Not For Attribution

Chronicles of a young journalist, and a waste of your time

Always with the shoes

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Yes, I know everyone is sick of the Bush/Iraqi shoe incident.

I got many-a-lol out of it, but now I’m all for putting the shoe-flinging behind us.

But today, Wired’s Danger Room blog (I feel, this is the best/most interesting blog evar) posted the history of shoe-based weaponry, and it is surprisingly interesting.

Some highlights.

  • A shoe is classified as a “hazardous” weapon because “Within the nonlethal community, it is generally accepted that any impact exceeding 58 foot-pounds of kinetic energy will result in a potential fatality.”
  • There are international competitions for shoe-throwing, known as “Wellie Wanging.” The rules are odd.
  • German saboteurs planned to use the heels of their boots to hide bombs, and of course there’s Richard Reid. (In other news, saboteur is my new favorite word.)
  • And of course there’s Rosa Klebb and the obligatory Random Task.

Written by beverstine

December 17, 2008 at 6:52 pm

Posted in bored, intermet

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