Since the attribution to the formerly harmless virus Zika of a cluster of cases in northeastern Brazil of the devastating birth defect microcephaly, the mainstream media have been dominated by fear of a Zika pandemic. Meanwhile, the real culprit(s) behind the surge in microcephaly in that corner of Brazil have been ignored, with the exception of a few scientists, and even fewer journalists.

One month prior to the ruling on the Philippines’ legal challenge to China’s claims in the South China Sea, a group of Filipinos (and one American) took matters into their own hands and raised the Philippine flag over Scarborough Shoal.

If the outbreaks subsided on their own, why did the WHO use scare tactics to broadcast the non-emergency to the press? Money.

The cost of war often exceeds the cold statistics, from the number of dead to those of injuries. Today, the old calculus is not enough to accurately reflect the damage wrought by modern warfare.