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11/12/03
Washington Post anthrax scare
The Washington Post was hit with an anthrax scare Wednesday after lunch when a threatening letter with Pakistani postal markings was opened and a white powder poured out. The FBI, the D.C. police, and the fire department sped to the scene and stopped anybody from entering the15th Street NW plant.
But after some initial field testing, the FBI determined that the powder wasn't lethal. "It is highly unlikely that the substance is dangerous," Post spokesman Eric Grant told us. He said the envelope was discovered and opened at 1:40 in the third-floor mailroom. "It had a powdery substance" inside. Grant said the letter was threatening to the Post, but he wouldn't elaborate or reveal to whom the letter was addressed.
News of the scare swept through the Post's newsroom, where there was lots of joking about the threat. That cooled when the staff realized it might be hard to put out Thursday's paper if the afternoon and night editors weren't let in. But Grant said once the FBI lowered the concerns, staff and visitors were allowed into the building. "Our operations," he said, "were not disrupted."
11/10/03
$2 million each to protect airliners
With U.S. helicopters getting shot down by missiles in Iraq, there is renewed concern that the same thing could happen to a commercial jetliner over here. Well, defense giant Northrop Grumman has a plan, reports our Mark Mazzetti. The company wants to equip commercial airliners with lasers to detect and jam shoulder-fired missiles. According to Northrop execs, the infrared system could
automatically detect a missile launch and within two seconds shoot out a laser beam to throw the missile off course–all without the pilot lifting a finger. And the price tag? According to company estimates, it would cost $2 million per plane to equip an initial fleet of 300 jetliners with the system. Not exactly chump change, but the company says that's nothing compared with the economic devastation that would result from a shoot-down of a commercial aircraft.
View the presentation here.
11/10/03
Bush campaign staffs up
Treasury Secretary John Snow's loss is President Bush's gain. In this case: Tim Adams, Snow's able chief of staff, is moving to the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign December 1 as the top policy guy, a job that could land him a key post in the White House if Bush wins a second term. Treasury tells us that he'll be replaced by long-time department aide Christopher Smith, who moves up from counselor. "I look forward," Snow said in a release, "to a seamless transition." It's the latest major hire by the Bush-Cheney team, which is rapidly filling the top slots as it readies next year's grueling re-election bid.
Read about Adams and Smith here
Follow the Bush campaign: http://www.georgewbush.com/
11/6/03
Hoffa's Reagan card
When Teamsters President James P. Hoffa broke labor ranks and backed Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, he did so not just because Gephardt comes from blue-collar roots and is Big Labor's biggest pal in Congress. Insiders reveal that Hoffa privately told Geppy that the clincher was because nearly half of his members are registered Republicans who before switching were called "Reagan Democrats," and that most of them like Gephardt. "You can get them," he told the Democrat.
Check out the endorsement:
http://www.teamster.org/03news/nr%5F030808%5F1.htm
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