Explosion in NYC (Chelsea area)

In France, where they have a lot more sad experience of this kind of thing, research has determined that domestic violence and/or previous criminal record, especially gang activity, are the key markers for French Muslim men who become terrorists.

 

True.

So, why can't we use big data to identify guys who have domestic violence arrests, travel to Pakistan, who access radical Muslim recruitment videos, and who buy pressure cookers?

 

I would think the list of people buying pressure cookers would be an easy one to compile, seeing as how I have never met an American who's ever used one for cooking.

 

My mom used to do vegetables in one back in the day. Think there's a weight that sits on the lid and she lost it when she moved.

 

My mother used a pressure cooker all the time, and she was not Muslim American man with a history of domestic violence. She was a first-generation Irish American Catholic from the Bronx.

 

Pressure cookers are making a big comeback in kitchens lately. Seriously. They've made major improvements since the days when the contents ended up on the kitchen ceiling. (Disclaimer: I don't own a pressure cooker and don't really cook, but a relative who works in the food industry tells me pressure cookers are trendy.)

 

I just remember them being annoying as fuck with all of the steam hissing.

 

Pressure cookers are amazing. I used one all the time in Morocco. Don't have one right now and lament it. You can cook lentils in no time flat.

 

Maybe we can have waiting periods and background checks on people who buy pressure cookers? Maybe we can do something about the yardsale loophole?

 

I think I remember hearing on some Art Bell radio show while I was driving across a vast chunk of nowhere late one night that almost all Americans are completely unaware that we are in mortal danger of being slowly killed by crock pot bombs.

 

Pressure cookers are great.

But if your Amazon Prime order includes two pressure cookers along with a box of ball bearings, and your browser history shows you viewed the YouTube video, "How to build a bomb, in the kitchen of your mom," then maybe you should get a visit.

 

Well, I've certainly learned more about pressure cookers here than I knew when I woke up this morning. Journalism is service!