FEDS FEAR KILLER DELIVERED SPORES

New York Post ^ | 11/23/01 | MURRAY WEISS

[kattracks]

November 23, 2001 -- The twin mysteries of how two women - one a hard-working Manhattan hospital clerk, the other a frail Connecticut retiree - contracted inhalation anthrax have raised the specter of the saboteur delivering the lethal doses in person, instead of by mail.

[kattracks]

"It's hard to see the link," one source conceded...

Impossible is more like it.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I guess it's too late to sell my shares of stock in that direct mail scratch and sniff company.

[Myrddin]

I think they are totally grasping at straws. Throwing lots of cr*p at the wall to see if something sticks. Neither of these women were "high value" targets in the same sense as nailing a significant government official. Where is the terror element in taking out two women? What is the background level of "pneumonia" deaths that were actually undiagnosed inhalation anthrax. We are hypersensitive about checking every case of "flu" or "pneumonia" for potential anthrax involvement. Perhaps we are simply detecting cases that slipped past before the explicit anthrax attacks. I think it is significant that the DNA comparison of the anthrax in the 94 year old woman was a match for the stuff used in the explicit attacks. The motive is what is missing.

[vince_foster]

I can just picture some cartoon character bad guy twirling his handlebar moustache...

First, I'll attack the Senate and the media.

Then, in my sinister phase 2, it's grandmas in Connecticut.

Muhahahah
Not trying to make light of any deaths, but come on.

[Ann Archy]

I think you are correct. Anthrax occurs naturally around us an possibly was just taken for pneumonia.

[BADJOE]

If I was looking for a motive, I'd see who inherits her estate and what they do for a living..

[Miss Marple]

This is what my husband said. He pointed out that a farm in Connecticut is worth lots of money.

The other thing I would check are those service professions which routinely visit the elderly...Meals on Wheels, social workers, home health aides, etc.

I also am wondering about the possibility that anthrax has been responsible for many fatal cases of pneumonia in the elderly but no one thought to test for it.

Perhaps someone in the medical field could inform us more about this. And a question that I have is for fatalities in hospitals, are samples of tissue and blood kept for any period of time? Could we go back and check past deaths to see if anthrax was involved in any of those?

[Lessismore]

According to CDC statistics, in 1998 there were over 90,000 deaths from pneumonia. Rate per 100,000 individuals rises steeply with age.

[SmartBlonde]

I think there are MANY strange things about this anthrax business.

1. If the Daschle anthrax was so potent and the sample so large, then why aren't Daschle staffers sick? To my knowledge, none developed skin or inhalation anthrax. The nasal swabs tested positive for 29 or so, but that's the last we heard.

2. If the Daschle and Leahy envelopes were sealed with tape to prevent the 'powder' from spilling, then it seems very strange to me that enough powder could have leaked onto the mail machines to make those workers so sick.

3. The one mail worker worked on the docks unloading mail - so we are to believe the powder came out of the envelope, into the bag (closed) and into the AIR on the dock and then inhaled in large enough quantity to kill someone?

4. Why is there no evidence of mail CARRIERS developing anthrax? They, after all, handle the mail twice. Getting it out of the box, and unloading it into the post office.

5. The lady in CT appears to have no family but then niece. Since the niece is her heir and will inherit soon anyway (the doctor said the old lady's health was rapidly failing), I can't see that she would be stupid enough to draw attention to herself in this way. Additionally, how did she get anthrax to do the deed? If it is available on the farm, she would have to know where to get it, how much to get, how to get her aunt to inhale it, and then hope that the health officials would miss the fact that her anthrax was different from the D.C. anthrax. That seems to be a stretch.

6. Why did the letter writers go to all the trouble to look up the zip codes of Daschle, Brokaw, the Post, etc, and then make a mistake with Leahy's zip code, causing that piece of mail to be re-routed to the State Department?

7. I wonder if the FBI is checking on sales of Cipro BEFORE September 11? Of course, it's possible they brought Cipro with them to the US, but still, I haven't heard anyone address this issue.

8. Why attack the Enquirer in FL first? Of all the targets available, why choose a relatively benign little tabloid? Why not People magazine?

9. If it is right-wing 'terrists', then why target the Enquirer? I could probably understand Daschle, but Leahy is a stretch. Only real news junkies would know the significance of Leahy and the Judicial Committee.

Many other thoughts, but will save them for later.

[Miss Marple]

Buck, thank you for that information. That answers a question I posed above. We now can assume that there have not been overlooked deaths from anthrax in the past.

SmartBlonde, I concur on all those questions you have. I also note that the Enquirer was located fairly close to where some of the hijackers lived.

The targeting of democrats and media people by Islamic terrorists could be explained by a couple of theories:

1.) The terrorists pulled names from a source that gave heavy quoting to liberals.

2.) The terrorists are attempting to target dems and create a divide in the nation.

Other viable theories, besides Islamic terrorists and right-wing nuts, includes dems doing this knowing they would be targets and preparing accordingly, left-wing nuts who want to create the impression that the right wing is evil, and, on another thread, scientists who want the bio-terrorism treaty signed, which President Bush does not want to do.

There are plenty of motives to go around. I do think, however, that not all questions have been answered, or even investigated yet.

[teresat]

She did not live on a farm. The media keeps saying "rural farm area" but her lot probably is not bigger than a half an acre. The media is used to being in the big city and are making all of us here in Connecticut seem like a bunch of rural hicks.

[teresat]

She does not live on a farm. Just because the media sees a couple trees they describe it as "rural". I doubt that Ottilie? had that much money left over at 94yrs old when she would have been supporting herself since her husband died 20yrs ago. The relative should be respected/admired for having taken care of her elderly aunt by visiting daily and taking her out to beauty parlour/church, not many people would show such a kindness in these days to an elderly relative.

[Miss Marple]

Thank you! I should KNOW that we need to get additional information, since the media is incompetent and duplicitous!

OK, so BadJoe and Mr. Marple's theory can be ruled out...no financial motive for this.

NOW, I want to know who visited her!! I think there is a good case to be made that there is someone who is targetting people like this poor elderly lady, not because they are important, but because it ties up law enforcement and makes people nervous.

[Pharmboy]

And something else to keep in mind: biological individuality. If any number of people get exposed to various toxins or infectious agents they do not react the same way. In other words, a small accidental exposure to anthrax by a 94 y/o may mean fatal disease, but no clinical symptoms to a younger healthy person. Both of these folks were older women. Just a thought.

[teresat]

Since the preliminary tests from her home and post office have turned up negative(so far) she would have to inhaled it when she was out. The only problem is if she was exposed when she was out of her home wouldn't she have had any on her clothing or shoes that she would have brought back in her house(even small amounts) that would have shown up on the testing from her home? This case gets stranger and stranger...

[Slyfox]

Could someone have just picked her at random and passed by her as she was
leaving the hairdresser's and sprayed something that she walked into?

[samtheman]

Kill Sadam Hussein. Establish a new government in Iraq.

(It can't hurt!)

[Doctor Stochastic]

That's the real question. How does someone inhale anthrax without a sample getting on the clothing? The KGB has pointed out that it's easy to commit a murder, but much harder to commit a natural death. (Perhaps the KGB was trying to find out how to infect someone with the invariable fatal, natural causes.)

[Fred25]

How could these two ladies inhale the anthrax, but without getting any of the spores on their clothes or around their houses? Could anthrax be put in certain medicine inhalers, maybe in non-prescription inhalers?

The Tylenol killer bought the Tylenol, loaded it with poison at home, and then returned the package to the store.