Dangerous Crosswalks

Good morning, and happy Friday.

A cautionary tale from my commute this morning -->
please look before entering a cross-walk!

This morning, I had just stepped into line with about a dozen folks waiting for a ride to work.  We heard screeching tires behind us, and turned around in time to see a lady being launched into the air from the grill of an SUV.  The lady flew about 15 feet, came to ground and writhed in pain.  All dozen of us bystanders let out a collective gasp, and several folks rushed over to the lady.  I turned to the person next to me and told her to get her phone out and call 911.  The helpers tried to comfort the lady who was hit and told her that help was on the way.  A man got out of the SUV that hit her, and I could see that he was calling for help, too.  I waited around a few minutes, but as they had enough witnesses I got back in the now reforming slug line and went to work.  I kept thinking that I had walked across the road in that same spot just seconds before her.  Moral of the story, your life could change in an instant.

Most every day, Donna and I talk about how dangerous this commuter lot is for pedestrians.  Cars are zooming faster than the 25-mph speed limit, many pedestrians cross the road wherever they want, there's insufficient lighting, and the parking lot design forces cars into funnels to enter and exit, which causes extra aggravation from the long line delays.  Last week, someone didn't want to stop to let us by on the crosswalk, and I yelled at them and hit their car with my hand to emphasize the point.  Sometimes anger just takes over, despite good sense. 

And in this week's health news....

• You're sitting on an airplane, and the person next to you or behind you lets out a series of sneezes.  You cringe, trying to curl up into a ball while covering your face, hoping that you don't breathe in whatever the hell they have.  Planes -- and their recycled air -- are playgrounds for transmitting illness.  Scientists are working on a gate device that can screen passengers' breath and detect respiratory bacterial infections and one day viruses, as well.  This could help to slow or even prevent the spread of possible pandemics.
• asthma plagues more than 358 million people around the globe, and is made worse (or potentially even caused) by "ambient" air pollution -- pollutants emitted by industry, households, cars/trucks.  How much easier our loved ones might breathe if the world could reduce those pollutants, like in increasing MPG requirements for cars.  Too bad the EPA is being dismantled.
• Holly take note:  Toddlers at child-care centers who used hand sanitizers developed fewer respiratory infections -- and thereby needed fewer antibiotics -- than children who washed their hands with soap and water.  Researchers say that hand sanitizers reduced infections by 23%.
• a marijuana "cousin" plant has been discovered.  The genus, "Radula" is related to liverwort moss.  It produces a chemical similar to marijuana's THC but less potent on the "high" while being potentially more effective at reducing inflammation and memory loss. 
• plastics can take a 1,000 years to degrade.  Some of them, however, get broken down into rice-sized particles and show up in the oceans, in fish, in your tap water, your table salt, and...in your stomach. 
• tall people are at higher risk of cancer.  Why?  Because they have more cells.  I swear I didn't make that up....it's coming from a University of California study.
• "thin-fat" is where someone appears to be a healthy weight, but inside carries large amounts of fat.  Now a global issue, 9 of every 10 countries have both overweight and undernourished populations.  Sometimes, that can be the same person, sometimes it can be neighbors.
• 4 in 10 Americans got flu shots last year...the lowest rate in 7 years.  CDC says that led to a record number of flu-related deaths in such numbers not seen since the 1970s.  A related story notes that only 61% of working adults have paid sick leave, and those who do NOT have paid leave were much less likely to go get vaccinated.
• The Lancet is reporting results of a meta-analysis (a review of numerous published studies) that concludes that vitamin D does not help to present bone fractures or increase bone density.  That's a sad finding for everyone who believed that milk could stave off brittle bones.
• gay-ness may be in the genes?  Researchers at Harvard are conducting a large-scale study of sexual behaviors linked to genetic make-up...and apparently finding links to 4 chromosomes.  The researchers say that their work is not intended to be taken as a predictive litmus test, instead it could be that homosexual behaviors actually influence those chromosomes.
• smelling lavender reduces stress and anxiety.  The active ingredient is "linalool", and researchers say that smelling it produces a valium-like effect on the brain.
• thousands of Swedes are having microchips inserted under the skin of their hands.  Digital readers can "find" the chips and let these folks into their homes and offices, store emergency medical information, and let them into concerts.  In 20 years nobody will have to carry a purse or wallet?
• Remember the BP Deepwater Horizon oil-spill disaster?  You might not have heard that in 2004, off the Louisiana coast, another spill has been leaking between 300-700 barrels of oil per day into the gulf.  There's little hope of capping it in this century.
• in "What the Hell Are They Thinking?" news, the FDA is about to approve release of a new opioid that is 5-10 times stronger than Fentanyl -- far stronger than heroin and 500 times stronger than morphine.  Basically, our federal government is about to release a new wave of even worse opioids into the population and make the overdose epidemic even worse, with no gain to be had from the new drug.  Meanwhile, Trump has signed bi-partisan anti-opioid abuse package.  What in the world are they thinking?