Update
President Bush's NSA Program

The Historical Context,
Specter's Recent Bill and
Feingold's Censure Motion

By John W. Dean
FindLaw
March 24, 2006

President George Bush continues to openly and defiantly ignore the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) - the 1978 statute prohibiting electronic inspection of Americans' telephone and email communications with people outside the United States without a court-authorized warrant. (According to US News & World Report, the President may also have authorized warrantless break-ins and other physical surveillance, such as opening regular mail, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.)

Bush's position is that he does not need Congressional approval for his measures. Even he does not claim that Congress gave him express power to undertake them, but he does claim that Congress indirectly approved such measures when it authorized the use of force to go after those involved in the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States. He also argues that, in any event, approval was not necessary - for he argues that he has such authority under Article II of the Constitution, as the chief executive, and Commander in Chief, charged with faithfully executing the laws of the land and protecting the Constitution.

These arguments are hauntingly familiar to this observer.

The Nixon Precedent

No one can question President Bush's goal: Protecting Americans from further terror attacks. But every American should question his means: Openly defying a longstanding statute that prohibits the very actions he insists on undertaking, when done in the very manner he insists upon doing them.

In some two hundred and seventeen years of the American presidency, there has been only one President who provides a precedent for Bush's stunning, in-your-face, conduct: Richard Nixon. Like Bush, Nixon claimed he was acting to protect the nation's security. Like Bush, Nixon broke the law - authorizing, among other things, illegal wiretaps.

Ironically, a stronger case might be made for Nixon's warrantless wiretaps, than for Bush's. Nixon's were installed to track leaks of national security information relating to the war in Vietnam. (He never found the leaker.) He pursued domestic intelligence by illegal means because he believed - based on information from President Lyndon Johnson - that communists had infiltrated the anti-war movement. (No such evidence was ever found.) In addition, he believed that extreme measures were necessary to deal with domestic terrorists, who were responsible for hundreds of deadly bombings. (This is the same argument Bush makes today.)

Nixon also claimed he was only doing what his predecessors had done. That was not untrue - but what had, in the past, been the exception to the rule became standard operating procedure under Nixon.

Bush, however, can only claim one predecessor for his actions: Nixon. And, of course, he has not made this claim - for Nixon was forced from office because of his defiance of the law.

Prior Presidents Have Always Gone to Congress

Bush has admitted he is ignoring FISA. His Attorney General has offered lame and loose legal justifications that he ought not to dare attempt in any court of law. Only blind partisan followers buy the president's bogus legal arguments. The US Supreme Court's prescient discussion of presidential powers reveals how weak these arguments really are.

In May 1952, President Truman directed his Secretary of Commerce, Charles Sawyer, to take charge of the nation's steel mills, rather than permit a strike by steelworkers - and intransigent management - from hampering national security. The nation was at war in Korea, and without steel, the war effort would be in jeopardy. Truman informed Congress of his actions, but rather than asked for emergency legislation, he proceeded by executive order.

The owners of the steel mills immediately sought an injunction, which was granted by a federal district court judge, and the government appealed directly to the US Supreme Court. In a 6-3 ruling, the Court, in Youngstown Co. v. Sawyer, held that Truman's attempted takeover of the steel mills was unconstitutional. Truman then asked Congress for emergency legislation, but Congress turned him down too.

As the strong dissent in Youngstown notes, the "diversity of views expressed in the six opinions of the majority, the lack of reference to authoritative precedent, the repeated reliance upon prior dissenting opinions, the complete disregard of the uncontroverted facts showing the gravity of the emergency and the temporary nature of the taking all serve to demonstrate how far afield one must go to" deny Truman this power. It seems Bush believes he can ride on that dissent. But in the end, the dissent not only is not the law; it is not persuasive.

Truman's actions were not unprecedented: President Lincoln had seized rail and telegraph lines during the Civil War; President Theodore Roosevelt was ready to seize Pennsylvania coal mines if a strike created shortages; President Wilson seized industrial plants and railroads during World War I; and six months before Peal Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt seized a California aviation plant when a strike occurred. These presidents, however, went to Congress - as Truman also eventually did. Only Bush (like Nixon) refuses to do so.

As Donald McCoy's study of the Truman presidency (for the University Press of Kansas) points out, "Truman had sought not only to resolve the steel crisis but also substantially to expand the president's power in a single action that matched his sense of gravity of the emergency that was confronting the nation. He had gambled badly, and he had lost badly." The same could be said of Nixon, who lost even worse because he - like Bush, and unlike Truman - was acting secretly.

Bush, once it was learned what he was doing, could have asked Congress to grant him the authority that he believed he needed. Instead, he has taken the Nixon approach, and wants to do what he wants to do - the Congress be damned.

Will he succeed? What if he does? What if he doesn't?

Bush's Gambling With Presidential Powers

Like Nixon, Bush has wrapped himself in the American flag, national security, his high office, and a claim to be the defender of America - the man who can show terrorists not to mess with the USA. His critics are attacked as being soft on fighting terrorism, or being knee-jerk partisans, when all they want is for their president to stay within the law.

If the issue stays out of court - and continues to be debated by many as if it were purely a policy issue, and FISA does not exist - Bush may prevail; it will be up to the voters in this Fall's election to judge him, and to decide whether to sweep out of office those legislators who are preventing a full investigation of this matter.

But if this issue goes to court, Bush should worry. Even Republican-appointed judges would have to compromise their judicial integrity to rule in his favor.

One reason it may stay out of court, though, is the difficulty of finding a plaintiff with proper standing: someone who has been illegally harmed by reason of Bush's surveillance. The ACLU has looked for such plaintiffs and then filed a lawsuit but its chances are not strong.

Another reason it might stay out of court is if legislation moots the issue. Senators Dewine, Graham, Hagel and Snowe have sponsored legislation, S. 2455, that would retroactively (as well as prospectively) legalize the president's refusal to seek FISA warrants. The bill provides for nominal oversight by the Senate and House Select Intelligence Committees. And this approach, which has in the past, usually been requested by presidents, rather than simply granted by Congress, has been a satisfactory remedy.

But Bush does not want this retroactive approval by Congress. Instead, he wants to keep on breaking the law to try to set a precedent - enlarging his presidential powers (and those of subsequent presidents) permanently, to the detriment of Congress.

Another possible solution, and probably the most thoughtful and intelligent to be offered, is the legislation proposed by Senator Arlen Specter, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Specter - who was once considered by Nixon for a seat on the US Supreme Court, even before he had been elected to the Senate - is now one of the Senate's best legal minds. But I suspect the Bush White House will fight Senator Specter's proposal because under it, they may lose.

Senator Specter's Proposed "National Security Surveillance Act of 2006"

On March 16, Senator Specter introduced his proposed legislation, following hearings in which his Judiciary Committee quizzed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for seven hours about the legality of the president's action. Neither Gonzales nor anyone on the panel of legal experts that followed, made anything approaching a compelling case that this was legal activity, although several were highly persuasive that it was transparently illegal.

Implicit in Chairman Specter's proposal, S. 2453, is the fact that the president's actions are, indeed, not legal. Although Specter does not so state, his bill would appropriately place the question of the legality of Bush's actions before the FISA Court, where that court could judge it. No doubt he knows how, in fact, they would judge the matter: They would likely find that the President's bypassing their statutorily-granted authority was, and continues to be, illegal.

Specter recognizes the seriousness of the dilemma here: We are a nation at war, yet also a nation that believes in the rule of law. To have it both ways, he has drawn from a recommendation made decades ago by former Attorney General Edward Levi - a staunch defender of the executive powers: Turn the matter over the FISA Court, where it can, if the Administration presents a solid case (of need balanced against the invasion of civil liberties), rule in the President's favor, but can also reject the President's actions if the balance cuts the other way.

Specter's is a great solution. It preserves secrecy: The FISA Court has shown itself capable of keeping secrets, and while the bill requires bi-annual reports to Congress, they would not reveal secrets. Most importantly, whereas the President claims he is protecting liberties by reviewing the program every forty-five days, Specter's bill imposes a similar requirement.

No doubt the Bush Administration will fight Specter's bill - for the simple reason that it does not want to be tested by a court, for it wants neither checks nor balances, but simple the unilateral exercise of executive power. And even if Specter can get the bill through the Senate, Bush's soldiers in the monocratic House will kill it.

Feingold's Motion for Censure

While Specter's bill may be the best idea yet as to how to deal with Bush's behavior, the approach that has received the most media attention is Senator Russ Feingold's resolution calling for censure of President Bush. The resolution condemns Bush's actions in authorizing the illegal wiretapping program of Americans as part of his war on terror, and then misleading the country about the existence and legality of the program.

Even though nearly half of Americans favor censure, it too is a long shot. Yet is probably the most damning of the documents before Congress.

Feingold's preamble points out that Bush openly lied to Americans about his secret wiretapping, on repeated occasions: On April 20, 2004, Bush said, "When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so."; on July 14, 2004, he claimed that "the government can't move on wiretaps or roving wiretaps without getting a court order"; and on June 9, 2005, he said, "Law enforcement officers need a federal judge's permission to wiretap a foreign terrorist's phone, a federal judge's permission to track his calls, or a federal judge's permission to search his property. Officers must meet strict standards to use any of these tools."

All this was untrue. Bush had authorized these very law enforcement officials to bypass federal judges, and proceed without warrants. Why he engaged in such bald-faced lies, in circumstances where it was not necessary, is unclear.

Senator Feingold's proposal has no chance of being adopted in a GOP-controlled Senate - one that includes, as well, more than a few spineless Democrats. Still, he has made his point. As Feingold told the New York Observer, "What [the Republicans had] succeeded in doing, [since this issue has arisen] was to sweep the illegality under the rug." Feingold added, "I decided it was time to include that on the record and came up with the censure proposal, to bring accountability back into the discussion. And I succeeded in doing that. That's been achieved."

Election 2006 Is the Key

In the end, this issue is going to be resolved by the 2006 midterm election. If Republicans lose control of either the House or Senate, the investigations of the Bush/Cheney White House will begin. It won't be pretty. It will make dealing with lying about sex look like High School hazing. It will even make Richard Nixon look like a piker when it comes to staying within the law.

If the early polls are half correct, independent swing voters have had it with Bush. Democrats want no part of him. Moderate Republicans are keeping their distance; they are no longer willing to hold their noses and vote for him.

The big question is whether there will be an "October Surprise" - a dramatic event that will bump up Bush's currently dismal polling numbers, and help his party. Right now, Republican friends tell me they are doing all they can to keep the mid-terms from being a referendum on Bush. They know they have a better chance if they focus on local races - absent an October Surprise. If you have any knowledge of how White Houses operate, you can be sure they are working night and day to pull off such a surprise.

If they do it, Bush will get away with his lawlessness. If not, he and Cheney are in for two very bad years. They have earned them.

John W. Dean, a FindLaw columnist, is a former counsel to the president.

Source:
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060324.html
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H5N1 AVIAN FLU NEWS

All the avian flu information you don’t have time to find, but if I leave this up for a while maybe you will have the time read it, there are some very interesting reports…..ed

03/20/2006

Second Human Bird Flu Case Found in Egypt 19 Mar 2006 Egypt reported its second human case of avian flu Sunday, and Israel continued its slaughter of hundreds of thousands of birds while waiting to learn if the disease had spread to poultry.

Bird flu plan 'may spread virus' --British measures to deal with an outbreak have been attacked as likely to promote wider infection 18 Mar 2006 Farmers will be free to move birds out of areas hit by avian flu, with permission from a vet, under British plans to deal with an outbreak of the disease.

Russia says bird flu may hit US in autumn, mutate 16 Mar 2006 The deadly bird flu virus, which has hit Asia, Europe and Africa, may spread to the United States late this year and risks mutating dangerously there, Russia's top animal and plant health inspector said on Thursday. [Just in time for pre-'election' quarantines, FEMA camps and KBR detention centres!]

Five more nations confirm bird flu outbreak 18 Mar 2006 Four Asian nations and Denmark have confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu.

Israel confirms first bird flu cases in poultry 16 Mar 2006 Israel said that initial tests showed bird flu had killed hundreds of poultry at a southern farm in the country's first outbreak.

Russian leader sees U.S. behind bird flu outbreak 14 Mar 2006 Russian Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov has blamed the United States for the spread of avian influenza, or bird flu, in a number of European countries, including Russia. "The forms of warfare are changing. It's strange that not a single duck has yet died in America - they are all dying in Russia and European countries. This makes one seriously wonder why," Zyuganov said at a press conference at the Interfax main office on Tuesday. [See: U.S. to create a bird flu virus mutation 24 Mar 2005 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun a series of experiments to see how likely the bird flu virus could result in a human pandemic. The six-month series of experiments seeks to simulate the mixing and matching of genes from the H5N1 avian flu virus that has plagued Asia and a common human flu virus that public-health experts fear could turn avian flu into a pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. CDC scientists inside an ultra-secure laboratory [?!?] have started swapping the genes of the H5N1 avian virus with the genes of an H3N2 virus, the strain behind most recent human flu outbreaks.]

Bird Flu Hits Sweden; Afghans Suspect It 15 Mar 2006 Sweden recorded its first case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain on Wednesday, saying European laboratory tests confirm two wild birds found dead in the southeast were infected with the virus. Afghan authorities, meanwhile, said preliminary test results from a U.N. lab left them "99 percent certain" that the country's first bird flu outbreak was the deadly H5N1 strain.

Denmark detects first case of H5 bird flu 15 Mar 2006 Denmark has detected its first case of highly pathogenic H5 bird flu in a wild bird, the Danish family and consumer affairs ministry announced today.

Switzerland confirms bird flu in wild ducks 15 Mar 2006 Swiss authorities said on Tuesday that they had discovered two new cases of the broad H5 bird flu virus family in wild ducks.

U.S. bird flu pandemic ("final") solution - in addition to FEMA camps and KBR'S detention centres: Store canned tuna and powdered milk under your bed. 13 Mar 2006 In a remarkable speech over the weekend, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt recommended that Americans start storing canned tuna and powdered milk under their beds as the prospect of a deadly bird flu outbreak approaches the United States.

Bird flu outbreak in U.S. could usher in 12-hour workdays 13 Mar 2006 Employers are planning for a few possible back-up scenarios... Well employees might also be required to work longer shifts. Instead of a typical eight-hour shift, demands due to shortages in manpower would mean an extension to 10- or 12-hour shifts.

Bird flu spreads to Myanmar, likely in Afghanistan 13 Mar 2006 Myanmar has reported what is believed to be the secretive country's first case of bird flu, while Afghanistan was checking on Monday to see if it is the latest country to be infected by the deadly disease.

Bird flu spreads to Cameroon, possibly Myanmar 12 Mar 2006 Cameroon became the fourth African country to report an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu on Sunday, and authorities in Myanmar tested scores of dead birds for the virus.

Donald Rumsfeld makes $5m killing on bird flu drug 12 Mar 2006 Donald Rumsfeld has made a killing out of bird flu. The US Defence Secretary has made more than $5m (£2.9m) in capital gains from selling shares in the biotechnology firm that discovered and developed Tamiflu, the drug being bought in massive amounts by Governments to treat [sic] a possible human pandemic of the disease.

Tamiflu found ineffective in bird flu treatment 21 Dec 2005 The drug most of the world is counting on to prevent an avian flu pandemic may not be a failsafe defence, according to a New England Journal of Medicine report. The authors say they have found evidence the H5N1 virus can mutate into a form unaffected by Tamiflu -- rendering the world's ever-growing stockpiles of the drug ineffective if the mutated strain were to spread.

Doctor says bird flu drug is 'useless' 04 Dec 2005 A Vietnamese doctor who has treated dozens of victims of avian flu claims the drug being stockpiled around the world to combat a pandemic is "useless" against the virus. "Tamiflu is really only meant for treating ordinary type A flu. It was not designed to combat H5N1 . . . (Tamiflu) is useless," Dr Nguyen Tuong Van, who runs the intensive care unit at the Centre for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, said.

Chertoff: Bird flu possible in U.S. within months 11 Mar 2006 Migratory birds could carry the avian flu virus to U.S. shores in the next few months, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned Thursday. See: U.S. to create a bird flu virus mutation 24 Mar 2005 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun a series of experiments to see how likely the bird flu virus could result in a human pandemic. The six-month series of experiments seeks to simulate the mixing and matching of genes from the H5N1 avian flu virus that has plagued Asia and a common human flu virus that public-health experts fear could turn avian flu into a pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. CDC scientists inside an ultra-secure laboratory [?!?] have started swapping the genes of the H5N1 avian virus with the genes of an H3N2 virus, the strain behind most recent human flu outbreaks.]

Experts Say Medical Ventilators Are in Short Supply in Event of Bird Flu Pandemic 12 Mar 2006 If an avian flu pandemic were to cause widespread illness in the United States, public health experts and officials agree on one thing: the nation's hospitals would not have enough ventilators, the machines that pump oxygen into sick patients' lungs. [Oh, but KBR's detention centres won't be in short supply!]

Bird Flu Found in Weasel-Like Animal 09 Mar 2006 A German lab has found the H5N1 bird flu virus in a weasel-like [Bush-like] animal called a stone marten, officials said Thursday, marking the disease's spread to another mammal species beyond cats.

Bird flu 'heading for America' 09 Mar 2006 Bird flu could reach the Americas in six to 12 months or even sooner following its rapid expansion through Asia, Europe and Africa, the UN bird flu chief said yesterday. [KBR is ready for it!]

Bird flu could hit Americas within a year: UN 08 Mar 2006 Bird flu, already spreading across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is expected to jump across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas within a year, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday. [Or even sooner - if Bush plays the bioterror card prior to his impeachment/treason trial. FEMA's camps and KBR's detention centres will be filled with those who defy the quarantines and refuse the pharma-terrorists deadly vaccines; Rudy Giuliani will make a *killing* (literally) off of the clampdown (as he did during Bush bin Laden's 9/11 attacks) and the Bush regime will seize further dictatorial powers. --LRP]

Bird-flu cats reject virus 07 Mar 2006 Three cats were at one point carriers of the H5N1 bird flu virus in the southern Austrian province of Styria, but two of them have since rejected the virus, says a health official.

Bird Flu Spreads in Nigeria, Reaches Oil-Producing Delta Region 08 Mar 2006 Bird flu spread to three more Nigerian states, reaching the oil-producing Delta region where attacks by gunmen on pipelines and export terminals and kidnappings of workers in the past two months disrupted supply. [LOL, looks like the terrorists running Exxon Mobil are poised to blame *bird flu* for their next round of windfall profiteering!]

H5N1 bird flu reaches Poland, experts fear pandemic 06 Mar 2006 Mar 06 The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu swept into Poland, a laboratory confirmed, as world health experts prepared for a feared mutation of the virus that could kill millions.

For First Time, Flu Spreads From Birds 06 Mar 2006 Three cats have tested positive for the deadly strain of bird flu in Austria's first reported case of the disease spreading to an animal other than a bird, state authorities said Monday.

H5N1 bird flu infects cats in Austria, feeding pandemic fears 06 Mon 2006 The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in several cats in Austria, as world health experts prepared for a feared mutation of the disease capable of jumping from human to human.

Industry caused the flu; why blame wild birds? By Ashok B Sharma 06 Mar 2006 "Not just in India, industrial poultry is the cause of the spread of the bird flu outbreak worldwide. Several studies show that transnational poultry industry is the root cause of the problem. The spread of industrial poultry production and trade networks have created ideal conditions for the emergence and transmission of lethal viruses like the H5N1 strains of bird flu."

DoD Officials Prepare for Possible Pandemic 01 Mar 2006 Defense Department officials are working to create a pandemic influenza plan [Yeah, KBR's detention centres] in time for the Department of Homeland Defense's end-of-March deadline, a DoD medical official said Feb. 27. [Just cut the word 'plan.' They are working to create an influenza pandemic, period. See: U.S. to create a bird flu virus mutation 24 Mar 2005 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun a series of experiments to see how likely the bird flu virus could result in a human pandemic. The six-month series of experiments seeks to simulate the mixing and matching of genes from the H5N1 avian flu virus that has plagued Asia and a common human flu virus that public-health experts fear could turn avian flu into a pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. CDC scientists inside an ultra-secure laboratory [?!?] have started swapping the genes of the H5N1 avian virus with the genes of an H3N2 virus, the strain behind most recent human flu outbreaks.]

Calls for bird flu military labs 02 Mar 2006 A military-style approach is needed to counter the worldwide threat of H5N1 bird flu, it has been claimed. US experts want to see a network of rapid-response laboratories set up based on an existing military model established after the Second World War.

Reigniting Spanish flu 05 Oct 2005 The influenza strain that killed up to 50 million people in the 1918 pandemic has been recreated by scientists. ...Other research shows close similarities between the 1918 Spanish Flu virus and the H5N1 bird flu strain that is threatening the world with a new pandemic. Researchers in the United States described how they used a "reverse engineering" technique to re-construct Spanish Flu.

Gene From 1918 Virus Proves Key to Virulent Influenza (University of Wisconsin Press Release) 06 Oct 2004 "Using a gene resurrected from the virus that caused the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, recorded history's most lethal outbreak of infectious disease, scientists have found that a single gene may have been responsible for the devastating virulence of the virus. Writing Oct. 7 in the journal Nature, virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Tokyo, describes experiments in which engineered viruses were made more potent by the addition of a single gene. The work is evidence that a slight genetic tweak is all that is required to transform mild strains of the flu virus into forms far more pathogenic and, possibly, more transmissible... Using a comparatively mild form of influenza A virus as a template, Kawaoka's team added the two 1918 genes that code for hemagglutinin and neuraminidase and infected mice with the engineered viruses." Kofi Annan expresses hope of "containing the spread of new infectious diseases, whether natural or man-made"

Transcript of Press Conference by Secretary-General Kofi Annan At United Nations Headquarters, 21 Mar 2005 "...[I]f governments take the decisions that I am suggesting in this report, I believe we will have a much better chance of turning the tide against HIV/AIDS and malaria in the next 10 years; a much better chance of containing the spread of new infectious diseases, whether natural or man-made; ... -- through a strengthened Security Council and a new and authoritative human rights council, both working closely with regional organizations -- to put a stop to major crimes against innocent people, such as those we are witnessing in Darfur."

Democrats seek to repeal US vaccine liability law [passed in secret by the GOP] 15 Feb 2006 Congressional Democrats on Wednesday introduced legislation that would repeal a law that gives vaccine, drug and medical device makers broad protection against lawsuits in a public health or bioterror emergency. Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Edward Kennedy and 20 other House and Senate Democrats wrote a letter to Republican leaders saying, "The provision included in the bill is not limited to vaccines for pandemic flu or other major threats to the nation's health, but could instead be used to allow manufacturers of virtually any drug or vaccine to escape responsibility for gross negligence or even criminal acts." When the avian flu pandemic arrives, the corpora-terrorists will pressure the Bush regime to make a vaccine mandatory, and there will be no recourse. Do you really trust the people who brought you the response to Hurricane Katrina (thousands dead) to handle a response to avian flu? Bush said in October 2005 that he would consider using the military to "effect a quarantine" in the event of an outbreak of pandemic influenza in the United States. In January 2006, KBR was awarded a Homeland Security contract worth up to $385M with four 1-year options to expand existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities in the event of an emergency.

KBR awarded $385M Homeland Security contract for U.S. detention centers 24 Jan 2006 KBR, the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton Co., said Tuesday it has been awarded a contingency contract from the Department of Homeland Security to support its Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in the event of an emergency. The maximum total value of the contract is $385 million and consists of a 1-year base period with four 1-year options. The contract, which is effective immediately, provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to expand existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities... The contract may also provide migrant detention support to other government organizations in the event of an immigration emergency [?!?], as well as the development of a plan to react to a [Bush-created] national emergency, the company said.

Canada tightens borders to halt bird flu --Travellers from Europe queried --Airport dogs join security efforts 01 Mar 2006 Canadian customs officials have beefed up inspections at entry points for travellers arriving from Europe, especially France, to keep the highly lethal H5N1 bird flu strain from entering the country.

FIFA chief warns of bird flu threat to World Cup finals 02 Mar 2006 World Cup might be cancelled because of bird flu, football's top official warned yesterday.

Factory farms blamed for spread of bird flu 26 Feb 2006 Factory farming and the international poultry trade are largely responsible for the spread of bird flu, and wild birds are being unfairly blamed for the disease, a new report says.

No country safe from bird flu, vets say 28 Feb 2006 No country should consider itself safe from lethal avian flu, veterinary chiefs meeting in Paris said Tuesday, adding that it is “highly likely” that the disease will continue its spread in poultry stocks in Europe and beyond.

Germany put on alert as cat dies of bird flu 01 Mar 2006 German officials warned cat owners yesterday not to sleep accompanied by their pets, and to keep them indoors, following confirmation that a cat has died of the H5N1 avian flu virus.

Flamingo Deaths Spark Bird Flu Probe in Bahamas 01 Mar 2006 Health experts were dispatched on Tuesday to the southern Bahamas island of Inagua to find out if an unexplained spate of bird deaths was linked to a deadly bird flu virus... Over the past two days, 15 of the island's famed flamingos, five roseate spoonbills and one cormorant have been found dead with no external injuries on the island just north of Haiti, officials said.

Bird Flu, Spreading in Africa, May Touch Off Pandemic 28 Feb 2006 Feathers littered on sandy soil and poultry coops filled with empty wire are the few remaining signs of the 28,000 chickens Abdullahi Saidu lost in a week to bird flu on his Nigerian farm last month.

Niger confirms bird flu cases 27 Feb 2006 Niger has become the third African country to confirm cases of the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu, a lab official said today.

Bird Flu Raises Concerns in France and Nigeria 26 Feb 2006 The announcement on Saturday that the deadly strain of bird flu was discovered in domesticated turkeys in France has disrupted the country's $7 billion poultry market and raised fears among the French that they could be vulnerable to the disease.

Bird flu: 'don't panic', UK told --Experts seek to reassure the public after restaurant takes wild fowl off its menu and McDonald's admits 'contingency plan' 26 Feb 2006 Britain's health industry has launched a concerted effort to reassure the public about the safety of poultry and eggs after the first restaurant in the country announced it was taking wild fowl off the menu because of fears about bird flu... The McDonald's chain also admitted it had emergency contingency plans in place to replace all chicken products on its menus with alternative items if avian flu reached Britain.

EU approves bird flu vaccinations 23 February 2006 A European Union veterinary expert panel has approved limited preventative [?!?] bird flu vaccination plans presented by France and the Netherlands.

Bird flu scare: Navapur to be sealed off 23 Feb 2006 (India) Officials will begin sealing off the entire town of Navapur, ground zero for the outbreak of bird flu. No one will be allowed in or out of Navapur, which has a population of nearly 30,000.

Bird flu moving freely from Asia to Europe and Africa 23 Feb 2006 Indonesia said a 27-year-old woman died of bird flu as it prepared to scour the capital for infected poultry, while Malaysia and India expanded the slaughter of chickens to try to contain the H5N1 virus.

'Europe has no hope of eradicating bird flu' 23 Feb 2006 Europe has "no hope of eradicating" the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in the foreseeable future, now that there are infected wild birds across the European Union, a senior bird flu expert said yesterday.

Second duck in France found to have H5N1 bird flu 23 Feb 2006 France, the European Union's biggest poultry producer, has confirmed that a second wild duck on its territory has been found to have the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Deadly Bird Flu Hits Seventh EU Nation 21 Feb 2006 Tests confirmed H5N1 in three birds found dead in Hungary, making the country the seventh EU nation with an outbreak of the deadly strain of bird flu, officials said Tuesday.

Germany fears bird flu is getting out of control 21 Feb 2006 Germany today reported 22 new cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, as politicians gave warning that the virus was getting out of control.

EU weighs immediate flu jab programme 21 Feb 2006 European veterinary experts have met in Brussels to decide whether to grant controversial requests from France and the Netherlands to begin an immediate programme of "preventive vaccination" against avian flu.

Tower Ravens Caged Over Bird Flu Threat 21 Feb 2006 The ravens at the Tower of London have been moved indoors to protect them from the threat of bird flu, the man in charge of the birds said Monday. According to legend, if the ravens leave the 11th century fortress on the River Thames, its White Tower will crumble and the Kingdom of England will fall.

Deadly viruses mutating to infect humans at rate never seen before 21 Feb 2006 At least one new disease is jumping the species barrier from animals to human beings every year, exposing people to emerging germs at a rate that may be unprecedented. [The Bush bioterror team is working *overtime.*]

India quarantines six as bird flu spreads faster 20 Feb 2006 India quarantined six people in hospital on Monday and began a door-to-door search for anyone with fever as authorities scrambled to contain the country's first outbreak of bird flu.

Study: Containment can't stop flu pandemic 20 Feb 2006 Scientists say they've concluded containment might buy time, but is not enough to stop a flu pandemic. Through mathematical modeling, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and Seattle's University of Washington show flu outbreaks are likely to emerge in multiple locations and containment of all outbreaks is improbable.

Washington, D.C. Hosting Bird Flu Summit for Businesses 19 Feb 2006 Email from New Fields, detailing their plans to host Washington, D.C.'s first 'Bird Flu Summit' to be held February 27-28, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City near Reagan National Airport, obtained by Citizens For Legitimate Government. See: New Fields CEO Joins Bechtel, Halliburton on Highly Anticipated SBA Expo '04 Panel (New Fields) 06 May 2004 "New Fields Exhibitions is the organizer of the successful Rebuilding Iraq series, which has brought together business leaders from over thirty countries for networking opportunities with key Iraqi entrepreneurs and government officials."

Bird flu 'likely to reach Britain' 18 Feb 2006 The Government has confirmed that bird flu is "likely" to reach UK shores following confirmation that a duck in France died of the disease.

Dead duck found in France had H5N1 virus-ministry 18 Feb 2006 A dead duck found in France had the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the agriculture ministry said on Saturday, confirming the first case of the virus in France.

Killer H5N1 virus spreads 19 Feb 2006 The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus was identified today in India and Iran, continued to spread in Europe and claimed another victim in Indonesia, though Nigeria claimed to be bringing it under control.

Bird Flu Spreads to India; Iraq Reports Second Death 18 Feb 2006 Bird flu spread to India, affecting dozens of poultry farms in the western part of the country, while Iraq reported a second human fatality from avian influenza, pushing the monthly global death tally to a two-year high.

Bird flu could hit Florida first 17 Feb 2006 Gov. Jeb Bush expects Florida to be among the first bird flu cases if a pandemic spreads to the United States. In a visit to Florida, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt warned Thursday that bird flu could reach the nation within 30 days - once it starts passing widely from person to person. Bush predicts Florida would get the first wave... Quarantines [!?!] are the start of the logistical challenges during a pandemic outbreak. [Jeb Bush will be the first to get the police state party started, and fill the FEMA camps and KBR's detention centers. I saw this one marching down Broadway a mile away. Out of the ashes of Jeb's police state and genocide of the sick and poor (à la New Orleans) will arise a Reichwing clamor for him to run for president in 2008, unless his brother has will have already declared himself 'president' for life. --LRP]

Reigniting Spanish flu 05 Oct 2005 The influenza strain that killed up to 50 million people in the 1918 pandemic has been recreated by scientists. ...Other research shows close similarities between the 1918 Spanish Flu virus and the H5N1 bird flu strain that is threatening the world with a new pandemic. Researchers in the United States described how they used a "reverse engineering" technique to re-construct Spanish Flu. [Keep that sentence in mind when you start to see KBR's detention centers filling up with avian flu victims who refuse Bush's mandatory vaccines.]

Bird flu epidemic could kill 142 mln, cost 4.4 trln usd - Australian academics 16 Feb 2006 A global bird flu pandemic could kill as many as 142 mln people and wipe some 4.4 trln usd from economic output, according to a worst-case scenario published by Australian academics.
Dead swans litter German island as bird flu spreads 17 Feb 2006 The German Baltic island of Ruegen is littered with the corpses of at least 100 swans just 24 hours after the authorities discovered three dead birds with H5N1 virus on its shores.

Two more countries report bird flu 16 Feb 2006 A deadly strain of bird flu spreading across Europe was reported to have infected birds in two more countries - Romania and Slovenia -Thursday.

Risk to Britain increasing from EU spread of bird flu 17 Feb 2006 Britain is increasingly likely to be hit by bird flu, the government warned yesterday.

Russia Has New Bird-Flu Outbreak; Turkey Finds Suspected Cases 17 Feb 2006 Russian authorities killed more than 270,000 chickens in the country's southwestern-most corner to contain a new wave of lethal bird flu, a day after Turkey reported suspected outbreaks in almost a third of its provinces.

Indonesia considers response to pandemic as fears of bird flu rise 17 Feb 2006 A possible pandemic is looming and the world is on high alert after new cases of avian influenza in poultry were found in Europe and Africa this week.

Iraq: Health alert in south warns of bird flu 16 Feb 2006 The Iraqi government has raised a health alert in a southern governorate after local laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the H5N1 bird flu virus in dozens of birds in the area.

Niger: Dead birds raise fears of bird flu 16 Feb 2006 The death of at least 400 chickens, turkeys and geese in Niger – which shares a 1,500-kilometre border with bird-flu-infected Nigeria – has government officials scurrying to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

Bird flu pandemic would 'kill millions, shut down economy' 16 Feb 2006 Modelling of the consequences of a global outbreak of bird flu has predicted a worldwide recession and a massive death toll. Two papers have been released showing the likely impact of a pandemic.

Bird flu could kill 214,000 Aussies 16 Feb 2006 A serious worldwide outbreak of avian flu could kill up to 214,000 Australians, according to new projections by experts. The research shows the world death toll from a disastrous bird flu pandemic could be as high as 142 million, or 2.2 per cent of the earth's population, Fairfax newspapers report.

Hastert, Frist said to rig bill for drug firms 09 Feb 2006 Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert engineered a backroom legislative maneuver to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, say witnesses to the pre-Christmas power play. The language was tucked into a Defense Department appropriations bill at the last minute without the approval of members of a House-Senate conference committee, say several witnesses, including a top Republican staff member. Beyond the issue of vaccine liability protection, some say going around the longstanding practice of bipartisan House-Senate conference committees' working out compromises on legislation is a dangerous power grab by Republican congressional leaders that subverts democracy.

Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (Defense Department FY2006 Appropriations bill) The new law providing vaccine makers with protection against lawsuits --Among its key provisions are: It allows the secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a declaration that a "disease or other health condition or other threat to health constitutes a public health emergency." The secretary may also issue a declaration if there is a "credible risk" that there may be such a problem in the future. Excludes any state or federal court from reviewing the secretary's decisions under the law.

Democrats seek to repeal US vaccine liability law [passed in secret by the GOP] 15 Feb 2006 Congressional Democrats on Wednesday introduced legislation that would repeal a law that gives vaccine, drug and medical device makers broad protection against lawsuits in a public health or bioterror emergency. Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Edward Kennedy and 20 other House and Senate Democrats wrote a letter to Republican leaders saying, "The provision included in the bill is not limited to vaccines for pandemic flu or other major threats to the nation's health, but could instead be used to allow manufacturers of virtually any drug or vaccine to escape responsibility for gross negligence or even criminal acts." [When the avian flu pandemic arrives, the corpora-terrorists will pressure the Bush regime to make a vaccine mandatory, and there will be no recourse. Do you really trust the people who brought you the reponse to Hurricane Katrina (thousands dead) to handle a response to avian flu? Bush said in October 2005 that he would consider using the military to "effect a quarantine" in the event of an outbreak of pandemic influenza in the United States. In January 2006, KBR was awarded a Homeland Security contract worth up to $385M with four 1-year options to expand existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities in the event of an emergency.]

Bird flu spreading across Europe 15 Feb 2006 Two swans found dead in northern Germany have the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus, officials say, marking the first such cases in the country.

Germany says first cases of H5N1 bird flu found in swans 14 Feb 2006 The German government said that preliminary tests on two dead swans showed they were apparently infected by the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

U.S. agency pushes electronic biosurveillance project 13 Feb 2006 The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology is launching four new "breakthrough projects" designed to help spur the adoption of electronic health records (EHR)... The biosurveillance project will include the launch of a nationwide public health monitoring network to be used during a pandemic or [Bush-engendered] bioterrorist attack to send lab results electronically from emergency departments to public health agencies within 24 hours. [Bush wants to be able to round up dissenters, the poor, and the sick ASAP for FEMA's camps and KBR's detention centers.]

Bird flu spreads to Western Europe 13 Feb 2006 The dreaded H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected in wild birds in Western Europe, the first time its presence has been detected in the European Union, and further cases have been reported in Indonesia and Nigeria.

Bird flu spread by fleeing swans --Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Bulgaria have taken emergency measures after deadly strain was found 13 Feb 2006 The deadly strain of H5N1 bird flu has been detected in four European countries, carried by swans driven south by freezing weather in northern Europe.

Get ready for military-enforced quarantines, KBR's detention centers, and Bush's full-blown police state: 08 Feb 2006 Dallas Co. Approved to Test For Bird Flu Dallas County health officials say they have received approval to conduct testing for the Bird Flu. As far as medical officials know, the virus has not reached the United States, but local health officials outlined how a possible Bird Flu pandemic could quickly spread.

Bird Flu Detected in Swans in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria 12 Feb 2006 The dreaded A(H5N1) bird flu virus has been detected in wild birds in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, European officials announced yesterday, the first time its presence has been detected in the European Union.

Bird flu hits Italy 11 Feb 2006 The highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 bird flu has been detected in wild swans in Italy. According to Italian health minister Francesco Storace, H5N1 was found in two dead swans in Sicily on Saturday.

Several wild birds killed by H5N1 flu in Italy 11 Feb 2006 Several wild swans died of H5N1 in southern Italy, Health Minister Francesco Storace said on Saturday, confirming the arrival in the European Union of the strain of the bird flu virus that can be deadly for humans.

Spread of Bird Flu Boosts Pandemic Chances 11 Feb 2006 The spread of bird flu from Asia to eastern Europe and now west Africa has increased the chance the virus will mutate and set off a pandemic, the U.N. bird flu chief said. 'Now Joining the Bird Flu Summit...' 09 Feb 2006 Lt Col Kimberly Robinson, Department of Defense; Taha A. Kass-Hout, MD, MS, Northrop Grumman CDC Programs [?!?]; and Lauren C. Thompson, The MTIRE Corporation. Bird Flu Summit, 27-28 February - Washington, D.C. --New Fields' Bird Flu Summit, 1050 Seventeenth Street, NW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 536-5000 [Note: The Bird Flu Summit agenda has not yet listed the above participants on their website. Citizens For Legitimate Government has obtained this information. *Why* is the Department of Defense, Northrop Gumman ('Battle Management' specialists), and The MITRE Corporation ('Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I)s' for the Department of Defense) attending a *Bird Flu Summit?* The Bird Flu Summit is presented by New Fields. See: New Fields CEO Joins Bechtel, Halliburton on Highly Anticipated SBA Expo '04 Panel (New Fields) 06 May 2004 "New Fields Exhibitions is the organizer of the successful Rebuilding Iraq series, which has brought together business leaders from over thirty countries for networking opportunities with key Iraqi entrepreneurs and government officials." See also: Homeland Security Expo, Washington, Jun. '05 (New Fields) 20 Feb 2005 "Bringing together experts representing all regions of the globe and a variety of industries to share new ideas is the goal of New Fields’ Homeland and World Security Expo."]

'Highly pathogenic' bird flu found in Nigeria 08 Feb 2006 A "highly pathogenic" strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus has been 'found' [put?] in poultry stocks in Nigeria? the first reported case of the disease in Africa, the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health said Wednesday.

Iraq Finds 7 Possible Bird Flu Cases as Virus Spreads 08 Feb 2006 Iraq is treating seven people for suspected bird flu in the country, where a possible third fatality indicates the lethal virus may have spread to the south.

Researchers Uncover 4 Different Genetic Bird-Flu Strains 06 Feb 2006 Researchers have identified several different genetic strains of the avian flu virus, H5N1, in different bird populations in Southeast Asia -- any one of which could trigger a pandemic.

Iraq confirms second bird flu death 07 Feb 2006 A second Iraqi Kurd has been confirmed to have died from the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain as international teams scrambled to combat the spread of the virus in the country's north.

WHO sends Tamiflu to Iraq after bird flu confirmed 03 Feb 2006 The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday that it was sending several thousand courses of influenza drug Tamiflu to Iraq to help 'treat' any further cases of deadly bird flu in humans.

Tamiflu found ineffective in bird flu treatment 21 Dec 2005 The drug most of the world is counting on to prevent an avian flu pandemic may not be a failsafe defence, according to a New England Journal of Medicine report. The authors say they have found evidence the H5N1 virus can mutate into a form unaffected by Tamiflu -- rendering the world's ever-growing stockpiles of the drug ineffective if the mutated strain were to spread.

Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu --Defense Secretary, ex-chairman of flu treatment rights holder, sees portfolio value growing. 31 Oct 2005 The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it's proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's now the most-sought after drug in the world. Rumsfeld served as Gilead (Research)'s chairman from 1997 until he joined the Bush administration in 2001, and he still holds a Gilead stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million, according to federal financial disclosures filed by Rumsfeld.

NORTHCOM Prepares for Possible Pandemic 01 Feb 2006 U.S. Northern Command recently hosted representatives from more than 40 international, federal and state agencies for an exercise designed to provoke discussion and determine what governmental actions, including military support, would be necessary in the event of an influenza pandemic in the United States. "NORTHCOM will not be running the show in the event of a pandemic," said Dave Wilkins, the NORTHCOM exercise facilitator. "We will be taking guidance and requests from other agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, via the secretary of defense." "We have to have more detention space." --George W. Bush, Nashville, TN 01 Feb 2006 [And, Halliburton/KBR is happy to oblige! See: KBR awarded $385M Homeland Security contract for U.S. detention centers 24 Jan 2006 BTW, during the speech, Bush had trouble with the word 'implement.' He tried to say it three times, then resorted to the word 'put.' LOL!]

Iraq says treating 12 possible human bird flu cases 31 Jan 2006 Officials in northern Iraq said on Tuesday they were treating 12 patients suspected of having bird flu as a World Health Organization (WHO) team prepared to travel to the area to give urgent 'assistance.'

Call for drills to test bird flu readiness 01 Feb 2006 A plan prepared by the UAE Armed Forces for intervention in case of an outbreak of bird flu pandemic in the country was presented at the fourth meeting of the Secretariat of the National Committee for Emergency Response to Bird Flu.

Britain ready to deploy CO2 to combat bird flu 31 Jan 2006 Britain will allow poultry [and what/who else?] to be poisoned with carbon dioxide as a measure to combat any bird flu outbreak, the farm ministry said on Tuesday. I saw *this one* marching down Broadway a mile away. Mandatory vaccines and quarantines will soon commence, against the backdrop of Bush's full-blown police state in Iraq, with absolutly NO media to report U.S. acts of corpora-terrorism: Deadly bird flu in Iraq 30 Jan 2006 A United Nations official confirmed today that an Iraqi girl who died earlier this month in Kurdistan was a bird flu victim. The official, who refused to be named... said the girl was a victim of the deadly H5N1 strain.

Officials Confirm Bird Flu Death of Iraqi 30 Jan 2006 Iraqi and U.N. health officials said Monday a 15-year-old girl who died this month was a victim of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, the first confirmed case of the disease in the Middle East.

UN may use 'flu-casters' if pandemic hits 28 Jan 2006 The United Nations is considering using "flu-casters," modeled on television weather forecasters, to publicize vital information if a global flu pandemic strikes.

WHO denies exaggerating bird flu threat 24 Jan 2006 The World Health Organisation (WHO) has denied it is exaggerating the risk of a human influenza pandemic, while China reports a 10th person has been diagnosed with the potentially fatal bird flu virus.

Flu drugs 'will not work' if pandemic strikes --No evidence Tamiflu will be effective, say experts --Relying on medicines alone 'would be suicidal' 19 Jan 2006 There is no evidence that Tamiflu, the drug being stockpiled by Britain, the United States and Europe, will work if a flu pandemic takes off in humans, according to a review published today by the Lancet medical journal.

France investigates possible human bird flu case 22 Jan 2006 France is investigating a possible case of bird flu in a woman who recently visited Turkey, the French health ministry has said.

STMicro to market chip to detect bird flu in humans 18 Jan 2006 STMicroelectronics said on Wednesday it planned to market a disposable laboratory microchip that can confirm within about an hour a human case of bird flu at a limited cost. [This chip can enable the Bush regime to implement a full-blown police state, as the government will forcibly quarantine those who have avian flu.]

Time of essence in bird flu fight, experts warn 17 Jan 2006 Bird flu experts meeting in Beijing warned on Tuesday that time was of the essence in battling a disease that has killed almost 80 people since 2003 and has now arrived at the gates of Europe and the Middle East.

Europe urged to increase checks of airline passengers to prevent spread of bird flu 17 Jan 2006 With outbreaks of bird flu continuing in Turkey, European countries should adopt policies such as increased checks of airline passengers and their belongings to prevent the disease from spreading across the Continent, a UN agriculture official recommended here Monday.

British firms form bird flu plans 15 Jan 2006 A survey of dozens of British companies found more than 80 percent had made emergency plans in the event bird flu mutates and spreads from human to human.

WHO warns army may be needed to fight bird flu 13 Jan 2006 The World Health Organisation yesterday predicted authorities might need to use the army and police to quarantine about 120,000 people to contain aninitial pandemic flu outbreak of just 19 cases. [If you think the illegal NSA spying was a breach of civil liberties, wait until the bird flu pandemic arrives at the Bush dictatorship's doorstep.]

Bird flu 'spiralling out of control' 12 Jan 2006 The deadly bird flu virus may be getting more effective at infecting humans, the World Health Organisation believes, as experts warned that the disease was spiralling out of control among poultry in Turkey and posed "a serious threat" to neighbouring countries.

Outbreaks of bird flu gather speed 10 Jan 2006 Bird flu is relentlessly heading for Britain, experts warned yesterday, as five more children in Turkey were found to have the disease.

'High chance' of bird flu reaching Britain 10 Jan 2006 Bird flu took another step towards Britain last night as three more people tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain in Turkey. The virus has already claimed the lives of three people in the city of Ankara and scientists say it is inevitable that it will eventually spread to Britain.

New Turkish bird flu infection confirmed 10 Jan 2006 Another person in Turkey today tested positive for the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu, a health ministry official said. It brings the number of people to have contracted the disease in the country to 15.

Lock them up to die - prison bird flu plan 08 Jan 2006 Government planning documents reveal that the 'most dangerous' prisoners would be locked away and left to take their chances and the dead buried in mass graves, if an Asian bird flu epidemic hits New Zealand's prison population. Entire prisons would be sealed - nobody would be allowed in or out for up to six weeks - and mass graves would be dug in prison compounds to dispose of bodies. The proposals, details of which were obtained by the Sunday Star-Times, are part of Corrections Department contingency plans to deal with an Asian bird flu pandemic hitting New Zealand and its 7500 prison population. [What is Bush's prison bird flu plan?]

Bird flu plan for prisons draws civil liberty concerns 08 Jan 2006 A reported proposal that the 'most dangerous' prisoners [?!?] should remain locked away and left to take their chances if an Asian bird flu pandemic hit New Zealand has been attacked by civil libertarians.

HHS Advises Stocking Up On Supplies for Avian Flu Pandemic 07 Jan 2006 There is no vaccine and drugs are in short supply, but Americans may be able to ride out any pandemic of bird flu if they stock up on supplies and keep their children clean [?!?], the government said yesterday. [Americans should worry about keeping their guns clean. Arming the Left: Is the time now? --by Charles Southwell]

Human bird flu cases reach Turkish capital 08 Jan 2006 Three Turks tested positive for a deadly strain of bird flu in the capital Ankara on Sunday, a new stage in the westward sweep of the disease from its east Asian origins toward major economic centres in Turkey and Europe.

Deadly bird flu outbreak spreads 08 Jan 2006 Bird flu in humans appears to be spreading in Turkey, with preliminary tests for the deadly H5N1 strain returned positive in three people in Ankara, the first suspected cases outside the eastern city of Van, where at least two siblings have died in the past week.

WHO confirms Turkish teens died of bird flu, first cases outside East Asia 05 Jan 2006 The World Health Organization confirmed Thursday that two Turkish teenagers who died after exposure to infected poultry were victims of the H5N1 virus, making them the first known human cases outside of the nexus of the avian flu outbreak in East Asia.

Turkey's Bird-Flu Deaths Bring Virus Nearer to Europe 05 Jan 2006 Turkey said a second teenager infected with avian flu died, indicating the virus that's killed at least 74 people since 2003 has moved outside East Asia to the threshold of Europe.

UK told not to panic over bird flu 05 Jan 2006 A leading microbiologist urged the British public not to panic as bird flu crept closer towards central Europe with two people dying in Turkey from the virus.

Bad vaccines may trigger bird flu: expert 29 Dec 2005 China is most likely using substandard poultry vaccine or not enough good vaccine, which would explain recent outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry, a prominent virologist said on Thursday. Dr Robert Webster, of St Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, said the problem of substandard vaccines was not exclusive to China. [And, that is Bush's main reason behind making the deadly vaccines mandatory and removing all manufacturer liability. When the bird flu pandemic arrives, Bush will invoke police-state measures and quarantines, while he pursues further dictatorial power.] From the people who brought you FEMA: US uses live bird flu viruses in vaccine experiment 18 Dec 2005 In an isolation ward of a Baltimore hospital, up to 30 'volunteers' will participate this April in a bold experiment: A vaccine made with a live version of the most notorious bird flu will be sprayed into their noses. [The Bush bioterror team is in a hurry to get the pandemic party started, in order to implement a full-blown police state. Dictator Bush needs to justify his warrantless eavesdropping and to insure re-authorization of the Patriot Act.]

U.S. [Bioterror] Team Will Test Live-Virus 18 Dec 2005 Bird Flu Vaccine Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health will soon recruit 30 human volunteers to test the effectiveness of a vaccine containing a live but weakened form of the H5N1 bird flu virus.

U.S. House approves $3.8 billion for avian flu [for pharma-terrorists] 19 Dec 2005 The U.S. House of Representatives early on Monday approved $3.78 billion to begin preparations for a possible [Bush-engendered] avian flu epidemic. The bill would also shield manufacturers of vaccines and drugs from lawsuits during an epidemic. The legislation, wrapped into an unrelated defense bill, still faces an uncertain fate in the Senate later this week.

House OKs Liability Protections for Drug Makers 19 Dec 2005 Drug manufacturers are a step closer toward winning the liability protections they say they need before investing in medicines to combat a bird flu pandemic. Opponents described the protections, approved early Monday by the House, as a "massive Christmas bonus to the drug companies." Consumers seeking damages on claims they were harmed by a vaccine would have to prove willful misconduct on the part of the drug manufacturers.

Bird-Flu Bill Slammed as Loophole for Drugmakers 19 Dec 2005 Bird flu preparedness legislation headed for a final vote in the Senate this week would create loopholes allowing vaccine makers to avoid legal liability even if a patient is harmed by negligence, critics said today.

Ruffled feathers --UF professor says bird flu is not a threat in the U.S. 18 Dec 2005 Researchers and health agencies continue to sound the alarm about avian flu, and Dr. Gary Butcher, an expert on poultry medicine and disease at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine thinks he knows why. "The agenda here is pretty obvious," he said. "People want grant money. This is a bonanza."

White House holds bird flu drill with military leaders 10 Dec 2005 Warning an outbreak may be inevitable, the White House on Saturday conducted a test of its readiness for a feared bird flu pandemic and said federal agencies fared "quite well" [Yes, they did so well with Hurricane Katrina, I can hardly wait for their response to a bird flu pandemic.] without offering any details. Cabinet secretaries, military leaders and other top officials took part in the four-hour tabletop drill, which officials said was designed to assess the level of federal preparedness for a possible outbreak of bird flu or another deadly virus. "This is about being ready for what inevitably will come," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said. [How does Leavitt know that a pandemic is 'inevitable?' Apparently, the Bush bioterror team is ready to attack, and a full-blown police state is surely on the way.]

Britain could grind to a halt in a bird flu pandemic, experts fear [We know the civil liberties sure will!] 11 Dec 2005 Britain is not as prepared for bird flu as it should be, an influential Lords committee will say this week, because thousands of companies have not investigated how they would keep going during a pandemic that could last four months and affect a quarter of their employees.

Reports detail bird flu effects on U.S. 09 Dec 2005 A pandemic of bird flu could cause a serious recession of the U.S. economy, with immediate costs of between $500 billion and $675 billion, according to two estimates released on Thursday.

U.S. Urges States to Prepare for Bird Flu 06 Dec 2005 Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt urged each state on Monday to prepare for the possibility of a [Bush-engendered] deadly bird flu pandemic by holding its own planning summit within the next four months.

Secretive agency proposed to develop vaccines, drugs [to facilitate Bush bioterror attacks] 03 Dec 2005 The proposed Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency, or BARDA, would be exempt from long-standing open records and meetings laws that apply to most government departments, according to legislation approved Oct. 18 by the Senate health committee. The agency would be exempt from the Freedom of Information and Federal Advisory Committee acts, both considered crucial for monitoring government accountability.

Doctor says bird flu drug is 'useless' 04 Dec 2005 A Vietnamese doctor who has treated dozens of victims of avian flu claims the drug being stockpiled around the world to combat a pandemic is "useless" against the virus. "Tamiflu is really only meant for treating ordinary type A flu. It was not designed to combat H5N1 . . . (Tamiflu) is useless," Dr Nguyen Tuong Van, who runs the intensive care unit at the Centre for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, said. [LOL!! See: Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu 31 Oct 2005 Defense Secretary, ex-chairman of flu treatment rights holder, sees portfolio value growing. The prospect of a bird flu outbreak... is proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's now the most-sought after (*useless!*) drug in the world.]

U.S. Builds Stockpile of Vaccine for Flu Pandemic 30 Nov 2005 The government expects to stockpile nearly 8 million doses of an experimental vaccine 'against' [to start] pandemic influenza by February, and studies are underway that could stretch that supply to cover more than a third of the population, federal health experts said yesterday.

Australia to Test Response to Bird Flu in Simulated Exercise 28 Nov 2005 Australia will this week test its ability to respond to an outbreak of avian influenza in a simulated outbreak of the disease.

Virus spreads 'all over' Jakarta 26 Nov 2005 Bird flu has been detected throughout the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, with the country's Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono admitting: "It's very serious. Based on our research, the virus has spread all over the city."

35 wild birds with H5 avian flu virus found in eastern Canada 25 Nov 2005 Canada has discovered the H5 avian influenza virus in 35 wild ducks and one case of the H7 virus in its eastern provinces, officials announced.

CDC Updates Rules, Outlines Gov't Procedures to Quarantine People 22 Nov 2005 Travelers entering the U.S. with fever and other flu-like symptoms would be reported by the airline or ship that brought them, under new rules proposed today, a U.S. public-health official said. When "compatible symptoms are noticed in a passenger on a flight or ship, there will be a requirement for the captain to report it to the quarantine station that has jurisdiction over that port of entry'' for medical personnel to assess them, Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine [?!?], said today. The proposal also outlines procedures for government orders to quarantine people, and for how a person may appeal an order.

CDC Seeks Authority During Quarantines, Easy Access to Passenger Lists 22 Nov 2005 Federal health officials are seeking to update quarantine and contact-tracing regulations... The proposed changes, announced Tuesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include easier CDC access to airline and ship passenger lists, a clearer appeals process for people [think Jose Padilla] subjected to quarantines, and explicit authority to offer [force?] vaccinations and medical treatment to quarantined people.

U.S. Bans Imports of Some Canadian Poultry 22 Nov 2005 Federal agriculture officials banned poultry imports from mainland British Columbia on Monday after Canadian officials reported finding a duck at a poultry farm that was infected with the flu.

U.N. to set up bird flu early warning system 18 Nov 2005 The United Nations is to set up a bird flu early warning system to alert countries of incoming migratory birds which could be carrying the deadly virus, a U.N. official said on Friday.

Vaccine Funding Tied to Liability --Trial Lawyers Say Move Would Hurt Consumers 17 Nov 2005 Legislation that would pour billions of dollars into the production of vaccines against avian flu and other pandemic diseases is threatened by the trial lawyers' lobby, which objects to proposed limits on lawsuits against drug manufacturers... "The Republican leadership in Congress is trying to do another special favor for drug companies by slipping a provision into a massive spending bill to absolve the pharmaceutical industry of any responsibility to patients injured by dangerous drugs or vaccines," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said.

FDA probes deaths of Tamiflu patients 17 Nov 2005 U.S. regulators have asked Roche AG for more information about the deaths of 12 children who took the flu-fighting drug Tamiflu, saying in a report released on Thursday that the cause of the deaths was "extremely difficult to interpret." [Oops! There goes Rumsfeld's stock portfolio! See: Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu 31 Oct 2005 Defense Secretary, ex-chairman of flu treatment rights holder, sees portfolio value growing.]

Deaths Among Roche Tamiflu Users Get U.S. FDA Review 17 Nov 2005 U.S. regulators will review the deaths of 12 Japanese children who took Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu influenza medicine, being stockpiled worldwide as the best likely treatment for bird flu. Four were due to "sudden death, an unusual phenomenon in otherwise healthy'' people 16 and under, the Food and Drug Administration said in a report posted today on its Web site.

China Reports Three Human Bird-Flu Cases 16 Nov 2005 China confirmed its first two human cases of bird flu on the mainland Wednesday, including at least one fatality, as the government raced to vaccinate billions of chickens, ducks and other poultry in a massive effort to stop the spread of the virus.

Suicides linked to Tamiflu - so is only weapon against bird flu safe? 15 Nov 2005 European medicines regulators have ordered a safety check on Tamiflu after reports that two teenage boys died in Japan in apparent suicides after taking the anti-flu drug. The deaths have raised safety fears about the only treatment against a threatened pandemic of avian flu. [See: Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu --Defense Secretary, ex-chairman of flu treatment rights holder, sees portfolio value growing. 31 Oct 2005]

And you thought you have read it all, there’s more of course, but this is enough for now, I hope you found these reports intertesting.

Credit for the above links:
http://www.legitgov.org/index.html
_____________________________

Decline and Fall

Kevin Phillips, no lefty, says that America -- addicted to oil, strangled by debt, and maniacally religious -- is headed for doom.

By Michelle Goldberg
Book Review
Salon.com
Mar. 16, 2006

In 1984, the renowned historian and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Barbara Tuchman published "The March of Folly," a book about how, over and over again, great powers undermine and sabotage themselves. She documented the perverse self-destructiveness of empires that clung to deceptive ideologies in the face of contrary evidence, that spent carelessly and profligately, and that obstinately refused to change course even when impending disaster was obvious to those willing to see it. Such recurrent self-deception, she wrote, "is epitomized in a historian's statement about Philip II of Spain, the surpassing wooden-head of all sovereigns: 'No experience of the failure of his policy could shake his belief in its essential excellence.'"

Though the last case study in "The March of Folly" was about America's war in Vietnam, Tuchman argued that the brilliance of the United States Constitution had thus far protected the country from the traumatic upheavals faced by most other nations. "For two centuries, the American arrangement has always managed to right itself under pressure without discarding the system and trying another after every crisis, as have Italy and Germany, France and Spain," she wrote. Then she suggested such protection could soon give way: "Under accelerating incompetence in America, this may change. Social systems can survive a good deal of folly when circumstances are historically favorable, or when bungling is cushioned by large resources or absorbed by sheer size as in the United States during its period of expansion. Today, when there are no more cushions, folly is less affordable."

For all her prescience, it seems likely that Tuchman, who died in 1989, would have been stunned by the Brobdingnagian dimensions of American folly during the last six years. Just over 20 years after she wrote about the Constitution's miraculous endurance, it's hard to figure out how much of the democratic republic created by our founders still exists, and how long what's left will last. The country (along with the world) is in terrible trouble, though the extent of that trouble is both so sprawling and multifaceted that it's hard to get a hold on.

It's not just that America is being ruled by small and venal men, or that its reputation has been demolished, its army overstretched, its finances a mess. All of that, after all, was true toward the end of Vietnam as well. Now, though, there are all kinds of other lurking catastrophes, a whole armory of swords of Damocles dangling over a bloated, dispirited and anxious country. Peak oil -- the point at which oil production maxes out -- seems to be approaching, with disastrous consequences for America's economy and infrastructure. Global warming is accelerating and could bring us many more storms even worse than Katrina, among other meteorological nightmares. The spread of Avian Flu has Michael Leavitt, secretary of health and human services, warning Americans to stockpile canned tuna and powdered milk. It looks like Iran is going to get a nuclear weapon, and the United States can't do anything to stop it. Meanwhile, America's growing religious fanaticism has brought about a generalized retreat from rationality, so that the country is becoming unwilling and perhaps unable to formulate policies based on fact rather than faith.

At any time, of course, one can catalog apocalyptic portents and declare that the end is nigh. Obviously, things in America have been bad before -- there has been civil war, depression, global conflagrations. The country seems to have exhausted its ability to elect decent leaders, but some savior could appear before 2008. One doesn't want to be hysterical or give in to rampaging pessimism. Books about America's decline in the face of an ascendant Japan filled the shelves in the 1980s, and a decade later, the country was at the height of power and prosperity.

Yet just because America has endured in the past does not mean it will in the future. Thus figuring out exactly how much danger we're in is difficult. Are things really as dire as they seem, or are anxiety and despair just part of the cultural moment, destined to be as ephemeral as the sunny mastery and flush good times of the Clinton years? It's human nature to believe that things will continue as they usually have, and that we'll once again somehow stumble intact through our looming crises. At the same time, it's hard to imagine a plausible scenario in which the country regains its equilibrium without first going through major convulsions.

So how scared should we be?

Kevin Phillips' grim new book, "American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century," puts the country's degeneration into historical perspective, and that perspective is not conducive to optimism. The title is a bit misleading, because only the middle section of the book, which is divided into thirds, deals with the religious right. The first part, "Oil and American Supremacy," is about America's prospects as oil becomes scarcer and more expensive, and the last third, "Borrowed Prosperity," is about America's unsustainable debt. Phillips' argument is that imperial overstretch, dependence on obsolete energy technologies, intolerant and irrational religious fervor, and crushing debt have led to the fall of previous great powers, and will likely lead to the fall of this one. It reads, in some ways, like a follow-up to "The March of Folly."

"Conservative true believers will scoff: the United States is sue generis, they say, a unique and chosen nation," writes Phillips. "What did or did not happen to Rome, imperial Spain, the Dutch Republic, and Britain is irrelevant. The catch here, alas, is that these nations also thought they were unique and that God was on their side. The revelation that He was apparently not added a further debilitating note to the later stages of each national decline."

There's a sad irony to the fact that Phillips has come to write this book. His 1969 book, "The Emerging Republican Majority," both predicted and celebrated Republican hegemony. As chief elections and voting patterns analyst for the 1968 Nixon campaign, he is often credited for the Southern strategy that led to the realignment of the Republican Party toward Sun Belt social conservatives. Today's governing Republican coalition is partly his Frankenstein.

Phillips has been disassociating himself from the contemporary GOP for some time now -- his last book, "American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush," attacked the presidential clan as a corrupt threat to American democracy. His concern with the growing power of religious fundamentalism was evident then. As he wrote in the introduction, "Part of what restored the Bushes to the White House in 2000 through a southern-dominated electoral coalition was the emergence of George W. Bush during the 1990s as a born-again favorite of conservative Christian evangelical and fundamentalist voters. His 2001-2004 policies and rhetoric confirmed that bond. The idea that the head of the Religious Right and the President of the United States can be the same person is a precedent-shattering circumstance that had barely crept into national political discussion."

Since then, there's been much more attention paid to the role of evangelical Christians in the Republican Party. In "American Theocracy," though, Phillips brings something important to the discussion -- a global historical perspective on the relationship between growing religious zeal and the end of national greatness. "The precedents of past leading world economic powers show that blind faith and religious excesses -- the rapture seems to be both -- have often contributed to national decline, sometimes even being in its forefront."

To tell the story of the impending end of American supremacy, Phillips ranges through history and across subjects, going into detail about seemingly tangential matters like the production of whale oil in 17th century Holland. It can be a slog -- Phillips is sometimes a dry writer who builds his arguments by slapping down numbers and statistics like a bricklayer. (At least he's self-aware -- at one point in his section on religion, he notes, "By this point the reader may feel baptized by statistical and denominational total immersion.") Much of what he writes in individual chapters has been covered elsewhere in numerous books about peak oil, the religious right and economic profligacy.

But Phillips' book is very valuable in the way he brings all the strands together and puts them in context. He has a history of good judgment that affords him the authority to make big-picture claims: In 1993, the New York Times Book Review wrote of him, "through more than 25 years of analysis and predictions, nobody has been as transcendentally right about the outlines of American political change as Kevin Phillips." Other recent books foresee American meltdown; James Howard Kunstler's "The Long Emergency" deals with some of the same gathering threats as "American Theocracy." Kunstler is a far more engaging writer than Phillips, but he's also more prone to doomsday speculation, and he sometimes seems to relish the apocalyptic scenario he conjures. It's Phillips' sobriety and gravitas that gives "American Theocracy" ballast, and that makes it frightening.

The first section, "Oil and American Supremacy," covers the history of oil in American politics, both foreign and domestic, and what it means for America when oil starts running out. The subject of peak oil has been extensively covered elsewhere, yet it remains on the fringes of much of the political debate in America, despite its massive implications. Essentially, peak oil is the point at which more than half the earth's available oil has been extracted. "After this stage, getting each barrel out requires more pressure, more expense, or both," writes Phillips. "After a while, despite nominal reserves that may be considerable, more energy is required to find and extract a barrel of oil than the barrel itself contains." Before that point comes, scarcity will drive prices to unheard-of levels. If that happens, the entire American way of life -- the car culture, agribusiness, frequent air travel -- will become untenable.

Experts differ about when we might pass the peak, but as Phillips notes, "even relative optimists see it only two or three decades away." Unfortunately, the United States is uniquely unable to grapple with the mere idea of life after cheap gasoline, because the country's entire sprawling infrastructure was built on the assumption that oil would remain plentiful. Writes Phillips, "Because the twenty-first-century United States has a pervasive oil and gas culture from its own earlier zenith -- with an intact cultural and psychological infrastructure -- it's no surprise that Americans cling to and defend an ingrained fuel habit …The hardening of old attitudes and reaffirmation of the consumption ethic since those years may signal an inability to turn back."

The end of previous empires, Phillips explains, also corresponded with the obsolescence of their dominant energy source. The Netherlands was the "the wind and water hegemon" from 1590 to the 1720s. In the mid-18th century, Britain, harnessing the newly discovered power of coal, became the leading world power, only to be left behind by oil-fueled America. "The evidence is that leading world economic powers, after an energy golden era, lose their magic -- and not by accident," he writes. "The infrastructures created by these unusual, even quirky, successes eventually became economic obstacle courses and inertia-bound burdens."

"American Theocracy's" middle section deals with religion. Once again, the book's value lies not in any new revelations -- Phillips mostly relies on the work of other reporters and analysts -- but in the context provided. In his sweeping overview, he misses some subtleties. He writes, for example, "Opponents of evolution -- successful so far in parts of the South -- are indeed busy trying to ban the teaching of it and textbooks that support it in many northern conservative or politically divided areas." That's not quite true -- Darwin's foes might dream of the day when he's expunged from the schools, but right now, their focus is on having creationism or "intelligent design" taught alongside evolution, not in place of it.

That's a relatively small point, but it's indicative of the rather cursory treatment Phillips gives to the dynamics of the movement he decries. He's much more interested in what it portends -- a kind of soft theocracy that itself is an indication of an empire in decline. What he's talking about is not a Christian version of Iran, but a country ruled by an evangelical party whose electoral machinery is integrated into a network of fundamentalist churches.

Again, the most fascinating part of this section lies in Phillips' comparisons of America with past global powers -- the intolerance of Christian Rome, the militant, expansionist Catholicism of 17th century Spain, the theocratic Calvinism of the mid-18th century Netherlands and the evangelical enthusiasms of Victorian Britain. Toward the end of the Netherlands' worldwide dominance, he writes, "Dutch Reformed pastors called for national renewal and incessantly attacked laziness, prostitution, French fashions, immigrants and homosexuals."

Phillips' final section, about national debt and the increasingly insubstantial nature of the United States economy, follows the model of the rest of the book, offering a summary of others' research on the subject, followed by historical analysis. What concerns Phillips here is not just the country's staggering national debt -- although that concerns him plenty -- but also the shift from a manufacturing to a financial-services economy, which he calls financialization. Instead of making things, Americans increasingly make money by moving money around. Finance, he writes, "fattened during the early 2000s -- this notwithstanding the 2000-2002 collapse of the stock market bubble -- on a feast of low interest enablement, credit-card varietals, exotic mortgages, derivatives, hedge-funded strategies, and structured debt instruments that would have left 1920s scheme meister Charles Ponzi in awe."

Unless the United States proves immune from the economic laws that have heretofore prevailed, this arrangement is unsustainable. As former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker wrote last April in the Washington Post, under the placid surface of the seemingly steady American economy, "there are disturbing trends: huge imbalances, disequilibria, risks -- call them what you will. Altogether the circumstances seem to me as dangerous and intractable as any I can remember, and I can remember quite a lot. What really concerns me is that there seems to be so little willingness or capacity to do much about it."

Again, as Phillips shows, the historical record provides warnings: "Historically, top world economic powers have found 'financialization' a sign of late-stage debilitation, marked by excessive debt, great disparity between rich and poor, and unfolding economic decline."

Looking at the possible crises facing the country, Phillips writes of the "potential for an incendiary convergence if -- a big if, to be sure -- several of the worry-wart camps prove to be correct … I can't remember anything like this multiplicity of reasonably serious calculations and warnings. It is as if the United States, like the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes's 'One-Hoss Shay,' is about to lose all its wheels at once."

For someone who is profoundly uneasy about America's future right now, there's something perversely comforting about reading this from a figure like Phillips. It suggests that one's enveloping sense of foreboding is based on something more than the psychological stress of living under the Bush kakistocracy. A feeling that the world is falling apart is usually associated with neurosis; now, it's possible that it's a sign of sanity.

But if Phillips is correct, the coming years are going to be ugly for all of us, not just blithe exurbanites with SUVs and floating-rate mortgages. With oil growing scarce and America unable or unwilling to even begin weaning itself away, we could see a future of resource wars that would inflame jihadi terrorism and bankrupt the country, shredding what's left of the social safety net. As Phillips notes, a collapsed economy would leave many debt-ridden Americans as what Democratic leaders have called "modern-day indentured servants," paying back constantly compounding debt with no hope of escape via bankruptcy. The prospect of social breakdown looms. The desperation of New Orleans could end up being a preview.

Desperate economic times are not good for democracy. The Great Depression, which ushered in the New Deal, was an anomaly in this regard. In an Atlantic Monthly article published last summer, the Harvard economist Benjamin Friedman wrote, "American history includes several episodes in which stagnating or declining incomes over an extended period have undermined the nation's tolerance and threatened citizens' freedoms." During the Midwestern farm crisis of the 1980s, when tens of thousands of families lost their land due to a combination of rising interest rates and falling crop prices, the Posse Comitatus, a far-right paramilitary network, made exceptional recruiting inroads. One poll had more than a quarter of Farm Belt respondents blaming "International Jewish bankers" for their region's woes.

The right's ideological infrastructure has only grown stronger since then. Kunstler may not have been exaggerating when he told Salon, "Americans will vote for cornpone Nazis before they will give up their entitlements to a McHouse and a McCar."

Eventually, like Spain, England and the Netherlands, the United States, shorn of imperial fantasy, may evolve into something better than what it is today. But terrible times seem likely to come first -- years of fuel shortages, foreign aggression, millenarian madness and political demagoguery. A Democratic president could stop exacerbating the country's problems and could reconcile with the rest of the world, but it's unclear how much he or she could really turn things around. America's economic and energy foundations are too badly eroded to be restored anytime soon. Besides, redistricting and the overrepresentation of rural states in the Senate mean that the GOP will remain powerful even if a decisive majority of Americans vote against it. Zealous conservatives in Congress and the media will almost certainly mount an assault on any future Democratic president just as they did on Bill Clinton. Governmental deadlock, as opposed to flagrant recklessness and misrule, is probably the best that can be hoped for, at least for the next few years.

In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, it was clear to everyone that the United States had suffered a hideous blow, but few had any idea just how bad it was. It didn't occur to most people to wonder whether the country's very core had been seriously damaged; if anything, America had never seemed so united and resolute. Almost five years later, with Bush still in the White House, a whole cavalcade of catastrophes bearing down on us and a lack of political will to address any of them, the scope of Osama bin Laden's triumph is coming sickeningly into focus. He didn't start the country on its march of folly, but he spurred America toward bombastic nationalism, military quagmire and escalating debt, all of which have made its access to the oil controlled by the seething countries of the Middle East ever more precarious. Now the United States is careening down a well-worn road faster than anyone could have imagined.

Source:
http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/03/16/phillips/
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