Thursday, August 19, 2010Opinion

The Brownsville States-Graphic

page A4

By 28th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Clayburn Peeples

Calvin's Corner

By Calvin Carter, Staff Writer

The Brownsville States-Graphic(USPS ISSN 08909938) is published weekly by Haywood County Newspapers

L.L.C., 42 South Washington, P.O. Box 59, Brownsville TN 38012.

Periodicals postage paid at Brownsville, TN.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

The Brownsville States-Graphic, P.O. Box 59, Brownsville, TN 38012

“A publication of American Hometown Publishing”DEADLINES:

News, Monday at Noon • Advertising, Monday at NoonClassifi ed Advertising, Monday at Noon

Society news, Monday at Noon Legals, Monday at Noon

SUBSCRIPTIONS (PER YEAR):Haywood County $35; In-state $42; Out-of-state $49

Communications with the newspaper

must include the author’s signature,

address and telephone number. All letters to the editor refl ect the opinions of the

writer and are not necessarily those of the newspaper. The newspaper is

not responsible for unsolicited material. We reserve the right to reject or shorten letter to the editor.

731-772-1172

BrownsvilleSTATES-GRAPHICSTATES-GRAPHIC

Scott Whaley,Editor & Publisher

Calvin Carter,Rebecca GrayStaff Writer

Sara Clark,Josh AndersonGraphic Design

Terry ThompsonSales Manager

Leticia OrozcoReceptionist

Vicky Fawcett,Office Manager

Scott Whaley,Editor & Publisher

Vicky Fawcett,Offi ce Manager

Terry ThompsonSales Manager

Ceree Peace PostonReceptionist

Calvin Carter,Staff Writer

Julie Pickard,Staff Writer

Matt GarrettGraphic Designer

Here’s a joke I once heard from a friend a few years ago. Granted it’s probably not on a Richard Pryor or George Carlin caliber, but it’s worth at least a pity chuckle or two.

Joe Smith starts the day early, having set his alarm clock (made in China), for 6:00 A.M.

While his coffee pot (made in China) is perking, he puts his blow dryer (made in Taiwan) to work and shaves with his electric razor (made in China).

He puts on a dress shirt (made in Taiwan), his designer jeans (made in Singapore), and a pair of tennis shoes (made in Korea).

After cooking up some breakfast in his new electric skillet (made in Philippines), he sits down to figure out on his calculator (made in Mexico), how much he can spend today.

After setting his watch (made in Switzerland) to the radio (made in China), he goes out, gets in his car (made in Germany) and goes looking - as he has been for months - for a good paying American job.

At the end of another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe decides to relax for a while.

He puts on a pair of sandals (made in China), pours himself a glass of wine (made in France), and turns on his TV (made in Japan)...and ponders again why he can’t find a good paying American job.

The joke comes courtesy of China’s recent accession in the global economy.

That’s right.Remember months

back, when one edition of Calvin’s Corner discussed the inevitable super power shift between the U.S. and China?

Well China just got one step closer.

The country was announced as No. 2, as far as world economies, knocking down Japan.

Global analysts, amateur economists, and just about anyone else that sleeps with an economics book underneath their pillow, are already predicting that China will become No. 1 as early as 2027.

Considering the immeasurable products we use and buy that are made in China—honestly take a moment and look at five random items and tell me they weren’t made in China—should we be surprised?

Perhaps not.Many would point to

China’s huge population, currently listed as 1.3 billion, give or take a few, but that’s more of an obstacle than a plus, considering that a large portion is a part of the country’s poverty problem. In this case, bigger is not necessarily better.

You may also consider China’s recent and storied political history and a botched past attempt to transform into an industrial powerhouse, making this more of a climb out of the ashes.

In history, you study and hear about the shifts in global economic power, but to see it in action is weird.

As a child, Japan always seemed like that top innovative powerhouse, visually shrink-wrapped in some mythical mirror that gave the nearest look into the future. For example, the thought,

“If any hover cars

emerge at all, it’s going to be birthed from Japan,” always sprang into my mind.

But that thought was always followed with “But the U.S. is going to revolutionize the idea and make those hover cars really cool.”

Now, as an adult, Japan and the U.S. are both struggling to keep afloat. Funny how times change as one gets older.

I’ve already commented on what the U.S. needs; a shot in the arm for innovation and focus on math and science.

Education is key. And a balanced U.S.

business system—I leave the how’s and specifics up to you of course as every idea I’ve had on this point has either left me hating myself for even mentioning government control in the same breath or confusedly babbling rutabaga in the hopes that a storm of ideas will strike my brain—wouldn’t hurt either.

The next 30 years will be interesting to see. If China’s rise is inevitable, then surely the U.S.’s rise to a better economy can’t be that far off right?

For the sake of future generations, I certainly hope so.

Made In China

Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! “Is it just me,” the man said, “or is the heat hotter than it used to be?” “What?” I asked, not exactly understanding what he was getting at. “The heat never used to bother me,” he went on, “even when it was in the high 90’s, but now it just saps my energy completely. You think it’s because of air conditioning?” Of course he’s not the only one saying things like that; you hear comments like that all the time when it’s as hot as it has been the last two weeks, and they’re all correct. We are all suffering more from the heat than we used to, because every one of us is older than we used to be, and the likelihood of suffering a heat related health disorder increases with age, as does the severity of heat related illnesses. Exposure to really high temperatures that would only cause cramps in a 17-year-old might cause heat exhaustion in a 40-year-old and full-blown hyperthermia (heat stroke) in a 60-year-old. Most people don’t know this, and even those who do usually don’t even take the extra precaution of drinking extra water. Even older people, who are most susceptible to heat disorders, often fail to take basic precautions. That’s too bad, because extreme heat is the most dangerous kind of weather we face. As a matter of fact, of all weather phenomena, it is heat that is the real killer. During the last decade, more people were killed by heat waves than by floods, tornadoes and lightning strikes together.Not only that, the number of heat related deaths is thought to be

highly under reported. In addition to the physical damage extreme heat does to us, there is also the psychological toll it takes. The stress caused by excessive heat has been associated with all sorts of violent crimes, some of which, of course, lead to even more deaths. And don’t even think of the awesome economic cost of a heat wave. Heat kills plants and other animals just like it does humans. A police dog in Atlanta succumbed to the heat a few days ago; so did Franklin the Rhinoceros at the Jackson, Mississippi zoo. As I write this, our current heat wave has abated, slightly, and the worse may be over, but we are definitely going through a heat wave to remember. For one reason, it has been one of the most uncomfortable on record. That’s one reason my friend complained that he couldn’t take this heat wave the way he used to be able to.This heat wave has been harder to take, for two reasons: First, even though it hasn’t been the hottest summer on record, it has been one of the most humid, and the old saying, “It’s not the heat; it’s the humidity,” is partially correct. The measures of both go into those stratospheric heat indices the weather people have bombarded us with. The heat indices are abnormally high this summer because in addition to it being extremely hot, relative humidity is higher than normal as well. Normally during a heat wave the humidity is a little lower than normal, but this summer it has been higher than usual. Exacerbating things is the fact that as the temperature goes up,

the damaging effect of even modest increases in relative humidity becomes greater and greater, because the high humidity causes our bodies to work much harder to get rid of heat. The other factor helping to make the heat unbearable this summer has been the higher than average nighttime temperatures we have endured, even for a heat wave. Nighttime lows have hovered in the high 70’s and low 80’s for the past several days, and significantly, nearly all of the real killer heat waves in the past have featured nighttime temperatures that failed to drop below 75 degrees. Most people know that plants suffer from such conditions, but humans do, too. When nights remain that hot, people without air-conditioning simply cannot cool their bodies down for prolonged periods of time. This causes health stresses for them that build up to the point that some suffer heat strokes or heart attacks. And, of course, the longer the heat hangs on, the more dangerous it becomes. Once again, older people are much more vulnerable than others. Often, tragically, they are so fearful of criminals breaking into their houses that they barricade themselves inside their houses and cause the heat to rise even more. Saturday’s Commercial Appeal reported that yet another Memphian had died from this summer’s brutal heat, the 16th so far. There may be more to come. So let’s be extra careful about getting too warm, because even though it’s not as searing as it was last week, it’s still August, and it’s still dangerously hot. Stay cool.

Heat Wave