The REAL UV protection Ultraviolet (UV) light has been one of the mainstream's
whipping boys since forever. They're quick to condemn
this "black light" for its detrimental effects on the eyes -
and it's (supposed) deleterious effect on the skin. I can't
imagine how many millions of dollars worth of cheap, ugly
sunglasses and goopy sunscreen have been sold in defense
against this "killer." But as you may know, I've been singing UV light's praises
for years. It's actually an incredible healing tool. For
instance, brief yet intense exposure to ultraviolet light
kills almost every kind of blood-borne bacteria and virus
(even HIV) under the sun. And if the medical mainstream
would just open their eyes and see the light, we'd all be
able to stroll down to the doctor's office and have every
blood cell in our bodies periodically cleansed with
ultraviolet light in a safe, simple process called
photoluminescence. It would save tens of thousands of lives
every year. But despite my best efforts to publicize UV light for the
lifesaver it is, the medical establishment keeps turning a
blind eye toward this miracle - until just recently, that is. A few weeks ago, my favorite medical journal, The Lancet,
published a report about how the installation of UV lights
in the ventilation systems of office buildings would
significantly reduce office workers' colds, sniffles,
allergies, headaches, eye irritations, and other various and
sundry symptoms. The lights were aimed at the climate-
control systems' cooling coils and drip pans - places where
condensation and moisture allow bacteria to gather and
breed. And guess what? Use of the lights correlated with a 99% decrease in
bacteria. This translated into measurably fewer symptoms
among workers during the four-week test periods when the
lights were turned on, with no adverse effects reported at
all. Costs for permanently adopting the system hovered
around $14 yearly per employee - or less than an hour's
worth of sick time. If even every eighth employee missed one
less day because of an illness they avoided contracting
because of the UV protection, the system would more than pay
for itself. But the obvious benefit here is in combating airborne
terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security should have
been all over this a long time ago. I wonder: If such a
system would have been in place in our nation's post
offices, would those 17 postal workers have been infected by
anthrax in the fall of 2001? Four of those good people died,
remember. Here another question: If UV germicidal systems were
commonplace, would the mad anthrax letterer have even
bothered? And in case you're wondering about another obvious
anti-terror measure that seems to have fallen by the
wayside… ***********************************************
Have gun, will travel In case you haven't noticed, the terrorism alert level has
been elevated in recent weeks to "code orange," the highest
level before a full-blown terrorist attack. Special emphasis
has been placed on incoming international flights -
apparently, there's been quite a substantial amount of
intelligence indicating the impending likelihood of a
terrorist attack along the lines of the September 11th, 2001
massacre of nearly 3000 innocents on American soil. Scary. As part of the precautions, officials have grounded several
inbound flights, some of them more than once.
Inconvenienced, travelers grumble. Resolute, officials
maintain they are "just doing their jobs." Now, we're all aware of the increases in airport security in
every terminal in the free world, right? (No one more than
yours truly - I spent a night in jail recently over a few
forgotten .22 shells in my luggage!) But aren't we ignoring
one of the simplest and most logical of safeguards, here? ARM THE PILOTS! Domestic, international, all of 'em. If you'll remember, immediately after that darkest of days
in the summer of 2001, there was an enormous outcry on the
part of the general public (and over 20,000 pilots!) for
exactly such a measure. Ever eager to please, the Fools on
the Hill promised quick action. But have they delivered?
Nope. The best they've done is pass an anemic version of a
bill that would arm and train only 2% of domestic pilots -
and they only passed it in the House! It languishes to this
day in the Senate, I believe. Folks, as unpleasant as this is to think about, it is still
the reality: Force is a deterrent - and overwhelming force
carries the fight every time. That means if someone brings
brass knuckles, you bring a blackjack. He pulls a knife, you
pull a Louisville Slugger… And flyboys (pond-hoppers or otherwise), if they're going to
bring box-cutters onto your planes, you bring the Smith &
Wessons and the hollow-points, if they'll ever let you. Then we'll see how many more "jihad-by-plane" attacks
they're able to manage. Well armed against "airborne" threats, William Campbell Douglass II, MD | 
