I formulate this idea when reading the following speculations at vDare.com, which noted that all of the people dying from the coronavirus are Han Chinese.
  https://vdare.com/articles/do-you-know-all-coronavirus-victims-appear-to-be-chinese-thought-not?scroll_to_paragraph=5

“In fact, as far as I can tell, all of the confirmed cases have been of Chinese people. According to Sri Lankan radio, the case in Sri Lanka was a “Chinese tourist” [Sri Lanka suspends visa on arrival for Chinese travellers after confirmed case of Corona virus, News On Air, January 28, 2020]. So are the cases in France and the one in the United Arab Emirates [Coronavirus is spreading as FIVE people in France are now confirmed to have the illness and Chinese traveller from Wuhan is quarantined in Finland, by Sam Blanchard, Mail Online, January 29, 2020]. If it is true that only East Asians are dying of, or even catching, Corona, that would be consistent with long-established race differences in the susceptibility to such viruses. This has been explored in a fascinating study, by a group of Chinese researchers led by C. L. Chen of Soochow University, entitled: Ethnic differences in susceptibilities to A(H1N1) flu [African Journal of Biotechnology, 2009]. The authors begin by noting that, from an evolutionary perspective, there is every reason to expect there to be ethnic or race differences in the susceptibility to different pathogens. Races—or, as they call them, “ethnic groups”—are breeding populations, long-separated, usually by geography, who are, therefore, genetic clusters adapted to different ecologies. Because they were exposed to different pathogens in prehistory, there are very likely to be race differences in susceptibility to the pathogens and in how well the immune system can fight them.

     One conspiracy theory on the internet has it that like in the zombie apocalypse movies in the series Resident Evil, the coronavirus is an escaped bioweapon:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/real-umbrella-corp-wuhan-ultra-biohazard-lab-was-studying-worlds-most-dangerous-pathogens

“In February 2017, Nature penned an extensive profile of what it called the "Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens." The location of this BSL-4 rated lab? Why, Wuhan. A quick read of what this lab was meant to do, prompts the immediate question whether the coronavirus epidemic isn't a weaponized virus that just happened to escape the lab: The Wuhan lab cost 300 million yuan (US$44 million), and to allay safety concerns it was built far above the flood plain and with the capacity to withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake, although the area has no history of strong earthquakes. It will focus on the control of emerging diseases, store purified viruses and act as a World Health Organization ‘reference laboratory’ linked to similar labs around the world. “It will be a key node in the global biosafety-lab network,” says lab director Yuan Zhiming. The Chinese Academy of Sciences approved the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory in 2003, and the epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) around the same time lent the project momentum. The lab was designed and constructed with French assistance as part of a 2004 cooperative agreement on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. But the complexity of the project, China’s lack of experience, difficulty in maintaining funding and long government approval procedures meant that construction wasn’t finished until the end of 2014.

     You will not see too much about how China sucks off research from the West on the Dissent Right Sinophile sites, because they are too busy saying how the Chinese are “so much smarter than us,” their form of ethno-masochism.  But, consider:
  https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/01/21/feds-university-of-florida-faculty-members-fed-research-to-china/

“Four researchers were forced to resign from their positions at the University of Florida after a federal investigation revealed that foreign countries including China had exploited medical research at the university with the researchers’ help. According to a report by the Tampa Bay Times, the University of Florida was the target of foreign manipulation. Federal investigators concluded that professors employed by universities around the United States that receive public funding are funneling research data to other countries, including communist China. The four researchers left the university after the National Institutes of Health penned a letter that suggested that some researchers were exploiting the university’s research and sharing it with other countries. After the National Institutes of Health sent a letter to the University of Florida suggesting that certain members of the faculty and staff were stealing research, the university conducted its own internal investigation. Three researchers resigned and another was fired. Three of the researchers resigned and one was terminated after the university received a letter from the National Institutes of Health regarding questionable foreign meddling in grant research and funding. The terminated employee worked part time for the university’s College of Medicine. Two were from the College of Engineering and one was from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. University of Florida President W. Kent Fuchs told Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) in December that the university had identified several professors that were exploiting their position to feed research information to foreign countries. “The university has identified certain faculty members who were participating or were seeking to participate in a foreign talents program. The university has addressed or is in the process of addressing each of these matters,” Fuchs wrote.”

     Is nothing “sacred” anymore?
  https://amp.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/a-new-toilet-design-is-set-to-increase-productivity-by-making-the-seats-unbearable/news-story/864ff2e28fea1b2c0c42a82165d6d79b

“The new design is intended to make it unbearable for workers after five minutes, shortening employee’s toilet breaks in the process. The “Standard Toilet” made by a start-up in the UK of the same name is sloped so it sits at a 13-degree downward angle. According to developer Mahabir Gill from StandardToilet, this will increase strain on the legs similar to a gentle squat thrust. While 13 degrees is optimal, StandardToilet holds the patent for anything from five to 35 degrees. At a maximum, the company estimates that a 35-degree downward slant would reduce time in the toilet by 30 per cent. This is a clear benefit to customers, said Mr Gill, as industry research from the company suggested that the average person spent 25 per cent more time in work toilets than necessary. The cost to business of this was estimated to be roughly $A31 billion (£16 billion) per annum, according to their website. Meanwhile, by cutting time spent on the toilet by 25 per cent with a 13-degree angle, Standard Toilet estimates it can save businesses $A9.20 billion (£4.8 billion) a year. The news of the toilet has been met with criticism online, with people questioning how this toilet would be legal for people with accessibility issues.”

     Of course, it doesn’t show anything about mass immigration or changing demographics; people simply want diversity in names:
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/05/muhammad-breaks-into-top-10-u-s-baby-names-for-first-time-ever/

“The popular Islamic name “Muhammad” has broken into the top ten United States baby names for the first time ever in American history. The most updated list for popular baby names reveals that the name Muhammad is now the tenth most used name for newborn baby boys in the U.S., according to BabyCenter data. This is the first time in American history that the name has been included in the top ten most popular baby boy names.

     I continue my battle against what I call the IQ fetish, championed by Dissent Righters like American Renaissance, who hold as a fact, almost like gravitational attraction, that East Asians have higher mean IQs than say Nordic Whites, that Western civilisation is an accident, although what they usually say is “Asians are just so much smarter than us.” Presumably they are not restricting the scope of ‘us” to just themselves. Anyway, I came across this little item at Quora.com, which deflated IQ delightfully:
  https://www.quora.com/Was-Richard-Feynmans-IQ-really-125

“  Michael Aldrin
Answered Nov 18, 2018

     If the coronavirus, or the next big one is any guide, Australia due to its globalism and deracination, will simply be open to wide contamination. Maybe a good plague might wake up those who survive, but I doubt it:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7950429/Where-Australians-risk-exposed-deadly-coronavirus-disease-spreads.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small

“Australia's gateways, major tourist destinations, universities and suburbs in Sydney and Melbourne with large numbers of Chinese have emerged as the frontline in the fight against deadly coronavirus. Authorities are closely watching key meeting places around the country for signs of outbreaks as the World Health Organisation declares a global public health emergency. Fears are held thousands of Australians could have been unwittingly exposed to the virus in airplanes, restaurants and shopping centres by nine confirmed infected patients. And every week up to 49,000 people are landing in Australia on 167 flights from China, where 170 are dead and more than 7,700 infected. Many of those arriving are heading to holidays spots such as the Gold Coast, visiting family and friends in suburban Sydney and Melbourne or returning to east coast universities. But first they must come through the international airports, where checks have already been rolled out for those arriving from all Chinese cities.

     The Spanish Flu of 1918, actually from China, but first reported by Spain, killed 100 million people, according to recent estimates.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=3x1aLAw_xkY&feature=emb_title
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCFJPDqKPgc&feature=emb_title

     The world at that time was not as globalised as today, so it is all a matter of the “right” virus coming along, which is inevitable given the genetic adaptation of viruses. The above video reminds us of the horrific nature of pandemics, with people dropping dead in the streets, bodies being stacked, and so on. This is forgotten by even scientists, as humanity is over-confident that technology will always deliver in time. But, what if it does not? China seems to be unable to control potential pandemics, given aspects of their culture, so we can expect a repeat of 1918 at some point, which is what globalism and cosmopolitanism is all about at the bottom line:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTt-fVViexE&feature=emb_title
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLp8CHeKQkI
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rUyz8MXorU
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggu0UwdSdD0

     Yes, I know, a weird title, but I am tired, not sleeping having the mother of all tooth abscesses, so my creative juices are flowing … well, a little differently. The reference is to a hypothesis about where the coronavirus came from. I am interested in this latest export from China, particularly after seeing a chemist near my dentist, selling masses of anti-germ masks, some costing $ 50, to Chinese buyers. I really need sleep; then my grammar will sparkle again, instead of simply raining.
  https://www.breitbart.com/news/wuhan-chinese-scientists-trace-coronavirus-to-snakes/

“A deadly new virus that has infected hundreds in China may have originated in a snake, a new study claims, as local authorities place a central Chinese city under lockdown to contain it from spreading. A group of Chinese scientists published their findings Wednesday in the Journal of Medical Virology, stating the newly discovered coronavirus most likely transferred to humans from a snake — specifically, the many-banded Chinese Krait or the Chinese cobra. The scientists conducted a sequence analysis of the virus isolated from a patient and compared it to other animals, determining the two snakes — which are common in Southeastern China, including in Wuhan — are most likely the source of the disease. “Our findings suggest that the snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir,” the team of scientists wrote in the paper. The scientists called for further investigation to confirm that snakes serve as reservoirs for the disease but said that their findings are “highly significant for effective control of the outbreak.”

     While there are sceptics from the Dissent Right, poo-pooing the idea of a coronavirus plague, there is material out there that needs careful consideration before blandly accepting the mainstream media claim of only 26 dead … oh wait that is now 54 dead with 300 new cases, with the disease contained to the Chinese ground zero of the city of Wuhan. In fact, the Chinese President Xi Jinping, has said that the spread of the virus is accelerating and that the situation is “grave,” no pun intended.
  https://vdare.com/articles/john-derbyshire-america-catches-coronavirus-panic
  https://www.breitbart.com/news/china-virus-toll-rises-to-54-dead-more-than-300-new-cases-govt/
  https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2020/01/25/xi-jinping-accelerating-spread-of-coronavirus-grave-situation-suspends-tourist-travel-abroad/

     The really bad news is that this disease could be another “Spanish” (actually Chinese) Flu, all over again, with a death toll of 65 million, or more:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-01-25-computer-simulation-suggests-65-million-could-die-from-chinese-coronavirus.html

     I read a piece by Brian Simpson, where he mentioned in passing his tooth abscess, and this caused me to have an anxiety attack, and make my last few teeth ache too. The most painful thing, is that people poor like me, and most of the writers here, who are on some sort of welfare benefit (Brian works teaching, so he should button up whinging), simple exist, with few things in life to dull the pain of postmodern decomposition “existence,” with not even enough alcohol. I don’t even know if Uncle Len is alive, for example.  The average sheeple has consumerism, but that is taken from most of us by poverty, so we see things more clearly. The downside is not being able to get our teeth fixed. In the old days one could get teeth pulled readily and quickly, with my mother at age 18, getting 18 pulled in one sitting. False teeth made life much less painful. And, no matter how well you clean teeth, they eventually rot; the curse of civilisation as Dr Price noted:
  https://www.westonaprice.org/

     Anyway, that is my background lead in to:
  http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/not-ready-for-economic-collapse-only-41-percent-of-americans-have-1000-to-cover-an-emergency

     We have heard the news of a universal cancer cure before, so I tsake it all now with a pinch of salt:
  https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51182451

“A newly-discovered part of our immune system could be harnessed to treat all cancers, say scientists. The Cardiff University team discovered a method of killing prostate, breast, lung and other cancers in lab tests. The findings, published in Nature Immunology, have not been tested in patients, but the researchers say they have "enormous potential". Experts said that although the work was still at an early stage, it was very exciting. What have they found? Our immune system is our body's natural defence against infection, but it also attacks cancerous cells. The scientists were looking for "unconventional" and previously undiscovered ways the immune system naturally attacks tumours. What they found was a T-cell inside people's blood. This is an immune cell that can scan the body to assess whether there is a threat that needs to be eliminated. The difference is this one could attack a wide range of cancers. "There's a chance here to treat every patient," researcher Prof Andrew Sewell told the BBC. He added: "Previously nobody believed this could be possible. "It raises the prospect of a 'one-size-fits-all' cancer treatment, a single type of T-cell that could be capable of destroying many different types of cancers across the population." How does it work? T-cells have "receptors" on their surface that allow them to "see" at a chemical level. The Cardiff team discovered a T-cell and its receptor that could find and kill a wide range of cancerous cells in the lab including lung, skin, blood, colon, breast, bone, prostate, ovarian, kidney and cervical cancer cells. Crucially, it left normal tissues untouched. -cells attack cancer cells

     The first case of the coronavirus outside of China has been reported:
  https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/01/21/cdc-confirms-first-us-case-of-china-coronavirus/

“An individual traveling from China has been diagnosed in Seattle with the coronavirus, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesman confirmed on Tuesday. The development comes after Chinese health officials announced that the virus has killed at least 6 people and sickened over 300. Four cases were confirmed in South Korea, Japan, and Thailand. Additionally, a Taiwanese national who recently visited Wuhan, tested positive for the virus. China’s Health Commission announced 291 confirmed cases of the virus, with 77 new cases reported on Monday alone. Municipal health commissions of Zhejiang, Tianjin, and Shanghai reported additional cases, pushing the number of infections up to 302. The number of confirmed cases in Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, has risen to 270; Bejing has five, Guangdong province 14, Shanghai six, Zhejiang five and Tianjin two. Wuhan announced new measures Tuesday to contain the outbreak, including the cancellation of upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations. The new measures follow President Xi Jinping ordering increased efforts to stop the spread of the disease Monday, but there are fears efforts to contain the virus impeded by Chinese bureaucracy have come too late. Hundreds of millions of Chinese are expected to travel across the country in the coming days ahead of the Lunar New Year and raise concerns of a potential increase in cases. Presently, the virus appears to be less lethal than the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, which resulted in 774 deaths. “Based on current information, an animal source seems the most likely primary source of this outbreak with limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts,” said World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic. “Based on current data, some new cases seem to experience milder diseases which is within the milder end of the spectrum of symptoms caused by respiratory illnesses,” Jasarevic added.”

     Here is another feminist telling white people not to have children to save the planet, or whatever.
  https://summit.news/2020/01/22/feminist-author-calls-on-germans-to-stop-having-babies-to-save-the-planet/

“Feminist author Verena Brunschweiger has called on Germans to stop having babies to save the planet, despite the fact that the country’s native fertility rate is already at just 1.4 children per woman. In an interview with Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, Brunschweiger warns “we are on the brink of ecological collapse” and that the only solution is “the renunciation of one’s own reproduction.” Claiming that this topic is being kept hidden in “pro-natalist Germany,” Brunschweiger, who herself is childless, remarked, “It is…above all because of the masses of people that we have such big environmental problems. We are just too many and hardly anyone wants to limit themselves. If we were fewer people and restricted ourselves, we could save something.” Brunschweiger claimed that she felt like she was “in Saudi Arabia in the 14th century” when trying to voice her message, but that she had received support from a lot of women. The feminist is directing her message to Germans despite the fact that the country’s native fertility rate is around 1.4 children per woman, well below the necessary 2.1 replacement rate. “Since 1972, Germany has not seen a single year in which the number of newborns has exceeded the number of deaths,” reports Arutz Sheva. Despite her passion for population reduction, Brunschweiger’s “virtue-signalling has not yet reached the continent of Africa,” reports Free West Media. “Africa’s child population will reach 1 billion by 2055, making it the largest child population among all continents.” Indeed, sub-Saharan Africa will produce the most births for the rest of the century, so if Brunschweiger really cared about lowering the global population to save the planet, she would be telling Africans to stop breeding, which would of course be racist. And after all, to progressives it’s better to be dead than called racist!”

     Here is a problem, at least prima facie, for the abortion argument; unborn babies before 24-weeks can feel pain:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7903507/Unborn-babies-feel-pain-24-week-abortion-limit-scientists-say.html

“Unborn babies may be able to feel pain before reaching 24 weeks, say scientists – meaning they could suffer as they are being aborted. Until now, the consensus of medical opinion has been that foetuses cannot feel pain before 24 weeks' gestation, after which abortion is illegal in Britain except in special cases. But two medical researchers, including a 'pro-choice' British pain expert who used to think there was no chance foetuses could feel pain that early, say recent studies strongly suggest the assumption is incorrect. The studies indicate unborn babies might be able to feel 'something like pain' as early as 13 weeks, they say. Women going for abortions who have reached this stage of pregnancy should be told the foetus could experience pain while being terminated, they argue. And medical staff should ask if the woman wants it to be given pain relief. To carry on regardless of new evidence 'flirts with moral recklessness', they write in the influential Journal of Medical Ethics. Last night, anti-abortionists said the scientists' claims should change attitudes towards abortion and the practice of it – suggestions that were swiftly rejected by the country's biggest abortion provider, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. The lead author of the controversial article is British professor Stuart Derbyshire, who has acted as a consultant to the Pro-Choice Forum in the UK and Planned Parenthood, a leading American pro-choice organisation. In 2006, he wrote in the British Medical Journal that avoiding talking to women seeking abortions about foetal pain was 'sound policy based on good evidence that foetuses cannot experience pain'.”

     There was a group of young Chinese girls handing out leaflets on a city street here in Melbourne, and I naturally took one, which read: “Falun Gong Meditators Killed in China for Their Organs.” Naturally I was interested. But before I could speak, this large Chinese guy rushed over to me, telling me not to read the leaflet. Maybe he was a Kung Fu expert, which John Steele tells me, quoting Mixed Martial Artist Ramsey Dewey (himself based in Shanghai China) would make me relatively safe, given how bad Kung Fu is as a fighting system:
  https://www.youtube.com/user/balletman/videos

     Anyway, I told the lad to rack off, or words to that effect, that this is still Australia, land of the free, and if he wanted my leaflet, he would have to take it from me, prying it from my cold, dead fingers. At this point, he simply snatched the leaflet from me, as easy as his country men are harvesting, with their combine harvesters, Australia’s water, and he viciously tore it up. But, then I got another leaflet, and ran, or did what I thought was a close approximation to running, zig zagging to make it hard for him to follow me, maybe even see my aged form. At times I stopped running, gasping for breath, and went in reverse, then did a few circles. People looked on in amazement, as he had long ago stopped following me. For your reference on organ harvesting:
  www.EndTransplantAbuse.org
  https://endtransplantabuse.org/organ-transplants-crimes-against-humanity-in-china-an-australian-issue-maria-a-fiatarone-singh/
  www.dafoh.org
  www.fofg.org

     Not everything is going swimmingly for China. First, there are demographic woes, even given the country’s pro-natalist policies:
  https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202001/18/WS5e22494fa310128217271d58.html

“The birthrate on the Chinese mainland reached a record low last year, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed. The total number of babies born last year was 14.65 million, a decrease of 580,000 from the previous year, while the birthrate stood at 10.48 per 1,000 population－the lowest over the past seven decades, according to the bureau. Meanwhile, total population on the mainland narrowly exceeded 1.4 billion by the end of last year, an increase of 4.7 million year-on-year. Last year marked the third consecutive year of falling births on the mainland despite the universal second-child policy having been adopted at the beginning of 2016. The policy, which encourages all couples to have two children, was designed to boost births to cope with rapid population aging. Births reached 17.86 million in 2016, the highest since 2000, according to the National Health Commission, but they fell to 17.23 million in 2017 and to 15.23 million in 2018. Ning Jizhe, head of the NBS, said at a news conference on Friday that despite the decrease, the total number of births last year on the mainland was still very big, and the universal second-child policy has played a very important role in encouraging births. The decrease last year was the smallest, he said. Births fell by 630,000 in 2017 and by 2 million in 2018. "Of all babies born last year, 59.5 percent were the second or more child, with the percentage rising over the past few years," Ning said. The percentage has remained at about 50 percent since the universal second-child policy was enacted, according to the National Health Commission. Despite the policy, many couples in China were not willing to have a second baby, for reasons such as the high cost of raising children and a lack of nursery facilities, according to a survey organized by the commission.”

     I have always felt uneasy about X-rays, I mean, it is quite unnatural to be able to see inside one’s body. Surely if God wanted this, He would have made us with zippers, or transparent! 
And, now that we, well, maybe not me, but scientists, know about DNA and mutations, there are other questions to ask:
  https://www.studyfinds.org/radiation-levels-comparable-to-x-rays-cause-mutations-in-lab-grown-human-cells/

“X-rays have been a staple of modern medicine for a long time, and any doctor or radiologist is quick to tell their patients that there are absolutely no risks or harmful side effects associated with the radiation necessary to perform an X-ray. Now, researchers from Erasmus University Medical Center and Oncode Institute in the Netherlands have discovered that low doses of radiation, long believed to be safe, did in fact create breaks in lab grown human cells that allowed additional DNA to enter the chromosome. In more simplistic terms, the radiation caused mutations on the cellular level. To be clear, these findings do not mean that going to have an X-ray is going to harm you, and extensive further research is necessary involving actual living animals, and eventually humans, before any real conclusions can be drawn. Still, the results of this study at the very least are concerning, and seem to indicate that there are still some aspects of how radiation interacts with our bodies, on a cellular level, that science has yet to fully understand.

     The ultra-paranoid John Steele has come to the big smoke for a few days, and he is with me now, both of us drunk on the cheap alcohol he went out and brought. I do not complain, being so poor I can’t’ afford a dentist, or to get my fridge fixed (which seems to have the motor run for 15 minutes, then stop, for another 15 minutes, then run again, running up my power bill), so getting drunk is my only temporary release. Anyway, onto the joint masterpiece, not my whinging …

    With global nuclear annihilation, one possible future, the question arises as to what the remnant will eat in the post-apocalyptic wasteland:
  https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/10744317/doomsday-diet-revealed-nuclear-apocalypse/

     The growth of survivalism, or doomsday prepping has been attributed to the media generating fear of existential threats:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-14/new-study-finds-media-generated-fear-driving-doomsday-prepping
  https://www.studyfinds.org/study-finds-rise-in-doomsday-prepping-due-to-mainstream-american-culture-of-fear/
  https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/obamageddon-fear-the-far-right-and-the-rise-of-doomsday-prepping-in-obamas-america/BDF4879C45C6F86F4E2F9FBEBF35D55E
  http://allnewspipeline.com/2019_The_year_Of_The_Prepper.php

““Doomsday prepping” or stockpiling food, medicine, weapons and other supplies in case of an apocalyptic scenario has long been considered peculiar behavior only exhibited by conspiracy theorists and other extremists in the United States. However, such prepping has actually been steadily on the rise in the U.S. over the past decade. So, what’s causing this surge in stockpiled rice packets and underground bunkers? One group of researchers say it is an ever growing sense of impending doom in American culture. Many have speculated that this surge in doomsday preppers over the last 10 years was linked to an extreme political reaction among many conservatives to Barack Obama’s initial election in 2008, but a new study out of the United Kingdom finds that neither the Obama presidency nor extreme right-wing conspiracy theories in general are the main cause of this growing phenomenon. Researchers interviewed preppers from 18 U.S. states and asked about their motivations for stockpiling food and supplies. The results indicated that, although most did seem to be conservative and fear liberal policies, the main reason behind their motivations was the overall sense of fear currently dominating U.S. culture across a variety of media channels. Most Americans can’t seem to log online or turn on the television without being hit by a grim view of the future being reported or speculated on.