Today’s New York Times had an amazing slate of stories that made it clear that there are worse places to live: * China is in the midst of a program to resettle millions of rural peasants to cities where there are no jobs. * There are currently an estimated 1,500 epidemics in India. * The Times looks closely at the diminished lives of a household of two doctors in Syria since the civil war began. * The headline of this story says it all, City in Russia Unable to Kick Asbestos Habit. The International section of the paper is always somewhat grim, but this selection stood out.