In the post 9-11 world any mysterious death that looked like radiation poisoning (and this clearly did) would be investigated until the source was absolutely known and whether there was a terrorist plot involved. Once Litvinenko showed signs of radiation poisoning there was not avoiding detecting the Po-210.

Now, the question was whether the Brits would find it or someone else would. But it would be determined.

And, if it had been a game of Cluedo, you’d have a burly russian guy tossing Litvinenko off the roof of the hotel. With his pants around his ankles.

AJ does the physics great. But what stands out loud and clear is that this whole story’s set up, to get this beyond “accident” to boiler maker; is hilarious. And, yes. It’s a joy to see someone with a sense of humor, who can get the facts right.

Yes, it’s hard to believe that there would be a spill. Litvinenko would “clean it up.” (Somehow knowing he didn’t want the lights on first? Or just being good aout snapping off the light switch as he exited the room?)

And, then he doesn’t pick his nose. He doesn’t take a few of the alpha particles that he’s managed to inhale. And, then after picking his nose, he doesn’t put his finger in his mouth.

Have you ever seen guys just sitting in traffic, waiting for the light to change? Pick a number from “very rare” to nearly universal, and see if you think picking your nose is so rare, it’s hardly ever done.

Because Litvinenko’s nose hairs held enough poison, that if it got passed his mouth, could kill him. Odorless. Flavorless. Just a “little salt added” from the boogers. (Let alone if his nose began to really run!)

How convenient. Using the hotel where this is “found.” MacGuffins? Well, why not?

But taking this radioactive matieral into the hotel, and then PLANTING this stuff is MACABRE. It kills innocent people. Staff. Maids. And, the boy who doesn’t “wash the dishes.” But stuffs the dirty dishes into the dish washer.

And, then everything FLUSHES OUT. And, ends up in the Thames.

Loss to Berezovsky? Into the tens of millions. NOT GETTING CAUGHT? PRICELESS.

And, for Berezovsky to call in Goldfarb, shows ya a little detail. The coppers weren’t looking at the evidence they had, properly. While the russian mafia was “thinking ahead.”

Getting rid of evidence. PLUS, blaming putin. Again, PRICELESS.

And, when Glenn Reynolds ran a link to this story, yesterday? (Saturday, January 27th. I bet Goldfarb picked up a big bonus.)

Well, “throwing guns and knives out” at murder scenes is nothing new!

But that’s why you’d expect a crime scene to have police tape all over the doorways. Didn’t happen here at all.

Plenty of time for Goldfarb to work mischief.

Yet, that imam? He wanted nothing to do with the casket! Now, I don’t think the mortician put radioactive materials IN, along with the corpse. Still? You saw it. The russian pallbearers, AND the “box” were outside. The russians didn’t sit down and strike, either. Nobody made a commotion. As if it’s normal for an imam to deny a man’s “dying wish.”

Keep spreading fairytales. Doesn’t stop anyone from noticing the criminals ALL got caught, “hung up on their own petards.” It’s practically Shakespearean. While the muzzies will pay hollywood to cast the Mossad as the “killas.” Sure.

You’re either looking at a COMEDY OF ERRORS. Or some very smart work by a magician, that got Litvinenko to lick his fingers. And, so far, he’s the only body that fell down, dead.

In contrast to your supposition, Lugovoi and Kovtun were contaminated with Po up to two weeks before November 1, when they met with Litvinenko. That’s one of the reasons that it is difficult to imagine an innocent explanation for L&K’s acts.

Sure, L&K left contaminated teapots/ cups; but it is quite clear that no-one trained them in radioisotope handling. It is also clear that – so long as the utensils were washed out- there is no practical chance of anyone else getting a sufficient dose to cause health effects.

yours
per

And a real tea drinker certainly always wants loose leaves and a full boil to get those tea leaves dancing.

It is heated right at the spigot, not before it comes to the room.

Many European bathrooms heat the water right as it comes out of the tap–not from a boiler someplace else.

The chemical form of the radioisotope adsorbs to and /or reacts with the porcelain; it doesn’t have to be a very efficient reaction, it can be merely one part in a million; and yet you get a great deal of contamination, which is effectively fixed.

You don’t have a clue what “off the charts” means, but it doesn’t stop you creating elaborate fantasies based on no knowledge. And you imagine that people are using Po-210 in teacups all the time ! If only I had a nuclear reactor in my backyard, that might be true !

this stuff is tin-foil hat territory.

per

I will leave the physics to AJ and others, but this would not pass muster in Clue. To believe this story, you have to believe that the assassin booked himself into hotel rooms under his own name to commit multiple assassination attempts on separate occasions. No thought of booking in as the Rev. Green, apparently.

You believe too that, having failed once or twice already, his paymasters chose to persevere with the Polonium plot rather than more tried and tested methods such as the old-fashioned bullet.

You must further believe that Lugovoi did not make any attempt to remove the evidence, even though the contaminated teapot – if it was that ‘hot’ – would presumably soon be wreaking havoc among the tea drinking public of Mayfair.

You accept that by using the teapot rather than placing the solution (or substance) in an individual teacup, he exposed himself and Kovtun to the same threat. (Or did he ostentatiously insist on Earl Grey while the others had English Breakfast?)

You must also believe that by choosing a very particular substance as his weapon, Polonium 210, he was happy to leave a rather obvious trail pointing right back to Moscow.

And you believe that he did this knowing that Litvinenko’s death might take several weeks, during which time Litvinenko would surely re-trace his footsteps and ponder about the people with whom he had supped tea.

And all this was for the hired hand, Litvinenko, not the main man – Berezovsky.

I could care less how Russians make tea – the physics in their part of the world is the same as ours. It is why I do not get diverted by the media stories and all the intrigue. It all still has to follow the laws of physics and chemistry. We do not have enough details to refine scenarios to any detail. That is why the only time I discuss the options is when I see indications the magnitude of Po-210 is great enough to stand out regardless of the specifics of the scenario.
Keep posting your thoughts – they help me work out any problems in my propositions

Soothsayer: Quite frankly your logic su**s . . . . Go back to school little one we only have big boys here.

is civil, but there’s something wrong with:

You think the Brits don’t have “nuclear engineers” calculating this crap?

??

As for:

So maybe you SHOULD exercise your mind a bit more when reading the news.

Perhaps so, but perhaps YOU and MERLIN – who appear to spend the majority of your waking hours on the keypad should rethink solving crimes from 3,000 miles away and thinking there’s no one in Great Britain with brains enough to figure this out without your input. They do have Stephen Hawking, after all.

So far, Snapple seems to have the most reasonable explanation.

http://home.fazekas.hu/~nagydani/rth/Russian-tea-HOWTO-v2.html