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Desc:BBC investigates Jim McCormick's 'dowsing' bomb detector: m worth sold, none of which are real
Category:News & Politics, Horror
Tags:Iraq, BBC, Jim McCormick, Bomb Detector, Dowsing
Submitted:delicatessen
Date:01/24/10
Views:2006
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Comment count is 30
Cube - 2010-01-24

After the last few years, I'm well beyond the question "can people really be that stupid?"

Yes. Yes they can.


Cube - 2013-04-24

UPDATE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22266051

"James McCormick guilty of selling fake bomb detectors"

FINALLY


Cleaner82 - 2010-01-24

Basically if this person was put up against a wall and shot, that would be alright by me.


humbert_humbert - 2010-01-24

Actually, I want him to be dropped off in the middle of a minefield with only his ,000 bomb detector to navigate his way out.


delicatessen - 2010-01-24

This is the correct portal for this video.


THA SUGAH RAIN - 2010-01-24

So a government blindly purchases a bogus bomb detector for tens of millions of dollars without any verification it works.
Meanwhile a BBC Newsnight reporter says "lets have two experts look at it" and within minutes is proven to be fake.
Also this pathetic individual should be shipped off to an Iraqi prison for life.


Cube - 2010-01-24

It also makes me think there's a bit more to this, that amount of money changing ownership is usually pretty thoroughly thought out. In other words, there's probably someone in the government who's getting a cut.


facek - 2010-01-25

Not quite. You see a few groups already proved it to be fake in 2002, and told the person purchasing these specifically that it did not work and it was the same device they tested in 2002 but with a new name. Then James Randi offered the purchaser in Iraq a million dollars if he came over and demonstrated their bomb detecting ability, the purchaser denied of course. THEN this news happened.


baumer - 2010-01-24

They're just not using it right.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/world/middleeast/04sensors.h tml


HankFinch - 2010-01-24

James Randi on it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruTmqfGJhTI


RockBolt - 2010-01-24

From another source:

McCormick hit back, however, telling the paper that “we have been dealing with doubters for ten years. One of the problems we have is that the machine does look a little primitive. We are working on a new model that has flashing lights.”


j lzrd / swift idiot - 2010-01-25

I will never fucking get tired of that "FLASHING LIGHTS" quote; never.


StanleyPain - 2010-01-24

Absolutely mind-fucking-blowing. I read somewhere that these devices literally have nothing in them. There are no guts or functioning parts whatsoever. Nothing. Just plastic and glue, basically. Astounding to a degree of evil that is difficult to comprehend.


RocketBlender - 2010-01-25

How the hell did they get that far in circulation? I mean, I'd expect that at some point before the millions were spent, someone would have at least looked inside one of these k devices to see what the hell makes it go.


Smellvin - 2010-01-25

It costs k. Of course it's good! If they were bad, they'd be cheap!

Alternately: some bureaucrat was told to spend X dollars on bomb detectors. Since he just wanted to get his job done with, he found the most expensive ones and ordered enough to meet his requirements. Then, he promptly went back to napping.

Now, how anyone could have skipped actually TESTING these things even after the fact: i have no idea.


StanleyPain - 2010-01-25

Because people are gullible. For every person who is ridiculously married to a spiritual ideology (prayer cures illness, etc.) there is someone else married to a science worship ideology, that if anyone remotely authoritative and science-y sounding makes an extraordinary claim, it must be true because the alternative is too mind-breaking to handle and people really want to believe in it or don't want to admit they were taken in by it.
I think this got as far as it did because no one wanted to be held responsible for the initial mistake or wanted to be embarrassed about it without ultimately realizing that the longer it went on the worse it would get.

This company should be prosecuted, at minimum, for negligent homicide. At optimum, Manslaughter with intent, but I don't know how British law works.


Syd Midnight - 2010-01-25

Tom Clancy fell for a similar scam in the late 90s, the Rainbow 6 style "heartbeat detector". He said "I never thought I could fall for something like that." Well there's yer problem, Tom.


memedumpster - 2010-01-25

I guess Halliburton really lowered the bar and KBR made it look like magic was possible.


The Mothership - 2010-01-25

"This is tuned to a frequency."

The bigger the lie...


RocketBlender - 2010-01-25

Each kind of bomb is designed to emit a signal so that other terrorists can tell if there's a bomb nearby of the same kind, to avoid embarrassment with double-planting.

They use a different emitter for each kind of bomb, that was they can coordinate easily. If a terrorist is in an area, and he picks up a signal for TNT and biological weapons, but not one for napalm or chemical bombs, he knows there's still a unique way he can add to the overall terror or the area.

The cards let the device tune in to each frequency the terrorists use on their emitters, that way, bomb disposal agents can prioritize which bombs to disarm first.


Frank Rizzo - 2010-01-25

I liked the "runs off static electricity" part

static = "doesnt move"


Charles - 2010-01-25

Incredible. Why would this be used in a war zone to protect people's lives? Why would you spend 40 thousand dollars on a fucking stick?


boner - 2010-01-25

At least those million dollar toilet seats WORKED.


glendower - 2010-01-25

This is definitely pure evil. Aside from the diabolical manufacturer, it's disturbing that the Iraqi government would invest this much in malarkey. I have trouble believing they are this stupid. My guess is that there is some type of corruption going on here. Kudos to the BBC.


Spastic Avenger - 2010-01-25

Perhaps an IED should be hidden in Jim McCormick's business offices and in his house. He should have no problems finding both of them.


Rodents of Unusual Size - 2010-01-25

I cannot even think of a punishment good enough for this piece of shit.


TeenerTot - 2010-01-25

I think this is the most evil thing I've seen on PoETV.


Rudy - 2010-01-25

Baghdad blasts strike popular hotels, kill 37

By BRIAN MURPHY and CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writers – 17 MINS AGO

BAGHDAD – Suicide bombers struck in quick succession Monday at three Baghdad hotels favored by Western journalists in well-planned assaults that killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 100.

The attacks were another blow to an Iraqi government already struggling to answer for security lapses that have allowed bombers to carry out massive attacks in the heart of the Iraqi capital since August, raising serious questions about the country's stability ahead of the March 7 parliamentary elections.

AND ON AND ON AND ON....


Syd Midnight - 2010-01-25

A bomb detector that's basically just an arrow you point at suspicious people probably has a decent success rate in Iraq.


Cheese - 2010-01-26

The k pricetag makes sure no flunky breaks the thing open to see how it works.


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