Ini part yang aku tak suka tetapi kena terima, bila orang Islam di beri pendidikan asas tentang perkara-perkara yang mereka kira mereka faham!
Beliau percaya pegawai MBSA atau ahli majlis mungkin salahfaham dengan Akta Eksais 1976, yang menyebut bahawa lesen minuman keras tidak diperlukan bagi menjual minuman dengan kandungan alkohol kurang daripada 8.8 peratus."Dalam Bahasa Malaysia, tidak terdapat terjemahan yang tepat bagi minuman keras.
(Istilah) bir hanyalah terjemahan terus. Orang Islam mungkin tidak faham istilah ini. Tetapi bukan Islam dapat membezakan bir daripada arak."(Dalam istilah perundangan) bir didefinasikan sebagai 'minuman keras'. Tidak ada deskripsi yang lebih tepat (daripada itu)," kata Liu, yang bidangkuasanya sebagai exco negeri termasuk memantau perjalanan majlis daerah.
Ekoran serbuan tersebut, Liu berkata beliau telah mengadakan pertemuan dengan empat ahli malis MBSA, pengarah pelesenan dan seorang pegawai daripada pasukan yang membuat serbuan tersebut.
(sepenuhnya klik sini)
Maknanya YB yang menjaga hal ehwal Islam itu belum habis baca akta. Dari segi teknikal undang-undangnya nampaknya beliau Ronnie 'takebeer' Liu berada dilandasan yang betul. Maka termalu-malulah kita. Kita hanya bersandar kepada alasan sosial dan adat semata-mata. Inilah yang bakal memerangkap kita dalam banyak hal kemudian nanti. Ketidak upayaan orang Islam melindungi hak mereka dari sudut perundangan.
Hal hal teknikal sebegini amat penting kerana kita tidak mengklasifikasikan 'al khamar' dengan bahasa undang-undang dunia. Pada kita asal memabukkan semua tidak boleh, tapi sudah dasar manusia suka sangat mencari kesempatan dan ruang untuk meloloskan diri dari segala macam undang-undang yang mengikat. Ini kes sama macam kes Nabi Musa dengan Sapi Betina.
Jangan salahkan sesiapa melainkan diri kita. Aku syak draf undang-undang ini disediakan oleh orang bukan Islam dan kemudian diiakan oleh MP-MP Muslim kita yang bangang dan inilah hasilnya.
Jadi jika PAS atau sesiapa sahaja yang nak mengharamkan jualan 'bir' tu, akta kena gubah semula beb!.
Oh ya, dalam konteks yang sama kilang di Shah Alam dan Sungai Way tu bukan kilang 'minuman keras' , patutlah banyak 'melayu' kat situ dan padanlah Ketua Pemuda satu tu tak kisah bergambar dengan meja penuh menatang tu.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Jika MP UMNO mengucapkan lawak bodoh ini, tentu dah kena seranah!
'Menurut Gobind, satu laporan akan dibuat oleh pakar-pakar tersebut berhubung penemuan terbaru itu. Kumpulan pakar forensik dan peguam meninjau kembali kesan darah di tingkat berkenaan bagi menentukan sama ada ia milik manusia dalam siasatan inkues kematian Teoh. Menurut Gobind lagi, beliau tidak menolak kemungkinan kesan yang ditemui di tangga di Tingkat 15 merupakan darah haid pekerja wanita SPRM menitik keluar kerana salah kira hari. Oleh itu beliau akan menyarankan kepada koroner dan inkues hari ini supaya tong-tong penyimpan pad wanita terbuang di Tingkat 14 dan 15 disita dan diselidik untuk mendapatkan lebih banyak sampel darah.'
Jika lawak bodoh ini diucapkan oleh Dato' Aziz atau Bung Mukhtar sudah tentu sekali mereka akan diseranah oleh pejuang pejuang wanita. Ingat lagi lawak 'bocor' mereka?
Rupa-rupanya MP dari PR juga buat lawak bodoh yang tak cerdik ini, tetapi mentaliti untuk menghina sentiasa ada dalam kepala hotak mereka yang kacau tu. Cuba buat lawak sikit pasal 'Hard Kaur' yang tak reti kira hari, tentu sekali mereka berang.
Jika lawak bodoh ini diucapkan oleh Dato' Aziz atau Bung Mukhtar sudah tentu sekali mereka akan diseranah oleh pejuang pejuang wanita. Ingat lagi lawak 'bocor' mereka?
Rupa-rupanya MP dari PR juga buat lawak bodoh yang tak cerdik ini, tetapi mentaliti untuk menghina sentiasa ada dalam kepala hotak mereka yang kacau tu. Cuba buat lawak sikit pasal 'Hard Kaur' yang tak reti kira hari, tentu sekali mereka berang.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Ketuanan yang tewas kepada keTaikoan
Apabila Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir Bin Muhammad, Mantan Perdana Menteri Malaysia mendakwa bahawa orang Cinalah tuan sebenar di Malaysia ini, ramai yang secara diam-diam dan secara hakikinya memperakukan kenyataan tersebut. Jika mantan PM yang membuat dakwaan sebegitu ia sudah tentulah tentulah berasaskan?. Manakan tidaknya beliau sendiri pernah didakwa meninggalkan mesyuarat MT UMNO selama lebih 2 jam kerana berbincang dengan tuan punya syarikat YTL yang tak menyempat-nyempat hendak berdiskusi dengannya. Begitulah berkuasanya tuan-tuan ini. PM pun boleh dikerahkan dihadapan anak-anak buahnya.
Mungkin ini sesuatu yang pedih untuk diakui tetapi itulah hakikatnya. Memandangkan orang-orang Melayu hanya ada kuasa politik, kuasa ekonomi ditangan orang Cina, maka tuan pada hakikinya dipegang oleh kapitan-kapitan yang memiliki guni-guni emas. Kuasa untuk memilih boleh dikawal. Kuasa politik boleh dijual beli. Kuasa politik bersifat dinamik, ia tidak kekal kepada satu pihak semata-mata. Ia boleh beralih arah. Sebab itu Yahudi Amerika melobi kedua-dua calon Presiden Amerika. Siapa pu yang menang, mereka tetap boleh dicucuk hidung.
Maka disinilah jawaban bagaimana 6 kotak beer lebih berharga dari maruah seorang Melayu yang bernama Hassan Ali. Suara Hassan Ali hanya suara kuasa poltik yang boleh dineutralkan. Hassan Ali pun tahu suara beliau tidak membawa makna, tetapi beliau membawa watak pesuruhjaya PAS, jika beliau tidak bersuara apa orang kata pulak?.
Tetapi realitinya suara -suara Melayu sudah tidak mampu lagi untuk membentuk sebarang arah yang dapat mencerminkan ketuanannya. Ketuanannya hanya tinggal nama yang tidak membawa makna.
Apakah hak asasi manusia pada definasinya? Sudah tentu hak asasi majoriti diutamakan tanpa menindas hak asasi kaum minoriti. Jika semua hak asasi kaum minoriti harus diberi keutamaan maka sudah tentu selepas berbagai-bagai lagi tuntutan akan disuarakan kerana semuanya mempunyai hak yang sama yang dijamin oleh perlembagaan. Maka jika dahulu kerajaan yang memerintah dikutuk kerana tidak mendaulatkan syariat, kini kita hendak lihat sejauh mana syariat dapat didaulatkan oleh rejim yang baru.
Namun suara-suara apologetik sudah kedengaran, PAS sudah menjalankan tanggungjawabnya, maka PAS sudah terlepas dari disabitkan.
Samaa ada usaha itu membuahkan hasil atau tidak, Pas Selangor sudah terlepas daripada menanggung dosa. Pas Selangor sudah melaksanakan tanggungjawab yang diamanahkan oleh parti dan ahli serta penyokongnya. Perjuangan Pas telah dilaksanakan di Selangor! Soal menang dan kalah dalam perjuangan ia adalah subjektif, tidak bermakna menang itu benar dan kalah itu salah (sepenuhnya klik sini)
Mudah sungguh menjadi sebuah parti seperti PAS, jika tidak dapat membantah dengan tangan hendaklah membantahkan dengan mulut, jika tidak dapat membantahkan dengan mulut hendaklah membantah dalam hati. Jadi selepas ini PAS hanya akan membantah dalam hati je lah ye....
Sebenarnya PAS Selangor boleh melucutkan jawatan Ronnie 'TakeBeer' Liew. PAS Selangor memang mempunyai kuasa untuk membetulkan keadaan dengan tangannya sendiri. PAS Selangor memilih untuk hanya membantah dalam hati . PAS Selangor sendiri tahu apa kuasa yang ada padanya tetapi memilih untu akur dan tunduk ikut saf. Kalau Doktrin Negara Islam boleh dikesampingkan apa lagi dengan sedikit hal arak 6 kotak.
Tetapi itulah mentaliti Melayu kita. Kita terlalu banyak beralah. Kita yakin boleh 'win the war' walaupun 'losing the battle'. Masalahnya kita 'keep on losing the small battle'. Dalam hal ini kita tidak boleh tidak kena angkat topi pada Ronni Takebeer, kerana keampuhannya bermain politik. Jadi Dr Hassan 'Six Pack' Ali you just have to shut your mouth.
Hakikatnya PAS tidak berani go for broke. PAS tidak berani untuk melucutkan jawatan Ronnie Takebeer. Gunakan kuasa yang awak ada...ada berani?
Salam untuk yang sanggup mati kerana kandang babi di Kedah sana.
p/s: Mengapa aku beria-ia mengkritik PAS dalam soal ini sedangkan UMNO mempunyai masalah yang sama?
Jawabanya adalah kerana PAS menjual diri sebagai penjaga ketuanan Islam. Mereka mengiklan dirinya sebagai Islam sebenar sebab itu mereka mempersoalkan semua yang UMNO buat atas nama Islam. Bila diminta memilih diantara prinsip dan kedudukan...kita dapat lihat apa pilihan mereka. Dan mereka dapat pula datang dengan alasan yang lucu2.
Bagaimana hendak menegakkan daulah Islamiah dengan hanya 51% penduduk negara beragama Islam sedangan hal 6 kotak beer pun terhoyong hayang? Kalau semuanya sama dengan apa yang UMNO lakukan sebelum ini maka apa yang berbeza?
kita lihat ada orang sanggup keluar kerajaan hanya kerana satu kandang babi..tetapi ada orang tak berani sekalipun ia benar atas nama Islam.
Mungkin ini sesuatu yang pedih untuk diakui tetapi itulah hakikatnya. Memandangkan orang-orang Melayu hanya ada kuasa politik, kuasa ekonomi ditangan orang Cina, maka tuan pada hakikinya dipegang oleh kapitan-kapitan yang memiliki guni-guni emas. Kuasa untuk memilih boleh dikawal. Kuasa politik boleh dijual beli. Kuasa politik bersifat dinamik, ia tidak kekal kepada satu pihak semata-mata. Ia boleh beralih arah. Sebab itu Yahudi Amerika melobi kedua-dua calon Presiden Amerika. Siapa pu yang menang, mereka tetap boleh dicucuk hidung.
Maka disinilah jawaban bagaimana 6 kotak beer lebih berharga dari maruah seorang Melayu yang bernama Hassan Ali. Suara Hassan Ali hanya suara kuasa poltik yang boleh dineutralkan. Hassan Ali pun tahu suara beliau tidak membawa makna, tetapi beliau membawa watak pesuruhjaya PAS, jika beliau tidak bersuara apa orang kata pulak?.
Tetapi realitinya suara -suara Melayu sudah tidak mampu lagi untuk membentuk sebarang arah yang dapat mencerminkan ketuanannya. Ketuanannya hanya tinggal nama yang tidak membawa makna.
Apakah hak asasi manusia pada definasinya? Sudah tentu hak asasi majoriti diutamakan tanpa menindas hak asasi kaum minoriti. Jika semua hak asasi kaum minoriti harus diberi keutamaan maka sudah tentu selepas berbagai-bagai lagi tuntutan akan disuarakan kerana semuanya mempunyai hak yang sama yang dijamin oleh perlembagaan. Maka jika dahulu kerajaan yang memerintah dikutuk kerana tidak mendaulatkan syariat, kini kita hendak lihat sejauh mana syariat dapat didaulatkan oleh rejim yang baru.
Namun suara-suara apologetik sudah kedengaran, PAS sudah menjalankan tanggungjawabnya, maka PAS sudah terlepas dari disabitkan.
Samaa ada usaha itu membuahkan hasil atau tidak, Pas Selangor sudah terlepas daripada menanggung dosa. Pas Selangor sudah melaksanakan tanggungjawab yang diamanahkan oleh parti dan ahli serta penyokongnya. Perjuangan Pas telah dilaksanakan di Selangor! Soal menang dan kalah dalam perjuangan ia adalah subjektif, tidak bermakna menang itu benar dan kalah itu salah (sepenuhnya klik sini)
Mudah sungguh menjadi sebuah parti seperti PAS, jika tidak dapat membantah dengan tangan hendaklah membantahkan dengan mulut, jika tidak dapat membantahkan dengan mulut hendaklah membantah dalam hati. Jadi selepas ini PAS hanya akan membantah dalam hati je lah ye....
Sebenarnya PAS Selangor boleh melucutkan jawatan Ronnie 'TakeBeer' Liew. PAS Selangor memang mempunyai kuasa untuk membetulkan keadaan dengan tangannya sendiri. PAS Selangor memilih untuk hanya membantah dalam hati . PAS Selangor sendiri tahu apa kuasa yang ada padanya tetapi memilih untu akur dan tunduk ikut saf. Kalau Doktrin Negara Islam boleh dikesampingkan apa lagi dengan sedikit hal arak 6 kotak.
Tetapi itulah mentaliti Melayu kita. Kita terlalu banyak beralah. Kita yakin boleh 'win the war' walaupun 'losing the battle'. Masalahnya kita 'keep on losing the small battle'. Dalam hal ini kita tidak boleh tidak kena angkat topi pada Ronni Takebeer, kerana keampuhannya bermain politik. Jadi Dr Hassan 'Six Pack' Ali you just have to shut your mouth.
Hakikatnya PAS tidak berani go for broke. PAS tidak berani untuk melucutkan jawatan Ronnie Takebeer. Gunakan kuasa yang awak ada...ada berani?
Salam untuk yang sanggup mati kerana kandang babi di Kedah sana.
p/s: Mengapa aku beria-ia mengkritik PAS dalam soal ini sedangkan UMNO mempunyai masalah yang sama?
Jawabanya adalah kerana PAS menjual diri sebagai penjaga ketuanan Islam. Mereka mengiklan dirinya sebagai Islam sebenar sebab itu mereka mempersoalkan semua yang UMNO buat atas nama Islam. Bila diminta memilih diantara prinsip dan kedudukan...kita dapat lihat apa pilihan mereka. Dan mereka dapat pula datang dengan alasan yang lucu2.
Bagaimana hendak menegakkan daulah Islamiah dengan hanya 51% penduduk negara beragama Islam sedangan hal 6 kotak beer pun terhoyong hayang? Kalau semuanya sama dengan apa yang UMNO lakukan sebelum ini maka apa yang berbeza?
kita lihat ada orang sanggup keluar kerajaan hanya kerana satu kandang babi..tetapi ada orang tak berani sekalipun ia benar atas nama Islam.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Penulis Blog Yang Bacul
Ada sesuatu yang tidak kena dengan situasi kita di negeri yang kita namakan Malaysia ini. Apabila orang Melayu/Islam memberi pandangan tentang sesuatu isu berkenaan dengan hubungan kaum kita dengan segera akan dilabel sebagai rasis. Pada masa yang sama kumpulan ini dengan sewenang-wenangnya menghina agama, Sultan dan adat budaya kita tanpa segan silu dan tanpa batas adab. Yang lucunyanya selepas mereka menghamburkan kata nista itu, mereka lari lintang pukang ketakutan.
1. Blog sjsandteam telah di 'delete' (klik sini)
2. Dalam posting tweeter mereka, mereka menghina pula Raja Nazrin Shah (klik sini)
Hakikatnya kumpulan-kumpulan bacul ini hanya berani menghentam secara curi-curi kemudian lari. Kumpulan ini banyak bersarang di malaysia today.
Inilah akibatnya bila bangsa -bangsa yang tidak bertamadun ini diberi muka. Sebaik sahaja dapat sediki kuasa habis semua hendak disapunya. Seolah-olah orang Melayu/Islam di Malaysia tidak punya hak langsung. Seolah-olah kerana DEB memberi keistimewaan kepada kaum pribumi, hak itu hilang bila undi memihak kepada mereka.
DYMM Raja Nazrin Shah bertitah dengan penuh bijaksana dan dengan mesej tersirat halus kepada kaum pribumi. Apa yang bakal menanti mereka jika mereka tidak berhati-hati. Beliau amat maklum bahawa hanya orang Melayu/Islam Malaysia sahaja yang prihatin dan sayang kepada kesultanan mereka, jangan harap kaum lain akan mengangkat semua ini ditempat setinggi sekarang ini.
Masalah kita adalah ada Melayu yang sanggup membakar semua ini kerana secalit dendam. Hanya kerana ingin bertakhta beliau mahu meroboh semua apa yang dibina semenjak 52 tahun dahulu. Beliau sanggup menjadi boneka, beliau sanggup jadi pak turut, beliau sanggup menjadi penderhaka, beliau sanggup menjadi petualang demi sedikit kemanisan kuasa. Namun hakikatnya jika kita sudah sampai kepada tiada jalan kembali, yang menang hanya akan jadi arang dan yang kalah pastilah hanya jadi abu. Dan itulah yang dikehendaki oleh kumpulan ini.
Biar menang sebagai arang, janji menang. Biarlah memerintah hanya negeri pasir dua butir tapi tetap jadi pemerintah.
Salam untuk melayu yang sentiasa dimalukan.
1. Blog sjsandteam telah di 'delete' (klik sini)
2. Dalam posting tweeter mereka, mereka menghina pula Raja Nazrin Shah (klik sini)
Minta maaf lah tuan, if you think you get the country to be free of Islamic values and The Monarchy, you are day dreaming. Malaysia and Islam and its monarchy are indispensible, You can say whatever you want, if you insist, there will be blood on the street. But I doubt it, I doubt whether you have balls to battle it out. People like you are cowards. You hide behind freedom of speech only if it suit you, but when the freedom of turn against you, you label it racist.
Hakikatnya kumpulan-kumpulan bacul ini hanya berani menghentam secara curi-curi kemudian lari. Kumpulan ini banyak bersarang di malaysia today.
Inilah akibatnya bila bangsa -bangsa yang tidak bertamadun ini diberi muka. Sebaik sahaja dapat sediki kuasa habis semua hendak disapunya. Seolah-olah orang Melayu/Islam di Malaysia tidak punya hak langsung. Seolah-olah kerana DEB memberi keistimewaan kepada kaum pribumi, hak itu hilang bila undi memihak kepada mereka.
DYMM Raja Nazrin Shah bertitah dengan penuh bijaksana dan dengan mesej tersirat halus kepada kaum pribumi. Apa yang bakal menanti mereka jika mereka tidak berhati-hati. Beliau amat maklum bahawa hanya orang Melayu/Islam Malaysia sahaja yang prihatin dan sayang kepada kesultanan mereka, jangan harap kaum lain akan mengangkat semua ini ditempat setinggi sekarang ini.
Masalah kita adalah ada Melayu yang sanggup membakar semua ini kerana secalit dendam. Hanya kerana ingin bertakhta beliau mahu meroboh semua apa yang dibina semenjak 52 tahun dahulu. Beliau sanggup menjadi boneka, beliau sanggup jadi pak turut, beliau sanggup menjadi penderhaka, beliau sanggup menjadi petualang demi sedikit kemanisan kuasa. Namun hakikatnya jika kita sudah sampai kepada tiada jalan kembali, yang menang hanya akan jadi arang dan yang kalah pastilah hanya jadi abu. Dan itulah yang dikehendaki oleh kumpulan ini.
Biar menang sebagai arang, janji menang. Biarlah memerintah hanya negeri pasir dua butir tapi tetap jadi pemerintah.
Salam untuk melayu yang sentiasa dimalukan.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
PAS dan 'TakeBeer'.
Akhirnya Pesuruh Jaya PAS Selangor pun bersuara. Mungkin agak terlambat dalam 7 hari. Tetapi Pesuruh Jaya PAS Selangor membuktikan beliau mempunyai telur jantan di tubuhnya. Maka terpecahlah tembelang tentang apa yang berlaku secara rasmi di sebalik tirai di Selangor.
Dari pendedahan ini maka kita rakyat marhaen boleh membuat beberapa kesimpulan;
1. Exco Selangor mencampuri urusan pentadbiran PBT secara langsung. Sama ada ini boleh dipanggil penyalahgunaan kuasa, aku tidak pasti, tetapi yang pasti ada Exco yang berlanggak sebagai gangster Kampung Dusun di SUK. Jadi dimana beza BN dengan PR?
2. Exco DAP tidak peduli dengan sentimen masyarakat Melayu. Sifat Chauvinis mereka sangat jelas. Jika mereka ini memerintah Malaysia, bayangkan siapa yang akan beraja dimata dan bersultan dihati.
3.Sikap besar kepala ini bukan dilakukan oleh exco DAP sahaja, malah Ahli Majlis DAP di PBT juga mempunyai sikap mereka sahaja yang betul dan kaedah mereka sahaja yang perlu diikuti. Tanyalah pegawai PBT Ampang Jaya, Kajang, Selayang dll.
3. PAS gagal dalam menangani isu penjualan arak di Selangor. PAS baru sahaja ditempelak oleh DAP dan MCA tentang hak untuk menjual arak kepada khalayak samada di kawasan majoriti Melayu/Islam atau tidak. Inilah maslahat yang sama yang didepani oleh UMNO tetapi UMNO memilih untuk mengikut telunjuk MCA. Jadi kita lihat sejauh mana PAS dapat mengatasi maslahat ini. Pada firasat aku status quo akan kekal. Maknanya PAS akan mengikut telunjuk DAP. Jadi PAS dan UMNO sama sahaja. Tetapi PAS memakai jaket Islam dan UMNO jaket nasionalis, maka nampaknya PAS akan masuk syurga walau pun arak dijual secara umum sama macam zaman UMNO.
4. Ironinya dengan PAS adalah salah atu hujah mereka kenapa UMNO tidak mengikut lunas Islam adalah kerana Arak dijual secara berleluasa di Selangor. Kilang arak ada di Selangor. tetapi sebaik sahaja mendapat kuasa retorik ini hilang. Timbul pula hujah arak adalah untuk bukan Islam dan mereka berhak dan sebagainya. Itu adalah hujan Ustaz Azizan di Kedah. Di Selangor tiada resolusi dari PAS Selangor untuk menutup kilang arak di Shah Alam. Malah YB Khalid juga mempertahankan hak bukan Islam untuk mentekadarah arak. Apa bezanya dengan zaman UMNO?. oohhh..dizaman UMNO mereka tidak menggunakan ayat alquran dan sirah Rasulallah untuk menghalalkan perbuatan ini....bodonya UMNO.
5. YM DR Hassan Ali patut tahu ada satu lagi benda yang lebih merbahayakan dan sangat memabukkan di Selangor..benda itu disebut KUASA.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Is the Vaccine Industry the Next Bubble to lift United State out of the financial quicksand?
It is a certain fact that United States is slowly sinking in a huge financial mess. If this problem is faced by other country, I'm sure that poor country is down to her knees already. But this is no ordinary country. This is too big to fail country.
What ever it is the US need a miracle to lift her out of this mess. The great country need something to generate it economy. Remember the dot com bubble and the housing bubble? They are the bubbles created to save US from the sagging economy.
United State unfortunately , does not have any productive or meaningful manufacturing capabality to compete with the rest of the world other then its cars (gone already) and military industrial complex. They thought by focusing to be the world financial centre, they are able to control the world. But United State is like a great magician. She still possessed something up her sleeves, she has not run out of ammo.
The United States still have a competitive edge in term of technology . She has something that other countries still lack. She still has a well developed biological war fare technology. Now they have better terms for this . Its Bio defense!.
The United States has painstakingly collected all the fatal viruses found all over the world. They have almost a complete collection of known fatal viruses. Infact the net is full of written analysis of United States ability to conduct a bio warfare. If you read the Tom Burghard article (i repost it below) regarding US bio weapon industry you will now that they are capable of creating a global crisis!.
'Nothing happened by accident'. This rather old cliche sum up all the happening in world now . It is not a co incidence when H1N1 struck the world just after the United State almost fell to its knees. H1N1 which was born out of a combo of Spanish Flu Virus, Avian Flu Virus and Human Virus through a technic called gene splicing could not have come out of a pig farm from Mexico. Give the swine a break man.
World Health Organization predicted that as many as 2 billion people will be affected by H1N1 by 2011(click here). That is many billion dollar vaccination program. What if the world is hit by all kind flu one after another?. After all what is the need of all that collection if you end up a failed state like the Soviet?
What ever it is the US need a miracle to lift her out of this mess. The great country need something to generate it economy. Remember the dot com bubble and the housing bubble? They are the bubbles created to save US from the sagging economy.
United State unfortunately , does not have any productive or meaningful manufacturing capabality to compete with the rest of the world other then its cars (gone already) and military industrial complex. They thought by focusing to be the world financial centre, they are able to control the world. But United State is like a great magician. She still possessed something up her sleeves, she has not run out of ammo.
The United States still have a competitive edge in term of technology . She has something that other countries still lack. She still has a well developed biological war fare technology. Now they have better terms for this . Its Bio defense!.
The United States has painstakingly collected all the fatal viruses found all over the world. They have almost a complete collection of known fatal viruses. Infact the net is full of written analysis of United States ability to conduct a bio warfare. If you read the Tom Burghard article (i repost it below) regarding US bio weapon industry you will now that they are capable of creating a global crisis!.
'Nothing happened by accident'. This rather old cliche sum up all the happening in world now . It is not a co incidence when H1N1 struck the world just after the United State almost fell to its knees. H1N1 which was born out of a combo of Spanish Flu Virus, Avian Flu Virus and Human Virus through a technic called gene splicing could not have come out of a pig farm from Mexico. Give the swine a break man.
World Health Organization predicted that as many as 2 billion people will be affected by H1N1 by 2011(click here). That is many billion dollar vaccination program. What if the world is hit by all kind flu one after another?. After all what is the need of all that collection if you end up a failed state like the Soviet?
Monday, August 3, 2009
Is H1N1 a test run for something more deadly?
America's Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction; Biological Warfare
Bioweapons research, secrecy and contamination go hand in hand
by Tom Burghardt
.
The 2001 anthrax attacks underscore the dangers posed to our health and safety by the Bioweapons-Industrial Complex.
The killer(s) employed a military-grade version of the deadly pathogen, a four-mutation blend of anthrax prepared at the government's test site at the remote Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. Based on available evidence it's a near certainty that the weapon came from stockpiles at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Ft. Detrick, Maryland.
Before the dust cleared prominent opposition politicians had been attacked, five people were murdered, 10,000 more were exposed and representative government ground to a halt as panic set in.
According to multiple media reports, federal investigators concluded that the anthrax spores in the letters addressed to former Senate leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) could only have been produced in a state-run lab. The weaponized version of the pathogen contained as many as one trillion spores per gram, a concentration sufficient enough to kill half the American population if widely distributed.
But rather than giving pause to Pentagon weaponeers, Big Pharma who profit handsomely from vaccine production, the $100 billion agribusiness empire that drives research and the politicians who do their bidding, decades-long U.S. biowar programs have miraculously morphed overnight into a new growth industry: "biodefense."
What had once been Washington's dirty little secret has now blossomed into a $50 billion cash-cow for academic and corporate grifters, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
As the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists pointed out last year, "massive U.S. biodefense spending and a buildup of high-containment laboratories throughout the country might have created an internal security risk that no outside terrorist group could ever duplicate. Nearly two dozen new federal and many more new private biosafety level 3 and 4 laboratories have been built in recent years, meaning a large cadre of scientists has access to extraordinarily lethal material."
Indeed, under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the new National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) opened in 2008 at USAMRIID. The center conducts inherently dual-use classified research and is currently managed by the spooky Battelle National Biodefense Institute.
Under the rubric of preventing bioterrorism, one question that DHS has not answered is whether or not government scientists and private contractors will conduct illicit experiments that violate the Biological Weapons Convention?
We may never know. Claiming that research will not breach the BWC, DHS avers that a "Compliance Review Group" overseen by senior Homeland Security officials will monitor NBACC operations. However information, including the Review Group's reports on Center operations or accidents at the facility may not be available under the Freedom of Information Act under cover of national security.
While it is reasonable to protect the nation's food supply from mischief, including sabotage by terrorists or deranged individuals armed with dangerous pathogens, work on animal diseases should be done transparently and safely. This however, is not the approach favored by the Department of Homeland Security.
A culture of secrecy and cover-up permeates the agency; after all DHS answers to the militarized Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the so-called security "czar" who oversees the 16-agency U.S. intelligence complex.
"Food security" under such conditions is hardly amenable to public accountabilty; it is however, a formula that can be highly detrimental to our health, safety and well-being.
National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
When the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to phase out the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) by 2015, the agency cited the need to "enhance our nation's capacity to assess potential threats to humans and animals alike."
Averring that the Plum Island facility "is near the end of its lifecycle" and "is too small to meet the nation's research needs," DHS now plans to open the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Estimated to cost taxpayers some $700 million to construct, the department plans to have the site up-and-running by 2014.
The authority for building the new facility comes from Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 (HSPD-9): Defense of Agriculture and Food. HSPD-9 mandates that the secretaries of Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services; the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the heads of other "appropriate" federal departments and agencies "in consultation" with the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, "accelerate and expand the development of countermeasures against the intentional introduction or natural occurrence of catastrophic animal, plant, and zoonotic diseases."
According to a 2007 report by the Congressional Research Service:
The DHS foresees multiple uses and goals for the new facility: serving as a unique BSL-3 and BSL-4 livestock laboratory capable of developing countermeasures for foreign animal diseases; providing advanced test and evaluation capability for threat detection, vulnerability assessment, and countermeasure assessment for animal and zoonotic diseases; and supporting countermeasure licensure.
The research agenda for NBAF is to be at least partially based on current risk assessments and subject to change as the risk assessments change. The DHS predicts that the facility will focus on foot and mouth disease (FMD), classical swine fever, African swine fever, Rift Valley fever, Nipah virus, Hendra virus, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, and Japanese encephalitis. (Dana A. Shea, Jim Monke and Frank Gottron, The National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility: Issues for Congress, Congressional Research Service, RL42160, November 15, 2007)
A zoonotic disease is one that can easily be transmitted from animals to humans; examples include Rift Valley fever, Lyme Disease, West Nile virus, H1N1 and H5N1 influenza. These pathogens however, can also be deployed as plausibly deniable bioweapons, a point not addressed by government investigators.
"Countermeasure licensure" of course, is a formula for handing over the fruit of publicly funded research to unaccountable private corporations who stand to make hefty profits from the manufacture of vaccines.
More pertinently, will America's expanding "biodefense" industry serve as a cover for the manufacture of new weapons of war?
As Watergate-era congressional investigations and multiple media reports have conclusively demonstrated, for decades the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon employed far-right Cuban mercenaries to attack the economic and agricultural infrastructure of socialist Cuba.
Indeed, Newsday reported as far back as 1977, that "operatives linked to anti-Castro terrorists introduced African swine fever virus into Cuba in 1971. Six weeks later, an outbreak of the disease forced the slaughter of 500,000 pigs to prevent a nationwide epidemic."
The African swine fever virus deployed in the attack according to participants, was believed to have originated from stockpiles stored at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and handed over to CIA-trained terrorists at Ft. Gulick, an Army base in the former Panama Canal Zone.
And in 1981 according to researcher William H. Schaap, Cuba was struck by a devastating epidemic of Dengue fever, "one of some 250 arthropod-borne viruses, or 'arboviruses,' diseases transmitted from one vertebrate to another by hematophagous arthropods--blood eating insects, usually mosquitoes."
"Dengue and other arboviruses" Schaap wrote, "are ideal as biological weapons for a number of reasons. Dengue, especially hemorrhagic dengue, is highly incapacitating; it can be transmitted easily through the introduction of infected mosquitoes; it will spread rapidly, especially in highly populated and damp areas."
Citing the simultaneous outbreak of the disease in three widely separated parts of Cuba and that it is "extremely unusual that such an epidemic would commence in three localities at once," and the absence of the disease on adjacent islands such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Schaap concludes that the pathogen was purposely introduced into Cuba as a bioweapon.
Indeed, Army researchers at Ft. Detrick had conducted dispersal studies of the Aedes aegypti mosquito--and Dengue fever--used in the 1981 attack against the island nation.
The epidemic which hit Cuba in May 1981 was of type 2 dengue with hemorrhagic shock. Except for the type 1 epidemic reported in 1977, this was the first major dengue outbreak in Cuba since 1944, and, most importantly, the first in the Caribbean since the turn of the century to involve hemorrhagic shock on a massive scale.
From May to October 1981 there were well over 300,000 reported cases, with 158 fatalities, 101 involving children under 15. At the peak of the epidemic, in early July, more than 10,000 cases per day were being reported. More than a third of the reported victims required hospitalization. By mid-October, after a massive campaign to eradicate Aedes aegypti, the epidemic was over. (William H. Schaap, "The 1981 Cuba Dengue Epidemic," Washington, D.C.: Covert Action Information Bulletin, Number 17, Summer 1982)
And if the past is any guide to future actions by the Pentagon and the so-called Intelligence Community, what can we infer from DHS's stated goal of standing-up NBAF as a center for assessing "potential threats to humans and animals alike"? As it turns out, quite a lot.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigators charge that DHS relied on "a rushed, flawed study" to justify its decision to locate the $700 million research facility for highly infectious pathogens "in a tornado-prone section of Kansas, according to a government report," The Washington Post reported July 26.
The dubious report in question, United States Department of Agriculture Biocontainment Feasibility Studies, Study Report: Plum Island Animal Disease Center, was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and prepared by the giant defense and security firm Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).
Talk about feathering one's own nest! SAIC's Frederick, Maryland advanced technology division (near Ft. Detrick) has partnered-up with with a host of federal agencies including the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, the Pentagon's primary biowarfare research center.
Needless to say, the spooky firm has considerable clout in Washington. According to Washington Technology's "2009 Top 100 Federal Prime Contractors" list, SAIC clocks-in at number 7 (just behind KBR Inc.) with some $4,811,194,800 in revenue, the bulk of earnings coming from defense and security contracts with the federal government.
Last year however, a preliminary GAO report was unveiled during hearings before Congress' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce. It was highly critical of the flawed reasoning behind DHS's NBAF decision and SAIC's report. Relying on USDA's 2002 study, GAO auditors found that the agency,
has neither conducted nor commissioned any study to determine whether work on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) can be done safely on the U.S. mainland. Instead, in deciding that work with FMD can be done safely on the mainland, DHS relied on a 2002 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study that addressed a different question. The study did not assess the past history of releases of FMD virus or other dangerous pathogens in the United States or elsewhere. It did not address in detail the issues of containment related to large animal work in BSL-3 Ag facilities. It was inaccurate in comparing other countries' FMD work experience with that of the United States. Therefore, GAO believes DHS does not have evidence to conclude that FMD work can be done safely on the U.S. mainland. (Nancy Kingsbury, Managing Director Applied Research and Measurements, Government Accountability Office, High-Containment Laboratories: DHS Lacks Evidence to Conclude That Foot-and-Mouth-Disease Research Can Be Done Safely on the U.S. Mainland, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, May 22, 2008, GAO-08-821T)
The SAIC review addressed a different issue: whether or not it is "technically feasible" to conduct such research on the U.S. mainland. GAO averred, "This approach fails to recognize the distinction between what is technically feasible and what is possible, given the potential for human error."
Citing "methodological problems" in SAIC's study, GAO auditors found that the report: "(1) did not assess the history of releases of FMD virus or other dangerous pathogens, (2) did not address in detail the issues related to large animal work in BSL-3 Ag facilities, and (3) was inaccurate in comparing other countries' FMD work experience with that of the United States."
GAO concluded that among the report's more glaring and obvious problems, "(1) the study used an ad hoc method to select its expert panel that was not necessarily free from bias; (2) the study report was written by a single third-party person under contract for that purpose who was not present during the panel discussions; and (3) no concern was taken to ensure that the expert panel members reviewed either the draft or the final version of the report. At least one expert panel member expressed disappointment with the slant of the report."
Indeed, the SAIC review failed to address the issue of past releases of FMD or other pathogens, nor did it assess "the general history of accidents within biocontainment facilities." No small matter when it comes to potential mischief or lax safety standards known to exist at such facilities.
According to GAO, "the study panel members we interviewed said that no data on past accidents with or releases of either FMD or other pathogens was systematically presented or discussed. Rather, the panel members recalled that they relied on their own knowledge of and experience with the history of releases in a general discussion."
In a follow-up report published in July 2009, GAO discovered that DHS's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was wholly inadequate and in fact, relied on flawed and outdated methodology to arrive at their conclusions. According to GAO auditors "Comments on the NBAF draft EIS included the following concerns:"
* the ability of DHS and the federal government in general to safely operate a biosafety facility such as the proposed NBAF;
* the potential for a pathogenic release through accidents, natural phenomena, and terrorist actions;
* our May 2008 testimony that concluded that DHS had not conducted or commissioned a study to determine whether FMD research could be conducted safely on the U.S. mainland;
* natural phenomena such as tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes that could cause catastrophic damage to the NBAF and result in the release of a pathogen;
* the possibility that an infected mosquito vector could escape, allowing a pathogen such as Rift Valley Fever virus to become permanently established in the United States;
* the economic effects of a release or a perceived release on the local, state, and national livestock industry. (United States Government Accountability Office, Report to Congressional Committees, Biological Research: Observations on DHS's Analyses Concerning Whether FMD Research Can Be Done as Safely on the Mainland as on Plum Island, July 2009, GAO-09-747)
Indeed similar to the earlier USDA study, DHS's EIS failed to include even a cursory analysis of multiple releases of the FMD virus at Plum Island itself. No matter, full speed ahead!
Leading the charge to site NBAF at Kansas State University is the Kansas Bioscience Authority (KBA), a business and academic consortium chaired by former Democratic governor John Carlin. Plush with industry heavy-hitters such as the Midwest Research Institute (MRI), the lobby shop KansasBio, Symark LLC, a technology commercialization firm specializing in the biosciences industry, KBA is hell-bent on bringing NBAF to Kansas despite serious health and safety concerns.
According to a Kansas City Star report, Tom Thornton, the President and CEO of the Kansas Bioscience Authority told the newspaper "This nation needs to have one modern biocontainment lab that conducts research into these diseases to protect agriculture and protect public health."
Claiming that the GAO report was "biased," KBA's John Carlin asserted that "aside from using Dorothy as their science, they don't have much going for them." Thornton said the project would be built as a "vault inside a vault inside a submarine" to protect against the accidental release of germs and diseases.
In other words, move along...
DHS and USDA assert, despite historical evidence, that Foot-and Mouth-Disease (FMD) as well as research with other dangerous pathogens can be safely conducted on the U.S. mainland at its new agro-defense center. But if evidence from Britain is any guide on what to expect, the explosive growth of Biosafety Level 3 and 4 laboratories in the United States will only compound the problem.
In 2001 and 2007, FMD releases at Britain's Institute for Animal Health at Pirbright were traced to a leaking drain which allowed the disease to escape containment. Crumbling infrastructure is only one of a constellation of issues that led to the outbreaks, investigators discovered. Lax oversight and a culture of secrecy nearly devastated Europe's livestock.
According to Britain's National Audit Office, the direct cost of the 2001 outbreak to the public sector was estimated at over $5.71 billion and the cost to the private sector clocked-in at over $9.51 billion. Indeed, when tourism and supporting industries were factored into the equation, total losses ballooned from $8.56 billion to $10.27 billion when movement into the countryside was restricted by the state, UK auditors estimated.
By the time FMD was eradicated in September 2001, more than six million animals had been slaughtered and the disease had spread to France, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Ireland. A similar outbreak in 2007 fueled calls to close the facility.
This is not a problem confined to Britain, but is endemic to the entire bioweapons and "biodefense" complex globally, particularly here in the heimat.
Tip of a Sinister Iceberg
Bioweapons research, secrecy and contamination go hand in hand.
Despite soothing bromides from defense corporations, the military, the scientific community and the politicians who do their bidding, the accidental or planned release of selected pathogens into the environment for "research purposes" is an enduring legacy of America's Cold War biowar programs.
The experimentation on witting and unwitting subjects in a score of top secret Army and CIA programs underscore the sinister nature of the Bioweapons-Industrial Complex. Indeed, a 1994 GAO report, documented:
During World War II and the Cold War era, DOD and other national security agencies conducted or sponsored extensive radiological, chemical, and biological research programs. Precise information on the number of tests, experiments, and participants is not available, and the exact numbers may never be known. However, we have identified hundreds of radiological, chemical, and biological tests and experiments in which hundreds of thousands of people were used as test subjects. These tests and experiments often involved hazardous substances such as radiation, blister and nerve agents, biological agents, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). In some cases, basic safeguards to protect people were either not in place or not followed. For example, some tests and experiments were conducted in secret; others involved the use of people without their knowledge or consent or their full knowledge of the risks involved. (Frank C. Conahan, Assistant Comptroller General, National Security and International Affairs Division, Human Experimentation, An Overview on Cold War Era Programs, General Accounting Office, September 28, 1994, GAO/T-NSIAD-94-266)
Despite efforts since the Watergate-era to uncover the extent of these programs, many remain classified to this day. The GAO found that the Central Intelligence Agency, more concerned with shielding their corporate partners' participation in illicit experiments with LSD and other psychoactive compounds "have made little effort to assist test participants by identifying test locations and participants in experiments conducted by contractors." The Agency "in fact, has not released the names of 15 of the approximately 80 organizations that conducted experiments under the ... MKULTRA program because the organizations do not want to be identified."
One sinister Pentagon project, Operation WHITECOAT, was a secret U.S. Army weapons' testing program carried out between 1954-1973 on Seventh-day Adventist Church conscientious objectors who consented to the experiments, and over 2,300 Army soldiers who almost certainly were not provided anything approaching informed consent. Similar to cattle, sheep or pigs on Plum Island, test subjects were infected with agents such as Q Fever, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, Hepatitis A, bubonic plague, Tularemia (rabbit fever) and Venezuelan Equine encephalitis.
Indeed, the range of experimentation on human subjects carried out by the U.S. biological weapons program makes for a very grim read. As Boston College sociologist Jeanne Guillemin wrote in her disturbing exposé,
The entire experimental legacy is dismaying, from the hundreds of dead monkeys at Fort Detrick to the spectacle of Seventh Day Adventist soldiers, the vaccinated volunteers in Project Whitecoat, strapped to chairs amid cages of animals in the Utah sunlight as Q fever aerosols are blown over them. Most chilling are the mock scenarios played out in urban areas: light bulbs filled with simulated BW agents being dropped in New York subways, men in Washington National Airport spraying pseudo-BW from briefcases, and similar tests in California and Texas and over the Florida Keys. (Jeanne Guillemin, Anthrax: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999, pp. 176-177.)
As Michael Christopher Carroll's stunning investigation of Plum Island, Lab 257 revealed, multiple releases of highly-contagious pathogens including Foot-and-Mouth-Disease and Rift Valley Fever, were systematically covered-up by the USDA and DHS.
Will it be any different at the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility? If one were to believe DHS, it would represent the triumph of hope over experience. This is not a rational starting point when it comes to experiments with highly-contagious pathogens.
America's corporate media however, seemingly impermeable to anything other than celebrity scandals and the crimes of official enemies, refuse to conduct in-depth investigations into the expansion of America's Bioweapons-Industrial Complex.
Despite government pronouncements, faithfully regurgitated by media stenographers to the public, available evidence suggests that the United States, as in the past, is pursuing the development of biological agents for use in a score of clandestine weapons programs.
Under cover of conducting research on the highly-contagious Foot-and-Mouth-Disease pathogen, a new and improved national laboratory equipped with BSL-3 and BSL-4 containment facilities, like their cohorts at the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick, Maryland in all probability will continue to investigate the efficacy of waging aggressive biological warfare on an adversary's food supply.
Sound far-fetched? If the evidence from Cold War-era CIA and Pentagon programs, well-documented accidents, illicit human experimentation as well as numerous examples of biological attacks against socialist Cuba are a guide to Washington's future behavior, better think again!
Tom Burghardt is a researcher and activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to publishing in Covert Action Quarterly and Global Research, his articles can be read on Dissident Voice, The Intelligence Daily, Pacific Free Press and the whistleblowing website Wikileaks. He is the editor of Police State America: U.S. Military "Civil Disturbance" Planning, distributed by AK Press.
Bioweapons research, secrecy and contamination go hand in hand
by Tom Burghardt
.
The 2001 anthrax attacks underscore the dangers posed to our health and safety by the Bioweapons-Industrial Complex.
The killer(s) employed a military-grade version of the deadly pathogen, a four-mutation blend of anthrax prepared at the government's test site at the remote Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. Based on available evidence it's a near certainty that the weapon came from stockpiles at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Ft. Detrick, Maryland.
Before the dust cleared prominent opposition politicians had been attacked, five people were murdered, 10,000 more were exposed and representative government ground to a halt as panic set in.
According to multiple media reports, federal investigators concluded that the anthrax spores in the letters addressed to former Senate leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) could only have been produced in a state-run lab. The weaponized version of the pathogen contained as many as one trillion spores per gram, a concentration sufficient enough to kill half the American population if widely distributed.
But rather than giving pause to Pentagon weaponeers, Big Pharma who profit handsomely from vaccine production, the $100 billion agribusiness empire that drives research and the politicians who do their bidding, decades-long U.S. biowar programs have miraculously morphed overnight into a new growth industry: "biodefense."
What had once been Washington's dirty little secret has now blossomed into a $50 billion cash-cow for academic and corporate grifters, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
As the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists pointed out last year, "massive U.S. biodefense spending and a buildup of high-containment laboratories throughout the country might have created an internal security risk that no outside terrorist group could ever duplicate. Nearly two dozen new federal and many more new private biosafety level 3 and 4 laboratories have been built in recent years, meaning a large cadre of scientists has access to extraordinarily lethal material."
Indeed, under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the new National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) opened in 2008 at USAMRIID. The center conducts inherently dual-use classified research and is currently managed by the spooky Battelle National Biodefense Institute.
Under the rubric of preventing bioterrorism, one question that DHS has not answered is whether or not government scientists and private contractors will conduct illicit experiments that violate the Biological Weapons Convention?
We may never know. Claiming that research will not breach the BWC, DHS avers that a "Compliance Review Group" overseen by senior Homeland Security officials will monitor NBACC operations. However information, including the Review Group's reports on Center operations or accidents at the facility may not be available under the Freedom of Information Act under cover of national security.
While it is reasonable to protect the nation's food supply from mischief, including sabotage by terrorists or deranged individuals armed with dangerous pathogens, work on animal diseases should be done transparently and safely. This however, is not the approach favored by the Department of Homeland Security.
A culture of secrecy and cover-up permeates the agency; after all DHS answers to the militarized Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the so-called security "czar" who oversees the 16-agency U.S. intelligence complex.
"Food security" under such conditions is hardly amenable to public accountabilty; it is however, a formula that can be highly detrimental to our health, safety and well-being.
National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
When the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to phase out the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) by 2015, the agency cited the need to "enhance our nation's capacity to assess potential threats to humans and animals alike."
Averring that the Plum Island facility "is near the end of its lifecycle" and "is too small to meet the nation's research needs," DHS now plans to open the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Estimated to cost taxpayers some $700 million to construct, the department plans to have the site up-and-running by 2014.
The authority for building the new facility comes from Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 (HSPD-9): Defense of Agriculture and Food. HSPD-9 mandates that the secretaries of Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services; the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the heads of other "appropriate" federal departments and agencies "in consultation" with the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, "accelerate and expand the development of countermeasures against the intentional introduction or natural occurrence of catastrophic animal, plant, and zoonotic diseases."
According to a 2007 report by the Congressional Research Service:
The DHS foresees multiple uses and goals for the new facility: serving as a unique BSL-3 and BSL-4 livestock laboratory capable of developing countermeasures for foreign animal diseases; providing advanced test and evaluation capability for threat detection, vulnerability assessment, and countermeasure assessment for animal and zoonotic diseases; and supporting countermeasure licensure.
The research agenda for NBAF is to be at least partially based on current risk assessments and subject to change as the risk assessments change. The DHS predicts that the facility will focus on foot and mouth disease (FMD), classical swine fever, African swine fever, Rift Valley fever, Nipah virus, Hendra virus, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, and Japanese encephalitis. (Dana A. Shea, Jim Monke and Frank Gottron, The National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility: Issues for Congress, Congressional Research Service, RL42160, November 15, 2007)
A zoonotic disease is one that can easily be transmitted from animals to humans; examples include Rift Valley fever, Lyme Disease, West Nile virus, H1N1 and H5N1 influenza. These pathogens however, can also be deployed as plausibly deniable bioweapons, a point not addressed by government investigators.
"Countermeasure licensure" of course, is a formula for handing over the fruit of publicly funded research to unaccountable private corporations who stand to make hefty profits from the manufacture of vaccines.
More pertinently, will America's expanding "biodefense" industry serve as a cover for the manufacture of new weapons of war?
As Watergate-era congressional investigations and multiple media reports have conclusively demonstrated, for decades the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon employed far-right Cuban mercenaries to attack the economic and agricultural infrastructure of socialist Cuba.
Indeed, Newsday reported as far back as 1977, that "operatives linked to anti-Castro terrorists introduced African swine fever virus into Cuba in 1971. Six weeks later, an outbreak of the disease forced the slaughter of 500,000 pigs to prevent a nationwide epidemic."
The African swine fever virus deployed in the attack according to participants, was believed to have originated from stockpiles stored at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and handed over to CIA-trained terrorists at Ft. Gulick, an Army base in the former Panama Canal Zone.
And in 1981 according to researcher William H. Schaap, Cuba was struck by a devastating epidemic of Dengue fever, "one of some 250 arthropod-borne viruses, or 'arboviruses,' diseases transmitted from one vertebrate to another by hematophagous arthropods--blood eating insects, usually mosquitoes."
"Dengue and other arboviruses" Schaap wrote, "are ideal as biological weapons for a number of reasons. Dengue, especially hemorrhagic dengue, is highly incapacitating; it can be transmitted easily through the introduction of infected mosquitoes; it will spread rapidly, especially in highly populated and damp areas."
Citing the simultaneous outbreak of the disease in three widely separated parts of Cuba and that it is "extremely unusual that such an epidemic would commence in three localities at once," and the absence of the disease on adjacent islands such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Schaap concludes that the pathogen was purposely introduced into Cuba as a bioweapon.
Indeed, Army researchers at Ft. Detrick had conducted dispersal studies of the Aedes aegypti mosquito--and Dengue fever--used in the 1981 attack against the island nation.
The epidemic which hit Cuba in May 1981 was of type 2 dengue with hemorrhagic shock. Except for the type 1 epidemic reported in 1977, this was the first major dengue outbreak in Cuba since 1944, and, most importantly, the first in the Caribbean since the turn of the century to involve hemorrhagic shock on a massive scale.
From May to October 1981 there were well over 300,000 reported cases, with 158 fatalities, 101 involving children under 15. At the peak of the epidemic, in early July, more than 10,000 cases per day were being reported. More than a third of the reported victims required hospitalization. By mid-October, after a massive campaign to eradicate Aedes aegypti, the epidemic was over. (William H. Schaap, "The 1981 Cuba Dengue Epidemic," Washington, D.C.: Covert Action Information Bulletin, Number 17, Summer 1982)
And if the past is any guide to future actions by the Pentagon and the so-called Intelligence Community, what can we infer from DHS's stated goal of standing-up NBAF as a center for assessing "potential threats to humans and animals alike"? As it turns out, quite a lot.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigators charge that DHS relied on "a rushed, flawed study" to justify its decision to locate the $700 million research facility for highly infectious pathogens "in a tornado-prone section of Kansas, according to a government report," The Washington Post reported July 26.
The dubious report in question, United States Department of Agriculture Biocontainment Feasibility Studies, Study Report: Plum Island Animal Disease Center, was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and prepared by the giant defense and security firm Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).
Talk about feathering one's own nest! SAIC's Frederick, Maryland advanced technology division (near Ft. Detrick) has partnered-up with with a host of federal agencies including the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, the Pentagon's primary biowarfare research center.
Needless to say, the spooky firm has considerable clout in Washington. According to Washington Technology's "2009 Top 100 Federal Prime Contractors" list, SAIC clocks-in at number 7 (just behind KBR Inc.) with some $4,811,194,800 in revenue, the bulk of earnings coming from defense and security contracts with the federal government.
Last year however, a preliminary GAO report was unveiled during hearings before Congress' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce. It was highly critical of the flawed reasoning behind DHS's NBAF decision and SAIC's report. Relying on USDA's 2002 study, GAO auditors found that the agency,
has neither conducted nor commissioned any study to determine whether work on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) can be done safely on the U.S. mainland. Instead, in deciding that work with FMD can be done safely on the mainland, DHS relied on a 2002 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study that addressed a different question. The study did not assess the past history of releases of FMD virus or other dangerous pathogens in the United States or elsewhere. It did not address in detail the issues of containment related to large animal work in BSL-3 Ag facilities. It was inaccurate in comparing other countries' FMD work experience with that of the United States. Therefore, GAO believes DHS does not have evidence to conclude that FMD work can be done safely on the U.S. mainland. (Nancy Kingsbury, Managing Director Applied Research and Measurements, Government Accountability Office, High-Containment Laboratories: DHS Lacks Evidence to Conclude That Foot-and-Mouth-Disease Research Can Be Done Safely on the U.S. Mainland, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, May 22, 2008, GAO-08-821T)
The SAIC review addressed a different issue: whether or not it is "technically feasible" to conduct such research on the U.S. mainland. GAO averred, "This approach fails to recognize the distinction between what is technically feasible and what is possible, given the potential for human error."
Citing "methodological problems" in SAIC's study, GAO auditors found that the report: "(1) did not assess the history of releases of FMD virus or other dangerous pathogens, (2) did not address in detail the issues related to large animal work in BSL-3 Ag facilities, and (3) was inaccurate in comparing other countries' FMD work experience with that of the United States."
GAO concluded that among the report's more glaring and obvious problems, "(1) the study used an ad hoc method to select its expert panel that was not necessarily free from bias; (2) the study report was written by a single third-party person under contract for that purpose who was not present during the panel discussions; and (3) no concern was taken to ensure that the expert panel members reviewed either the draft or the final version of the report. At least one expert panel member expressed disappointment with the slant of the report."
Indeed, the SAIC review failed to address the issue of past releases of FMD or other pathogens, nor did it assess "the general history of accidents within biocontainment facilities." No small matter when it comes to potential mischief or lax safety standards known to exist at such facilities.
According to GAO, "the study panel members we interviewed said that no data on past accidents with or releases of either FMD or other pathogens was systematically presented or discussed. Rather, the panel members recalled that they relied on their own knowledge of and experience with the history of releases in a general discussion."
In a follow-up report published in July 2009, GAO discovered that DHS's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was wholly inadequate and in fact, relied on flawed and outdated methodology to arrive at their conclusions. According to GAO auditors "Comments on the NBAF draft EIS included the following concerns:"
* the ability of DHS and the federal government in general to safely operate a biosafety facility such as the proposed NBAF;
* the potential for a pathogenic release through accidents, natural phenomena, and terrorist actions;
* our May 2008 testimony that concluded that DHS had not conducted or commissioned a study to determine whether FMD research could be conducted safely on the U.S. mainland;
* natural phenomena such as tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes that could cause catastrophic damage to the NBAF and result in the release of a pathogen;
* the possibility that an infected mosquito vector could escape, allowing a pathogen such as Rift Valley Fever virus to become permanently established in the United States;
* the economic effects of a release or a perceived release on the local, state, and national livestock industry. (United States Government Accountability Office, Report to Congressional Committees, Biological Research: Observations on DHS's Analyses Concerning Whether FMD Research Can Be Done as Safely on the Mainland as on Plum Island, July 2009, GAO-09-747)
Indeed similar to the earlier USDA study, DHS's EIS failed to include even a cursory analysis of multiple releases of the FMD virus at Plum Island itself. No matter, full speed ahead!
Leading the charge to site NBAF at Kansas State University is the Kansas Bioscience Authority (KBA), a business and academic consortium chaired by former Democratic governor John Carlin. Plush with industry heavy-hitters such as the Midwest Research Institute (MRI), the lobby shop KansasBio, Symark LLC, a technology commercialization firm specializing in the biosciences industry, KBA is hell-bent on bringing NBAF to Kansas despite serious health and safety concerns.
According to a Kansas City Star report, Tom Thornton, the President and CEO of the Kansas Bioscience Authority told the newspaper "This nation needs to have one modern biocontainment lab that conducts research into these diseases to protect agriculture and protect public health."
Claiming that the GAO report was "biased," KBA's John Carlin asserted that "aside from using Dorothy as their science, they don't have much going for them." Thornton said the project would be built as a "vault inside a vault inside a submarine" to protect against the accidental release of germs and diseases.
In other words, move along...
DHS and USDA assert, despite historical evidence, that Foot-and Mouth-Disease (FMD) as well as research with other dangerous pathogens can be safely conducted on the U.S. mainland at its new agro-defense center. But if evidence from Britain is any guide on what to expect, the explosive growth of Biosafety Level 3 and 4 laboratories in the United States will only compound the problem.
In 2001 and 2007, FMD releases at Britain's Institute for Animal Health at Pirbright were traced to a leaking drain which allowed the disease to escape containment. Crumbling infrastructure is only one of a constellation of issues that led to the outbreaks, investigators discovered. Lax oversight and a culture of secrecy nearly devastated Europe's livestock.
According to Britain's National Audit Office, the direct cost of the 2001 outbreak to the public sector was estimated at over $5.71 billion and the cost to the private sector clocked-in at over $9.51 billion. Indeed, when tourism and supporting industries were factored into the equation, total losses ballooned from $8.56 billion to $10.27 billion when movement into the countryside was restricted by the state, UK auditors estimated.
By the time FMD was eradicated in September 2001, more than six million animals had been slaughtered and the disease had spread to France, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Ireland. A similar outbreak in 2007 fueled calls to close the facility.
This is not a problem confined to Britain, but is endemic to the entire bioweapons and "biodefense" complex globally, particularly here in the heimat.
Tip of a Sinister Iceberg
Bioweapons research, secrecy and contamination go hand in hand.
Despite soothing bromides from defense corporations, the military, the scientific community and the politicians who do their bidding, the accidental or planned release of selected pathogens into the environment for "research purposes" is an enduring legacy of America's Cold War biowar programs.
The experimentation on witting and unwitting subjects in a score of top secret Army and CIA programs underscore the sinister nature of the Bioweapons-Industrial Complex. Indeed, a 1994 GAO report, documented:
During World War II and the Cold War era, DOD and other national security agencies conducted or sponsored extensive radiological, chemical, and biological research programs. Precise information on the number of tests, experiments, and participants is not available, and the exact numbers may never be known. However, we have identified hundreds of radiological, chemical, and biological tests and experiments in which hundreds of thousands of people were used as test subjects. These tests and experiments often involved hazardous substances such as radiation, blister and nerve agents, biological agents, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). In some cases, basic safeguards to protect people were either not in place or not followed. For example, some tests and experiments were conducted in secret; others involved the use of people without their knowledge or consent or their full knowledge of the risks involved. (Frank C. Conahan, Assistant Comptroller General, National Security and International Affairs Division, Human Experimentation, An Overview on Cold War Era Programs, General Accounting Office, September 28, 1994, GAO/T-NSIAD-94-266)
Despite efforts since the Watergate-era to uncover the extent of these programs, many remain classified to this day. The GAO found that the Central Intelligence Agency, more concerned with shielding their corporate partners' participation in illicit experiments with LSD and other psychoactive compounds "have made little effort to assist test participants by identifying test locations and participants in experiments conducted by contractors." The Agency "in fact, has not released the names of 15 of the approximately 80 organizations that conducted experiments under the ... MKULTRA program because the organizations do not want to be identified."
One sinister Pentagon project, Operation WHITECOAT, was a secret U.S. Army weapons' testing program carried out between 1954-1973 on Seventh-day Adventist Church conscientious objectors who consented to the experiments, and over 2,300 Army soldiers who almost certainly were not provided anything approaching informed consent. Similar to cattle, sheep or pigs on Plum Island, test subjects were infected with agents such as Q Fever, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, Hepatitis A, bubonic plague, Tularemia (rabbit fever) and Venezuelan Equine encephalitis.
Indeed, the range of experimentation on human subjects carried out by the U.S. biological weapons program makes for a very grim read. As Boston College sociologist Jeanne Guillemin wrote in her disturbing exposé,
The entire experimental legacy is dismaying, from the hundreds of dead monkeys at Fort Detrick to the spectacle of Seventh Day Adventist soldiers, the vaccinated volunteers in Project Whitecoat, strapped to chairs amid cages of animals in the Utah sunlight as Q fever aerosols are blown over them. Most chilling are the mock scenarios played out in urban areas: light bulbs filled with simulated BW agents being dropped in New York subways, men in Washington National Airport spraying pseudo-BW from briefcases, and similar tests in California and Texas and over the Florida Keys. (Jeanne Guillemin, Anthrax: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999, pp. 176-177.)
As Michael Christopher Carroll's stunning investigation of Plum Island, Lab 257 revealed, multiple releases of highly-contagious pathogens including Foot-and-Mouth-Disease and Rift Valley Fever, were systematically covered-up by the USDA and DHS.
Will it be any different at the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility? If one were to believe DHS, it would represent the triumph of hope over experience. This is not a rational starting point when it comes to experiments with highly-contagious pathogens.
America's corporate media however, seemingly impermeable to anything other than celebrity scandals and the crimes of official enemies, refuse to conduct in-depth investigations into the expansion of America's Bioweapons-Industrial Complex.
Despite government pronouncements, faithfully regurgitated by media stenographers to the public, available evidence suggests that the United States, as in the past, is pursuing the development of biological agents for use in a score of clandestine weapons programs.
Under cover of conducting research on the highly-contagious Foot-and-Mouth-Disease pathogen, a new and improved national laboratory equipped with BSL-3 and BSL-4 containment facilities, like their cohorts at the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick, Maryland in all probability will continue to investigate the efficacy of waging aggressive biological warfare on an adversary's food supply.
Sound far-fetched? If the evidence from Cold War-era CIA and Pentagon programs, well-documented accidents, illicit human experimentation as well as numerous examples of biological attacks against socialist Cuba are a guide to Washington's future behavior, better think again!
Tom Burghardt is a researcher and activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to publishing in Covert Action Quarterly and Global Research, his articles can be read on Dissident Voice, The Intelligence Daily, Pacific Free Press and the whistleblowing website Wikileaks. He is the editor of Police State America: U.S. Military "Civil Disturbance" Planning, distributed by AK Press.
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