GERMS GONE WILD CL

by KING,KENNETH

• ISBN13: 9781605981000
• ISBN10: 1605981001
• Edition: 00
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-08-17
• Publisher: MICROCASM

Summary

Battling a new generation of corporate giants and uncoveringthreats right in our own backyard, Kenneth King's Germs GoneWild reveals the massive expansion of America's bio-defense research labs and the culture of deception surrounding hundreds offacilities that have opened since 9/11. King experienced the menace of bio-defense research firsthandwhen local government and business leaders tried to lure a new facility to his hometown in Kentucky. Researching the safety claims,he not only found many of them to be completely false, but wasalso horrified by the lack of oversight and the recklessness withwhich these labs genetically modified pathogens like smallpox, Ebola, and influenza without a care for what happened to the public if there was ever a 'œleak.' And yet the greed that drove the development of these labs haseffectively counteracted any cautionary checks by the governmentand universities. All have been seduced by the economic gainsand corporate stipends that come with compliance and turning ablind eye. But now, the reality of these labs and the germs theymanipulate will finally be brought to light, as King examines thecontroversies surrounding plants from Maryland to Boston andUtah, to the Department of Homeland Security's dubious NationalBio-and-Agro-Facility (NBAF) project, and the precautions'”or lackthereof'”being taken to protect us all from a deadly pandemic.

Author Biography

Kenneth King holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska and a JD from Vanderbilt School of law. King teaches at Western Kentucky University.

Table of Contents

A Biodefense Juggernaut	p. 1
Plum Island Prelude	p. 15
Breaches of Containment: The Juggernaut Sputters in the Passing Lane	p. 27
The NBAF Dating Game, Beta Version	p. 44
The ôSilent Proliferationö of High-Containment Germ Labs: Congress Takes a Look	p. 49
Just How Safe Is It, Dan'l?	p. 70
Ask Them No Questions: I Crash a Pep Rally	p. 83
Growing Up in a Rough Neighborhood: The Troubling Antecedents of U.S. Biodefense Research	p. 87
DHS Pulls an August Surprise	p. 97
A Small Skirmish with the Academic-Military-Industrial Complex	p. 102
Tales of Anthrax: Your Biodefense Dollars at Work	p. 105
I Lose a Reason for Caring	p. 130
Culture of Denial: Accidents in the World of High-Tech Germ Research	p. 133
Homeland Security Shows Up Late for a Date, Again	p. 151
Culture of Recklessness: Building the Frankenstein Germs	p. 162
One If by Van, Two If by Helicopter: Salvaging a Protest	p. 182
Follow The Money: Biodefense as Academic-Military-Industrial Complex	p. 185
Waiting for Bad News	p. 200
Condolences in Silicon Holler	p. 203
Ain't No Sunshine When It's Gone: A Watchdog Leaves the Circus	p. 209
Dog-and-Pony Shows vs. Independent Journalism	p. 234
The Wheels Drop Off a Couple of Bandwagons	p. 245
Regulation, Not: The Wild Wild West of Germland	p. 262
Lighting Up NBAF's Hidden Costs: Utility Plants and the GAO	p. 276
Something in the Air: Dugway, Utah	p. 290
Kansas Propaganda, A Kansas Tornado, and the DEIS	p. 312
A Tale of Two Hearings	p. 316
The Gangs Are All Here: The Fort Detrick Expansion	p. 333
What Happened to the Anti-NBAF Sign?	p. 357
Educating the Educated: The Brouhaha in Boston	p. 366
We're Off to See the Wizards, the Wonderful Wizards of Oz	p. 387
Galveston: Trust Us, Part Two	p. 392
A Texas-Kansas ôPuss War, ö and the Propaganda Shifts to Congress	p. 415
A Trip to Kansas, a Letter to Congress	p. 415
You Can't Make a Vaccine for Everything: Some Ways Forward	p. 419
A Final Postscript: Just Trust Us	p. 439
Epilogue: Late-Breaking News from Germland and The War on Terror: Gifts and Givers That Keep on Giving	p. 445
Acknowledgments	p. 455
Notes	p. 457
Index	p. 501
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.