Radiation Sniffer

John Young jya at pipeline.com
Fri Jul 4 13:38:57 PDT 2003


The radiation sniffer in NYC and proposed for elsewhere
in the US is described in this DOE doc:

  http://www.eml.doe.gov/factsheets/HS_Platform.pdf

Here's the aircraft monitoring program:

  http://www.eml.doe.gov/factsheets/rampscan.pdf

There's more on a variety of homeland security monitoring 
programs at

    http://www.eml.doe.gov/factsheets/

EML is the DOE's Environmental Monitoring Laboratory
located in NYC, whose history goes back to the earliest
days of the nuclear age when it was set up to track
medical and health effects of nuclear weapons. It now
does worldwide monitoring of nuclear activities.

Why is it located in NYC? Up on the 7th Floor of a 
non-descript office building, along with a batch of
federal agencies such as a passport office, social
security and what not. The classified work of the
lab must account for the amazing entrance security 
you have to go through to get a passport renewed.

Reminds of going to a plain-jane office building at
an outer edge of DC a while back, heading for a
meeting with a construction firm, when, bam, step 
inside the lobby and there you are facing a heavily 
armed phalanx of federal police and camouflaged 
soldiers. You ask the M-16 bristling receptionist
about the firm and she barks for the team to surround
the perp, demands ID, says you know where your
are.

Uh, sure, I say, this is the capital of the free world.

Smart ass, she says, not any more. This country is 
ours. Show me what's in that bag.

So I did.

She screamed when it dawned on her what she was
seeing in my tote. The troops jumped back as if
electroshocked.

Sir, she said, we would appreciate it if you would
just leave. Yes, sir, the troops chorused, just please
leave the premises, what's in that bag is not what 
we enlisted to handle.

Here, I said, taking the device out of the tote, have a
taste.

No, no, no, they all yelped, and backed against the
wall, legs shaking, weapons clattering to the floor,
please take it away. Have mercy, sir.

Well, I said, okay, if it scares you, and put away the 
gleaming jewel of kryptonite, titled fine print US
Constitution, printed in China. 





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