The Plague

We do not discharge our weapons in view of the public!
The only way these people can get on with their
happy lives is that they Do... Not... Know about it!
--Men in Black (1997)

There always comes a time in history when the person
who dares to say that 2+2=4 is punished by death
--The Plague, Albert Camus
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Federal investigators decided today, a few days after the apparent suicide of their new prime suspect since June in the 2001 anthrax attacks, that dead microbiologist Bruce Ivins was definitely their man (Ivins Solely Responsible for Anthrax Attacks.)

"A federal prosecutor formally declared Army biological researcher Bruce Ivins the sole person responsible for creating and mailing the bacterial spores that killed five people in the 2001 anthrax attacks." Now, I was suspicious of this seemingly blithe wrap up after seven years of failure, until I read this:

"The documents disclosed that authorities searched Ivins' home on Nov. 2, 2007, taking," among other items, "information about guns and a copy of The Plague by Albert Camus (Ivins Was Anthrax Killer, US Says.)"

That done it.

It wasn't really the gun information that got me so much as that darn book. I don't think he shot anybody. But The Plague is about, well, y'know, a plague. And, it's written by a Frenchman. Those two facts about the book would seem almost incontrovertible proof, but add to that his fascination with death dealing agents like guns, too. Now, add to that the final perversity: Mr. Ivins was a juggler.

Jugglers are the pictures on the Wild Card in a deck of cards. Most of you probably think it is a harlequin, but I think the harlequin is juggling. At least in the Hoyle playing deck, which is a favored American brand of cards. Add to this the following: the harlequin motif grew out of the French stock character, Hellequin. As his name implies, he is a black-faced agent of the devil who roamed the countryside chasing the damned souls of evil people to Hell.

Do you see what I'm getting at? A man chooses to work with an agent of death -- anthrax -- and owns books on death dealing agents like microbes and guns. He chooses the avocation of juggling, and owns the French book, The Plague, a book about the bubonic plague. This is far more than coincidence.

The one coincidence I haven't figured out is how Ivin's possession of The Plague conjuncts with President Bush's being seen early in his administration with another Camus book, The Stranger, under his arm. Both strange French books about death, both carried by significant men.

Final thought: these scientists are very clever people. He maintained the cover of a 33-year marriage plus he adopted twins. In addition, he was a churchgoer. What else, if one wanted to fly below the radar for 18 years?

Not so smart, however, that he could elude the Men in Black. I'm ready for my next gig at The National Enquirer.

--Juggling Harlequin, John Byrne

Nothing But Fear

[Gitmo inmates] were bombarded with intolerable sounds,
including “meows from cat-food commercials,
Yoko Ono singing and Eminem rapping about America.”
--from NYT Review of The Dark Side, Jane Mayer
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Put nothing past a government villainous enough to use the Yoko Ono torture.

U.S. Army microbiologist Bruce Ivins, 62, recently-designated prime suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks, is dead of apparent suicide (Dead Army Vaccine Scientist Eyed in Anthrax Probe.) The Justice Department is considering closing the investigation. As Dana Carvey's the Church Lady might say, “how Conveenient.”

An 18-year employee at the government's biodefense labs at Ft. Detrick, Maryland, Ivins helped develop the anthrax vaccine effective against even mixed-strain attacks. Ivins colleague of the last 15 years, Dr. W. Russell Byrne, does not think Ivins was behind the attacks and criticized federal agents as harassing the germ scientist and his family.

“They searched his house twice and his computer once,” he said in an interview. “We all felt powerless to stop it.” He said Dr. Ivins was recently escorted away from the laboratory by the authorities and “disgraced in a place he spent his whole career.” “That was so humiliating,” he said. “It’s hard to believe (Dark End for Family Man.)”

Byrne also questions how Ivins, deemed "homicidal and sociopathic by his psychiatrist," gained top security clearance at the government lab.

The FBI originally suspected Ivin's colleague Steven Hatfill, but in late June, "the government exonerated Hatfill and paid him a $5.82 million settlement." Does this all sound vaguely familiar? Remember Jewel and the Atlanta Olympics bomber? Heavy-handedness is becoming the hallmark of U.S. criminal investigations. The $5.82 million payoff is crumbs in the Phony War on Terror (PWOT©).

In the run-up to war, the 2001 domestic anthrax attacks were no small inducement to fear. Then Attorney General John Ashcroft suggested "neither domestic or international terrorism has been ruled out." The attacks were coming fast and furious; it was environment that allowed Condoleeza Rice to suggest an atomic "mushroom cloud" could be next.

In 2001, Terrorists were the new Ruskis. It had been just over a decade since we lost the Red Menace, and the government and military were due for a new archenemy. Of course, calling the anthrax attacker a terrorist ignored the fact that the anthrax used in the attacks originated from government sponsored stock. The anthrax was knitted into the free-floating anxiety that became America's unreasoned fear of terrorism.

Anthrax "is particularly suited to inducing dread," says Paul Slovic, who studies the psychology of risk at the University of Oregon and is the author of "The Perception of Risk."

"People don't know exactly what it is. It's not very visible. It's linked to someone who's propagating this threat with the intent to harm people who are innocent of any wrongdoing, just being malicious -- that's frightening. You don't know who's doing it. What's the extent of ? Is this something that's going to be limited in one small geographic region? It's quite unique. We've done some studies within terrorism. The potential to frighten from anthrax is even higher than that of terrorism with explosive devices, not that that's low. Anthrax was even higher (Yesterday's Fears Fade as we Adjust to Tomorrow's.)"

The guilt or innocence of Mr. Ivins is not our focus. The point is, after seven years the FBI has not been able to resolve the anthrax investigation in a suitable manner. This is the same FBI that turned a blind eye when suspected terrorists were obtaining flight training here in the U.S.

In the twilight of this most corrupt of administrations, we have another string in the terrorist play tied up. Pity he can't tell us about it because he's dead.

The FBI loves it when a plan comes together.

--Jim and Lisa