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Voodoo powder blights Miami courts
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_847912.html ^ | Story filed: 17:03 Wednesday 17th December 2003
Posted on 12/17/2003 12:36:21 PM PST by Van der Waals
Prosecutors in a trial in Miami complain that their seats and evidence boxes are being covered with voodoo powder.
US District Judge Patricia Seitz has been shown a large quantity of the greyish dust which was dumped in what's believed
to be a Santeria ritual.
Santeria experts say voodoo powder can bring good luck, swaying juries, judges or prosecutors in favour of the accused.
The powder was left in evidence boxes next to the prosecution table in the courtroom which is trying defence attorney J.C.
Elso on money-laundering charges.
Veteran Assistant US Attorney Richard Gregorie said he respects all religions but is tired of getting his suit coats cleaned
of powder residue, says the Miami Herald.
A team of cleaners, known as the Voodoo Squad, regularly remove sacrificial chickens, roosters and goats from the grounds
of the courthouse.
TOPICS: Anthrax Scare;
Culture/Society;
Miscellaneous;
News/Current Events;
War on TerrorKEYWORDS: ANRHRAX;
ANTHRAX;
HOAX;
POWDER;
VOODOO;
WHITEPOWDER
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If it's not one powder, it's another.
To: Van der Waals
I, for one, embrace the beauty of multiculturalism.
2 posted on
12/17/2003 12:38:06 PM PST by
riri
To: Van der Waals; dighton; martin_fierro
Now go do... that VOODOO... that you do... so well!
3 posted on
12/17/2003 12:38:48 PM PST by
Constitution Day (Iraqi blogger to President Bush: "The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones.")
To: Constitution Day
ROFLOL! That's the image that always comes to mind for me whenever I hear that old line.
4 posted on
12/17/2003 12:42:13 PM PST by
martin_fierro (Holder of an M.A. degree in The Obvious)
To: Van der Waals
5 posted on
12/17/2003 12:43:10 PM PST by
martin_fierro (Holder of an M.A. degree in The Obvious)
To: martin_fierro; Constitution Day
It's scary that I think like you two.
6 posted on
12/17/2003 12:44:24 PM PST by
Tijeras_Slim (Saddam looked like he could use a "Baath Party".)
To: Van der Waals
7 posted on
12/17/2003 12:44:32 PM PST by
PaxMacian
To: Van der Waals
I've been to St. Louis Cemetery #1 in New Orleans. Ernest Morial (the first black mayor of New Orleans) is in
his family's tomb right next to the one where the voodoo queen Marie Laveau is supposed to be. People make brick-dust crosses
on the Laveau tomb to ask for favors, and there are some on the Morial tomb as well. I'm not sure if it's because they get
the two tombs mixed up, or if it's because they're trying to do business with the city and they're trying to get Dutch to
put in a good word for them.
8 posted on
12/17/2003 12:44:50 PM PST by
RichInOC (...somebody had to say it...why not me?)
To: Constitution Day
One of the best. Movies. Ever.
9 posted on
12/17/2003 12:46:27 PM PST by
RichInOC (...'scuse me while I whip this out.)
To: Tijeras_Slim; Constitution Day
It's scary that I think like you two.
I was just thinking that. >> sHuDdEr <<
10 posted on
12/17/2003 12:46:42 PM PST by
martin_fierro (Holder of an M.A. degree in The Obvious)
To: PaxMacian
Correct. And the courts should call them on it and charge the voodooers with unlawful intimidation/tampering
of/with witnesses and jurors; then unlawful disposal of noxious substances.
11 posted on
12/17/2003 12:47:42 PM PST by
dasboot
To: Tijeras_Slim; martin_fierro
It's scary that I think like you two.
If your minds work anything like mine, you should worry.
Be afraid. Be VERY afraid. ;^)
12 posted on
12/17/2003 12:50:45 PM PST by
Constitution Day (Iraqi blogger to President Bush: "The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones.")
To: RichInOC
Got it on DVD, my friend.
13 posted on
12/17/2003 12:51:37 PM PST by
Constitution Day (Iraqi blogger to President Bush: "The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones.")
To: Xenalyte; Allegra; Flyer; Bacon Man
Dis be dat outrageous voodoo powder, mon!
To: Van der Waals
Aatually, the situation is much worse than this. MSNBC had a segment on it last night. Miami has a special squad
that removes this stuff, which is used to influence juries. They also have to remove chickens and goats. I assumed that he
meant parts, but he just said the animals. Then they followed up with a segment on the revival of voodoo. This is incredibly
scary stuff and is alarmingly on the rise.
15 posted on
12/17/2003 1:01:17 PM PST by
twigs
To: Constitution Day
To: Van der Waals; dighton; Poohbah; hellinahandcart; general_re; BlueLancer; L,TOWM
Van der Waals:
That's a very interesting site that the photo on your FR homepage is stored at.
Is this your work?
Please advise.
Regards,
Constitution Day
17 posted on
12/17/2003 1:30:17 PM PST by
Constitution Day (Iraqi blogger to President Bush: "The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones.")
To: Constitution Day
18 posted on
12/17/2003 1:48:07 PM PST by
JoJo Gunn (Help control the Leftist population - have them spayed or neutered. ©)
To: JoJo Gunn
Heh heh. Thanks! *wink*
19 posted on
12/17/2003 1:51:02 PM PST by
Constitution Day (Iraqi blogger to President Bush: "The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones.")
To: Constitution Day
Nope. Just Googled up the image, sitelessly.
To: Constitution Day
"Bush declares America and himself trifecta winners"!
…."As I begin to create this webpage on the morning after the 2000 United States Presidential election (November
8th, 2000), the outcome is still is too close to call. Whether George W. Bush or his Democratic rival, Al Gore, becomes President,
depends on a recount of the votes in Florida, where Bush is currently ahead by less than 2,000 votes out of over 5,800,000
votes cast. (Florida's official certification, on November 26th, reduced Bush's lead to 537 votes....)
If the election goes to Gore, I will delete this page from my website. If George W. Bush becomes the 43rd President of
the United States, I will collect here examples of his in your face petulant stupidity and ignorance -- for which he seems
to expect to be universally esteemed and rewarded…."
Hmmmmm.... A rat in our midst? 
Michael miserable failureMoore
21 posted on
12/17/2003 2:01:24 PM PST by
JoJo Gunn (Help control the Leftist population - have them spayed or neutered. ©)
To: Van der Waals
Well, you most certainly linked to a site of dubious distinction.
If that's not your site, I of course owe you an apology.
Michael miserable failureMoore
22 posted on
12/17/2003 2:10:55 PM PST by
JoJo Gunn (Help control the Leftist population - have them spayed or neutered. ©)
To: Van der Waals; JoJo Gunn
Nope. Just Googled up the image, sitelessly.
Ok, thanks for the clarification.
The woodcut(?) is cool, so I thought I'd look further to see from whence it came.
Then I found... a rambling leftist, bloviating for pages and pages!
23 posted on
12/17/2003 2:12:00 PM PST by
Constitution Day (Iraqi blogger to President Bush: "The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones.")
To: JoJo Gunn
Don't think so.
To: Van der Waals
Thanks. You had me worried for a minute.
25 posted on
12/17/2003 2:15:51 PM PST by
Constitution Day (Iraqi blogger to President Bush: "The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones.")
To: Constitution Day
To: Van der Waals
You're welcome, and if you like the photo, you can always upload it to Imagestation or some such site to post
on your page.
Since the source is given as "Sebastian Brant's Ship of Fools, 1494", I would imagine the copyright has... expired. ;)
Take care.
CD
27 posted on
12/17/2003 2:25:59 PM PST by
Constitution Day (Iraqi blogger to President Bush: "The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones.")
To: Van der Waals
28 posted on
12/17/2003 2:30:54 PM PST by
JoJo Gunn (Help control the Leftist population - have them spayed or neutered. ©)
To: JoJo Gunn
HOLY MOLY! I unwittingly slipped into the trench of the enemy (red-faced).
To: Van der Waals
You're lucky they haven't switched the picture on you.
That happened to me once. I posted a pic of Joe
Scarborough here once, without looking at the link too closely, and the next day the webmaster had his revenge on me. He changed
the picture to Bush superimposed over a swastika.
Which was now posted under my name, at FreeRepublic. LOL. I had
to hit Abuse on myself to get rid of it.
To: Van der Waals; JoJo Gunn; Allan
This is silly. Are people going to be ostracized now for posting an image of a 15th-century woodcut, if the
source webpage is by a scholar who happens to be a liberal (and who voices his political opinions on another minor part of
his website)?
For your enjoyment, here's another woodcut from the Ship of Fools, with McCormick's accompanying quote:
![[ Enlarge Moralist fool! ]](http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/jpg/Moralist-small.jpg) |
| The Moralist |
| Mistakes knowing about a thing for being responsible for it.... |
31 posted on
12/17/2003 8:49:07 PM PST by
Mitchell
To: Mitchell
Thanks for your input.
BTW - Remember Nimda?
Virus, Worm
Released on September 18, 2001
W32.Nimda.A@mm Discovered on: September 18, 2001
Also Known As:
W32/Nimda@mm, PE_NIMDA.A, I-Worm.Nimda, W32/Nimda-A, Win32.Nimda.A
W32.Nimda.A@mm is a mass-mailing worm that uses multiple methods to spread itself. The name of the virus came from the reversed spelling
of "admin."
___________________________________________________________
NMDA receptor
The NMDA
receptor is a receptor for the neurotransmitter glutamate, which is the most important excitatory transmitter in the brain.
It is not only a receptor, but also a channel (it is thus a ligand-gated ionic channel). N-methyl-D-aspartate is the famous
agonist of the NMDA receptor, the latter being named after it. It is a very complex and fascinating ligand-gated channel that
seems to be involved in the toxic effects of excessive glutamate, and in many other processes like synaptic plasticity and
target recognition.
To: Van der Waals
Yes, I remember Nimda. I don't know whether it was connected with the anthrax mailings or not.
But the name "Nimda" is of no import. It was picked by the anti-virus people, not by the writer of the worm. In fact, in
one of the later Nimda releases, the author of the worm objects to his work being called Nimda; he apparently named it Concept
Virus, or CV. (As I recall, there was an earlier virus that had been called Concept Virus, which is why a new name was assigned
to this one.)
33 posted on
12/18/2003 10:08:33 PM PST by
Mitchell
To: twigs
I'm surprised PETA hasn't spoken out against this. If PETA started throwing red paint on them, would they be
charged with a hate crime? Intolerance to anothers religion?
To: Van der Waals
blow job from bubba
To: RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS
Is that what you call a reverse Lewinsky or is more a Lewinsky by proxy?
To: Mitchell
Good, you're still as sharp as ever, now...
September 18, 2003
Kaspersky Labs, a leading information security expert, announces the detection of the network worm, I-Worm.Swen. This malicious
program spreads via email, the Kazaa file sharing network and IRC channels.
The worm, which goes by a variety of names, including Swen, W32/Swen@MM, Gibe, and W32/Gibe-F, can pose as an e-mail from
Microsoft bearing a bogus security update as a file attachment.
October 9, 2003
Two additional variants of this worm have been received by AVERT, created by minor edits of certain strings within the
initial worm, and subsequent packing with UPX. Both are already detected as virus or variant W32/Swen@MM with the 4294 DATs
or greater. Exact identification of the first (as W32/Swen@MM ) was included in the 4297 DATs. Exact identification of the
latter will be included in 4298 DATs. Both of these variants are of filesize 52,224 bytes.
When first launched, the worm accesses the following remote website:
http://ww2.fce.vutbr.cz/bin/counter.gif/link=bacillus&width=6&set=cnt006
To: Shermy
Ping.
To: An American in Turkiye
Hate crimes come in different colors and consistencies.
Some even come in small pre-stamped envelopes.
To: Van der Waals; Allan; Shermy
Cute. Needless to say, this isn't the same situation as with Nimda, because when Swen was released in 2003,
the significance of the dates Sept. 18 and Oct. 9 was public knowledge (as was the theory that Nimda might have been related
in some way to the anthrax mailings). Anybody could have intentionally released a virus on those anniversary dates in 2003
to make the virus appear to have something to do with the anthrax mailings. (In contrast, at the time of Nimda's release,
nobody knew the significance of those dates except for the people involved with the anthrax mailings.)
By the way, I don't think the "bacillus" keyword for the counter means much here. Perhaps you look at the word "Bacillus"
and imagine "anthracis" after it, but I think it would be quite natural for computer virus writers to pick words with biological
connotations, like "bacillus", for use in their code.
Also note that the worm called Swen is apparently the latest incarnation of the earlier Gibe worm, so 9/18/2003 and 10/9/2003
are just the latest two dates in a longer series of release dates.
So, here are three possibilities regarding Swen:
- Possibility 1. The dates are just a coincidence. If you look, you can find many things that happened on Sept. 18,
and some that happened on both Sept. 18 and Oct. 9 in some year.
- Possibility 2. Someone who had nothing to do with the anthrax mailings intentionally picked the anniversary dates,
just because he thought it would be a cool thing to do.
- Possibility 3. Someone who had something to do with the anthrax mailings picked those dates on purpose. But why
would he do that? Two possible reasons:
- Possibility 3(a). Disinformation. This presupposes that the Nimda theory is false; the purpose of Swen would then
be to divert resources into investigation of a (false) Nimda connection to the anthrax mailings.
- Possibility 3(b). To draw attention to the earlier release dates of Gibe/Swen:
- Mar. 4, 2002
- Feb. 24, 2003
(There were also minor follow-up variants released on Mar. 16, 2003, and Mar. 24, 2003.)
Why
draw attention to these earlier dates? I don't know, but that attention to the earlier Gibe-worm release dates is a predictable
consequence of the later Swen releases on the anthrax anniversary dates. In this theory 3(b), it's as if someone is saying:
"Look at the release dates!"
My guess is that it's just a coincidence - Possibility 1.
40 posted on
12/20/2003 9:50:27 PM PST by
Mitchell
To: Van der Waals
I tend to agree, nevertheless the "
link=bacillus" - not just "bacillus" is, as you say, cute.
BTW, have you by chance taken a look at the "hoax" chemical letters released in Europe some months ago?
To: PaxMacian
What?! Tetrodotoxin, an ancient alkaloid from the sea, a God-given compound not unlike cannabis and opium poppies,
and there's PaxMacian acting like a Blue Meanie.
To: Cultural Jihad
It has its uses in modern medicine, fascinating ones.
But, this kind of activity is a danger to others.
The dissemination of unknown agents in public spaces
should be considered dangerous anti-social behavior
verging
on acts of terrorism.
To: Cultural Jihad
My reasoning is the same as regards RU486 or the morning after pill. It is that these subtances are deadly poisons
which possess qualities likely to induce their use for evil ends. This line of reasoning cannot be extended to all other herbs.
To: Van der Waals
I tend to agree, nevertheless the "link=bacillus" - not just "bacillus" is, as you say, cute.
Oh, yes. I was aware of the 9/18 date, which I had dismissed as a random coincidence of dates. But the 10/9 second release
and the bacillus link were new to me and did make me take a second look.
I think the http://ww2.fce.vutbr.cz/bin/counter.gif/... link might be a publicly available web-hit counter script. I'm
not sure, though, because the only documentation I could find was in Czech. If this is correct, the "link=bacillus" part might
identify the particular count being incremented (assuming that the counter script is in use by many different people, one
would need some way to keep the counts distinct and to identify which of the many counters being maintained was to be incremented).
BTW, have you by chance taken a look at the "hoax" chemical letters released in Europe some months ago?
Do you have a link on this? Thanks.
45 posted on
12/21/2003 8:27:36 PM PST by
Mitchell
To: Van der Waals
A team of cleaners, known as the Voodoo Squad, regularly remove sacrificial chickens, roosters and goats
from the grounds of the courthouse.
If we must respect Islam, then it seems we must respect Voodoo just as much.
46 posted on
12/21/2003 8:36:10 PM PST by
FITZ
To: PaxMacian
Thanks for the clarification.
To: FITZ
"If we must respect Islam, then it seems we must respect Voodoo just as much."
A quote from the Koran?
To: Mitchell
Belgian media reported the envelopes included a card signed in English by the "International Islamic Society,"
(Also "cute", wouldn't you say?)
Letters laced with toxic powder
By Constant Brand in Belgium
June
5, 2003
BELGIAN authorities were today investigating 10 letters laced with toxic powders that were addressed
to Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, the American, Saudi and British embassies and other offices.
The letters, discovered
over the past two days, apparently were all sent by the same person or group, said Jaak Raes, an Interior Ministry official.
Belgian media reported the envelopes included a card signed in English by the "International Islamic Society," and
Raes said a "full investigation" was underway.
Two postal workers were hospitalised with a skin irritation after coming
in contact with the brown powder, but were expected to be released later today, officials said.
Government toxicologists
said the powder contained hydrazine, used as a garden pesticide, and phenarsazine, an arsenic derivative used in rat poison.
The chemicals found can irritate the skin, eyes and nasal passages.
Belgian Authorities Investigate Envelopes
with Toxic Powder
VOA News
04 Jun 2003, 16:46 UTC
Authorities in Belgium are investigating 10 letters with
a toxic powder found in envelopes addressed to the prime minister's office, the U.S. Embassy and other recipients.
Officials
say tests on some of the letters found at least two substances. One is hydrazine, which is used in rocket fuel, and the other
is a derivative of arsenic commonly used as rat poison. Officials said the chemicals can irritate the skin, eyes and nasal
passages.
The letters were found at mail depots in a number of cities including Ghent and Brussels. Some of the letters
contained messages full of with expletives that were signed in English with the words "Islamic Community."
Recipients
of the dangerous mail included the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Britain.
Belgian investigators are trying to fully
identify the powder, where it came from and who was responsible for trying to mail it.
The incident was reminiscent
of the anthrax scare that gripped the United States two years ago. Five people died and 11 others became ill after coming
in contact with anthrax spores sent through the mail.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
Toxic Powder Mailed to Embassies in Belgium
Wednesday, June 04 2003 @
04:24 PM GMT
"That letter also contained a slip of paper which read simply 'bastard'. One letter was addressed
to the U.S. Embassy in Brussels .."
BRUSSELS - Ten envelopes containing toxic powder were mailed to several embassies
and public buildings in Belgium, local radio RVI reported today.
The letters arrived on Tuesday and Wednesday and
contained the chemicals Hydrazine and Phenarsazine.
The last of the letters arrived at the embassies of Saudi Arabia
and the United Kingdom in Brussels. The Saudi embassy was evacuated and some employees were taken to hospital.
That
letter also contained a slip of paper which read simply "bastard". One letter was addressed to the U.S. Embassy in Brussels.
Another was addressed to the cabinet of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.
Hydrazine and Phenarsazine are irritating
and potentially toxic chemicals. Hydrazine fluid can be used as fuel for rockets and is very explosive. It is readily available
in powder form as a pesticide, noted the radio.
The federal prosecutor's office in Belgium and the anti-terror squad
are investigating.
I believe there are more - I'll look further.
To: Van der Waals
Miami has been covered in one sort of powder or another for so long that I'm surprised anyone knows the difference.
At least they aren't covered in powdered cocaine.
50 posted on
12/22/2003 1:02:00 PM PST by
quadrant
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