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- Chapter 23
-
- BAD THINGS
-
- As you are about see, all bad things are not so bad. They
- often have an interesting or amusing side. Looking at the bright
- side of unfortunate situations may cause people to remember that
- such bad things exist yet often people are in a position to do
- something about it.
-
- Because of our modern diet of food preservatives, undertakers
- have been noticing that dead people do not deteriorate as fast as
- they once did.
-
- If a man shaves with a razor he uses more energy than if he
- uses an electric shaver because of the power required to purify
- and pump the water through his faucet.
-
- Every weekday morning, the commuters of Los Angeles use
- 250,000 gallons of gas getting to work. They drive 5 million
- miles, which would be like one car driving to the moon and back 20
- times, or around the earth 192 times.
-
- If you were to sort through a typical landfill here is what
- you would find:
- 41 percent of your trash would be unrecycled paper. 17.9
- percent of the stuff is yard clippings with which you could make a
- fine mulch. 7.9 percent of the trash is uneaten food. 6.5
- percent of it is plastic that almost never disintegrates. 8.7
- percent is precious metal - primarily aluminum and steel. Wear
- thick gloves, 8.7 percent of your trash is glass. 9.3 percent is
- rubber, leather, clothing, wood and other trash.
-
- We are destroying the world's rain forests at the rate of 100
- acres per minute. An acre is a square 208 feet on a side. Forty
- percent of the rain forests are already gone. Many folks don't
- realize exactly why the forests are being wasted. One big reason
- is hamburgers. It is profitable to raise cattle where rain forests
- once were. If we could all eat less beef, there would be less
- reason to remove the trees.
-
- There is a chemical waste dump in the Soviet Union that is
- twice as big as the whole state of Vermont.
-
- Two to four million tons of oil leak into the Soviet water
- table every year from the Siberian pipeline.
-
- Americans use eight times more fuel than people anywhere else
- in the world.
-
- Of the 20,000 television commercials written each year, 7,000
- are for childrens' sugary breakfast cereals. In other words, 35
- percent of commercials are designed to mislead children into
- desiring sugary cereal.
-
- In the past twenty years, there has been a 39 percent
- increase in the number of overweight children. One major reason is
- television. Not only does this lack of activity take up more of
- kids' time, but while they watch, they tend to eat the junk food
- that is constantly being advertised at them.
- According to many pediatricians, up to one third of all
- children at age two may already be developing abnormally high
- cholesterol levels.
-
- The screaming of an upset baby can damage your hearing. Kid's
- can scream at levels up to 90 decibels, and permanent damage can
- be caused at 85 dB. One dB is the minimum amount of sound
- detectable by the human ear.
-
- Last year 81 million Americans got sick from food poisoning
- and 9,000 of them died. The average American will get food
- poisoning 100 times in a lifetime. The symptoms are headache, sick
- feeling, diarrhea. Most people think this is the flu. To prevent
- food poisoning, clean all kitchen items with heat, never leave
- food at room temperature for more than a few minutes.
-
- Remember when you could buy little green turtles in
- department stores? These were discontinued because they passed
- salmonella (food poisoning) to children. People who knew about the
- turtle scam were glad. Almost all of those turtles starved to
- death. It seems that a turtle can survive several months without
- eating after birth. The commercial turtle food that was available
- where the turtles were sold was usually nothing more than "ant
- eggs." In fact, it was only ant egg SHELLS. But it does not matter
- that the food was not nutritious, because the turtles wouldn't eat
- it anyway. When the shells decomposed and sank to the bottom of
- the water, people used to think that the turtle had eaten.
-
- Fifty percent of all turkeys and 37 percent of all chickens
- that you can buy in grocery stores are contaminated with
- Campylobacter (food poisoning) according to the Food and Drug
- Administration.
-
- Many millions of chickens are raised and spend their whole
- lives in coops so efficiently packed that they have no room to
- fall over if they die.
-
- 66 people per day are killed by drunk drivers. This is down
- from 70 per day as it was a couple of years ago.
-
- According to the Environmental Protection Agency almost
- twenty percent of Americans drink tap water that is dangerously
- high in lead.
-
- Diabetes is the third leading cause of death in America.
- Diabetes is 50 percent more common than twenty-five years ago.
- Presently, 10 million Americans suffer from the disease. (Perhaps
- it is related to the increase in refined sugar consumption in
- America.)
-
- One million Americans wear false teeth. Approximately half
- of these are radioactive. There is a tiny amount of uranium in
- these teeth to make them whiter in incandescent light.
-
- Human beings and pigs are the only animals that can get
- sunburn.
-
- Sunburn seems to heal in just a few days, but the blood
- vessels under the skin do not return to their normal condition for
- up to fifteen months.
-
- Baseball players have the longest lives of all occupations.
-
- A study of professional baseball players determined that
- left-handers had significantly more medical accidents and tended
- to die younger than right-handers. The southpaws also had higher
- incidence of immunological problems and sleep disorders. The
- hypothesis behind this phenomenon is that babies who would have
- normally been right-handers become lefties if they have problems
- at birth such as long labor or low birth weight.
-
- In another study, this one of college students, the
- researchers found that 44 percent of left-handers had received
- medical attention for an accident within the last five years,
- while only 36 percent of the right-handers had such troubles. In
- this case, scientists believe, the reason might be that the
- equipment of the world is designed primarily for right-handed
- people.
-
- Some gem merchants now use Geiger counters to inspect
- precious stones before purchasing them. It seems that the natural
- colors of some gems can be enhanced by exposure to atomic
- radiation. Some unscrupulous dealers have done this.
-
- Americans throw 694 plastic bottles into the trash every
- second.
-
- A plastic container that you throw away today may still exist
- 50,000 years from now.
-
- Once every month, National Geographic publishes a stack of
- magazines 52 miles tall.
-
- The people of the world use one billion gallons of crude oil
- a day.
-
- A tankful of gas uses about the same amount of crude oil as
- 14 bicycle tires.
-
- A typical car uses about 1.6 ounces of gas for every minute
- the engine idles. It uses up about one-half ounce of gas to start
- the engine. So, if you turn off the car anytime you are likely to
- stand idling for more than twenty seconds, you will save gasoline,
- and therefore save money. It costs approximately one dollar per
- hour to idle your car.
-
- If you slow a car down from 57 to 50 miles per hour, you will
- get half again better gas mileage. This means that the average
- American driver would save about $200 per year.
-
- The rain in New York carries so much acid from pollution that
- it has killed all the fish in 200 lakes in the Adirondack State
- Park.
-
- The world's smog is so thick that Astronomers are
- complaining.
-
- Americans throw out 1,000 bags of garbage every second.
-
- We grow more tobacco than wheat in America.
-
- According to the National Academy of Engineering, the deaths
- of 15,000 Americans are caused by air pollution.
-
- Fifteen thousand children starve to death every day.
-
- In Bengladesh, only one out of two children live to see age
- five.
-
- Smoking
-
- Every thing about smoking cigarettes is dangerous. Last year
- 6,000 people suffered injuries caused by ashtrays.
-
- A cure for cigarette smoking: learn to play a flute,
- recorder, trumpet. Then play a little music until the urge to
- smoke subsides every time you feel the temptation. Not only will
- you soothe your oral desire, but you will become involved in the
- music which will make you forget the urge, and you will be calmed
- by the music and the feeling of creativity.
-
- At one time, the country of Albania honored a smoker who used
- twelve packs a day on a postage stamp.
-
- A pack-a-day smoker smokes the equivalent on one cigarette
- one-half mile long per year.
-
- Cigarette smokers catch colds 65 percent more often.
-
- Americans smoke 1 billion cigarettes per day. If you lined up
- all the cigarettes smoked in one day, then drove past them at 55
- miles per hour, it would take 28 weeks (driving 40 hours per week)
- to get to the end of the line.
-
- 11,000 cigarettes are lighted every second, just in America.
-
- Every 22 seconds, a kid tries smoking for the first time.
-
- Each year the cigarette industry spends two and a half
- billion dollars in advertising to replace the 365,000 customers it
- loses due to death from lung cancer.
-
- There are three million new cigarette smokers in America each
- year.
-
- 2,700 people die per day of heart disease.
-
- When researchers gave three joints (marijuana) per day, five
- days a week, to monkeys, which is less exposure than many
- humans give themselves, after six months the monkeys exhibited
- chronic symptoms ranging from listlessness to irritability. No
- big deal. But then the monkeys were no longer given the marijuana,
- and they did not return to normal. Even after eight months, their
- brain wave patterns were quite abnormal. When the monkey's brains
- were examined with a microscope, physical damage was obvious.
-
- The THC [tetrahydrocannabinol] content of marijuana common
- during the 1960's was typically one percent. THC is the active
- ingredient. Marijuana growers worked constantly to improve the
- quality of their weed and now contains up to 14 percent THC. The
- monkeys received 3 percent.
-
- Cancer
-
- 400,000 Americans die of cancer anually.
-
- Researchers found out that women who work at home as
- housewives have a 54 percent greater chance of getting cancer than
- women who work at paid jobs. The hypothesis is that housewives
- are affected by the carcogenic cleaning chemicals they frequently
- use.
-
- The amount of people who get cancer is increasing at the rate
- of two percent per year.
-
- According to a study done by The Harvard School of Public
- Health, women who drink at least one cup of coffee per day are
- more than twice as likely to get bladder cancer.
-
- You can accidentally kill yourself by drinking over 40 cups
- of coffee in one day. The amount of caffeine is sufficient to
- cause respiratory failure.
-
- 70,000 New York residents get cancer every year. That's one
- out of every 251 people. In Wyoming, there are less than 1,000
- cancer victims per year, which is one out of every 469 people. You
- are nearly twice as likely to get cancer if you live in New York.
-
- Research has pointed out that lonely women get more breast
- cancer than women who have lots of friends.
-
- In the Duwamish River in Seattle, one out of every four fish
- has liver cancer. In a river in Ohio almost every single bullhead
- over three years old has cancer.
-
- These foods have been found to be carcinogenic if eaten in
- sufficient quantities: celery, parsley, parsnips, rhubarb,
- mustard, mushrooms, honey, herb tea, peanut butter and grilled
- meat.
-
- Children don't have to worry about cancer because in kids it
- is very rare. However, if kids are aware about how to protect
- against cancer starting when they are young - through proper diet,
- exercise, avoidance of air pollution, chemicals, excessive
- sunlight and smoking - they are far less likely to get cancer when
- they are older.
-
- Military Matters
-
- During World War II, 2,700,000 tons of bombs were dropped on
- Germany, killing 300,000 people, and seriously injuring 780,000
- more. If cars were dropped from the sky instead, by weight the
- equivalent number of cars would be 1,800,000, enough cars to give
- six to the families of every one who was killed by a bomb.
- Altogether, Germany lost almost 12 million people.
-
- 35 countries have a total of over 50,000 atomic bombs with
- which we can be blown up:
- Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China,
- Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, France,
- India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway,
- Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, South
- Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom,
- United States, and Yugoslavia.
-
- It is tempting to think that with the new, improved relations
- between the super-powers of Russia and America, the likelyhood of
- nuclear war is diminishing. Modern times are not scary like in the
- 1960's, with people building nuclear fallout shelters in their
- backyards and under their schools. Right? Wrong, there are now
- dozens of politically unstable, or even down-right crazy suicidal
- countries with nuclear capability.
-
- Both the Soviets and the Americans are building more nuclear
- missils than they promised to throw away with the INF Treaty of
- 1987. (Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces)
-
- Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges
- because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient
- to knock the bridge down.
-
- 10% of the world's total production goes to the manufacture
- of arms.
-
- Prior to the U.S. invasion of Grenada, their unemployment
- rate was fourteen percent. Now it's thirty percent in that
- country.
-
- Fighting in the Confederate army at the Battle of Gettysburg,
- General Henry Heth was wearing a hat that was too big. He had
- folded some newspaper into the sweatband to make it fit better. He
- was hit in the head by a bullet, but the newspaper deflected its
- path, saving his life.
-
- Liechtenstein used to have the world's smallest army. There
- was one soldier. He served his country until his death at age 95.
- Then the country no longer had an army.
-
- When Commodore Perry's ships sailed into Japanese waters the
- local warriors sailed out and tried to restrain the ships by
- holding them with ropes. They knew the steam ships were huge, but
- had no idea of the power of their engines. When the commodore
- blew the ship's whistles, the warriors were so scared they all
- fled.
-
- In one of the most unusual military maneuvers ever, in 1911
- King Richard The Lionhearted captured the fortress of Acre. The
- inhabitants were barricaded inside, so King Richard had his
- soldiers throw 100 beehives over the walls. The people in the
- fortress surrendered immediately.
-
- A military technique was used 1600 years ago that should
- still be used occasionally today. Java and Malaya both wanted the
- territory of Sumatra, so the generals each selected one buffalo.
- The buffalo were pitted against each other and no people
- participated in the battle.
-
- What is the war room in the Pentagon really like? There are
- no high-tech plexiglass wall maps, no high-tech computers any of
- that sort of stuff. All there are is a bunch of telephones,
- several chairs and some conference tables.
- The famous red telephone, or "hot line" between the Kremlin
- and the Pentagon does not exist. The closest thing to it is a
- couple of teletype machines in another office in the building.
-
- Flint lock muskets were used from 1550 to 1850, 300 years.
- They were very crude, requiring reloading after every shot, and
- frequently misfiring, jamming or even exploding. Ben Franklin once
- remarked that soldiers might do better with bows and arrows
- because four arrows could be shot during the time it took to shoot
- a musket once.
-
- During the Civil War Battle of Spottsylvania so many shots
- were fired that a nearby oak tree ten inches in diameter was cut
- in two from hundreds of random bullet hits.
-
- After the Battle of Waterloo, all the teeth were extracted
- from the soldiers that lay dead on the field. These were made into
- dentures called Waterloo Teeth and worn by the elite, rich of
- America who needed false teeth.
-
- Decimation used to be a military disciplinary technique.
- Started by the ancient Romans and used by some European countries
- until World War I, it meant to kill one out of every ten men in a
- group of soldiers who had misbehaved. Technically, to decimate
- still means to destroy ten percent.
-
- More American colonists fought on the side of the British
- than those who fought for independence. Only 16 percent of the
- eligible men fought in this war. The rest tended their farms as
- usual.
-
- During World War I, 33 percent of English men of military age
- were killed.
-
- General John Burgoyne had great respect and obedience from
- his soldiers. His method of punishment was different. If a
- soldier misbehaved, he had the man wear his coat inside out.
-
- Of the half-million Americans who receive combat training,
- half of these men will develop some permanent hearing damage due
- to the loud noises made by combat weapons.
-
- It seems that John Paul Jones, the naval hero of the American
- revolution was a bit of a trouble maker. Originally he was a
- professional actor, but in fact he was also a pirate. He was
- accused of at least two murders and one rape. After the American
- revolutionary war was over, he served in the Russian navy as
- Kontradmiral Pavel Ivanovich Jones.
-
- The United States Strategic Air Command invented an atomic
- powered airplane. The only problems were that even carrying
- twenty tons of lead to shield the pilot, only crews who had
- already had children could be used due to the radiation exposure
- and if the plane crashed, there would be no way to contain the
- contamination. Fortunately, the military had the good sense not
- to develop this plan fully.
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