bio-hazards that weren't?

[radfringe]

kind of ironic?

the big story this week is the UAE port deal and concern for security

meanwhile - we had an anthrax case - that according to news reports was "naturally occuring exposure"

and a Ricin scare that wasn't ricin

QUESTION: although the anthrax/ricin were not related to "terra" - does it make you more or less concerned for security? or no difference?

[magellan]

1. No difference

I don't let terra rule my life in any shape, form or fashion. Any of us stands a much better chance of being killed in a car crash within 5 miles of home.

I only wish more Americans would grasp that perspective and stop letting BushCo manipulate them.

[neoblues]

2. That's it exactly, somehow we need to increase American's

ability to engage in critical thinking. Grow up, show a little courage, think things through and seek perspective. Alas, the 1/3 to 1/2 of the electorate that qualifies itself as Republican/Conservative are people who either pride themselves on believing things for which no evidence can be found (and thinks lowly of science and 'rational' thinking), or are people who tend to be more subject to being fearful and suffering with emotional thinking. Precious little hope for actually educating these people--especially hard once they've reached adulthood (as thinking styles are developed at younger ages); alas, this group also endoctrinates their own 'young' with their own beliefs and thinking styles (and so the stupidity is immortalized/passed on to the next generation). Public schools with sound curriculums are our only hope--hence we have 'no child left behind' which will ensure failure of many public schools--opening the opportunity to privatize them (and so further control and limit what education the children will be exposed to). Arghhh, the malignent stupidity is self-replicating and has a life of it's own.

[BiggJawn]

8. Don't look to the Schools.

http://www.local6.com/news/7452663/detail.html
2 guys expelled for bringing a pickup truck of snow down from the moubntain and having everyone join in for a snowball fight. Snowballs violate the "Zero Tolerance" rule for WEAPONS...

And there's DU'ers in another thread DEFENDING such insanity.

Teach the kids "THE TEST" that their state legislaters say they need to pass in order to prove they're fit to die in Iraq or stock shelves at WalMart and precious little else.

[Peter Frank]

3. If it sounds staged...

...it most likely is.

[izzie]

4. Was the ricin soap?

the country is nuts.

[PassingThrough]

6. Yes it was. :)

[radfringe]

12. Ricin SOAP????

oh my gawd - the terrorists are booby-trapping Irish Spring with RICIN!!!!

quick get out the duct tape and plastic sheeting... EMERGENCY -- 9/11 changed everything....

sorry--I was just practicing my panic attack

[BuyingThyme]

5. They know how to handle this stuff now.

I heard on the news that they knew it wasn't ricin because "nobody got sick."

Foolproof.

[PassingThrough]

7. No, they sent it to a real lab to have it tested. Field test kits are

obviously worthless.

[radfringe]

10. it wasn't ricin because "nobody got sick."

reminds me of a conversation between my father and my grandmother (on mother's side). My dad's side of the family is from Germany, my mom's is from Italy.

we were sitting around the table at my grandmother's house and the subject of mushrooming came up

my dad turns to my grandmother and says "Ma, when you were a little girl in Italy, did you pick mushrooms?"

Grandmother: yes, we often went for mushrooms

Dad: how did you tell the good mushrooms from the bad ones?
( My dad was expecting some little folksy test to tell the good from the bad, like dip it in milk and if it turns green then it's not a good one... )

Grandmother: How did we tell the good ones from the bad ones?

Dad: yeah, so you know which ones were safe to eat

Grandmother: (shrugs and says matter of factly) we fed them to the cat

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

on edit: before I get blasted for cruelty to animals - what she meant was that the cats were believed to be able to tell the difference - if they didn't eat or lick the mushtoom it was a bad one. If they tried to eat/lick one then it was ok. NO CATS DIED FROM THIS TECHINQUE

[BuyingThyme]

13. Thanks for the clarification.

:rofl:

[SheilaT]

9. Where to begin?

People worry about all the wrong things. A couple of days ago I got a "Do Not Delete" email warning me of the dangers of an extremely rare form of breast cancer. I should have done a "reply all", but simply replied to the friend who sent it, that more women die of heart disease than of breast cancer, and I won't waste a lot of personal energy worrying about this particular form of b.c.

The dangers of bio terrorism have been over-hyped for years, thanks in no small part to various novels and movies which present as easy the creation and distribution of deadly biological agents.

Meanwhile, too many people continue to smoke, to drink and then drive, to eat too much, not wear their seat belts.

As last year so well proved, we're at far more risk from natural disasters, such as hurricanes, than from terrorists of any kind. We're at greater risk from our own poor lifestyle choices than from terrorists.

I worry a whole lot more about how our government has devastated our economy and run up the national debt in a way that will probably take a generation or more to pay off than I do about anthrax or ricin or bird flu or any other danger du jour.

[triguy46]

11. Nope.

Anthrax happens, and in this case, importing animal hides from Africa to make drums was the risk factor.

Keep focus, do not fall for the 'terra' hysteria. The question seems mistated, anthrax/ricin are explicitly terra related.