Are you a germaphobe?

There has hardly been any reporting done on the MERS outbreak that has been affecting the Middle East.

Big jump in MERS cases reported

With the disease occurring largely in Saudi Arabia, who knows what the true figures are?

Could this be the beginning of global pandemic that sweeps across borders?  It's a terrifying thought.  There doesn't seem to have been a truly global outbreak since the Spanish Flu after the First World War.  With the level of global connection our society now has, it wouldn't take long for such a pandemic to take hold and spread.

The damage wrought by the disease itself could be minor relative to the complete chaos and terror that it could create as well.  I remember clearly the level hysteria and panic that occurred during the height of the SARS outbreak and the recent swine flu scare.  Neither of these proved to be the doomsday events feared and yet they were still significant enough to cause people to go just a touch crazy.  Something a bit more real could send people completely over the edge.

Putin's posturing

It always seems like Russia is the impending cause of doom for the known world.

Ukraine: Putin aide brands Poroshenko 'Nazi' ahead of EU deal

Be it as the victim of Mongol Hordes, French bayonets or German soldiers on the march, or as the aggressor against terrified Poles or non-compliant Afghanis, the Russians are always somehow at the very centre of global events taking us to the brink of complete and utter doom.

Recent times have been no different as Putin has demonstrated at the expense of Ukraine.

The ability of Russia to annexe Crimea with impunity has drawn unsurprising parallels to the Nazi Germany and the appeasement policies that were adopted by the Allied powers leading up to World War 2.

Whatever the final outcome, the growing aggression of Russia coupled by the disdain for blood shown by the West is just another sign that we are all heading for fun and turbulent times.