Anthrax
On the back of 911 - less than two weeks later in fact - the Anthrax terrorist attack happened. Letters laced with the deadly pathogen were addressed to prominent politicians and press representatives - they stated:
This created a helluva lot of anxiety not surprisingly - great stuff if yer the media - which was at fever pitch - breathlessly reporting on scientists talking about Al Qaeda in crop dusters - powdering New York City - killing hundreds of thousands.
The Vice-President’s advice was: Never waste a crisis. Devise em if you have to. We’ve got the media feeding em Islamophobia multiplied by bio-terror - it’s no-brainer. Launch a payback invasion of Iraq while the tide is full - the old foil evil spiel - whatever - meanwhile liberating the oilfields
And so it came to pass. An invasion to dismantle Saddam Hussein’s - non-existent - bio-weapons of mass destruction program - to keep us safe - but hey - Cheney and the gravy-trainers made a killing - God willing - let freedom reign.
Julian Assange tried uncovering it - earned ‘im a life of one-everything security rammed up his arse. A rare hero in all this - i’m thinkin it’s in his upbringing - went to primary school in Coffee Camp next door to Nimbin
Meanwhile back at the ranch, smashing the axis of evil involved soldiers vaxxed-to-the max with the latest in experimental anthrax-jabs. Now known as Gulf War illness.
Which gets me to this:
Amidst the commotion there was another - lesser known - explosion:
a silent one
in science-funding - to fight bioterrorism.
A mushrooming of BSL labs at dual-purpose bio-weapons/defense facilities - or universities - at your expense. On the edge of science and global security - secret projects meddling with deadly bugs to predict the next moves of our devious extremist enemies - the full might of one-science riding to our rescue - so exciting - then designing, delivering drugs, surveillance tech - to protect us.
For example, in 2004, Bush signed Project Bioshield into law. Made a speech to mark the occasion
Bush: Project Bioshield authorizes $5.6 billion ..on vaccines to fight anthrax .. and other potential agents of bioterror for the American population.
That’s seventh heaven for vaccine-scientists at least.
Since September the 11th, we've increased .. funding for biodefense research at NIH by a factor of 30.
Mate, you little beauty.
Bush: When I sign this bill, the Food and Drug Administration will be able to permit rapid distribution of promising new drugs in the most urgent circumstances.
Cool - so the murky emergency-use approval enacted to fast-track Covid vacs was invented by George W after Anthrax?
Bush: I want to thank the Vice President for his hard work. He was the point man in the White House on this piece of legislation .
Ok - i stand corrected - Going berserk on scio-bio-shielding was a Cheney sponsored venture - that makes me feel much better.
How boutcha science right-hand-man in all this cash-cowing?
Cometh the hour - cometh the man - take a bow Anthony S. Fauci
Right in the thick of it - pleading for BioShield before Congress - a leading advocate/recipient - Fauch the Pouch - siphoned billions from the fountain spouting public dollars in the name of bioterrorism - it was the making of his NIAID kingdom. As he said:
The accelerated development of effective countermeasures against terrorism requires a new research paradigm.
I'm finding - with old-style research - your new paradigm of accelerated development was a ticking time-bomb.
The events of September 11, and the subsequent anthrax attacks have changed, forever, how the biomedical community responds to emerging threats.
Yep.You betcha!
We are now on a wartime footing and are compelled to modify the way we do business.
Hell! Our brave bio-warrior general. Ready ta do whatever it takes. Btw, who are you doing business with again?
The Fouch: Biotech firms are our industrial partners - they are essential to countermeasure development.
Like Pfizer i guess
But they want some assurances if they are successful that there'll be a market for their product.
Guess they got it. Never mind that antibiotics work fine on Anthrax symptoms - it was pure scio-politics - in-fact-in-the US at the time - there was a rush on Cipro - today’s Ivermectin? Guessin the experts are gettin’ wiser - restrictin’ its availability - in our best interests. To lessen bio-state hesitancy. But i degrees.
Pop question … who executed the Anthrax terrorist attack that ignited this funding-feeding-frenzy?
Extra points: What was their reasoning?
I didn't know - had to search it. The FBI website states:
Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section, expended - hundreds of thousands of investigator work hours on this case - and conducted more than 10,000 witness interviews on six different continents.
Wow - that’s a lot isn’t it?! A seven year Robert Mueller led junket. That involved shit-loads of the people’s spondula - so - Robert - i’m curious - who’s dunnit?
- drumroll …
Yeah i’d never heard of him either.
A US biodefense scientist from Lebanon, Ohio
Working at: Fort Detrick. WIV is the modern day equivalent. It gets better - Ivins was an expert advisor to the FBI in their investigation. A very good one apparently
LA Times: At a Pentagon ceremony in 2003 (two years in), Ivins and two colleagues from USAMRIID (who i wonder?) were presented with the Decoration of Exceptional Civilian Service.
That’s hilarious. I’m sure they deserved it. The highest honour Defense can give ya. Of all the people on earth to choose from in the war on bio-terror you’ve gone the very-one who did the deed. What does that tell ya?
Ivins: Awards are nice - but the real satisfaction is knowing the vaccine is back on line.
The dissatisfaction is knowing it was known within weeks it was a lab-leak from Fort Detrick. Each strain of Anthrax has its own unique kinda signature. The one in the American attack was made out to Fort Detrick bio-weapons lab, Frederick County, Maryland.
Yeah … now might not be the right time to talk about that - when we’re about to wage wars to fight bio-terrorism. How’s it gonna look if we caused it?
Motive: Ivins was a co-inventor on two patents for quote a genetically engineered anthrax vaccine. Two more patents for additives. - the most lucrative
LA Times: In 2002, the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency doled out $12 million (to) Coley Pharmaceuticals for developing the additive. The company was acquired last fall by Pfizer Corp.
Bruce’s big picture? Boost funding for bio-defense research via paradigm disruption - create some urgency - a market - the future. His rationalization? It’s the only way to reverse the planet’s trajectory as it hurtles towards self-destruction. I have the ability to insert myself into that equation - to change the world - it’s my solemn duty as a scientific expert.
Apart from the planet bit - which got more fucked-up and perverted - the rest actually worked out perfectly.
Bruce unfortunately had sacrificial lamb written all over him - took his own life in 2008 - an overdose of prescription medication - his wife found him on his bed at his home - The FBI said it was set to execute an arrest warrant but he beat em to it.Thereby avoiding a messy public trial. He was assessed to be a loner acting alone. Case closed.
His colleague said: They seemed to harp on he was a loner. He was not a loner. …. He had a lot of friends ..
Ivins was around the bend though - enmeshed in the closed-society of the science community hiding in plain sight. Had a not-secret fetish for secret initiations of sororities - that included stalking - breaking-and-entering. He also had direct access to the exact same anthrax strain. Would it have stood up in court - it’d be line-ball i’d’ve thought.
But why was there no oversight of Mueller’s bungling investigation?
Bruce Ivins didn’t drop out of the sky - he was the result of a culture.
In this instance the science community - a close-knit society - unaccountable - monied-up - playing secret power shenanigans with security organizations - functioning with impunity - i don’t know much about nothing - but that’s a recipe for corruption.
Further up the food chain at Fort Detrick is ex-Commander David Franz - the man in charge of bio-defense culture at the facility in the lead up to the Anthrax attack. Ironically, his next job was a UN bio-weapons inspector in Iraq. With his reputation sealed an apres moi le deluge kinda scientist, he then assumed a leadership role at Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance. That’s quite a resume. His vibe on Anthrax is worth a look:
I think a lot of good has come from it. From a biological or a medical aspect, we've now five people who have died, but we've put about $6 billion in our budget into defending against bioterrorism.
I’d’ve thought a deliberate release from a BSL-4 lab by a popular-scientist might be a red-fucking-flag for a Mad-scientist culture gone maddist - not a signal for a pumped up funding empowerment. For fuck’s sake, it’s time to de-escalate, regulate risky bio-defense experiments, before you cause a catastrophic pandemic! Brackets - there were voices warning exactly that - Richard Ebright, Wain-Hobson - they got drowned out.
With money comes the addictive rush of influence - the power - to entrench it - to censor/crush your opponent. But where has that left us?
Let’s at least - press pause - on this chaotic rush to discuss what you’re forcing upon us with this genetically engineered future - that was invented initially - of course - to counter the very bio-terrorism you artificially caused.