Anthrax

“First of all, my apologies for anyone offended yesterday by my post. It was not my intent. I read the comments of this guy, it really made me mad, and I wanted to see if anyone had seen it.

But enough of that: Did you guys catch the NPR story this morning on Anthrax and the easy accesibility of biological warfare to anyone who wants it? Scared the crap out of me!

Up until recently, commercial labs in the US sell this stuff to anyone with a credit card. Now they have shut that down, but the Russian consultant they had on this morning was warning that it is STILL very easily obtained.

Dang it, I don't like what the world is turning into. I can see the next 5-10yrs will be defining for generations to come.

Again my apologies for the heartburn my post caused. I didn't do a good job of explaining, and to be honest I didn't mean to take all day to get a chance to respond, but work BURIED me yesterday.”

“Dawg, I didn't hear the special this morning, but I find it hard to believe that they said that. I would question the source...just who was it that they interviewed?

For years I worked in a "Biohazard 3" research laboratory, where special permits were needed to purchase any biological agent deemed risky. This, required of a company that was already given clearance for such research, through clearly written use-proposal applications, protocol approval and inspections of the labs by gov't agencies (subsequent licenses issued.)

Anthrax, I am fairly sure, is a "Biohazard 4", which is even more stringently governed. How, does that amount to "anyone with a credit card" obtaining it?

=:0

I don't believe everything I hear. What's the source?”

“Here is a interesting read.....
Anthrax”

“Well I am sorry to say since I was driving to work that I didn't catch the names very well. The source was morning edition:

http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/

And I think the real audio is this link:

http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/me/20010926.me.ram

They were saying that independent labs were making this stuff available thru mail order to basically anyone. Take a listen, did I misunderstand it?”

“And here the snippet from the website.

09.27.01
Biological terrorism was once science fiction, but now some people say the threat is real. Thursday on Morning Edition, the risk of bioterrorism.

The audio for this program will be available online after 12PM ET, 9AM PT.”

“Well if I would READ.

"The audio for this program will be available online after 12PM ET, 9AM PT."

The link I gave ya was not for today's show, it clearly says Tuesday's show. Today's show will be available later today. They did mention all the technical hurdles, AmyG, but they also said in light of recent events, terrorists are finding ways to get over hurdles we previously thought impossible.

Like I said before, it scared the crap out of me on the way to work.”

“One of the things they talked about was that monitoring someone slipping out a 'test tube' of microbes was a lot different that monitoring someone slipping out a hunk of radioactive uranium.

They warned that since the stuff can grow, and amount stolen would quickly replenish itself, hiding the disappearance.

But yes.. they did talk quite a bit about the technilogical hurdles.”

“Stealing anthrax from a research lab would not be that difficult, but it might be dangerous. Stealing or buying anthrax from the former USSR would probably be a cake walk for these people. Having it given to them by Iraq isn't much of a stretch either. How to distribute it? One of Osama Bin Laden's LT's, the one responsible for operations,is a physician, reportedly brilliant.

Vigilance.

Dogs just sniffed a suspicious box in a fuel truck entering Kirtland AFB. Traffic down here was backed up all over by the gates. Take this seriously people.

Vigilance is our best tool right now. The enemy has declared war, and is among us.”

“Which was your favorite Anthrax album?

Fistful Of Metal

Armed & Dangerous

Spreading The Disease

Among The Living

State Of Euphoria

Persistence Of Time

Attack Of The Killer B's

Sound Of White Noise

Stomp 442

So much metal, so little time.

Racing down the road
In a street machine of steel
Gears are jammed in full
I'm the madman at the wheel

Got my foot pinned to the floor
You can feel the engine roar
I got thunder in my hands
I'm metal thrashing mad, yeah
Metal thrashing mad!

Driving like a maniac
Can't go any faster
Burning up the road
Headed for disaster”

“*****Anthrax*****

Among The Living

Disease! Disease! Spreading the disease.
With some help from Captain Trips, he'll bring the world down to his knees.
Power, yes Power! He'll show them all his power.
It pulses through his ice cold blood, a whole world to devour!

He's seeing, he's calling, his legacy he's spawning.
He's coming, corrupting, among the living!

Murder! Murder! Commit cold blooded murder!
Like Nazis during World War Two, they only follow orders.
Hatred! Hatred! A crucifix is your bed,
Once he turns his eye on you, you'll be better off dead!

I'm the walkin' dude, I can see all the world!
Twist your minds with fear, I'm the man with the power.
Among the living, follow me or die!

Man, fights Man! Divided they can't stand!
United, they can battle back, and make him force his hand!
Fear, yes fear! His end is growing near,
He didn't count on Man's good faith, and their will to persevere.

Follow me or die!

FIRE! HOT FIRE!! Purge the world with fire!!
Damnation is the price he'll pay, for an evil man's desire!
Good, versus evil! The stand to vanquish evil!
Man can only live one way, that place right in the middle.

Follow me or die!

Among Among Among Among Among Among Among Among Among Among Among Among”

“That's the tune I got my name from.”

“Been waitin' fer ya to post on this thread, Mr.dude...took ya long enough!”

“Hell, I work for a livin'. I don't site on the computer all day like some people.”

“Site = sit”

“I like the sound of Attack of the Killer B's Ü

My boss was also saying today there are something like 10 nuclear warheads unaccounted for/'missing.' Where did they go?
When we were selling weapons to everyone and their brother did we ever think about putting tracking devices on those things?”

“I didn't say 'Damn'..those damn things

see? I am gettin better”

“Most of the missing stuff is from the former USSR.”

“never trust someone who does not speak with passion and use a lot of expletives

Or anyone calling themselves the former USSR

What's the deal with the 5 Stan's? We supposedly have troops in one of them”

“I bet we don't know one tenth of what is going on.”

“At lunch today, somebody suggested cultural warfare, dropping American pop music on the Taliban. I suggested Anthrax, and that just got a big "HUH?"”

“Thats funny!!!”

“It's got a good beat and it's easy to dance to... I give it an 85, Dick.”

“no soul”

“null”

“Incinerate all your unopened mail.

(yes, you will have to pay late charges on unpaid bills.)”

“time to buy stock in the company that manufactures Cipro”

“I listened to Anthrax on the way home from work today.
What is it? CAUGHT IN THE MOSH!!!!”

“How about somebody own's stock in a bio-defense company and staged this to make money?”

“Could be Spock.
Should be easy to trace as last I heard there is only one company that manufactures the vaccine.”

“I wish I would proof-read before I post. Why did I put an apostrophe on "own's" ? To show possession?..LOL.”

“There have been reports of American militia groups having anthrax and other biological and or chemical weapons.

There are all sorts of weird groups out there with some absolutely terrifying capabilities such as the Aum Shinrikyo cult which used sarin gas in Tokyo and were developing nuclear bombs in the Australian desert.”

“Biocorp of Lansing Mi is the ONLY U.S. company to manufacture an Anthrax vaccine. They only have one customer...the Federal Gov.”

“I think it is amazing that when I posted this.. you guys all said I was full of crap.

:)”

“Attack of the Killer B's was my personal favorite...I'm the man!!”

“Among the living”

“just wanted to clarify...Cipro is an antibiotic that is thought to be an effective early treatment....it is .not a vaccine.”

“I'm more a'feard of Mad Cow.......
Imagine your brain goin' all spongiformed!?!?”

“I'm surprised Cipro works. Would have thought that a tough bug like this would require vancomycin or something more powerfull. Wonder if TB drugs would work on it?”

“The danger of Anthrax comes from its spore production. It is endemic and epidemic in certain animals, like sheep and goats, and can be found in wild animals as well. The bacteria reproduce to huge numbers and produce spores that last forever. Massive doses of spores, such as in wool workers, is deadly in the lungs. It is not really like TB, drugs are very different.

Control has always been avoiding exposure and controlling it in domestic animals.

I believe somebody has gotten ahold of the organism and is putting relatively small amounts in the mail. The bug is not really hard to come by or grow, its production of massive spores and dispersion that we have to prevent. Think meth lab, but growing microbes. Its kind of like cheese, beer or something like that, but trying to produce a dry product.”

“PS-It is something else you can get in the wild, along with tularemia, giardia and brucellosis. ;-)”

“i heard this today.
12 anthrax cases are bad, but every year theres 13 cases of the plague in the US. as in THE plague, the one that decimated europe?
theres over 100 cases of leprosy every year in the US too. typhoid fever - 400 cases!!
paranoia???? 250 million cases right now!!!!!!!!!”

“Our company suffered from an incident in the mailroom today (worker opened a letter and white powder fell out) but it has not been confirmed as anthrax. In any event, I have spent the day working with our purchasing dept. to buy gloves, masks and other safety equipment. The costs of terrorism is higher than what appears on the surface.”

“Right now I am glad I live in Nowhereville and no one cares to mail me anything but bills.”

“The definitions for suspicious mail:

IDENTIFYING SUSPICIOUS PACKAGES AND LETTERS:

Some characteristics of suspicious packages and letters include the following?
·Excessive postage
·Handwritten or poorly typed addresses
·Incorrect titles
·Title, but no name
·Misspellings of common words
·Oily stains, discoloration or odor
·No return address or return address that doesn?t make sense
·Excessive weight
·Lopsided or uneven envelope
·Protruding wires or aluminum foil
·Excessive security material such as masking tape, string, etc.
·Visual distractions such as stickers or labels
·The package is making a sound
·Marked with restrictive endorsements, such as ?Personal? or ?Confidential?
·Shows a city or state in the postmark that does not match the return address

Boy, the "Fingerhut" mail will never get through now.”

“Mail that may have a light coating of a powdery substance:

1. Wash your hands with soap and water.
2. Notify the Police Department and your immediate supervisor.
3. Ensure that all persons who have touched the letter wash their hands with soap and water.
4. List the names and contact info for all persons who have touched the letter/package.”

“The FBI just called. They said I could come down and pick my order from King Arthur Flour.”

“They have supposedly just arrested a fellow in Connecticut involved in the anthrax cases.”

“Actually, there have been several arrests, all involving hoaxes.”