So here are my top two stories that should have made headlines last year, but didn’t.

Based on sheer volume of hits, this is the top story for 2009:

Mainstream Media Ignores “Accidental” Bird Flu Contamination of Baxter Vaccine Shipments

Despite reports that Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Baxter International Inc. somehow managed to distribute flu vaccine contaminated with live bird flu virus to Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany

• Despite the report that this only came to light when a subcontractor in the Czech Republic inoculated ferrets with the product and they died
• Despite the report that Baxter confirmed the contamination, and the World Health Organization is “closely monitoring” the situation
• Despite reports that mixing the two viruses would make them extremely potent and contagious
• Despite reports from the medical community that the contamination could not possibly have been an accident
• Despite speculation in Czech newspapers that the contamination was a deliberate attempt to create a pandemic, for which Baxter would stand ready to profit through their vaccines
• Despite all these reports that have been circulating since March 3rd or before … I cannot find even one major news outlet that’s covering this story.

I normally avoid the “conspiracy” word, but …
can you spell c-o-n-s-p-i-r-a-c-y???

Here is my follow-up post.

Based on the story that most tore at my heart, here’s the other top story that MSM refused to report.  As of this date, the army still refuses to re-open the investigation.  In addition, Midtown Films is producing a documentary titled:  Lavena Johnson:  The Silent Truth.

Remember Pfc. LaVena Johnson? She’s Just Another Military Cover-Up

Back in August, I posted briefly about LaVena Johnson, quoting from a commentary by Elizabeth Higgs:

“According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Private LaVena Lynn Johnson killed herself on July 19, 2005, eight days before her twentieth birthday. Exactly how did she end her life? She punched herself in the face hard enough to blacken her eyes, break her nose, and knock her front teeth loose. She douched with an acid solution after mutilating her genital area. She poured a combustible liquid on herself and set it afire. She then shot herself in the head. Despite this massive self-inflicted trauma, she somehow managed to drag her then fully clothed body into the tent of a KBR contractor, leaving a trail of blood along the way and set the tent ablaze in a failed attempt to cover up her crimes against herself.

If this story sounds plausible to you, you may have missed your calling as an officer in the U.S. Army, because Army officers, speaking with a straight face, would have you believe that such a thing is not only possible, but actually happened.

In reality, LaVena Johnson was raped, beaten, and murdered by someone on a military base in Balad, Iraq, and the Army doesn’t want you to know about it.”

The Army doesn’t want her parents to know about it, either. Since LaVena died, they have had doubts about the suicide story. They had talked with her every day, and she had said nothing to lead them to believe she was emotionally unstable or even a little upset. And then her body was shipped home.

“In viewing his daughter’s body at the funeral home, Dr. Johnson was concerned about the bruising on her face. He was puzzled by the discrepancy in the autopsy report on the location of the gunshot wound. As a US Army veteran and a 25-year US Army civilian employee who had counseled veterans, he was mystified how the exit wound of an M-16 shot could be so small. The hole in Lavena’s head appeared to be more the size of a pistol shot rather than an M-16 round. He questioned why the exit hole was on the left side of her head, when she was right handed. But the gluing of military uniform white gloves onto Lavena’s hands hiding burns on one of her hands is what deepened Dr. Johnson’s concerns that the Army’s investigation into the death of his daughter was flawed.”

For more than three years, her father, Dr. John Johnson, and her mother Linda have done everything within their power to seek justice for their daughter – and the Army has fought them every step of the way. They have had to resort to FOIL requests to get copies of Army documents related to their daughter. They have had to call on their local congressman to pressure the Army to release these documents.

They have been interviewed by the media countless times. A website has been created in LaVena’s name. There have been multiple petitions signed, demanding a congressional investigation. (The latest is here, if you’d like to sign it.)

And there are many other women in the military who have died under suspicious circumstances. The Department of Defense’s own statistics state that one in three women who join the military will be sexually assaulted or raped.

Despite all this – despite the statistics, despite the efforts of the Johnson’s, despite the obvious attempts to cover up a horrendous crime – nothing has changed. The Army still calls her death a suicide. They have not re-opened the investigation. The Army is still protecting their own.

From the least to the greatest – from the murderer all the way through the chain of command to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and President George W. Bush – they are all guilty. And if we continue to blindly support our military, we are guilty, too.

So the next time you’re waving the red, white and blue for a country that condones and covers-up the rape and murder of one of its own; the next time you’re singing about this land where some are more equal than others; the next time you pledge allegiance to support the United States of America, no matter what they do – you might spare a thought for LaVena Johnson and her parents. You might ask God to move His hand and provide justice for this family – because the military sure as hell won’t.

Justice, and only justice,
you shall pursue,
that you may live and possess the land
which the LORD your God is giving you.
(Deuteronomy 16:20)

Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a “spiritual adviser” to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001

London Telegraph

Charles Allen, who the Telegraph says used to be an under-secretary at Homeland Security, reportedly said this imam supports al-Qaeda and targets US Muslims with “radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen.”

Once again, MSM is ignoring a big story.  A search at the time of this writing finds zero American media outlets covering this story, one in England, and one in Canada – despite over 3,000 posts on the web. [HT to Michelle Malkin, which is where I found it.]

Whenever the silence on a big story is this deafening – like it was last spring when Baxter pharmaceuticals accidentally on-purpose spread flu vaccine contaminated with live bird flu virus around Europe  (here are some more posts about Baxter) – I am prone to speculate, “Why?”

Why … would MSM ignore a story this big, when they’ve been bombarding us with every sneeze associated with the Ft. Hood shooting?

Why … has no one from the government publicly renounced this iman and exposed his continued influence?

Why … doesn’t anyone in the media or the government acknowledge – out loud and in public – that violent jihadist rhetoric encourages the murder of anyone who won’t worship Allah?

Dear fellow Jews, what is so hard to understand about “we hate your guts, and will continue to kill and maim you”? Just last week, an “inter-faith” Rabbi, the guest speaker at an ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) conference was shocked … shocked to hear that one of the guest imams felt that Jews deserved the Holocaust because they turned their backs against Allah. What is so hard to understand about that?

Center for Faith and the Media

We are in danger of being subjugated to the ideology of Islamic world domination. The Jews are again in grave danger, and so are all Christians, along with the nations and societies that are democratic. The Ottoman Empire failed. Hitler’s “Final solution”and his Third Reich failed. The Islamic quest has no intention of failing a third time! “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people,” is not simply their slogan, but their strategy!

Maureen Metcalf

Assuming that you still want to know for personal reasons, let’s look for clues.

The last time the US government panicked over swine flu was in 1976. Even the CDC later admitted there was no swine flu, but the vaccine resulted in over 500 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and 25 deaths. You’re probably not familiar with GBS, but I am. It’s an autoimmune disorder that attacks the lining of the nerves. A woman I see at therapy every week has it. She was in the hospital for several weeks, lost over 50 pounds, and almost died. Two years later, she still has no feeling in her feet and is on disability.

Here’s a video about the whole 1976 fiasco from a banned 60 Minutes show in 1979. Watch and learn.

If you add to this the complete US media blackout when Baxter Pharmaceuticals “accidentally” contaminated flu vaccine with bird flu and shipped it around Europe (see here and here), at the very least, it’s gotta make ya’ wonder.

That, in itself, is enough to raise some questions like: Why? Why is MSM ignoring a potentially explosive story? Why would they all agree not to cover it, unless they were being pressured by the government? Why hasn’t someone in Congress jumped on this? Why isn’t the medical research community raising alarms? I’m obviously not the only one with questions, as my site traffic has more than doubled since I posted about it, most of those coming in from a google search of this subject.

The Right Questions?

This evening “Sham” left a comment on my original post. I don’t know who Sham is, and have no way to verify his information, but he sounds like someone who is knowledgeable about vaccines, and after some thought, I’ve decided to re-post his commentary here. It starts out this way:

Hello everyone. I just commented on the story regarding Baxter’s “accidental” mix-up of H5N1 on the site Fierce Vaccines (found via Google News), and my comments were deleted and closed within approximately 40 minutes. There is obviously something criminal and HIGH LEVEL going on here with Baxter. I will include both the contact information of their executives as well as my own commentary regarding what I believe to be the public exposure of a vast international biological weapons program, or if you prefer, an international corporate criminal syndicate which intends to release biological weapons upon the world population.

Before you write him off as a conspiracy nut, note that 1) I checked the article at Fierce Vaccines, and it lists 1 comment, but the comment is not viewable. 2) Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.

And 3) if you have trouble believing that an American company, whether sponsored by the government or not, could deliberately create a pandemic, then go read about IBM and The Holocaust. I am still wading through the 2001 volume by Edwin Black, (thanks, Dan) but the one-sentence version is that IBM, using its punch-card technology, helped Nazi Germany identify and exterminate the Jews, making a handy profit in the process.

That being said, I don’t know the answers to Sham’s questions – but I think they’re good questions, and the answers could impact the world as we know it. In his original comment, he interspersed information on Baxter executives. As I found that hard to read, I have re-ordered his commentary to place the executive information at the end. Other than that, here is the commentary by “Sham.”

You initially claimed “trade secrets” regarding the vaccine contamination. Could you explain why Baxter initially attempted to cover this up?

Despite popular media claims to the contrary, coinfection of H5N1 and H3N2 would not produce simple reassortment. It would produce complex in vivo recombination of many competing strains in the infected host. Does Baxter agree with this assessment?

Furthermore the complex coinfection of H5N1 and H3N2 in a human would produce natural selection pressure for maximum virulence. Does Baxter dispute this claim? If so, why? If not, please explain why on earth would Baxter attempt to cover up an incident which may well have been lethal to 99% of humanity?

The book “Evolutionary Dynamics” suggest that viral coinfection selects for both maximum virulence and infectivity. Does Baxter dispute these mathematics? Considering this danger is well known among virologists, can Baxter immediately explain the precise sequence of events, including dates, times, and people involved, which led to contamination in over 16 labs in three separate countries in Europe with coinfected H5N1 and H3N2 material?

Is Baxter prepared to cooperate with all relevant authorities in the multiple countries to publicly release the genetic sequences of the contaminated material? Furthermore, what Clade was Baxter’s H5N1 vaccine from? Clade 1? Clade 2? Clade 3? Other? Is part of the reason Baxter is so eager to destroy the existing vaccine material that executives are concerned the world will find out their ‘custom’ H5N1 does not resemble the strains circulating in waterfowl?

Can Baxter please disclose all financial and social connections it has with the incoming Obama administration (as Baxter and its executives are based near Chicago) and whether Baxter stood to benefit financially from the outbreak of a pandemic through a contaminated season influenza vaccine in late 2009? Does Treasury Sec Geithner hold shares in Baxter? If so, how many shares?

Baxter Director Gail Fosler has profoundly disturbing connections to powerful organizations including the Council on Foreign Relations, high-level Chinese CCP leadership, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The question is simple: Is Baxter involved in biological weapons programs? Are any of these programs ‘international’ in scope? If so , who is providing the funding? What is the nature and intent of these programs? Are any of these programs part of the so-called ‘black budget’? That is , is Baxter involved in any “Special Access Programs” , as defined by Congress? Are any of these ‘waived’ “Special Access Programs”? Are any of these ‘unacknowledged’ ‘waived’ Special Access Programs (also known as ‘black programs’)?

Can Baxter explain exactly how a Level 3 biological warfare pathogen found its way into H3N2 material, regardless whether or not this experimental vaccine material was ‘intended’ for eventual use in humans or not. Is the contaminated H5N1 strain genetically engineered? If so, by whom? Does the NS protein in Baxter’s H5N1 material contain polymorphisms which suppress human interferon production? Was Baxter’s H5N1a full set of influenza genes? Or was it just the hemaglutanin and neuraminidase? Did Baxter’s H5N1 contain a poly-basic cleavage site on the Hemaglutanin surface protein? Why were the samples of experimental vaccine material not irradiated?

Are Baxter executives prepared to testify before Congress , under oath, that their corporation is not involved in biological warfare programs?

Baxter’s explanation so far has been chilling to put it mildly. Furthermore, it would be in Baxter’s best interest, if it were not involved in criminal activities, to set the record straight? Does Baxter not agree its silence and weak explanations suggest possible criminal malfeasance? If not criminally involved, why will Baxter executives not provide a complete and full account of this supposed contamination, (if indeed it was contamination rather than intentional weaponization.)

Do Baxter executives have any financial and/or personal connections to Toyama Pharma and T-705, an influenza polymerase inhibitor? Has Baxter experimented with influenza polymerase inhibitors? Will Baxter disclose precisely what its financial positions are regarding H5N1 pandemic ‘therapy’ included its intended market timelines? The ‘contamination’ was an extremely serious breach of risk as Baxter could have easily exterminated most of the human race if this experimental material was made into vaccines.

Why does Baxter hold patents on avian influenza RNA polymerase promoters? What legitimate public health and/or scientific interest does Baxter have in this research? (see Application number: 10/547,155, Publication number: US 2007/0134270 A) Will all Baxter executives come forward and immediately renounce weaponization of biologics? Are Baxter executives concerned about possible civil and/or criminal actions brought against them? Why or why not?

What are the financial connections between the Federal Reserve System and Baxter? Does Baxter receive funding from JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs? Does Baxter receive any national security exemptions (waivers)?

What specific steps , including a precise timeline, does Baxter plan on doing to allay the concerns of both the public and the scientific community? Again, can Baxter please describe the precise nature of their H5N1 strain, including genetic sequences, from where it was obtained, and whether it was genetically engineered? If genetically engineered, what modifications were made? Single nucleotide polymorphisms? RNA Recombination? Reassortment? What exactly, was in this experimental vaccine material? We want scientific answers immediately.

===============================
White, Cheryl Ms. Cheryl L. White is Corporate Vice President, Quality of Baxter International Inc., having served in that capacity since March 2006. From 1997 to 2006, Ms. White held various management positions in Baxter’s BioScience business, the most recent of which was Vice President, Quality Management.

Cheryl L White
Phone Unpublished

===============================
Amundson, Joy Ms. Joy A. Amundson is Baxter International Inc.’s Corporate Vice President — President, BioScience, having served in that capacity since August 2004. Prior to joining Baxter in August 2004, Ms. Amundson was a principal of Amundson Partners, Inc., a healthcare-consulting firm, from 2001. From 1995 to 2001, she served as a Senior Vice President of Abbott Laboratories.

Joy A Amundson
(312) 281-1508

===============================
Arduini, Peter Mr. Peter J. Arduini is Baxter International Inc.’s Corporate Vice President — President, Medication Delivery. Prior to joining Baxter in March 2005, Mr. Arduini spent 15 years at GE Healthcare in a variety of management roles for domestic and global businesses, the most recent of which was global general manager of GE Healthcare’s computerized axial tomography scan (CT) and functional imaging business.

Peter J Arduini
(847) 444-0056

===============================
Baughman, Michael Mr. Michael J. Baughman is Baxter International Inc.’s Corporate Vice President and Controller, having served in that capacity since May 2006. Mr. Baughman joined Baxter in 2003 as Vice President of Corporate Audit and was appointed Controller in March 2005. Before joining Baxter, Mr. Baughman spent 16 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, in roles of increasing responsibility, which included audit partner and partner in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice.

Michael J Baughman
(630) 208-8215

===============================
Gatling, James Mr. James Michael Gatling is Corporate Vice President — Manufacturing of Baxter International Inc. having served in that capacity since December 1996. Mr. Gatling is also responsible for the environment, health and safety function.

James Gatling
(815) 356-6180

===============================
Gavin, James James R. Gavin III, M.D., Ph.D. has served as a Director of Baxter since 2003. Since September 2007, Dr. Gavin has been Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Healing Our Village, Inc., a corporation that specializes in targeted advocacy, training, education, disease management and outreach for health care professionals and minority communities. From March 2005 to September 2007, Dr. Gavin served as Executive Vice President for Clinical Affairs at Healing Our Village. Dr. Gavin has served as Clinical Professor of Medicine and Senior Advisor of Health Affairs at Emory University since January 2005. From January 2006 to July 2007, Dr. Gavin served as President and CEO of MicroIslet, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on transplantation therapy for insulin treated diabetics. From July 2002 to January 2005, Dr. Gavin was President of the Morehouse School of Medicine and from 1991 to July 2002 he was Senior Science Officer at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a nonprofit medical research organization. From 1987 to 1991, he was at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center as a Professor and as Chief of the Diabetes Section and Acting Chief of the Section on Endocrinology, Metabolism and Hypertension. Dr. Gavin also serves as a director of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Nuvelo Inc.

James R Gavin
Phone Unpublished

===============================
Greisch, John Mr. John J. Greisch is Baxter International Inc.’s Corporate Vice President — President, International, having served in that capacity since May 2006. From June 2004 to May 2006, he served as Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and from January to June 2004, he was Corporate Vice President — President, BioScience. Prior to that, Mr. Greisch served as Vice President of Finance and Strategy for BioScience from May 2003 to January 2004 and as Vice President of Finance for Renal from March 2002 until April 2003. Prior to joining Baxter, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of FleetPride Corporation, a distribution company, from 1998 until 2001.

John Greisch
(847) 480-0852

John Greisch
(847) 480-0852

===============================
Hellman, Peter Peter S. Hellman has served as a Director of Baxter since March 2005. Mr. Hellman served as President and Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of Nordson Corporation, a manufacturer of systems that apply adhesives, sealants and coatings during manufacturing operations, from March 2004 until his retirement in January 2008. From February 2000 to March 2004, Mr. Hellman served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of Nordson Corporation. From 1989 to 1999, Mr. Hellman held various positions with TRW Inc., the most recent of which were President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Hellman also serves as a director of Qwest Communications International Inc. and Owens-Illinois, Inc.

Peter Hellman
(773) 857-5227

===============================
Lichtenstein, Susan Ms. Susan R. Lichtenstein is Corporate Vice President and General Counsel of Baxter International Inc. Prior to joining Baxter in April 2005, Ms. Lichtenstein was a partner with McDermott Will & Emery. She joined the law firm after having served as General Counsel to the Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2004. Ms. Lichtenstein served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Tellabs, Inc. from 2000 to 2002. From 1994 to 2000, Ms. Lichtenstein held several positions with Ameritech Corporation, including Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary from 1999 to 2000.

Susan Lichtenstein
Phone Unpublished

===============================
Martin, Joseph Joseph B. Martin, M.D., Ph.D., has served as a Director of Baxter since 2002. Dr. Martin serves as Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. From July 1997 to July 2007, Dr. Martin served as Dean of the Harvard Faculty of Medicine. He was Chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco from 1993 to 1997 and Dean of the UCSF School of Medicine from 1989 to 1993. From 1978 to 1989, he was chief of the neurology department of Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Martin also serves as a director of Scientific Learning Corp.

Joseph B Martin
Phone Unpublished

Joseph B Martin
(708) 452-7829

===============================
McGillivray, Bruce Mr. Bruce H. McGillivray is Baxter International Inc.’s Corporate Vice President — President, Renal, having served in that capacity since August 2004. From 2002 until August 2004, Mr. McGillivray was President of Renal, Europe and from 1997 to 2002, he was
President of Baxter Corporation in Canada.

Bruce H Mcgillivray
(847) 283-0021

===============================
Parkinson, Robert Mr. Robert L. Parkinson, Jr., is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Baxter International Inc., having served in that capacity since April 2004. Prior to joining Baxter, Mr. Parkinson was Dean of Loyola University Chicago’s School of Business Administration and Graduate School of Business from 2002 to 2004. He retired from Abbott Laboratories in 2001 following a 25-year career, having served in a variety of domestic and international management and leadership positions, including as President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Parkinson also serves on the boards of directors of Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Northwestern Memorial Foundation as well as Loyola University Chicago’s Board of Trustees.

Robert Parkinson
(847) 444-1449

===============================
Riedel, Norbert Mr. Norbert G. Riedel is Corporate Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Baxter International Inc., having served in that capacity since May 2001. From 1998 to 2001, he served as President of the recombinant business unit of BioScience. Prior to joining Baxter, Dr. Riedel was head of worldwide biotechnology and worldwide core research functions at Hoechst Marion Roussel, now Sanofi-Aventis.

Norbert G Riedel
(847) 735-1242

===============================
Terrell, Karenann Ms. Karenann K. Terrell is Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Baxter International Inc. Prior to joining Baxter in April 2006, Ms. Terrell was with DaimlerChrysler Corporation from 2000 where she served in various positions, the most recent of which was Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Chrysler Group and Mercedes Benz North America. Prior to that, she spent 16 years with General Motors with responsibility for brand development and e-business management.

Karenann K Terrell
Phone Unpublished

Update 6/12/2009: This post and comment originally contained addresses for each of the Baxter executives listed. I have deleted the addresses at the request of someone who lives at one of the addresses, but is not related to Baxter.

• Despite reports that Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Baxter International Inc. somehow managed to distribute flu vaccine contaminated with live bird flu virus to Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany
• Despite the report that this only came to light when a subcontractor in the Czech Republic inoculated ferrets with the product and they died
• Despite the report that Baxter confirmed the contamination, and the World Health Organization is “closely monitoring” the situation
• Despite reports that mixing the two viruses would make them extremely potent and contagious
• Despite reports from the medical community that the contamination could not possibly have been an accident
• Despite speculation in Czech newspapers that the contamination was a deliberate attempt to create a pandemic, for which Baxter would stand ready to profit through their vaccines
• Despite all these reports that have been circulating since March 3rd or before … I cannot find even one major news outlet that’s covering this story.

I normally avoid the “conspiracy” word, but …
can you spell c-o-n-s-p-i-r-a-c-y???