Christmas Lights

     “It’s a gigantic Christmas present to everyone-from me”, says Mike Babick of Prairie Village, Kansas when he was interviewed by Kevin Murphy for Yahoo News.  However, not everyone appreciates his more than a thousand Christmas figures that take a month to set up in his yard.   Some of his neighbors say that his Christmas decorations have become too popular, and that the 250, 000 people every year who drive up and down the street, block driveways, walk across the lawns, and some observers even go to the bathroom on the lawns; all of this is disrespectful and bothersome!  Do you like to decorate for the Christmas season, even though it can be expensive, hazardous, and controversial?  To me, there is nothing more magical and calm about Christmas lights; the lights give me, and many others, a sense of peace and happiness.

     Every year more than 400 million people celebrate Christmas around the world.  The celebration on the 25^th starts with Christmas Eve, Dec. 24^th, but it seems like people are preparing for Christmas earlier and earlier every year.  I think I went into a store this year, right after Halloween, and I saw Christmas decorations for sale.  I think we should at least get through one holiday like Thanksgiving before moving onto the next.  On the flip side, once people have the Christmas decorations up, some don’t take them down until way into January.  There is a couple in Baltimore, MD, Mary and Richard Morgan, who keep their holiday lights up all year round. “I’m a fanatic on Christmas”, say Mary Morgan. (baltimoresun.com). They have gotten some complaints where people have written them letters saying it was time to take down your lights; this just wanted to make them not take them down.   From their point of view, the lights mean brightness and love.  They think that if the decorations put love into people’s hearts one day a year, just think what the whole year would be like for them.  

     I have always loved Christmas lights.  I think this comes from my family.  I had a great grandmother, (Grandma Besl) who lived on the corner of 7^th and  Lacrosse Street
in Lacrosse.  Although, she died when I was eight, I can still remember her display of Christmas lights, statues, and music.  My mom would tell me how people would drive all night long along the street on Christmas Eve and day to see her decorated, festive house!  My mom says her favorite memory is seeing Santa steering his sleigh pulled by reindeer on the rooftop.  This tradition was carried on by my grandfather, (Tom Besl). He would decorate his big, old, Victorian house with lights of different shapes, colors, and sizes to give all the people of the small town of Melrose smiles and joy.  My dad decorates the outside of our house every year too, but not to the magnitude that my grandparents did.  One of the biggest reasons he doesn’t is because of the cost.   As much as he loves the cheer of the holiday, there are decisions to be made before hanging the lights up.

     If you love lights, you will need to be prepared that it could raise your electric bill anywhere from $2.00 to $70.00 or more, according to Duke Energy spokeswoman Paige Layne. (www.gastongazette.com)  The amount depends on how many lights you use and what type of bulb you use.  A family in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, who is known for their Christmas lights, reports that their power bill runs about 1,000, per month.   There are new bulbs today called, LED bulbs, that use 80-90 percent less power than an incandescent bulb.   So what else should people keep in mind when they decide to decorate?  Bruce Littlefield, who is the author of Merry Christmas America, says first of all you need to buy UL rated (Underwriters Laboratories) lights.  They have been tested and don’t have a high lead count.  He also agrees that LED lights will save you lots of money.  Littlefield says, “The difference is that LED lights are a little more expensive in the short run, but are worth it in the long run since they will save you so much on electricity. (http://www.cbsnew.com/)

     Christmas lights create a wonderful atmosphere. Have you ever seen the Rotary Lights at Riverside Park in Lacrosse?  Wow, the lights can take you into a world of unlimited possibilities!  There is nothing more peaceful and tranquil than taking a drive around Riverside Park or just up and down the street seeing the houses perfectly decorated with Christmas lights.  Christmas is a religious holiday, but also a commercial one.  So although Christmas lights can cost some money, be dangerous, and annoying to some, I for one, think it is the best way to decorate for the holidays. Don’t be a Grinch, let the lights shine!

Body Scanners and Pat Downs at Airport: Necessary or Not?

      Everyone wants their “15 minutes of fame” right?  Well, John Tyner, of Oceanside, California got his two weeks ago on Saturday, Nov. 13^th, when he was going through the San Diego Airport.   You can see on YouTube a video of him having a confrontation with airport security regarding the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) new pat-down searches.  Tyner says he wasn’t comfortable with the procedure, where security will slide their hands inside a passenger’s legs and across their chests.  He compared this to a sexual assault.  His story has brought up some great questions about body scanners, and pat downs. Specifically, are they safe? Is the procedure too invasive? Do the procedures violate our constitutional rights, and are they really necessary?

     The TSA fully supports the use of pat-downs, and full body scans. They feel they are safe, and will be able to help find explosives that can’t be detected by metal detectors.  In a statement from The National Institute of Science and Technology and John Hopkins University, “The radiation from the scans is minimal”.   With this being said, people are still concerned about the possible health risks from the radiation the machines put out.  The TSA has gotten reports that the levels of radiation are miniscule.  They compare it to about a thousandth of what you get from a chest x-ray.  There are two types of body scanners; backscatter scanners and millimeter wave scanners.  Backscatter scanners create a black and white two dimensional image that will show a reflection.  Millimeter wave scanners create a black and white three dimensional image by bouncing electromagnetic waves off the body.  The doses of radiation for both scanners are supposedly so small that most scientists who study radiology overlook it.

     Not all people are in agreement that the scanners are safe.  In a report from the University of San Francisco, it says there may be risks of cancer caused by the scanners.  Experts feel that the potential health consequences need to be studied before airports start using scanners.  Arizona State University physics professor, Peter Rez, told MSNBC.com that the radiation from scanners is closer to one fifteenth to one hundredth the amount of a chest x-ray.  It is the pilots, crew, and frequent fliers, which are most concerned with the safety of the scanners.  They worry that if they are consistently going through the scanners that use radiation, this will possibly lead to health problems and increase their risk of cancer.

     What about our constitutional rights?  Michael Roberts, a commercial pilot from Memphis, recently filed a lawsuit claiming that the new pat-down procedures violate his constitutional protections against unnecessary search and seizures. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/).   He is not the only one who feels like this.  Since the new pat-down procedures were put into place on Nov. 1^st, TSA has gotten 700 complaints per day from people who go through airport screenings. It sounds like there are pro’s and con’s to the scanners and body pats. On the other hand, what do people have to say that think they are necessary?

     A CBS News poll released Nov. 15^th showed that 81% of Americans believe airports should use full body scanners to screen passengers.  I am in agreement with them.  If this new technology is going to keep us safe and secure, I am all for it. When I fly on an airplane I want to know that there isn’t a person on the plane sitting next to me that got through security and has an explosive on his body.  I, for one, would rather be delayed a few minutes if that means I am safer when I am on a plane. 

     It will be interesting to see what happens on Wednesday, November 24^th.  Groups of people who are angry and totally against full body scanners are trying to organize a “National Opt-Out Day”.  They want airline passengers to refuse a body scan and insist on the pat down.  Since this is the day before Thanksgiving, it will be one of the busiest days of the year.  This is really going to slow down security lines and cause chaos in the airports.  The reason they want people to do this is to get Congress to change the way passengers are screened.  All I can say is, “I am glad I wasn’t going to be flying that day!”

    

     The question that needs to be answered is, “how safe do we really want to be”?  I read that TSA has already installed 365 full body scanners in 68 airports across the U.S. and they want to have 500 installed by the end of the year, and 1, 000 by the end of 2011. (www.chicagotribune.com). I, for one, think that this technology is probably safe, and that Mr. Tyner’s experience was overblown.   The body scanners seem like they will be very important to airport security.  I agree it is something that will be critical in stopping future terrorist’s attacks, so I am in support of the body scanners.