[John H K]

People are obviously desperate to try to contend any of the letters were mailed before 9/11, but it simply doesn't wash.

The pre-stamped envelopes used are bought in packs of five. There are two known letters from the 9/18 mailing, the NY Post and the NBC letter, and three letters that were lost; CBS, ABC, and, presumably, AMI.

Bob Stevens didn't even BEGIN to feel sick till 9/30. This is perfectly consistent with a 9/18 mailing to AMI.

Interesting thing about the AMI business is that it was MUCH longer after 9/11 than people seem to remember; I think a lot of people THINK that it was the week after 9/11; ACTUALLY it wasn't announced Stevens had Anthrax till 10/3.

[The Great Satan]

Bob Stevens didn't even BEGIN to feel sick till 9/30. This is perfectly consistent with a 9/18 mailing to AMI.

From the case report by Bob Stevens treating physicians in The New England Journal of Medicine, Index Case of Fatal Inhalational Anthrax Due to Bioterrorism in the United States:

Coworkers report that the patient had closely examined a suspicious letter containing powder on September 19, approximately eight days before the onset of illness. (This incubation period is highly plausible, given the modal incubation period of 10 days reported inthe Sverdlovsk outbreak.)

Uh, I think I'll go with Steven's phycisians and the New England Journal of Medicine on this one. Not that I don't have the highest respect for your intellect, John.

[muawiyah]

There exists a September 18 cancellation. When it comes to single piece rate First Class Mail addressed to anyone other than a credit card company or a utility, there is absolutely no guarantee that it was entered on the date of cancellation.

None of the facilities in New Jersey indicate any contamination of a letter mail collection box.

A single mailing of all the items at Boca Raton, FL on or near September 8 makes sense in terms of normal postal operations (and longstanding problems).