anthrax - friend of 2 killed at National Enquirer points to Jenn Lopez letter
J
"poetic license" in it.
The "trail" doesn't gibe with the reports.
AMI wasn't the first target.
All data indicates the letter was not sent before 9/11.
His perhaps intentional misunderstanding of the analytical results as it
applies to Iraqi bio-weapons.
AMI was given considerable help from the government.
Concerning his sympathy for the plight of AMI, one would think that they get
threatening letters daily both with and without noticeable powder. And,
considering the controversial nature of their business, one would think that
they would have been smart enough to have themselves insured.
See:
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/anthraxamibuilding.html
Maurice <maurice...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6a377a24.02060...@posting.google.com...
> A longtime friend of the two killed at AMI headquarters in Florida
> suggests
> that the letter transmitting the anthrax was a letter (a supposed love
> letter) with a Star of David enclosed and a soapy substance in it. As
> I remember the story Bob Stevens may have been the last to handle it
> and he put his face down in it to take a closer look before tossing it
> out.
>
> The article is noteworthy because it says that the anthrax spores were
> found along the trail followed by the letter.
>
> I don't believe the FBI has responded publicly to the suggestion that
> it was the Jennifer Lopez letter that had transmitted the anthrax
> (other than to say that whatever letter transmitted the anthrax had
> been thrown out).
>
> The author is very critical of the FBI's profile and recommends David
> Tell's analysis in the Weekly Standard (which also appeared in the New
> York Post).
>
>
> http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/6/4/231130.shtml
Maurice
"The "trail" doesn't gibe with the reports."
Can you elaborate? This would seem to be the contribution of the
piece, if any. My thought was that perhaps the trail would be the
same for any letter that ended with Mr. Stevens. As reported last
Fall, I don't recall whether he took the JLo letter into his office.
Was anthrax found in Mr. Stevens' office? I think the report said he
put it on his keyboard (and the suggestion was that his keyboard
tested positive).
The only place I've seen the JLo story is the AMI's National Enquirer
itself.
"AMI wasn't the first target."
What was the "first" target? It would seem that the first targets
were all those receiving the letters sent on September 18.
"All data indicates the letter was not sent before 9/11."
Does he say that as to the JLo ltter? I hadn't noticed.
It looks like I'll have to go back and look at it. Maybe Ed could
find the National Enquirer description of the JLo letter, which might
have a fuller description of the path it took.
Bigger picture, I don't see why a JLo anthrax letter would point in
any way to Iraq. For that matter, it would point more to a domestic
right-wing wacko as much as it would point to Al Qaeda.
Ed Lake
> A longtime friend of the two killed at AMI headquarters in Florida
> suggests
> that the letter transmitting the anthrax was a letter (a supposed love
> letter) with a Star of David enclosed and a soapy substance in it. As
> I remember the story Bob Stevens may have been the last to handle it
> and he put his face down in it to take a closer look before tossing it
> out.
>
> The article is noteworthy because it says that the anthrax spores were
> found along the trail followed by the letter.
>
> I don't believe the FBI has responded publicly to the suggestion that
> it was the Jennifer Lopez letter that had transmitted the anthrax
> (other than to say that whatever letter transmitted the anthrax had
> been thrown out).
>
> The author is very critical of the FBI's profile and recommends David
> Tell's analysis in the Weekly Standard (which also appeared in the New
> York Post).
>
> http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/6/4/231130.shtml
Maurice,
The problem is: The Jennifer Lopez letter was thrown out. And the real
anthrax letter was also thrown out. Since neither letter exists, the FBI
cannot analyze anything with certainty. So, people can speculate forever
on which letter contained the anthrax.
But there's really no evidence to indicate that the Jennifer Lopez letter
was anything more than a typical junk letter that AMI gets every day. It
was just more memorable. It also reportedly contained a cigar. And, most
important, it was reported in the media very early in the case. That
caused it to stick in people's memories.
The anthrax in the real letter was of the same strain as the anthrax in
the other media letters, so the best assumption is that the letter looked
very similar to the letters sent to Tom Brokaw and The New York Post.
Salwar Kameez
the Enquirer building, of course. Where does anthrax come from? From
bullshit! And who shovels more bullshit every week than the Enquirer?
Maurice
For which organizations were letters not recovered?
If the letters contained warnings that reasonably avoided harm, why
were they not kept? For example, if a letter contained a substance
and said "Death to Israel. Death to America." And advised "Take
penacilin". Wouldn't the reader keep it if it also contained a dog
chow type substance?
On the other hand, if it contained a cigar and an open package of
soap, wouldn't you likely throw it away? So doesn't the fact that
Stevens threw it away suggest that it did not say "Death to... etc."
and "Take penacilin" .... or else he would have mentioned it to
someone and maybe even
reported it to authorities.
Maurice
by normal waste disposal procedures before anyone was aware that they
had contained anthrax or would be.
If they had the same message, Ed, "Death to Israel. Death to
America." "Take penacilin". And had any sort of powder or substance
in them...
Why weren't they kept? Is the reason that there was no warning?
Whereas to get the message out, there needed to be warning with
others?
J
The anthrax was found in a typical "fallout" pattern with the concentration
being highest near the source (mailroom) and becoming weaker as the distance
from the source increased. There was less anthrax on Steven's third floor
than on the second.
Brennan is a wordsmith and certainly knows how to use an article. "A" means
one of many - "She caught a man." "The" means one of one - "She caught the
man."
AMI wasn't THE first target. AMI was A target in the first volley.
Maurice <maurice...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6a377a24.02060...@posting.google.com...
Maurice
> "All data indicates the letter was not sent before 9/11."
You have may hit on an important point. The JLo letter is said to
have arrived approximately a week before 9/11. With respect to the
(mediocre) quality product sent on the first batch of letters, does
that weigh against it being the JLo letter.
What was the date that Mr. Stevens first came down with symptoms?
Do you find it implausible that no one would have gotten sicker
earlier?
Let's assume hypothetically that itthe Jlo letter sent a week before
9/11 was in fact the letter transmitting anthrax.
Do you think it would have been sent from Trenton?
If they were to credit the JLo letter, they might perhaps give a
preference
to someone travelling to central New Jersey the week prior to 9/11.
Hm... but the perp doesn't know they won't find/keep that letter.
That would mean mailing from Trenton 3 times. Which just seems over
the top in terms of recklessness.
Ed Lake
Maurice,
Isn't hindsight wonderful!? How clear everything seems now!
Apparently you don't realize how much mail news organizations get and
how common it is for news organizations to receive threats and screwball
letters. Unless they are directed toward specific individuals in their
organizations, they apparently routinely throw them away - because they
get such letters nearly every day, and anonymous letters can't be easily
tracked back to the source. And there was a virtual flood of hoax
letters being sent shortly after 9-11.
In addition to AMI throwing away their anthrax letter, apparently ABC
and CBS also threw away their anthrax letters. A child at ABC got
anthrax and an assistant to Dan Rather got anthrax. There's no other
logical reason why they would have gotten anthrax at the same time as
Brokaw's assistant and the woman at The New York Post unless anthrax
letters were also sent to Peter Jennings at ABC and Dan Rather at CBS.
Because the letter sent to The New York Post wasn't addressed to a
specific editor it was tossed UNOPENED into a dead letter bin which
would probably have eventually ended up getting tossed into an
incinerator. After it was learned that people at news organizations
were coming down with anthrax, they were the first to locate the actual
letter - WEEKS AFTER RECEIVING IT. Apparently Brokaw's letter was also
tossed out, but they were able to dig it out of the trash.
NO ONE called the police because they recieved a threatening letter.
Anonymous threatening letters are just a routine part of the news
business - and these weren't specific threats against specific media
people, they were general rantings. That's why 3 of the 5 anthrax
letters were simply tossed out. And that's probably why the anthrax
mailer didn't bother with the media on his second mailing. Sending
letters to the media proved to be a total waste of anthrax.
Ed Lake
Maurice,
The reason they were tossed out was because they were not specific threats
against specific people at their organizations. They were general
rantings; "Death to Israel", etc. And there were no return addresses.
They couldn't easily be traced.
You are looking at things from the perspective of 8 months after the
incidents. It's so clear now that all the letters should have been
saved. But at the time no one knew that anyone else had received a
letter. Each news organization thought that their letter was just a
routine rant, and they did what they normally do with routine rants - they
either tossed it out or tossed it into a junk mail bin.
You forget that the letters were mailed on September 18 and probably
received on September 20 or 21. No one realized that anthrax was being
sent through the mails until OCTOBER 14, almost a month later. Before
Oct. 14, people did what they always did with such letters - they tossed
them out.
The Post Office says it investigated more than 80 hoax anthrax letters per
year prior to 9-11. Prior to Oct. 14, such things were nearly always
assumed to be hoaxes.
Ed
http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/
Maurice
> against specific people at their organizations. They were general
> rantings; "Death to Israel", etc. And there were no return addresses.
> They couldn't easily be traced.
You say it couldn't be Al Qaeda because of a warning, but you say that
no one at the two networks or National Enquirer would take the threats
seriously. Or mention to anyone the warning and advice to "Take
penacilin". Even though it was thought radical islamists had just
committed a momentous terrorist act. And cropduster stories were in
the press. Indeed, I bought my Cipro on 9/20, the day or so the
letters were arriving.
If a letter with a substance (and murderous threats) and the advice
"Take penacilin", it would be reported to someone -- at the least a
colleague. But actually, realistically, the authorities would be
called. The week after 9/11 people were on pins and needs and any
"death to Israel" letter with the phrase "Take penacilin" would have
prompted alarm and mention to others. Therefore, the only reasonable
deduction is that the standard letter was not received.
Here, the Jlo letter is the only letter known to have contained a
substance or powder. It arrived the week before. Just as the child
at the network didn't get sick until the end of the month -- over 10
days after it arrived, there was a similar delay in Mr. Stevens
getting sick.
If the Jlo letter was the letter, then it must have been sent by
someone with foreknowledge of 9/11. Alternatively, if it was not the
letter, there must have been some other means of delivery other than
the dire warning you say Al Qaeda would never have sent.
Maurice
I was interrupted in my last reply and I suspect it will be
repetitious of the early post and maybe not make sense.
But the thing that sticks with me is this: people talk about their
day to their loved ones and colleagues -- they tell people about their
day, whether at the water cooler or the dinner table. The person who
received such a letter, whether secretary, intern or senior editor,
would tell someone about it, even just to say: another nut sent some
powder and said "Take penacilin". Can you believe the idiots who
write us?
But I think I may be misremembering certain basic facts. Wasn't
one network's letter in fact found never to have been opened? Perhaps
you could refer to your useful page and refresh my recollection as to
the details. Was it then thrown out without ever having been opened?
but sickened the woman who handled it.
This could explain why they have neither the letter nor a
recollection of its contents. But I don't remember the details.
Ed Lake
Maurice,
You're still hung up on seeing things from your point of view instead of
from the point of view of the people at the media organizations. Such
thing might be alarming to you, but getting nasty stuff in the mail is
apparently a routine part of their jobs. If someone at ABC or CBS or AMI
mentioned it to someone, it was still just a routine part of the job and
still got tossed away. The letter to Tom Brokaw also got tossed into some
kind of trash, but the trash was never disposed of and the police were
able to find the letter (a cop got contaminated with anthrax in the
process, he carried the letter to a lab and contaminated two lab
technicians there (plus he may have contaminated Kathy Nguyen along the
way)).
The letter to the New York Post was tossed into a holding bin by Joanne
Huden because it wasn't addressed to a specific editor. I don't know
exactly what the procedure is at the Post for letters in the holding bin,
but letters probably sit there until someone gets the time to look through
them or until the bin overflows and they just toss everything out.
When it was learned on October 19 that Joanna Huden had contracted
anthrax, other Post employees looked through the bin and found the
letter. Apparently two of those Post employees people got anthrax from
handing the letter at that time. They were diagnosed with it a few days
later. Check my page on Kathy Nguyen for details.
Ed Lake
> > The reason they were tossed out was because they were not specific threats
> > against specific people at their organizations. They were general
> > rantings; "Death to Israel", etc. And there were no return addresses.
> > They couldn't easily be traced.
>
> You say it couldn't be Al Qaeda because of a warning, but you say that
> no one at the two networks or National Enquirer would take the threats
> seriously. Or mention to anyone the warning and advice to "Take
> penacilin". Even though it was thought radical islamists had just
> committed a momentous terrorist act. And cropduster stories were in
> the press. Indeed, I bought my Cipro on 9/20, the day or so the
> letters were arriving.
Maurice,
It's my understanding that the 9-11 attacks initiated hundreds of hoax anthrax
mailings by nitwits around the country. And a month later when it was
discovered that someone had actually sent anthrax through the mail, and it was
reported in the media, THOUSANDS more hoax anthrax letters were sent by more
nitwits.
The letters to the media did NOT mention anthrax. They were just rantings about
"Death to America" yada yada yada. The letters were apparently seen as typical
crap and tossed. What more can I say? You feel they shouldn't have been
tossed. Okay. But they were. Live with it. Do you think it was a conspiracy
of Muslim mail room clerks to hide an attack by al Qaeda? Does that make any
sense at all?
Clerks do things by rote. They don't think much about them until the get scared
out of their wits by something striking close to home.
Ed
http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/