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This is from the CDC website:

The Legionella bacteria are found naturally in the environment, usually in water.

The bacteria grow best in warm water, like the kind found in hot tubs, cooling towers,

hot water tanks,

large plumbing systems, or air-conditioning systems of large buildings. They do not seem to grow in car or window air-conditioners.

The infection is transmitted through the respiratory system. Person-to-person spread has not been proved.

The goal of treatment is to eliminate the infection with antibiotics. Treatment is started as soon as Legionnaire's disease is suspected, without waiting for confirmation by culture results.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/legionellosis_g.htm

Please Note: I will be adding to my usual list of links, those regarding terrorism that deal with events or people within the United States (like trials, arrests, etc...), or that seem particularly interesting.

Google Mail Search Results 10/30/05:

SCHOOL + THREAT

La Vergne, TN:
Boy Threatens to Blow Up School
A 10-year-old student allegedly threatened to "blow up" Rock Springs Elementary School in La Vergne and then the world Friday, his teacher said during a Juvenile Court hearing.
He was also in court Wednesday on an arson charge after he and a 7-year-old companion allegedly set fire to a car Tuesday that spread to four other vehicles at Gray's Auto Parts in La Vergne. The fire caused about $10,000 in damages.

Millersburg, PA:
Teen arrested for bomb threat at school
MILLERSBURG – Cory A. Umstead, 18, of Forlow St., Millersburg, remained in the Holmes County jail Saturday night in lieu of $200,000 bond following his arrest Friday on a charge of inducing panic, a fourth degree felony.
Umstead was arrested in connection with a bomb threat written on the wall of a boys’ restroom at West Holmes High, according to Holmes County Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly.

SUSPICIOUS

Pratt, KS:
Suspicious device found in Pratt
Streets were blocked off and several businesses evacuated all morning long in Pratt, while the Wichita Police bomb squad and Pratt Police investigate a suspicious device. Someone found the device around 1:30 a.m. Saturday near 1st and Jackson. Investigators say the device appeared to be a pipe bomb. The bomb squad from Wichita had to be called in to disarm the device while some nearby businesses were evacuated. Police are not saying who they think built the device and have not made an arrest.

TERRORIST/TERRORISM:

Iran stresses continued terrorism in Palestine
Oct 29, 2005
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki stressed continuation of terrorism by Palestinian terrorists until the Qods is liberated from the 'Israel' occupation.

Al Qaeda/Al Qaida

ACLU: Coach badgered player about al-Qaida
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has filed a grievance against New Mexico State football coach Hal Mumme, saying he discriminated against a now-released Muslim player by repeatedly questioning him about al-Qaida.
(...)The grievance, written by ACLU staff attorney George Bach of Albuquerque, said Mumme questioned Ali repeatedly in July about “Islam and specifically its ties to al-Qaida,” the terrorist organization headed by Osama bin Laden.
Those actions “smack of religious discrimination sufficient to warrant a complete and immediate investigation by the NMSU Office of Institutional Equity,” the ACLU said.
(I don't know what's up with this case - it's possible the coach released them due to their religion... BUT, if the coach was merely asking a known Muslim about his religion and it's apparent link to Al Qaeda I would say that it constitutes wanting to gain a better understanding of the religion as it relates to World Events, not "badgering". - LR)

Default judgment granted in al-Qaida case
SALT LAKE CITY -- A soldier wounded in a firefight in Afghanistan and the widow of his slain comrade won a default judgment against the estate of a suspected al-Qaida financier.
The lawsuit alleged the late Ahmed Said Khadr failed to control his then-15-year-old son and prevent him from intentionally harming others in the July 2002 battle.
(...)Khadr, an Egyptian-born, naturalized Canadian citizen, is said to have been killed in a gunfight in Pakistan.
His son, Omar Khadr, is being held at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba over protests of the Canadian government that he is a juvenile.

Iran lets senior al Qaeda suspects roam free: report
BERLIN (Reuters) - Iran is permitting around 25 high-ranking al Qaeda members to roam free in the country's capital, including three sons of Osama bin Laden, a German monthly magazine reported on Wednesday.
Citing information from unnamed Western intelligence sources, the magazine Cicero said in a preview of an article appearing in its November edition that the individuals in question are from Egypt, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Europe

EXTRA LINKS:

Iranian War Veterans to attend CCW Conference
From the Islamic Republic News Agency:
Iranian war veterans affected by Iraqi chemical attacks (in 1980-1988) in the Hague on Saturday called for punishment of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein by the court of justice.
The war veterans who are on a visit to the Netherlands to attend the Tenth Conference of member states of Convention against Chemical Weapons (CCW) in the Hague, said that the court of justice should put the crime of chemical attack on indictment of Saddam too.
(...)About 100,000 Iranian soldiers fell victims to Iraqi chemical attacks during eight years of imposed war. Several hundred civilians also suffered from chemical attacks. Many of the victims succumbed to their injuries gradually after the end of the war.
Meanwhile, Iraqi army sprayed inhabitants of the Iraqi Kurdish city of Halabja with poison gas on March 16, 1988 in a military operation against Iraqi Kurdish population called Anfal killing more than 5,000 and wounding several thousand people. Many of those affected by the chemical attack died gradually and the remaining are suffering from illnesses pertaining to the gassing.

'NET BUSTING HATE BILL READIED
From Free-Market News Network:
Senator Edward Kennedy will attach his hate crimes bill, S.1145 onto the Sex Offenders Registration Act, according to the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
The bill passed the Senate 65 to 33 in 2002 but was stripped in conference. The Judiciary Committee defeated the bill last Thursday. FMNN has reported that the bill is part of a larger package of measures aimed not so much at those who are in some sense "racist" but at the alternative press itself which already has been targeted by the Bush State Dept.
The Hate Crimes bill, the State Dept. initiative and press Shield bill announced by Senator Richard Lugar create a formidable package of weaponary for legislators seeking to attack and weaken the alternative Internet press. This initiative is solidly backed by the mainstream media which has not sought to cover it with any level of analytical certainty but has instead reported on the package as a series of discreet and unlinked items.

If you would like on or off my "daily links" ping list, please send me a freepmail. (o:

Thank you for the updates on the Legionaire disease.

Sometimes my window air conditioner will start blow air that is musty and makes me feel bad. Since air conditioners are damp inside I figure that some kind of bacteria is probably growing in there. I found that if I take a can of Lysol and spray it into the air input where the filter is while the air conditioner is running then the must smell goes away and it does not make me feel bad anymore. This will last at least a couple of weeks after spraying. And I can't even stand the smell of lysol...LOL But that goes away after a few hours.

Thanks for all the info on Legionella.

What puzzles many of us here in Rapid City is that one third of the people who contracted the disease had never been to Casa del Rey. So, it seems that there must be another source. I also believe that this particular fountain had been chlorinated, because a few time I was there I could smell the chlorine. Lots of dirty old coins were in it though.

Like WestCoastGal, I have not touched a public drinking fountain in years.........but these beautiful ornamental fountains are everywhere. Especially in Europe, South America and Mexico. You would think more of the disease would be showing up, or maybe it is and we're just not hearing about it.