iblog

Caroline: If you think vinegar is just for putting on your chips, you are wrong. Not only can it be used as a rinse to make your hair shine, a cure for hiccups and also as aftershave (personally I have grave doubts about that one but each to their own), but it also clears sluggish drains beautifully when used in combination with baking powder. Not only is it a fraction of the price of a proprietary cleaner but it is also environmentally friendly. You may well wonder where all this somewhat esoteric information has come from - well where else would I turn to with a dodgy drain on Christmas Day but good old Google.

Caroline: How much more hassle can the travelling public take from the aviation industry in general and BA in particular? First it was the industrial action over onboard catering, then last summer’s chaos following the terror alert, in Dec it was the mass cancellations due to fog which seemed to affect more BA flights than any other carrier, then the tens of thousands of suitcases going missing, many of which have still not been returned to their owners. Now comes the threat of strike action next week over sick leave. Some of these problems are not of course specific to BA but they do seem to have more than their fair share of problems. Being due to fly to the States with BA in six weeks time I am watching with a vested interest. In the meantime it comes as no surprise to read that BA share prices have fallen after talks to avert the action were unsuccessful.

Rushda: It’s just so funny to see the effort that is made in those sneaky emails which tempt you to disclose your personal details. Here is a section from one I got recently which asks me to claim my so-called “winnings”:

Your e-mail address was attached to ticket number; 109865442 serial number 8751128673. This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 22-41-63-77-82 bonus number 34, which consequently won the lottery in the second category. You hereby have been approved a lump sum pay of £1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION POUNDS) in cash credit file ref: GLC/MM 8755412/06 from the total cash prize of £10,000,000.00 shared amongst Ten (10) lucky winners in this category.

Though internet fraud is obviously something to be taken very seriously, it is amusing to see the lengths the writers of these emails go to sound credible. Notice the attempt to make the email official with all the serial numbers, to the point of complete ridiculousness. The intention is obviously to make the recipient believe that this email is personalised. It’s silly, then, to see that the email is still addressed to Sir/Madam rather than a name. Too bad these errors and inconsistencies go unnoticed and so many people still get sucked in.

Rushda: It has always been said that it is healthier for children to walk to school than be driven there. The thing is though, no one ever seems to mention that walking to school could actually do more harm than good, especially when the school is located near a busy road. Not only is it likely for children to have accidents when crossing roads, but it has also been shown that fumes from cars on the road can actually stunt lung growth. In tests conducted in the US, it was found that children who lived near busy roads or walked past them regularly had lung impairment. Before, the concern was only for children with asthma but it seems that even healthy children are at great risk. It seems obvious to me that there is a great health risk posed by environmental pollution and I’m glad such considerations are finally being taken into account. Maybe this will mean parents and teachers will think twice before encouraging children to inhale toxic traffic fumes daily in the name of good health.

Caroline: London Fashion Week has decided to introduce a voluntary code of conduct but has not followed the lead of Madrid and Milan in banning Size 0 models. Size 0 equates with a BMI of less than 18 - an unhealthy state of affairs by any definition. Although there is no direct evidence to prove that skinny models cause teenage girls to develop anorexia, there is evidence from the girls themselves that the celebration of ultra-thin models conflicts with the message being given to them of what is healthy and makes their recovery harder. The decision not to impose the ban may be indicative of the fact that the fashion industry dislikes the thought of a nanny state dictating how big their models should be. Then again, it may be the fact that sadly, the extreme sorts of fashion seen on the cat-walk look beter on skinny models with figures, the likes of which few of us will ever have.

Caroline: Global warming could be good news for tree surgeons. As the frequency of stormy weather increases so does the risk of death or injury from falling trees. Many trees in our suburbs are 80 to 150 years old and as they age they pose an increased risk. The most dangerous time is after a prolonged period of wet and windy weather when the trees effectively lose their footing because of the lubricating effect of the water in the soil. The advice is to have any trees in your garden monitored on a regular basis.

Rushda: I’ve just read the shocking story of a woman who kept the dead body of her daughter in her house for four months in anticipation of her resurrection. She thought that because their home was near the holy sanctuary of Lourdes, that there was a good chance a miracle would occur. It’s incredible how anyone can have so much conviction in their faith that they even believe a dead body will come back to life before their eyes. I personally don’t know how the woman could think that a miracle would bring her daughter back to life, especially considering no miracle stopped her from dying in the first place. What is most disturbing, however, is not the belief itself but the fact that she kept the dead body in her bed and was in total preparation of it arising! I at least admire her courage!

Caroline: When I first read about the recent shark attack in Australia I was as horrified as everyone else and relieved that the victim had been able to fight back and escape death. However, the more I read about the diver attacking the shark’s eyes with a chisel, the more sympathy I felt for the shark. After all this was a case of man invading the shark’s territory,and not the other way round. Most shark attacks on swimmers and surfers happen because the shark mistakes their victims for seals, their natural prey. Likewise in Canada, the increase in bear attacks can be put down to the fact that we are moving into bear territory by building golf courses and houses on land which was previously wilderness. Perhaps we should stop blaming the animals and think more about the consequences of our actions.

Caroline: It is a commonly quoted and rather disturbing fact that our dish cloths contain more germs than our toilet seats. It was recently reported by American scientists that an efficient way of sterilising these bug-laden dish cloths was to pop them in the microwave for a few minutes. There have, however, been several instances of dish cloths becoming singed or even catching fire and the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents are warning that there are too many variables, such as the power capacity of the microwave and the moisture content of the dish cloth. It may be OK in the lab but as they used to say on children’s TV, “Don’t try this at home”!

Virgil: In one’s erratic crawl through articles on the internet, I’ve just come across something interesting I thought I’d share. Brain transplants (properly, whole-body transplants, because what’s really being given to you is a new body, not a new brain) are the ultimate in medical surgery, and a staple of science fiction. As long as you aren’t braindead, a whole-body transplant can always save you. It could increase your lifespan quite indefinitely. If you don’t fancy a new body, in the future maybe even a younger you could be cloned from one of your existing cells. It’s all a rather good idea.

However, the procedure would obviously involve severing your spinal column… which kills you. Not so good. The problem is that nerve tissue doesn’t heal very well. Assuming you didn’t die, you might be able to have your brain stuffed into a new body… but it would leave you completely paralysed. Not so good at all.

However, with varying degrees of recency, research has begun to find ways of reconnecting nerves or healing them, even in the spinal column. One experiment involved transplanting the head of a rat onto another rat, which resulted in fair success. The resultant two-headed rat was stunned to say the least, but stunned things tend to be living things, too.