FAH - military connection? [No -- just internet FUD]

[BlackSun59]

Last night on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, journalists and filmmakers said that the US military is most definitely involved in germ warfare. It was specifically mentioned at one point during the broadcast that various university research departments, many in California, have been assisting the military in their germ warfare research without their knowledge or consent... they're being told that they are doing one thing, but really providing results for germ warfare improvements.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2009/06/11

A map and list of KNOWN sites is here: http://www.anthraxwar.com/1/?page_id=140

Any advice? Any official denials or rebuttals from Dr. Pande or Stanford?

I assure you all that I am not joking. I'd love to continue to contribute, but not if our work is being used by the government for the wrong purposes.

[kasson]

It's a little hard to refute a claim that one is being used without one's knowledge or consent, but I can say the following:
Our work has no bioweapons implications that we can determine. Folding@Home is devoted to advancement of basic science and curing disease, not in any way causing it. Those of us with medical training involved in the project take our Hippocratic Oath very seriously.

[VijayPande]

Dr. Kasson covered the issue well. I would only add that in addition to our clear statements on this matter, there is another way in which we work hard to build the trust of donors. We are very transparent in terms of FAH works. In particular, the calculations run on a computer are not encrypted and are for all eyes to see. This transparency is, in my opinion, the best proof of what we do, since it is the "light of day" which always is important to keeping trust and understanding of what we do amongst the donors.

Thank you for your help in the past and I hope this resolves this issue.

[BlackSun59]

Dr. Kasson, Dr. Pande, thank you both very much.

[7im]

All of the Pande Group's work is published, and available on the Results page on the project home page. That home page also spells out what the project does.

Your family is more than welcomed to inspect the project home page and various links to investigate this for themselves.



Sounds more like sensationalist yellow journalism than anything substantial, or substantiated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism

[Grandpa_01]

Hey I have a good Idea. Let's all quit doing something that may make our life's our children's life's, the human race's life's better because somebody or Government may be using it for another purpose. Sorry about the sarcasm but those types of narrow views just get to me.

[BlackSun59]

Hey I have a good Idea. Let's all quit doing something that may make our life's our children's life's, the human race's life's better because somebody or Government may be using it for another purpose. Sorry about the sarcasm but those types of narrow views just get to me.

When I've got family members who listen to C2C and other shows in a similar vein (Savage, Limbaugh, etc ), and then put two and two together and make the assumption that Stanford might be using folding results for less-than-humanitarian purposes, I'm the one that has to get solid proof that these people are wrong.

I don't know about you, grandpa, but my family is one that often questions the assumption that everything is as it appears. Sometimes it's good to question things, no matter what it might be. We do NOT live in a world run by Walt Disney. Everything is NOT roses and sunshine and cute, fuzzy animals.

[MichaelB]

Both you guys have a very well established opinion.........I believe that Dr. Pande and the rest of PG have put the "you fold for bad science thing to rest" if you and your family believe to the contrary you should stop folding . You could probably use this same " I question everything logic" on any good project in the world. Question yes....ok don't condemn everything. What proof do you want?

[JimboPalmer]

"Two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead." Think about how many people have to decide to keep this secret, can you believe they all decided to? I can't.

[Grandpa_01]

Hey I have a good Idea. Let's all quit doing something that may make our life's our children's life's, the human race's life's better because somebody or Government may be using it for another purpose. Sorry about the sarcasm but those types of narrow views just get to me.

When I've got family members who listen to C2C and other shows in a similar vein (Savage, Limbaugh, etc ), and then put two and two together and make the assumption that Stanford might be using folding results for less-than-humanitarian purposes, I'm the one that has to get solid proof that these people are wrong.

I don't know about you, grandpa, but my family is one that often questions the assumption that everything is as it appears. Sometimes it's good to question things, no matter what it might be. We do NOT live in a world run by Walt Disney. Everything is NOT roses and sunshine and cute, fuzzy animals.

I do not live in fear of what might happen. In my opinion it would be a very sad if I had to fear what might be around the corner. By the way Walt Disney has never run the world, there has been good and bad since the beginning of time. The world is not all gloom and doom there is allot of good in the world. If your family wishes to see conspiracy around every corner and live in fear that is there choice it will not affect me in the least. I will continue down my merry little road and choose to see the good that can be done. I have had and will continue to have a good life. By the way Rush and the others are good entertainers and that is what they are entertainers. I have listened to them for a very long time and gotten allot of entertainment from them.

[7im]

I'm fairly well fed up with the US media, especially with the "entertainers" passing themselves off as "news people."

Even the middle of the road CNN (by comparison to MSNBC and Fox) spends more time commenting about the "news" instead of simply reporting the facts. I don't want your opinions CNN, or the opinions of your commentators, who out number the so called "reporters" on that channel by nearly 4 to 1. I want the news, the events, the facts, not your attempt at entertaining banter. Sheesh. Give me the BBC and DW-TV over these US quacks any day.

Support your local newspaper! At least most of them have a long tradition of corroborating their facts, and actually report the news, not sacrificing content or form to make it entertaining. Too bad they're all going under, probably because half the country can't even read, let alone write or remember more than 140 words at a time.

[MichaelB]

Well said 7 and enough about FAH being a ploy for biological warfare.

[FaaR]

It's very hard to see how researching the folding process of human proteins could be applied to germ weapons/warfare.

It's kind of like trying to drive in a screw in a wall with a paintbrush - the two are not compatible, nor even comparable.