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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 26-Nov-2014
26-Nov-14 World View -- Pope Francis calls Mediterranean a 'vast cemetery' for migrants

Web Log - November, 2014

26-Nov-14 World View -- Pope Francis calls Mediterranean a 'vast cemetery' for migrants

E-Cigarettes can infect your computer with malware

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Pope Francis calls Mediterranean a 'vast cemetery' for migrants
Mali attempts to prevent the spread of Ebola
E-Cigarettes can infect your computer with malware

Pope Francis calls Mediterranean a 'vast cemetery' for migrants

Pope Francis at the European Parliament on Tuesday (AFP)

Pope Francis at the European Parliament on Tuesday (AFP)

Pope Francis has previously spoken out on the treatment of migrants. Last year he criticized the "globalization of indifference" towards migrants, saying that the western society had "forgotten how to cry," and that "the culture of our own well-being makes us insensitive to the cries of others."

On Tuesday he gave a speech to the European Parliament in Brussels:

"There needs to be a united response to the question of migration. We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a vast cemetery.
The boats landing daily on the shores of Europe are filled with men and women who need acceptance and assistance. ...
One of the most common diseases in Europe today is loneliness. You can see it in the eyes of migrants who came here seeking a better future."

Francis also said that the European Union had lost its way:

"Europe seems to give the impression of being somewhat elderly and haggard, feeling less and less a protagonist in a world which frequently regards it with aloofness.
We encounter a general impression of weariness and ageing, of a Europe which is now a grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant.
The time has come for us to abandon the idea of a Europe which is fearful and self-absorbed, in order to revive and encourage a Europe of leadership."

Francis also declared that the EU had lost its bearings, and was hostage to a uniform economic model that undermined democracy while the centrality of human rights was becoming confused with and supplanted by individualistic narcissism.

Over the past weekend alone, some 800 migrants were rescued from drowning by naval vessels from Italy and Libya. At least 215,000 asylum seekers arrived in Europe so far this year, while only 43,000 arrived during the entire year 2013. Guardian (London) and Reuters and AFP

Mali attempts to prevent the spread of Ebola

Two weeks ago, a 70-year-old sick Imam traveled by car from Guinea to Bamako, the capital city of Mali, where he went to a local hospital and died. Hundreds of people touched his body in the funeral preparations that followed, before anyone realized he had Ebola. ( "15-Nov-14 World View -- Ebola cluster growing in Mali, hundreds possibly exposed")

Mali officials said on Monday that another person had tested positive for Ebola, bringing the total number of cases to eight. Six previously identified patients have died. Health officials in Mali are currently monitoring some 300 people who may have come in contact with the Imam, or with someone who had been in a contact chain to the Imam. Teams of people check each of these people twice a day, every day, to catch anyone who may be sick with Ebola. Not everyone is cooperating, but Mali officials are being aggressive in chasing down anyone who avoids monitoring.

Health officials have been successful so far in preventing widespread Ebola infections outside of the three main West African countries - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. They're hoping that quick action has prevented Mali from becoming the fourth country devastated by Ebola.

The level of anxiety and panic has also simmered down. Thanks to political crises over immigration and Ferguson, I haven't heard a peep lately out of anyone demanding that anyone traveling by plane from West Africa be refused entry into the United States.

There was a time last spring, for about a month, when everyone thought that Ebola had been all but eradicated in West Africa. Then suddenly it turned out that there were dozens of cases that had previously been unreported, and soon these turned into hundreds, and then thousands.

Officials are hoping that nothing like that will happen in any other country, but the case of the Imam shows what can go wrong. All you need is one Ebola patient who travels to a crowded city or a war zone. Since an infected patient may not show symptoms for 21 days, it would be possible to start a new Ebola cluster anywhere, just as recently happened in Mali. VOA and Reuters

E-Cigarettes can infect your computer with malware

E-cigarettes are a great invention for people who are addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. E-cigarettes look like cigarettes, they fulfill the need for nicotine, but they do not have any tars and other poisons that cause lung cancer. The "smoke" they give off is only water vapor.

However, an e-cigarette contains a battery that has to be charged, and many of them are recharged by connecting them to a computer with a USB cable. At least one brand of e-cigarette made in China infects your computer with malware when you connect the USB cable.

Apparently the same thing is possible for photo frames, MP3 players, or any other device that plugs into the computer via a USB cable. Guardian and Reddit

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 26-Nov-14 World View -- Pope Francis calls Mediterranean a 'vast cemetery' for migrants thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (26-Nov-2014) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 26-Nov-2014 26-Nov-14 World View -- Pope Francis calls Mediterranean a 'vast cemetery' for migrants

Pope Francis calls Mediterranean a 'vast cemetery' for migrants

Mali attempts to prevent the spread of Ebola

E-Cigarettes can infect your computer with malware

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 26-Nov-2014
26-Nov-14 World View -- Pope Francis calls Mediterranean a 'vast cemetery' for migrants