Mid-Week Odds and Ends

Two stories that have cropped up in the last day or so, and require commentary...

After extensive trials in defense research laboratories, the Indian Army has decided to weaponize the bhut jolokia, or "ghost chili," which was certified by the Guinness World Records Organization in 2007 as the world's hottest chili. Each thumb-sized bhut jolokia has more than 1,000,000 Scoville units, the scientific measurement of a chili's spiciness. Classic Tabasco sauce ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units, while jalapeno peppers measure anywhere from 2,500 to 8,000. You can see a description of the Scoville scale, with a handy chart, here.

A million Scoville units means that these peppers are just a little hot. The Indian Army researchers plan to use them to make a new type of tear gas grenade that will immobilize an enemy without killing him. Of course, being hit by a million Scoville units may make him want to die, anyhow.

The best part of this story (you can read the original here) is some of the comments made by other readers. Here are two:

"Weaponize Chili????? This friggin rules!!!........now they need to weaponize beer so I can start my life of crime!!!!"

And...

"Weaponizing food has been around for centuries. The Romans weaponized my mother-in-law's tuna casserole to defeat the world."

New topic. Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge, a British Army soldier, detained and disarmed a suspected rebel fighter with her bare hands while serving in Iraq. This is Corporal Hodge in uniform:

In addition to her work as a soldier, Ms Hodge is also a lingerie model and was a contestant in last year's Miss England beauty contest. Here is Ms Hodge in her other uniform:

The multitalented soldier - who has been popularly nicknamed "Combat Barbie" - recently convinced the organizers of the Miss England pageant to drop the popular (with men, anyhow) swimsuit portion of the competition, on the theory that the contestants "are rarely asked to appear in swimsuits at public events." In an interview, Ms Hodge said that posing in swimsuits isn't fair to the contestants: "I think it's nerve-racking enough to girls to get up on a stage and speak, let alone in a swimsuit." In future Miss England contests, the contestants will participate in a sports challenge, overseen by Hodge, instead of a swimsuit competition.

Gives new meaning to the old insult, "Your mother wears army boots!", doesn't it? Somehow, kevlar lingerie just doesn't have quite the same impact...but I guess thong underwear that can be used as a slingshot might be useful in a pinch. So to speak.

That's all for today.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo