Facts 3

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07-06-02

Is Botox, the substance people are having injected into their foreheads
to smooth wrinkles <http://dev.tcla.net/jump.php?id=27509> , really a
deadly poison?

Yes. Botox is botulinum toxin type A, a potentially lethal neurotoxin.
Botulinum is the toxic byproduct of Clostridium botulinum, a naturally
occurring bacterium that sometimes contaminates canned food that has
been improperly processed. If a large dose of the toxin is consumed
along with live bacilli, the person who consumed it can die. But the
Botox people are having injected for cosmetic
<http://dev.tcla.net/jump.php?id=27570>  reasons is a purified version
that has been extremely diluted. It is safe in small doses.

  _____ 

Is it true that Botox paralyzes the muscles of the face?

That's how it works. Botulinum is a paralytic. It temporarily paralyzes
muscles into relaxation by interfering with the action of acetylcholine,
which transmits nerve impulses to the muscles. Botox is great for
smoothing out frown lines between the eyebrows, crow's feet at the
corners of the eye, and bands of wrinkles across the forehead. But too
much Botox can cause a masklike expression or drooping eyelid. When used
around the mouth, too much can even cause drooling. Even when used
correctly, Botox freezes the forehead and makes it impossible to frown.
That's particularly bad for actors and those who need to show intense
emotion. Fortunately, though, the effects of Botox are temporary.
Injections need to be repeated every three or four months. If a mistake
is made, it will eventually disappear.

  _____ 

Is it true that Botox is so popular now that people are having "Botox"
parties?

Apparently so. In-home "Botox" parties, where a doctor shows up to
deliver Botox injections to a whole houseful of eager customers, are
becoming more common. They may become even more popular now that the FDA
has approved Botox for use "to temporarily improve the appearance of
moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows." (Botox has been
approved for other uses for years, and doctors
<http://dev.tcla.net/jump.php?id=27803>  have always been able to
legally use if for frown lines, but the new approval will no doubt boost
its popularity.)

06-06-02

Is it dangerous to keep your engine running while refueling your car?

According to the Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock (Ron Shaffer), who
writes a regular column on commuting in the Washington DC area, it is
very dangerous to leave a car engine running while refueling. The
practice is also illegal. What could happen? A spark could ignite
gasoline vapors, or the "glow" from underneath a running engine could
ignite spilled gasoline. Violation of this code, at least in the
Washington DC metro area (Dr. Gridlock points out), is considered a
Class 1 misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and a
year in jail.

  _____ 

If you're caught in a thunderstorm, will your car tires protect you from
being struck by lightning?
No. Lightning is powerful enough to travel through or around rubber.
However, your car is still a good place to be during a storm. If
lightning strikes, it will probably travel around the metal shell of the
car and you'll be unhurt. Just don't touch the metal!

  _____ 

Are cell phones in a car dangerous?

The makers of cell phones like to convince you that cell phones will
make you safe by giving you a way to get help when you break down or
have an accident. That may be so, but using a cell phone while driving
makes you more likely to HAVE an accident in the first place. According
to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, you are
four times more likely to get into an accident when using a cell phone,
even if it's the kind that is hands-free, than if you are not using one.
The problem is not holding the phone, but the distraction of talking. Is
talking to a passenger just as dangerous? No. Passengers are able to
stop talking when they can see the driver is having problems and they
also can look out for danger and give the driver warnings.

05-06-02

Who are the Hottentots?
According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, a Hottentot is a
member of any of a group of Khoisan-speaking pastoral peoples of
southern Africa. The name is actually Dutch, thanks to the fact that
these groups were displaced by Dutch settlers (their descendants live
primarily in western South Africa and in Namibia). Towards the end of
the nineteenth century, when many African nations were being colonized
by Europeans, the name "Hottentot" became (to the Europeans, that is)
synonymous with "savage."

  _____ 

Who was the "Venus Hottentot"?

Northern Europeans at the end of the nineteenth century had a tendency
to believe that they were at the top of a human "evolutionary tree," and
that other races, including the Hottentots, were at the bottom. Charles
Darwin's "The Origin of Species" (1859) and "The Descent of Man" (1871)
were being applied left and right to justify domination by European
peoples over other peoples. The Venus Hottentot was the skeleton of an
African woman that was measured and examined by French scientists as
part of a new discipline that sought to show that criminals and
"savages" were less evolved than European "civilized" peoples. One of
the scientists who examined the Venus Hottentot actually pronounced: "I
have never seen a human head more like an ape than that of this woman."
  _____ 

What was criminal anthropology?

"Criminal anthropology" is the above-mentioned "scientific" discipline,
which rested on the assumption that criminals (as well as non-European
"savages") could be recognized by physical characteristics that
indicated a more primitive state. The Italian physician Cesare Lombroso
pioneered the discipline and for years prisoners were measured and their
physical characteristics carefully recorded as data. According to
Lombroso, "born criminals" could easily be recognized, even before they
committed crimes, by their "enormous jaws, high cheekbones, prominent
superciliary arches, solitary lines in the palms, extreme size of the
orbits, handle-shaped ears found in criminals, savages, and apes,
insensibility to pain, extremely acute sight, tattooing, excessive
idleness, love of orgies, and the irresponsible craving of evil for its
own sake."

04-06-02

Arachne was turned by the Greek goddess Athena into a spider. Arachne's
problem was her pride. She was really good at weaving, one of the
household arts sacred to Athena. She was SO good that people started
comparing her work to that of the goddess herself. The proper thing to
do in that case is to politely deny it and remind your fans that NO ONE
is as good as the goddess. But Arachne just ate that stuff up! And when
the goddess Athena herself appeared to her in the guise of an old woman
to give her a second chance to show some humility, she didn't. Instead,
she dared to challenge the goddess to a weaving competition. Things went
downhill from there. Athena went first and wove a tapestry that depicted
prideful humans being punished by the gods (a warning, you might say).
Then Arachne went. Her tapestry actually WAS better than that of Athena.
But it was also terribly insulting, showing the gods engaging in immoral
behavior. Athena destroyed it and Arachne, devastated, tried to hang
herself. Athena turned her into a spider (a weaver) instead. That's why
we call spiders "arachnids."

  _____ 

What is an "Achille's heel"?

An "Achille's heel" is a vulnerable spot. The phrase originates in Greek
myth with the hero Achilles. Born of a mortal and a sea-nymph, Achilles
did not, unfortunately, inherit his mother's immortality. In an effort
to provide immortality for him, she took him to the sacred river Styx
and dipped him in. She had to hold him by the heel to do it, so that was
the ONLY part of Achilles that was not covered by the waters and
remained prone to injury. You couldn't hurt him anywhere else. Sadly,
while at war, Achilles got shot with a poisoned arrow in - you guessed
it - the heel. He promptly died.

  _____ 

What is a caduceus?

You may not know the name, but you've probably seen it: a caduceus is
the serpentine staff long associated with the medical profession (two
snakes entwined around a staff). It's actually the symbol of peace
carried by the Greek god Hermes (Hermes was the messenger god and so a
pair of wings was later added to denote the winged sandals he had). The
US Army medical corps adopted the caduceus as their insignia because it
looked so similar to the staff carried by the mythical Asclepius, the
famous Greek physician. Ascelpius' staff, with only one snake and no
wings, is considered the true symbol of medicine and was adopted by the
American Medical Association.

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03-06-02

What was the US population at the start of the Civil War?

The US population in 1861, the start of the Civil War, was small in comparison to today: just over 30 million Americans. More than 600,000 Americans would be killed over the next four years, and more than 500,000 wounded.

_____

What was the first state to secede from the Union?

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union. It did so after Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election in 1860.

_____

Where did the fighting begin?

The attack by confederate troops on Ft. Sumpter in South Carolina on April 12 marked the start of the war. President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion. The Battle of Bull Run, in July 1861, was the first major battle. Hundreds of well-to-do civilians, who believed Union troops would quickly put an end to the Rebels, actually attended the first battle as spectators. They even hired caterers to make elaborate picnic baskets! Unfortunately for them, the Confederates gained the upper hand in the battle and sent Union troops running. Several spectators were captured by Confederate troops.