The FBI - not me - said that the window of opportunity for dropping the letter began at 5 pm, obviously because that's when the postmark cut-off is. They may be inept, but I'm pretty sure it occurred to them to check the cut-off time for that mailbox in particular.

http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/ap.html

Oct 14, 2001:

The FBI could not immediately pinpoint where the letter was dropped because Trenton is a regional processing center for southern and central New Jersey, said Special Agent Sandra Carroll, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Newark office.

"There's over 100 different collection boxes or post offices it could have come from," Carroll said. FBI agents were interviewing mail carriers in Trenton on Saturday as part of a joint investigation with postal inspectors, she said.

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This is something we can rely on the FBI to have covered well, I think. If some mail carrier missed the route on one of those days, that would have been picked up.

You can see a quick princeton map here:

http://www.princeton.edu/main/visiting/files/princeton_map.gif

or click on signature.

Nassau Street runs east-west at the top of the map.

FYI:

Nov 12, 2001

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2001/11/12/3812/

Anthrax found in Palmer Square mailbox

Palmer Square is in box 1-E in the map above

The Kappa Kappa Gamma office is at 20 Nassau Street, that is in box D-1. The mailbox Ivins is supposed to have used is in front of 10 Nassau Street.

I used to go to Princeton on some weekends, for the University bookstore (box D-2) and for Asha, Princeton meetings in the engineering buildings (west part of the map) ( http://www.ashanet.org/princeton/ ) and Nassau Street always used to be crowded. The north side of the street has a lot of commercial establishments that cater to the university folks.

In 2001, fall classes began Sept 13,

http://www.princeton.edu/pr/facts/profile/01/01.htm

so I expect Nassau Street would have been quite crowded in the evening hours on September 17.

Maybe this September I can go on a Monday evening and do some street photography :)

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I (perhaps mistakenly) thought that Valerie Plame was a specialist in nuclear proliferation and not WMD in general (i.e., anthrax). For the Open Salon scenario, is it possible to firm up (e.g., via Plame's book) that anthrax was in her portfolio?

1. The market doesn't seem to think it is about oil - follow the price of oil.

2. Over on the Indian defence forum

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4250&start=200

folks are chuckling over this:

The US ambassador to the UN Khalizidad was outside the UNSC room and said "the days of removing the leader of a country by force are over". It seems he then realized what he was saying and then ended it with "in Europe".

3. A former Indian ambassador writes:

http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/11/stories/2008081155580800.htm

(click on signature)

U.S. sets bear trap in the Caucasus

and says this:

...from Washington’s perspective, there is nothing like getting Russia bogged down in the Caucasus if it saps Russia’s capacity to play an effective role on the world stage. Moscow dreads a full-blown war erupting in the Caucasus and is averse to a confrontation with the West. That leaves scope for “bear-baiting.” Conceivably, at some point Moscow would lose patience. If Moscow accedes to the long-standing demand by South Ossetia to become part of Russian federation, it becomes fodder for Western criticism that a “revanchist” Kremlin annexes territories. But if Moscow remains passive, the Caucasus could become Russia’s “bleeding wound” and Russia’s prestige in the post-Soviet space diminishes.

and

Actually, a splendid case study offers itself for Indian strategic thinkers (and politicians) who cogitate over our capability to hold the long arm of American diplomacy and our own tryst with destiny as a “self-confident” great power. The irony is, Russia is also the U.S.’s “strategic partner.” It was only in April that Mr. Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush met in the Black Sea resort of Sochi and signed a “strategic framework” pact, reiterating the hopes of a dynamic forward movement in the relationship. Again, it is not even that there is an equivalent of the Hyde Act operating on the geopolitics of the Caucasus. It is also not as if post-Soviet Russians lack “self-confidence.” The issue boils down to the vagaries and uncertainties bordering on the futility that Russia or any country — including even a close ally — ultimately faces in pursuing an equitable and balanced relationship with the U.S.

The Independent is a UK rag, but its cartoon

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00043/cartoon110808_43676a.jpg

(or click on signature)

seems to encapsulate a lot of world opinion.