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Nuclear Scanning Catches a Radioactive Cat On I-5

Posted by kdawson on Mon Mar 24, 2008 03:09 AM
from the paging-dr.-schrodinger-line-4-please dept.
Jeff recommends Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat's story from a community meeting with Northwest border control agents. Seems their monitoring for dirty bombs from the median of Interstate 5 caught a car transporting a radioactive cat. "It turns out the feds have been monitoring Interstate 5 for nuclear 'dirty bombs.' They do it with radiation detectors so sensitive it led to the following incident. 'Vehicle goes by at 70 miles per hour... Agent is in the median, a good 80 feet away from the traffic. Signal went off and identified an isotope [in the passing car]. The agent raced after the car, pulling it over not far from the monitoring spot.' Did he find a nuke? 'Turned out to be a cat with cancer that had undergone a radiological treatment three days earlier.'"
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  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 24 2008, @03:12AM (#22842860)
    Schrodinger
  • Lolcat (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 24 2008, @03:13AM (#22842862)
    Schrödinger cat is not amused
  • Ha, ha (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bruce_the_loon (856617) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:14AM (#22842866) Homepage
    Now, how do you explain that you've just had radiation treatment to the mindless TSA buffoon who's found you're radioactive?
    • Re:Ha, ha by Rungi (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:18AM
    • Re:Ha, ha (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 24 2008, @04:55AM (#22843238)
      Why should I explain the details of my cancer treatment to some TSA agent? My medical history is private and should be protected by law from unnecessary disclosure.
      • Re:Ha, ha (Score:5, Interesting)

        by budgenator (254554) on Monday March 24 2008, @06:19AM (#22843500) Journal
        When I had a cardiac stress stress test there was a sign that informed patients that cross the boarder would trigger radiation detectors for at least three days. I work in a dental office and we are the only office that accepts the DHS's dental plan so we have many patients that are Customs Agents, he told me it took the Canadians 3 days to get their trash cleaned up enough to get it across the boarder without triggering the detectors.
        • Re:Ha, ha by chrish (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @07:34AM
          • Re:Ha, ha by dimeglio (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:41PM
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
      • Re:Ha, ha by Trauma_Hound1 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @07:03AM
      • Re:Ha, ha by whoda (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:53AM
        • Re:Ha, ha by MttJocy (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @09:17AM
          • Re:Ha, ha by shawn(at)fsu (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @10:23AM
      • HIIPA vs TSA. Hilarity ensues. by jpellino (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:16AM
      • Re:Ha, ha (Score:4, Insightful)

        by iCharles (242580) on Monday March 24 2008, @08:52AM (#22844448) Homepage
        HIPPA vs. Homeland Security: who will win?
        • Both? by einhverfr (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @11:30AM
        • Re:Ha, ha by jjk3 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:19PM
      • Re:Ha, ha by KZigurs (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:53AM
      • Re:Ha, ha by Lord Apathy (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @09:12AM
      • Re:Ha, ha by Kamokazi (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @09:44AM
        • Re:Ha, ha by cbiltcliffe (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @01:49PM
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
      • by Zero__Kelvin (151819) on Monday March 24 2008, @12:32PM (#22847058) Homepage

        "Why should I explain the details of my cancer treatment to some TSA agent? My medical history is private and should be protected by law from unnecessary disclosure."
        Your right to privacy is protected! You also have the right to be apprehended and held incommunicado indefinitely, which has been your right for some time now [doesn't ANYONE read the .sigs anymore?]. Anything you don't say can and will be used against you. It's the new American way.

        When U.S. citizens were children, most didn't learn their civics lessons. They didn't need to because they were going to be Pro Football or Baseball players, or actresses, or pick any other excuse you would like. They don't bat an eyelash now when they hear "if you have nothing to hide" or "we are benevolent protectors" (except to wonder what the word benevolent means.) Henry David Thoreau said that people will get exactly the kind of government they deserve, and that is indeed what the U.S. citizens have received.
      • Re:Ha, ha by fpi (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:01PM
        • Re:Ha, ha by Squeedle (Score:1) Tuesday March 25 2008, @07:13PM
      • Re:Ha, ha (Score:5, Informative)

        by GooberToo (74388) on Monday March 24 2008, @07:34AM (#22843876)
        if you have to travel home to be in hospice near your family.

        I'm just throwing this out there. I know this is somewhat off topic. Just don't forget organizations like Angel Flight [wikipedia.org] (West [angelflight.org], South Central [angelflightsc.org], East [angelflighteast.org], and North East [angelflightne.org]) exist to assist ambulatory patients that can't otherwise afford air transportation for specialized, non-local, medial treatment. Of course, they help with other emergencies too, such as after Katrina.

        If you have a medical and financial need, Angel Flight may be able to help you side step financial and time problems created by road travel and the TSA during public air travel.
        • Re:Ha, ha by mjwx (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:41PM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Re:Ha, ha by FlopEJoe (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:20AM
      • Re:Ha, ha (Score:5, Informative)

        Now, how do you explain that you've just had radiation treatment to the mindless TSA buffoon who's found you're radioactive?
        What? Oh I get it... because all TSA workers are mindless, buffoons. Just like all blacks like watermelons, Irishmen are drunks, and Italians are in the mob. Of course.

        Yeah I once had a set of RJ45 crimping tools in my backpack that I happened to use as carry on luggage. As I waited on line to go through the TSA checkpoint and remembered they were in the bottom of my bag I was afraid of 2 things (1) the tools being confiscated because they could be used as weapons, and (2) the agents not knowing what they were and detaining me. Well they did attract TSA attention. The woman operating the scanning machine asked me if they were "telephone tools" and I said yes. She asked her supervisor who let me go through with them. So yes bringing strange things through airport security will raise eyebrows, but its not always a one way ticket to Gitmo.

        • Re:Ha, ha by Digi-John (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @11:36AM
        • Re:Ha, ha by tandr (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @12:13PM
          • Re:Ha, ha by j-pimp (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @02:23PM
            • Re:Ha, ha by JimFive (Score:1) Tuesday March 25 2008, @07:54AM
              • Re:Ha, ha by j-pimp (Score:2) Tuesday March 25 2008, @08:46AM
        • Re:Ha, ha by andyh3930 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @12:59PM
        • Re:Ha, ha by Richthofen80 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @02:28PM
        • Re:Ha, ha by AgentPaper (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:01PM
        • Re:Ha, ha by sumdumass (Score:2) Tuesday March 25 2008, @11:57AM
      • Re:Ha, ha by Loucks (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:44AM
        • Re:Ha, ha by V for Vendetta (Score:1) Tuesday March 25 2008, @07:22AM
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
      • Re:Ha, ha by Mr. Slippery (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @08:39AM
        • Re:Ha, ha by mr_mischief (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @11:21AM
          • Re:Ha, ha by uniquename72 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @12:29PM
            • Re:Ha, ha by mr_mischief (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @01:33PM
              • Re:Ha, ha by Mr. Slippery (Score:1) Wednesday March 26 2008, @01:00AM
                • Re:Ha, ha by mr_mischief (Score:2) Wednesday March 26 2008, @10:16AM
          • Re:Ha, ha by Mr. Slippery (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @08:59PM
        • Re:Ha, ha by fredklein (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @11:21AM
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
      • Re:Ha, ha by jericho4.0 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:27PM
    • Re:Ha, ha by ubrgeek (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:40AM
    • Re:Ha, ha by whoda (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:51AM
    • Re:Ha, ha (Score:4, Informative)

      by justthisdude (779510) on Monday March 24 2008, @08:03AM (#22844080)
      For a little reality check, a friend went in for liver cancer treatments this morning. Mt. Sinai is in New York city, and the treatment involves Yttrium-90, so when the prepped her they told her she needed a note from her doctor because she will probably get scanned and stopped at the Lincoln Tunnel when she goes home.
      • Re:Ha, ha (Score:5, Informative)

        by Muad'Dave (255648) on Monday March 24 2008, @08:55AM (#22844476) Homepage
        For those that are curious, Y-90 has a half life of 64 hours and decays into (stable) Zr-90 via the emission of a 2.28 MeV beta- particle. It has a fairly high specific activity of 2.5x10^5 Ci/g (naturally, given its short half life). It is mainly produced from Sr-90, which is fairly dangerous if ingested because the body treats it like calcium - it ends up locked in your bones where it irradiates surround tissue - like bone marrow that produces blood cells. Here [iso-solutions.com] is a datasheet from a supplier - you can get it in activities of 1 Curie! That's 37 GBq.
      • Re:Ha, ha by commodoresloat (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @02:37PM
        • Re:Ha, ha by justthisdude (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:11PM
    • Re:Ha, ha by ChemGeek4501 (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @08:15AM
    • Happens all the time (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dj245 (732906) on Monday March 24 2008, @08:18AM (#22844180) Homepage
      My father is an immigration inspector on the Canadian border. Apparently this is not uncommon and people are usually surprised when he asks them if they have had any recent medical tests. The only news here is that it was a cat this time.

      The detectors are very sensitive. Aparently the steel in many shipping containers built in China sets it off because the chinese are recycling a lot of the steel that was in now-decommissioned nuclear reactors.
    • Re:Ha, ha by Idarubicin (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @09:58AM
      • Re:Ha, ha by Cramer (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:13PM
        • Re:Ha, ha by Hellkitten (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:40PM
    • Re:Ha, ha by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @10:08AM
      • Re:Ha, ha by Cramer (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:15PM
    • Re:Ha, ha by Teflon_Jeff (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @10:33AM
    • Re:Ha, ha by gandhi_2 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @11:03AM
    • Re:Ha, ha by metlin (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @11:37AM
      • Re:Ha, ha by __int64 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @01:15PM
        • Re:Ha, ha by sumdumass (Score:2) Tuesday March 25 2008, @11:46PM
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • 4 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 24 2008, @03:15AM (#22842874)
    Please, please, please, somebody tag this catscan.
  • cool. (Score:5, Funny)

    by RelliK (4466) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:17AM (#22842886)
    Did the cat have any superpowers?
    • Re:cool. (Score:5, Funny)

      by jx100 (453615) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:39AM (#22842980)
      Its purr could attract law enforcement officials.
      • Re:cool. by kevingolding2001 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:13AM
        • Re:cool. by Nimey (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @08:55AM
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Re:cool. (Score:5, Funny)

      by RuBLed (995686) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:10AM (#22843102)
      I'M DA BOMB! LAWL!!

      KTHXBAI
      • Re:cool. by tuxicle (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @09:23AM
    • Re:cool. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Eponymous Crowbar (974055) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:43AM (#22843214)
      We seem to be missing the real news here -- this has to be the first cat that can drive a car on the interstate, right?
      • Re:cool. by die444die (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @06:34AM
        • Re:cool. by elrous0 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:38AM
        • Re:cool. by street struttin' (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @08:39AM
        • Re:cool. by writermike (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @09:07AM
        • Re:cool. by Bob Cat - NYMPHS (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:05PM
      • Nope. by antdude (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:50AM
      • Re:cool. by mkramer (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @09:44AM
      • Re:cool. by brauwerman (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @11:21AM
      • Re:cool. by Enzo1977 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @12:35PM
    • Re:cool. by Megane (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @05:41AM
    • Re:cool. by SharpFang (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:00AM
    • oblig. Simpsons movie by seven of five (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @07:06AM
    • Re:cool. by Mr. Shotgun (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @07:28AM
    • Oblig. 'Heroes' Reference by Comboman (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:38AM
    • Re:cool. by LowG1974 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @10:09AM
    • Re:cool. by superkitten (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @10:13AM
    • Re:cool. by sbillard (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @02:00PM
  • Proper investigation by fastest fascist (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @03:19AM
    • by clarkkent09 (1104833) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:39AM (#22842982)
      You never know with those feline terrorists.

      Perhaps it was a persian cat? You can never be too careful with those Al-Qaeda supporters [mwcnews.net]
    • by asliarun (636603) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:44AM (#22843004)

      I assume they promptly cut the cat open
      ...and it would have been quite safe as well. After all, the cat had 18 half-lives.
    • by budgenator (254554) on Monday March 24 2008, @06:29AM (#22843538) Journal
      "Vehicle goes by at 70 miles per hour," Giuliano told the crowd. "Agent is in the median, a good 80 feet away from the traffic. Signal went off and identified an isotope [in the passing car]."

      That is the impressive part, they didn't have to "cut" open the cat because they knew what they were looking for inside a car passing at 70MPH; all they needed to know is how much and in what form. A therapeutic amount in a cat is no problem isn't a problem, half a Kg for a car bomb is a problem. Another interesting point is while he didn't actually say it, it sounds like these things are quite portable and was contained in the vehicle.
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Emitting nuclear radiation is the equivilent of shouting "hey, here, look in my vehicle. I've got something NUCLEAR!" No wonder there's no privacy. I'm sure if the vehicle was glowing no one would feel bad about them being pulled over. This just happens to glow in a very different way.
    • by clarkkent09 (1104833) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:47AM (#22843020)
      True, but since there are legitimate reasons for emitting radiation they should take that into account. The last thing people (or cats) undergoing radiation therapy for cancer need is to be stopped and searched on every corner
      • by fbjon (692006) on Monday March 24 2008, @05:23AM (#22843314) Homepage Journal
        So then, why haven't a human been caught in this net before? It seems there should be more radioactive people than cats being driven around.


        Also, the story has a slight smell of urban legend. Snopes hasn't picked it up yet, though.

        • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by Ucklak (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @05:53AM
        • Catching radioactive humans by Harmonious Botch (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @06:06AM
        • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by ZombieWomble (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:12AM
          • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag (Score:5, Interesting)

            by IndustrialComplex (975015) on Monday March 24 2008, @07:54AM (#22844018)
            That isn't necessarily true. I was injected with a radioactive isotope to check for a fractured sternum. The idea was that if there was damage, the radiation would be concentrated on a fracture as the body attempts to repair it.

            The hospital was busy, and had no open waiting rooms while I waited for the results. They sat me down in a side room. Every couple of minutes a tech came in and was checking on a piece of equipment. He ended up with this very puzzled expression on his face. Left and came back a few times.

            Eventually it looked as if a lightbulb had lit in his mind and he glanced at the machine, then at me, then back at the machine. Eventually he asked me 'So, let me guess, you are radioactive?' With a sheepish grin I replied what type of test I was in there for and that they had placed me in the room. Apparantly he had been trying to test some type of radioactive material as well and his numbers were 100x larger than what he had been expecting. The radiation I was emitting threw off his numbers to an extreme degree from across the room.

            I drove home a few minutes after that and had there been a radiation detector on the side of the road I'm confident that I would have set it off as well.
          • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by FuzzyDaddy (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:41AM
        • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag (Score:5, Interesting)

          by budgenator (254554) on Monday March 24 2008, @06:35AM (#22843568) Journal
          The are all the time, I had a stress test and the office told me that crossing the boarder would trigger the alarm for at least three days and that they had Dr's statements for Customs available for the asking. Customs turn back trash trucks at the boarder for radiation all the time now, you'd be amazed at how much nuclear waste Hospitals used to dump into our landfills unnoticed.
          • lovely by peccary (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @07:39AM
            • Re:lovely by Boronx (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @10:19AM
              • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
          • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
        • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag (Score:5, Informative)

          by slashqwerty (1099091) on Monday March 24 2008, @07:00AM (#22843672)
          So then, why haven't a human been caught in this net before? It seems there should be more radioactive people than cats being driven around.

          They have [newscientist.com].

        • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by brunes69 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:07AM
          • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
        • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by Tatarize (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:39AM
        • Human example by GreenEnvy22 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:42AM
          • Tc-99m by IvyKing (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @09:49AM
            • Re:Tc-99m by Culture20 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @11:23AM
        • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag (Score:4, Interesting)

          by prisoner-of-enigma (535770) on Monday March 24 2008, @08:30AM (#22844252) Homepage
          My cat just received treatment for a benign thyroid tumor causing hyperthyroidism. It cost a bloody fortune (US$1,100) but it was either that or medicate him twice a day for the rest of his life (euthanasia was not open to consideration). The clinic was RadioCat [radiocat.com] in Marietta, GA. Take a look at their logo and tell me if it doesn't bring back memories of Napster's...but I digress.

          The clinic kept him for three days after the treatment, both to observe and to let some of the radioactivity die down. After he came home, we had to keep him separate from our other cats (we have five total). We were cautioned not to dispose of his litter in the trash; it should be flushed. The clinic said the county dumps have radiological sensors that scan everything going into the dump, and the litter would definitely set off the sensors. It would cause an investigation that would have the trash company trace back where that particular trash truck picked up garbage from and could cause a lot of unneeded trouble. We were advised not to hold the cat for more than 20-30 minutes per day and to wash our hands thoroughly after any contact with the cat.

          I knew our pet would be "hot" when he came home, but I had no idea the cat could set off a roadside sensor. Either this fellow didn't let the lab keep the cat for the required 3-4 days before transporting him or the sensor was amazingly sensitive. If so, I'm actually quite happy about it. If somebody is transporting a radioactive cat is found, they're detected, nobody gets their fur in a fluff, and everybody goes their way. If somebody is transporting a dirty bomb or components thereof, they're detected and law enforcement deals with it. I see nothing here to complain about.
        • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by necro81 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @09:13AM
        • For crying out loud! Mod parent down already! by Scrameustache (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @01:16PM
        • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by wfstanle (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @01:48PM
        • 4 replies beneath your current threshold.
      • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by TapeCutter (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:26AM
      • Valid reasons for a radioactive car by nickyj (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @10:02AM
      • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by Oligonicella (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @11:19AM
      • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by JustCallMeRich (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @08:13PM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Rad. therapy by Dr. Cody (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @05:25AM
    • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by Mr. Slippery (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @09:04AM
    • Re:LOL @ Privacy Tag by Zero__Kelvin (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @01:03PM
    • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • by KillerCow (213458) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:21AM (#22842900)
    ...until some law-abiding citizen going about his lawful business gets stopped and accosted for no reason beyond "the machine said so" during a routine blanket surveillance sweep. Enjoy the slide into a police state.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 24 2008, @03:21AM (#22842902)
    have 18 half-lives.
    (captcha: murders)
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • doesn't add up by SpeedyG5 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:21AM
    • Re:doesn't add up (Score:5, Informative)

      by masonc (125950) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:34AM (#22842952)
      Actually I believe there have been lots of similar events. A friend of mine is a member of some service organization and was on a club outing to nearby Canada by coach. On the border crossing back to America, they were stopped at the crossing when the border guards told the driver to shut the coach down and they boarded it. The club members were apprehensive as they had been replenishing the club alcohol stash and had a bit more than the legal duty free limits in the storage areas.
      The guards finally identified one older gentleman and questioned him, only to find out he had been a radiation trace injection four weeks previously. They were cleared and went on their way.
      If they have this equipment at all the major crossings and on the interstates, imagine the cost and the amount of money that has been spent on these type of projects.
      • Re:doesn't add up by tommeke100 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @05:11AM
      • Re:doesn't add up by ArsenneLupin (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:36AM
      • Re:doesn't add up by westlake (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:40AM
      • Re:doesn't add up by freedom_india (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:47AM
      • Re:doesn't add up (Score:4, Insightful)

        by ocbwilg (259828) on Monday March 24 2008, @05:58AM (#22843436)
        Situations like these are why these sorts of systems will never work. There are just far too many false positives. Not false positives in the sense that they detect radiation where there is none, but false positives in the sense that they detect legitimate and harmless sources of radiation but have to respond as if they found a dirty bomb. I wonder how many of the other sort of false positives they get, where the detector is tripped but they can't find any source of radiation. And how many hundreds of millions of dollars are bing spent on this monitoring?

        The worst part is, this post-9/11 monitoring has caught exactly zero dirty bombers. Sure, the article says:

        Giuliano says the point really is to catch terrorists. He says it's true that the odds of catching one here may be "a billion to one. But despite that, we have caught two." (Gazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer, who tried to sneak in at Blaine in 1997 to blow up the New York subway; and Millennium Bomber Ahmed Ressam, nabbed at Port Angeles in 1999.)

        But don't you find it odd that the only justification that the heightened surveillance post-9/11 works is based on two arrests that were made in 1997 and 1999, before the current surveillance was enacted? While we're at it, what kind of a hack journalist is the guy who wrote the article that he couldn't do some simple math with the dates and figure that out? So what we're left with is spending piles of taxpayer money to monitor and harrass our citizens with no proof whatsoever that it has a demonstrable benefit besides helping employment.
      • Re:doesn't add up by letxa2000 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @08:20AM
      • The cost is Ginormous! by gbutler69 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @08:52AM
      • Re:doesn't add up by freedomlinux (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @09:02AM
    • Re:doesn't add up (Score:5, Informative)

      by clarkkent09 (1104833) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:09AM (#22843092)
      It has, just hasn't been widely reported. According to this article, there are about 600 radiation scanners deployed around the country and the rate of false positives is so high that the guy in charge of the Homeland Security Dept. nuclear office says they are pretty useless in practice:

      http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,257004,00.html?sPage=fnc/specialsections/homelandsecurity [foxnews.com]
    • Re:doesn't add up by Detritus (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @04:09AM
    • Re:doesn't add up by ccmay (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @06:43PM
    • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • i say, it is effective, an useful by someone1234 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @03:23AM
  • by LaskoVortex (1153471) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:27AM (#22842918)

    Signal went off and identified an isotope

    Holy smokes! Isotopes [thefreedictionary.com] everywhere!

    I'm surprised they needed a detector to find something that, by definition, comprises all of matter.

  • Radioactive Cat by sihker (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:28AM
  • So let's say... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ForestGrump (644805) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:30AM (#22842936) Homepage Journal
    1. I'm remodeling my house. I go down to Home Despot/Slowes and buy a dozen smoke detectors. Would I get pulled over for being a suspected terrorist?

    2. I'm a cancer patient undergoing radiation therapy. What can be done to prevent the horror of being pulled over by the KGB? Would it be reasonable to issue "radiology patient" tags, like they issue handicapped tags for the handicapped?

    3. What is the false positive rate of such monitoring? Here, we have a cute example of a sick cat setting off a false positive. What about other incidents like this that fail to get into the newspaper?

    Grump
    • Re:So let's say... by tirerim (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @03:57AM
    • Re:So let's say... by piojo (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @04:02AM
      • Re:So let's say... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by David Jao (2759) <djao@dominia.org> on Monday March 24 2008, @04:29AM (#22843168) Homepage

        3. What is the false positive rate of such monitoring? Here, we have a cute example of a sick cat setting off a false positive. What about other incidents like this that fail to get into the newspaper?
        I'm not sure this matters. Are people's rights being trampled as a result of this monitoring? I'd feel more strongly about this story if there was mention of someone getting arrested, hassled, held, etc. On the other hand, if they detect cancer patients, they must pull people over pretty frequently, and the program may never catch a terrorist... well, good thing I'm not in politics.

        The false positive rate does matter, regardless of whether or not rights are being trampled. When you conduct any sort of large scale surveillance activity, the base rate fallacy [wikipedia.org] implies that most of the triggering events will be false positives. With too many false positives, your surveillance program is worse than useless -- it wastes money that could otherwise be better used on other security initiatives.

        I know there is some emotional appeal in arguing that "if it saves even one life, etc. etc. then it's worth any amount of money" but in the real world that's just not true. In the real world, spending one billion dollars to save a life might be a bad idea if spending that same money on some other program would save two lives. In comparing the relative merits of two or more different security proposals, the false positive rate is one important factor to consider, because it affects the cost/benefit analysis.

        Of course, people's rights matter as well, because that also affects the cost/benefit analysis. Unfortunately, the American public is seemingly too dumb to perform any sort of analysis involving more than one variable. Since the false positive rate involves math, it doesn't have any political appeal at all. Hence the Republicans fixate only on the terrorists, and the Democrats when not fixating on the terrorists focus only on civil liberties to the exclusion of all else.

        • Re:So let's say... by asuffield (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:21AM
        • Re:So let's say... (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Znork (31774) on Monday March 24 2008, @07:18AM (#22843774)
          In the real world, spending one billion dollars to save a life might be a bad idea if spending that same money on some other program would save two lives.

          Indeed. Considering that traffic has killed approximately 280.000 Americans since 9/11 one could wonder how many lives would have been saved, had the 'war on terror' money been spent on improving road safety.

          One could also question wether terrorists would find terror a useful weapon if nobody cared more than they do about traffic risks.

          I wonder what would happen if Al Qaeda claimed they'd infiltrated the safety departments of several multinational car manufacturers, as well as the DMV and a multitude of road planning commissions.
        • Re:So let's say... by networkBoy (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:04AM
        • Re:So let's say... by Svartalf (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:52AM
      • Re:So let's say... by Chaos Incarnate (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @06:02AM
      • Re:So let's say... by DougWebb (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:24AM
    • Let's say, then: (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Wilson_6500 (896824) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:04AM (#22843078)
      1) Depends on the design of the detector. There's no chance the alpha particles from the Am-241 will be detected, as the cardboard box the smoke alarms are in will stop those, but the photons might be. The cat's scan residue (rimshot, please, along with everyone else in this discussion--but I would guess it's Tc-99 residue from a Tc-99m scan) was picked up by this detector system, so assumedly the Am-241 gammas might as well. That said, I don't know what activity is usually used smoke detectors (and I'm too lazy to look it up), or what activity is usually administered to cats during vet. nuclear med. procedures; questions like these are ones of quantity. You might well be stopped. From their perspective, you might well be buying twelve Am-241 sources to line the casing of a bomb.

      2) I was under the impression that oncologists were in the habit of doing just that--giving "doctor's notes" to patients with outpatient implanted brachytherapy seeds or devices. Being treated with a linear accelerator would not be likely to leave a perceptible amount of radiation in your body (photoneutrons from high energy linacs might cause some activation, but I don't think that it's generally a serious concern as far as setting off radiation alarms). Would it also bother you that you might well set off radiation alarms at nuclear power plants, if you happened to work at one, while being treated for your cancer?

      3) From a machine perspective, this was not a false positive. From a judicial/social standpoint, it was. I don't have much more to add beyond that.
    • Re:So let's say... by tokul (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @04:15AM
    • Re:So let's say... by glwtta (Score:3) Monday March 24 2008, @04:35AM
    • Re:So let's say... by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @04:36AM
    • Re:So let's say... by Capt James McCarthy (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:08AM
    • by freedom_india (780002) on Monday March 24 2008, @05:41AM (#22843374) Homepage Journal
      Let me play FoxNews plus Gonzales for a while:

      1. I'm remodeling my house. I go down to Home Despot/Slowes and buy a dozen smoke detectors. Would I get pulled over for being a suspected terrorist?
      Yes. You would get pulled over and charged. You need to prove to the Police and the judge beyond doubt that the detectors are for your home. A work contract signed by your contractor, a REAL ID and a passport are necessary to get discharged from the case.
      Plus if you live in Montana or California, tough luck. These states support terrorism by rejecting REAL ID and thus endangering you! (endangering you by your rendition to Gitmo).

      2. I'm a cancer patient undergoing radiation therapy. What can be done to prevent the horror of being pulled over by the KGB? Would it be reasonable to issue "radiology patient" tags, like they issue handicapped tags for the handicapped?
      Yes. That badge would need to be accompanied by REAL ID. The badge itself would be built by the highest bidder who has offered better quality, 3D hologram embossed with your wife's or Eva Longoria's photo on the badge and also has Bluetooth enabled. Oh BTW, your insurance would not pay for the badge which would cost $399 each.

      3. What is the false positive rate of such monitoring? Here, we have a cute example of a sick cat setting off a false positive. What about other incidents like this that fail to get into the newspaper?
      Those details are "deemed classified." Much like information about cellphone tower coverage which companies used to provide publicly but stopped in 2003/04 when Bush deemed them classified at their instigation. Similarly if you continue questioning about false positives, you would be classified as a "person of interest" and be subject to such intense surveillance that the movie Enemy of State would be outdated. Heck, even your stool shit would be studied after scraping it from toilets.
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Re:So let's say... by Epistax (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:19AM
    • Re:So let's say... by thermopile (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:56AM
    • Re:So let's say... by Digital Vomit (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:28AM
    • False false positive? by _14k4 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:32AM
    • Re:So let's say... by Muad'Dave (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @09:24AM
    • Re:So let's say... by SydShamino (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @10:42AM
    • Re:So let's say... by mog007 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @03:47PM
    • 4 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • by Circlotron (764156) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:33AM (#22842946)
    You mean they didn't just invent the cat scanner?
  • by timmarhy (659436) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:33AM (#22842948)
    Passivly monitoring traffic for this kind of thing is harmless, and i'm sure no one would mind as long as the agent used a little common sense and didn't immediately assume the person in the car was osama.
  • by martin-boundary (547041) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:34AM (#22842958)
    Of course, it's not serious journalism to simply quote from a random funny story tossed out in an otherwise dull talk. Good speakers often have a collection of slightly oddball fake stories to put the audience at ease. Journalism means actually chasing up the story, interviewing the supposed cat's owner and the agent. If they actually exist, that is.

  • Not that uncommon by twistah (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:37AM
  • Hardly dangerous by brejc8 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @03:39AM
    • by Wilson_6500 (896824) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:12AM (#22843116)
      The fear of a dirty bomb is not that people will die--not many would probably die from the blast, or the radiation. Dirty bombs are nothing more than panic weapons. The public is, by and large, so terrified of anything "nuclear" that a large radiation dispersal device going off in a crowded area would cause literal waves of _redoubled_ panic as soon as someone realized and communicated that the bomb had radioactive isotopes inside it. Justifiably or not, it would then be a blind panic--these people would be running from something they can't see or smell, and probably don't understand in the slightest. Now, being informed about radiation won't keep it from bringing you harm if you happen to be exposed to it, probably wouldn't be much comfort if a radioactive bomb exploded across the street, and won't give you instantaneous wind-direction and plume information; it might help to allay the fears of those who're outside the blast zone, and might help ease the process of relocating back into the contaminated region.

      Sure, they're not weapons that'll kill millions of people at a stroke, but isn't one of the common themes of life that the most striking, obvious, and dramatic dangers aren't always the ones that should merit the most respect and attention?
    • Re:Hardly dangerous (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Zymergy (803632) * on Monday March 24 2008, @04:57AM (#22843242)
      I strongly disagree. The Chernobyl explosion and resulting contamination was not designed to disperse radioactive material. It did a fairly good job of doing that *anyway*. I agree that the predicted effects are fortunately much less (20 years later) than previously predicted, but it was nonetheless extremely effective at effecting FEAR and Terror into that portion of the World. If Terrorists with high explosives expertise also had access to MORE deadly radioactive substances than Chernobyl contained, that would be VERY SCARY.

      Terrorists are likely more interested the FEAR and the sensationalized terrifying concept of "Nuclear Fallout" rather than the actual scientific effects of such a dirty radiological High Explosive dispersion device (AKA Dirty Bomb).
      Terrorists may actually target key water and food supplies or river systems with radiological explosive dispersion devices.

      Any primary "Dirty Bomb" Victims that inhale, eat, drink, or consume into their bodies ANY energetically decaying radioisotopes (especially ones with relatively short half-lives) will have an *almost certain chance* of developing lung and/or bone cancers.
      Plutonium-238, curium-244, strontium-90, polonium-210, promethium-147, cesium-137, cerium-144, ruthenium-106, cobalt-60, curium-242, and thulium isotopes all can produce oncogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic effects on the human body (especially if ingested or inhaled). This happens if the initial exposure does not kill the primary victims.

      In any case, it is very very unlikely that a citizen jury of peers would consider the passive monitoring of specific "hot" radioisotopes by US authorities to be a violation of the 4th Amendment's "unreasonable searches and seizures".
      NOBODY should have any of the above in their possession unless they are professionals and they would have clearly marked DOT placards on their commercial vehicles as well as DOT, NRC (and probably DOE) approved possession and transportation paperwork and approved containment vessels. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/teachers/11.pdf [nrc.gov]
      Also, they would have to follow controlled HC (Hazardous Cargo) approved routes within the US highway system. http://orise.orau.gov/reacts/guide/hazard.htm [orau.gov]

      I agree that it is interesting some animal and human cancer patients (and other radiologically medicated persons) have been flagged "hot" by roadside sensors and detained by authorities. It is likely that those same sensors can determine the quantity and difference between the americium-241 (one gram is enough for 5000 smoke detectors) from the other more dangerous materials no civilian should never have. http://www.uic.com.au/nip35.htm [uic.com.au]

      I am a US citizen, and I DO feel better knowing that these things ARE being actively screened for by our government. It would be terribly irresponsible for our government to NOT look for radioactive substances if technology would allow it to conducted as unobtrusively as it is from the side of a PUBLIC highway or port of entry. Americans don't have a right to own dangerous radioactive components.

      OTOH, if they decide to screen for GUNS in the US... that's a Second Amendment right we DO have... and whole other issue.
      • by mikelieman (35628) on Monday March 24 2008, @06:25AM (#22843530) Homepage
        "Americans don't have a right to own dangerous radioactive components. "

        I believe you misspoke, when you used the word "right" there.

        Perhaps, you meant to say, "Americans aren't PERMITTED to possess dangerous radioactive components?"

        While the "Right to Keep and Bear Property" isn't one of the explicitly enumerated ones in the Bill of Rights, the "Right to Keep and Bear Property" is the Right upon which *all* other Rights are founded.

        Without that absolute right, the notion of having any Freedom or Liberty is ludicrous.

        Yes, there's an obvious contradiction in being told that one is Free and at Liberty, but also told that they cannot own, possess or use property without obtaining prior permission from their Masters.

        My only advice is: When presented with this historical opportunity to watch a civilization fall, enjoy the show!
      • Re:Hardly dangerous by ZombieWomble (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:11AM
      • Not designed, but bigger by phorm (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:17AM
      • Re:Hardly dangerous by eltonito (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @09:44AM
      • Re:Hardly dangerous by hairykrishna (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @01:47PM
      • 6 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • by tekrat (242117) on Monday March 24 2008, @03:42AM (#22842994) Homepage Journal
    The summary says the car was populated by a "cat", but doesn't mention if there was a human driver. Either that, or the car was driven by a 60's beatnik with a fondness for Jazz music. "Hey dude, I just pulled over this radiocative cat, man, I mean he was smokin'."
    Cosmic.

  • Hunting a Bogey Man is a game of Cat and Mouse by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @03:47AM
  • At least it works! by dakameleon (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @03:49AM
  • Meow by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @03:56AM
  • by exekewtable (130076) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:00AM (#22843068)
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger's_cat [wikipedia.org]

    OMG, they measured and saw it! the paradox is solved!
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • by Detritus (11846) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:01AM (#22843070) Homepage
    I remember reading something about them discovering a truck loaded with contaminated steel at the gate of some federal facility. Sometimes radiation sources, like cobalt-60, get mixed in with scrap metal that is going to be recycled. The steel plants are scared to death that they will accidentally melt down a load of scrap that contains a radiation source, resulting in a lot of spoiled steel and a huge decontamination bill. They have their own radiation detectors to check incoming material.
  • by Gordonjcp (186804) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:08AM (#22843086) Homepage
    ... just how radioactive was this cat? If it's sufficiently radioactive to show up at quite a distance in a moving vehicle, how much full-body radiation are the people around the cat getting?

    I do not want a hot cat sitting in my lap.
  • psy ops, paranoia and BS by dotmax (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @04:27AM
  • Where does one get a radioactive cat? by itsybitsy (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @04:31AM
  • Detectors at the border? by MichaelCrawford (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @04:31AM
  • by Aussie (10167) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:33AM (#22843178) Journal
    C: The man didn't have the right form.
    S: What man?
    C: The man from the cat detector van.
    S: The looney detector van, you mean.
    C: Look, it's people like you what cause unrest.
    S: What cat detector van?
    C: The cat detector van from the Ministry of Housinge.
    S: Housinge?
    C: It was spelt like that on the van (I'm very observant!). I never seen so
          many bleeding aerials. The man said that their equipment could pinpoint
          a purr at four hundred yards! And Eric, being such a happy cat, was a
          piece of cake.
    S: How much did you pay for this?
    C: Sixty quid, and eight for the fruit-bat.
    S: What fruit-bat?
    C: Eric the fruit-bat.
    S: Are all your pets called Eric?
  • When my father was radioactive... by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @04:38AM
  • This is Nothing (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gambolt (1146363) on Monday March 24 2008, @04:39AM (#22843200)
    A lot of my family is from Oak Ridge TN, where the nuclear payload for the atomic bombs dropped in WWII was fabricated there is now a national lab.

    It's common knowledge that frogs are a problem for the feds around there. That's amphibians, not the French.

    Here's the problem. Frogs live in the ponds by the cooling towers. The frogs are radioactive. The frogs jump out on the road and get squished. There are then lots of radioactive tires rolling in and out of town. The multi-million doallar system purchased to keep people from sneaking radioactive material out of the area is therefore useless.

    Why the hell is the water in the coolant ponds radioactive? Isn't that a bad sign? Nobody cares, they are all used to it by now. The thing with the frogs sure is funny though.
  • What ?? - no Steve Martin references ? by OneSmartFellow (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @05:09AM
  • Wisdom follows, pay attention! by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:10AM
  • by edwardpickman (965122) on Monday March 24 2008, @05:26AM (#22843328)
    "Feed cat Plutonium pellets with kibble. Wrap cat in detcord. Place timer on cat and set for five minutes. Release mouse on crowded street. Release cat after mouse. Run. Remember to face Mecca at 4:29 after you release cat." "Oh, don't forget to plug ears."
  • At what cost? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Nomen Publicus (1150725) on Monday March 24 2008, @05:35AM (#22843350)
    So, how much does it cost per year to detect radio-active cats? Wouldn't it be cheaper to put up a sign saying "Radio-active materials are monitored" and spin a lie a couple of times a year using a story such as "We detected a radio-active cat, aren't we clever?"
  • Where is the driver now? by StoatBringer (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @05:53AM
  • And the world is safe from terrorists one more day by stickystyle (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @06:04AM
  • Or they want you to think they can detect it... by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:06AM
  • Dirty Bomb, Indeed by LittleGuy (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:13AM
  • Insightful?? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by adkeswani (1261278) on Monday March 24 2008, @06:19AM (#22843498)
    I check the comments expecting to see a series of Score:5 Funny.

    Instead, I find that most comments are Insightful and Informative.

    Come on people, a RADIOACTIVE CAT!

    Oh well, I guess this may be given an Insightful too...

  • Repo man? by Bazman (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:24AM
  • Radiashin by Trogre (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:27AM
  • And the detector go nuts when homer simpson drives by Joe The Dragon (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:29AM
  • Yeah, like we need national health care... by tjstork (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @06:30AM
  • Moderators - Where are you by LiquidNitrogen (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @06:41AM
  • 150 comments so far and no one's mentioned this [newscientist.com] yet from 2002?

    Americans undergoing radioactive medical treatments risk setting off anti-terrorism sensors in public places, and subsequent strip searches by police, warn doctors at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
  • ...It's 4 A.M., do you know where your car is? by wiredog (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @06:47AM
  • So stupid... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by flajann (658201) <flajann@NosPam.linuxbloke.com> on Monday March 24 2008, @06:49AM (#22843622) Homepage Journal
    A radioactive cat that just underwent cancer treatment? A cat is not a radiological bomb. Obviously, their detectors are way too sensitive.

    But more importantly, this is an innocent person that was harassed by the Homeland Insecurity types over something he'd done legitimately. What a waste of time and effort.

    If someone really does have a radiological weapon, all he has to do now is shield it in layers of lead to escape detection -- or have a radiological cat as a decoy.

    I suppose they'll harass people who just underwent cancer treatment as well. Wow. I feel so secure now.

    Of course, chemical-based bombs can do a lot of damage as well, but obviously this detector won't pick that up. What a waste of taxpayer's dollars.

    Low-tech can always thwart high-tech, anytime. The would-be terrorist on a shoestring budget can always find a low-tech way to circumvent these million-dollar high tech measures. Meanwhile, some egg-heads in government revel in the false sense of security they now have.

    Of course, it begs to reason how much of a real "treat" of "terrorism" there really is. Oh, but the big government contractors are loving the windfall from the paranoia. Well, that's the US for ya. Fear for Profit! Yeah, the American Way.

    • Re:So stupid... by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @08:41AM
    • Re:So stupid... by blueg3 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:46AM
    • Re:So stupid... (Score:4, Informative)

      by Pigeon451 (958201) on Monday March 24 2008, @08:49AM (#22844414)
      How was the person harassed? The agent pulled him over, questioned him, then let him go. Justified, since they detected radiation source. Doesn't sound like harassment to me. If they ran up to him with guns drawn, cuffed him, questioned him for several hours, then yes, that would be harassment.

      Compare this to metal detectors at clubs or airports. EACH person is individually scanned and searched. Is this harassment? An overstep of people's rights? How many people carrying weapons do they really find? It is a deterrent, as well as a detection system.

      As far as low-tech, agreed, low tech can cause minor problems such as bombing a building and is much easier. A few causalities, makes the news, etc. A nuke going off though, however, that is significant. Destroy a city, widespread panic and fear, international news. Much like the WTC incident.

      • Re:So stupid... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by flajann (658201) <flajann@NosPam.linuxbloke.com> on Monday March 24 2008, @11:48AM (#22846328) Homepage Journal
        "How was the person harassed? The agent pulled him over, questioned him, then let him go. Justified, since they detected radiation source. Doesn't sound like harassment to me. If they ran up to him with guns drawn, cuffed him, questioned him for several hours, then yes, that would be harassment. "

        Justified from whose perspective? The cat? The cat's owner?

        As one who have been repeatedly been pulled over, visited, and questioned by police when I've done nothing wrong, there is no justification for intruding on the peace of mind of the innocent.

        Sorry, but unless that man actually were carrying a radiological device, bothering him is an intrusion on his peace and his life, even if they did "let him go." So does that mean that they will keep pulling him over every darn time he gets cancer treatment for his cat, or drives with his cat somewhere they have detectors? Would you want to be pulled over again and again and again when you've done nothing wrong? If that were to happen to you, would you not see that as harassment?

        We really need to revisit the Rights of the Innocent in this country. Basically, all the rights of the innocent have been systematically stripped away, made easy with your latest and greatest technologies. Perhaps you don't mind the NSA tapping your every phone calls and email correspondences and putting them through their supercomputer farms just to see if you are a terrorist or not. But I think most people would have a problem with that!

        As far as I'm concerned, if I haven't done anything wrong, then don't bug me. If you (law enforcement, NSA, Homeland Insecurity, FBI, etc.) do, you are invading my peace and my privacy as well. It IS harassment, plain and simple, and I for one will NOT stand for it. And neither should you if you care anything about your own rights.

        Perhaps you should see the Minority Report. Basically, we're talking about the same thing here.

    • Re:So stupid... by Arccot (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @10:06AM
    • Re:So stupid... by ceejayoz (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:31PM
  • by zerofoo (262795) on Monday March 24 2008, @07:11AM (#22843740)
    My cat was recently treated for a hyperactive thyroid. The vet injected the cat with radioactive iodine and kept the cat in isolation for two weeks.

    After I was allowed to take the cat home, I was told to avoid having the cat sit on my lap, and I had to collect the cat's litter box scoopings and store them outside for two weeks. The vet told me if I discard the litter box contents into the trash, I would probably get a visit from homeland security. Evidently, they also scan garbage, and if they find any radioactive trash, HS tries to figure out where it came from.

    If they trace it back to your house, they will show up with a warrant to search the premises.

    When I told her she must be joking, she told me it happened to one of her clients.

    That's creepy on a bunch of levels - the fact that HS can trace garbage back to your house, and the fact that HS can "pay you a visit" after snooping through your garbage.

    -ted

  • How completely useless by Ancient_Hacker (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:12AM
  • The real news here... by tyme (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @07:59AM
  • dear homeland security by circletimessquare (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:02AM
  • The real story here by Minwee (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @08:24AM
  • by mattt79 (1005999) on Monday March 24 2008, @08:54AM (#22844460)
    Something similar happened to me about ten years ago. My toddler aged daughter was undergoing nuclear scans to track her cancer treatments, and I was told that for the next 48 hours I should wear gloves when changing her diapers. A week later I get a call from some "government agency" asking why my garbage was emitting radioactivity! After I explained about the underlying medical issues, (including the fact that I-131 has a half-life of a couple days) there was no further problem.

    But here's the kicker, since I use a community dumpster, the only way the could identify me was to get the information from mail in my (presumably radioactive) trash.

    I learned two things from the encounter,

    1 - I need to get a shredder.

    2 - That someone has what may be the worst job in the world... radioactive dumpster diving.
  • superkitten by superkitten (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @09:14AM
  • Radioacive treatment by Jesus_666 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @09:36AM
  • NYC subway by Ian Lamont (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @09:48AM
  • Remote Detectors are Stupid Idea by DarrenR114 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @09:50AM
  • Dirty bombs? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by pclminion (145572) on Monday March 24 2008, @10:01AM (#22845058)

    I have yet to see any evidence at all that a "dirty bomb" is anything more than a crazy nightmare cooked up by an American paranoid whackjob. Do we really think "the terrorists" are going to use something like that? It seems like a huge amount of effort, with a huge risk of detection, for an effect that could just as easily be achieved in other ways. See for instance, 9/11.

  • Herding Cats by PPH (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @10:16AM
  • What's the point? by tringtring (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @10:38AM
  • Thank you! by wjsteele (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @10:40AM
  • Wow! Two out of a billion... by wtansill (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @11:36AM
  • Happens all the time by NuclearGator (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @12:49PM
  • Hair Metal Bands get no respect. by pharwell (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @01:25PM
  • Simple avoidance technique by sunderland56 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @01:31PM
  • calm down people by XLR8DST8 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @02:06PM
  • 80 feet at 70mph? by nurb432 (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @03:15PM
  • Bastards. by Kamineko (Score:2) Tuesday March 25 2008, @05:51AM
  • maybe i missed it but by Jarik C-Bol (Score:1) Tuesday March 25 2008, @06:45AM
  • Nope by WindBourne (Score:2) Monday March 24 2008, @05:40AM
  • Re:Goatse by calebt3 (Score:1) Monday March 24 2008, @09:22AM
  • 15 replies beneath your current threshold.