P.I.D. Radio 10/20/13: The (Radioactive) Shadow of Arafat

HE JUST won’t go away. Those of us old enough to remember Yasser Arafat are probably somewhat surprised that the former leader of the Palestinian Authority, who died in 2004, is back in the news. The British medical journal Lancet published an article last week that supports a claim by Al Jazeera that Arafat may have been poisoned with the highly toxic radioactive isotope polonium-210.

But wait — not so fast! It appears that the Lancet article doesn’t quite say what Al Jazeera said it said. Also, counter-terrorism experts were saying a year ago that researchers couldn’t have found enough 210Po to prove their case because it has a half-life of about 138 days — so any polonium that was found must have been planted.

This story isn’t over yet.

Also: Hollywood’s portrayal of God; Dr. I.D.E. Thomas and William H. Kennedy pass away; Diane Reidy’s rant on the House floor (see Natalina’s article here); Turkey makes inroads into USA through relationships with Native American tribes; the Brown Scapular of Saint Simon Stock; and Sam T. Dachshund speaks.

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