Nit: All "radiation" isn't alike.

Post #239,318 by Another Scott 12/24/05 12:17:34 PM Reply	Nit: All "radiation" isn't alike. Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine. Further, you and I have no idea whatsoever what level of radiation would be considered significant. What about the microwave oven in the kitchen? The "bad" radiation from radioactive materials is what's known as "[link\|http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/ionizing.html\|ionizing radiation]". High energy particles leave the radioactive material and bang into other things, like peoples' organs, give up energy, ionize atoms in the target, and thereby cause damage to the tissue. Radiation from microwave ovens is just radio waves (or light). It's intense and is of a frequency (2.45 GHz) that can interact with tissue. But it's not ionizing radiation. (Very high energy photons - X-rays and gamma-rays - can act as ionizing radiation, but that's not what we're talking about here. Microwave ovens don't produce X-rays.) The USN&WR [link\|http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/nest/051222nest.htm\|story] says: But officials familiar with the FBI/NEST program say the radiation sensors are different and are only sampling the surrounding air. "This kind of program only detects particles in the air, it's non directional," says one knowledgeable official. "It's not a whole lot different from smelling marijuana." They're looking for particles, not radio waves. It's probably similar technology to what was used to detect fallout from nuclear bomb tests. Presumably, Homer from the nuclear plant would give off things if he was contaminated, but presumably they (and the plant operator) already watch such people very carefully as it is. HTH. Cheers, Scott.
Post #239,319 by pwhysall 12/24/05 12:24:51 PM Reply	I consider myself hejumacated, thanks I did chemistry in my callow youth. Further point, though. So you detect ionising radiation; don't you rather fancy that the Bad Guys have figured this out, and by the time a site goes "hot", the Bad Guys will have already set in motion The Bad Thing? Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
Post #239,320 by Another Scott 12/24/05 12:36:46 PM Reply	Could be. The idea is probably to detect the bad materials and remove them before they have a chance to set their nefarious plan into action. How one does that without turning the country into a gulag is left as an exercise for the reader. Fortunately, many of the people who are attempting to do these bad things aren't too bright. Witness the 2nd round of [link\|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21_July_2005_London_bombings\|bus bombings] in the UK. (I hope that JCdM is the last person to die under such circumstances.) Cheers, Scott.
Post #239,321 by pwhysall 12/24/05 12:50:00 PM Reply	Re: Could be. Scarily, though, some of them are very bright indeed. Look at the well-planned and well-executed attacks on 11th September, 2001. My personal sense is that if you're getting clicks on the geiger counter whilst parked up outside a mosque in, say, Denver, you're too late. I can't imagine that al Qaeda would commit anything less than its best agents to an attack involving such hard-to-obtain and difficult-to-handle material. A worrying prospect. Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
Post #239,326 by broomberg 12/24/05 1:32:17 PM Reply	Few cooks, many busboys There are not that many people who can cleanly handle dangerous substances. For all we know, they have multiple tiers of people since they are running multiple projects, and they might have cell level isolation which keeps the really smart people far away from the ground operation. Remember, the ground people are wackos, waiting to die for their cause, so they can hit on the grape wielding virgins. These are STUPID people. They make a decent tools for the smart guys, in certain circumstances, but are not to be trusted in anything too complex. When shipping these substances, they probably are not in any condition to be part of the final bomb since the method of shipping will probably include some type of disguise. Which means some type of assembly required before usage. The shielding and cleanroom handling equipment is to protect the handlers. But the designers of this stuff do not care about the handlers. They are disposable. So the containers need to be well shielded during shipment, so people don't pick up on any leaking radiation. But when they get to the point of final assembly, it is unlikely they will have lab level radiation handling equipment. Who give a rat's ass if the final assemblers are hit with a shot of radiation that will cause cancer in 6 months? They expect to be dead in a week anyway. All of which ups the chance for a handling fuckup pretty dramatically. So this particular method of scanning for this particular type of radiation seems to be the best combination of non-intrusive and non-fishing expedition.
Post #239,384 by Simon_Jester 12/25/05 9:57:54 AM Reply	I think that's a dangerous assumption... Remember, the ground people are wackos, waiting to die for their cause, so they can hit on the grape wielding virgins. These are STUPID people. They make a decent tools for the smart guys, in certain circumstances, but are not to be trusted in anything too complex. I agree that stupid people (shoe-bomber) are easy to get and can't be trusted with anything too complex. However, 9/11 showed that there are very smart, dedicated people out there with a definite agenda...and that they are willing to sacrifice themselves to meet their objective. The good news is that, the supply of such people is pretty limited and sucicide attacks tend to use up their own numbers. :-)
Post #239,385 by broomberg 12/25/05 10:11:23 AM Reply	Infinite supply of stupid people Keep them isolated in their own schools. No end to the supply.
Post #239,589 by jb4 12/27/05 5:35:56 PM Reply	You mean, in Kansas? jb4 shrub●bish (Am., from shrub* + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf.* BULLSHIT
Post #239,386 by boxley 12/25/05 11:10:16 AM Reply	popoular example, palestinians you never see leaders of the militant terror orgs strapping a bomb onto one of their own kids, always someone socially marginalized from a totally indoctrinated populace. thanx, bill "the reason people don't buy conspiracy theories is that they think conspiracy means everyone is on the same program. Thats not how it works. Everybody has a different program. They just all want the same guy dead. Socrates was a gadfly, but I bet he took time out to screw somebodies wife" Gus Vitelli Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 49 years. meep questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]

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