On Friday, November 23, 2001, at 06:46 PM, John Young wrote:
I've not seen any mention of Plum Island in connection with the anthrax case, and mammals usually are not a source of the inhalation type, but could be transporters of the powder.
Still, it would not be surprising that Plum has been doing research with a variety of animal-borne diseases for that is what it was set up to do several decades ago.
One of my favorite novelists is Neslon DeMille ("Word of Honor," "The Gold Coast," etc.). His novel "Plum Island" is set on and around that site, and gives valuable background.
Critics have questioned why the laboratory has been allowed to continue to operate within the New York Megalopolis. But the same is said of Brookhaven National Laboratory, located not far away.
Only scientific illiterates would worry about Brookhaven. ("I saw Meryl Streep on "Oprah" and she was talking about how they smash atoms out there at that Brookhaven place. I mean, like what if some of those pieces of atoms flew out and hit people?")
--Tim May "Gun Control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound"