Roundup

1. This fellow is predicting a global food-energy-water apocalypse in 2030!



2. I had earlier posted about the future of Wikipedia saying "My prediction is that Wikipedia will move over the next few years, to a three tier system of anyone, editors and admins."

So it's fascinating to read this article from the New York Times about the limited introduction of editors at Wikipedia:
The new feature, called “flagged revisions,” will require that an experienced volunteer editor for Wikipedia sign off on any change made by the public before it can go live. Until the change is approved — or in Wikispeak, flagged — it will sit invisibly on Wikipedia’s servers, and visitors will be directed to the earlier version.


3. Will Briggs has written a good review of Brian McLaren's book a Generous Orthodoxy.

In summary this is how Will recommends we should approach the book:
"If you read him, read him as you might read a devotional or a "thought for the day" in a pewsheet. Intriguing, stimulating, usually imprecise."

Mexican Flu round up

Hopefully this pandemic doesn't rise to the scale of the infamous Spanish Influenza in 1918, that killed more people then World War One. However two important contributing factors should be kept in mind about that particular outbreak. Firstly there were large-scale troop concentrations due to the recent conclusion of World War One. Secondly communication and co-ordination of efforts to deal with the outbreak were not as efficient as today.

So now we have the Mexican Flu, which seems to have jumped the species barrier more effectively then previous Avian flu strains. This site at the BBC was useful in answering most of my questions. (Pork is fine to eat, don't visit Mexico at the moment, wash your hands and cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze.) Interestingly it pointed out that the standard but still very unpleasent flu kills lots of people all around the world every year. So the real question remains is this version of the flu as nasty and as contagious as the Spainish Flu?