KNIGHT WATCH

WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY ABOUT US?

According to a University of Michigan telephone survey of more than 500 people, 24% fear losing their health coverage in the next year - and many of that 24% are 50-64 years old and female. Forty-six percent worry they won’t be able to afford health care in the future – especially as the U.S. government estimated 2009 health care will average $8,160 for every man, woman and child – an increase of $356 since 2008. Finally, 86% think health care reform is part of fixing the economic crisis. The survey’s goal was to measure consumer confidence in health care. Unfortunately, it’s unhealthy.

According to a 2009 online survey done by Zogby Interactive, the Internet is America’s main source of information. More than 50% of 3,030 adults surveyed would choose the Internet if they had only 1 source of news, 21% said television, 10% said radio and 10% said newspapers. Nearly 40% thought the Internet was the most reliable source, 17% thought television, 16% thought newspapers and 13% thought radio. When participants were asked what the main source of information will be in 5 years, 82% said the Internet, 13% said television and 0.5% said newspapers – not good news for newspapers.

According to a survey of more than 2,500 people done by Futuresource Consulting, 8% of Internet users in Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. admitted to downloading video illegally. Two-thirds surveyed in Britain watched movies, television and videos on PC’s or laptops and almost that many in the U.S. did the same. In both countries 15% did it illegally. Because this is stealing, governments are getting involved. Britain proposed measures to slow or block Internet access to illegal downloaders, France passed a bill to disconnect illegal downloaders and a U.S. woman was fined almost $2 million for illegally sharing music – otherwise known as stolen property.

According to a 2009 Associated Press-Petside online poll, increasing numbers of Americans – 49% of the more than 1,000 polled – gave their pets humanlike names. Approximately half were dog owners and half were cat owners. In the Veterinary Pet Insurance data base, Rover was #2,534 on the pet name list and Fido was #2,866. Max was the most frequently used name, but it was used less than 2% of the time. Using human names for pets supposedly reflects owners seeing pets as full members of the family – but don’t human family members have pet names for each other?

CAN HUMANS BE ANIMALS' BEST FRIENDS?

In California legislators are considering 2009 passage of Senate Bill 250, which would make spaying and neutering of pets mandatory. It requires that every dog and outdoor cat be fixed by the age of six months unless its owner gets an “unaltered” license. The bill’s goal is to encourage spaying and neutering of household pets in order to decrease the almost one million unwanted dogs and cats that are born in California yearly – which would supposedly save California $250 million yearly. Opponents say having to buy unaltered licenses will discourage owners from registering and fixing their pets, causing more unwanted animals. Unfortunately, every argument and bill seem to have two sides.

In Eastham, Massachusetts the owner of Arnold’s Lobster and Clam Bar has a seven-year-old, one and three-quarter pound lobster; but it’s very unlikely Fiona will ever be eaten. Fiona was caught off the coast of eastern Canada in June 2009 and is an extremely rare “yellow” lobster. Although yellow lobsters actually look bright orange, experts say she is one in thirty million. Instead of going into a pot of boiling water, Fiona is going into a viewing tank at the restaurant. Now it’s Fiona’s turn to do the catching – of customers.

In Britain dogs are being trained to warn diabetic owners when their blood sugar levels fall dangerously low. Dogs can detect illegal drugs, explosives and certain cancer cells. Now there’s evidence dogs’ hypersensitive noses can detect when someone is about to have a hypoglycemic attack. A survey done by Queen’s University Belfast found that 65% of 212 people with insulin-dependent diabetes reported their dogs alerted them with whining, barking or licking before a hypoglycemic episode occurred. Because having a dog in every doctor’s office isn’t practical, scientists are trying to develop an electronic dog nose – an electronic best friend.

In Germany’s Bremerhaven Zoo a penguin egg was placed in the nest of male penguins after it was abandoned by its parents in April 2009. The males incubated the egg until it hatched and continued to care for the chick. Z and Vielpunkt are one of three same-sex pairs among the zoo’s twenty Humboldt penguins. Homosexual behavior is documented in many species, including cats and dogs. According to the zoo’s Web site, “sex and coupling in our world don’t always have something to do with reproduction”. Obviously, Dr. Doolittle isn’t the only one who can learn from the animals.

HOW HARD IS THE ECONOMIC PINCH BEING FELT?

The economic crisis is causing long lines in many places – including Hollywood’s Central Casting. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays anyone can register to be a movie extra. Extras don’t need auditions. They don’t need head shots. All they need is $25 for the registration fee and they become extras. Extras don’t speak on camera, they are forbidden to talk to the director or the stars and they have to provide their own costumes. They are just meant to flesh-out the background. Because extras are paid $64 a day, during the recession it is literally an “extra” way to make money.

The economic crisis and shifting demographics have left Uniontown, Pennsylvania – population 13,000 – without enough wealthy residents to continue having a one-hundred-one-year-old, private club. As a result, they opened the dining room to the public, relaxed the dress code and now feature “budget conscious eating”. The same problem faces country clubs everywhere. Some have cut initiation fees. Others have eliminated them. According to the National Golf Federation, more than 500 clubs may close and twice as many members resigned in 12 months as do during a typical year. For now it seems the White House is the peoples’ “country club”.

The economic crisis caused an expected decline in charitable giving; but according to the “Giving USA Foundation”, which reports annually on charity trends, 2008 charitable donations totaled $307 billion – only a 2% drop from 2007. In fact, donations to religious groups went up more than 5%. Donations to the United Way and other umbrella charities went up too. However, donations to charities involving the arts, health, environment and education declined 5%; and donations to groups helping the disadvantaged declined the most – 13%. When it comes to having shorter lines for food programs and homeless shelters, charitable giving was “shortsighted”.

Nevertheless, the economic crisis hasn’t caused extra fees just for air-traveling Americans. The Spanish airline Vueling charges for picking seats. Basic, behind-the-wings seats cost an extra $4.05. An aisle or window seat with the guarantee of an empty middle seat costs an extra $40.50. European Ryanair charges $6.75 for online check-in and $13.50 for airport check-in. As a publicity stunt, the CEO of Ryanair suggested charging fees for lavatory use and air sick bags. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration say there is no rule against such fees. It seems when traveling by air, everything is “feesible”.

ARE THERE MORE GOOD IDEAS IN BAD TIMES?

Drought-threatened areas in Southern California are missing out on an inexpensive, conservation tool – gray water. Gray water is rinse water from washing machines that ordinarily goes into the sewer. When recycled through a valve, it can be used for watering plants if non-dehydrating, salt-and-boron-free washing detergents are used. California law requires gray-water systems be 9 inches underground and thus cost up to $5,000. Because approximately 1 million Californians are illegally using much cheaper systems to save million of gallons of water weekly, it seems California legislators need to come up with new rules that hold water.

In Washington $4.6 million of stimulus funds is being paid to approximately 40 out-of-work fishermen/divers to haul up thousands of lost fishing nets – some bigger than a football field. The nets get caught in boat propellers, endanger scuba divers and kill tens of thousands marine life, mammals and birds yearly. Because they’re about 100 feet down and have to be cut piece by piece, removing them is expected to take 18 months. Although there’s a plan to burn the toxic nets to make energy, presently they’re sealed in plastic bags and put in landfills – not a net profit for the environment.

Sixty-two percent of American households have pets and those who travel by plane with pets will profit from a Transportation Department decision. In May 2008 it gave airlines 1 year to have pet-relief areas at each airport they serve. Although the regulation was designed for service animals, all pets benefit. Miami International spent about $40,000 to build 2 pet parks, each with a bench and hydrant. El Paso International built its pet-relief area with recycled materials from previous airport projects. Seattle-Tacoma International has a post-security, pet-relief area for connecting flights. At least for pets, doing their business with airlines has improved.

Pinellas Hope is a tent city which has been in business in a wooded area outside St. Petersburg, Florida since 2007. It’s owned and operated by the Catholic Diocese and has been filled since opening. The camp has 250 single-person tents,  bathrooms and showers, food hall, laundry room and computers for job searches. The residents are ages 18 to mid-70’s – no families are allowed. They are referred by police and social workers and assigned caseworkers to help them find work. Running the camp costs approximately $2.6 million yearly, about half coming from donations. You can’t buy hope, but you can give it.

CAN REALITY SEEM UNREAL?

On June 16, 2009 during a television interview, President Obama told a pesky fly to go away. When the fly didn’t go, Obama swatted it with his hand and commented, “That was pretty impressive, wasn’t it? I got the sucker”. PETA – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – wasn’t impressed and sent the President a “Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher”, a device for catching house flies alive to release outside. PETA supports “compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals”. Of course, PETA also wants to protect fish from being eaten by having people call fish “sea kittens”.

In June 2009 the Mexican navy seized more than a ton of cocaine that was hidden inside approximately 20 frozen sharks. The sharks were cargo on a container ship in port in the southern Mexican state of Yucatan. Although those in charge of the shipment said the substance was a preserving agent, tests confirmed it was cocaine. As Mexico increases its efforts to stop drug trafficking to the U.S., drug traffickers have gotten more creative. They’ve hidden cocaine inside furniture, religious statues and sealed beer cans. Seek and you shall find – especially with the help of x-ray machines and sniffer dogs.

In 2009 the town council race in Cave Creek, Arizona ended in a two-way tie. In this bedroom community outside Scottsdale with a population of less than 5,000 the winner was determined according to Arizona law. In Arizona local elections can be decided by chance: rolling dice, flipping a coin or cutting cards. After lawyers drew up two pages of rules for cutting cards – including the candidate cutting the highest card being the winner – the king of hearts beat the six of hearts. The election for Cave Creek’s new town council member was in the cards.

In 2009 hospitals and clinics in Prague, Czechoslovakia are trying to get more nurses by offering a unique bonus to nurses who sign a long-term contract – free face lifts and breast implants. One nurse justified the unusual signing bonus by saying patients recover faster if nurses are attractive. According to Dr. Esther Sternberg, author of “Healing Spaces”, there is substantial evidence that more attractive hospital rooms result in shorter hospital stays, less medical complications and fewer rehospitalizations. Dr. Sternberg also says that patients recover faster if nurses love their work. Maybe nurses in Prague wanting free cosmetic surgery love their work more.

HOW MUCH DOES BIG BROTHER KNOW ABOUT US?

According to a report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a nonprofit research group in Washington, 7% of Americans use the Internet as their main means of social communication. This group is referred to as “ambivalent networkers”. They are predictably the youngest users of information technology and also use mobile devices more than any other information technology users – always wanting to be available to others, but feeling conflicted about it. Then there’s the 14% of Americans who don’t use computers or cell phones. The other 79% of Americans fall somewhere in between – hopefully on software.

According to Nielsen Online, which measures Web traffic, minutes on social networks in the U.S. rose 83% from April 2008 to April 2009. With more than 200 million active members, Facebook’s minutes increased 700% in the same time period. Facebook is the #1 social network. MySpace is second, although its minutes decreased 31% in that period. Blogger, Tagged and Twitter are third, fourth and fifth respectively. Although Twitter’s minutes increased during this time period, Nielson figures show that more than 60% of Twitter’s users stopped using the free service a month after joining it. Not tweet!

According to the “American Journal of Medicine”, medical bills were involved in 62.1% of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2007 – an increase of 50% in 6 years. Although more than 75% of these people had health insurance, 92% of them had medical debts over $5,000 – in spite of most being well-educated homeowners with middle-class occupations. About 170 million people get health insurance through their employer, but 25% of firms cancel coverage when an employee has a disabling illness – another 25% cancel within a year. Then there’s the 15% of Americans without health insurance. Hopefully, the U.S. health system isn’t terminally ill.

According to a survey of more than 35,000 women which was done by Woman’s Day and AOL Living, the majority of women aren’t happily married. More than 50% are bored in bed or can’t remember the last time they had sex. Fifty-two percent said their husband wasn’t their soul mate. Although 71% of these women expect to stay married to the same man for the rest of their lives, 57% sometimes regret marrying him. In fact, at some point in their marriage, 72% have thought about leaving their spouse. It seems the “for better or for worse” part of the marriage vow is getting worse.

DID WE REALLY NEED STUDIES FOR THIS?

Psychologists at the University of Rochester evaluated surveys from 147 recent graduates. The researchers noted the graduates’ achievements and their level of happiness over a 2-year period. The graduates’ goals were divided into 2 types. Extrinsic goals were things like wealth, fame and personal image. Intrinsic goals were things like meaningful relationships, health and personal growth. Statistical analysis of the graduates’ surveys revealed that accomplishing intrinsic goals caused higher self-esteem and a greater sense of well-being. Accomplishing extrinsic goals caused anxiety and unhappiness. In 2009 maybe we should think of the recession as teaching us intrinsic goals.

West Virginia University did an 8-week study on handling stress at work. Half of the 104 participants were given written instructions how to handle stress. The other half was taught techniques to cultivate mindfulness – to pay full attention to what you’re doing moment by moment. The techniques taught were deep breathing, stretching, yoga and meditation. After the study those who had the mindfulness training had lower blood pressure, as well as significantly less daily hassles, psychological distress, aches and pains. Mindfulness is a technique we all should learn – but first we have to learn to unfill our minds.

A study published in the journal “BMC Family Practice” found that most people don’t know where specific organs are located in the human body or what they look like. Researchers surveyed 722 Britons – 589 hospital outpatients and 133 people in the general public. The volunteers were given 4 pictures of human figures and asked which correctly showed the size and location of a particular organ. Only 46.5% knew which picture correctly identified the heart, 42.5% knew which identified the kidneys, 38.4% knew which identified the stomach, 31.4% knew which identified the lungs and 30.8% knew which identified the pancreas. Obviously, the overall picture of human anatomy isn’t healthy.

According to the director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at Emory University School of Medicine, flying is one of the safer things we do probability-wise. The lifetime odds of dying in an air-travel accident are 1-in-20,000 compared with 1-in-100 in a car accident or 1-in-5 from heart disease. About 25 million people in the U.S. suffer from some sort of flying fear. About half of those are afraid of crashing. The other half are claustrophobics. Eight weekly sessions of virtual reality therapy supposedly can cure the fear of flying – which sounds better than winging it.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

In Tennessee handguns will be allowed in bars and restaurants as of July 14, 2009. However, the existing ban on consuming alcohol while carrying a handgun remains; and bar and restaurant owners have the right to ban weapons from their establishments. Although 37 other states have similar laws, Tennessee has approximately 218,000 handgun permits and 278 were revoked in 2008 and nearly 1,200 have been suspended since 2005. Permits are revoked after felony convictions and suspended when there are pending criminal charges or when there are court orders for protection. It seems Tennessee is going to test its own “big bang” theory.

In Canada Molson Beer, a division of Molson Coors, is planning to standardize its free beer policy in 2009 for its Canadian retirees. Presently the free beer costs Molson $900,000 a year. Molson retirees living in Newfoundland were notified by letter their monthly allotment will be reduced from 6 dozen bottles a month to zero over the next 5 years. The retirees are upset there was no discussion about this; and unions have filed grievances in Montreal and Vancouver, where allotments will be less. Although Molson says it’s still providing a very generous benefits package, 2,400 company retirees are crying in their beer.

In Tel Aviv a thoughtful daughter decided to surprise her mother by replacing her mother’s old mattress with a new one and taking the old one out to the trash. Needless to say, her mother was surprised – almost to the point of fainting. It seems for years she had been secretly stuffing her life savings into that mattress. Now a frantic search is underway in Israel for the valuable mattress. To the daughter the mattress may have looked lumpy and uncomfortable, but to her mother it felt like a million dollars.

Around the world the down economy is inspiring people to perform community service – even fight crime. According to “Superheroes Anonymous”, a New-York-based Web site dedicated to organizing and making alliances with superhero groups, there are presently 250 to 300 real-life superheroes worldwide. A laid-off computer technician became Mr. Ravenblade after preventing a woman’s mugging and rape in Walla Walla, Washington. A superhero named Geist patrols Rochester, Minnesota with a group of like-minded, similarly costumed colleagues. Dark Guardian, a 24-year-old, patrols Brooklyn at night and Chaim “Life”Lazaros is in New York performing homeless outreach. Instead of super powers, these superheroes are armed with good intentions.

WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL US SOONER?

According to new research, sit-ups aren’t enough to get great abs. Great abs also need a diet full of fiber, fruits, vegetables and plenty of protein. Fiber limits bloating, carbohydrates increase energy and protein builds muscles. Eating enough protein also helps keeps weight down because increased muscle increases the resting metabolic rate, which burns more calories. Other new research shows that stress triggers the hormone cortisol, which increases appetite and promotes fat deposits around abs. This is the fat associated with heart disease, diabetes and cancer. This is information not to be taken lying down – even to do sit-ups.

According to the president of the Texas Back Institute, sit-ups/crunches are bad for backs. The actual crunch part of crunches puts an unhealthy strain on the weakest part of the back. The section with the most nerves is at the back of the spine and there are only so many bends in spinal disks before they become painfully herniated. The best exercises for flat stomachs and healthy backs are exercises that keep the spine straight – like push-ups or lying on your back and doing slow leg drops. In fact, just backing away from sit-ups is good exercise.

According to orthopedic specialists, they are seeing an increase in cases of cubital tunnel syndrome – also known as cell phone elbow. Cell phone users who bend their elbows too tightly for too long can damage the ulnar nerve. This nerve extends under the funny bone and controls the smaller fingers. When cell phone users talk a long time, the blood supply to that nerve is cut, causing tingling in the ring and little finger. It can also cause weakness in the hand that can affect everything from opening a jar to writing legibly. Obviously, cell phone elbow is a call for common sense.

According to doctors at the University of Ioannia in Greece, drinking several liters of cola-containing soft drinks daily can cause chronic potassium depletion, leading to muscle weakness. The doctors identified 6 reports of cola-induced potassium deficiency since 1994. The quantities of cola consumed ranged from 2-9 liters daily, muscle complaints ranged from mild weakness to paralysis and all patients had abnormally low potassium levels. Although the patients fully recovered after they stopped drinking cola and had potassium supplementation, supposedly tens of millions of people worldwide drink 2-3 liters of cola daily – and it takes more than muscle to overpower caffeine addiction.

ARE HEROES BORN OR MADE?

Hazel and Nazih Zebian were complaining about the recession’s effects on their furniture business in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Surfing the Internet out of boredom, Hazel found a story about Abu Sayed. In a misguided attempt to prevent swine flu, the Egyptian government had seized Abu’s herd of pigs, the sole source of income for his extended family of 14. Hazel calculated the cost of replacing the 25 pigs; and after several days and many e-mails, Abu received $1,125 via Western Union. Abu, however, plans to use the money to buy sheep. Obviously, he is not a pigheaded man.

Pam Koner, single mother of two in Hastings-on-Hudson, saw a photograph in the New York Times of the poverty in rural Pembroke, Illinois. Moved to tears, Pam contacted an outreach worker in Pembroke and enlisted help from family and friends to send monthly boxes of food and basic household items to the neediest families in Pembroke. That was in 2002. Seven years later Pam has founded the non-profit “Family-to-Family”, connected more than 600 sponsors and recipient families in 13 communities across the country and provided nearly 800,000 meals. In spite of the downturn in the economy, there has been an upturn in Family-to-Family sponsors.

Mohammad Sohail is a convenience store owner in Garden City, New York. When a masked man tried to rob him, Mohammad grabbed a rifle from behind the counter and ordered the robber to drop his bat. The would-be robber fell to his knees crying, saying he was out of work and needed to feed him family. Mohammad gave the man $40, a loaf of bread and asked him to promise not to rob again. When he went to get some milk, the robber fled – taking only the bat and the money – but leaving Mohammad with his good deed.

Alysa Stanton, 45, was ordained June 6, 2009 as the first black woman rabbi. Her childhood search for spiritual nourishment led her from Pentecostal roots to Eastern religions and Evangelicalism. When her family moved to a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Cleveland, her curiosity in Judaism led to her conversion by her 20’s. Alysa, a divorced single mother, was chosen to be the rabbi at Congregation Bayt Shalom in North Carolina because of her powerful ability to connect and communicate, skills she learned as a psychotherapist specializing in grief and loss before she entered the seminary. Obviously, we are who we become.