LIKE many people who are now seniors, I had measles when I was a child and there was no vaccine available. It was uncomfortable, very contagious, and occasionally deadly.
By the mid’60s vaccines were appearing and by the mid-‘70s they were compulsory in Australia. The disease was basically controlled and effectively eradicated.
Why has it come back? In reality it wasn’t gone; it was just preventable using vaccines.
The reappearance is basically due to the decline in vaccination rates, a very concerning and, in my opinion, stupid change.
This is partly due to people forgetting about the disease, the vaccine skeptics and the anti-vaccine proponents.
This won’t be helped with US President Donald Trump’s appointment of R.F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, to run the US medical system.
Vaccines work. Measles is still very dangerous. Get vaccinated if you haven’t already.
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Secret is not a new word
There are some great journalists investigating their tgovernments, Bernstein and Woodward being well-known examples, and they have had to spend a lot of time, use covert contacts, ask unpopular questions, and risk their lives to get the information to write their articles.
Now there is a new, improved, approach where the government asks you to join their top secret defense discussion group as happened for Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
Fortunately, like most journalists, he has integrity and didn’t publish the details or ring the Yemen government for comment.
This is an obvious stuff up, as confirmed by spokesman Brian Hughes. President Trump said, “I don’t know anything about it,” although that might not be limited to just this specific breach.
If the Trump Presidency is that careless with top secret military information, how many of their allies, and undercover operatives, should start panicking?
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The umpire is right
Sport is a good metaphor for life, do your best and you can walk off with your head high. There will be times when someone else is better and fair play is important.
After coaching school sporting teams for three decades across a number of schools and different sports, I emphasized that the umpire was always right and on the rare time they made a mistake you accepted this without dissent or bad grace.
You never said that the umpire was corrupt or of limited intelligence or with unattractive appearance. Donald Trump would not be playing in my team.
President Trump continues to attack and generally insults judges and anyone who opposes him. Many of these judges have the power to punish him severely.
Play the game, not the person.
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An empty gift?
The Trump-Putin talks have apparently led to a small concession, Russia will stop destroying the Ukraine energy system.
Is this an empty gift in that Putin believes it will be Russian territory soon and he would then have to pay to repair it?
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Where did they land?
It was great to see the astronauts land safely and leave their capsule although I will miss the great globe of Sunita Williams’ hair floating in space. It might never float free again.
I was confused as to where they landed as one report said they landed in the Gulf of Mexico while another coverage had them landing in the Gulf of America.
It is a trivial Trump-based silliness but what would happen if other places had multiple names and they needed to be reached swiftly?
It is also great to see the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) brand on an extended coverage on TV but how soon will the branding become SpaceX or another company?
America should support NASA and get them back to lead space exploration./PN
