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Ricin Found in Mail Addressed to the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the Chief of Naval Operations

posted by martyb on Wednesday October 03 2018, @01:43AM   
from the return-to-sender dept.

takyon writes:

Ricin detected in mail sent to Pentagon

Two pieces of mail delivered to the Pentagon mail facility on Monday have initially tested positive for ricin, according to a US defense official.

The two suspicious envelopes were addressed to Secretary of Defense James Mattis and to Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson, the official told CNN.

The mail facility is in a separate building on the grounds of the Pentagon and the piece of mail which tested positive never entered the Pentagon building.

All US Postal Service mail received at the Pentagon mail screening facility on Monday is currently under quarantine and poses no threat to Pentagon personnel, according to Pentagon spokesperson Col. Rob Manning.

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Original Submission

• Re:Trump got one too. The left is weak but violent Re:Trump got one too. The left is weak but violent (Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday October 03 2018, @05:48PM (1 child)

  by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday October 03 2018, @05:48PM (#743513) Journal

  Attackers in US Terror Incidents in 2017 [qz.com]

  Right Leaning: 37 Attacks
  Left Leaning: 11 Attacks
  Islamic Extremists: 7 Attacks
  Unknown: 10 Attacks

  The Right is the most violent, by far.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+1
  Interesting=1, Total=1
  Extra 'Interesting' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		3

• Re:Trump got one too. The left is weak but violent (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday October 04 2018, @02:17PM

  by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday October 04 2018, @02:17PM (#744083) Journal

  We were talking about targeted attacks vs. random attacks, and whether Left or Right were more prone to either.

  Thanks for the link to the data. I didn't read every incident report from 2017 in the list, but I did a couple dozen. If we're gonna base our aggregate data on those, as you have, then we would honestly have to scrub those classifications with a lot more rigor than the compilers of that list did. Most of it is extremely flimsy.

  For example, Global Terrorism Database ID 201707130061:

  INCIDENT SUMMARY:
  07/13/2017: Assailants set fire to a portable toilet at a Sunoco pipeline construction site in Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, United States. There were no reported casualties in the attack. No group claimed responsibility for the incident; however, sources suspected the involvement of environmental extremists in the attack.

  So, they asked the pipeline company workers who they thought did it, and they said, "Uhhh, probably one of them eco-nuts." GTD dutifully writes down: "Environmentalists (suspected)."

  GTD ID 201706260019:

  INCIDENT SUMMARY:
  06/26/2017: An assailant set fire to a bus decorated with Jewish iconography in East Flatbush area, New York City, New York, United States. There were no reported casualties. No group claimed responsibility for the incident; however, police officials were investigating the incident as an anti-Semitic attack.

  So, it couldn't have been a Muslim doing it. Couldn't have been a disgruntled Black teenager doing it. Couldn't have been a bored Hispanic teenager doing it. Couldn't have been your average New Yorker pissed that the bus had been hogging four parking spots in a row for months doing it. Nope. Had to be anti-Semitic right wingers doing it. Because reasons.

  Then there's this one, GTD ID 201710220035:

  INCIDENT SUMMARY:
  "10/22/2017: An assailant breached a secure area of an Amtrak passenger train, travelling from California to Missouri and triggered an emergency stop in Oxford, Nebraska, United States. There were no reported casualties, and the assailant, identified as Taylor Michael Wilson, was detained by Amtrak personnel. No group claimed responsibility for the incident; however, authorities stated that Wilson possessed neo-Nazi literature and had previously expressed an interest in "killing black people."

  GTD classified that one as "white extremists." Really? Triggering an emergency stop on a train constitutes a "white extremist" attack? What if the guy had no such affiliations but was a strict vegan? Would GTD then classify the attack as "vegan terrorism" because they want to alert the public to the growing danger of vegan terrorism?

  Or maybe these GTD guys are over-classifying everything as terrorism to justify their existence and hold onto their jobs?

  Lies, damn lies, and statistics. It's a saying for a reason.

  --
  Washington DC delenda est.

  Parent