Something Else to Worry About

In a world where Congress is more concerned with partisan purity than with doing its job, the economy is in the toilet, flash mobs loot stores, people give a rat's rear end that Kim Kardashian is getting married, and clothing manufacturers are offering to pay "celebrities" to not wear their clothes, it's nice to know that there are still a few ordinary, natural things to worry about.

Like terrible diseases.

I was link-hopping from a friend's Facebook page the other day when I discovered this interesting graphic on the good.is website - Outbreak: the Deadliest Pandemics in History. If you think the brain-dead ass clowns of the far right and far left are a plague, consider plagues that were demonstrably worse: the champion appears to be smallpox - now supposedly eradicated - which has killed more than 300 million people throughout recorded history. Measles comes in second with a mere 200 million victims, and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 is in third with an estimated 50-100 million deaths. And, of course, there was the infamous Black Death that killed off much of the population of Europe in the 14th century.

Almost makes you appreciate low-grade nuisances like election seasons and ass clowns who insist on loud cell phone conversations in public, doesn't it?

Anyhow, there are lots of interesting infographics at the good.is website ... I'm not sure how accurate they all are, but they provide good food for thought, if nothing else.

That's all for today. Yesterday, my daughter and I met for lunch at Oyamel, and today Agnes and I are planning to enjoy lunch at Chef Geoff's downtown in observance of DC Restaurant Week - one of those things that help take the edge off the disadvantages of living in Disneyland-on-the-Potomac. Around here, we take our jollies where we can find them.

Have a good day. Wash your hands and get your flu shots. And have a good lunch. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo