Bob's Links and Rants

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Wednesday, October 05, 2005

It killed 50 million! Let's make it again!

From AP:
Scientists have made from scratch the Spanish flu virus that killed as many as 50 million people in 1918, the first time an infectious agent behind a historic pandemic has ever been reconstructed.

Why did they do it? Researchers say it may help them better understand -- and develop defenses against -- the threat of a future worldwide epidemic from bird flu.
Yeah. that's what researchers say (or what AP says researchers say). But...why did they do it?
The public health risk of resurrecting the virus is minimal, U.S. health officials said.
Accidentally, maybe. As a biological weapon in the hands of already notorious war criminals? A much bigger risk. Consider:
Investigators are trying to determine if a bacterium that set off sensors during last week's anti-war protest in Washington was naturally present.

Tularemia bacteria can live in soil and may simply have been released by thousands of people kicking up dirt, the Washington Post reported. But the bacteria can also cause a dangerous infection and is listed as a possible biohazard.
Consider:
Human Genome Sciences Inc. plans to announce a deal today under which the federal government might buy as many as 100,000 doses of an experimental drug to treat anthrax, potentially giving the nation a new defense against one of the most feared agents of biological terrorism.

The initial government order will be for a small sample of the drug, known as ABthrax, with the option to buy much more later. The large order is by no means assured, and other companies developing similar drugs contend that their products are superior and say they still have a chance to beat Human Genome Sciences.
Consider: The anthrax attacks on Democratic congressional leaders and prominent journalists remain unsolved four years later, although it is known that the anthrax was produced domestically.

Consider: In 1994, Tom Clancy wrote Debt of Honor, which concludes with a 747 pilot intentionally crashing his plane into the US Capitol. Seven years later, three planes crashed into prominent US buildings, killing almost 3000. (Unfortunately, the National Security Advisor couldn't possibly have forseen this happening.) In 1998, Tom Clancy wrote Rainbox Six, in which an international conspiracy, including some top officials in the US government, intends to scare the world with a deadly virus. In response, a "vaccine" is delivered in mass quantities. While the virus might kill millions, the "vaccine" is the real killer, intended to eliminate most of the human race except those chosen by the conspiracy to survive. Seven years later, in 2005...

Our criminal government is playing around with deadly diseases, has "disappeared" hundreds of people gathered up from around the world (for experiments?), and is discussing using the military to enforce quarantines. Be very afraid.