>If I were brainstorming the next Al Qaeda attack,>
So you are imagining that you are a terrorist...
> it seems most likely to involve something like ricin, one of the deadliest poisons known to man, which is easy to make, not terribly toxic unless ingested, terribly lethal if ingested, tasteless, odorless, and there is no known antidote. Plus which, symptoms don't begin for several hours after ingestion.>
Did you research all the poisons available to you? Or did Riacin just spring to your mind because it is in the news?
>A coordinated group of sleeper cells could sprinkle ricin in hundreds of salad bars and condiment bars all over, say, Manhattan, London, Los Angeles, etc., etc., and kill literally thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, perhaps without detection.>
As a terrorist, how have you set up the distribution of the poison? Do you know what concentrations of ricin you need? What about the logistics of sprinkling? Is sprinkling the most appropriate method of dosing food with riacin?
Would you start with salad bars? Are you thinking of attacking the healthy eaters first? Would you start with pork because it is banned in your religion? Or would you start with beef so that you can confuse the world that the poisoning is the work of Hindu fundamentalists?
>Ever since I realized this, I've quit eating at salad bars. Large ketchup and mustard dispensers at, say, hot dog stands in a sports arena would also work, I think.>
What did you realize? You set up an imaginary framework and made a conclusion that affects your day-to-day life. And now you can blame Al Quaeda for it.
>In my nightmares, I worry about public school cafeterias, college cafeterias, hospital cafeterias.>
You are free to worry about anything in your nightmares.
Even I (from an authoritarian/ paternalistic/ phallocentric culture with well-entrenched class/caste system) will grant you that freedom! |
