Boston Marathon Bombings

[Fat Charlie]

A grenade is nothing. Literally. I can't even tell you how many grenades I've had on me at one time. A pot full of black powder? Even less. When I was on a howitzer crew, we'd throw out more powder from every round fired than one of these "WMDs" had. I'm not scoffing at the ingredients of their bombs, but at classifying devices of that size as WMD- in a country that can't find the will to regulate 30 round magazines.

I'm not into drugs, but it's this kind of thinking that got us "intent to distribute."

[NeilBlanchard]

Yes, black powder is a low explosive - it burns quickly. Calling it WMD is a major stretch.

There have been at least 3,400 people killed with guns *since* Sandy Hook, here in the US.

[Fat Charlie]

A texter in a car can easily kill more people than those bombs did, and cars aren't classified as WMD. Chuck Norris can kill more people with his fists, and they aren't... Oh, wait I think they actually are classified as WMD.

[NeilBlanchard]

It is really sad that we went to war in Iraq because they might have NUCLEAR BOMBS, and then when it became obvious that this was false, the term "weapons of mass destruction" was introduced; presumably to cover any chemical and/or biological weapons - but definitely to cover their butts for having started a war on an entire country.

And they did not find any so-called WMD...

And now that unfortunate term is being applied to a black powder "improvised explosive device" - in other words an IED. Sheesh... Talk about lowering the bar.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

It is really sad that we went to war in Iraq because they might have NUCLEAR BOMBS, and then when it became obvious that this was false, the term "weapons of mass destruction" was introduced; presumably to cover any chemical and/or biological weapons - but definitely to cover their butts for having started a war on an entire country.

Hey, Colonel Powell testified before Congress. No, no evidence of nuclear bombs were found, but I believe this counts as a weapon of mass destruction:

"The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people, and injured around 7,000 to 10,000 more, most of them civilians; thousands more died of complications, diseases, and birth defects in the years after the attack. The incident, which has been officially defined as an act of genocide against the Kurdish people in Iraq, was and still remains the largest chemical weapons attack directed against a civilian-populated area in history."

Halabja poison gas attack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Why was Superstorm Sandy not called Superhurricane Sandy? To me, a super-storm sounds weaker than a hurricane, not stronger.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by Xist

Why was Superstorm Sandy not called Superhurricane Sandy? To me, a super-storm sounds weaker than a hurricane, not stronger.

Because it has fewer syllables and more alliteration, fitting better in on-screen graphics and sound bites. News isn't about news.