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Mark Palermo
 You have to wonder about the wisdom
of constructing a Level 4 bioterror research lab in a
metropolitan area. Shouldn’t they be building
it in a desert? Or on an island? Or in Alaska? But
political expedience trumps common sense as usual, and
they are building one in Boston’s South End.
How would you like to own property next to a bioterror
lab -which will be working with Anthrax, Viral
Hemorrhagic Fever, Botulism, the Plague, Ebola, and
Tularemia, the most infectious pathogenic bacterium known
on earth. But don’t worry, the authorities say there
is no danger to the community. Remember the
original King Kong movie? “Don’t worry folks,
those chains are made of chromed steel!”
Last September, at least three mice carrying a deadly
strain of plague escaped from the Public Health Research
Institute in Newark, New Jersey, another bioterror
research lab. After an investigation by the FBI, a
spokesman stated, “We’re satisfied that there
is no public safety risk, and there doesn’t seem to
be any nexus to criminal activity or terrorism.”
In December 2002 a power failure compromised yet another
infectious disease laboratory at Plum Island, New York.
With air compressors and refrigeration systems down,
workers devised some “high tech containment”
procedures: They used duct tape to seal all the
doors.
About 150 scientists, mostly from the faculty of Harvard,
MIT, BU and Boston College sent a letter to the Boston
City Council stating, “There are real and
potentially catastrophic risks to the health and safety
of people in the local and surrounding communities.”
But BU received a $128 million grant and they didn’t
want to send the check back. Now that the National
Institute of Health has given final approval,
construction is set to begin.
***
In Denmark they have an enlightened approach to the world’s
oldest profession. Sex work is legal as long as a woman
can prove it is not her only means of support. Now the
Danes are debating another question. Should disabled
people be allowed government subsidized home visits by
prostitutes?
Torben Hansen, has cerebral palsy which severely affects
his speech and ability to get around. The 59-year-old
Hansen says that he had a girlfriend, but she died, and
getting to a brothel is too difficult for him, so he
would like his local government to compensate him for
house calls by sex workers. Even for the libertine Danes,
this question of public subsidies has provoked a
controversy about just how much help you are supposed to
get from the government. Stig Langvad of the country’s
Disabled Association accused politicians of double
standards saying, “The disabled must have the same
possibilities as other people. Politicians can debate
whether prostitution should be allowed in general,
instead of preventing only the disabled from having
access to it.” A similar idea is being floated in
Australia by advocates for the disabled.
On one hand I want to tell Hansen “For God Sakes,
man. Pick yourself up off the floor and stand tall. There
is a woman for every man in this world. Go out the door
and find another.” Easy enough to say. But I don’t
have cerebral palsy. It’s not such an easy question
to answer.
What about veterans, for instance, that come home from
Iraq- as some do- psychologically and physically
damaged? The VA provides them with an array of
rehabilitative services. But what about the service they
may need more than any other? Do we as a society simply
pretend this need doesn’t exist? Older people forget
too easily what it was like to be young.
So I am rooting for Hansen. In this generation of
billionaires and yuppies that pay five bucks for a cup of
coffee, there should be a little money somewhere for a
lonely man to experience the human touch. But when I
think about how well-intentioned ideas like this get
translated into legislation, I shudder to think of
it. It might work in northern Europe.
But here, after all the loopholes are identified, it
would be abused beyond all reasonable limits and the
financial advantages milked to the last drop. Think of
the bloated bureaucracies this would generate, the
federal grants, the lawsuits from people who say they
caught something, the billing frauds, the scams…
In the end, like Hansen, we must make face our
existential situation and make do with the cards we are
dealt. But let’s give him credit for trying. If the
government won’t help people in Hansen’s
predicament, maybe somebody can start a charitable
foundation. They can solicit private donations (I’ll
send 15 bucks) and get some corporate sponsorship. Maybe
Bill Gates can kick in something. They can call it the
Foundation of Physical Satisfaction. I wish Hansen well
in his quest. What is meant to be will always find a way.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The April -2006 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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