Wow, it feels exhilarating to be on the high moral ground this time, looking down from the top of the moral mountain, through the mists of diversity at all the “racists” below. Imagine how outraged a connoisseur of all things multicult and diverse, like me, is by this little gem:
  https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/racist-decision-bans-chinese-students-from-running-in-university-election-20190910-p52px5.html

“International students have been banned from contesting student elections at one of Victoria's most prestigious universities, in a move to stop a group of Chinese students seizing control of the student union. The ban, which the country's peak student body called an "attack on international students", comes as politicians and academics are increasingly concerned about Chinese Communist Party influence at Australian universities. Leaders of Monash University's Caulfield campus student body last week passed a new rule that students wishing to run at next week's election must be eligible to work 22 hours per week. Foreigners on student visas are not allowed to work more than 20 hours per week, meaning more than half the campus' students are barred from running for election. The rules were passed by Monash Student Association Caulfield's student council to thwart the election hopes of a rival group led by and consisting mainly of Chinese international students. The international student group, which is considering legal action to fight the ruling, was tipped to comfortably win the election and take over the union.”

     What would the Vikings, Spartans, ancient Northern barbarians, Chinese shaolin warriors, the Japanese samurai and Christian warriors of all past ages think of this?
  https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/plastic-knives-flagged-at-woolworths-selfserve-checkouts-due-to-nsw-knife-laws/news-story/fdf3680fe1ffd6c2742608cd4d42c88d

“A security measure put on the word “knife” at Woolworths means customers trying to buy plastic knives at any of the supermarket’s self-service check-outs will need to ask employees for approval. A customer shopping at Erskineville Woolworths, in Sydney’s inner west, earlier today noticed the security measure when she attempted to buy a 50 pack of plastic knives and was stopped at the self-service checkout. A Woolworths employee had to come over and approve the purchase, allowing the customer to continue scanning items. In a statement, Woolworths confirmed it had controls in place to make sure knives, regardless of what they were made of, could not be bought by people under 16. Selling knives to children under the age 16 is illegal in NSW. The only exception is that retailers are allowed to sell a plastic knife designed as an eating utensil. “New South Wales residents under 16 years of age are prohibited by law from buying certain types of knives. “In line with these requirements, we’ve put controls in place within our point of sale systems to flag whenever any kind of knife is scanned at a self-serve checkout,” a Woolworths spokeswoman said. “As plastic knives are exempt from the ban, our store teams do not need to see ID when these items are scanned and will help customers finalise their purchase.” Any product that contains the word “knife” will be flagged by the self-service checkout and a Woolies worker will need to approve the sale before the customer can continue, the supermarket giant confirmed.”

     “The first Chinese-born lawmaker to be elected to Australia’s Parliament has come under attack over her links to a Chinese foreign influence network. Gladys Liu, who was born in Hong Kong in 1964, was elected to the conservative government in May elections to represent a Melbourne electoral division with a large population of ethnic Chinese voters. She has come under media scrutiny recently over her membership in organizations overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, which exert influence on important individuals, organizations and governments outside China. Concern is growing about China’s influence in Australia, which last year banned covert foreign interference in domestic politics. Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday that Chinese government records indicate that Liu, who migrated to Australia in 1985, was a member of two provincial councils of the China Overseas Exchange Association between 2003 and 2015. That association reported to the State Council, China’s chief administrative authority, when Liu was a member, but has since merged with the United Front Work Department. She told Sky News television later Tuesday that she “cannot recall” being a member of those provincial councils. “If I can’t recall, I cannot be an active member of that council, can I?” she told Sky News. “I can tell you that I have never been a member of this council.”

      But in a statement Wednesday, Liu said she held an “honorary role” in the council she had referred to — Guangdong Overseas Exchange Association — in 2011. But she said she no longer had any association with that organization. “Unfortunately, some Chinese associations appoint people to honorary positions without their knowledge or permission. I do not wish my name to be used in any of these associations and I ask them to stop using my name,” she said. “I have resigned from many organizations and I am in the process of auditing any organizations who may have added me as a member without my knowledge or consent,” she added. Opposition lawmakers on Wednesday accused Liu of making misleading statements about her past links to “Chinese Communist Party propaganda arms.” She has also come under fire for failing to condemn China’s military grab for contested territory in the South China Sea. Asked in the Sky News interview if she agreed that China’s efforts to take over most of the South China Sea were unlawful, she replied, “I definitely put Australia’s interests first.” She said Wednesday that during the interview “I was not clear and should have chosen my words better.” “We do not take sides on competing territorial claims but we call on all claimants to resolve disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law,” she said of Australia’s policy on the South China Sea. Damien Kingsbury, a Deakin University expert on international politics, said the controversy surrounding Liu raised national security concerns. “She’s certainly seen to have a link to an organization that is associated with intelligence-gathering operations and that would have to be very worrying,” Kingsbury said.

     Here is a story about an old guy who fought off home invaders with his trusty, rusty machete. The machete pictured is fairly puny, and cheap but did the job. If one goes onto eBay, seeking these tools to clear away scrub, chop wood for your camp fire, or just to cuddle on cold nights, when the wolves are howling in the distance, the sound echoing in the dark primal recesses of the mind … hell, I forgot what the punch line was … Anyway, check out Cold Steel, my favourite company.
  https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/law-order/man-reportedly-fights-off-masked-intruders-with-machete-in-park-holme/news-story/a611e3e7efa9dbb0b50b554e591c81c0?utm_source=The%20Advertiser&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial

     One could always go the way of playing the didgeridoo in one’s under wear, ever-prepared for unwanted visitors to break down your door at 4 a.m., for a friendly sing song.
  https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/law-order/didgeridoo-man-kym-abrook-confronts-alleged-home-invader-outside-court/news-story/fc444b2ca78c206b769939374c969cef

To The Australian        Michael Sexton is right to state that the essential issue of Brexit is the question of national sovereignty ("Plenty of spanners thrown into the Brexit works", 18/9). He could have added that the resumption of independence for Britain will be a profound victory for the principle of intellectual freedom, something gravely threatened by the EU's authoritarian attitude to legal issues.     There must surely be an election to resolve once and for all the Brexit puzzle. We must hope that, firstly, the Conservatives and the Brexit Party will co-operate to maximise their joint success and, secondly, that enough Britons have been revolted by the dishonourable sabotage of the popular will, as clearly established in the 2016 referendum, to switch their votes from Remain to Leave.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

     The people need to be aware of this if they are not, so watch out:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7454621/Roadside-drug-driving-tests-called-question-return-incorrect-cannabis-readings.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small

“Roadside drug tests to detect cannabis are returning incorrect readings, according to a new study. University of Sydney PhD student Thomas Arkell found that the two most commonly used devices by police gave false results. 'What we found was that these test results often came back positive when they should have been negative, or negative when they should have been positive,' he said. A study published in the Drug Testing and Analysis journal found two commonly used police devices regularly failed to detect high levels of THC - the active active ingredient in cannabis. After testing 300 subjects who had cannabis in their system, the Securetec DrugWipe returned a false negative nine per cent of the time. The Draeger DrugTest 5000 also wasn't able to detect cannabis and got it wrong in 16 per cent of all tests. Mr Arkell found that the police devices returned false positive readings of five and 10 per cent respectively when the subjects had a low amount of THC in their saliva. Both devices were used when charging almost 10,000 users who drove while under the influence of cannabis in New South Wales in 2016. The number of drivers undergoing roadside drug tests on the rise every year, with NSW Police set to conduct 200,000 tests in 2020. 'Given that these tests can cost at least $40 each – and potentially lead to serious life-changing penalties for drivers – it is imperative that these concerns around reliability and accuracy are addressed,' Mr Arkell said. The study also found that accuracy, specificity and sensitivity of the two police devices weren't up to the standard recommended by EU authorities. Senior author of the study Iain McGregor said cannabis testing should be just as reliable as blood alcohol testing. 'Detecting impairment due to cannabis use is an important goal in promoting road safety but using saliva tests to do this appears fraught with issues,' Prof McGregor said. 'We should instead be focusing on developing novel methods for detecting drivers who are actually impaired by cannabis. 'The two devices used by police in MDT were never designed to measure impairment'.”

     People who spend most of their time thinking about narrow economic issues may not take a cosmic view to the rest of reality. It is humbling to consider life, and death, on earth. If you go by evolution, over the long time periods, there were mass extinctions, where most life died off. Even by creationist accounts, there were also mass extinctions, perhaps equal to the materialist world view events, and the Real Big One, Judgment Day is a coming. Anyway, scientists believe that they have uncovered a new mass extinction event:
  https://phys.org/news/2019-09-unearth-extinction.html

“A team of scientists has concluded that earth experienced a previously underestimated severe mass-extinction event, which occurred about 260 million years ago, raising the total of major mass extinctions in the geologic record to six. "It is crucial that we know the number of severe mass extinctions and their timing in order to investigate their causes," explains Michael Rampino, a professor in New York University's Department of Biology and a co-author of the analysis, which appears in the journal Historical Biology. "Notably, all six major mass extinctions are correlated with devastating environmental upheavals—specifically, massive flood-basalt eruptions, each covering more than a million square kilometers with thick lava flows." Scientists had previously determined that there were five major mass-extinction events, wiping out large numbers of species and defining the ends of geological periods: the end of the Ordovician (443 million years ago), the Late Devonian (372 million years ago), the Permian (252 million years ago), the Triassic (201 million years ago), and the Cretaceous (66 million years ago). And, in fact, many researchers have raised concerns about the contemporary, ongoing loss of species diversity—a development that might be labeled a "seventh extinction" because such a modern mass extinction, scientists have predicted, could end up being as severe as these past events.

     It gets really interesting when multicult knife crime starts to impact upon commerce and capitalism.
  https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49647749

“Shop workers are experiencing "severe mental health consequences" as a result of violent store crime, a study says. The report by City, University of London, says a rise in violent retail crime is causing "long-lasting anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder" among workers in the sector. More than 42,000 assaults or threats were recorded in the industry in 2018. Dr Emmeline Taylor, the report's author, says government action is "urgently needed" to protect staff. "All too frequently, shop workers are suffering physical injuries, as well as chronic and life changing mental health consequences of violence, such as long-term anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder," the report states. According to the research, the four main scenarios that lead to violent interactions are: encountering shoplifters, enforcing age-restrictions on the sale of goods, hate-crime related incidents and armed and unarmed robberies.

     US gun sales are up 15 percent, driven by fears of gun banning by the insane Democrats, and self-protection concerns as well in the modern anarcho- tyranny. This social angst is seen in Germany as well, where the general population does not seem capable of resisting the elites and saving Germany from total dissolution, but still seeks personal survival in the coming post-apocalyptic multicult wastelands:
  https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/gun-sales-surge-15-driven-by-self-protection-pelosi-schumer-demand-for-limits
  https://www.dw.com/en/amid-concerns-over-public-safety-germans-are-buying-more-weapons/a-42417652

“Some people living in Germany feel less safe than they did in the past. At the same time, small arms purchases are on the rise. But experts say a boost in weapons ownership will likely do more harm than good. The number of Germans who have acquired weapons permits has risen considerably over the past two years. Having the requisite documentation allows people in the country to carry things like non-lethal gas pistols in public. In January 2016, just under 301,000 people had such a permit; in December 2017 there were over 557,000. Weapons retailers say that defensive blinding flashlights, stun guns and gas spray are selling so well they are having trouble keeping shelves stocked. Self-defense courses are also increasingly popular. Classes at Taekwondo clubs, fitness studios, and even municipal community centers are attracting more and more participants.

     Yep, here is a symbol of America’s future, something Queen Ann warned about:
  https://www.amazon.com/Adios-America-Lefts-Country-Hellhole-ebook/dp/B00R3L7502 
  https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/09/11/video-cartel-gunmen-hang-dead-rival-from-mexican-coastal-city-bridge/

“A team of cartel gunmen tortured and killed a rival before hanging him from a bridge in Veracruz. The incident is one of the latest acts of violence involving various criminal organizations’ fight for control of local drug routes and illegitimate businesses. This week, a group of gunmen from “Grupo Sombra” hung the body of a man identified as “El Jarocho” from a bridge in Tuxpan, Veracruz. In a video, members of Grupo Sombra question El Jarocho about his criminal activities and his boss, “Commander Mono or Monkey.” El Jarocho said he was responsible for murders, extortion schemes, kidnapping cases, and other crimes. The victim purportedly confessed to leading local Los Zetas cartel efforts involving kidnapping cases. After the confession, a distorted voice from one of the gunmen says they are not revolting against the government — they are fighting criminals. Next to the victim’s body, the cartel gunmen hung a banner claiming that government officials were working with Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). In late August, a group apparently from CJNG torched a bar in Coatzacoalcos, trapping dozens of patrons and employees inside. The attack killed 30 individuals and injured a dozen others. Official intelligence obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed that Grupo Sombra consists of former Gulf Cartel members and state police officers who fight against Los Zetas and the CJNG for control of Veracruz. The criminal organization has, at times, claimed to be a self-defense group.”

     The Epstein conspiracy, showing that the world’s elites have a segment of their population who are sadistic paedophiles, has now dropped from interest to be replaced by other stories of doom, gloom and misery for us, while the Dark Lords continue to live on the fat of the land, our fat, and our land. Anyway, September 11 has now passed, and there were all those articles about remembering it. Sure, but some want to go further and investigate the whole shonky state of affairs:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/health/new-york-area-fire-commissioners-demand-new-911-investigation

“September 11, 2001, was nearly 20 years ago, and after all this time, so many questions still remain about what exactly happened. It is not socially acceptable to question the official explanation that was given for the collapse of the towers and the other events of that day, but now these questions are being taken more seriously. However, the rushed and poorly managed 9/11 commission report did not do an adequate job at investigating the crimes, which left experts in a variety of different fields with questions about the official story. Many of these professionals belong to an organization called Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, who have been pushing for a new investigation into the attacks for many years. This July, they announced a major breakthrough in their fight for a proper investigation. According to a press release published on the group’s website, New York Fire Commissioners who were closely involved with the events of that day, have called for a new investigation into the 9/11 attacks. On July 24, the Franklin Square and Munson Fire Districts voted unanimously for a new investigation, citing “overwhelming evidence” that “pre-planted explosives . . . caused the destruction of the three World Trade Center buildings.”

     You need to hear what we say from someone outside of our circle. Here is independent Australian film maker from the Dissent Right, Richard Wolstencroft, arguing that Melbourne, and Sydney are no longer Australian cities. He discusses the Asian demographics, with the universities being 60 percent and more Asian students, (so that the future elites will be primarily Chinese e.g. doctors, dentists etc.) and when local are considered, majority Asian. The major cities are gone. And then there is Middle Eastern crime, which is so extensive that it has even taken over the former bikie gangs, making a Blade Runner kind of world.
  https://www.facebook.com/reportfromtigermountain/

     Many of us living in the green leafy suburbs, or in the country, may not be aware of this, not being confronted by stark realities every second of every day. I suggest a day trip to the city, Taking a cut lunch, maybe on a Wednesday, visiting the universities and spending some time there. Then the CBD, especially Sydney. Look and learn, as the title of the old magazine put it.

     Wow, this is something I found hard to believe, but in the interests of truth, I report:
  https://www.bbc.com/news/health-49579820

“People who eat vegan and vegetarian diets have a lower risk of heart disease and a higher risk of stroke, a major study suggests. They had 10 fewer cases of heart disease and three more strokes per 1,000 people compared with the meat-eaters. The research, published in the British Medical Journal, looked at 48,000 people for up to 18 years. However, it cannot prove whether the effect is down to their diet or some other aspect of their lifestyle. Diet experts said, whatever people's dietary choice, eating a wide range of foods was best for their health. What does this study add? It analyses data from the EPIC-Oxford study, a major long-term research project looking at diet and health. Half of participants, recruited between 1993 and 2001, were meat-eaters, just over 16,000 vegetarian or vegan, with 7,500 who described themselves as pescatarian (fish-eating). They were asked about their diets, when they joined the study and again in 2010. Medical history, smoking and physical activity were taken into account, Altogether, there were 2,820 cases of coronary heart disease (CHD) and 1,072 cases of stroke - including 300 haemorrhagic strokes, which happen when a weakened blood vessel bursts and bleeds into the brain. The pescatarians were found to have a 13% lower risk of CHD than the meat-eaters, while the vegetarians and vegans had a 22% lower risk. But those on plant-based diets had a 20% higher risk of stroke. The researchers suggested this could be linked to low vitamin B12 levels but said more studies were needed to investigate the connection. It is also possible that the association may have nothing to do with people's diets and may just reflect other differences in the lives of people who do not eat meat.”

To The Australian         Ann Rennie rightly praises traditional teaching styles ("Teachers: thought leaders and influencers", 17/9) when she notes that in the past (more often, alas, than in the present) "deep knowledge and passion for a subject was passed on by well-educated, erudite and occasionally eccentric enthusiasts." These old-style teachers had permanent tenure, were respected by parents and society as a whole, and were not handicapped by having to spend hours and hours on unnecessary clerical work and "professional improvement" courses. An important aspect of their carrying out of their roles was humility. Another was recognition that, while all roads lead to God (not to Rome, thank you!), there are different roads by which individuals can travel. They were not fanatics, misusing the classroom to engage in facile indoctrination into simplistic ideology and rude activism. How can we return to that Golden Age? One essential is courage. Teachers opposed to declining standards in their profession and their supporters in wider society must outspokenly contest the factors that have led to the corruption of the education process. The defence of intellectual freedom is paramount.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

     Well if they are, as a card-carrying National Rifle Association member (Florida), proud to be redefined as a “terrorist.”
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/04/exclusive-iamthenra-nras-wayne-lapierre-releases-video-responding-to-san-franciscos-declaration-of-group-as-terrorist-organization/

“National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre is responding to the declaration by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voting to unanimously declare the group a terrorist organization with the release of a new video showing members of the NRA to be many hardworking Americans with a variety of backgrounds. The video, provided exclusively to Breitbart News ahead of its public release, shows LaPierre speaking at the NRA’s 2019 Annual Meeting in Indianapolis to a crowd of thousands of NRA members who are ordinary hardworking Americans.”

     Here is something from the “great ideas” department, to let AI control the world’s nuclear weapons. I mean to say, it is bad enough having humans control them, but who is to say what will happen when humans are taken out of the loop?
  https://thebulletin.org/2019/08/strangelove-redux-us-experts-propose-having-ai-control-nuclear-weapons/

“Hypersonic missiles, stealthy cruise missiles, and weaponized artificial intelligence have so reduced the amount of time that decision makers in the United States would theoretically have to respond to a nuclear attack that, two military experts say, it’s time for a new US nuclear command, control, and communications system. Their solution? Give artificial intelligence control over the launch button. In an article in War on the Rocks titled, ominously, “America Needs a ‘Dead Hand,’” US deterrence experts Adam Lowther and Curtis McGiffin propose a nuclear command, control, and communications setup with some eerie similarities to the Soviet system referenced in the title to their piece. The Dead Hand was a semiautomated system developed to launch the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal under certain conditions, including, particularly, the loss of national leaders who could do so on their own. Given the increasing time pressure Lowther and McGiffin say US nuclear decision makers are under, “[I]t may be necessary to develop a system based on artificial intelligence, with predetermined response decisions, that detects, decides, and directs strategic forces with such speed that the attack-time compression challenge does not place the United States in an impossible position.”

     I have been keeping a watch out for killer asteroids, having bought a cheap telescope from the junk shop, hence supplying the first line of defence for Australia. I have not seen much in the night sky yet, just a few huge mossies that landed on the lenses. Then there are these articles documenting near misses, and some strikes, almost every day by small space rocks:
  https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1175533/Asteroid-news-impact-asteroid-hit-earth-nasa-warning-space-latest-updates
  https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1171930/Asteroid-news-chance-of-impact-asteroid-hit-earth-Lembit-Opik-asteroid-warning
  https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1176211/asteroid-news-nasa-space-agency-earth-science-news-latest
  https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/16nov_bolides
  https://www.txstate-epdc.net/just-frequently-meteors-hit-earth/
  https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/dangerous-meteors-hit-earth-way-more-often-than-thought-1.2417013

“Event similar to Chelyabinsk meteor strike happen once every 30 years, not 150
Scientists studying the terrifying meteor that exploded without warning over a Russian city last winter say the threat of space rocks smashing into Earth is bigger than they thought. Meteors about the size of the one that streaked through the sky at 67,000 kilometres per hour and burst over Chelyabinsk in February — and ones even larger and more dangerous — are probably four to five times more likely to hit the planet than scientists believed before the fireball, according to three studies published Wednesday in the journals Nature and Science. Until Chelyabinsk, NASA had looked only for space rocks about 30 metres wide and bigger, figuring there was little danger below that.

     A somewhat light-hearted article appeared by Richard Miller, our London correspondent (that does sound impressive), discussing how Paul McCartney’s grandson was robbed in London, and that the ex-Beatle thinks that the times have indeed changed. Richard says that all one needs is bullet proof armour. Little does he know that such items are available in America, and parents deck out their little darlings to go to the blackboard jungle with bullet proof hoodies:
  https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2019/04/wonder-hoodie-bulletproof-hoodie/
  https://selfdefense.news/2019-09-08-bulletproof-hoodie-can-stop-a-44-magnum.html
  https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/04/so-its-come-to-this-bulletproof-school-uniforms/

“A good bulletproof vest will protect you from harm, but it also sticks out like a sore thumb, thus telling attackers to aim for your head. Fortunately, a company called Wonder Hoodie Inc. offers hidden bulletproof hoodies for women and children at an affordable price. The company’s hooded jackets and sweatshirts provide NIJ Body Armor Protection Level IIIA. One of their “soft” body armor products can stop .44 Magnum semi-jacketed hollow point bullets and anything weaker than that, including 9mm pistol rounds. Not only do these hoodies protect their wearer from some of the most common firearms available, but they also look like ordinary clothes. The discreetness of the Wonder Hoodie may make all the difference. When it’s time to wash and clean the hoodie, the bulletproof section unzips from the outer clothing layer. Wonder Hoodie intends to offer more outer layers for mixing and matching. In addition to the hoodies, the company also offers stylish “Wonder Denim” jackets. These are also bulletproof. “Wonder Hoodie has created and designed the world’s first NIJ-IIIA bulletproof hoodie — the only product on the market to seamlessly and discreetly protect your body and head from bullets and knife slashing,” said company founder Vy Tran. “We have patented our bulletproof head technology to protect your head (back, sides, etc.) when you need it.” (Related: Sen. Schumer wants to outlaw bulletproof backpacks that help protect children from violence.)

To The Age        Amanda Vanstone ("Let's face it, democracy is messy", 16/9) is right about two things: that the British people "have a grit and resolve that should not be underestimated" and that the EU bureaucracy has "got out of hand" and "is answerable to no-one." Her sympathy for a second referendum on Brexit is misplaced. The 2016 question was presented to the people in clear and unequivocal terms and the result should have been honoured by all concerned. That it has not been has exposed the unwelcome truth that a powerful elite wishes to maintain what is in fact oligarchic rule.     Nothing can hide the fact that a failure of the political class and judiciary to effect a clean and complete Brexit will be a betrayal of both the people and the principles of justice and true democracy.
  Nigel Jackson

     The globalists elites and the Left, lust for the total destruction of Western civilisation, which will mean, a collapse of techno-industrial society, and a return to the Dark Ages. I hope they are ready for what is coming, as old favourites like the Black Death are set to ride again, and are already doing training in some Fifth World American cites:
  https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/460442-is-a-dark-ages-disease-the-new-american-plague-threat

“Diseases are reemerging in some parts of America, including Los Angeles County, that we haven’t commonly seen since the Middle Ages. One of those is typhus, a disease carried by fleas that feed on rats, which in turn feed on the garbage and sewage that is prominent in people-packed “typhus zones.” Although typhus can be treated with antibiotics, the challenge is to identify and treat the disease in resistant, hard-to-access populations, such as the homeless or the extremely poor in developing countries. I also believe that homeless areas are at risk for the reemergence of another deadly ancient disease — leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease. Leprosy involves a mycobacteria (tuberculosis is another mycobacteria) that is very difficult to transmit and very easy to treat with a cocktail of three antibiotics. Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are more than 200,000 new cases of leprosy reported in the world every year, with two-thirds of them in India, home to one-third of the world’s poor. The poor are disproportionately affected by this disease because close quarters, poor sanitation, and lack of prompt diagnosis or treatment easily can convert a disease that should be rare to one that is more common. Untreated, Hansen’s disease causes disabilities over time, with the peripheral nerves affected and the fingers and toes becoming numb. Multibacillary Hansen's disease, the more serious version, also causes skin lesions, nodules, plaques and nasal congestion. With eye involvement, corneal ulcers and sometimes blindness can occur.