ROBOT COP scatters LIVE GRENADES in San Francisco STREET In an apparent instance of mindless mechanical nihilism, a police robot in San Francisco scattered live grenades across a street using its mechanical arm. When the deadly frag-bombs failed to explode, the enraged tin cop apparently attempted to detonate them by running them over. We'll let this vid from local news channel KTVU …
While some types of explosives (dynamite!) can become more sensitive with age, I think you'll find the most likely compositions for old grenades (TNT, various RDX mixes) just become inert, regardless of how badly they might be stored.
A 50 year old hand grenade is every bit as unlikely to go off unintentionally as a brand new one, the only difference is the chance of a dud or hang fire being significantly larger for the 50 year old grenade. Absolutely no need for the robot here, all they did was close down 'one of LA's busiest streets' for an unnecessarily long period of time.
ps: Actually, some of those mixes go from explosive to flammable, not inert, but that's close enough wrt to handling.
There are three main possibiliities.
1: Inert training grenade, which might be identifiable by the paint scheme.
2: Un-fused grenade, the way in which they were normally shipped, with no fuse.
3: Fused, and so likely to be very dangerous with age.
The trouble is that it may not be easy to tell whether the thing is fused
Carrying something like this in a paper bag seems a trifle reckless.
Didn't something fall out of the bag, tearing it slightly, before we all saw the grenade fall out? I wonder if there was another one...
I watched it on YouTube, it suggested this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhKKJ4UQ3_A - purile, mindless, stupid, and childishly funny. ;-)
I love these sorts of TV news situations just an endless stream of consciousness from the commentators. They obviously have some brief from on-high at the stations to keep talking to ensure people don't tune out and go do something more worthwhile, but after 2 mins I had to turn off the audio!
I am reminded of the lines by Death in "The Meaning of Life" by Monty Python:
http://www.montypython.net/meaningmm3.php#Part 7:Death
GRIM REAPER: Be quiet!
HOWARD: Can I just say this at this time, please?
GRIM REAPER: Silence! I have come for you.
ANGELA: You mean... to--
GRIM REAPER: Take you away. That is my purpose. I am death.
GEOFFREY: Well, that's cast rather a gloom over the evening, hasn't it?
HOWARD: I don't see it that way, Geoff. [sniff] Let me tell you what I think we're dealing with here: a potentially positive learning experience to get an--
GRIM REAPER: Shut up! Shut up, you American. You always talk, you Americans. You talk and you talk and say 'let me tell you something' and 'I just wanna say this'. Well, you're dead now, so shut up!
HOWARD: Dead?
GRIM REAPER: Dead.
ANGELA: All of us?
GRIM REAPER: All of you.
GEOFFREY: Now, look here. You barge in here, quite uninvited, break glasses, and then announce, quite casually, that we're all dead. Well, I would remind you that you are a guest in this house, and-- [whock] Ah! Oh.
GRIM REAPER: Be quiet! Englishmen, you're all so fucking pompous, and none of you have got any balls.
And those fucking American commentators.... Why MUST they absolutely rabbit on and on and on and on and on and on and on - about every nuance or possible vague connection it may have to any other irrelevant fact or theory.
"Well Jessica, apparently the black rubber things on the bottom are called wheels and the black bits are supposedly made from ballistic grade rubber, which is 20% harder than regular rubber tyres that are found on automobiles - which they say is the same rubber on the vehicles used in Iraq....."
And they just fucking rabbit on and on and on and on and on and on....
And it's not as if the stupid cops closing down a whole street to get out a paper bag with a few hand grenades in it - is actually newsworthy...
Fuck these people are so STUPID......
No wonder I rarely ever watch TV.
No wonder the USA is going down the shithole - as being an idiot is held in higher regard than being intelligent and getting results.
Even Marvin (the paranoid android) would have been more prepared than these guys....
"Like a stone through a wet paper bag."
Two thoughts on the coverage though:
1. The camera shake, for example, as the grenade is driven over is understandable, but at other points the camera moves like it is also under remote control (ie. zoom cycling). It would be interesting to know how they filmed it.
2. This coverage really shows why station idents, and screen banners are a huge waste of space, and that they ought to warn the cameramen about not relying on those parts of the screen!!! Very annoying on this coverage.
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