5 ms·

I’ve seen ads for buying small quantities of elements including selling a full periodic table. We probably all have. I wonder how many of us on HN could have be

I’ve seen ads for buying small quantities of elements including selling a full periodic table. We probably all have. I wonder how many of us on HN could have been in this poor guy’s position. The writeup makes it sounds typically Australian in a massive law enforcement overreaction over something innocent and minimal.

jjk166 2y ago
Beyond a person's life being turned upside down, one also has to wonder how much this investigation and "major hazmat incident" cost taxpayers.
- johnsmth 2y ago
  Would have been easier too, just to send a car to the kid's house to knock on the door. Here in the US cops would do it for the PR, sometimes.
  - Canada 2y ago
    They could have just kept it at customs and sent a letter saying it's illegal and let that be the end of it. Whoever was involved in creating a circus out of it should be fired.
    - rl3 2y ago
      Thank you, Canada. Your position is common sense and level-headed.
    - ptsneves 2y ago
      When you say it like that it is so obvious. If we collectively kept our heads out of our asses and just thought how to deescalate things rather than be parsimonious little nobodies we would all be better. The other day somebody said I could not join a huge table in a coworking space because there was a meeting. Private meeting tables or rooms are paid and require reservation and that table was in the common area. I got annoyed because the guy did not ask if I could wait and go to another table, instead he just matter of fact told me they were having a meeting and would rather I would not sit in the free seats. I told him that I believe this was a public usage table, to which he then asked if I could allow them to remain alone. I considered being a prick but then I considered, what would be the gain of antagonising a dude that also goes there often and all for the pleasure of sitting in my favourite table? I stewed a bit but the next day I forgot it. If I had confronted him I would be reminded of the incident every time I crossed the guys path.
- bigfatkitten 2y ago
  In Australia, most major criminal matters are handled at the state level. The Commonwealth Director of Prosecutions has form for this. They don't do much other than welfare fraud cases, and so when they get a brief that's actually interesting for a change, they tend to go full ham. Whether it's actually in the public interest for them to prosecute isn't a factor they seem to give much consideration. Another recent fiasco caused by their heavy handedness: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/11/afp-counter-terrorism-operation-that-targeted-13-year-old-with-autism-cost-more-than-500000 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/...
  - trhway 2y ago
    >Another recent fiasco caused by their heavy handedness: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/ https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/... "He spent three months in custody before he was granted bail in October 2022, after an earlier bail was revoked because he failed to comply with conditions." a 13 year old with autism "failed to comply with conditions".
    - mrkeen 2y ago
      That kid stated he tried to contact ISIS, had pledged allegiance to the current ISIS leader, expressed a desire to be an ISIS recruiter, and to build and detonate a bomb at a government building. (June 2021). It looks like he was searched on 6 October 2021 and granted bail on 8 October. I don't know what the conditions of his bail were, but when it was revoked in June 2022, his Google searches involved topics such as “10 ways to cover up a murder”, “how to murder”, “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught” and references to a schoolteacher. https://www.childrenscourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-01/Application%20for%20bail%20by%20Carrick%20%28a%20pseudonym%29%20%5B2022%5D%20VChC%204.pdf
      - nukem222 2y ago
        Damn, why didn't they prosecute that instead? Probably would have won some public support. Declarations of a desire to commit violence are an entirely different beast than purchasing plutonium, and far more worth prosecuting.
SpicyLemonZest 2y ago
Such ads are common for uranium, which is less dangerous and thus less restricted. Plutonium is extremely illegal and not included in any periodic table collection I've ever seen.
- windhaven 2y ago
  From the collections of elements that I’ve seen, they’d likely include some uranium in that slot, with a note that there’s a chance of trace amounts of plutonium present from natural decay.

jjk166 2y ago

Beyond a person's life being turned upside down, one also has to wonder how much this investigation and "major hazmat incident" cost taxpayers.

johnsmth 2y ago
Would have been easier too, just to send a car to the kid's house to knock on the door. Here in the US cops would do it for the PR, sometimes.
- Canada 2y ago
  They could have just kept it at customs and sent a letter saying it's illegal and let that be the end of it. Whoever was involved in creating a circus out of it should be fired.
  - rl3 2y ago
    Thank you, Canada. Your position is common sense and level-headed.
  - ptsneves 2y ago
    When you say it like that it is so obvious. If we collectively kept our heads out of our asses and just thought how to deescalate things rather than be parsimonious little nobodies we would all be better. The other day somebody said I could not join a huge table in a coworking space because there was a meeting. Private meeting tables or rooms are paid and require reservation and that table was in the common area. I got annoyed because the guy did not ask if I could wait and go to another table, instead he just matter of fact told me they were having a meeting and would rather I would not sit in the free seats. I told him that I believe this was a public usage table, to which he then asked if I could allow them to remain alone. I considered being a prick but then I considered, what would be the gain of antagonising a dude that also goes there often and all for the pleasure of sitting in my favourite table? I stewed a bit but the next day I forgot it. If I had confronted him I would be reminded of the incident every time I crossed the guys path.
bigfatkitten 2y ago
In Australia, most major criminal matters are handled at the state level. The Commonwealth Director of Prosecutions has form for this. They don't do much other than welfare fraud cases, and so when they get a brief that's actually interesting for a change, they tend to go full ham. Whether it's actually in the public interest for them to prosecute isn't a factor they seem to give much consideration. Another recent fiasco caused by their heavy handedness: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/11/afp-counter-terrorism-operation-that-targeted-13-year-old-with-autism-cost-more-than-500000 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/...
- trhway 2y ago
  >Another recent fiasco caused by their heavy handedness: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/ https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/... "He spent three months in custody before he was granted bail in October 2022, after an earlier bail was revoked because he failed to comply with conditions." a 13 year old with autism "failed to comply with conditions".
  - mrkeen 2y ago
    That kid stated he tried to contact ISIS, had pledged allegiance to the current ISIS leader, expressed a desire to be an ISIS recruiter, and to build and detonate a bomb at a government building. (June 2021). It looks like he was searched on 6 October 2021 and granted bail on 8 October. I don't know what the conditions of his bail were, but when it was revoked in June 2022, his Google searches involved topics such as “10 ways to cover up a murder”, “how to murder”, “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught” and references to a schoolteacher. https://www.childrenscourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-01/Application%20for%20bail%20by%20Carrick%20%28a%20pseudonym%29%20%5B2022%5D%20VChC%204.pdf
    - nukem222 2y ago
      Damn, why didn't they prosecute that instead? Probably would have won some public support. Declarations of a desire to commit violence are an entirely different beast than purchasing plutonium, and far more worth prosecuting.

SpicyLemonZest 2y ago

Such ads are common for uranium, which is less dangerous and thus less restricted. Plutonium is extremely illegal and not included in any periodic table collection I've ever seen.

windhaven 2y ago
From the collections of elements that I’ve seen, they’d likely include some uranium in that slot, with a note that there’s a chance of trace amounts of plutonium present from natural decay.