Web Reads: Missing the mark on Ebola

So predictable. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Tom Frieden has not inspired confidence that he knows how to fight an infectious disease like the Ebola virus. That’s not surprising, according to this City Journal story, which explores his stint as head of New York City’s public health department where he took on smoking, salt, and high calorie restaurant foods while striking out against swine flu.

Gift to humanity. Pulitzer-prize winning historian David Oshinsky compares today’s distrust of the public-health establishment with attitudes in the mid-1900s when scientists waged a successful campaign against polio and other infectious diseases. He concludes this way: “Next week marks the 100th birthday of Jonas Salk. Shortly after his vaccine was declared successful, he gave a nationally televised interview with Edward R. Murrow. ‘Who owns the patent on this vaccine?’ Murrow asked. ‘Well the people, I would say,’ Salk replied. ‘There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?’ For Dr. Salk, the whole endeavor was a gift from science to humanity, nurtured by the goodness of the American people. We must find ways to keep that spirit alive—winning back for modern medicine and public health the full confidence of the world’s most generous nation.”

War on Ebola. A new generation of doctors like Dr. Salk is trying to disarm Ebola. The first step is sequencing Ebola’s DNA, even as the genetic code mutates. The New Yorker has a gripping account of the fight from the Ebola war room at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to hospitals on the front lines in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Name game. Can a name be liberal or conservative? How likely is someone with your name to contribute to a political campaign? Crowdpac developed an algorithm based on the top 1,000 names of people who had contributed to political campaigns at least twice since 1980. You can plug your name in and see whether it’s more associated with political giving on the right or left.

Before you log on. Public Wi-Fi is not safe. A Dutch journalist and a hacker go to a coffee house to demonstrate how easy it is to spy on and even take control of computers used by other patrons. They also provide tips for safely navigating the internet in public spaces.