It seems that some lead has been found in the paint on the fenders.

My answer: ” Anyone who goes around licking motorcycle fenders deserves to remove themselves from the ‘gene pool’.”

How far is too far?

I have just read an article that appeared January 22nd, on NEWSMAX HEALTH.

I feel that it is important to spread this information because many home remedies from Latin American countries and India use incredibly high levels of lead in their preparation.
The CDC reported 12 cases of lead poisoning in 2004 from using ayurvedic remedies in Texas, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York and California.

High levels of lead have been found in ayurvedic medicines, which are used in India and in South Asian immigrant communities in New York, Chicago and Houston. These medicines include ghasard, a brown powder given to relieve constipation in babies, and mahayogaraj gugullu, for high blood pressure.

Lead poisoning can cause lethargy, confusion, learning problems and convulsions. Too much lead can cause irreversible brain damage and death.

The article stated:
“Traditional medicines may account for up to 30 percent of all childhood lead poisoning cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 240,000 U.S. children were diagnosed with high blood lead levels in 2004 to 2006.”

“Mexican remedies such as greta, azarcon and rueda – powders that are given to treat constipation in children and contain as much as 90 percent lead. In New York City and Rhode Island, high lead levels in the blood have been tied to litargirio, a powder containing up to 79 percent lead. It is used by Dominican immigrants for such ills as foot fungus and body odor.”

“In Harris County, which includes Houston, traditional medicines are blamed for nearly one-fifth of all cases in which children were found to have high levels of lead. In Arizona, home remedies account for one-fourth of childhood lead poisoning cases.”

How many high lead level cases are not reported if the child doesn’t become ill enough for the parents to become aware that it is their home medication that is causing problems?
If there are minute traces of lead in paint on toys, I wondered when I wrote the previous article, how many toys that have minute traces of lead in their paint must a child eat to cause the levels of lead absorbed and detected?
My point is that before we make drastic and costly decisions we should not make assumptions. The scientific approach of ‘cause and effect’ seems to have been forgotten recently. Opinion and emotion seems to prevail over solid scientific fact.

Ignoring the entire point of the book I have noticed that throughout history, wars have depleted the treasuries of the countries involved. If one country had more disposable gold than another, it usually won.

When both treasuries became empty a truce usually ended the fighting.
Often a country would attempt to borrow money from another country without success which caused the conflict to end. It was an interesting case of international politics and financing.

The world is a different place today. Perhaps the real reason that the Soviet Union collapsed was not because of Ronald Reagan but because it ran out of money.

This I don’t know with any certainty but it is probable.

Being a Korean War veteran I took the following oath:

“I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC…SO HELP ME GOD.”

I still feel that way. I want my readers to be absolutely sure of my views regarding our military-past and present.

I am in favor of whatever it takes to preserve the United States and our way of life but I wonder who we will go to when we run out of money.

Not only are we dealing with the cost of the war itself but we are shipping our money by the bucketfuls to people who don’t have our best interests at heart and who may be stockpiling it to finance their war against us.

What if?

A near-miss of two airplanes last week has started a frenzy of fear.
A pilot acknowledged his ATC transmission to ‘hold short’ but didn’t.
So, Mary Peters, the US Transportation Secretary, at 10:45am January 14th 2008 during an interview on FOX news, said that the plans are to update the air traffic control system and charge different rates for different categories of aircraft use at airports.
The cost will have to be passed on to the air traveler.
She also wants ground-based RADAR replaced with satellite-based RADAR.

Just what does that have to do with a pilot not following instructions?

This is an example of the kindergarten mentality that pervades our knee-jerk solution to world problems.
If one kid cuts his finger with scissors while cutting paper in a second grade project class, the school bans all scissors on school property forever and any child stupid enough to bring a pair of scissors to school in his or her backpack is charged with a felony.

The near-miss had nothing to do with ATC or RADAR or anything else except one person breaking a law.

Should we, using the same logic, ban highway intersections because one person ran a stop light and almost hit a bus?

Dr Spock came upon the scene with the best-selling book of all time other than the Bible, “The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care”, in 1946.

This book became very popular in the 1960’s and in it he suggested that parents treat their children as individuals. His advice was contrary to how most parents raised their children throughout prior history but ‘progressive’ mothers jumped on the advice.

The book went through 7 editions, was published in 39 languages and sold over 50 million copies.

Mothers decided to stop disciplining their children and instead allowed them to ‘express themselves’. I’m certain that most of you who remember back that far saw the personal expression of screaming kids throwing groceries out of the shopping carts and dumping gum and candy out of the boxes at the sides of check-out lines.

Then, as a continuation of the system of self-expression, “Welcome Back Kotter” appeared on TV in 1975 and every teenage boy wanted to be Vinnie Barbarino. This characterization of how best to disrupt the American education system propelled John Travolta into stardom.

Interestingly, no one wanted to be Arnold Horshack.

In the series, Gabe Kaplan, as the teacher, was unable to control the group of students, The Sweathogs, who were determined not to be taught.

It was during this period that I personally experienced the results of the program when I was a substitute teacher. It took more effort to control the class than to present the subject matter. Kids learned a lot from “Welcome Back Kotter” and classrooms would never be the same.

Not long after that, in 1979, “The Dukes of Hazzard” appeared on TV. That was the period when my son started driving and a number of his friends died trying to duplicate the stunts as seen on the series. My son wrecked a couple of cars during that series but fortunately survived.

Today those children who were allowed to “express themselves”, who always got their way, are now on the highways. They still expect “their way” and if you happen to be in their way, they will attempt to push you aside. If the other person has always gotten his or her way, watch out, someone’s going to get hurt.

My conclusion: modern media is extremely powerful in influencing our lives—whether it is the written word or the visual presentation of TV programs or video games that kids play today.

I had always thought that the reason laws are so severe regarding drunk driving was that it was a public safety issue. After considering some other laws, I conclude that it is a moral issue. There are still people out there who are opposed to drinking.

If drunk driving is truly a public safety issue it must be because driving while under the influence interferes with the person’s ability to respond quickly to emergency situations. I assume also that it interferes with a person’s ability to concentrate on the road and avoid going through STOP signs and running red lights. Drunk drivers also do not always keep all four wheels in their lane.

Now let’s consider the person talking on the cell phone. They do exactly the same thing but they are on the road in far greater numbers than drinkers and at peak traffic times.

The majority of drunks are usually on the road after the bars close when traffic is very light and they usually have both hands on the steering wheel.

The penalty for talking on a cell phone is what? Practically nothing. The cell phone talker does not end up in the newspapers and is not therefore publically shamed as the drunk driver is. Cell phone talkers drive right by police cars with impunity therefore driving while intoxicated must be a moral issue.

While on the subject of public versus personal safety, while do the police patrol so stringently for seat belts not being buckled? If a person has an accident without having himself/herself buckled down they are not a danger to someone else. It is a matter of personal rather than public safety.

Think about it, you are required to wear a seat belt in a heavily protected metal enclosure, with air bags to cushion you, but it’s OK to ride a motorcycle without one.

If caught, you will be fined for not wearing a seat belt in your own car where you are the responsible driver but it’s OK to ride on a bus driven by a total stranger without a seat belt.

Public safety laws can be really strange.

Helmets are required in most states for children riding bicycles but it’s OK to ride a skate board without one. Which of the two is most likely to fall and hit their heads?

Some states do require a helmet for roller-blading but then why not ice skating?

Texas, for instance, requires eye protection and helmets for off-road motorcycles. Vermont requires eye protection and helmets on the highway but not off-road where they are more likely to be needed.

I mentioned ‘bungee-jumping’ in the title because where are the limits to be drawn as to what we are permitted to do that is considered a personal risk?

It’s an arbitrary system that sometimes doesn’t seem logical. Maybe we do need to have someone hold our hand while we cross the road.