Protected from Science

The administration has intervened to prevent the publication of a research paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Then topic was bioterrorism readiness and especially the safety of our food supply. The study was done by Lawrence M. Wein, an economics professor at Stanford.

The study concluded that it is very easy to poison milk with botulinum (that's right the same stuff as in Botox), leading to a high number of affected people and potentially killing a high number of people that consume the tainted milk.

The study was discussed in an op-ed piece in the New York Times (now in the archive), but the full piece is available here (pdf). CNN also picked up the story. (Here is a paper on botulinum as a biological weapon.)

This is the first time the government has directly intervened to prevent the publication in the interest of national security. However, if you are just a bit proficient in biology it is not too difficult to imagine how such an attack might be done. It may also be necessary to remind our government that its role is not to prevent the publication of such a story, but to prevent (through regulations etc.) that such an attack is possible. So, secure our milk supply (because this story shows a big hole), secure our ports (cargo is still not screened), secure our planes (cargo...). There is enough to do for the government to secure the homeland and its pace was slow in the last four years. Get to work...

Such studies as the one mentioned above should be encouraged, they identify the weak spots and are invaluable for a safe and secure America. Dear Researchers, go on with such studies, and don't be intimidated by the government - future generations will thank you for your work.