Sonic Reducer, Used By Cruiser

A while back Station Manager Ken posted the saga of an Army Sergeant stationed in Iraq who contacted us for some Happy Flowers music to use against the Iraqis in what seems to be a fairly open campaign of sonic weaponry. The first time I heard of such a thing was when grating rock was used against the Koresh compound in the Waco standoff (which wasn't that effective, seeing that the cult was probably used to its own guru was making his own bad music), and again in Panama where apparently squealing pig sounds were piped towards a holed-up Noreiga. During Summer 2004's Republican National Convention in New York, it was again speculated by the media that an actual, specifically-constructed sonic weaponry device of a non-lethal, but pain-inflicting frequency would be employed should the demonstrators get out of hand. When grinning pirates shot rocket launchers at the passenger liner Seaborn Spirit this weekend off the coast of Somalia, it was reported that the cruise ship merely gunned the gas and sped away. But today, CNN reports that the crew actually employed an onboard LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) to use as a repellant. I'm glad it worked, but it just seems a bit sad and a little bit odd that we're at a time in history where pleasure ships have these things actually on board.  But thankfully the well trained crew (pictured above) were able to employ it, most likely having it handy in case Charo tried to stow away again.