Travel
Here’s Why This Year’s Measles Outbreaks Are So Bad: “Ninety out of one hundred non-vaccinated people exposed to an infected person will develop the disease”
“We’re facing a perfect storm of a highly contagious infection introduced into pockets of unvaccinated children,” says Melissa Stockwell, an associate professor of population and family health at Columbia Mailman and of pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. While most cases of the measles are mild, one in twenty infected children in the US is hospitalized with pneumonia, and some infections can cause deafness. In 2017, the illness killed 110,000 people worldwide, nearly all young children in low-income countries. more »
Sitting Ducks ... Are Good Targets Only if They Stay in Place and Behave as Expected
Julia Sneden wrote: I had a small accident a couple of weeks ago, the third in almost 50 years of driving. It happened in my own driveway. That was probably my first experience in being a true victim. Until then I had accepted (sometimes grudgingly) a share of the blame for most of the unpleasant moments of my life. Blame is an unpleasant burden, but shouldering it acknowledges that one is, at least, an active participant in the situation, and not a passive victim. I find it much easier to deal with being held accountable than with feeling helpless in the hands of capricious Fate. more »
*GAO Reports on Testing Security Screening at US Airports: TSA Has Limited Assurance that Security Operations is Targeting the Most Likely Threats
Security Operations has not been able to ensure the quality of its covert test results, and GAO identified a number of factors that could be compromising the quality of these results. Unless TSA assesses the current practices used at airports to conduct tests, and identifies the factors that may be impacting the quality of covert testing conducted by TSA officials at airports, it will have limited assurance about the reliability of the test results it is using to address vulnerabilities. more »
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the National Remembrance Service in NZ: 'Let us be the nation we believe ourselves to be'
"In the days that have followed the terrorist attack on the 15th of March, we have often found ourselves without words. What words adequately express the pain and suffering of 50 men, women and children lost, and so many injured? What words capture the anguish of our Muslim community being the target of hatred and violence? What words express the grief of a city that has already known so much pain? A place that is diverse, that is welcoming, that is kind and compassionate. Those values represent the very best of us." more »