Posted on 10/24/2008 10:36:28 AM PDT by Prunetacos
I'm not sure what you mean. The photo may look professional, but, to me, the article is sloppy reporting.
The article says that Ivins alone made the spores in the RMR-1029 flasks, but the FBI said in the August 18 roundtable discussion that about a third of it was made by Dugway.
The article says there was only 1 flask. But the FBI and the DOJ told us during that same roundtable discussion that there were two flasks of material made in 1997, and all but half of one flask got used up over the years.
The article says that only a few people know how to make pure spores, but it also says preparing spores is work generally left to novices and technicians. So, how hard can it be? Plus, the steps for purifying spores are well-known, so it is ILLOGICAL for only a few people to know how to do it.
What the article shows me is that the media is going to continue to provide bad information even though we now have a lot of good information. Sloppy reporters will just continue to fail to do the necessary research.
What I mean is, this piece reeks of FBI PR, i.e. “The Spore In The Grassy Knoll”.
And I do agree with your assessment.
Watchit funny fellow :-]
But you’re probably right, IMHO.
BioDefense Corporation Sees Rash of “White Powder” Incidents at Reuters, New York Times, and Major Banks as Real Bio-Chemical Assaults, Not “Hoaxes”
Oct. 28, 2008
International Security Conference/East , Javits Center — BioDefense Corporation producers of the new MAIL DEFENDER complete mailroom security solution, says, “incoming mail containing white powder discovered at Reuters, the New York Times and major financial institutions are not ‘hoaxes,’ rather they are ‘bio-chemical assaults,’ in which intent to harm, disrupt, or even kill was evident.”
“The event that almost brought chaos to the Reuters New York headquarters newsroom, October 27, 2008, was a bio-chemical assault,” said a BioDefense Corporation spokesman. “Reporters, editors, writers and even bloggers are in the bio-criminal’s ‘bull’s eye’ since they can affect public opinion, especially during this hotly contested election, and continuing bad news about the global economy.
“Unfortunately,” the spokesman added, “these very vulnerable people are simply not being protected. For example, BioDefense Corporations’ MAIL DEFENDER was actually on loan to Reuters New York as a demonstration unit, but the company’s executive in charge of security felt it did not meet their requirements. Had it been in service on Monday, October 27th, a simple letter mailed for 41 cents would not have idled more than 140 reporters for over three hours, costing this important news organization to untold millions of dollars. The New York office is the headquarters of Thomson Reuters, the parent company, and the newsroom is the firm’s second largest after London.”
Monday, October 27, 2008
“Trail of Odd Anthrax Cells Led FBI to Army Scientist: Washington Post
A front page Washington Post article from today by Joby Warrick on the Ivins case appears to present the FBI’s side of the story. I will post excerpts from the article and comment (in italics) on its inconsistencies.
Abshire focused her lens on a moldlike clump. Anthrax bacteria were growing here, but some of the cells were odd: strange shapes, strange textures, strange colors. These were mutants, or “morphs,” genetic deviants scattered among the ordinary anthrax cells like chocolate chips in a cookie batter...
Ivins, the FBI discovered, had spent more than a year perfecting what agents called his “ultimate creation” — his signature blend of highly lethal anthrax spores — and guarded it so carefully that his lab assistants did not know where he kept it...
“It was his ultimate creation,” said Jason D. Bannan, an FBI microbiologist assigned to the Amerithrax case. “This was the culmination of a lot of hard work.”
Exceptionally pure concentrations of anthrax spores were Ivins’s trademark and placed him in an exclusive class...
It was intended for garden-variety animal experiments, but the collection of anthrax spores known as RMR-1029 was anything but ordinary. Ivins, its creator, had devoted a year to perfecting it, mixing 34 different batches of bacteria-laden broth and distilling them into a single liter of pure lethality...
Ames-strain bacteria was essentially identical wherever it was found, the advisers said...
The art of “spore preparation” is a tedious job often relegated to novices and technicians.
Inconsistency: Ivins made exceptionally pure spore preparations, but his “master” prep was full of mutants.
Exaggerations: FBI agents call his flask of Ames anthrax his “ultimate creation,” but all it contained was the combined product of 34 separate small production runs at Fort Detrick and Dugway, only some of which Ivins had made. FBI advisers said that Ames was pretty much the same wherever it was found. So the claim of Ivins’ flask having special virulence, compared to other Ames batches, is doubtful.
Ivins spent a year perfecting it? How do you “perfect” 34 separate batches when you didn’t make all of them? There has been no prior evidence that the flask contained “special” Ames spores, nor does this article report any such evidence.
Furthermore, as is noted in the article, growing anthrax is usually the work of technicians, and does not require advanced skills. Growing spores is not a method of perfecting them. The recipes are widely available in the open literature. Ivins could have spent a year growing the anthrax in the flask, but he would have been accomplishing plenty of other tasks simultaneously..........”
Posted by Meryl Nass, M.D.
http://anthraxvaccine.blogspot.com/
Thanks anyway.
Fla. ruling will help widow’s anthrax lawsuit
Thursday, October 30, 2008
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida Supreme Court ruling will help the widow of an anthrax victim in her lawsuit against the federal government and a private laboratory.
Maureen Stevens claims in the $50 million suit that the government was ultimately responsible for her husband Robert’s 2001 death. He was a photo editor and died after being exposed to anthrax mailed to the Florida office of a supermarket tabloid publisher.
Justices ruled 4-1 Thursday that the defendants had a duty under Florida law to protect the public against the unauthorized release of lethal materials.
It’s an important, although preliminary, victory for the widow in her federal lawsuit against the government and an Ohio research lab.”
I don't see that she has any case against Battelle, but she might have a good case against the U.S. Government.
It appears that the case WILL go to court -- unless there is a settlement. But, it's probably going to drag on for a few more years.
You seem to have 30 of the 50 posts on your thread. Wow.
“Judicial Watch represents hundreds of postal workers from the Brentwood Postal Facility in Washington, DC. Until the Brentwood facility was finally condemned by the CDC, Brentwood postal workers handled all of the mail for Washington, DC, including the ‘official mail’ that contained the anthrax-laden envelopes addressed to Senators Daschle and Leahy. While Capitol Hill workers received prompt medical care, Brentwood postal workers were ordered by USPS officials to continue working in the contaminated facility. Two Brentwood workers died from inhalation anthrax, and dozens more are suffering from a variety of ailments related to the anthrax attacks. A variety of legal actions are being planned for the disparate treatment and reckless endangerment the Brentwood postal workers faced.”
I’m an Air Force veteran who believes in the freedom of all.
Fair Enough. I think you set a record. I want everyone to come clean, and live clean BTW. :^) (Thanks for your Service to our Great Country)
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