Comment by jayrot
1 month ago
The best is when they use flimsy arguments about needing to "make an example" or "discourage this behavior" or "create a deterrent", as if people in these situations are even aware they're doing anything wrong.
1 month ago
The best is when they use flimsy arguments about needing to "make an example" or "discourage this behavior" or "create a deterrent", as if people in these situations are even aware they're doing anything wrong.
The message being sent is "even if we can't prove intent we still can completely ruin your life"
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> For those arguing the guy is just massively dumb and naive, are you aware this depicts the character as even more dangerous to himself and society?
No, because he hasn't done anything actually dangerous to society, it's not like he bought anything that can be weaponized. Is he a danger to himself? Only insomuch as his actions have put him at risk of going to jail.
I'm not saying there should be no consequences, but the idea he is a danger to himself or society is totally absurd.
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> (...) as if people in these situations are even aware they're doing anything wrong.
Does this excuse even fly? I mean, do you actually believe that a guy who is a self-described "science nerd" with enough interest in chemistry to sought to get a sample of each element of the periodic table would somehow skip any and all references on how the element is subjected to nuclear proliferation restrictions?
Yes, it is possible. Have seen a few nerds who could solve Math Olympiad problems in a jiffy but had extreme trouble navigating government bureaucracy.
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I would say that "nuclear proliferation" is about not letting North Korea or Israel getting nuclear weapons [1], not chasing random guy who tried to purchase infinitesimal amount of plutonium.
[1] As we know, both efforts failed.
>investigators were aware he had obtained this material and it was in a very small quantity.
It was a small quantity. For comparison Trinity had 6 kg of plutonium.
Awareness that you're doing something wrong is a spectrum. Obviously this guy wasn't intending to build a nuclear bomb, but I'm extremely skeptical that a science nerd could get to the point of building a periodic table collection without learning that plutonium is dangerous and heavily restricted. (The source article doesn't cover this, so just to make sure we're on the same page: plutonium is _not_ any more legal to export from the US than it is to import into Australia, and whoever sold it to this guy was almost surely breaking the law too.)
I don’t think it’s crazy for someone to know that you can buy uranium and not realize the full difference between that and plutonium.
I think somebody who doesn’t know the full difference between uranium and plutonium definitely shouldn’t be having any.
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The Royal Australian Air Force shut down airspace over an air force base to test fire a “high-powered” single-shot .50 caliber rifle. They are a parody of themselves.
The RAAF didn't test fire, nor did they "shut down" the air space.
Politicians and the police staged an air field adjacent test firing for media that carried risks that caused restricted, and warning notices to be issued for the air space.
~ https://thewest.com.au/politics/state-politics/raaf-base-pea...
^^ NOTICE: this is from two years past in 2023 .. The Western Australian newspaper website has wrapped this with a masthead with todays date (2025). If you search on the story there are several links from 2023 referencing this .. I cannot fathom why The West has done this to date other than it's a rag with a monopoly in a small state and they can't be arsed to do a good job here.
As a pilot, if I see a notam "that caused restricted … notices to be issued"-- especially in a military context-- I would be very comfortable describing the affected airspace as "shut down". I'm probably missing something as your link to an apparently low quality story is also paywalled. Maybe they're referring to the fact that the military almost always exempts itself from its TFRs, so technically it wasn't completely "shut down", but by that definition no airspace is ever shut down.
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>to test fire a “high-powered” single-shot .50 caliber rifle.
Maybe that's just the public explanation.