Terror tips from farmers’ 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 ‘‘terrorist operatives may rely on almanacs to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning’’, we were puzzled.

So was Judson D. Hale Sr., publisher of the New Hampshire-based Old Farmer’s Almanac, which has been published annually since 1792. ‘‘We don’t cover the things terrorists are usually interested in — the infrastructure of bridges and cities and plans,’’ Hale says. ‘‘We’re a lifestyle periodical.’’ The publication addresses everything from farming tips to weather forecasts to astronomy. Nearly 80 per cent of its readers are gardeners. ‘‘My first reaction was surprise,’’ says Hale, 70. ‘‘What do they think is in the almanac that would help terrorists?’’

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 — here’s information that might be used to undermine our way of life: ‘‘Beer is good for you’’, the almanac says. ‘‘The silicon in it is good for bone density.’’

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This next snippet from the ‘‘To Your Health’’ section just might give somebody a bright idea. ‘‘Spa dentistry,’’ the almanac says, ‘‘is the wave of the future. Think aromatherapy; foot, neck, and hand massage; a vibrating chair; movies … access to the Web on a screen wired to the ceiling; concierge services; and, oh yeah, clean teeth.’’ That is horrifying. ‘‘Watch for heightened focus on chromotherapy,’’ the almanac suggests, ‘‘or how colour choices affect our emotions.’’ 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 ‘‘Bio-Terrorism?’’ is really an ad for ‘‘medical grade equipment’’ that purifies water.

Hmm, what’s this? ‘‘We have a little article in there about how to hypnotise chickens,’’ he says. He’s wondered if maybe the terrorists ‘‘want to learn how to hypnotise every chicken and cripple the whole US poultry industry.’’

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 almanac’s weather forecasts.

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The government declared that no one — but the government — was allowed to predict the weather; Old Farmer’s Almanac was banned for a few weeks, Hale says. He believes the Germans were using the almanac’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 Farmer’s Almanac.

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