THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 8, 1996 TAG: 9607060016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 77 lines
A pair of Republicans, state Sen. Mark L. Earley of Chesapeake and Del. Robert Tata of Virginia Beach, have agreed to introduce bills in the General Assembly to provide for printing a toll-free Gamblers Anonymous telephone number on the back of Virginia Lottery tickets.
If the world were entirely just, opponents of their bills whould be required to gamble until they were head over heels in debt. Shouldn't take long.
Since Virginia soaks its citizens for hundreds of millions in gambling losses annually, the least it can do is provide one little number for gamblers to call when they realize they are out of control. The realization usually occurs only after a life or lives are in shambles, but better to get help late than never. You couldn't make it up
Oh earth, what changes thou hast seen, Tennyson wrote. He didn't know the half of it. Not long ago, communist China was the enemy and our goal was to keep them from ever catching us in rocket technology.
Yet on July 3, a Long March 3 rocket built by the China Great Wall Industry Corp. put a telecommunications satellite built by the American Hughes Aircraft Co., into Earth orbit for a Hong Kong company. Not all growth is good
A new report by the Population Reference Bureau predicts the world is heading for sorrow. If present trends continue, world population now at 6 billion will reach 100 billion by the end of the 21st century.
It won't happen, of course. Economist Herb Stein is the author of the witty remark that reserves to be dubbed Stein's Law: ``The only thing comforting about an unsustainable trend is that it can't go on forever.''
That's certainly the case as regards a trend that would freight the Earth with an unsustainable 100 billion humans. They will either voluntarily control their numbers or apocalyptic forces will do the job - war, famine, pestilence and death.
The bureau reports that in the industrialized countries, population growth has effectively ceased. It has slowed dramatically in parts of Latin America and Asia. But in Africa, the Middle East and some Central American countries growth is out of control. Overall, that produces a birthrate double what is needed to produce a stable world population.
Sub-saharan African families, for instance, are averaging six children each. As a result, the region is expected to reach 1.25 billion inhabitants by 2025. If it weren't for the effects of the AIDS epidemic sweeping the region, that number would be 100 million higher.
Thus the poorest parts of the globe are adding the most population. Catastrophe can't be far behind. The solution is population control through family planning, but that requires education and aid.
The United States was once a leader in supplying such resources. Misguided abortion foes have persuaded politicians to dramatically curtail all family planning aid in an attempt to oppose abortion. The results promise to be tragic.
Will those who oppose help for poor countries in controlling their birthrate rush to the rescue when wars over resources occur, famines sweep overpopulated regions, epidemics flourish and primitive public health conditions cost millions of lives? It would be pleasant to think so. Signs that say BUMP
The trouble with Virginia road signs that say ``BUMP'' is that they don't say where. After passing the sign, a driver hits a small bump and wonders if that's the one the sign means. The driver relaxes, then hits the big bump.
Many West Virginia ``BUMP'' signs are far more helpful. They are placed beside bumps, and each bump sign has a black arrow pointing diagonally down at the ground, as though to say, ``Watch out! It's right there!''
The signs are visible far enough away for a driver to slow before the bump. They are helpful.
Another complaint against Virginia signs, at least those on the interstates, is that they say which gas stations and motels are available at different exits but give no clue as to how close to the exits the gas stations and motels are. A motorists takes an exit to get gas and finds himself on a narrow road in the woods with no civilization in sight.
The interstate information signs should give the distances from exits. by CNB