The lemonade is homemade, the canapes piled high and the 50,000-volt stun-gun available in four designer colors. Welcome to the Taser party -- "having the girls round," Arizona-style. Modeled on the innocent Tupperware party, it's a chance to meet, gossip and try out weaponry illegal in seven US states.
Ever since political pundits identified the "security mom" -- the homemaker concerned about safety, local and national -- a new market for self-defense has opened up.
Quick to cash in on these fears is Taser International, which launched its C2 model in the summer. Sold for US$299, it's the size of an iPhone and available in black pearl, titanium silver, electric blue and -- the party bestseller -- metallic pink.
Working alone as an estate agent in the US' third most dangerous state, Caily Scheur wanted to protect herself; she didn't want a gun, afraid the weapon would be used against her. Then she discovered the C2.
"It's for a serious purpose, but it's fashionable as well," she said.
She began hosting parties a month ago after interested neighbors approached her at her son's little league games.
The parties are attended by everyone from young professionals to pensioners, eager to learn more about self-protection and to try the Taser on a cardboard cutout. For obvious reasons, alcohol -- the traditional fuel of Tupperware parties -- is banned.
The events are currently held only in Arizona, but growing interest means that Taser parties will come to six more states by March and the other 36 that allow the devices by the end of next year.
But it will take more than a woman's touch to improve the Taser's image. In September a student who heckled John Kerry was stunned by police in an incident that spawned T-shirts and parodies (catchphrase "Don't Tase me, bro").
Although Scheur insists Tasers aren't fatal -- merely packing "one heck of a wallop" -- Amnesty International says 200 people have died in the US since 2001 after being "Tased."
While Taser International diversifies at home, the British police have placed another order -- although they remain illegal for civilians, meaning Taser parties won't be coming to a street near you.
Or perhaps it's just a matter of time; it took nine years for Tupperware parties to cross the Atlantic.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE: The majority of chatbots tested provided guidance on weapons, tactics and target selections, with Perplexity and Meta AI deemed to be the least safe From school shootings to synagogue bombings, leading artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks, according to a study published on Wednesday that highlighted the technology’s potential for real-world harm. Researchers from the nonprofit watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate and CNN posed as 13-year-old boys in the US and Ireland to test 10 chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Deepseek and Meta AI. Eight of the chatbots assisted the make-believe attackers in more than half the responses, providing advice on “locations to target” and “weapons to use” in an attack, the study said. The chatbots had become a “powerful accelerant for
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Since the war in the Middle East began nearly two weeks ago, the telephone at Ron Hubbard’s bomb shelter company in Texas has not stopped ringing. Foreign and US clients are rushing to buy his bunkers, seeking refuge in case of air raids, nuclear fallout or apocalypse. With the US and Israel pounding Iran, and Tehran retaliating with strikes across the region, Hubbard has seen demand for his product soar, mostly from Gulf nation customers in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. “You can imagine how many people are thinking: ‘I wish I had a bomb shelter,’” Hubbard, 63, said in
STILL IN POWER: US intelligence reports showed that the Iranian regime is not in danger of collapse and retains control of the public, casting doubt on Trump’s exit Nearly every US Senate Democrat on Wednesday signed a letter sent to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth requesting a “swift investigation” of airstrikes on a girls’ school in Iran that killed scores of children and any other potential US military actions causing civilian harm. Reuters reported on Thursday last week that US military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible for the Feb. 28 strike on the school, as US and Israeli forces launched attacks on Iran. “The results of this school attack are horrific. The majority of those killed in the strikes were girls between the ages
RSS