Althouse: There were warnings that Dr. Amy Bishop "booby-trapped the science building with some sort of 'herpes bomb.'"

February 21, 2010

There were warnings that Dr. Amy Bishop "booby-trapped the science building with some sort of 'herpes bomb.'"

"Only people who had worked with Dr. Bishop would know that she had done work with the herpes virus as a post-doctoral student and had talked about how it could cause encephalitis. She had also written an unpublished novel in which a herpes-like virus spreads throughout the world, causing pregnant women to miscarry...."

33 comments:

Ron said...: I'll bet she dreamed of being Ernst Stavros Blofeld someday when she was a little girl...; 2/21/10, 10:13 AM
former law student said...: She had also written an unpublished novel in which a herpes-like virus spreads throughout the world, causing pregnant women to miscarry....

By their logic, Santa Barbarans should beware internist Laurence Dworet, MD. With an experienced author, he wrote and sold a screenplay in which a microscopic bug, in the words of Roger Ebert, kills humans by liquefying their internal organs. The bug arrives in California from Africa, carried by a smuggled monkey, from which it threatenes to wipe out the US.; 2/21/10, 10:17 AM
HT said...: This just gets worse and worse. But please keep posting on it.

I will be interested to know the results of Gov Patrick's investigation.; 2/21/10, 10:38 AM
Unknown said...: In the 50s, her part would have been played by somebody like Morris Ankrum; the closest fit these days is when they uglied up Uma Thurman in that God-awful Batman movie with the equally God-awful George Clooney.

Ron said...

I'll bet she dreamed of being Ernst Stavros Blofeld someday when she was a little girl...

She sure ain't no Pussy Galore. Rosa Klebb, maybe.; 2/21/10, 10:53 AM
DADvocate said...: Punching someone at IHOP over a booster chair, what a loving mother.

fls - you need to make a logic check. Does Dworet have the history of violence, seething rage or has he ever shot up a faculty meeting? It's the combination of events and personality traits that made others worry about the herpes bomb, not just that she had done research on it or written a novel about it.; 2/21/10, 10:58 AM
From Inwood said...: Hey Failed

Name six Conservative Univ Profs who acted like Amy!

Or, for that matter, name six Conservative Univ Profs!

I suggest Amy Winehouse to star as Amy Bishop in the upcoming movie.; 2/21/10, 11:11 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: So PD James beat her to it.; 2/21/10, 11:47 AM
Trooper York said...: Dr Amy Bishop knows Pamela Anderson?; 2/21/10, 11:56 AM
William said...: I can't remember the name, but there was that dull movie about a movie critic who goes on a wine tasting spree. It got praised to the skies not because of its fast paced action sequences but because it presented a balanced, nuanced portrait of a movie critic in crisis. Something like this will happen with Dr. Amy Bishop. She's probably not that much different from any number of past, aggrieved postal employees but every professor who ever felt angsty about the tenure process will feel the need to mull over this crime and write about its larger significance. Soon universities will have seperate Amy Bishop study departments. She will be the most researched and discussed spree killer since Jack the Ripper.....I only hope that this glorification of untenured sociopaths does not lead to more copycat killings. Our universities are staffed by people unhinged by the mad rhetoric of Obama, and this is pipe puffing among the kerosene rags.; 2/21/10, 12:03 PM
Turtledove said...: As a parent who is struggling and sacrificing to find the money to get 3 children through college, I am horrified (but not shocked) to see that that ruinous tuition and myriad other expenses go towards the salaries of people like "Dr." Bishop. And she is not the only one by a long shot who has no business teaching anyone about anything.; 2/21/10, 12:12 PM
Trooper York said...: Is that you Harry?; 2/21/10, 12:14 PM
Trooper York said...: If it is stop commenting on blogs and write another book about Lizards from Outer Space invading the earth during World War 2!; 2/21/10, 12:16 PM
Trooper York said...: Or even another Visdeross novel.

Those were way cool.; 2/21/10, 12:16 PM
Trooper York said...: But most of all I want another Gerrin the Fox novel.

That was among your best work and I hate that you abandoned it.; 2/21/10, 12:17 PM
Trooper York said...: But if you are not that Turtledove....nevermind.; 2/21/10, 12:18 PM
Wince said...: By the time of the reports, the police had already swept every room of the science building, finding nothing but a 9-millimeter handgun in the second-floor restroom.

Oh, okay.

I see no reason to jump to conclusions with respect to Amy Bishop.; 2/21/10, 12:20 PM
twinsdaddy said...: Really honey, I got it from my microscope...I swear; 2/21/10, 12:26 PM
Anonymous said...: In the 50s, her part would have been played by somebody like Morris Ankrum

One of the recurring judges on "Perry Mason"!

I can't remember the name, but there was that dull movie about a movie critic who goes on a wine tasting spree.

Change "movie critic" to "English teacher" and give it a "Sideways" glance.

Word verification: phooto.; 2/21/10, 12:57 PM
former law student said...: Does Dworet have the history of violence, seething rage or has he ever shot up a faculty meeting? It's the combination of events and personality traits that made others worry about the herpes bomb, not just that she had done research on it or written a novel about it.

DAD, except for the shootings themselves, Bishop's whole history of violence was left in Massachusetts, obscured by the positive recommendations from Harvard and other places. And if anyone had suspected before the shootings that she would turn violent, they would have had had the meeting by videoconference.

But you have a good point that, once Bishop started blasting away at her colleagues, the survivors would start wondering what else she might have done. But who would she have told about her work with the herpes virus?

The NYT writer did not say which individuals had heard about Bishop's work with herpes from Bishop, even though other statements in the article were diligently sourced.

Further, the herpes virus does not sound very sinister. "Help, I have a cold sore!"; 2/21/10, 2:23 PM
DADvocate said...: fls - I would imagine Bishop's vitae has everything she's done. My sister's vitae (she a professor at a different Alabama university) lists every paper, presentation, research, etc. she's ever done. It would be hard for me to believe that Bishop hid any of her academic achievements. Quite the opposite since she was trying for tenure. Neither the word "herpes" nor "virus" appear in the list of her papers, etc. But, that doesn't mean the paper/research didn't include that, it's just not in the title and with my limited knowledge of biology can't discern what the titles refer to. Maybe a technical reference to herpes is in there.

Yes, herpes doesn't sound scary. But what happens if you inhale too many herpes viruses? There is more than one type of herpes. Herpes can kill an infant. There could be greater dangers here than we lay people know of.; 2/21/10, 3:17 PM
kimsch said...: DAD - don't forget the space herpes in Ice Pirates!

wv: bowbe; 2/21/10, 4:35 PM
traditionalguy said...: Cogitating on the best creation of a legal defense for Amy Bishop is causing me a headache. Motions in limine to exclude evidence on the latest evil act revelations and a change of venue to start, followed by a total makeover and a great psychologist to explain that she is the victim here... then just when I have a shot at winning , she will probably try to kill me off.; 2/21/10, 5:13 PM
Michael said...: Way into today's NYT's front page story on Dr. Amy it was noted that while living in Mass. she was quite active in "politics." Not left wing politics, not Republican politics, not local politics. Just plain politics. Can we guess? Can we imagine if there would have been a bit more description about the nature of the "politics" had they been, say, Republican? Or right wing? Was the writer not curious about the "politics?"; 2/21/10, 5:21 PM
MadisonMan said...: It was the mother of Amy who was noted to be active in politics.; 2/21/10, 6:02 PM
KCFleming said...: How lucky we are to have the insanity defense, permitting someone who has already killed someone else to plan a murder, execute three people, and then claim to be crazy.

Beyond the pointlessness of her upcoming trial, there are no lessons to be learned here, except perhaps that families should not let their children get away with causing someone's death , howevermuch the consequences are feared.

Michael Skakel.
Ted Kennedy.; 2/21/10, 8:53 PM
Ken Pidcock said...: Our universities are staffed by people unhinged by the mad rhetoric of Obama, and this is pipe puffing among the kerosene rags.

There ya go. That's the story.

@ DADvocate, thanks for the link. I don't see anything there, either. Maybe 'cause they're neurotropic, she worked with somebody who worked with herpesviruses.; 2/21/10, 9:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Did I miss it? It's stunning to me that the article omits mention of Congressman Delahunt, the then DA who ordered Bishop released before she was booked.

He's a Democrat, of course.; 2/21/10, 10:11 PM
former law student said...: It's stunning to me that the article omits mention of Congressman Delahunt

This is one of about seven stories the NYT has run on Amy Bishop. This particular article looks at Amy Bishop's weirdness in some depth.

The article you want ran some days ago. The excuse for its being a little lacking is that Cong. Delahunt is traveling in Israel, unavailable for comment. AP article in NYT; 2/21/10, 11:04 PM
Anonymous said...: fls,
This article talks about her booking and release in detail. It omits Delahunt's name. It's on purpose.; 2/22/10, 12:14 AM
former law student said...: It's on purpose.

The NYT is not going to speculate.; 2/22/10, 1:14 AM
KCFleming said...: "The NYT is not going to speculate."

Hilarious.; 2/22/10, 7:34 AM
former law student said...: At the grocery store yesterday I read that Bill Clinton needs a heart transplant.

The NYT said nada.; 2/22/10, 9:00 AM
From Inwood said...: Fls

At the grocery store yesterday I read that Bill Clinton needs a heart transplant.

The NYT said nada.

At the grocery store last year I read that John Edwards had fathered a child.

The NYT said nada.

On Saturday, the NYT had two, repeat two, corrections in its obit on Kathryn Grayson that any movie buff could've spotted.

Oh well, at least it never mentioned the "Blacklist" as the cause of her decline as a star.; 2/22/10, 1:48 PM