Sars and War

Greetings,

I haven't been around that long, but I do have in hand my World Health
Organization immunization card and sure enough, from the mid-70's, are the
entries for smallpox vaccination.

This is the vaccine for a horrendous disease that was supposed to be
eradicated by the early 80's, but supposedly some one cooked some up, and is
planning to reintroduce it.

SARS is a pneumonia that spreads fast, and can be fatal for some elderly and
children.

Happily one does not necessarily have to travel to do this business, but the
travel part is fun. From 1980 to 2000 the world was a relatively peaceful
place, so what we have now - war, terrorism and disease may seem rather new.

I don't think it is as bad yet as it was in the 70's, although it very well
may get as bad. Afghanistan shares a common border with China, US control of
Iraq alarms Russia. When Nixon went to China in 1971, the Chinese had over a
million men in North Vietnam supporting the Vietnamese war effort against
USA. It won't be any different this time around.

While terrorists were shooting up airports and bombing discos, I was spending
a lot of time in both. And again, in China, I spent a lot of time with
people from these countries. They may not have wanted ME dead, since that
would be rude, inasmuch as I was sitting with them, but they sure wanted US
dead. People were quite angry with us back then, too.

In spite of disease, war, terrorism, life went on. One has to take far more
precautions against pickpocketing than one has to worry about disease, war or
terrorism. I disagree with those who say "pretend you are a Canadian
overseas" or otherwise somehow disguise your nationality. First it cannot be
done: if David Duke and Louis Farrakhan both got off a crowded flight in
Frankfurt, everyone would know instantly they are both Americans. We simply
cannot hide the fact. What saves you is, again, your insignificance.

As for disease, eat right and exercise. I belong to sports clubs in various
foreign cities and when disease was rampant we still splashed blood sweat and
tears all over each other. Generally disease kills the unhealthy, so stay
healthy!

Pope John Paul II has picked an interesting theme for his pontificate, "be
not afraid." It is an interesting choice of words. He does not say "be
fearless;" he states it in the negative, "be not afraid." He does not say
"be courageous" since that may be asking too much in these times. He is
proposing to us how to be, "be not afraid." I think what this means is there
is indeed plenty to be afraid of, and we should see it, all there is to be
afraid of, and know it. But having considered it all, be not afraid. Keep
going.

As bad as it gets, it can be very good, but you have to keep going.

John

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