anthrax found at ny governers office - breaking

fox news

[Snowy]

No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

LOL! I love those commercials!

[DodgeDart]

Plus all that time and resources investigating Clinton's sex life.

[XBob]

88-"When the Taliban and their thugs spread the first grain of Anthrax here, after we began retaliation, I learned that those people will kill, no matter our response. Enough said."

The first case of anthrax was confired on 4 Oct, we started bombing 7 Oct, so they hit us again before we responded to the first attack.

So much for the sniveling cowards who kept whining, "Don't do anything. We might make them mad".

[marshmallow]

We do know that people have been exposed to the bacteria. I'm referring to the people in Florida, the people at NBC and ABC, the people in Daschle's office. These are people who have been identified as having anthrax spores in/on their body or having antibodies to the bacteria. That means they have been in contact with it.

The majority of these individuals are not sick and will not become sick. That is my point.

[Leroy S. Mort]

My God, we are under a systematic attack to take our Country down!!!

EVERYONE, wake up and e-mail our President and Vice-President to express our anger!

Oh yes indeed...we wouldn't want the Prez and VP to think we were happy about this. A couple of million emails to wade thru should give 'em something to do for the next few months. Zzzzzzzz......

[dead]

Are you a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq?

My past history is only provided on a need-to-know basis.

Seriously, I should have stated that we have no evidence that Iraq has the necessary dispersal equipment. Perhaps Russia has provided them with the necessary equipment, though I doubt it. Such equipment in the hands of militant muslims would represent a far greater threat, geographically speaking, to Russia than the US. Russia has their hands full with the muslim Chechen rebels a relatively short plane trip away from Iraq.

Even if Iraq has these planes, they pose no threat whatsoever to the American mainland.

[XBob]

92-"In addition, anthrax is not fatal in small doses. Around 10,000 spores are needed to cause a lung infection, which is quite treatable with anti-biotics."

" My point is merely that fear of anthrax is not a sufficient reason to hold back on an attack on Iraq."

+++++++++

I agree, as they will attack us anyway (anthrax started before we attacked). However 10,000 spores can fit on this period.

[concerned about politics]

2 staffers of Sen. Russ Feingold test positive... Congress to adjourn... (Drudge Report)

[dead]

Plus all that time and resources investigating Clinton's sex life.

Actually, that money was only wasted in the sense that the Senate failed to use the fruits as it should have.

Had the criminal (not sexual) evidence that those investigations produced been used to remove him from office, as was obviously warranted, our nation would have had a couple years headstart on fixing all the damage he caused.

Rapists don’t make trustworthy leaders, even if their crimes do have a sexual element to them.

[dead]

However 10,000 spores can fit on this period.

However, if dispersed into the air, that period would drop like a rock, and not be inhaled by anybody. That’s the problem of delivery that works to our advantage.

[XBob]

see my 127 - spore size is from TV anthrax specialist this morning.

[XBob]

thats why size is important for dispersal, however, the point is, they are so small you could have no idea you inhaled any. It's not like inhaling ground pepper, which you can see, more like onion juice droplets/vapor, which you cant.

[Dan Day]

So all the selfish people get to live and all us good guys perish?

If things were that dire, you might have a point, but they're not. Are you really trying to assert that the anthrax attacks are going to be so widespread that "all" the good guys will die? *snort*

At absolute worst, 1% of the American population would even be remotely exposed to anthrax. And that would take some *major* initiatives by *thousands* of terrorists, working in ways that we would have to be enormously incompetent to allow happen (like ignoring cropdusters flying over downtown areas for hours at a time).

The 99% of the population stockpiling (and/or taking) antibiotics without real need is draining the supplies of antibiotics, which will result in them being unavailable to the few people who *are* actually exposed.

It's the height of dangerous, callous selfishness. It's saying, "I'm going to get some in case I *might* need it, to hell with the people who actually *do* need it."

I haven't tried to get Cipro but I have inquired about a Youth Gas Mask for my child.

For god's sake, *why*?

Are you going to have your child wear it ALL THE TIME?

If not, then by the time you get word that your area is under biological/chemical attack (which it most likely never will be), then it will almost certainly already be too late for your child to be saved by donning a mask.

Then if you do get it on in time, just how likely is it to protect you until the danger disperses, or you manage to get out of the affected areas (good luck with that, the roads will be gridlocked).

Finally, most "gas masks" being sold to capitalize on this scare are inadequate for the task -- either the filters are unable to deal with the actual threats being faced (filters don't do squat for poisonous gasses, for example), or the seals around the face leak like a sieve.

So really, what's the point?

If you're all that scared about the possibility, it would be far more effective to just relocate to somewhere out in the boonies, someplace where a terrorist would never bother wasting valuable biochem warfare agents on.

Am I to believe that Cipro will be available when I need it? We already know we don't have nearly enough.

If idiots who don't actually need it will stop stockpiling it, yes, it'll be available when you need it. Thus my point.

[sanjuanbob]

Divide that period "." by 10,000. Won't be falling to the ground.

[BlueNgold]

The most dangerous elements of anthrax are, as we know, the inhalation strains as opposed to the cutaneous strains. What makes anthrax 'weapons grade' is it's purity and granularity. A cutaneous strain is an effective weapon in an underdeveloped country where immune systems are low and antibiotics are scarce. Additionally, U.S. weapons inspectors are quoted as having identified large quantities of both cutaneous and inhalation strains of anthrax as being cultivated and present in Iraq. They also identified modified scud warheads for use as the delivery agents believing that even if the missile is destroyed that some of the agent is likely to survive. There are also concerns that Iraqi scientists may have inadvertantly stumbled onto mutations of anthrax in their experiments and that some of the data we have on anthrax may not be 100% accurate. (For example some of it may be dually active inhereting characteristics of multiple strains) This makes it tougher to identify the weaponized anthrax available through the Iraqis.

We have not yet been hit with a large scale anthrax attack on the population at large. A devastating attack would require massive airborne coverage and sophisticated delivery devices in order to spread the inhlation strain. However, all terror is not aimed at mass homocide, sometimes it is solely intended as a disruption, and for that the current situation certainly seems to be accomplishing some goals for these parasites.

Patient vigiliance from the population and continued strong support for those in the government and those in government service (military, police, et al) are the calling of our generation, and they will be the marks of our victory.

[dead]

Dividing the period, and dispersing the parts through the air, is the tricky part, and apparently Iraq hasn't been able to do it effectively, yet.

That's why it's a good idea to blow them up pretty soon.

[texasbluebell]

We are dallying about hitting Iraq because, through this escalating anthrax terror campaign, Saddam has signalled to us that he has succesfully forward positioned agents with weapons of mass destruction on US soil. From a balance-of-power standpoint, it's just as if he had nuclear-tipped ICBMs pointed at America.

I can see the point of this, but he can't kill all of us. All the more reason that we have to get rid of him, and then start weeding out all those in this country who are not loyal to the US. The sooner the better!

[CJ Wolf]

I am just pointing out the obvious. Yes only one person has died an old one to boot. They reported something, if people do not find anything strange to report no one will know if it's in the air until we have mass symptoms and death. This is a fact, WTC and pentagon were scary. Remember 60 days to incubate, we are only at 36...

BTW I am not crawling under a bed, I did yesterday but that was only to stuff some money in it ;-)

[justa-hairyape]

A weapon that has killed exactly one person so far can hardly be called a weapon of mass destruction, and it is certainly not comparable to a nuclear ICBM.

There are lots of implications in the use of this bio weapon other then the current death count.
Will the buildings that weapons grade anthrax was released into, ever be truelly safe to work in ?
Will the people who inhaled the weapons grade anthrax in the senate office building have long term health issues ?
What are the long term environmental affects of releasing weapons grade anthrax into heavily populated areas ?