The Inside Straight

The "Radioactive Boy Scout" and Other Summer Madness

The easiest way to introduce this topic is with a quote:

Radioactive Boy Scout" arrested
03 August 2007

David Hahn, 31, from Clinton Township, Michigan, has been accused of stealing smoke detectors containing americium. Hahn was previously described as "The Radioactive Boy Scout" after trying to make a thorium-based reactor in a shed at his mother's home when a 17-year old. Now 31, Hahn, was being held in the Macomb County Jail on charges of larceny from a building.

Full story here.

According to the story. Hahn had a number of (apparently stolen) smoke detectors, and it was speculated he was trying to extract the americium from them. Americium is a radioactive metal that is quite similar to polonium and could ( I believe) be used to make a "dirty bomb"-or-more threatening still- be alloyed with beryllium to create a neutron source that would be far more dangerous.

Hahn's motives (He says he was researching for a book) are - at best - murky.

Hahn's adventures are not unique: a Pataskala, Ohio (near Columbus) man was taken into custody on sexual assault charges,and a search of his home revealed a jar about half full of castor bean seeds-which can be used to make ricin : a deadly bio-poison  for which there is no antidote. Police say "rocket fuel" was also found. (I'm not sure I want to know what that was all about !)

All across the nation, there have been false bomb threats. These usually get phoned in right after lunch on Friday afternoons - presumably by employees looking to start their weekend early.

New Jersey had a staggering number of such incidents until it worked out a remedial strategy: The police respond in full force, and they make a thorough search ...but no employees are allowed to leave the building unless a real threat is found. (By strange coincidence the number of bomb threats has gone from several per week to one every few months...)

All of these incidents remind me of the old fishing hole I visited as a boy. The water would sometimes be so dappled with "fish strikes" it would look as if the pond was being hit with a rain shower; but, on closer examination, the "big fish" creating all that fuss would turn out to be minnows.

That didn't mean there were no big fish present. You would see them swirl up once in a while from the cool depths to grab a minnow, or to steal the bluegill you had just hooked.

The people we need to worry about are out there - and, just like the bass and pickerel of my youth,catching them is the tricky part - especially when there are so many minnows tying up the attention and resources of those whose job it is to keep us reasonably safe.

Things I Learned on the Internet This Week

We are SO lucky to have the Internet : great fountain of wisdom that it is !!

Did you know ?

Jesus Christ was NOT a Jew !!  He was really a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Pure Aryan , who came to warn us of the dangers of Zionism ; and, as a consequence , was crucified by the Romans as the result of a false flag operation conducted by the High Priests - who were the precursors of today's evil Mossad agents .

Wow ! And did you know ?

Last week, an American submarine torpedoed a North Korean ship that was bringing enriched uranium, and other high-tech, super sensitive materials to Iran. You can read the whole story right here - and, if you find yourself wondering why North Korea and Iran have remained silent , you are probably some kind of anti-semite ,and/or part of the plot yourself !

Did you know ?

Our troops are in Iraq so the Bush Family Criminal Enterprise can steal Iraqi oil. The mere fact Iraq is way down the list of our suppliers , and ships us only a bit more than we buy from Russia is to be ignored !! (Who knew we buy most of our oil from Canada ???)

We still buy a lot of oil from Iraq... Yes, I know the story says we've been buying less and less, but the Wisdom of the Web says it's all Blood for Oil !!

Oh, yes ! This just in !!

Karl Rove is due to be frog-marched out of the White House any minute now ! I know this is going to happen, because it was reported on the "Truthout" blog, and repeated lord knows how many times all over the world. Don't believe me ? Just type "frog march Rove" in the Google search box and see what you get !!

I hope none of you "sheeple" are disagreeing with any of this : It is, after all, on the very same Internet Al Gore has modestly refused to take credit for inventing...

Some Women Seeking "Trophy Husbands"

I'm really way too recently bereaved to go searching for a new "mate" ; but , having run across a "Personals" section in Yahoo , I was curious enough to post a profile and see what sorts of women were seeking mates, and what sorts of mates they were seeking.

(Note to family members: I am allowed to do this. Really !!)

Some of the women who posted photos were fairly attractive : quite capable of turning male heads , although in their early 60s.

A random sampling of four of these "prime candidates" showed certain commonalities:

All were divorced.

All were physically fit - and proud of it.

All four were politically "liberal" - (one rather stridently so.)

All were seeking younger men , with good education , no dependents , and an income of at least $ 100,000. per year.

Candidates had to meet certain height requirements , be physically trim, and be "able to keep up with" their prospective partners ...without the aid of prescription medicines. (Yes, there would be a test !)

They would also be expected to squire these ladies to the ballet, the opera , and to important fund-raising events . Trips abroad , sailing , and other such activities would,of course, be a given.

They would, in short be Trophy Husbands : carefully selected to set off milady's persona in a variety of settings.

(Note to family members: You really didn't have to laugh that hard at the notion of me becoming a Trophy Husband !)

New Style Farming ?

I grew up on a farm , and remember - even now - what back-breaking work it was: freezing cold in the winter,suffocatingly hot in the summer ; spending hours every day cleaning out piles of manure, helping spread it on our fields and gardens , and trying to scrub the smell of it off our bodies.

Now, it appears, the US Department of Agriculture has been sending checks to dead farmers  - not just a few thousand dollars worth , but billions !

I don't know.

Dad belonged to the Grange. My brothers and I were all in 4-H. We got "The Rural New Yorker" and other farm magazines on a regular basis . We all knew about contour plowing , the finer points of dairy cattle , and "what to do till the vet arrives" ...but nobody mentioned post-mortem subsidies ; and, if anyone was collecting them,they stayed mighty quiet about it !

I don't know which is worse: knowing about these subsidies-or knowing you are at least 50 years too late to cash in on them !

Interesting Web Resource: Possible Terror Incidents Map

There are some who insist all talk of terrorism is just a way of distracting the citizenry from the operations of their government.

The Global Incident Map says otherwise.

Judging by this website, at almost any given moment, there are incidents all over the globe, which range from "suspicious" to "obvious terrorism in progress".

There is a big difference between being reasonably wary of one's government, and being so blinded by partisan scorn and hatred one refuses to see danger at all !

200 Suicide Belts Seized Near Syrian Border With Iraq

There are some who insist global terrorism is " a myth designed to frighten our citizens into compliance with government theft of our freedoms."

This is largely a point of view espoused by those who  are far removed from danger, and who have an ideological axe to grind.

You won't find too many people holding that view  "where the rubber meets the road" - Afghanistan, Iraq,the Horn of Africa, and the scores of other hotspots where global terrorists operate .

Iraq is an excellent example. One one hand, you have the pundits, who operate in a relatively safe environment ; on the other, you have the troops, who deal with issues like this on a daily basis.

An American General, who is in Iraq, and who deals with the ongoing violence every day identifies al-Qaeda as the main "accelerant" of violence in the area - but - in the same article, is promptly,and snarkily contradicted by "private security experts" who object to mention of al-Qaeda ...because it suggests ties between al-Qaeda and 9/11-and these "experts" don't like that a bit !

Meanwhile, the movers and shakers of global terrorism continue their "non-existent" campaign : basking in the tacit approval given them by the pundits.

Ohio Man "Celebrates" 4th of July by Shooting Airman-Then Himself

In Ohio, an off-duty Airman , who works as a loadmaster, was shot ouside his home on Independence Day by an apparently "disturbed" gunman , who "wanted to make a statement " against the military and the government - according to his suicide note .

The Airman was badly wounded.

The gunman "completed his statement" by killing himself.

Little Green Footballs has the story - including an Associated Press "laundering" of the incident.

The Goldman Sachs Threats : Familiar Rhetoric

Last week, letters went out to a large number of media outlets: letters-mailed from the NYC metropolitan area-that levied familiar-sounding threats against investment giant,Goldman Sachs.

"Hundreds will die.

We are Inside.

You cannot stop us."

Maybe it's just me, but I thought there was some similarity between that rhetoric and this :

" You cannot stop us.

We have this anthrax.

You die now.

Are you afraid ?

Death to America.

Death to Israel.

Allah is great."

Media reports indicate the threat letters were "signed" : AQUSA - which any reasonable person would probably interpret as "Al-Qaeda U.S.A."

The FBI, Postal Inspection Service, and any number of agencies are investigating these letters,in hopes of obtaining some useful clue...but,considering the progress of the FBI's AMERITHRAX investigation, I would not suggest holding my breath.

The FBI , in any event , does not think the Goldman Sachs letters are part of a credible threat...and they may very well be right.

Still, the rhetoric has a familiar tone and message- even if the content has changed a bit to suit a new situation ; and I would not be surprised to learn there are other physical similarities as well.

I must admit to some curiousity as to how this will all work out !

A Report from "Mr. Computer Geek" on Setting up Speakers

In my recently-assumed role of "Mister Computer Geek" I learned to diagnose problems with the built-in speakers that came with my monitor.

I had bought and installed a new HP computer- pre-loaded with the Deluxe Home Edition of Windows Vista , fitted out with all sorts of bells and whistles, possessed of more memory than a wronged and vengeful ex-spouse; and equipped with a huge 19" high-fidelity flat screen speaker/monitor...which steadfastly refused to produce a sound !

Naturally, being Mr. Computer Geek, I ran the elaborate diagnostic program which comes with Vista.

This program, after much chuffing, hemming, hawing, and many "please wait while we check out the framistan doodlebug circuitry" messages,finally announced all was in A-1 order...but there was still no sound !

Finally, after much research (paging through HP's pdf files,etc.) I decided to re-check the simple,pictorial setup guide that came with the machine,and to take a long hard look at the back of the monitor.

Oh ? Could that little white icon mean something ? Hmmm... How about this other connection : the one I'm using ? The one with the little "headset" symbol ?

I am happy to announce the sound system works MUCH much better when you plug the sound jack into the sound outlet-instead of the "earphones" outlet !

Take it from Mr. Computer Geek : It can't hurt to refer to the instructions once in a while - even if somebody catches you doing it !!

(Don't you wish our politicians would "study the instructions" once in a while too ?)

I'm Ba-a-a-a-ck (Sort of)

I installed a new computer yesterday, and-in addition to scrambling to retrieve my old files-I'm concerned about whether Windows Vista (embedded in this computer) will function with my blog.

So far,so good !

Okay,Jethro: Let 'er rip !!