This week's most clueless award

[Dee]

Teen's cigarette ash sets off stolen gunpowder, La. deputy says (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070711/koddities/odd_powder__smoke)

BAYOU BLACK, La. (AP) - Stolen gunpowder went up with a bang when a teenager flicked cigarette ash near the open bottle, according to the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office.

Alex Joshua Horn and Johnathan Anthony Porche, both 19 and from Bayou Black, remained in jail Wednesday on charges of shoplifting and possessing or making a bomb. Both were arrested Sunday evening.

Wal-Mart workers had called the sheriff's office that evening, saying three teenagers had been asking about gunpowder and PVC pipe.

About 8 p.m. Sunday, deputies were called to a house in Bayou Black, where they found damage from an explosion in the kitchen and dining room. They also found Horn, a resident of the house, and Porche, who lives a block away.

The youths told investigators that the bottle of black powder - a specific form of gunpowder - had been shoplifted from Wal-Mart, and Porche's cigarette had touched it off.

Both youths were treated for minor burns before they were booked. More arrests are possible, investigators said.

[DaveM]

"We're looking for some plastic pipe and gunpowder. It's....um....for a science project".

[Dee]

Yes, right. Sure it is.

Most alarming to me Dave was that gun powder is even available in Wal-Mart! :eek: That's unbelievable!

(They don't carry it here in Canada, thank goodness.)

[hoops]

dee, since hunting supplies (including rifles and shells) are availible at walmart, it would be easy enough to find the supplies...al lot of hunters fill their own shells, i guess it's all part of the hunting experience likened to tying flies for fishing. what i find hard to believe is even tho the clerk called the police after these teens bought the stuff, he let them buy it...so i think we have two winners here the clerk and the teenaged ash flicker.
peace
hoops

[SongDragon]

Hoops... He didn't let them buy it, they shoplifted it.

We've recently had shoplifters up here, in the grocery store (nothing major, just a teen throwing a hissy fit really when she got caught). The town is so small that it's major news, spreading like wildfire, when we have a shoplifter.

Spark plus gunpowder equals kaboom! Fun.

~Song

[DaveM]

I was rather surprised that black powder was available at Wal-Mart. Certainly they have long carried most of the more common calibers of ammunition, but any sort of loose gunpowder would be a specialty item used normally only by reloaders. I had no idea one could purchase it other than by going to a gun shop or the like.

Black powder is even more of a specialty item, as it is used only by those who shoot muzzleloaders. It is not nearly as stable as modern "smokeless" powder and so must be stored somewhat more carefully--a can of smokeless powder knocked off a shelf will do nothing, while a can of black powder may well explode. I'm quite surprised anyone would carry the stuff and store it where it could be stolen--typically, gun shops keep cans of powder of every variety under lock and key. Come to think of it, my area Wal-Mart stores ammunition the same way.

Song, perhaps you need to start putting up "Small Town News" posts.

[Darlene]

That's what I thought Dave when my eyes saw black power my mind added muzzle loaders. Never really heard of reloaders using black power because it's just too unstable. It sure is a puzzle to me "why did Walmart carry black power"?
Peace, Darlene

[aabram]

This must have a real chance at the 2007 Darwin Awards. I live in hope :p

[hoops]

Song,
oops, sorry about that. :o
peace
hoops

[SongDragon]

DaveM, But I love my small town! Except for the really, really slow drivers... Actually the place I work is in a town a bit bigger than mine. I work in Plymouth, NH. I live in Holderness... It's tiny, to say the least, but impossible to find unless you know where you're going. You can go right through the town without noticing it, honestly.

I should start adding to the Small Town News. The only city I ever lived in was Las Vegas, but now it's back to small towns for me... Happily.

Hoops, Not a problem. I just get nitpicky about some things. I don't want to be annoying, but I also don't want to see things get told wrong.

I had the day off, so no small town news (better known as gossip) for today. The things that make the headlines up here, though... Barely news worthy.

But then, that's not a surprise with the summer culture revolving around the lake, small family-thrown bashes, and hiking.

~Song

[Oak Kitten]

They should have stuck with Diet Coke and Mentos. Then again, maybe not. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHNAC5yoiEY&mode=related&search=

Oak

[DaveM]

Sani-Flush and aluminum foil will also make an excellent low-tech bomb, as well as mixtures of several other common household produts.

Not that I'm suggesting anyone try it, but I'm sure the clueless folk have had plenty of warnings already.

Oh, and don't play with matches, either.

[Dee]

Fortunately for me and unfortunately for others, I have my own built-in explosive gas factory (and I know how to use it). http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k267/deemark/Emoticons/_raspberry.gif

[DaveM]

All you need is a double helping of some of Redjack's spicier creations....presto, free energy!

[Dee]

Sure why not. I already live with the secret guilt that I am somehow responsible for all this global warming going on. http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k267/deemark/Emoticons/worried.gif

[Oak Kitten]

This thread is degenerating into a Terrence and Phillip skit.

http://scienceblogs.com/evolgen/upload/2006/04/terrence_philip.jpg

Oak

[DaveM]

Not that....anything but that....

[RedjackRyan]

CENTREVILLE, Va. (AP) -- A man who was apparently trying to make fireworks touched off an explosion in his garage and set his house aflame Sunday, authorities said. No one was hurt.
Flash powder, used in fireworks, was found among chemicals in the garage, said Mike Campbell, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
A side of the attached garage was gutted, but the house didn't appear to be badly damaged.
"It just appears he may have been wanting to make his own homemade fireworks," Campbell said. "This is what happens when you do that."
Dangerous chemicals were stored in the garage and in a shed behind the house, said Capt. Chris Schaff, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. Local officials asked the ATF and FBI to assist because of the nature of the chemicals.
Two adults and two teenagers had to evacuate the home. Authorities were interviewing the man Sunday evening, and no charges had been brought.

[DaveM]

Gosh....I have plenty of dangerous chemicals around....drain cleaners, pesticides, paint thinner, a couple gallons of gasoline. Please don't tell the ATF, ok?

I do have to say that mixing up your own flash powder is easy enough, but really a dumb idea unless you know how to handle it right. Can just imagine this guy tamping powder into a metal tube with a steel rod or some such. Or trying to grind the stuff in a mortar--that's always good for some "fun" results.

Prior to the invention of flash bulbs, flash powder was commonly used in photography and a lot of photographers mixed their own. It was almost virtually universal for photographers to have no eyebrows, and a fair number wound up retiring early due to blindness caused by a premature "flash". Oh, the good old days....

[RedjackRyan]

Oh but it gets better..



MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) -- A man appeared in court in Sydney on Saturday after taking an armored personnel carrier on a rampage through the city's western suburbs in which he destroyed six mobile phone towers, Australian media reported.
http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/14/australia.tank.reut/art.tank.ntv.abc.jpg This image from Australian TV shows the vehicle during the rampage through Sydney suburbs.


Suburban Mt Druitt police Chief Inspector Guy Haberley said the 45-year-old man had been arrested on his way to damaging a seventh tower, according to News Ltd.
"He continued to destroy mobile tower communications sheds by crashing through the perimeter fence and colliding with structures, causing significant damage," Haberley was quoted as saying.
The charges included malicious damage, break and enter, predatory driving and driving in a dangerous manner.
Australian radio reported the man did not apply for bail during the court appearance, and the case was adjourned until Monday.

[DaveM]

Hasn't everyone who's ever been stuck in traffic behind an old Buick with the turn signal stuck on wished they had a tank? I know I have more than once. Hate to think about the gas mileage, though.

[Darlene]

I saw a film clip of that tank and the police running around trying to stop it and trying to keep from being run over. I am still laughing about it.
Peace, Darlene

[Dee]

Thief crashes Porsche through showroom doors

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - A thief crashed a 300,000-dollar Porsche through the glass doors of a showroom in Malaysia after asking to test its engine, reports said Tuesday.

The man got into the high-performance car and asked a saleswoman to switch on the engine before making his dramatic exit, Bernama said.

It described him as well-dressed, and said he produced a cheque book before smashing his way out of the showroom in the 963,000-ringgit Porsche 911 Targa 4.

But the thief did not get very far. Officers found the car abandoned 1.5 kilometres (one mile) away, and newspapers reported it had run out of fuel.

(source (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/070717/oddities/malaysia_offbeat))

Greedy AND clueless. I love that in a man. http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k267/deemark/Emoticons/sigh.jpg

[Dee]

Woman arrested after calling Georgia police to complain about 'fake' cocaine (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070814/koddities/odd_fake_drugs)

ROCHELLE, Ga. (AP) - A woman was arrested after she called police to help "get her money back" after she was unhappy with the crack cocaine she purchased.

Juanita Marie Jones, 53, called Rochelle Police late Thursday night after she purchased what she thought was a $20 piece of crack cocaine, according to police reports.

She told officers she broke the rock into three pieces and smoked one, only to discover the drugs were "fake."

She took Officer Joel Quinn and Deputy John Shedd of the Wilcox County Sheriff's Office into her kitchen and showed them the drugs, police said.

She was promptly arrested on charges of possession of cocaine.