Gay Bombs and other oddities

[snorkackcatcher]

A few odd links that happened to catch my eye today:

Pentagon Confirms It Sought To Build A 'Gay Bomb': A Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.

Resisting the urge to say 'easy, just let the slashers loose on them' (well, OK, not resisting it very hard), I'm guessing this might have been one of those stalking horse proposals -- in order to push fairly nutty project A for reasons of ideology, kickbacks, or career self-publicity, you present it for consideration together with extremely nutty projects B, C, and D such as this to make A look good by comparison.

Qantas Boss Tells Of Encounter With Incredibly Dense US Security Guard: Jackson is a woman -- which, according to the wunderkind who screened her baggage and found detailed plans of new aircraft, makes it hard to believe she is also chairman of a major international airline.

I suppose having an Aussie passport which lists 'occupation' as 'running major world airline' doesn't help. I mean, anyone can put that, can't they? Bruce Schneier has a point in calling these sorts of checks 'security theater'.

A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates (Paperback): A Rand Corporation publication with great reviews you should read. Although I don't want to brag, but I guessed whodunnit before I got halfway through.


In other news: I am increasingly of the opinion that whichever bastard invented key meters is a prime candidate for being staked out and dealt with by the Ants of Justice. And next to them can go the writers of malware, bankers who push crappy financial products whether you want them or not, and people who post spoilers for Deathly Hallows.

Comments

[gloryforever.livejournal.com]

...and people who post spoilers for Deathly Hallows.

Have there been any, though? Or is it just that I've been too self-absorbed to notice?

[snorkackcatcher]

There were supposed to have been some at one comm (fortunately not one I read) -- but you just know it's going to happen.

[gloryforever.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess as the date draws nearer I'll just have to filter out the comms and just read the journals - here's to hoping people provide ample warning.

How's the story going, by the way?

[snorkackcatcher]

Revised and submitted with an attempt to plug those plot holes-- I know, I should have got it re-betaed, but I thought I'd better just post it and get it out of the way before I forgot about it. :)

[gloryforever.livejournal.com]

Link me to it when it's up, will you?

I've been reading some of your other stuff; I read "Something's Happened" yesterday, and I have just finished "Second Thoughts" which I found really good. Sorry about not reviewing though...

[snorkackcatcher]

That's OK -- thanks for letting me know, anyway. :)

[marcella-riddle.livejournal.com]

I love how they fail to realise wanting to have sex with a man doesn't make you gay, necessarily. You could just as easily be bisexual or open-minded. People and their quaint categories...psssh.

[tree_and_leaf]

Interesting icon: Snape as Timelord? (Maybe he's the Master?)

[marcella-riddle.livejournal.com]

Wow, I never read it that way before. How shameful of me! That's an interesting concept, given how obviously shifty he is. Hmmm.

[snorkackcatcher]

Useful shorthand, though. "GLBT" and like acronyms tend to annoy me -- if you have to add in so many particular cases it's necessary to abbreviate, what's actually required is a new term. (And it always makes me think of a sandwich.)

There were a whole bunch of funny assumptions in that proposal, which does make me wonder if it was politically targeted.

[marcella-riddle.livejournal.com]

Me too, BLT.

It also negated the issue of female troops.

[themolesmother.livejournal.com]

The Margaret Jackson story makes this cynical old-style feminist chuckle and say, "See! Nothing's changed really!".

As for the gay bomb thing *boggles*.

Mm

[snorkackcatcher]

Bizarre on several different levels.

[tree_and_leaf]

The Quantas story rather reminds me of the incident of the Bishop of London and the Met policeman who didn't believe in black bishops.

[snorkackcatcher]

*groan* Mind you, I suppose if someone tells you "actually officer, I'm a Bishop", the first reaction is probably "yeah, right, and I'm the Pope". :)Unless he was in full bishoply kit, of course (which I should probably know the term for but don't).

[tree_and_leaf]

I don't see how you could get into a car wearing a mitre...

Point taken, although 'd have thought 'Have you got any ID on you, sir' might have been a more professional response :)

*resists urge to tell the joke about the traffic policeman pulling the Pope over for speeding....*

[snorkackcatcher]

I remember that one. :)

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Wasn't part of the issue in that story that the being stopped bit didn't just happen to him once, but repeatedly, so that it illustrated the extent to which it was "entirely random stopping of black men in non-crap cars".

[tree_and_leaf]

Now you mention it, I believe you're right.

[snorkackcatcher]

That sounds plausible.