Most powerful accidental non-nuclear man-made explosions in history

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Aug 092020
 

Just FYI, via Wiki…

These yields are approximated by the amount of the explosive material and its properties. They are rough estimates and are not authoritative.

Event Location Date Primary explosive material Approximate yield (TNT) Mean yield (TNT)
Halifax Explosion Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 6 December 1917 High Explosives 2.9 kt of TNT (<12 TJ) 2.9 kt of TNT (<12 TJ)
RAF Fauld Explosion Staffordshire, UK 27 November 1944 Military Munitions 2 kt of TNT (8 TJ) 2 kt of TNT (8 TJ)
Port Chicago disaster Port Chicago, California, US 17 July 1944 Military Munitions 1.6–2.2 kt of TNT (7–9 TJ) 1.9 kt of TNT (8 TJ)
Oppau explosion Oppau, Ludwigshafen, Germany 21 September 1921 Ammonium Sulfate andAmmonium Nitrate 1–2 kt of TNT (4–8 TJ) 1.5 kt of TNT (6 TJ)
Port Beirut disaster Beirut, Lebanon 4 August 2020 Ammonium Nitrate 1–1.5 kt of TNT – Upper Limit (4–6 TJ)[103] 1.25 kt of TNT (5 TJ)
DuPont Powder Mill Explosion Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, US 9 March 1911 Dynamite andBlack Blasting Powder 1.1 kt of TNT (4.4 TJ) 1.1 kt of TNT (4.4 TJ)
PEPCON Disaster Henderson, Nevada, US 4 May 1988 Ammonium Perchlorate 0.8–1 kt of TNT (~4 TJ) 0.9 kt of TNT (~4 TJ)
Texas City disaster Texas City, Texas, US 16 April 1947 Ammonium Nitrate 0.73–0.86 kt of TNT (3–3.6 TJ) 0.79 kt of TNT (~3.3 TJ)
N1 launch explosion Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 110, Kazakh SSR, USSR 3 July 1969 Rocket Fuel (RP-1) 0.3–1 kt of TNT (1.5–4 TJ) 0.65 kt of TNT (2.5 TJ)
Evangelos Florakis Naval Base explosion Evangelos Florakis Naval Base, Cyprus 11 July 2011 Military Munitions 0.48 kt of TNT (2.01 TJ) 0.48 kt of TNT (2.01 TJ)
Port Tianjin disaster Port of Tianjin, China 12 August 2015 Ammonium Nitrate 0.28-0.33 kt of TNT (1.3-1.4 TJ) 0.3 kt of TNT (1.35 TJ)

 

The largest of these, the Halifax explosion, was caused when a French cargo vessel carrying high explosives crashed with a Norwegian vessel near Halifax, Nova Scotia. But perhaps the *dumbest* of these was the Oppau explosion which… well, here’s part of the Wiki description:

The plant began producing ammonium sulfate in 1911, but during World War I when Germany was unable to obtain the necessary sulfur, it began to produce ammonium nitrate as well. Ammonia could be produced without overseas resources, using the Haber process.

Compared to ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate is strongly hygroscopic, so the mixture of ammonium sulfate and nitrate compacted under its own weight, turning it into a plaster-like substance in the 20 m-high silo. The workers needed to use pickaxes to get it out, a problematic situation because they could not enter the silo and risk being buried in collapsing fertilizer. To ease their work, small charges of dynamite were used to loosen the mixture.

WT actual F.

 

 Posted by at 8:29 am

Hit the gas

 Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., news, politics, weapons, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 082020
 

Gun-Wielding Protesters Point Weapons At Motorists, Indianapolis Leaders Stay Silent

If anybody has a rational explanation of what these people think they’ll accomplish, I’d love to hear it.

What we have here are two – at least two – “people” willing to commit murder in order to control who gets to drive down a public street. If this was the fascist state these lying scumbags claim it is, they’d have had their brains beaten out by the local constabulary. Instead, they’re allowed to do this at will. This sort of thing metastasizes, and will lead to nationwide disaster.

Once again, imagine instead of a left wing crazy doing this, we had us a MAGA-hat wearing Trump supporter using firearms to terrorize the public. Hell, we don’t really have to image. The McCloskeys in St. Louis wielded inoperable firearms to shoo off thugs from their own private property, and the local prosecutor has gone after *them* rather than the trespassers, going so far as to commit what sure looks like prosecutable fraud in order to do so.

 

 Posted by at 7:04 pm

Imagine her as *your* mayor

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Aug 082020
 

Ye gods…

Portland Mayor Candidate Sarah Iannarone is a Democratic Socialist, like AOC. And like AOC, she’s off her friggen’ nut. She either thinks arson is awesome or is pandering to the arsonist constituency.

I have little sympathy for Portland at this point. I checked out the Wikipedia page on the 2020 Portland mayoral election coming in November. There has already been a first round; Democrat ted Wheeler, who has steered his city into this trainwreck, got 49% of the vote, and Iannarone came in second with 23.8%. The lone Republican came in *fifth* with 5%. So the runoff election will be between the existing failure Wheeler and the forthcoming uber-failure Iannarone.

People of Portland: this is the doom you chose.

 

 Posted by at 12:08 am

“Make Billionaires Pay Act”

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Aug 072020
 

Proposed by Bernie Sanders, this hideous bit of legislation is aimed at destroying Blue Origin and SpaceX:

Sen. Sanders proposes one-time tax that would cost Bezos $42.8 billion, Musk $27.5 billion

The “Make Billionaires Pay Act” would impose a one-time 60% tax on wealth gains made by billionaires between March 18, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2021.

It’s supposedly a “one time tax.” There is no such thing as a “one time tax.” When it comes to government, especially governments that, as Sanders would prefer, exist via theft, there’s no such thing as one-time anything.

Here’s how much some would pay under the bill due to wealth gains between March 18 and Aug. 5, according to a release accompanying the bill:

    • Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos would pay a one-time wealth tax of $42.8 billion.
    • Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk would pay a one-time wealth tax of $27.5 billion.

 

The Commies, long since thought to have been relegated to the dustbin of history, are back with a vengeance. Some are burning down cities. Some are assaulting random civilians. And some are using their government positions to tear it all down.

 Posted by at 9:27 pm

What could *possibly* go wrong?

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Aug 072020
 

How, indeed HOW, could storage of 2,700+ tons of ammonium nitrate in this fashion possibly have gone wrong?

 

I worked with explosives and solid rocket propellant back in the day. Had I come across a bunker of AN or AP stored thusly, all you’d see of me is a hole in the air in the shape of my ass and a burst of unearthly blue light from where I used to be.

 Posted by at 5:00 pm

Antifa/BLM takes intentional blinding to the civilians

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Aug 062020
 

A woman in the Portland area wore a Naughty Party armband within sight of the commies, and they decided to set upon her at her home. Not only do they carry out substantial intimidation tactics (including loud and threatening trespassing), they also physically assaulted her and quite a number of them attempted to permanently blind her. Regardless of what you think about someone wearing an armband like that, trying to blind someone at their own home when they are doing you no harm? Yeah… that *requires* substantial legal repercussions. If those don’t come, then you have to admit that the rule of law, at least in that region, has not just broken down, it’s *gone.*

And if you or someone you know thinks that maiming someone because they wear an armband is acceptable, then prepare for a lot of jackasses wearing Che shirts and Hammer & Sickle insignias to catch paintballs filled with substances more chemically exciting than mere paint.

How would *you* respond to someone intentionally blinding you, your spouse, your children? That’s what Antifa/BLM do. That’s what they *are.*

 Posted by at 8:32 pm
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