Snow cone machines for homeland security

A federal- and state-designated homeland security agency in Michigan recently purchased 13 snow cone machines at a total cost of $11,700. A spokesperson for the agency explains why the purchase was essential:

"It is used to attract people so they can be educated and prepared for homeland security," Dey said from his office in Muskegon. "More importantly, they (homeland security officials) felt in a medical emergency the machine was capable of making ice packs which could be used for medical purposes."

A double punch at the war on terror!

Bruce Scneier: Snow Cone Machines for Homeland Security

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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The Snowden Principle

bo1n6bo1n6

Threat level: Cherry
- Anon_Mahna
  
  Threat level:Orange
  
  ..obviously
  - EH
    
    ..but less funnily.
InsertFingerHere

When Osama sets off his evil ‘Sprain Bomb’ in Muskegon, we’ll be ready for it!

And everyone’s laughing at how head-up-ass North Korea is…
Andrew Pierce

If you’re going to stage some security theater, you’re gonna need some refreshments!
nosehat

Of course, the TSA recruits wouldn’t be allowed to bring their sno cones through TSA security anyway, because they are a dangerous gel.

Also, I just did a search for Sno Cone Machines on Google Product Search. They generally cost about $30. What did the TSA do? Buy their Sno Cone machines from Apple?
- Heartfruit
  
  I assume $30 is for non-commercial units.
  
  This doesn’t actually seem that outrageous to me. I don’t know what kind of education sessions Homeland Security runs but if they are going to spend resource setting up a booth somewhere, you might as well ensure good attendance with free snow cones.
  - EH
    
    I’d say one snowcone machine per 10 attendees is reasonable. They’re using union operators, too, I hope.
http://twitter.com/silentkpants Katrina Voll-Taylor

Jeez, homeland security really is getting Snoopy these days.
http://twitter.com/writebastard Ian Wood

[Salim Abu Aziz reveals a nuclear weapon]

Salim: Do you know what this is?

Harry: I know what this is…

[Salim smiles]

Salim: This is an espresso machine.

[Salim frowns]

Harry: No, no wait. It’s a snow cone maker.

[Salim approaches Harry]

Harry: Is it a water heater?
- MarcVader
  
  If you remove the superfluous line breaks I’ll remove this comment. Ok?
http://twitter.com/amanicdroid Mari Lwyd

I did not realize that ice packs required crushed ice.

I have been making them wrong for years and underpaid in proper equipment by thousands :(
Daniel Smith

The model shown in this picture sells new for about 600 bucks, and the most expensive machine available is about 1100$. These guys spent 900 per machine, good to see they are buying quality snow cone machines with money that could have been better spent on, well, almost anything.
- EH
  
  Nice margin, I bet the seller is a buddy of someone.
Kommkast

And this is why michigan is bankrupt amd rusting. <.< seriously sick of living here, first they dissolve our police department and then waste their budget on snowcones. ._.
Teller

I would’ve thought a Big Gulp™ to be the prime attractant.
http://twitter.com/ManekiNico Maneki Nico

Homeland Security wants its recruits to…

[puts on sunglasses]

…have an ice day.

YEAAAAAAH!
schmittenhammer

Can’t wait for when they purchase Latte machines
- http://twitter.com/amanicdroid Mari Lwyd
  
  You laugh but think of the potential weapon frothed, boiling milk would make if all of the agents’ firearms failed and a terrorist required neutralizing before he set off explosives.
  
  Bet you didn’t think of it from that angle did ya, smart-ass?
gastronaut

well, you can’t have homeland security without ICE
AirPillo

That explanation reminds me distinctly of a book report written by a student who never opened the book.

More telling than the shitty explanation is the fact that they didn’t even try very hard to write one, and knew that not trying at all would still not result in any consequences.
Josiah White

Government overspending is fine unless it’s by an agency I don’t like.
- Josh Michaud
  
  If there was a department of fellatio and hand jobs and they blew a large wad(ha!) of cash on ice cream makers I would be equally unhappy. Point being, every government agency should be responsible for maintaining a responsible budget that maximizes their ability to fulfill the purpose of said agency and failure to do so should result in disciplinary action for those in charge.
TooGoodToCheck

That is an Artist’s Statement grade bullshit explanation, but I don’t actually have any problem with a government agency blowing 11 grand on snow cone machines. It’s so penny ante; they could have framed it as “improving morale” and probably no one would have looked twice. It’s the obvious falsehood of “we bought it because it doubles as a first aid device” that grabs attention
Chuck

Well — when passengers come through the line with a substance in their possession they CLAIM is Sno-Kone syrup, how else is the TSA supposed to verify it’s the real deal? It’s the only way to make sure.
Stuart

If we had a snow cone maker, we could make ice packs, if we had ice.
- msbpodcast
  
  Dont forget if we had snow favour liquid in squirt bottles we could even make flavoured snow-cones, if we had snow favour liquid in squirt bottles.
  
  Make mine lemon.
  
  I’ve always derived a perverse pleasure from actually eating yellow snow. :-)
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_I34PZBNWNUVIU4MWBC7B5LGLFA Aron

im a little confused about why anyone is upset about this. It seems like you all get so upset over them torturing and killing people to protect the nation. but you’re all just as upset when they take the opposite approach and use public outreach in the name of protecting the nation. and complaining about their claim that the machines can be used to make ice packs. would you rather they claim it could be used to torture people, say possibly give terrorists unbearable brain freezes. Delicious though they may be im sure i would crack under two days straight of brain freeze torture. then there is the complaint about the expense. what do you expect? of course they need to buy commercial snow cone machines. This is an agency for homeland security. They’re not throwing a princess themed birthday party for your daughter. A thirty dollar snow cone machine is a joke when your dealing hot thirsty crowds waiting for some icy flavored refreshment.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  im a little confused about why anyone is upset about this.
  
  We don’t want to pay for it.
  
  but you’re all just as upset when they take the opposite approach and use public outreach in the name of protecting the nation.
  
  How, precisely, does sno-kone-based outreach protect the nation?
  
  A thirty dollar snow cone machine
  
  How did you get from $11,700 to $30 dollars?
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_I34PZBNWNUVIU4MWBC7B5LGLFA Aron
    
    you don’t have to worry about paying for it. It’s already been payed for. It’s not like they put those things on lay away man. Not only that but a good quality snow cone machine will practically pay for itself in a matter of months if you price your product correctly.
    as for the intricacies of snow cone based outreach i can’t really explain. it is a process only the homeland security agencies truly understand. But look at something like the SNO-FLURRY 3100 SHAVE ICE MACHINE it can put out 18 delicious (or dangerous) cones a minute. that is an entire 8 pound bag of ice. the psychological impact of such a machine on a crowd of people is unimaginable, so long as the homeland security agencies use it for good not evil.
    in reference to the sentence about 30 dollars.
    i choose not to reveal my sources.
    - wrybread
      
      I’m pretty sure I can hear the drunken slurring and hiccups in this post…
MB44

And also pallets of 30 billion in cash have gone missing and unaccounted for in our privatized wars in the middle east. This seems adorable compared to that.
llazy8

The version I always heard stopped at 12 drummers drumming.
grs

Bah, just find out who the seller was. I bet it’s the dumb ass brother in law or a poker buddy of someone in DHS.
pjcamp

I’ll have a cherry ice pack please. Hydrate me!
MarcVader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNaDZIrxh-0
voiceinthedistance

Add a little LSD syrup to the shaved ice and our homeland is secure.
CLamb

The city of Newark, NJ bought garbage trucks with its Federal Homeland Security money. City officials explained that they could be used to haul bodies in the event of a disaster.
- Gag Halfrunt
  
  They must have mistaken Soylent Green for a how-to guide. Next they’ll be getting the trucks with bulldozer attachments for scooping up protestors.
http://twitter.com/Sooper8 Sooper8

‘Hello little child…would you like a snow cone treat’?

Enticing them with sweets and cute little puppies can’t be too far off either.

We used to have posters here in the UK that warned children away from perverts offering sweets and cute pets…
- thaum
  
  “And after you’re finished your snow cone, step into the Private Screening Area…”
Tim Wells

Schneier not Scneier.
JG

I’ve been calling TSA a money-wasting snow job for years. Now I even have proof.
Dedzig

First, I feel so much more secure now.

Second: $900 for a snow cone machine? Looks like they didn’t even know how to shop for them. The place I work sells our most expensive unit for $689, and the one in the photo goes for $629. Both prices can be found easily online. Even with our most expensive shipping options it wouldn’t be close to $900. Is it too much to ask Homeland security to check pricing online? That should be a cross-departmental rule for all government agencies.
snagglepuss

Why stop at Sno-Kone machines? A fleet of brand-new popcorn poppers could teach li’l TSA agents the fundamentals of explosives theory. A balloon inflator rig (Marked up only 4900 %) a primer on the transportation and mass deployment of potentially lethal gasses. What is an inflatable bouncy castle, if NOT a portable device for the instruction of zero-gravity hand-to-hand combat, so that we’ll be ready when the terrorists develop portable anti-gravity hand-to-hand combat attack technology, as they surely must be doing?
David Kopelman

The problem is, all those penny ante’s add up. And the result is we’ve spent ourselves into oblivion.
Scratcheee

When planning a boondoggle, I find it best to prepare one’s story ahead of time. Otherwise, one ends up with this kind of nonsense.
sam

Its a good thing they didn’t get snow wizard machines.

http://snowizard.com/shavers/snowizard/
That_Anonymous_Coward

Something to consider is they are handed piles of cash with loose guidelines, and if they manage to not spend all of it they will get less the next time money is passed out.

This is a constant problem with Government programs, if you do not spend every penny you get less the next time. So they find ways to spend the money with the thinnest excuses. There is no benefit to being frugal or saying we apperciate the money but really have nothing to spend it on.
Palomino

I don’t have a problem with the reason. I have a problem with the price. They sell for about $500 each, not $900. I thought the idea of bulk purchasing was to SAVE money, not spend more? Why is it the opposite for government?