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From:
James Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:36:34 -0400
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I have traded several levels of back-and-forth e-mails 
with both Kevin Hackett (USDA-ARS) and the reporter who 
wrote the story as reported by ABC (Australia) news that 
started this thread.

I'm going to call the story an example of very poor reporting,
rather than anything else.  The reporter freely admitted
to not having done his homework on CCD, and was unaware of
the implications of the paraphrasing he did.  (He is a 
freelancer in DC who sells the occasional snippet to ABC 
Australia.)

While the specific quotes attributed to Kevin are accurate,
Kevin took extreme exception to the paraphrasing, and the
(mis)characteristation of the role of USDA-ARS.  He stressed
that they will provide "results" to USDA-APHIS, and let
USDA-APHIS come up with their own "recommendation" as
to what, if anything, to do about imported bees over
the short term and long term.

Kevin is standing firm on the lack of any specific claim
of causality, and standing firm on the lack of any 
specific accusation that "IAPV came to the US from
Australia".  So, I think Kevin would like me to stress:

1) There is no proof that IAPV causes CCD.

2) There is no proof that IAPV came from Australia to the USA.
   
While the road to settling (1) may be a long one, Kevin
feels that the work they are doing on stored samples 
may clarify (2) over the short term.  

The punch line here is that the same folks who took 
exception to my use of the phrase "only the sketchiest 
evidence links Australian exported bees to the problem"
are now working nights and weekends to get some more 
evidence to confirm or refute the sketchy evidence 
published so far.

If any of the above surprises anyone, realize that Kevin 
is not a ventriloquist, and the authors of the paper 
published in "Science" are not dummies.  The only way to 
avoid further embarrassment is for all concerned to circle 
the wagons, and blame "the press" for "jumping to conclusions".  

As someone who might be mistaken for "press" if the sun were 
in your eyes, I think I should state on behalf of AP, UPI,
Reuters, Science Magazine, the New York Times, and the Hearst, 
Gannett, Tribune, and Knight Ridder newspaper chains that they
didn't leap - they was PUSHED!  :)

Meanwhile, Australian bees are "available now" according
to an ad in the November "Bee Culture", implying that
USDA-ARS had better work quick.  Sadly, bees imported 
from overseas have never been "inspected" prior to export
with anything more than a glance in the general direction 
of a few hives, as I point out in my article in the same 
edition of Bee Culture:
http://bee-quick.com/reprints/beepocalypse.pdf

While I am perhaps the biggest fan around of this sort of
"train wreck", the impending situation at hand scares 
even me - the potential for collateral damage is too high, 
and there are just too many ways to screw up here.



Top of the 8th, 2-1 Red Sox.

(Excuse my excitement, but if they win the World Series,
this will be the 2nd time in not just my lifetime, but
also in my father's lifetime AND my grandfather's lifetime
that the Sox have won the World Series.)

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