Entries by emptywheel

USAMRIID Can’t Keep Track of Its Microbes

Now, what do you make of the fact that USAMRIID, the lab at which Bruce Ivins was alleged to have made the anthrax used in the 2001 attacks, is having problems cataloging and tracking their high-risk microbes and biomaterials (h/t Danger Room)? The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) has suspended research […]

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BREAKING: Obama Continues Bush Policy On State Secrets

Earlier this morning, Looseheadprop wrote about the case of Binyam Mohamed, the British subject tortured at the hands of the United States at Gitmo, including having his genitals carved selectively with a scalpel. The Mohamed case is of critical significance for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that there was an oral argument in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco this morning in which the Obama Administration has shown its true colors and continued the assertion of state secrets to conceal US torture policy.

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USAMRIID Can’t Keep Track of Its Microbes

Remember how one key to the FBI case against Bruce Ivins is their claim that only he had access to the flask that contained the anthrax strain used in the attack–and that they’re sure that there were no other flasks of the strain? Well, it turns out that Ivins’ lab, USAMRIID, shut down all research on Friday because they don’t have a good inventory of all their high-risk microbes.

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Comings and Goings and Dealings at the SEC

One of the contemptuous SEC officials who pretty much blew off Congress last week will be resigning today. And, all of a sudden, the SEC is going after Madoff for financial penalties, perhaps reflecting the elimination of Chris Cox-era rules that made it hard to do so.

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The Surge’s Virgin Birth

Thomas Ricks tells a tale of how Ray Odierno is the father of the surge. Problem is, Ricks’ story still has obvious holes, leaving open the question of who actually birthed the plan.

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