Some years ago I had a client company that was invited to pitch some passive security for the White House. The CEO of the Co. was on the south lawn and commented that except for the guardhouses there wasn't a lot of visible security.
His Secret Service escort agreed that, yes, most of the security was not apparent to passersby but that he could assure the CEO it was there.
The CEO asked "Like what?" and the Secret Service fellow said there was one non-lethal system he could mention, the microwave.
The CEO asked "What does it do?" and the Treasury man said that if he were an intruder:
First you'd puke
Then you'd shit
Then you'd pass out
The CEO said "oh".
From DangerRoom:
There’s no shortage of ideas on how technology can solve the Somali piracy problem.*See also:
Folks have called for zapping pirates with lasers, pounding their eardrums with sonic blasters and spotting them in advance with mini-drones.
Now two companies are offering new solutions to keep pirates at bay: blinding them with pepper spray and incapacitating them by making them hurl.
The maritime security company Shipboard Defense Systems has partnered with the makers of Mace to offer an industrial strength version of the hand-held pepper spray can for merchant vessels. The system, Rainstorm, gives boarding pirates a pressured shower of up to 300 gallons worth of tingly, piquant Mace. The chemical’s effects last for about 45 minutes and include “paralysis of the larynx,” “intense eye irritation” and an “acute burning sensation,” among others.
Another company, Maritime Security Company, LLC, is selling a somewhat similar product as part of a package of anti-pirate defenses. Maritime Security’s Triton Shield system offers ships an increasingly aggressive range of products and services beginning with a network of security cameras.
In the event pirates are able to get close enough to try and board, Triton offers a high-pressure hose system to push them off and an unnamed chemical that, when sprayed onto pirates, makes the vomit. (Triton also provides armed guards and a safe room in the event its other measures fail.)...MORE
UPDATED: Time to Go Pirate Hunting: "Somali pirates kill 4 American boaters"
"Dealing with Pirates (and terrorists) Russian Style"
"When you've got pirates in your sights, you don't check with Brussels" (VLO)
"Somali sea gangs lure investors at pirate lair" and "A comparison of Piracy and Private Equity"
Oil: Somali Pirates Seize Supertanker, Smoke the Khat, Head for HomeSomali pirates set up "agencies" on three continents
Indian navy destroys 'pirate ship'
Obama Reaches Out to 'Moderate' Pirate Community (and we plan to make a buck-o, or two)
Arrgh: 'Pirates Not a Good Long Term Bet'
Update: The WSJ's Deal Journal has a comparison of Piracy and Private Equity:
...Geographical investment thesis
Private equity: Bullish on China.
Piracy: Opportunities on the coast of Africa.
Start-up costs
Piracy: Gun, boats, a handful of men, rocket-propelled grenades.
Private equity: Office on Park Avenue.
Jargon
Private equity: “Internal rate of return,” called IRR.
Piracy: Eerily similar: “Aaar.”>>>MUCH MORE
