Posted on 11/16/2001 2:47:44 PM PST by John H K
Dan Rather just stated on the evening news that a second anthrax letter, postmarked from Trenton NJ on Oct. 9, was found in the undelivered Senate mail, addressed to Senator Patrick Leahy.
Or it could be an Arab hater who wants to blame Arabs. Who in this country hates Arabs the most?
The guy made the comment 'good targets.' Now far be it for me to defend liberals, but if John Ashcroft and Bob Barr were sent these letters, and someone said 'good targets,' most people here would take offense, and rightly so. I don't know if the guy was happy that anyone was sent anthrax, but it was a comment that was in very poor taste, to say the least...
Particularly in universities/labs/research centers where this stuff was probably manufactured. It's either an "Americanized" middle eastern sleeper (professor, m.d. or student) or a left-wing terrorist with the same background - probably a peacenik/apologist
Mort was just razzing them because he knows what they're going to say. Mort isn't a liberal, he's a traditional moderate who generally takes Bush's side and is not terribly conducive to the Democratic Party's liberal wing. He's a pretty good guy who's been friends with Brit and Fred for a long time (I think they might have gone to school together).
So, earlier, after Leahy reported that he was the fourth person to have a letter sent to his office (after Daschle, Browkaw, etc.), Mort said in an OBVIOUSLY joking manner: "So I guess this confirms, the killer has got to be a Republican", and everybody on the panel started laughing (including Fred Barnes and Tony Snow- both conservatives). And, Tony looked over at Mort, and said with a broad smile on his face: "Yeah, must be, there's no Repulicans on the hit list"! You remember how to "ha ha" don't you? it's called a sense of humor, Tongue-in-cheek, Making fun, Sarcasm. It's a dying art.
For instance, here's my try at sarcasm: "Geez, you know if the Republicans really wanted to kill a Democratic senator, they could have at least aimed a little higher- like say.....Hillary Clinton!" On second thought, that would probably be aiming lower.
But, I don't think this was a terrorist here on a visa. I think our anthrax terrorist is someone who has been here a long time, and more than likely got the anthrax from an American laboratory. Leahy makes no sense as a target unless you really hate Democrats or want to make it look as if you do.
Al-Qaida isn't after subtle targets like Leahy.
. . .seems that could warrant Morton being put on warning at Fox. . .or they should just say 'good-bye'. . .
However, it is an assumption that Leahy and Daschle were first and (so far) the only targets. They could merely be the only two senators who chose to publicize their letters.
The Senate may have agreed to abide by a voluntary gag rule for investigative purposes. Some targeted recipients may not even have been told about "their" letters discovered in the quarantine drums. And letters may be yet discovered--all with the same postmark date.
We don't know that this Leahy letter was just now found. He could have been the 20th senator to have an envelope addressed to him, but only the second to yap off about it.
State looks for possible anthrax letter
Date: Tuesday, November 13 @ 22:43:31 CET
Topic: Anthrax
By ELI J. LAKE, United Press International
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) --
The State Department will check three weeks of accumulated and quarantined mail, based on a theory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that there likely is another anthrax letter lurking somewhere in the postal system, officials said Tuesday.
CDC Director Dr. Jeffrey Koplan said the additional anthrax letter theory is the "one that seems the most probable to us." A notice sent to State employees Monday said sampling results "support the theory that more than one letter like the one sent to Sen. (Tom) Daschle (D-S.D.) moved through the U.S. postal system."
"We presume that if this letter had reached its intended recipient, it would have been reported by now. A diligent search of our mail system should recover this letter if it was held up when the mail system was shut down," the notice said.
Last week the CDC found eight positive anthrax samples from three separate mail sorters at State's Sterling Va., mail processing facility --the main distribution center to the department and U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. In addition, environmental sampling confirmed anthrax was found in a mail pouch sent to the U.S. embassy in Lima, Peru.
One contract worker at the Sterling facility was hospitalized with inhalation anthrax infection but was released last Friday and is expected to fully recover after a special combination of antibiotics was able to thwart the spread of the bacteria to toxic levels in his system. Dr. Steven Ostroff, an anthrax expert with the CDC's National Center for Infectious Disease, said Tuesday, "One of the potential explanations for the inhalation anthrax case in that employee was that there was an unrecognized additional letter that went through that system." Mail delivery was halted and mail quarantined after the man became ill. An FBI team met with State Department medical personnel and Diplomatic Security officials Tuesday to discuss how to find the letter. Ostroff said State Department officials "recognize the precautions necessary" in sorting this mail but added CDC would provide consultation on how to ensure no one is exposed to anthrax spores during the process.
The good news is there continue to be no new suspected or confirmed cases of anthrax infection. The total stands at 17 confirmed -- including 10 inhalation infections and seven cases of cutaneous or skin infection. Of these, four people have died from inhalation infections. There continue to be hot spots for anthrax spores that pop up in Washington, most recently at Howard University and earlier at additional offices in the Hart Senate Office Building, where the Daschle letter was sent. Koplan said these sites are quickly cleaned up and do not present a threat to public health. There continue to be potential anthrax cases nationwide and Koplan said more than 10,000 false alarms have been reported by state and local health officials. There still is no evidence pointing to who may be responsible for sending anthrax through the mail. The CDC continues to work with the FBI on the investigation but, as the clinical crisis eases, has pulled some investigators from the main sites in New York, Washington, New Jersey and Florida, back to Atlanta headquarters. In South Florida, where the entire anthrax scare began in early October, the Environmental Protection Agency has turned the American Media Inc. building, the initial anthrax site, back to its owner. Photo editor Bob Stevens, 63, died of an anthrax infection Oct. 5. Mailroom worker Ernesto Blanco, 73, also was infected, but he is recovering.
The EPA notified American Media Chairman David Pecker there are "hot spots" of anthrax on all three floors. Pecker told employees he has asked the EPA to be more specific about the location of the anthrax. "We had requested that the EPA undertake additional testing to disclose the intensity of a 'hot' area in order to fine tune a building cleanup plan that would better fit the actual conditions of our building, but it does not appear they will assist us in this endeavor," Pecker said. Pecker said he doubted findings by the EPA that there are no anthrax spores in the building's ventilation system. The EPA decided last Friday it was not qualified to handle the cleanup, prompting the decision to return the building over to AMI control. AMI has hired a consultant to help with the task.
The dispute appeared to make it less likely the supermarket tabloid publishing company would move back into the building. Pecker has told the 300 employees once he is convinced the building is safe, he will ask them to vote on whether to move back in. He said it would take a 90 percent vote to make that move.
The building, however, remains under quarantine by the Palm Beach County Health Department.
(With additional reporting by Ellen Beck in Washington and Les Kjos in Miami)
Now I need to go do another search on that intern that left the e-mail regarding the "surprises" he had left for his former coworkers. I think he had referenced little surprises he had left hidden for them but I'll have to go look to quote him directly.
Newspaper intern questioned
One lead pointed to a student intern at AMI. Bob Nichols, an FAU spokesman, said university police had talked to the student who had left a note as a joke when he left the company. Newsweek magazine reported the FBI was interested in interviewing the student. But Nichols said the student was just "a prankster."
"To everything that we can determine, it's completely benign and innocuous," Nichols said of the student's goodbye note.
Newsweek also reported on its Web site Monday that the American Media office received a ``weird love letter to Jennifer Lopez'' a week before the Sept. 11 attacks. Inside was what was described as a ``soapy, powdery substance'' and a Star of David charm. The letter was handled by both Stevens and Blanco, according to unidentified workers cited by Newsweek.
The FBI declined comment on the letter.
Bennet Bolton, a senior reporter for The National Enquirer, told The Associated Press about a ``cryptic'' e-mail sent to the staff in late August or early September by an intern.
``It was rather neutral and then he said, 'I left you a surprise for you to remember me by. Ha ha, just kidding,''' Bolton said.
Officials at Florida Atlantic University said Tuesday that the intern was a student at the university and had no involvement in the anthrax incident.
Nichols, meanwhile, said the student was an intern from July through August, one of 12 FAU students who received $2,500 company-sponsored scholarships.
The student was interviewed by the FBI on Monday and cleared.
``He's a victim as much as anyone else in this is,'' Nichols said. ``He's shaken up that he should be getting this much attention.''
Nichols said FAU is trying to contact the dozen students who interned at the newspaper to find out when they were last in the building, and offer medical tests to any student who wants one.
"If any of them were in the affected building, or any of them want to be tested, we will take care of it here at school," Nichols said.
Suspicion initially landed on a summer intern, Jordan Arizmendi, who is of Spanish-Basque descent, from Florida Atlantic University who had left behind what senior reporter Bennet Bolton called a cryptic e-mail message.
Patrick Henry (tnink it was him) said "Freedom of speech is not your right to say what you think. Freedom of Speech is the right of someone you disagree with completely to say what he thinks!
In addition, you are on very shaky legal ground, and also endanger FR.
PS, if you don't like foreigners, where your ancestors created here?
Grow up and stop it.
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