent back the hot tip that the accident may have revealed that the Soviets had created a strain of anthrax that kills only men. Well, the sexual division (redundant in Latin) was caused by sociology, not biology. The venting of spores occurred on a cool night when women and children were shut in their homes, leaving only graveyard shift factory workers, predominantly men, vulnerable. By morning most of the contamination had blown through. Just something I wanted to share even though it didn't make it into the Voice's limited space. Sincerely, Erik