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Suspicious Package (Stuffed Animal?) Outside Senate Buildings Causes Evacuation
Tuesday, February 3, 2004
| Kristinn
Posted on 02/03/2004 5:32:57 AM PST by kristinn
Local Channel 5 in D.C. is reporting the Capitol Police have ordered the streets around the Senate office buildings evacuated after a suspicious package was found. The item is reported to be a stuffed toy animal.
TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: capitolpolice; dc; hartbuilding; hazmat
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To: Peach
There were stories about bio's and explosives being hidden in stuffed animal toys going around some months back.
Prairie
21
posted on
02/03/2004 5:46:42 AM PST
by
prairiebreeze
(WMD's in Iraq -- The absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.)
To: kristinn
Also on the news a facility with suspicious white powder in Connecticut
22
posted on
02/03/2004 5:49:24 AM PST
by
JustPiper
(D A M N I T O L Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours)
To: Dog
Bump Dog posted this on daily thread!
23
posted on
02/03/2004 5:51:46 AM PST
by
JustPiper
(D A M N I T O L Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours)
To: Quilla
But it only takes a very tiny amount to kill you, it's something like twice as toxic as cobra venom.
To: Peach
Imagine all the polling places t hat could see "suspicious" envelopes today? And you are correct, they could hit with the suspicious materials diverting police attention! It is leaving us very vulnerable!
25
posted on
02/03/2004 5:52:55 AM PST
by
JustPiper
(D A M N I T O L Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours)
To: prairiebreeze
Yes.
Also, that "countdown clock" mentioned February 2nd.
The ricin was discovered yesterday and it's entirely possible this powder was in an envelope delivered to the post office yesterday late and didn't get processed until today. (That's a separate thread).
Although this stuff animal doesn't square with that timeframe.
26
posted on
02/03/2004 5:54:02 AM PST
by
Peach
(The Clintons have pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
To: ruiner
And the response to the Rats needs to be that we can't know the exact time that nation states sells stuff to terrorists...
27
posted on
02/03/2004 5:55:20 AM PST
by
Peach
(The Clintons have pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
To: JustPiper
I'd actually forgotten about Super Tuesday.
28
posted on
02/03/2004 5:56:22 AM PST
by
Peach
(The Clintons have pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
To: American_Centurion
From
Info source click here Ricin is a potent protein toxin derived from the beans of the castor plant (Ricinus communis). Castor beans are ubiquitous worldwide, and the toxin is fairly easily produced. Ricin is therefore a potentially widely available toxin. When inhaled as a small particle aerosol, this toxin may produce pathologic changes within 8 hours and severe respiratory symptoms followed by acute hypoxic respiratory failure in 36-72 hours. When ingested, ricin causes severe gastrointestinal symptoms followed by vascular collapse and death. This toxin may also cause disseminated intravascular coagulation, microcirculatory failure and multiple organ failure if given intravenously in laboratory animals.
TOXIN CHARACTERISTICS
Ricin is actually made up of two hemagglutinins and two toxins. The toxins, RCL III and RCL IV, are dimers of about 66,000 daltons molecular weight. The toxins are made up of two polypeptide chains, an A chain and a B chain, which are joined by a disulfide bond. Ricin can be produced relatively easily and inexpensively in large quantities in a fairly low technology setting. It is of marginal toxicity in terms of its LED50 in comparison to toxins such as botulinum and SEB (incapacitating dose), so an enemy would have to produce it in larger quantities to cover a significant area on the battlefield. This might limit large-scale use of ricin by an adversary. Ricin can be prepared in liquid or crystalline form, or it can be lyophilized to make it a dry powder. It could be disseminated by an enemy as an aerosol, or it could be used as a sabotage, assassination, or terrorist weapon.
MECHANISM OF TOXICITY
Ricin is very toxic to cells. It acts by inhibiting protein synthesis. The B chain binds to cell surface receptors and the toxin-receptor complex is taken into the cell; the A chain has endonuclease activity and extremely low concentrations will inhibit protein synthesis. In rodents, the histopathology of aerosol exposure is characterized by necrotizing airway lesions causing tracheitis, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, and interstitial pneumonia with perivascular and alveolar edema. There is a latent period of 8 hours post-inhalation exposure before histologic lesions are observed in animal models. In rodents, ricin is more toxic by the aerosol route than by other routes of exposure.
There is little toxicity data in humans. The exact cause of morbidity and mortality would be dependent upon the route of exposure. Aerosol exposure in man would be expected to cause acute lung injury, pulmonary edema secondary to increased capillary permeability, and eventual acute hypoxic respiratory failure.
To: JustPiper
And I forgot to mention about your excellent point that on 911, NYC was holding a primary!
30
posted on
02/03/2004 5:57:12 AM PST
by
Peach
(The Clintons have pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
To: All
Situation clear. No word on whether it was a false alarm or not. Streets reopenned.
31
posted on
02/03/2004 5:57:41 AM PST
by
kristinn
To: American_Centurion
"There is a latent period of 8 hours post-inhalation exposure before histologic lesions are observed in animal models."
Crap! How is Senator Frist today?
32
posted on
02/03/2004 5:58:28 AM PST
by
Frank_Discussion
(May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
To: Frank_Discussion
Probably ok, but I worry for some of his staff.
To: kristinn
Local channel 5 reports the Fort Detrick tests on the powder found yesterday were positive for ricin.
34
posted on
02/03/2004 6:01:02 AM PST
by
kristinn
To: American_Centurion
Thanks. Here are a few scary tidbits from the CDC:
It would take a deliberate act to make ricin and use it to poison people. Accidental exposure to ricin is highly unlikely.
People can breathe in ricin mist or powder and be poisoned.
Ricin can also get into water or food and then be swallowed.
Pellets of ricin, or ricin dissolved in a liquid, can be injected into peoples bodies.
Depending on the route of exposure (such as injection), as little as 500 micrograms of ricin could be enough to kill an adult. A 500-microgram dose of ricin would be about the size of the head of a pin. A much greater amount would be needed to kill people if the ricin were inhaled (breathed in) or swallowed.
35
posted on
02/03/2004 6:01:15 AM PST
by
Quilla
To: nevergore
Secure from Code Elmo.
To: Quilla
Anyone willing to take odds on whether or not the ricin from yesterday has an extremely fine silica coating on it?
To: kristinn
FoxNews is reporting a powdery substance was found in the Senate building. A similar substance was also found in Connecticut PO--same PO where anthrax was found a couple years ago.
[Remember the elderly lady who was somewhat isolated on a farm and died of anthrax? Has the anthrax poisoner changed to ricin and does the perp have some connection to CT?]
38
posted on
02/03/2004 6:03:29 AM PST
by
TomGuy
To: American_Centurion
You're probably right. This is a big deal, and I am more concerned about this than I was about any attack during the Super Bowl. The pigs seemed to have pulled off an attack again, and I'm wondering where else it's going to impact.
39
posted on
02/03/2004 6:05:53 AM PST
by
Frank_Discussion
(May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
To: American_Centurion
Not me, but why do you ask?
40
posted on
02/03/2004 6:06:49 AM PST
by
Frank_Discussion
(May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
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