PORT ELIZABETH COMMUNITY NEWS.
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13 comments:
Andy Nixon takes people birding around Port Elizabeth. Places like Settlers Park and Cape Recife. Birds like Knysna Turaco and Roseate Tern. Phone him on 041 5851114
TAXI DRIVER TRUE STORY
Taxi drivers encounter problems frequently. One such driver (I will call him TD for taxi driver)who has had a sideview mirror shot away describes some:
TD with a passenger stops and receives a knock on the passenger side. He knows to look on the opposite side of the distraction and sees someone cocking a gun near the non-passenger side. Fortunately TD keeps the car in gear and the clutch pushed down for quick gettaways in such areas and manages to make a getaway, but the street he is in circles round back to near the same place. The passenger himself is a suspicious character and during the getaway TD gives him a hard smack and subdues him.
TD then realizing he is going to head back to the danger area with the looping road shouts out to people. They advise him to drive against the flow of traffic which he does and then takes a side street and escapes by coming out at a different place.
TD says to me that if I want to educate myself on criminal activty he would be glad to show me around one of his routes. One that would keep a crime reporter busy if not completely rested (for good).
TD says handbags are sometimes "forgotten" in his cab when women see anything resembling police (on opening they may have cocaine and other substances in).
Cell phone that are genuinely forgotten are never reclaimed by cheating partners, perlemoen poachers and other people who are scared that numbers have been scrutinised.
You may try to harm your cab driver, but you never know who he knows in the area he is dropping you off in - perhaps they are watching.
Eddie Miller
WATER SPORTS
With holidays coming up it could be a good idea to contact Juan Sanabria (073 141 4044) or a diving operation such as Pro Dive.
Juan is a windsurfer who offers instruction. He says that even a cloudy day is a good time to windsurf and with the right equipment windsurfing can be enjoyed in a variety of weather and sea conditions. He has windsurfed in South Africa, the Grand Canary Islands and Tunisia. He will give information on good sailing spots and safety and says that windy Port Elizabeth is a good place for a windsurfer to be.
Pro Dive also gives training in a number of areas related to diving and swimming and tells people where the good places are and how to be safe in the water.
Eddie Miller
Eddie Miller said...
HERE IS SOME ADVICE FROM AN ANIMAL BEHAVIOURIST
The general rule is that dogs can be trained to do anything that is physically possible for them to do, and certainly safe behaviour in traffic is physically possible for a dog. As we mentioned in our telephone conversation, a trained guide dog is an example of such training. It should be understood, however, that dogs do not necessarily understand the world in the same way that humans do. They do not speak English, for instance, and merely saying "Look left, right, and left again and then cross the road if it is safe" will not cut it. For a dog to get to the level of skill of a guide dog, requires intensive training.
Having said that, there are many things that a dog owner can do to ensure their dog's safety in traffic. Dogs should not be allowed to go walkabout on their own, not only because of traffic, but the world can be dangerous out there. Other animals, people with cruel intentions, getting lost, getting involved in fisticuffs, getting injured, etc. are only some of the things that can befall a dog on his or her own.
So: Keep your dog on a leash when walking outside of your property;
Train your dog to focus on you and walk properly to heel;
Ensure that your dog can be recalled reliably;
Being able to control your dog at a distance with voice or hand signal commands can save his or her life;
Provide the necessary socialisation and training for your dog that will enable him or her to remain calm, controlled and safe, not only in traffic, but in all situations that you and your companion might find yourself in.
Be aware that you cannot control the environment when walking out with your dog, and that it is imperative that you expose your dog from a young age to the sounds and events that might happen in the street. A huge hissing and roaring bus can be terrifying to a dog that has never seen one before - enough to strike panic into the heart of an unsuspecting animal. And panic invariably leads to disaster.
Remember that you are responsible for your dog.
As to your question on the general benefits of training, one could approach it by saying that education for humans (i.e. training) serves to install the skills that the individual will need to lead a full and useful life. This does not mean that a person without education cannot survive, but it is generally agreed that an education will greatly enhance your life, and enable you to go places and have experiences that would not have been possible without it. A dog's situation is somewhat similar. Dogs that live in, say, a feral environment, would need different skills to a dog with a committed owner. Such an owner would be able to offer the dog a much more varied and interesting life if the dog is adequately socialised and trained: for instance the dog would be able to go to many more interesting places, develop other social relationships with humans and other animals, have easy access to medical treatment, and be able to deal with the requirements of daily living without creating conflict, such as not going to the toilet in the humans' house, staying off the humans' couch and not chewing the shoes that the humans inexplicably seem to be fond of.
In short, training provides a way in which humans and animals can communicate more efficiently, and in that way broadens and enhances the quality of the relationship between human and animal - take it to a different level, if you will.
So, what is it that animal behaviourists do, then? As animal behaviourists, we observe and study the behaviour of animals, and use that information to understand the cognitive and emotional processes of the animal in the context of his or her history, needs and environment. This then provides a way of intervening in and correcting unwanted behaviour in animals. We specialise in treating problem behaviour, such as aggression, separation anxiety, barking, phobias, hyperactivity, digging, destructive behaviour, compulsive behaviour, house training, predatory behaviour, and so forth, in companion animals. We also offer remedial training for dogs. The training method that we use is positive reinforcement training, which rests on the principle that behaviours that are consistently rewarded will be offered consistently until it becomes embedded behaviour. We do not use punishment, as be believe not only that it is not necessary, but also that it is not effective as a training tool.
My colleagues, Lauren Gush and Lynn Scholtz and I are all certified Animal Behaviourists and members of the South African Board for Companion Animal Professionals. We offer our services from our practice at The Centre for Companion Animal Behaviour, 6 Mervyn Road, Lorraine (Tel 041 368 7347 or 083 622 1959). We take referrals from veterinarians and trainers, but members of the public can also approach us directly.
Annie du Plessis Manners
Animal Behaviourist
The Centre for Companion Animal Behaviour
FIRE SAFETY HINTS FROM PE FIRE DEPARTMENT
Mr Potgieter from the Port Elizabeth Fire Department in South End says please be careful. He says that fire crackers and rockets are one of the main causes of fire problems such as houses catching fire. Rockets may veer off course and hit flammable plastic guttering on the roof or other flammable material. He says fireworks are not allowed in residential areas and fines may be imposed, so use only designated areas.
He says that in the UK it is compulsory to have domestic smoke detectors and the fire department wants the law to be changed in South Africa so that it is compulsory here too. Battery smoke alarms are available and they are well worth while. He says that fire extinguishers are srongly recommended and that the public may phone his fire safety department on 041 5852311 for education on the use of equipment.
On what to do if there is a fire in the home he says: 1)Raise the alarm 2)Make sure the escape route is unobstructed 3)Help old and infirm people and children first 4) Doors should be tested with the back of the hand. If warm do not open 5)If there is a lot of smoke crawl along the floor where the air is cleaner. 6)Bedding can be thrown down to break a fall if necessary 7)Dont go back for anything 8) Congregate in one place so people can be accounted for 9) If it is necessary to open a window open the top third if possible for more suitable air flow and seal off the bottom of doors with towels to keep smoke out if necessary. 10) Obviously the fire department should be called.
Regarding fires caused by hot fat in pans on the stove, wet a blanket or suitable cloth and cover the pan with this.
On going to bed check cigarettes and other dangerous objects.
EFFECTS OF PROVERBS CHAPTER 31, VERSUS 6 and 7 (Survey).
A while ago I stumbled across Prov 36: vs 6,7 which say: "Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish;let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more."
I decided to do a survey.
When I asked a priest about the meaning of these verses he said that they probably meant what they said.
I wrote and had published two letters about these verses (one in each of two newspapers). The letters questioned the wisdom of these verses.
When I mentioned the extent of the drinking mentioned in these verses(so much that forgetfullness is accomplished)to someone who admitted to drinking a lot on occasion, this person praised the aspect of drinking that allows one to forget one's problems.
Another person, who was drinking at the time I talked about the verses, cheerfully showed that he was complying by pointing meaningfully to his can of beer.
Another person pointed out that there were versus in the Bible opposing strong drink. I agreed with her.
Anther religious woman said that someone else had pointed these verses out to her before I had asked her about them.
These verses seem to be reasonably well known in the Eastern Cape.
Have these verses affected the drinking habits of people?
Eddie Miller
Some years ago somebody (call him X) complained to me that the SABC in its broadcasting was somehow influencing peoples' thoughts by means of the radiation given out. At the time I thought that X had better be careful not to tell this to any psychologist or psychiatrist as he might have been diagnosed as having schizophrenia.
Later I thought that this might not be as strange as it sounded.
For a start it is not surprising that many people complain of buzzing in their heads when living close to cell phone towers. Even if they hear words in their heads they are quite possibly still sane and I explain this as follows:
Cell phone towers operate at microwave frequencies and the microwave auditory effect, also known as the microwave hearing effect or the Frey effect, consists of audible clicks induced by pulsed/modulated microwave frequencies that are generated directly inside the human head without the need of any receiving electronic device. The effect was first reported by persons working in the vicinity of radar transponders during Worls War 2. These induced sounds are not audible to other people nearby.
Research by NASA in the 1970s showed that this effect occurs as a result of thermal expansion of parts of the human ear around the cochlea even at low power density. Later, signal modulation was found to produce sounds or words that appeared to originate intracranially. It was studied for its possible use in communications but has not been developed due to the possible hazardous biological effects of microwave radiation. Similar research conducted in the USSR studied its use in non-lethal weaponry (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia).
If microwaves can cause one to hear words in one's head and the prevalence of microwaves from microwave ovens, cell phone towers, cell phones and other devices is increasing could we expect a higher incidence of "hearing voices" or similar phenomena.
Eddie Miller
Along with global warming there are some changes expected in vegetation, water levels, temperatures in various climatic zones and, I hypothesise, possibly even more earthquakes.
My reasons are explained as follows:
As the surface of the earth heats up the water heats up and expands and so rises. The melting of ice that rests on land mass also contributes to the rise in water levels and so one might wonder whether the slight weight redistribution of water (coming further op onto land and less mass of ice on land where ice is melting) might affect movement of tectonic plates.
It was reported in New Scientist (5 May 2007) that South Asia's monsoons dump so much rain on the Himalayas that the sheer weight appears to suppress seismic activity along the mountain range. Another theory is that the rains trickle down through fissures in the rock and possibly lubricate tectonic plates.
If that is the case, why should we not experience a change in tremor activity on earth because of redistribution of water, which causes a greater area of the surface of the earth to be covered and, possibly more importantly, because when the earths surface gets hotter it should expand (generally heating causes expansion)?
If tectonic plates expand it seems obvious that tremors could result.
Eddie Miller
Concern has been raised that there is a drastic shortage of the staff that are needed to build and run nuclear power stations in South Africa. This of course raises a safety concern and therefore doubt as to whether they should be built at all.
Concerning the uranium 235 that would be used, there is the old problem, that has not been solved in any country, of where the nuclear waste can be permanently stored.
Another concern is what would happen to a nuclear power station should an earthquake occur in the vicinity of the station. Also, if it is built near the sea, a tsunami might affect peoples' safety.
When uranium 235 decays it splits up in many ways and more than 200 isotopes of 35 different elements have been identified among the fission products. Strontium 90 is one of the products and this can combine to form strontium carbonate. Now strontium carbonate is unfortunately incorporated into the bones of animals and human beings and so this radioactive strontium remains in the body. It has been reported that fortunately the amount of strontium carbonate taken into the body can be reduced if the person takes liberal amounts of calcium (for example by means of calcium tablets), but strontium 90 is a very dangerous element.
There is also the worry as to what would happen if the uranium was stolen, perhaps by terrorists.
Then there is doubt as to whether the uranium supplies from the earth would last for many decades. A solution to this problem has been suggested in the so-called breeder reactor that converts the more abundant uranium 238 to plutonium 239, but this substance is extremely toxic and highly reactive (one hundred thousandth of one gram of plutoniam 239 on entering the body can cause cancer).
With all these problems, is it worth building nuclear reactors?
Could countries in Africa with land problems possibly learn some lessons from Mozambique?
In June 1975, after a lot of fighting Samora Machel became president of the People's Republic of Mozambique.
There were big problems with most of the population being illiterate and little infrastructure after all the fighting.
Hospitals and schools were nationalised and greatly improved and the number of school pupils increased and clinics multiplied, but the economy suffered under a socialist economy.
Later more capitalism was introduced and the economy has improved somewhat, but the land has remained nationalised and it has been reported that people are happy with this situation and do not want the land de-nationalised.
Could this concept of nationalised land be a useful one for countries that are having disputes regarding territory?
If, in South Africa, there was compensation to land owners and the nationalisation of this land, could we have a situation where white farmers could stay on this nationalised land and help train new farmers coming onto this land on a fairly permanent basis.
Some South African farmers are leaving for Mozambique. Could this trend be reversed if we took a leaf from their book and worked towards nationalisation of the land?
If after all the warring Mozambique has found a peaceful solution, could we also find it?
Eddie Miller
Bad illnesses caused by cell phone tower:
People in Normandy Court in Perridgevale say they are suffering from bad illnesses caused by the cell phone tower only about 60 metres from them. One of the residents I spoke to said he believed that the tower was affecting the residents with the same sort of problems seen on Special Assignment (sabc3).
The caretaker of Normandy court said that complaints had been received from every flat in the building (46 flats) and that people were very sick and suffering from severe headaches, hearing problems and humming sounds in their heads and the inability to sleep.
She said tha,t personally, when she went outside, a terrible humming sound manifested itself in her body.
She said that a petition had been initiated and they wanted the tower removed. She also referred me to Mr Shaw who administers the building and he said that when it was first advertised that a cell phone tower was to be built in the newspaper, people were asked to send in objections. People in Normandy court had asked him to write in objecting, which he did, but the tower was erected anyway.
People in Port Elizabeth wanting to comment on bad effects from cell phone towers may leave comments on
sahobo.blogspot.com
Eddie Miller
Various problems arise naturally from reading of scripture and a dogmatic approach can cause headaches.
On talking about the extent to which God's saving grace could overcome the condemnation of sin one preacher remarked that some debated whether the Devil himself could be saved. In this regard
Ephesians 1:23 says that God permeates all things ("fillith all in all" Authorized Version) and so it appears that God would permeate even the Devil. It appears that the Devil is doomed, but could the saving grace of God who has permeated the Devil convert and save the Devil from within?
Another issue is perfection. Matthew 5:48 says: Be perfect therefore as your heavenly father is perfect.
An explanation of how one can be perfect, told to me by a preacher, is now given:
Hebrews 4:12 says: For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit...
Now this preacher said that the spirit could be perfect, but the soul may not be perfect, so that we could be perfect, yet sinners.
If we can be perfect, can we become like God in certain aspects?
Various other problems arise and as preachers battle to explain the Bible as a coherent non-contradicting perfect book one might be forgiven for wanting churches to be less demanding in their requirements.
Corporal punishment is banned, but some teachers continue to support it
Reasons for the banning of corporal punishment were given by psychologists, people writing to the press and human rights organisations and guidelines for discipline without its use have been given by the Department of Education.
An argument often used by those supoorting its use is that they can quickly control pupils by using it. However children tend to behave when the punisher is present, but often show more than usual aggression when they are out of school, because they have been stressed out by the corporal punishment.
Professor Holdstock who was previously at the University of the Witwatersrand in the Psychology Department describes the stresses caused during the punishment in which gastric secretions are thrown into turmoil and other bad chemical effects manifest themselves. He believes that the bad effects are long lasting.
A question that naturally arises is: Do people in countries that use corporal punishment show more agression? Psychologists say that agression can show up in subtle ways such as supporting wars, taking it out on weaker people and so on. Many African countries were reported to be using corporal punishment by STOPP (The Society of Teachers Opposed to Physical Punishment).
An experiment was done in which strict a teacher taught a class and then left and a lenient teacher taught a class and left. The children taught by the strict teacher behaved badly after the teacher left, but the children taught by the lenient teacher behaved far better and it was if that teacher was still in the classroom.
It seems that there is overwhelming evidence that problems result from the use of corporal punishment and besides this it is legally regarded as assault.
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