In Case You Missed It: The Ricin Case Gets Weirder

It was weird enough that the guy who was suspected of mailing a poison called ricin to the President and others, was an Elvis impersonator with conspiracy theories. Now it turns out the got the wrong guy, but that he's even weirder than we thought. And it looks like he's the victim of the ultimate revenge fantasy of somebody else. So yeah, this guy was framed. But he's gotta be guilty of something: excessive weirdness, at the very least.

He's out, ladies! The line must be forming for those
free foot rubs! Image from Raw Story.

[Excerpt]

Freed Elvis-impersonating ricin suspect thanks Jesus, offers foot rubs to Mississippi ‘ladies’

On Tuesday’s edition of “The Rachel Maddow Show,” host Rachel Maddow said that if you’ve been watching the case of Paul Kevin Curtis, the Elvis impersonator arrested and then released on charges of sending ricin letters to public figures, for its “wacky factor,” then Curtis’ press conference on being cleared of charges on Tuesday “did not disappoint. . .”

Read more at: Raw Story

Ricin Mailing Suspect is an Elvis Impersonator?

Maybe this was a suicide attempt, and he just forgot to write
"Return to Sender?" Heh. Image from CBS News.

The news is just too freaking weird this week, honestly.

[Excerpt]

Ricin mailing suspect charged; once impersonated Elvis for Sen. Wicker

Paul Kevin Curtis, the suspect arrested for allegedly sending letters laced with ricin to President Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, R- Miss., was charged Thursday with making threats against the president and other threatening communications via the Postal Service. . .

Read more at: CBS News

Nuclear Water: You're Drinking it! (in New Jersey)

We're all screwed, right? Bring on the Yucca Mountain, I can take it!

[Excerpt]

Tainted nuke plant water reaches major NJ aquifer

Radioactive water that leaked from the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant has now reached a major underground aquifer that supplies drinking water to much of southern New Jersey, the state’s environmental chief said Friday. . .

Read more at: The Political Carnival

Hat-tip to Lizz Winstead via Twitter for the tip.

FYI: Peanut Product Recall List

Wondering what peanut products are on the recall list? I was too, and I found this nifty little widget. See if anything in your pantry is on the list.

DON'T EAT THE PEANUTS!!!

Hmmm. I just bought a huge plastic container of Planters dry roasted peanuts. And we've eaten about a third of them. Should I even bother to throw the rest away?

[Excerpt]

Update: FDA releases tidal wave of fresh recalls

Federal officials have released a tidal wave of fresh recalls in the past 24 hours as they connect the dots in the supply chain of tainted peanut-related products.

The latest recalls by 25 companies listing dozens of items include Walgreen's chocolate candy with peanuts, Best Brands peanut butter cookie dough and Hain Celestial's frozen pad Thai dinners, including one made for Trader Joe's. . .

Read more at: OregonLive

More on Las Vegas Ricin Story

Photo of Extended Stay Hotel from source, Associated Press

The Las Vegas ricin incident is back in the news, but I'm not sure why. The only new thing I can glean from this article is that traces of ricin were found in the hotel room the actual ricin was found in. Um yeah, so? Doesn't that follow?

This is a maddeningly vague case. We know the guy has been in a coma since Feb. 14, that they didn't find the vials of ricin until Feb. 28 (by whom, they're never clear on), that the guy has woken from a 4-week coma, and that's about it. Clearly, if he's awake, he's been questioned by the FBI. They must be holding on to quite a bit of information that they're not releasing.

Vague as the story is, it should be a big flag to the "take my rights away, I don't care, just keep me safe" crowd. What warrantless wiretapping or data mining would have prevented this? Who could they have tortured for the information?

Some guy home brews a poison, and goes to a no-name Vegas motel with it. If he hadn't gotten sick, and the unnamed person hadn't found the ricin in his room, what's to have prevented the 24 scenario?

[Excerpt]

Ricin Cop Tests for Castor Derivative

A police officer who went to a motel room where ricin was later found has tested positive for trace amounts of a substance that can be derived from the poison's source, authorities said Thursday.

The male officer has shown no signs of illness or symptoms of ricin poisoning, officials familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the ongoing investigation into the discovery of the vials of ricin and the raw material, castor beans, in the motel room. . .

Read more at: Associated Press

Las Vegas Ricin Case Moves to Utah

Photo from source, AP

A couple of days ago, I reported on the breaking news of a discovery of ricin--a deadly poison--in Las Vegas. Apparently, several vials of the nasty stuff were found in an "extended stay" motel by friends or relatives of the man who put it there, after he was found unconscious by the maid. Excuse me if that scenario is later contradicted, accounts are kind of fuzzy.

Anyway, I couldn't help but notice that a deadly poison--a few grains of which can apparently kill a person--made it into a major metropolitan city. A city that is one of the largest tourist areas in the United States. This extended stay hotel is spitting distance from the Rio and Palms hotels--among the most popular off-strip sites in Las Vegas. And it wasn't wire-tapping or data mining that led to its discovery--it was blind luck.

[Excerpt]

Suburban Utah Home Searched for Ricin

RIVERTON, Utah (AP) — FBI agents wearing protective suits searched Sunday for the deadly poison ricin at a suburban home where a man possibly sickened by the deadly poison had once lived.

Authorities believed they had found all of the ricin in several vials recovered Thursday from a Las Vegas motel where Roger Von Bergendorff had been staying, but they wanted to also check the home in Riverton, outside Salt Lake City. . .

Read more at: AP

Erin Burnett: Bring on the Lead Paint & Poison!

OK, I'm going to give this CNBC reporter the benefit of the doubt, and assume that she just worded this badly. She may have been merely trying to express a thought on live TV that came out sounding bonkers. Surely she doesn't think we should continue to use and consume toxic products from China. Then again, she just may be bonkers.