This one caught my eye after Mr. V.T. brought it to my attention, and at first, I thought it was just a rehash of all those stories about dead biologists, microbiologsists, and geneticists that were making the rounds a few years ago. Granted, the numbers of such scientists dead by unusual means makes it more than coincidence in my eye, as scientists were being killed while out on a job, when suddenly two oncoming cars decided to have head on collisions, right where the scientist was jogging of course (and even the powers that be couldn't make a "death by suicide" verdict stick in that instance). Or they were out on a stroll across the interstate 40 bridge between Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee, when, according to the official story, a "gust of wind" lifted them up and over the bridge into the Mississippi River far below, in your typical death-by-gust-of-wind-while-strolling-on-a-high-bridge-over-a-big-river scenario.

Yea, sure...

Well, consider all the ins and outs of this one:

Porton Down’s Legacy of Death: Inquest to Take Place Shortly Concerning Death of Scientist

Well, there are two things that made me catch my breath here, beyond the obvious high rate of deaths associated with Britain's Porton Down facility. The first is this one:

"The Wiltshire coroner’s office stated this week that Dr. Holmes’ coroner’s inquest will take place shortly. Dr. Holmes had recently left his employment at Porton Down before his fateful walk in the woods. It is unclear why he resigned. Within a month after leaving Porton Down, he was dead."

What bothers here is that Holmes' death - another apparent suicide - follows the same M.O. as that of his predecessor and colleague at Porton Down, Dr. David Kelly(see Suicide riddle of weapons expert who worked with David Kelly: Scientist tells wife he is going for a walk, then takes his life in a field... just like his friend). Now, unless there's some "you will take your life while walking in a field" meme among biologists engaged in bioweapons research bioweapons countermeasures, I suspect you, like me, view this as more "coincidence" that needs a good deal of "splainin, Lucy." What also disturbs is why it should take so long for an inquest. Probably because, like the Warren Commission, it needs to get its story straight.

But even more than this, there was something that saddened, sickened, and horrified me, and it probably did you as well: Dr. David Kelly (death by suicidal walk in the woods) was allegedly engaged in some potentially genocidal research according to the first article:

"Dr. David Kelly, whose body was also found in the woods, had been invited to take the position of chief microbiologist at Porton Down in 1986. Later, he worked extensively with Dr. Wouter Basson of South Africa’s clandestine Project Coast. Basson was known to be working on a “black’s only” bioweapon. When South Africa’s apartheid government fell, Basson was subsequently charged with an assortment of crimes, including murder. He skated on all the charges and is now a successful cardiologist in Durbanville, South Africa."

Beyond the disgusting idea of targeting a segment of the human population for a bioweapon based on its race, one has to consider the search for precision in those weapons, as genetics science advances and more and more specific markers are catalogued for ever more specific populations. Ever wonder why they're so eager for DNA swabs of all and sundry these days? Well, they tell us it's for "our security."

Indeed, it may well indeed be for "our" security. In that context, never forget two things, that (1) the Human genome Project was headquartered at the same place as the 1930s Cold Harbor eugenics project, and (2) it all really depends on who the antecedent of "our" is...

See you on the flip side.