Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Our current government can't even monitor for screwworm, measles, and salads.

You think they can successfully track the smartest and most individually dangerous citizens, who have been previously vetted, and work inside the system already?

 help



Let's be careful to separate capable-of from motivated-to.

Those three "can't even monitor" situations can be traced to blocs with both (A) a financial profit if they succeed and (B) some non-clandestine political clout to sabotage/discontinue things.


What are you talking about? There have been 5 (five) cases of screwworm in the us and the us is responding by producing millions of sterile male screwworms a day as we speak.

This report says 49 confirmed cases as of a few days ago. https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/07/health/screwworm-billion-flie...

You're right about the countermeasures, but I can't help but look at 1971 (473 confirmed cases, then almost 100,000 the next year).


Oh the Trump DOGE losers cut funding for the monitoring program, and it’s already showing up, despite being successfully managed for decades.

Basically shocking levels of incompetence; start an unpopular war, lowest approval ratings of any president ever, pardon J6 traitors, $6/gallon diesel levels of incompetence.


DOGE has only been a year and change. Screwworm does not suddenly appear like that.

The average life cycle is 20 days, during which time a female can lay ~3000 eggs and travel up to 200km. In 1971 there were 473 confirmed cases in the United States, in 1972 migrating flies breached the sterile fly barrier, and by 1973 it spiked to more than 100,000 US cases.



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: