Container stolen from Port of Halifax
HALIFAX -- Police are investigating a serious breach of security at the Port of Halifax that allowed thieves to make off from the waterfront with a 13-metre-long container with an unidentified cargo.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040527/PORT27/TPNational/TopStories
The other day I was between planes
in the Salt Lake airport and
discovered an abandonded package
which I reported to a couple
of security officers.
25.05.2004 06:40:02
Russian Scientist Dies in Ebola Accident at Former Weapons Lab
New York Times, By JUDITH MILLER,
Published: May 25, 2004, NEW ORLEANS, May 24 2004
A Russian scientist has died after accidentally infecting herself with Ebola virus. The scientist, Antonina Presnyakova, was working on a vaccine against the virus at the Department of Dangerous viral Pathogens of the Molecular Biology Scientific Research Institute which was part of the Soviet-era State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, known as Vector. The laboratory was being funded by Texas-based Antibody Systems and was not part of the organization receiving US government funds. The accident occurred on 5 May 2004, but was not reported to the World Health Organization until the victim had died.
Here's some background on the microbiologist and how she handled these viruses at this Vector place in Siberia, known as either a strategic defense enterprise or Department of Dangerous viral Pathogens of the Molecular Biology Scientific Research Institute:
A Smallpox Case is more dangerous than a Boeing
Researchers of the Laboratory wear these rubber suits during their work for four hours together. Sometimes they chase monkeys who have escaped a syringe. Senior research assistant Antonina Presnyakova got on the suit quickly and handily, in a soldier-like manner. She looked like Dunno on the Moon. At the beginning of the way to the working room, a worker breathes through a gas mask. When he passes airlocks, an air pipe is attached. Each "cosmonaut" hauls a special pipe through which the air is supplied. Ventilation is the most important safety feature. All measures are taken so that in emergency each worker could urgently eliminate its workplace. All liquid waste is sterilized in autoclaves. Solid waste is treated with alkali solution and incinerated in a remote "crematorium". (We came to have a look—it resembled a common shed).
How does someone wearing a rubber suit accidentally stick themselves with an Ebola-laden needle?
Michele Peveril, spokesperson for the Halifax Port Authority, acknowledged that the agency can't do anything to prevent similar thefts in the future until police determine how the container was stolen. ~~~DUH~~~
She said containers have to go through several security checkpoints to be allowed to leave a terminal.
"This is an issue that the police need the time to look into and address because this is the sort of thing the Port of Halifax can't have happen," she said.
Farah Mohamed, a spokeswoman for Anne McLellan, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, declined comment on the matter yesterday
</end profiling
>>>>>HALIFAX -- Police are investigating a serious breach of security at the Port of Halifax that allowed thieves to make off from the waterfront with a 13-metre-long container with an unidentified cargo.
"Farah Mohamed, a spokeswoman for Anne McLellan, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, declined comment on the matter yesterday. "
Gas shell findings a concern for Iraq arms inspector
Duelfer says insurgents may use such weapons on U.S. troops
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/26/iraq.duelfer/index.html
Government data mining rings alarm bells
05/27/04 12:07 PM, EDT
Nine months after Congress shut down a controversial Pentagon computer-surveillance program, the U.S. government continues to comb private records to sniff out suspicious activity, according to a congressional report obtained by Reuters.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/05/27/tech.surveillance.reut/index.html
U.S., Russia signing N-threat pact
05/27/04
The United States and Russia were expected to sign an agreement Thursday to protect against the threat of highly enriched uranium falling into the hands of terrorists.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/05/27/nuclear.initiative/index.html
WMD commission interviews former chief weapons inspector
Closed-door session with Kay
05/26/04
In its first official meeting Wednesday, the president's commission investigating flawed intelligence on weapons of mass destruction heard from David Kay, the former Iraq weapons inspector whose criticism helped drive the panel's creation.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/05/26/intelligence.commission.ap/index.html