I've been practicing...

… holding my ears since I read this report on what to expect at the Republican Convention — N.Y. readies acoustic device to control protests of GOP:

Forget the megaphones. Police will have a much more high-tech – and louder – option to make themselves heard over the din of Manhattan traffic and noisy protesters outside the Republican National Convention.

It’s called the Long Range Acoustic Device, developed for the military and capable of blasting warnings, orders or anything else at an ear-splitting 150 decibels.

Authorities on Thursday unveiled a mini-arsenal of devices and counterterrorism equipment they’re getting ready for the convention, which opens a week from Monday.

The sound machines are being tested at an airfield in a remote section of Brooklyn along with other devices such as hand-held radiation detectors – for a possible “dirty bomb” – and mechanical barriers strong enough to stop a moving vehicle in its tracks.

Now doesn’t that make you feel better? (via Tim Blair, who will be holding his ears too.)