h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Dispersing a Crowd - A2243080
Author: NuclearConfusion - Can see paradise by the dashboard lights - U232333

Scratching the surface of the underbelly of non-lethal combat. This EG or another one for the UG? I'm fine either way.

Not a bad read. Don't know where it should go. Not a major point, but for EG, the guidelines say don't start with a heading, the title should be that.

This is brilliant. One of the funniest things I've read in ages.

I'd like to think it would go into the EG, but if it's going to get adulterated then it would be better off in the UG.

There are other examples you could mention, although it's not essential.

1) Dogs and horses - also good for getting people moving, awakening primeval fears etc. Works particularly well on animal rights activists

2) That sticky foam stuff was tried in Somalia - didn't work.

3) The most famous loud music dispersal has to be Noriega in Panama, although that wasn't strictly a crowd. The soft music has been tried quite a bit now - classical music works even better than Sinatra on teens in Europe, it would seem.

4) On a slightly more serious note, one of the key things with dispersing a crowd, is making sure they have somewhere to go... Otherwise you can have nasty crushing trampling incidents.

sprout

Hi there, NC!

Great read, on a fine subject. I feel certain that it is EG material.

I did notice that perhaps: "...Cadaverine and Putricine. And no, the names aren't coincidence! ", could be improved by:
..., the names aren't a coincidence!
or,
..., the names aren't coincidental!

There are historical methods that might be useful, even if not mentioned here:
Siege: Starve 'em out.
Boiling water (less messy than oil): Another shrimp, Sir?
Temperature: Turn up the heat, or down, maybe even use a flamethrower.
Ball bearings: [Everybody sing;] 'Slip sliding away'.

I wonder if spraying hot (but not dangerously hot) sand through a crowd would have an effect? At least it would be relatively easy to clean up.

Hey, thanks to everyone so far. Made a couple corrections. Might make some additions based on the recommendations... but sand? What kind of sick, twisted fiend are you? Gets under your clothes, in your eyes, EVERYWHERE. Bad enough when you just go to the beach, but hot sand? You scare me. You'd be a bad Governor.

Hello NC

Great entry Good for you

I found a couple of typos
theater - theatre
disasterous - disastrous

Other than that, it's Made me laugh. This is what the EG is all about.


f/b

Mwuah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

[I'd be even a worse king!]

Water Cannons! I said 'Acid Cannons'!
sorry sir, water cannons is all's we gots.
Well, ... add some sharks, with laser beams attached to their heads!!

Throw some panhandlers into the mix. The San Francisco type. They're usually more obnoxious than tree-huggers, & will take care of a good part of the crowd.

Another idea would be a gang of largish, bearded, beer-bellied cigar smokers. The biker type. And the stinkiest cigars available.

Sprout's suggestions seem good ones. I used to retaliate to a neighbour's teenaged children playing *loud* rap type music by playing morris tunes back at them. Worked a treat! (OK so they weren't a crowd)

There are some more typos which need fixing and maybe things like WTO could do with spelling out or putting as a footnote.

Lovely entry, NC!

Well, I'll concede disastrous was a good catch, but you try going to a theatre over here in the US, and chances are, you'll get laughed at and be accused of being British. Sorry, people. It's theater. And the game is Soccer! YAHAHAHA!!!

Good catches though, and still taking recommendations into account. This article could easily become very long. I didn't even talk about rubber bullets, stun guns, tasers, or several other thingys of varying fiendishness. Not saying this is as long as it's going to be, but I don't think it should be too much longer.

But that's just me. Let the peer review recommence!

Looks like its headed for the EG. In which case, like it or not, spelling has to be British. So it must be 'theatre'. That will not alter the flavour of the entry, will it?

Fl...flav... ohh, flavor! Umm, no, I guess the color of the humor, or flavor, as you say, will be unchanged. I do the change with protest, so note it! Here goes.

You know the old saying, NC.

When among the Romans, drink romanade.

Well, here's to that! Anyhoo, corrections perpetrated; anything else?

"fetanyl" should be Fentanyl (the sedative/anaesthetic gas)

just to be clear - it doesn't need to be capitalised

Good catch, Mort. Thanks.

Isn't 'cannon' the plural of 'cannon' - i.e. no 's'?

Indeed it is! (never leave home without my OED )

Mind you, on second thoughts, nowhere in the entry does it actually say 'cannons'