Friday Miscellany!

[maxomai]

• So much for Rand Paul the conservative Dove: the Senator from Kentucky says he'd vote for airstrikes on ISIS in a heartbeat.


• UN confirms that Iran's nuclear program has stalled. Keep this in mind, kids.


• How could Ebola go from a regional epidemic to a worldwide epidemic? With a little bit of long-distance flight. Still not an "extinction event" despite the headline, but it the model demonstrates why we need to get this epidemic under control ASAP.


• scottbateman on whether you should go to college. And while a "Pay It Forward" program would take care of tuition, it does so at the cost of a 3-5 point tax increase. We've got to figure something else out.


• SC and I are going to the Esoteric Book Conference in Seattle this weekend. See you there?

Comments

Not Gotterdamurung yet

[arkham4269.livejournal.com]

I'm still with Matt Ridley who pointed out that First World nations have the tools and the talent to keep Ebola from being a serious problem.

I think people need to take a step and realize that while "Super Plagues" can exist and probably will exist again, modern society is much better equipped to handle issues. Certainly air travel is a big bonus for viruses but then again we know what causes them, and how to deal with them.

Ebola is nasty but once again we're freaking out over an immediate threat and ignoring things like how Lousiana is losing about a football field worth of land every day. Given how much of our oil infrastructure is in that area, that is a serious long-term threat to our way of life. (such as it is dependent on oil.)