If you watched Breaking Bad, you would have already known this.

A TERRORIST mylar balloon you mean.

Those balloons are taking away our FREEDOMS, ToxicMunkee.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: Those balloons are taking away our FREEDOMS, ToxicMunkee.

Deport all the mylar balloons!

ToxicMunkee: Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: Those balloons are taking away our FREEDOMS, ToxicMunkee.

Deport all the mylar balloons!

For great justice!

mitchcumstein1: If we criminalize mylar balloons, only criminals will have mylar baloons.

Those are the risks we take with mylar balloons, and we knew those risks when we signed up.

mitchcumstein1: I would rather let 1000 guilty mylar baloons go free than pop one innocent one.

Look, man, those mylar ballons are unorthodox and they don't play by the rules, but they get RESULTS.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: If you watched Breaking Bad, you would have already known this.

I bet within a few weeks there'll be an unrelated story about an explosion at an old folk's home.

skinink: cdn.bleacherreport.net

Or at the very least, a story about a most unusual magnetic phenomenon...

Cyno01: Ban balloons, theres a helium shortage anyway.

... he said with an abnormally high voice.

Mylar balloons! Mylar balloons!

ToxicMunkee: Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: Those balloons are taking away our FREEDOMS,

Deport all the mylar balloons!



Deport them to India!

D'oh!

LordOfThePings: www.axiomintl.com

This made me laugh really hard for some reason.


Cyno01: I dont think ive ever seen my dog more freaked out than a few weeks ago when i huffed some helium from the last of my fiancees hospital balloons and started talking to her. Quizzical dog head tilt, growing look of concern, feeling in terror, hiding under the coffee table, trying to wedge herself under the couch to hide...

Hahahaha, awesome!

I don't think I've ever pulled that trick when I had pets, no...

Mylar balloons really are a big problem for high voltage power lines. Here in Los Angeles (and maybe in the entire state, i don't know), if you sell mylar balloons you're required to attach a weight to the end of the string so that it won't fly off on it's own. On two occasions over the years, I've seen police helicopters go after stray mylar balloons. They slowly come up beneath them and then pop them with a surprisingly loud boom.

hlehmann: Mylar balloons really are a big problem for high voltage power lines. Here in Los Angeles (and maybe in the entire state, i don't know), if you sell mylar balloons you're required to attach a weight to the end of the string so that it won't fly off on it's own. On two occasions over the years, I've seen police helicopters go after stray mylar balloons. They slowly come up beneath them and then pop them with a surprisingly loud boom.

Ok, there's a movie scene.

"pssht OK we're right under it, going to pop the thing with the blades, stand by"
BOOOM (various whining machinery noises, copter starts spinning)
"pshht OMG it was a bomb we're going down we're going..."
(crunch, ball of fire)

cut to MS13 guy with handful of balloons with bombs on strings

"Heh heh...su MADRE, esse!"

erewhon: Ok, there's a movie scene.

A MICHAEL BAY PRODUCTION

And now you know how the US can knock down power to a whole city when needed.

Air Force or Navy...chaff pods

/ta-da

Not impressed

/Still hot

1600 people is not a "portion of a major metropolitan area" you drama queen, it's just a neighborhood.

illannoyin: [2.bp.blogspot.com image 512x346]

Not impressed

/Still hot

It's better in German.

netcentric: And now you know how the US can knock down power to a whole city when needed.

Air Force or Navy...chaff pods

/ta-da

BLU-114/B

Link

netcentric: And now you know how the US can knock down power to a whole city when needed.

Air Force or Navy...chaff pods

/ta-da

We had that before GW 1. There's an infrastructure weapon system series that started off with BLU-114/B. You can deploy it from Tomahawks, although the later ones will fit some of the drones. It dispenses really conductive carbon fibers, you fly over distribution substations and fire the thing, down goes the electrical grid. Later, when your troops have taken the area, you can clean it out with the right stuff pretty easily, get the lights right back on.

It's the high-tech version of the chain trick.

erewhon: netcentric: And now you know how the US can knock down power to a whole city when needed.

Air Force or Navy...chaff pods

/ta-da

We had that before GW 1. There's an infrastructure weapon system series that started off with BLU-114/B. You can deploy it from Tomahawks, although the later ones will fit some of the drones. It dispenses really conductive carbon fibers, you fly over distribution substations and fire the thing, down goes the electrical grid. Later, when your troops have taken the area, you can clean it out with the right stuff pretty easily, get the lights right back on.

It's the high-tech version of the chain trick.

Rambo just M-60's the transformer.

queezyweezel: If someone wanted to "get us", they would.  It's impossible to secure the country without living in a police state.  Shiat happens, life goes on.  Stop worrying about everything.

Even in a police state, this is impossible. It would easily take the major part of the U.S. armed forces to protect all power lines effectively.

What is more, unless you know what you're doing, and have good knowledge of the current grid situation, it is not so easy to take out an entire, proberly operated and well balanced power grid with a few attacks on a few random substations, much less on single lines. It is, however, rather easy to cause regional blackouts, especially in metropolitan areas. But these should not have a major influence on the stability of a large enough system.

noitsnot:

Rambo just M-60's the transformer.

That works, don't get me wrong. It's just sort of permanent. If you throw a chain into the substation you can blow a lot of breakers and shut it down a while. But it generally doesn't destroy everything. BLU-114B is like that, only faster and easier. Although not nearly as dramatic.

noitsnot:
Rambo just M-60's the transformer.

I guess it's a difference in approach - Rambo's a Bravo.

If Rambo was an Echo or Charlie, he'd pick the lock on the substation, let himself in, screw up the SCADA and manually open the breakers, maybe toss a chain or two over some lines, lock everything back up, take up a position nearby and wait for the repair crew to arrive. Then pick them off, steal their truck and uniforms, and go around doing "maintenance" on other substations under the guise of Iraqi Electric.

mitchcumstein1: MYLAR BALLOON RIGHTS NOW. MYLAR BALLOON RIGHTS FOREVER.

*THIS* MYLAR BALLOON IS GONNA TURN IN HIS BADGE


fusillade762: Came for this. Satisfied.

Heh, first thing that came to mind, really!

First it was their damn 'Maylar Calendar' and now they're trying to freak us out with their Maylar Balloons.
I'm glad they're extinct! Farking Maylars!!!

Does anyone really think we are "safe"? McVeigh demonstrated pretty well that at any moment some crazy person could do a hell of a lot of damage.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: If you watched Breaking Bad, you would have already known this.

Done in one

Elsewhere in Lincoln Park.