C70:arms-d (07/21/82)
>From HGA@MIT-MC Tue Jul 20 23:55:55 1982
Arms-Discussion Digest Volume 0 : Issue 144
Today's Topics:
Women in the Israel Defense Forces
Responses to end of world scenario
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Date: 18 July 1982 02:45-EDT
From: Charles Frankston <CBF at MIT-MC>
Subject: Women in the Israel Defense Forces
Israeli women did indeed fight in the War of Independence (1948-1949).
The movies "Exodus" and "Cast a Giant Shadow" were both about that war
and thus were not inaccurate in depicting women in combat roles.
However, as far as every other war that Israel has ever fought, the
comments about women serving support roles only are correct. IDF
women still receive full combat training however, just in case.
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Date: 20 Jul 1982 02:57:31-PDT
From: pur-ee!Physics.els at Berkeley
Subject: Responses to end of world scenario
{Sesh.Murthy}--Seriously, I think you are overestimating the
influence of the US and the USSR in preventing wars.
I think that without anybody present ot provide really
sophisticated arms the number of wars will decrease.
Wishful thinking! All the potential wars that I mentioned are
rooted in ancient racial hatred, etc. These groups will try to
exterminate each other with stone knives if necessary! However, you
are partly correct, some wars may calm down without the USSR
constantly provoking anarchy.
--Again you are underestimating the capability of
nations to survive. I know for a fact that India produces
most of the food it requires. I am sure the rest of the
world can also produce food to meet its own needs. Also
antibiotics are produced in most countries and I don't see
why disease should kill so many people.
You seem to be the only one on our planet who has access to such
a fact. Maybe you should inform the starving multitudes in India,
especially the crews who go through Calcutta at dawn to collect the
tens of thousands who have died during the night of starvation. If
the rest of the world has the capability to produce their needed food,
why does the American (& Canadian) farmer still have a job? As for
antibiotics, how many governments do you think will have the manpower,
or the inclination to distribute such medicine? In most nations,_
medicine is strictly for the rich and powerful. Not even mentioning
all the occasions when antibiotics are either ineffective or downright
useless.
As far as UV and skin cancer, I remember seeing a chart a year or
so ago. It was a curve of time after the blowup vs. sunlight exposure
time for skin cancer doubling dose. I'm not sure what it was from, it
may have been in an issue of "Physics and Society". The chart was for
something like 40 degrees north latitude, with the comment that the
same basic curve applied globally with appropriate shift in the axes.
At 40 degrees N, the worst was about 18 months after, with an exposure
of less than fifteen minutes as the doubling dose for skin cancer.
The chart had not returned to normal even after 20 years!Certainly,
the doubling exposure in the Southern Hemisphere will be much less,
but given the awesome maximum it should still be an appreciable effect
for people who are in the field 15 hours a day trying to scratch a
living from the soil.
els [Eric Strobel]
pur-ee!pur-phy!els
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End of Arms-D Digest
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