[Yaelle]

OK, can we get scared now? How else can this spore be delivered? If paper is a medium, what about in the morning newspapers??? How hard is it to get a newspaper delivery job? You could wipe out a whole neighborhood like that! Somebody tell me that's not possible, please!

[GeronL]

It IS possible, but a delivery man can't infect the employee's of the paper... this could have been done through the Air Conditioning system.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Oh geez, calm down will ya?

How dumb are you going to feel if this turns out to be nothing? Even if it is something, he was most likely one of those that was at the building when the office workers were handling the "strange soapy material from inside the envelope".

[Sabertooth]

Not impossible, but not very effective. Almost none the spores dusted onto newspapers would ever be inhaled.

There are better ways. Ventilation systems, for one.

[Cold Heat]

I understand you need to inhale about 10,000 spores. Just don't sniff your newspaper! ( just kiddding, this could be serious)

[keri]

Yaelle, you have to inhale thousands and thousands of Anthrax spores to actually develop symptoms of Anthrax, because so many of the spores are trapped in the respiratory tract before reaching the alveoli in the lungs. It's highly unlikely your scenario as a means of delivery would work, because too many spores would be dispersed.

Do you read Stratfor? A more probable means of delivery would be ventilation systems, as Sabertooth pointed out. The "letter" and the "white powder" are probably what Stratfor analysts would call a diversionary tactic. Also, if you're looking to terrorize and disrupt the lives of a lot of people, not reading newspapers or opening mail would be a good way.

Clever bastards, yes?

[wayne_shrugged]

Yaelle, friend, please remain calm. What has been done cannot be undone. This is a time to be calm, still -- please think and pray for others, first. G*d will take care of you and the rest...

[rintense]

I have a dumb question. Can they use newspaper as a way to transport this thing? Meaning, can anyone who picks up one of those tabloids unknowingly expose themselves?