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AIDS: Alarm
Spreads
A
IDS-Acquired lmmune
Deficiency Syndrome–
is spreading so rapidly it has
become the leading cause of
death formen in New York
City aged 30 to 39 years
and the second leading
cause of death for women
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"Quicksand''
inQuakes
T
he impact of a quake on
unstable soil was
revealed in Mexico City,
Mexico, one year ago.
In September 1985
Mexico City suffered l ar
worse damage than
Acapulco, Mexico, though
both were roughly
Gamblng:
PoorLose
Most
T
hose participating most
frequently in lotteries
come from the
middle-to-lower-income
groups and lower
educational status. Lotteries
and the projects they
finance represen! a subtle,
unrecognized tax on those
least able to bear it: the
poor.
In 1984 alone,
$177,000,000,000 was
spent in legal and illegal
gambling in the United
States. Less than five
percent of that total was
October 1986
aged 30 to 34 years.
Recen! tests in the U.S.
show a steady spillover of
the disease from its
reservoirs in the homosexual
and intravenous drug-user
communities into the general
population.
Physicians are alarmed at
the rapid evolution of the
AIDS phenomenon. Lates!
victims are dying from a list
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equidistan! from the
epicenter. The capital sits
on an old lake bed of soft
clay that, in the words of
one engineering expert,
"vibrates like a bowl of
Jello, accenting the
vibrations.' '
The "quicksand"
phenomenon develops
especially in soils of thick
layers of sand that turn into
mush when shaken by a
accounted for by state
lotteries. But more and more
states are beginning to rely
on lotteri es to supplement
areas of their strained
budgets.
Prometed as a means to
help finance educational
facility construction within
that state, the California
lottery took in
$1 ,640,000,000 in just its
first eight months. That
unbelievable sum meant the
17 million adults eligible to
purchase the lottery tickets
each would have purchased
$96.47 worth-an average
of $1 2 a month each. And
since many of those eligible
do not play the lottery at all ,
the average amount
gambled by those who do
of terminal ailments ditferent
from those affecting initial
AIDS victims five years ago.
''Ciinicians from Bastan to
San Francisco," reported
the May 30
Wa/1 Street
Journal,
"now realize that
AIDS is a hydra-headed
complex of diseases,
embracing not only the
narrow syndrome first
described, but many more
strong quake. Buildings on
such soils run the risk of
toppling over.
Earthquake engineers say
large buildings in areas
where the soil may liquefy in
a major quake should be
constructed on huge
concrete rafts in order to be
stable in a quake.
A majar earthquake in the
central United States will
give some soils the
consistency of quicksand,
earthquake officials reported
recently.
The problem of "soil
liquefaction" is a
phenomenon in any
earthquake setting. The
entire Mississippi River valley
is at high risk for soil
liquefaction in a quake
registering 7 or above on
the Richter scale. •
play is much higher.
Meanwhile down under,
Australians spend an
average of US$41 a month
on some form of gambling.
Government lotteries there
have also become a majar
source of revenue.
But gambling is not just a
U.S. or Australian
phenomenon. One survey
conducted in Britain in 1977
showed that more !han 94
percent of the adults there
had tried some form of
gambling.
For every person who
wins a "million," millions of
others gamble and lose.
8oth individuals and
governments in search of
easy money have forgotten
that it is diligence and hard
infections and cancers."
The AIDS crisis is so
severe that more people are
expected to die of AIDS in
the U.S. five years from
now-54,000-than are
killed in automobile
accidents yearly.
In the absence of a
vaccine, health otficials and
política! authorities in
severely atfected areas
stress the need for better
"control measures,"
especially "education."
But what most mean by
education is instruction in
so-called "safe sex"
procedures. Few, if any, go
so lar as to educate the
public that homosexuality
itself is not only biologically
illogical but spiritually a
sin- " men with men
committing what is shameful,
and receiving in themselves
the penalty of their error
which was due" (Rom. 1:27.
Revised Authorized
Version) .
Until today's altitudes
change, the AIDS epidemic
is likely to continue to
careen out of control.
People today reject the
moral knowledge that would
preven! such suffering (Hos.
4:6). •
work that produce riches,
not get-rich-quick schemes
that leed on greed (Prov.
10:4). •