nerdgirl 0 #26 January 20, 2009 QuoteQuoteThe plague-causing bacteria is fairly easy to culture but difficult to weaponize. The former US offensive weapons program had great difficulty weaponizing it. It ends up being more of an engineering problem than microbiology. The Soviets weaponized and produced lots. Hmmm, I wonder if the Russians can account for their stockpile of such weapons? That would be interesting. It is interesting ... to literally express it diplomatically. The Russians *assert* that they have, as they have noted in required BWC submissions. There are no verification mechanisms to pursue validation of that claim. (There were efforts that fell apart 25 July 2001.) It's even more complicated than just Russia: many parts of the former Soviet offensive BW program was executed in the newly independent states, e.g., Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan under the legitimate application mixed with covert uses of “plague control centers” as part of the Soviet anti-plague system. (The Russians also can’t account for the alleged weaponized variola major that was on ICBMs either.) All that (& more) is why robust support of Cooperative Threat Reduction programs are so important, imo. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vortexring 0 #27 January 20, 2009 QuoteQuoteOr do what we did to the american indians - give the terrorists "gifts" of blankets inoculated with smallpox. That are serious studies which indicate that this never actually happened, and is just a popular myth. But hey, at least you're now getting with the anti-America program here! 'Anti-America program here!'? Which program is that John? I can't see one 'here!' so could you point it out to me please? Thanks. 'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.' Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,112 #28 January 20, 2009 >That was the British. Yep. (I use the term "we" because when that happened, we here in the US were all British.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,112 #29 January 20, 2009 >No, silly, it's most likely that the evil Bush-Cheney-CIA triumvirate >intentionally dropped plague on them . . . . Okay, then. >But hey, at least you're now getting with the anti-America program here! Uh, this happened before there WAS a USA. I mean, it's all well and good to try to smear me, but you gotta get your facts straight first. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #30 January 20, 2009 Quote>That was the British. Yep. (I use the term "we" because when that happened, we here in the US were all British.) Well, I think it's still an important distinction if this only happened in the mid 18th Century (French and Indian War), rather than during the manifest destiny expansion of the 19th. The King of England directed the former - it was not even faintly a democracy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nerdgirl 0 #31 January 25, 2009 Pro-Med – “the global electronic reporting system for outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases & toxins, open to all sources” – posting from Algeria on the subject. The posters are the metaphorical “boots on the ground” of emerging and re-emerging infectious disease. PRO/AH/EDR> Plague, fatal - Algeria (02): unconfirmed, RFI Date: Tue 20 Jan 2009 Source: Dr Saada Chougrani The information (rumor) about the outbreak occurred in mountainous borders between Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia was given by the daily paper in Arabic language "Echorouk" in its on-line edition of 6 Jan 2009 . No serious source, health professionals, even more the reference laboratory for plague in Oran (Laboratory for the Plague of the Institute Pasteur of Algeria in Oran) or that of in Algiers (medical bacteriology) had to take seriously these rumors. Furthermore, I would remind you of another bibliographical reference on the plague epidemic of 2003: Bertherat E, Bekhoucha S, Chougrani S, et al: Plague reappearance in Algeria after 50 years, 2003. Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Oct [20 Jan 2009]. Available from . -- Dr Saada Chougrani University of Oran, Algeria The reference Dr. Chougrani cites is the same I linked in this post further up in the thread. Algiers El Nahar continues to report on the story … altho’ it’s gone in some anti-American conspiracy-theory –esque directions (more than UK’s The Sun or the Washington Times.) Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
