Could terrorists use New York rats to release Bubonic plague?

Factual Questions
61

Sua, I purposely left out the questions about Centers for Disease Control, because I don’t know about them, and I suspected that, like any large organization, their opinions and reasons for doing things are diverse and inconsistent. (And they’re likely to be rethinking their tune after 9/11?)

Often enough, organizations make things public they wish in retrospect they hadn’t. To take a case from the distant past, various publications on how to make nuclear weapons.

**

I have two (possibly three, I’d have to think) experiences with individuals who were involved with planning what would now be called minor terrorist acts, that is, they didn’t hurt anybody. This was Berkeley, in the 1960s and 70s. That I know of, their inspirations came from:

  1. Martial arts classes.
  2. Weapons magazines.
  3. Movies.
  4. Talking with acquaintances to see how feasible their ideas were.

All these people were intelligent, they knew that one goes for the easiest information source to access.

62

partly_warmer there is nothing here that can’t be found with a simple search of the internet. In fact the primary sources for this kind of information are government organizations set up after 11 Sept. These are anti-bioterrorism sites.

More importantly, I think it is pretty clear if you read this thread in it’s entirety we are saying is: no it isn’t feasible for terrorist to use plague in New York’s rats.

As for the information on TB; there isn’t anything there even mildly threatening. I simply answered some questions of the mode of action, and some clarification on a documentary seen by Boo Boo Foo. Personally, I wish more people were concerned about TB, because in my opinion, next to AIDS, this is the greatest disease threat of the current generation.

My statements are not irresponsible, and if you have any further critisims of my posts in this thread please contact me or a mod via e-mail.

63

So partly_warmer, you’re saying we shouldn’t have any discussions of disease, vecot biology, or potential terrorist actions, because there an infitesimal possibility that our discussion might make things slightly easier ( as in save a little bit of research on google ) for some wandering nutcase on the internet that happens to stumble upon it?

Sorry, I don’t buy that as a valid argument - I think it is both insanely paranoid and utterly illogical. Nor do I consider myself to be irresponsible. You are however free to consider me so if that makes you feel better.

  • Tamerlane
64

vector biology

  • Tamerlane
65

“Partly Warmer” - as I said on the previous page, your concerns are not without merit, granted.

Nonetheless, as we say down here in Australia, your posts are like two fleas arguing who owns the dog they’re living on. You see, what you’re overlooking is an old bit of wisdom - namely, that forewarned is forearmed.

And it’s my considered opinion that if we were to ban all of the areas you listed above because they potentially CAN be used by bad guys to gain knowledge or inspiration then, mate, we’re all gonna end up living in a bare concrete box twiddling our thumbs with nothin’ to do. We’d be safe, sure, but we’d also be shit bored! (smile)

I’ve found that with everything in the universe there comes a degree of risk. The only thing in my entire life that I can think of which has zero risk attached is eating vegetables - and even then there’s the potential risk of too many insectisides having been used!

So as I said, you have my empathy buddy that you’ve gone thru some shit in your day - you really do - but mate, unless most of us ‘normal citizens’ learn more about what to look out for - that is, strange movements, odd events, suspicious behaviour etc - well, we actually make the job easier for the bad guys you know? You see, the one factor that all ‘bad guys’ have in their favour is anonymity - they live in a world of shadows. Knowledge of how they work, when placed in the hands of the public, actually removes that anonymity I find.

Moreover, information doesn’t kill people, it’s the bad guys who actually do that. Accordingly, if I, or anyone else who reads this thread, can make a small difference by having greater knowledge on what to look for (in regards to spotting baddies) then we’re making a difference - for the better.

Basically, I reckon the problem that most of us have with your position “Partly-Warmer” is this - even though you probably don’t intend it, your position in this thread effectively brands everyone who has contributed thus far as being “guilty until proven innocent”, and last time I checked, that ain’t fair.

No offence intended…

66

Okay, I gotta post a little hijack here–

As long as we’re on the topic of organic terrorism weapons, why don’t they just breed a cr*pload of locusts, and set them loose on the fertile farmlands of the US? We’d all starve! Black clouds of hungry locusts everywhere! Run! Run!!

67

Your Australian friends could help you out no worries. Australian grain production is generally kept artificially low due to fluctuating market demands. Within 2 years, it’s the consensus that Australia’s farming sector could increase it’s exportable output by 3 to 4 HUNDRED PERCENT. Which is just incredible when you think about it.

You wouldn’t starve my friend. We’d look after you. We might ask that you remove Britney Spears from the radio playlists as a return favour though!

68

Well, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR??? Hurry up, you terrorists! Get those locust-labs a-cookin’! praying pleasepleasepleaseplease…
:smiley:

69

partly_warmer, we have made our decision. You have exactly two choices – complain about it in the BBQ Pit or let it drop.

Please note that one of your choices is not “continue to harangue people in this thread.”

This is not a request.

70

Not a BBQ Pit issue, so I’ll drop it.

71

partly_warmer, if you do a search of threads posted after September 11 2001 with “anthrax” as your search term, you’ll find that many posts answering questions about bio-terrorism quoted the CDCs and the US’s own Department of Defense and linked to the very detailed information which those government organisations have made available online in respect of this issue.

Equally, as has already been pointed out, many, MANY works of fiction suggest terrorist plots which might possibly be achievable at least in part. The day we lose the right to discuss IDEAS is the day we lose the very freedom we are fighting to maintain.

72

Boo, TB was a problem here in Australia during the 50s and 60s. My parents had to go for compulsory chest X-rays periodically during my childhood, and during high school we were given mantoux skin tests and X-rayed if they proved positive and immunised with BCG vaccine if they didn’t.

73

Potent nerve gas. 50 Spray bottles. Different underground subway stops. Liberally spray simultaneously.

That was reported in the news.