Ricin was found in an extended stay hotel in Las Vegas. That’s really scary. For a couple reasons. I try to not do too much looking into chemical weapons and warfare because frankly it scares me more than nuclear war. There is something about a poison entering my body and killing me slowly enough to know whats happening but quickly and painfully enough to not let me tie up loose ends. It’s also scary because those extended hotels are for people to live in temporarily, the thought of some wackjob living in a hotel for a week, with his poison, planning something, then leaving when its ready scares the hell out of me. I read a book several years ago called the cobra event, and the message was its not an if, its a when. Sleeper Cell on Showtime also showed how easily a terrorist cell can set up shop, and Vegas would be ripe for genocide. Man, I dont like thinking about it, but too late. I am. So here are somethings you might be interested to know about ricin.
- Ricin is from the castor bean. Castor bean seeds are readily obtainable.
- The main toxic protein, ricin, is so potent that a single milligram may be sufficient to kill a human adult.
- Ricin is considered both a chemical and biological weapon and is explicitly prohibited by the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and Schedule 1 of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)
- Ricin works its harm by destroying small parts of cells, called ribosomes. Ribosomes produce all of the proteins needed by a cell If the proteins cannot be produced, the cell dies. Although the effects of ricin ingestion may be felt within a few hours (abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting).
- Ricin is a slow-acting poison, with death occurring after 1-3 days.
- Ricin can be used to contaminate food or beverages. Ricin is heat-stable, so it can be applied to shrapnel within an explosive device. Possibly the greatest concern about ricin used as a weapon is that symptoms of poisoning can readily misdiagnosed.
Well, there you have it. It’s scary, and don’t for one second think that if there was something big and scary going on in Vegas or anywhere else, that they would say anything other than – “don’t be alarmed this is an isolated incident”. Maybe I think too much about this but I have had a sinking feeling lately that we are due for something, I hope I am wrong but when I see stuff like this in the news it really puts me on edge.
