The "Best" and the "Safest"

A few days ago, a headline caught the world's attention. U.S. Army labs had shipped live anthrax specimens to several labs in and outside that country. As usual, they played it down, claiming that no one had been hurt by the mishap. Assuming that to be true, it is still a major mistake in a very sensitive area. Furthermore, it is always worth noting when something like this happens in the U.S. because, invariably, when it occurs somewhere else, American smugness comes to the fore, quickly pointing out how their systems and procedures are the "best" or "safest" in the world and something like this could never happen there.

Yeah, sure...

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