[ RadSafe ] Urgent need for whole-body scanners at salad bars?

Tue Dec 21 16:36:43 CST 2010

Clayton and to all those RADSAFErs, who have not yet been infected by the
"terrorist virus" paranoia,

I came back home from more than three months in France and Spain and reading
the mails on RADSAFE I can only conclude, that some kind of paranoia must
have stricken the US authorities and their massmedia. (This was not the case
in Spanish or French newspapers nor Austrians, because the latter ones are
almost fully tied up with "incredible", but reasonable corruption claims
against politicians, prime players in economy and most of all the former
Minister of Finance. So Terry, there is no reason, to "monitor" me again.
This clearly is a US problem, not known to probably most of the world.)

So, what is going on on RADSAFE? First the endless discussions about the
naken scanners - which are in the "rest of the world" in spite of their
undisputable illigality according to radiation protection legislation not
discussed because of their dose, but because of their presentation of
passengers naked and much much more because of the "padding". Nobody, n o b
o d y  is entitled to touch the private parts of somebody, who is not in a
very close and intimate relation or a doctor on health reasons!!!!! I
remember some years ago, when I was assaulted in Seoul, South Korea at a
underground station by an obvious homosexual, touching my private parts. I
felt like vomiting for several hours. 

After the scanners we had the alarms by something that has anyway not been
confirmed, what it was. I only make one very short comment on this: Having
not to much experience with such (which?) monitors I seriously doubt that
K-40 or any other NORM might be detected. One should not comment before all
information is available, which I expect will never be.

Now we have ricin and cyanide. In spite of having attended a course in
forensic chemistry I have no idea about ricin, because those decades ago
Ricin was not common as a poison, but cyanide was. The "expert", who claims
that cyanide poisoning would look like food poisoning should be stripped of
his academic degree and at best be allowed to start his studies all over. As
soon as one would add vinegar to ones salad (most people do!) the cyanide
would liberate hydrogene cyanide, which has a very characteristic smell,
which would stop anybody from eating the salade. 

Again: What is going on in the paranoia of terrorist attacks in the USA?
Nobody reasonable to answer this serious question?

Best regards,

Franz

Franz Schoenhofer, PhD
MinRat i.R.
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Wien/Vienna
AUSTRIA

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] Im Auftrag von Clayton J Bradt
Gesendet: Dienstag, 21. Dezember 2010 20:48
An: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Betreff: [ RadSafe ] Urgent need for whole-body scanners at salad bars?

Report: Terrorists Seek to Poison Food at U.S. Restaurants, Hotels
Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010

The U.S. Homeland Security Department in 2010 identified a terrorist plan 
to contaminate salad bars and buffets at restaurants and hotels with 
lethal materials, CBS News reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 6, 2005).

The strikes involving ricin and cyanide would have occurred during one 
weekend at a significant number of establishments. The plot was 
"credible," according to one intelligence insider. The would-be poisoners 
are suspected of having connections to the extremist group al-Qaeda in the 
Arabian Peninsula, which has been tied to a number of plots against the 
United States (see GSN, Dec. 20).

A handful of security personnel from the hotel and restaurant sectors have 
received information on the plot from Homeland Security, Agriculture 
Department and Food and Drug Administration officials.

Just 250 milligrams of cyanide could be lethal, an expert told CBS News.

"Initially it would look very much like food poisoning," said Susan Ford, 
a pharmaceutical sciences professor at St. John's University in New York.

The Homeland Security Department yesterday declined to discuss the 
reported plot.

"We are not going to comment on reports of specific terrorist planning. 
However, the counterterrorism and homeland security communities have 
engaged in extensive efforts for many years to guard against all types of 
terrorist attacks, including unconventional attacks using chemical, 
biological, radiological, and nuclear materials," said spokesman Sean 
Smith. "Indeed, al-Qaeda has publicly stated its intention to try to carry 
out unconventional attacks for well over a decade, and AQAP propaganda in 
the past year has made similar reference.

"Finally, we get reports about the different kinds of attacks terrorists 
would like to carry out that frequently are beyond their assessed 
capability," he added (Armen Keteyian, CBS News, Dec. 20).
**********************************
Clayton J. Bradt
dutchbradt at hughes.net

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