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What's the difference when it blows up in your face? Throwing explosives in urban centers is unacceptable and violent.

catlifeonmars 6y ago
Mortars are a hell of a lot more lethal any consumer firework. So, yes there is a difference. Mortars also need to be used at range (100s of meters to kilometers) to be effective. I highly doubt mortars were in use.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > Mortars are a hell of a lot more lethal any consumer firework. Well, some mortars are. Other mortars are consumer fireworks.
  - CydeWeys 6y ago
    It's almost like, in the interest of clarity, we should use specific, non-overly-broad words that can't be misinterpreted. The use of the word "mortar" here is clearly causing problems, so how about "aerial firework" and "combat mortar"?
- ndiscussion 6y ago
  Good point, I wasn't thinking of actual military mortars. But I think "mortar" often means consumer firework in modern parlance.
  - vcxy 6y ago
    I think there might be a lot of people here (my self included) that literally didn't know that about fireworks in modern parlance. It's because talking about fireworks just doesn't ever come up in my life. But I think "mortar" is commonly known as a military kind of weapon even if you know nothing about fireworks.
    - catlifeonmars 6y ago
      I was unaware of that terminology applied to fireworks. Good to know!
tclancy 6y ago
What's the difference between mortars and fireworks? Damage. Suggesting people were dropping a plate, siting a mortar and undermining a building is a much stronger image than "Some bro threw an M-80 near some stuff." I am not downplaying the violence as I wasn't there, just pointing out the difference.
TheRealSteel 6y ago
You don't like people being violent towards other people? That bothers you huh? Hmmmm, maybe the protests are effectively proving their point then.
wavefunction 6y ago
Well US Army mortars tend to be 60-107mm in calibre and designed for anti-infantry use while fireworks are generally designed for aesthetic effects. There is certainly some overlap in the capability of fireworks and mortars to render damage to individuals and groups but this is generally a very limited shared range of effect, with mortars being explicitly designed to kill or incapacitate human targets.

Mortars are a hell of a lot more lethal any consumer firework. So, yes there is a difference. Mortars also need to be used at range (100s of meters to kilometers) to be effective. I highly doubt mortars were in use.

dragonwriter 6y ago
> Mortars are a hell of a lot more lethal any consumer firework. Well, some mortars are. Other mortars are consumer fireworks.
- CydeWeys 6y ago
  It's almost like, in the interest of clarity, we should use specific, non-overly-broad words that can't be misinterpreted. The use of the word "mortar" here is clearly causing problems, so how about "aerial firework" and "combat mortar"?
ndiscussion 6y ago
Good point, I wasn't thinking of actual military mortars. But I think "mortar" often means consumer firework in modern parlance.
- vcxy 6y ago
  I think there might be a lot of people here (my self included) that literally didn't know that about fireworks in modern parlance. It's because talking about fireworks just doesn't ever come up in my life. But I think "mortar" is commonly known as a military kind of weapon even if you know nothing about fireworks.
  - catlifeonmars 6y ago
    I was unaware of that terminology applied to fireworks. Good to know!

tclancy 6y ago

What's the difference between mortars and fireworks? Damage. Suggesting people were dropping a plate, siting a mortar and undermining a building is a much stronger image than "Some bro threw an M-80 near some stuff." I am not downplaying the violence as I wasn't there, just pointing out the difference.

TheRealSteel 6y ago

You don't like people being violent towards other people? That bothers you huh? Hmmmm, maybe the protests are effectively proving their point then.

wavefunction 6y ago

Well US Army mortars tend to be 60-107mm in calibre and designed for anti-infantry use while fireworks are generally designed for aesthetic effects. There is certainly some overlap in the capability of fireworks and mortars to render damage to individuals and groups but this is generally a very limited shared range of effect, with mortars being explicitly designed to kill or incapacitate human targets.