Student's pressure-cooker rice dish sparks panic

This time it was rice, but next time????? Suppose for a second that this was a dry run to test police response time.

Nevertheless, who transports cooked rice in the pressure cooker? To me, that is synonymous with baking a pie and transporting it in the oven. Why not move the cooked food into a less bulky, inconspicuous, seal-able container like Tupperware? If for no other reason than to avoid the potential for the FBI to surround and question you.

Anyhow, someone saw something suspicious and called the authorities. Bravo for them.

reply to post by defcon5


I see where you're coming from, but do you think a profit oriented corporation is actually going to add extra steps to their manufacturing process for said devices when safety precautions like that are not mandated? Not a chance. Even if it was the law to do so, the most they would do is install a blow-out valve in the lid like some companies already do. Never expect a corporation to do anything above the bare minimum of safety standards, especially when their bottom line comes into the picture. Corporations are there to make money and nothing besides. Any notion otherwise is more than slightly naive. (Not saying you in particular are naive, but...yeah...I'm sure you get the point.) Namaste.

I used to run my pressure cooker on the front porch on my propane stove so I did not heat up the house. I can see that will probably be thing of the past now.

So there I was, sitting on the walkway of a downtown overpass with my legs dangling under the railing, taking a breather from my bike ride. I was watching a DOT crew repair the road below, and entertaining myself by counting the working/not working ratio. Suddenly, one of the workers opens the door to a truck and produces what looks like a bomb! Oh no! I had seen similar devices shown during national newscasts and in DHS terrorism-awareness literature. Additional evidence was that he was ambiguously brown-skinned, though I could not identify his accent over the sound of the traffic behind me. He calls his co-workers over to join him. I scream warnings at them not to come any closer, lest they enter the blast radius of the IED. I went prone, hoping to shield myself from the shrapnel. It was at this point that the terrorist reached into his truck and pulled out the detonator! I could have ran away, but I'm no coward! I did the right thing and held my position while pulling my phone from my pocket to call 911. See something, say something!

Then I realized it was just a crock-pot full of meatballs, the detonator was a bread loaf wrapped in foil, and it was lunch-time.

Its called complete and total paranoia. "OHMIGERD HE HAS A PRESSURE COOKER! CALL THE FBI!!!"
Throw away your pressure cookers folks, or your neighbors will call the FBI and claim youre a terrorist.
Wake up and get a grip people!
Damn Sheeple

Originally posted by defcon5
What they are going to have to ultimately do is put in a high pressure "blow out" area in these items so they cannot be used for such nefarious reasons in the future.

Pressure cookers are already equipped with a rubber blow out plug. Often I have worried about this as I have left the pc unattended and came back to it with too much pressure showing on the gauge. Then I have to turn the heat down. One could make a pretty nice grenade out of the metal water bottles that mountain bikers carry. I guess we better call the police every time we see a mountain biker with one of those.

Stop all this talk about modifying pressure cookers! The darn things cost over two hundred dollars for a decent one right now!!! Imagine what they will cost after all this re-engineering. People have made pipe bombs for a hundred years or so. How come pipes were not re-engineered? It is because our ancestors were not as stupid as we are. Shame on you if you are falling for all this GOVERNMENT SPONSORED TERROR.

BOMBS CAN BE MADE OUT OF ANYTHING! Stop letting the government lead you around by your nose ring.

Innocent children are killed every day by bombs made by companies that members of our own government hold stock in. Except these bombs are not disguised as pressure cookers and they do much more damage. What's the difference? The difference is when little brown children are blown up overseas, members of our own government get richer.

THE GOVERNMENT LIKES BOMBS! THE GOVERNMENT KNOWS HOW TO BUILD THE BEST BOMBS!

Originally posted by LeatherNLace
This time it was rice, but next time????? Suppose for a second that this was a dry run to test police response time.

Nevertheless, who transports cooked rice in the pressure cooker? To me, that is synonymous with baking a pie and transporting it in the oven. Why not move the cooked food into a less bulky, inconspicuous, seal-able container like Tupperware? If for no other reason than to avoid the potential for the FBI to surround and question you.

Anyhow, someone saw something suspicious and called the authorities. Bravo for them.

A few posts ahead of you, Generik, had a very good explanation as for why. Growing up, my grandma used to cook beans in a pressure cooker, and our family all lived on the same block. So whenever we were told to take the beans over to my aunt's house, we would take it in the pressure cooker. Less dishes, easier to reheat, and the lid keeps it from spilling(I dropped it once, man, was I thankful for that lid).

So sad to know that our government has made everyone so paranoid, that if I did that now, that this would happen to me. Especially because I am brown. Middle eastern? Nope, french/spanish/native american. But many people think I'm middle eastern. Nice to know my life may be in danger because some baby might see me taking beans to my aunts.

reply to post by defcon5


A pressure cooker does have a high pressure blow out. It pops off when it gets to much pressure.

reply to post by Slugworth


Dude, I laughed over this post for a solid 5 minutes. Thanks so much for lightening my day. What a wonderful illustration of how ridiculous people in this country are becoming.

reply to post by Cinrad


Wow... Americans have a tendency to focus on one thing like "Pressure Cooker Arab" and totally run with it.

reply to post by Slugworth


Ah, you should become a writer. There is apparently a lot of material to cover.

I can understand if someone sees something suspicious (not that this was) and calls 911/999//000 and the cops swarm the place. But what I don't understand is the agents warning this guy when they should have apologised on behalf of the caller (because the caller remains anonymous). Swarm - get him to come out with his hands up - question - laugh - say "sorry, better safe than sorry".

Originally posted by LeatherNLace
This time it was rice, but next time?????

maybe beans, a casserole, macaroni, stewed beef, a pot roast, or any other FOOD.

Suppose for a second that this was a dry run to test police response time.

then surly the "victim" of this harassment would have known ahead of time and would not have been questioned.

Nevertheless, who transports cooked rice in the pressure cooker?

anyone that wants to. it's not a crime YET, tho with people like you pushing for it, i'm sure they will try to push through anti-pressure cooker legislation that requires background checks and a special licence in order to own and operate a "pressure cooker". a better question would be "who is so scared and insecure that they would call in, in panic that they have seen someone with an obvious, "dangerous" object know as a "pressure cooker". even worse. "what MORON figured they had to surround an apartment complex and harass someone, because someone called in a suspicious cooking container".

To me, that is synonymous with baking a pie and transporting it in the oven. Why not move the cooked food into a less bulky, inconspicuous, seal-able container like Tupperware? If for no other reason than to avoid the potential for the FBI to surround and question you.

NO this would be like someone "baking a pie and transporting it in it's pie pan". transporting the pie in the oven would be like transporting the rice dish in the pot, ON THE STOVE. why should they have to transport the rice dish in a Tupperware container? or would you propose that carrying ANY FOOD in ANY COOKING CONTAINER to be at least "suspicious activity", or even a CRIME, requiring the FBI to "surround you and question you"?

here is a question. WHY was the FBI involved at all? did this suspicious cooking wear travel across state lines? or is carrying food now a federal crime? i would have thought this would be a case for LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, or is the FBI now in charge of any "potential" dangerous items spotted?

Anyhow, someone saw something suspicious and called the authorities. Bravo for them.

there was NOTHING SUSPICIOUS in the first place. someone with obvious PARANOIA saw something that scared them and called the authorities. why they did not take this caller in for the medical attention they obviously are in need of is a good question. either their meds are not powerful enough or they NEED to be put on meds before they do something crazy like shooting up a place because they saw "terrorists" going in.

and THIS type of thinking is why people around the world now refer to the US as the "United States of Paranoia". people need to get a grip on reality and stop seeing a terrorist around every corner.

Some of the posters on this thread have proved one thing only.

The "terrorists" have already won.

Next time the national anthem is sung I will close my ears and shut my mouth when it gets to the line "land of the free and the home of the brave". We are no longer free. And brave? We're afraid of everything. Pressure cookers, toenail clippers, magazines with more than ten rounds. I am ashamed of what we have become as a nation. Is there a country that is closer to the classic American ideology than what we are now? (Real question, not rhetorical) I've been thinking of renouncing my citizenship lately. It seems smarter than fighting a revolution where I will be deemed a terrorist.

Ah, the incredible stupidity of the human animal. It's a rice cooker. Everybody panic.

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Originally posted by suz62
Ah, the incredible stupidity of the human animal. It's a rice cooker. Everybody panic.

A rice cooker? Why a pressure cooker to cook rice? Dont you just put rice in a pan?