Maggie's Farm

Fake Bomber:
It's like this whole bomb drama was written by Seth MacFarlane.
What I'd like to know is when does a device become a bomb? I'm assuming some minimal amount of energy has to be released, at least enough to say, pop a balloon, or lift the lid off a shoe box. What is the threshold? As for energetic material? What does that mean ? Is it explosive under normal conditions, here on earth, or do you have to throw it in a furnace or be in Daeth Valley?
I don't know the answer; I'm asking.

D said...
Just ran across this statement from Wray
“As far as the devices themselves, it’s important to say, as is in the complaint, that even if the devices—and we’re still trying to determine whether or not they were functional, as they say, so we’re doing all kinds of analysis on that to make a definitive determination, but they did contain energetic material which, if subjected to the right combination of heat, or shock, or friction, could be dangerous to the public.”

There is parsing and then there is super parsing. This sounds like mega super parsing.
An "energetic material"? Not an explosive? Most materials contain some energy, not necessarily explosive.
"right combination of heat, or shock, or friction" well, if it is powdered sugar, and you disperse it in the air in just the right proportions, in a confined space, then hit it with an open flame, that would be the right conditions for it to explode. Under just the right conditions, you can get a really massive explosion. On the other hand, they have to be just the right conditions or nothing much happens.

"could be dangerous to the public." Not necessarily kill or maim the recipient but "dangerous to the public" (maybe) Expose someone to high concentrations of sugar and you might trigger a diabetic attack. Would that be a "danger to the public"?
This statement seems to me to confirm that they don't think the devices were any particular danger to anyone.

JH said.... re energetic material: I seem to recall reading that the devices contained powdered sugar. Powdered sugar can be highly explosive, for example in a sugar mill where it is finely dispersed in the air. Compacted into a plastic pipe, not so much. So would sugar be, legally, an explosive? And if the device cannot, by design, explode wouldn't it simply be an ID (improvised Device) rather than an IED (Improvised Explosive Device)?

tim said...
“they were not hoax bombs, they were IEDs.”
So is putting a roll of caps under a rock for cars to run over. It's an IED by any definition, It's just not a meaningful category. I think until we hear what he has to say, there is no way we can know. It's all in his intent, isn't it?

H said...
I would like to hear more about this "energetic material, capable of exploding when subjected to high pressure or temperatures."

JF said...
He legally got the materials to build his bomb because it wasn't a bomb. He used things like PVC pipe, a cheap digital clock, some hardware store wire, and one of many "energetic materials" that you can get at Safeway.