LaurieGarrett.com

DAY THIRTY SIX:

Oct. 16:

Two thousand three hundred anthrax hoaxes: that's what Attorney General John Ashcroft said today. Since September 11, there have been 2300 hoaxes and a handful of reality. If for a moment you doubted the existence of evil in the world simply ponder what kind of twisted individual could take pleasure in igniting still more fear in America, especially in their own workplace, school or community. Internationally today there were a rash of hoaxes, from Perth to Paris, and one can easily imagine concentric rings of fear fanning out across the planet, all from a handful of mailed envelopes, apparently postmarked Trenton, New Jersey.

Nerves are truely on edge here in the Big Apple. One person I have worked with, whose office is in the ABC building where a baby apparently contracted anthrax, has literally been incapacitated by her fear. Another ABC pal, whose reputation for toughness and courage is legendary, found herself worrying today as CDC scientists spoke to the staff, thinnking each sniffle, headache and swollen spot on her body were signs of anthrax. " I'm okay - but, i have to admit - a little freaked out," wrote this friend, who has stood down war lords in Bosnia, covered battles in the Middle East and shown true valor under fire all over the world.

It just goes to show that nothing strikes fear, on a truely visceral level, like microbes.

The protocols for public health behavior in these incidents are being revised and made up as people go along, which is unnerving for the affected. Everybody seems to want to be tested for anthrax exposure at NBC and ABC, and put on Cipro. But such widespread testing isn't feasible, and is unlikely to calm nerves, the health people say. And doling out Cipro like candy is only going to lead to widespread drug resistance. Still, the media folks are newshounds, and they know that employees of American Media in Florida received both testing and Cipro: they want the same. Without it, they remain deeply distressed.

We are learning just how much damage can be done to the national -- indeed, world -- psyche through a few very small acts. In no bioterrorism scenario I have seen or participated in over the years did anybody imagine such a story line. The role-players always tried to respond to a single large release of microbes, from a crop duster, aerosolizer, small explosion or large scale food poisoning. Emergency responses were, then, focused, to the degree that any epidemic could be said to remain confined in time or space. But here we have sporadic, seemingly isolated incidents, each of which require the marshalling of millions of dollars worth of personnel and services and sow panic among tens of thousands of people. If a single mastermind is behind all of this he, or she, is a truely insidious, devious individual.

Life in New York is like the aftermath of an 8.0 Richter scale earthquake. They say the explosion and collapse of the World Trade Center were equivalent to a kiloton atomic bomb. That's the force of a major earthquake. The quake has occured, but nerves cannot settle and "normalcy" cannot be restored because life-threatening aftershocks persist. But even in the worst of earthquakes major aftershocks can rarely be felt more than a month after the central shocker.

In some ways it feels as though the real event is yet to come, as if the earthquake was merely the prelude to a volcanic eruption that would obliterate the town. Inflammatory words, I know, but an emotional sentiment felt by many, perhaps most, New Yorkers right now.

Amid this endless series of crises would-be heirs to Rudy Giuliani's throne are squabbling in a decidedly unseemly manner. Green, who won the Democratic primary last week, cannot manage to launch his attack on Republican candidate Bloomberg because Ferrer refuses to lose. Fernando Ferrer claims the vote count was flawed, and is filing lawsuits to stop the general election, demanding a recount. Green insists he is the rightful Democratic Party candidate and by even the worst estimate of miscounting he still beat Ferrer by more than 20,000 votes, or "80 times the number George Bush beat Al Gore by," as he put it. Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire Wall Streeter, issued attacks on Green's right flank today, charging Mark Green, "has no business experience", and therefore can't run a city. Of course Bloomberg has no government experience whatsoever, having never even served on a school board or as dogcatcher. But why dwell on such matters? Who needs a leader, right? We're only facing the worst catastrophe in the history of this, or possibly any other city in America.

Well, at least we have our Yankees, and World Series dreams to divert us from the daily horrors. My Virginia pal, Jay, forwarded Tom Boswell's sports column from the Washington post this morning, and I confess, it made me weep. Perhaps friends in the Bay Area will feel less bruised about last night's A's defeat, and Seattle Mariners fans may appreciate why we New Yorkers think their Mariners must lose the playoffs for the American League title: read on.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63916-2001Oct16.html

Sniffle sniffle. Thanks, Boswell.
Stay well. Be safe. Stand Defiant.



DAY THIRTY SIX: Return to Index Oct. 16: Two thousand three hundred anthrax hoaxes: that's what Attorney General John Ashcroft said today. Since September 11, there have been 2300 hoaxes and a handful of reality. If for a moment you doubted the existence of evil in the world simply ponder what kind of twisted individual could take pleasure in igniting still more fear in America, especially in their own workplace, school or community. Internationally today there were a rash of hoaxes, from Perth to Paris, and one can easily imagine concentric rings of fear fanning out across the planet, all from a handful of mailed envelopes, apparently postmarked Trenton, New Jersey. Nerves are truely on edge here in the Big Apple. One person I have worked with, whose office is in the ABC building where a baby apparently contracted anthrax, has literally been incapacitated by her fear. Another ABC pal, whose reputation for toughness and courage is legendary, found herself worrying today as CDC scientists spoke to the staff, thinnking each sniffle, headache and swollen spot on her body were signs of anthrax. " I'm okay - but, i have to admit - a little freaked out," wrote this friend, who has stood down war lords in Bosnia, covered battles in the Middle East and shown true valor under fire all over the world. It just goes to show that nothing strikes fear, on a truely visceral level, like microbes. The protocols for public health behavior in these incidents are being revised and made up as people go along, which is unnerving for the affected. Everybody seems to want to be tested for anthrax exposure at NBC and ABC, and put on Cipro. But such widespread testing isn't feasible, and is unlikely to calm nerves, the health people say. And doling out Cipro like candy is only going to lead to widespread drug resistance. Still, the media folks are newshounds, and they know that employees of American Media in Florida received both testing and Cipro: they want the same. Without it, they remain deeply distressed. We are learning just how much damage can be done to the national -- indeed, world -- psyche through a few very small acts. In no bioterrorism scenario I have seen or participated in over the years did anybody imagine such a story line. The role-players always tried to respond to a single large release of microbes, from a crop duster, aerosolizer, small explosion or large scale food poisoning. Emergency responses were, then, focused, to the degree that any epidemic could be said to remain confined in time or space. But here we have sporadic, seemingly isolated incidents, each of which require the marshalling of millions of dollars worth of personnel and services and sow panic among tens of thousands of people. If a single mastermind is behind all of this he, or she, is a truely insidious, devious individual. Life in New York is like the aftermath of an 8.0 Richter scale earthquake. They say the explosion and collapse of the World Trade Center were equivalent to a kiloton atomic bomb. That's the force of a major earthquake. The quake has occured, but nerves cannot settle and "normalcy" cannot be restored because life-threatening aftershocks persist. But even in the worst of earthquakes major aftershocks can rarely be felt more than a month after the central shocker. In some ways it feels as though the real event is yet to come, as if the earthquake was merely the prelude to a volcanic eruption that would obliterate the town. Inflammatory words, I know, but an emotional sentiment felt by many, perhaps most, New Yorkers right now. Amid this endless series of crises would-be heirs to Rudy Giuliani's throne are squabbling in a decidedly unseemly manner. Green, who won the Democratic primary last week, cannot manage to launch his attack on Republican candidate Bloomberg because Ferrer refuses to lose. Fernando Ferrer claims the vote count was flawed, and is filing lawsuits to stop the general election, demanding a recount. Green insists he is the rightful Democratic Party candidate and by even the worst estimate of miscounting he still beat Ferrer by more than 20,000 votes, or "80 times the number George Bush beat Al Gore by," as he put it. Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire Wall Streeter, issued attacks on Green's right flank today, charging Mark Green, "has no business experience", and therefore can't run a city. Of course Bloomberg has no government experience whatsoever, having never even served on a school board or as dogcatcher. But why dwell on such matters? Who needs a leader, right? We're only facing the worst catastrophe in the history of this, or possibly any other city in America. Well, at least we have our Yankees, and World Series dreams to divert us from the daily horrors. My Virginia pal, Jay, forwarded Tom Boswell's sports column from the Washington post this morning, and I confess, it made me weep. Perhaps friends in the Bay Area will feel less bruised about last night's A's defeat, and Seattle Mariners fans may appreciate why we New Yorkers think their Mariners must lose the playoffs for the American League title: read on. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63916-2001Oct16.html Sniffle sniffle. Thanks, Boswell. Stay well. Be safe. Stand Defiant.