This guy who sold the fake bomb detectors...

[Norman Potting]

I remember a visual joke about an Irish mine detector.
It entailed covering the eyes with the hands and stamping in front of you as you move forward.

The one I remember was the same, but moving backwards and covering the ears!

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Obviously unquantifiable, but I wonder how many people were maimed or killed due to the greed of these two men? (Obviously ignoring those who planted the bombs in the first place)

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Obviously unquantifiable, but I wonder how many people were maimed or killed due to the greed of these two men? (Obviously ignoring those who planted the bombs in the first place)

For the guy jailed yesterday, they did quote definitely 4 people directly killed due to this, but the number of others, as you say, would be very unquantifiable. Don't forget hundreds of people were jailed due to evidence produced by this machine as well of handling explosives. How such simple and obviously useless devices can fool anyone is beyond me. I know military purchasing is a cash cow for many people, but with government endorsements, there must have been a lot of palm-greasing going on.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Crazy story! They said on the news yesterday that they were STILL being used somewhere (may have been Indonesia). But it does go to show how crooked the arms trade is.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Caveat emptor should still apply.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Crazy story! They said on the news yesterday that they were STILL being used somewhere (may have been Indonesia). But it does go to show how crooked the arms trade is.

Indeed, but I just can't fathom why anyone, not just specialists, but anyone, wouldn't look at one of those and say "it's a useless bit of plastic that does nothing". They didn't even look like they did anything.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

I bought a pair of X-Ray specs when I was a kid



Guess what? They didn't work

 

[Albumen]

I loved him on the tomorrow's world clip: "I don't know how it works, it just does!"

Fine then.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Indeed, but I just can't fathom why anyone, not just specialists, but anyone, wouldn't look at one of those and say "it's a useless bit of plastic that does nothing". They didn't even look like they did anything.

Precisely. It makes no sense whatsoever, so can only assume that those buying the stuff do not give a damn about what they are buying - kickbacks and commissions I would imagine are in play here.

And they cannot have done anything, considering they were made for less than 2 quid in the guys kitchen from old bits of plastic!

Bizarre.