Terror tips from farmers146; Almanac

Shoe bombs, lethal. Box cutters, treacherous. Dog-eared copies of How to make a bomb, deadly. But almanacs? When we heard the FBI had spread...

Shoe bombs, lethal. Box cutters, treacherous. Dog-eared copies of How to make a bomb, deadly. But almanacs? When we heard the FBI had spread the word among law enforcement agencies recently that 8216;8216;terrorist operatives may rely on almanacs to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning8217;8217;, we were puzzled.

So was Judson D. Hale Sr., publisher of the New Hampshire-based Old Farmer8217;s Almanac, which has been published annually since 1792. 8216;8216;We don8217;t cover the things terrorists are usually interested in 8212; the infrastructure of bridges and cities and plans,8217;8217; Hale says. 8216;8216;We8217;re a lifestyle periodical.8217;8217; The publication addresses everything from farming tips to weather forecasts to astronomy. Nearly 80 per cent of its readers are gardeners. 8216;8216;My first reaction was surprise,8217;8217; says Hale, 70. 8216;8216;What do they think is in the almanac that would help terrorists?8217;8217;

Great question. We hurried out to nab our own copy of the distinctive pale-yellow paperback and began to thumb through the 288 pages. What could be considered threatening? Wait a minute 8212; here8217;s information that might be used to undermine our way of life: 8216;8216;Beer is good for you8217;8217;, the almanac says. 8216;8216;The silicon in it is good for bone density.8217;8217;

This next snippet from the 8216;8216;To Your Health8217;8217; section just might give somebody a bright idea. 8216;8216;Spa dentistry,8217;8217; the almanac says, 8216;8216;is the wave of the future. Think aromatherapy; foot, neck, and hand massage; a vibrating chair; movies 8230; access to the Web on a screen wired to the ceiling; concierge services; and, oh yeah, clean teeth.8217;8217; That is horrifying. 8216;8216;Watch for heightened focus on chromotherapy,8217;8217; the almanac suggests, 8216;8216;or how colour choices affect our emotions.8217;8217; Orange is a little unnerving.

Nearly all the information found in the book, and many other types of almanacs, can be also be found on the Internet along with instructions on how to make a bomb. Maybe certain products advertised in the almanac could be dangerous: One page labelled 8216;8216;Bio-Terrorism?8217;8217; is really an ad for 8216;8216;medical grade equipment8217;8217; that purifies water.

Hmm, what8217;s this? 8216;8216;We have a little article in there about how to hypnotise chickens,8217;8217; he says. He8217;s wondered if maybe the terrorists 8216;8216;want to learn how to hypnotise every chicken and cripple the whole US poultry industry.8217;8217;

Neither can we. There is a historical precedent, however. In 1942, the US government was concerned that the Germans were planning operations based on the almanac8217;s weather forecasts.

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The government declared that no one 8212; but the government 8212; was allowed to predict the weather; Old Farmer8217;s Almanac was banned for a few weeks, Hale says. He believes the Germans were using the almanac8217;s tide charts. A German agent had landed on Long Island from a U-boat. When he was apprehended by the FBI on a train going into Penn Station, officials found he was carrying an Old Farmer8217;s Almanac.

Whenever then-publisher Robb Sagendorph, mentioned this incident, Hale says he would note, 8216;8216;Maybe the Germans did use our almanac to see what the weather was like over here.8217;8217; Then Sagendoph would pause. 8216;8216;After all, they did go on to lose the war.8217;8217; 8212;LAT-WP