I am going to provide you with excerpts from two published accounts of my perceived experiences with the West Nile Virus, so that you can go investigate if something similar is afoot with the Hoof and Mouth scenario. In "Head for the Hills?" (10/3/00) I wrote: "When I saw a dying bat fall from an aborted takeoff on August 29th, it was probably a sign of the likelihood of the land transmission of the West Nile Virus. The bat tucked its wings in while lying on its side before I left to summon the manager of an adjacent restaurant. The manager was slow to respond; thus I returned to find that the bat had probably walked away. Since a bat walks on two legs, I can imagine the response of passing Ithacans who saw it: "Oh! Somebody's pet tasmanian devil! How cute!" Subsequent attempts to get authorities to check nearby ivy patches for the bat yielded no results. I had contacted the building management, the police, the SPCA, the Dept. of Orinthology, the Health Dept., and the Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Although flea transmission would be simple to prove, it has not been done; and the focus is on birds falling from the sky and mosquitoes, probably so they can continue to publicize it as an avian disease. Since the belated proof of flea and land transmission will probably result in people getting rid of their dogs and cats, one has to question the merit of this approach. Furthermore if land transmission is a reality, the published advice to bag dead birds and throw them in the trash would result in rats eating them, further promoting the spread of the virus." This was followed by "And the Beat Goes On!" on 11/1/00 where I wrote: "My Daddy said that besides being suppressed in this country, my last article, "Head for the Hills?" resulted in Israel starting a war in the Middle East. That is if you consider the shooting of Palestinians who have been throwing rocks for years to be a war. Thus the persecuted people myth lives on..... If the Israelis are trying to cover up their role in promoting the West Nile Virus, which is destined to kill the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; let the Palestinians work for an appropriate scientific analysis of this disease. Instead of dwelling on issues like bird to bird transmission, cage a virus-infected flea-ridden bat with a healthy bat to prove flea and land transmission. After I reported that crows in this area were abnormally flicking their tails and that they had probably been trapped, had a tail feather pulled, and been injected on the site; the West Nile Virus disappeared from the news. Even if it turns out that an injected virus was dead, the intentions are clear; and the motives of the scientific community in failing to analyze this virus are also evident." Maybe the West Nile Virus scenario has led to the current Hoof and Mouth scenario; thus the beasts of the field and the birds of the air need your help in exposing any concealed motives in promoting these diseases. As for the smoke arising from the burning animals, please check and see if the makeshift air filter described in "Modus Operandi of Lawlessness - Update" 6:00 PM 2/22/01 www.indymedia.org. does any good. Thank you very much for your time. Respectfully yours, Robert Meade "Bobby" "Israel" Deaf Messenger