Language Liberalism Freethought Birds
Verbing Weirds Language only if you're expecting it to work in a simple way. This is a special case of the more general truth that Language Weirds.
Only when a republic's life is in danger should a man uphold his government when it is in the wrong. There is no other time.
The church says Earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence in a shadow than the church.
If we can't find Heaven, there are always bluejays.
I can't say I have much sympathy for people cancelling their flights to places like South Africa or India or London - or even domestically! - because of Ebola who are discovering that they can't get reimbursed. This fear-based reaction doesn't deserve to be catered to.
Labels: miscellaneous, politics, science
I used to teach Russian and Ukrainian, and some basic English, to civil servants. Now I teach Russian at a local continued-learning institute. I dabble in Gaelic and Welsh. I'm am amateur photographer and I love birding (in a small way). I'm a Progressive, and a Freethinker, and I know Evolution is a fact - that's FCD, Friend of Charles Darwin (look down the sidebar). I read a lot, and follow women's college basketball. Also I love astronomy, though I'm a rank amateur at it. Most of all, I like living in the reality-based community...
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5 Comments:
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At 2:26 PM, October 23, 2014
Kathie had this to say...
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At 3:35 PM, October 23, 2014
The Ridger, FCD had this to say...
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At 2:02 PM, October 26, 2014
Kathie had this to say...
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At 2:09 PM, October 26, 2014
The Ridger, FCD had this to say...
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At 12:27 PM, October 27, 2014
Kathie had this to say...
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<-- Older Post ^ Home Newer Post -->Actually, husband is concerned that Ebola virus might be genetically engineerable into something contagious via airborne spread.
Genetic engineering is a very remote possibility - it's hard and there are plenty of diseases out there that are worse, much easier to get (many ARE airborne or spread by insects) and harder to treat. Okay, maybe on a battlefield Ebola would be a problem.
But worrying about genetic engineering, while (imo) somewhat foolish, is absolutely nowhere in the vicinity of being afraid to go to South Africa - so afraid you forfeit a $60,000 deposit - under current circumstances.
Ebola is hard to get. Nobody in America needs to be this panicked about it.
Agree that Ebola is hard to contract, but if it can be weaponized it could be a bad scene. Even if not genetically engineerable in the near future, imagine if suicide bombers were recruited abroad to be infected with the virus and soon fly abroad while still not symptomatic, then once the symptoms manifest they blow themselves to contagious smithereens in places filled with people -- the mind boggles. (I have no doubt but that terrorist masterminds thought of this long before I did).
But there are science grad students and post docs in genetic engineering (NOT on Ebola)), including some from nations known for terrorism, who could return home and be recruited to work on projects to try to make the virus airborne.
Perhaps. But why should we panic about Ebola instead of all the other diseases out there?
Oh, I agree. It's not that genetic engineering of Ebola in an effort to make it airbornely(?) contagious is the highest priority right now, just that it can't be ignored, either.
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