News flash
 

News flash for Philly-area folks, and probably for non-Philly folks as well: at this moment they are evacuating the offices of one of my old employers, Clemens Markets, because they found a package with some sort of powdery substance...

...which I'm sure will be found to be coincidental and harmless. I'm not sure of all the details but I'm sure this kicks off the nightly news.

With the (news flash II, if you haven't heard) reporting that someone at NBC received the same sort of form in the mail, everyone in the country is going to be on incredibly high alert. There ARE going to be hoaxes, because (as we know) stupid people proliferate everywhere, and the idea that a box of flour is going to make an office panic will be too tempting for some of them.

packages of powdery substances
 

Damn!

I just got back from a restaurant where they had little packages with some sort of powdery substance...rigth there on the tables! When I got home it turned out there were packages of powdery substances in the kitchen there too.

I'm just going to hide in the bathroom until the FBI gets here. You can't be too careful.

same thing happened in toronto... they pretty much shut down the subway system at one of the main junction points because of a 'suspicious package'... they had teams of specialists come in, the x-rayed the thing, and lo and behold... ham sandwich + apple. turns out someone forgot their lunch there.

Here in Saint Paul, MN, The Science Museum has been closed since Wednesday afternoon when there was discovered The evil-doer was caught on surveilance camera placing the mysterious objects in a gallery housing a Turkish archeology exhibit but escaped physical capture.

No further details released. Hummmm.

They found quite a bit of a white flaky substance beneath the computer terminals at several internet cafes. However, analysis revealed the substance was mostly harmless. The internet cafes are now giving out samples of _Head and Shoulders_ to all customers.

(how long before the first anthrax e-mail hoax?)

if the public doesn't calm down and start to rationalize, then the terrorists win.

expect to get a post card similar to this is the next few weeks from our grateful USPS
http://www.usps.com/news/2001/press/...19postcard.htm

and watch the fear factor increase 4 fold.

remember that the worst anthrax case in history only killed 66 people (russia late 70's). and that was due to a secret biological chemistry plant leaking the substance right over a small town.

and as Bill Maher put it: "Their main source of medication is Vodka." So it can't be that bad.

I'll admit that I'm a bit concerned, given that I only live 20 minutes from Trenton. And I do take a bit more precaution when handling mail. I also noticed that I'm not getting as much mail these days (be it regular or junk mail). I'm not sure if the USPS is delivering less b/c it's taking them more time to go through the mail, or if people just aren't sending as much b/c of what has happened. Perhaps a bit of both?

How many people have been confirmed as having anthrax now? What, 7 confirmed (according to the BBC)? And there have been 31 people exposed to it? Out of 280 million people. While I'm sure there will be more, I'd say our chances of being infected are rather unlikely.

Now smallpox...THAT is scary.

More news in Philadelphia
 

C4 and detonator wire were discovered in a suitcase at the Philadelphia Greyhound station this morning. Apparently, the suitcase had been there for a few weeks, but there was no blasting cap with the material.

In addition, a 2nd postal worker from Trenton has been diagnosed with anthrax.

Jeez...

Damn
 

Who do all of you think is sending the anthrax?

Re: Damn
 

Same organization which took down the World Trade Center.

BTW, anyone else think that sending a mailing to every postal customer is not just dumb, but EXACTLY the wrong thing to be doing right now?

Re: Re: Damn
 

Not necessarily.

*conspiracy theory in action* What if the anthrax is an inside job? If someone catches anthrax from these post cards, it could lead to something.

Highly unlikely, but quite possible.

Re: Damn
 

I read something today (it may have been in the Philadelphia Inquirer) where apparently, one of the envelopes had "Death to America" and "God is Great" on it.

I have two suspicions:

1--A terrorist group (no clue whether linked to al-Qaeda or not)
2--A scientist that had access to anthrax and is attempting to pin it on terrorists

I don't like conspiracy theories much, but after all, an American killed 168 people in Oklahoma City 6 years ago.

Re: Re: Damn
 

Well at least that's what they want us to believe.




(kidding! i kid!)

Re: Re: Damn
 

here's my $0.02:

presumming it's the terrorists (which I think it is). why would they use anthrax? anthrax is cornflakes compared to other viruses such as small pox. it's really not that effective, and you stand a good chance of survival even still.

my guess is it's all a diversion.

Re: Re: Re: Damn
 

Well, smallpox did wonders killing off the Native American population. No pun intended...

Given how much anthrax they are now finding, I am beginning to suspect more and more that this is an inside job, a la Timothy McVeigh or the Unabomber.