A traffic stop turns up whiskey, a gun, a rattlesnake and uranium

[Abbot Mythos]

When police officers pulled over Stephen Jennings in Guthrie, Oklahoma, on June 26, they searched the car and got a lot more than they bargained for.

As per the article:

'Jennings was pulled over about 11 a.m. after an officer noticed that his car tags were expired, police say. He alerted the officers that there were a few other issues likely to arise: There was a gun in the vehicle, for starters.

His passenger, Rachael Rivera, was charged with possession of a firearm after a former felony conviction.

Then, police said, the officers found that the car had been reported stolen and began to dig a little deeper.

And their discoveries: one bottle of Kentucky Deluxe whiskey and one rattlesnake.

"So now he's got a rattlesnake, a stolen vehicle, firearm and somebody under arrest," Guthrie Police Sgt. Anthony Gibbs told CNN affiliate KFOR.

Then they found one more thing: a canister of radioactive powdered uranium.'

Here's the link: https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/11/us/rattlesnake-uranium-oklahoma-trnd/index.html

I have no idea how easy it is to get ones hands on "radioactive powdered uranium." But, I would hope it's not as easy as it appears to be in this case. 

[altered]

It's piss easy to get a hold of uranium. Proof: you can buy some yellowcake right here! http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=873

But it's not actually particularly dangerous. It takes a nation state to do anything of serious scale with it and a metric assload to do damage to someone else on a personal level with it. Fiestaware is hideously radioactive, but it's mostly alpha particles. Don't powder it and then snort it like cocaine, basically. The scary shit is stuff like lead and cobalt isotopes, and I guess polonium (but that one only because it's outrageously toxic, not because it's radioactive).

[Abbot Mythos]

It's piss easy to get a hold of uranium. Proof: you can buy some yellowcake right here! http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=873

But it's not actually particularly dangerous. It takes a nation state to do anything of serious scale with it and a metric assload to do damage to someone else on a personal level with it. Fiestaware is hideously radioactive, but it's mostly alpha particles. Don't powder it and then snort it like cocaine, basically. The scary shit is stuff like lead and cobalt isotopes, and I guess polonium (but that one only because it's outrageously toxic, not because it's radioactive).

The only non-fission uses I am aware of for refined uranium are high mass projectiles, and high mass vibration dampeners. I have read, and been told, that both are made from spent uranium fuel rods. (A co-worker used to keep a uranium vibration dampener in his desk drawer. It's weight versus physical dimensions was truly impressive.)

I am aware that Yellowcake was once used in ceramic glazes, as my wife has a collection of vintage Fiestaware. I was completely unaware that the stuff is available to the general public. I can understand its use for laboratory experimentation, but I can't think of any other practical use for it today. The Wikipedia article on Yellowcake mentions no practical use for it, other than refining it into metallic uranium for fuel.

On the other hand, mildly radioactive, thoriated welding rods, for TIG welding, are readily available from any good welding supply house. Still, I'm very surprised to learn that Yellowcake is just another readily available commodity.

[altered]

There are legal limits on how much you can own. Just about anything you can imagine short of chemical weapons, fully automatic firearms, and smallpox is available for purchase on the open market, really. But large quantities of radioactive material require special permits, lest serious men in serious suits knock on your door and then rearrange your internal organs with high velocity injection of heavy metals.

[Doktor Howl]

He was just trying to have a good time.

It's not easy, having a good time.

[ReverendJesus]

Now... are we all ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that this isn't the Good Reverend Roger's angry ghost?

[Doktor Howl]

Now... are we all ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that this isn't the Good Reverend Roger's angry ghost?

Did he shit himself?

[altered]

It isn't related to the ghost of TGRR unless it involves at least three of: backhair, shitting itself, screaming wordlessly in abject rage, giving uninvolved bystanders horrible diseases, returning the guinea worm to America, mocking libertarians, or showing up to a party solely to show everyone how to work it.

Some of these things may be possible for someone else to do two of at once, but three or more is a guaranteed Roger sighting, which has a secret government department devoted to them for the same reason there's a department devoted to Elvis sightings: they need to end the manifestation before it's too late.

They just use snipers for Elvis, though, the King knows how to play the game. Last I heard, they were considering 155mm shelling for Roger sightings, to prevent a repeat of the "Tempe Terror".*



* No one is quite sure what happened in Tempe, but they knew Roger was involved when they noticed there were gonorrhea sores on the trees. Witnesses claim it was a humanitarian mission, but Tempe was too "cursed" with "shitty poo-poo garbage" for Roger to remain there for long.

[Doktor Howl]

It isn't related to the ghost of TGRR unless it involves at least three of: backhair, shitting itself, screaming wordlessly in abject rage, giving uninvolved bystanders horrible diseases, returning the guinea worm to America, mocking libertarians, or showing up to a party solely to show everyone how to work it.

I gotta admit, I liked the way he worked it.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Fiestaware is hideously radioactive, but it's mostly alpha particles. Don't powder it and then snort it like cocaine, basically.

I didn't know that. It's interesting enough to google and yes, the pre-WWII Fiestaware is. https://www.nist.gov/nist-museum/dinner-us-nist-and-creation-fiestaware

From the link: "Pre-war uranium-containing Fiestaware is generally considered safe to own, but it is recommended that you avoid using it to serve food."

But if I was going to keep radioactive crockery, it would be radium glass.
http://www.atomicemporium.com/radioactive/photos/uranium_glass.JPG