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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 14-Oct-2014
14-Oct-14 World View -- Australia's PM Tony Abbott promises to 'shirt-front' Vladimir Putin when they meet

Web Log - October, 2014

14-Oct-14 World View -- Australia's PM Tony Abbott promises to 'shirt-front' Vladimir Putin when they meet

WHO: Ebola threatens the 'very survival' of countries

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Australia's PM Tony Abbott promises to 'shirt-front' Vladimir Putin when they meet
WHO: Ebola threatens the 'very survival' of countries

Australia's PM Tony Abbott promises to 'shirt-front' Vladimir Putin when they meet

Australia's prime minister Tony Abbott

Australia's prime minister Tony Abbott

Australia's prime minister Tony Abbott has been one of the world's most vocal critics for Russia's president Vladimir Putin over the downing of an airliner by Russians in East Ukraine using a missile system supplied by Russia. Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in July, killing all 298 passengers and crew, 28 of whom were Australians. Abbott and Putin are expected to meet at the upcoming G20 meeting next month.

Abbott said the following on Monday:

"Look, I'm going to shirt-front Mr Putin - you bet I am. I'm going to be saying to Mr Putin, Australians were murdered and they were murdered by Russian-backed rebels using Russian supplied equipment."

In Australian rules football, a "shirt-front" is a front-on charge designed to knock an opponent to the ground. Reuters and Sydney Morning Herald

WHO: Ebola threatens the 'very survival' of countries

Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), referred to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea and said:

"I have never seen a health event threaten the very survival of societies and governments in already very poor countries. I have never seen an infectious disease contribute so strongly to potential state failure."

As I've written several times in the past ( "18-Sep-14 World View -- Will Ebola become a worldwide pandemic?"), Ebola is apparently going to continue to spread exponentially and run its course in Liberia. Within 6-9 months, probably 90% of the population will have been infected, and 50-70% of those people will not survive. So if those figures are true, and I believe they are, then Liberia will lose more than half its population by next summer. This will be a geopolitical crisis, and may trigger a war.

Will the same thing happen in the United States? No. Right now, every hospital and health care facility in the country is preparing for the say that someone walks in with symptoms of Ebola. There will certainly be cases -- perhaps dozens or even hundreds of cases. But America, like much of the rest of the world, is rapidly preparing and will be prepared.

However, as we've said repeatedly, Ebola will spread out of control to war zones, including Central African Republic, Darfur, South Sudan, Syria and Iraq. Adjacent countries will also be at risk, and that could mean that larger regions of Africa and the Mideast may be under attack from Ebola. Large megacities around the world are also at risk. However, note that the Hajj has ended, without any known cases of Ebola, as many people feared.

It appears that world will be a very different place a year from now. We can hope that, by then, some drug treatments will have started to become available, so that the spread can level off. VOA and BBC

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 14-Oct-14 World View -- Australia's PM Tony Abbott promises to 'shirt-front' Vladimir Putin when they meet thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (14-Oct-2014) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 14-Oct-2014 14-Oct-14 World View -- Australia's PM Tony Abbott promises to 'shirt-front' Vladimir Putin when they meet

Australia's PM Tony Abbott promises to 'shirt-front' Vladimir Putin when they meet

WHO: Ebola threatens the 'very survival' of countries

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 14-Oct-2014
14-Oct-14 World View -- Australia's PM Tony Abbott promises to 'shirt-front' Vladimir Putin when they meet