For those who reflexively chant “conspiracy theorist!, conspiracy theorist!” whenever their well-conditioned ignorance is exposed to questioning, go to google and type in “patent for ebola virus” and see what appears. If one can survive the shock of seeing behind the Wizard’s screen, the question should then be asked: “why would the federal government spend so much time and money creating, and then patenting, a gene for the ebola virus?” What productive ends would be served by such efforts? The answer might be found in the following multiple choice options: [1] to create another “threat” that could be used to “protect” people; [b] to create another excuse for sending the military to other parts of the world [e.g., Africa] where the virus – and oil? – might be found; [c] to provide a reason for the government providing billions of dollars to Big-Pharma for research; [d] to justify more restrictions on both domestic and foreign travel; [e] to justify the creation of regional “quarantine” centers where “suspected” infected persons might be isolated; [f] all of the above.

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