Monthly Archives: November 2005

Thermobaric Weapons

This entry was posted in War on Terrorism on by

After all the recent discussion about white phosporous it will be interesting to watch the discussion about this addition to the infantry arsenal:

Nor is it difficult to see why soldiers faced with rooting out loyalists to Saddam Hussein in Baghdad would covet a small version of such a weapon. City combat is dangerously unpredictable because any corner could hide an enemy. Soldiers often clear every room of every building they sweep. Thermobaric ammunition can eliminate enemies in several rooms at once.
“For urban warfare (thermobarics) could be very effective,” said Andrew Koch, Washington bureau chief of Jane’s Defence Weekly. “If you lob a grenade in the entrance of a building, it hits just the people in the entrance. A thermobaric weapon would (go) though the rest of the building.”

This looks great when you are targeting 100% known enemy soldiers but it sure seems that the possibility of inappropriate civilian casualties is very high.
More here.
Via boingboing.

Stay Warm, Stay Healthier

This entry was posted in Economics Health Care on by

Simply keeping your feet warm may help fend off colds:

But when he and a colleague deliberately chilled subjects — by dipping their feet in ice water — they found that those who got their feet cold and wet were significantly more likely to develop symptoms of a cold over the next four or five days than were those who just put their feet in an empty bowl.

While this study did not look at this it seems reasonable to conclude that folks with circulatory problems that lead to cold extremeties should, if the study is correct, show a higher incidence of colds.
Investors might note an uptick in sales of foot warming devices if this study gets much play in the popular press.

More Medicine

This entry was posted in Culture Economics Libertarianism Living on by

I know some religious folks who will bristle at Scalzi’s sensible views on family management and relationships but they live in dark places and if they are very lucky their sons will not look to be dating Athena:

And as for passing along the “the husband is the head of household” meme to my daughter, well. Here we pause for a long and hearty laugh. I’ve already given Athena permission to kneecap the first jackass who tries to pass that one off to her. And you don’t want to know what Krissy’s given her permission to do.

Chuckle! Read it all.