Nutcase/bioterror/Barnes&Nobles

Me | Feb 20, 2005 | Me

[Swordmaker]

Having read your account, I am of the opinion that you and everyone else in the Barnes and Noble store have been assaulted. Whether or not you have been also battered remains to be seen. IF the contents of the spray bottle are or are not any kind of biologically active materials, the mere act of spraying it in your vicinity without your permission or knowlege is an assault. IF it is a toxic substance or YOU fear it may be toxic, and you have encountered it, you have been battered by that assault. If it IS toxic, and you develop an illness, you have been physically assaulted. If it isn't, but you are concerned that it might have been, you have been psychologically assaualted. The mere fact that you have posted the details, notified the security guard, etc., are prima facie evidence that you have at least been psychologically assaulted.

The above being stated, the event may have been a prank. There are some idiots out there who think it would be a kick to pretend to be spreading a biological terror agent... even if it is merely distilled water.

If it is NOT a prank, then it may be a mentally ill person... or someone doing a psychological test to SEE how people would react to such an effort... or it could be a dry run for terrorist attack (a new kind of suicide bomber only slower)... or it could actually HAVE been a "terrorist" attack... that is a new way to spread terror, i.e., making people change their attitudes and ways of living in reaction to threats. If we start hearing and seeing more of these potentially dangerous occurrences, we will be less likely to go out into the market, to visit Barnes and Noble, to shop for our groceries, to congregate freely and feel safe.

[xm177e2]

Most likely spray bottle contents are "bodily wastes".

Yeah, some really sick people get off on that. They should be put to death, no question.

[cyborg]

I was down in the NYC subway waiting for my train. This guy is taking pics of the tracks, pics of the tunnels, pics of the platform,etc. and looking around. I followed him onto the train and when I got off I told the conductor about him. That was that. If I saw someone spritzing something around where I was sitting, i would have said, what the eff are you doing? LOL

[FairOpinion]

I think, that for the sake of our national security and our very own lives, we all need to be individual sleuths, and report suspicious things. I think we should all have the phone number of the local FBI office and non-emergency police programmed into our cellphones, and call them immediately, when witnessing something strange.

I vaguely remember they caught some terrorists, because someone reported a moving van parked in an unusal place, and insisted that the police check it out -- they found videos of US landmarks, focusing on aspects that no tourists would photograph. I think it was a year or two ago.

Also remember actor James Wood observed and reported when the terrorists were doing a dry run PRIOR to 9-11-01 attack, but at that time, they didn't take him seriously, because the terrorists weren't "doing anything", merely acting suspicious, and not in a way normal passenger would act. If they had, they may have uncovered the whole plot. AFTER 9-11-01, he identified I think two of the terrorists of the 19, who were on his flight in July 2001.

Sure, many of those things could be false alarms, but rather report 100 false alarm, than miss one real event, that could prevent the next attack.

[cyborg]

Actually, I was considering not getting on the train and not reporting this twitchy looking dweeb. He really made me nervous and when I was on the train I was getting the worst headache. I figured oh well rather be safe than sorry. After I told the conductor, I had to go sit down becauser I was getting a migraine :(

[Avenger]

"I think, that for the sake of our national security and our very own lives, we all need to be individual sleuths, and report suspicious things. I think we should all have the phone number of the local FBI office and non-emergency police programmed into our cellphones, and call them immediately, when witnessing something strange."

I agree. I regret not calling the police right then and there - they could have been very quickly since there are usually a good number of police in the area. I assumed that the B&N security would take care of the situation but I should have known better that they wouldn't bother calling the police. You know, I guess part of it is I didn't want to feel like an idiot for calling the police over what might have been be a trifle. The other part is that I didn't want to freak my friends out. Well, I won't make that mistake again. Several years ago in Arizona I saw several guys on top of a building with a couple rifles. I immediately called the police and within 10 minutes there were SWAT everywhere. They pounced on those dudes so quick, I am sure they s**t their pants. :-) Turns out they were film students at a local city college or something like that and the guns were fake. Heh! Well, in spite of that the police said I definitely did the right thing. I'm sure those kids got an experience they will never forget too! :-)

[FairOpinion]

If this was anything, they may still be able to trace the guy.

Your posting your experience, may make you and others more quick to call things in, if there is anything strange going on. People who tell you what you should have done are talking after the fact, and hindsight is always 20-20.

One of Rumsfeld's favorite saying is what Herman Kahn said: "Hire paranoids: they may have a high false alarm rate, but they discover all the plots".

I think that is the mode, in which we all need to be operating, which is a change -- most people just ignored things, but we can't afford to do that anymore.

BTW -- did you see this news item?

Hundreds evacuated, 20 in hospital after Australian airport chemical leak

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1530&ncid=731&e=1&u=/afp/20050221/wl_asia_afp/australiaairairport


Some 20 people were hospitalised and hundreds evacuated from a terminal at Melbourne's airport after unidentified chemical fumes spread through the area, emergency officials said.

Ambulance services spokesman James Howe said 20 people had been taken to hospital suffering vomiting, nausea and breathing difficulties and more were being treated at the airport following the incident, which occurred around 7:30 am, a peak travel time.

He said firefighters and hazardous materials crews had been at the airport for more than an hour and had been unable to identify the source or nature of the chemical making people sick.

"We're taking it very seriously, because of the unknown element of it," he said.

Those taken ill were not in a life-threatening situation but were being taken to hospital for tests and observation "because of the unknown substance and we don't know what the long-term effects could be," he said.

[endthematrix]

Avenger has cooties! Avenger has cooties!

[endthematrix]

Very astute observation. I agree. We are actually scared of disagreement that may result in confrontation.

[endthematrix]

Funny that you don't hear James Woods opinion on the WoT. He may feel as many "regular Joe's" feel. Vulnerable and mad at the failure of our Intel agencies, and a very personal understanding that these bastards must be wiped off the globe to preserve our way of life.