Pandemics and Bio Terror

[This transcript is a guide to our series on biological weapons and disease, to accompany the full audio version. The text version does not include transcripts from other audio sources, but does give some hypertext links to follow up]

Lurid newspaper stories keep warning us that the next global pandemic of influenza is already developing in the Far East. The United Nations health experts say millions will die, in a planetary crisis not seen since the plague of the Middle Ages. Wall Street analysts say economies could crumble, as the engine of global production, shipping, and travel grind to a halt.

What does it really mean? What can you do to prepare yourself, your community, and your country? Are we facing humanity's greatest crisis since the nuclear cold war?

I'm Alex Smith with a story too important to miss. In the following programs we'll explore the ugly rumors, the bio-weapons programs, and possible plots to de-populate the world. And you'll get the links and sources to follow up, to find out for yourself, are we on the brink of a biological meltdown?

News about biological weapons, terrorism, and worrying disease hotspots have become linked. Allegedly in response to the threats posed by disease, whether natural or man-made, the American government has allocated billions to build new bio-research labs spread across the country. These will handle the most dangerous diseases. A single mistake could kill millions.

An investigation by the public interest group, the Sunshine Project, has uncovered a string of evidence that points to darker possibilities. Saying they want to combat the coming plague, government funded scientists at military bases and universities are actually using genetic tools to CREATE unstoppable diseases. There would be no vaccine or cure against them. As we will hear, diseases might be designed to spare, or kill, specific races.

The detailed and alarming reports, based on government and scientific documents, from the Sunshine Project - were summarized by Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone in their radio program called "Taking Aim." There are an amazing eight hours of hard hitting documentation and explanation of the coming Biocaust on the site, www.takingaim.info. Look in their audio archive for free downloads of the full programs.

If you can't spare eight hours, even for single biggest threat to you and your society, here are two half hour programs drawing from Schoenman and Shone's fine work, and adding more from current news. We'll include web references for documents, and the show and location of the quotes used in this program. You can find the transcript of this program, complete with hypertext links, at www.ecoshock.org.

Let's dig right in, with the introduction to the series, produced by Bonnie Faulkner from Guns and Butter.

[clip 1]

This is the story line of mass media: unsanitary conditions and poverty in Asia are breeding grounds for a bug to jump from birds to mammals. Any mammal from cats to mice and pigs could become carriers. Farm animals may die in great numbers. Already hundreds of millions of chickens and ducks have been killed either by the flu directly, or to stop the spread of the virus. It is a scary possibility, out of control, and beyond rational programs by any government.

But the Asian bird flu story, so powerful at stigmatizing poor people, of different races, on the far side of the world - hides a huge and glaring development in the most developed countries. America, China, Britain, Russia and more are rushing to develop news and more horrible germ weapons. There is growing evidence that germ weapons have already been tested on civilians and prisoners in the United States and overseas. Many are questioning these secret programs which may explain the sudden and completely unexpected appearance of hemorrhaging diseases like Marbug in central Africa.

Topping it all off: there have been a series of statements by world leaders calling for rapid depopulation of the world.

[clip 2].

That quote from England's Prince Philip was reported by the German Press agency in 1988. The prince used similar language in his forward to the 1986 book titled "If I Were an Animal". The billionaire Prince is a staunch supporter of the World Wildlife Fund. It he part of a global elite bent on culling excess human life?

Some think it is the only way to salvage the remains of nature. Others want a world where a small elite of absolute wealth enjoy the resources of the world unencumbered by the suffering of the poor. Is it possible radical depopulationists have gained control of military agencies, university research programs, or even, the Whitehouse? We all need to know who is making the ultimate terror genes, and what they plan to do with them.

First off - is there anything you can do, right away, to increase the chances that you and your family could survive? The British government thinks so. They are stocking up with 14.6 million courses of the only anti-viral medicine on the market today. It's called "Tamiflu". Learn that name: Tamiflu. If taken within two days of the onset of a viral flu, Tamiflu can reduce the length of time you will be ill. More importantly, it greatly increases the change you will survive.

Remember, there is no vaccine that can protect you from the bird flu at this time. Even if there was, influenza can change rapidly, making a prepared vaccine useless. By the time the pharmaceutical industry gears up to make a vaccine, the pandemic will have already killed millions. Only Tamiflu can help with any virus combination, although designer germ weapons may stop even that defense.

If you have the money, you can get your doctor to prescribe Tamiflu. If the doctor understands your concerns, given the current world headlines, you might get a prescription sufficient for your whole family. Each course, the several doses needed, costs between thirty and fifty dollars, per person, depending on your country. Read the instructions, so you will know how to use it. .

Public health agencies say they are stockpiling Tamiflu. But their model is support for those most likely to die, such as elderly people or the immunicologically disabled. This model doesn't work for an influenza pandemic for several reasons. In the Spanish flu of 1919, it was young healthy people who died most. And new varieties, like the bird flu, kill 70% of those infected. No government is really prepared for such numbers. Millions upon millions will never get any medicine.

Worse, influenza can pop up anywhere, at any time, just as the SARS virus did. World travel means a business person or social worker might return from inland China today, and transmit the virus to your town tomorrow. Tamiflu needs to be taken within two days of onset - but the government is not prepared to deliver pills to you just two days from now!

When you think about it, you don't want to go out, to a clinic or public distribution point, to get your flu medicine. That could be suicidal. So, you want to have your flu preparedness kit ready now, not sometime later. The kit should contain Tamiflu doses for your family. It should have SARS level surgical masks (two dozen if possible). Add a box of disposable gloves, to help protect whoever is well enough to look after the sick. Strong antibiotics, like Cipro, can help survive the lung infections that accompany influenza.
And yes, you need a big roll of plastic, and duct tape, to seal off your doors, windows, and vents, until the epidemic subsides.

Of course, you will need several weeks food supply, at a minimum, because you will want to stay indoors, away from other carriers.
This worked for some in the Middle Ages, and self quarantine can work again today. Even a rumor of a pandemic can empty supermarket shelves in hours. There are no giant warehouses waiting for you, because the food industry has changed to delivery on demand. Where will the food come from when truck drivers are too frightened or sick to deliver? Think about where your food will come from during and after a pandemic.

The avian bird flu is known as H5N1 These letters and numbers describe the combination of proteins found in the virus. Remember, a virus is not quite a living thing. It's really a kind of protein code which can replicate itself using protein from living things, whether birds or humans. A virus is smaller than a bacteria. Bacteria really are single-celled life forms. Medicines like antibiotics which fight off infection by bacteria do NOT stop or heal diseases caused by a virus. So far, Tamiflu is the only specific anti-viral drug on the market.

The first major infection of bird flu appeared in Hong Kong in 1997. This is Mya Shone from Taking Aim:

[clip 3]

Lots of birds carry this and other viruses, not just domestic chickens and ducks. Scientists proved that migratory fowl, from ducks to geese, can carry the H5N1 virus. That means the disease could spread over thousands of miles as bird migrate, all far beyond government jurisdiction. But the virus prefers huge pools of victims, like factory chickens with their compromised immune systems.

The virus has several forms. Some are immediately deadly to birds, and other lesser strains make them sick. Because the virus is constantly changing, the lesser strains can mutate into a killer variety at any time.

Bird Flu is rampant in Thailand. Varieties have been found in at least ten other countries, including the United States, Mexico, and Italy.

Let's listen.

[clip 4]

Recently the corpses of people who died from the 1919 influenza were dug up for research. One woman in Britain, in a lead lined coffin, still contained viable copies of the virus. Another victim was found frozen in Arctic Ice. There was a global search for the virus, and it was found by many countries. Now it can be duplicated, to be used for research - or for an inexpensive weapon of mass destruction available to any cult, dictator, or mad democracy. This killer virus, long buried by nature, has now been recreated in laboratories, in some mad quest. And new more deadly versions have already been announced. Are we a suicidal culture?

Congress has approved one point seven billion dollars for so-called bio-defense. But research and development of killer viruses inescapably lead into offensive germ weapons. In the name of safety, humans have never been so endangered. Even nuclear weapons seem benign compared to a rapidly spreading disease capable of killing off more than half the world's population, accompanied by millions more mammals and birds.

The respected Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, in it's report "Mixing Bugs and Bombs" warns that nuclear weapons labs and programs are being used to further develop biological weapons as well. Mya and Ralph continue....

[clip 5]

These are designer diseases, part of our next program.