The Janplex Post

 Drinking while pregnant Very soon pregnant women in Britain will be banned from consuming alcohol by law until the baby is born. Any pregnant woman who violates the law can be prosecuted for drinking while pregnant just in the same way that people are prosecuted for drunk driving. The justification for this proposed law is based on the findings that unborn babies can be harmed very seriously by alcohol consumed by their mothers. This proposed ban on alcohol consumption by pregnant women comes few weeks after another controversial law that will ban people from smoking inside a car with a child. It is difficult to establish the next group of people to be targeted by the government. Could it be the overweight and obese people? Should the government ban this group from eating fast foods? Having a blanket ban on alcohol consumption by all pregnant women will depict them as idiots who cannot make informed decisions about the health of their unborn baby. This will put all...

 Smoking Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes ulcers, inflammation, and sores in the lining of the rectum and colon. This occurs when the cell linings in the colon are destroyed by inflammation, resulting in bleeding and pus formation. There are different types of ulcerative colitis, depending on the location of the inflammation: Ulcerative proctitis: Inflammation in the rectum and lower colon. Distal colitis: Inflammation on the left side of the colon. Ulcerative pancolitis: Inflammation affecting the entire colon. Symptoms of ulcerative colitis include abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, anemia, fatigue, weight loss, skin lesions, and loss of appetite. It is crucial to seek medical attention if you experience any of these symptoms. Research has shown that non-smokers have a higher risk of developing ulcerative colitis than smokers. Several studies, including one showing a 42% reduced risk for smokers, support this finding. Possible explanations ...

 Anti-gay law protesters Uganda is the latest African Country to pass anti-gay law after Nigeria.   The new legislation prohibits homosexual acts and offenders will face prosecution and possibly a lengthy jail term.    Homosexuals in the country now have two options.   They should practice their homosexuality in secret or defy the law and risk prosecution and jail term.   The west are not happy over this law and have threatened to punish Uganda by withdrawing its financial aid to the country. Before justifying or criticising the west for its intention to punish Ugandan for its anti-gay law it is important to understand the issue of homosexuality in Africa.   Homosexuality is one of the few issues in Africa which tends to unite the vast majority of people on the continent regardless of their religiosity.     The Moslems, Christians, Hindus, and pagans all tend to support legislations against homosexuality.   For them, homosexuality ...

Costs and benefits of cycling Cycling is good for you. Why? Inactivity is one of the major causes of heart diseases according to research.  Health campaigners tend to recommend some forms of exercise every week to overcome this problem.  The provision of bicycles for hire in the city of London is one of these schemes which is supported by both the mayor of London and Barclays Bank.  Should we all go cycling to gain these cycling benefits? There is no doubt that cycling for some minutes on regular basis is good for the body.  This is supported by the latest publication in the British Medical Journal showing a strong positive relationship between cycling and cardiovascular health. However, cycling has both physical and internal risks.  One of the physical risks of cycling is related to being knock down by a vehicle.  Last year up to 10 cyclists were knocked down and killed in London by vehicles.  Many more were injured and may never cycle agai...

 Alcohol related violence Evidence suggests that alcohol abuse is related to large amount of violence in the UK. Road rage and street fights on Friday and Saturday nights are some of such crimes. Controlling alcohol abuse therefore can help reduce these crimes. Policy makers and lobbying groups in the UK are proposing increment in alcohol price as a way of tackling this alcohol problem. However, this proposal is unfair and may be counter-productive. The advocates of alcohol price increment are either high earners such as government ministers, doctors or teetotallers who do not drink alcohol. Any increment in alcohol price will not affect them. The people who will be affected by this alcohol price increment are not just alcohol manufacturing companies as claimed by advocates of alcohol price increment. They also include the vast majority of low paid citizens who consume alcohol sensibly. For these people, consuming alcohol is one of the coping mechanisms for dealing ...

 Illegal mining Illegal gold mining is one of the biggest problems facing South Africa. It is second only to armed robbery. It is estimated to cost the country about 5 billion pounds annually. This week two of the mining groups responsible for this costly illegal activity were involved in a serious dispute leading one of the groups to seal up the mining entrance and exit for the other group. The alarm about these trapped illegal miners was raised by passers-by who heard the miners scream for help. Rescue workers who responded to this incident have managed to rescue only a handful of the trapped illegal miners. The vast majority of the illegal miners, totally about 200 men, remained holed up inside the mine. They are refusing to come out for fear of arrest. As a result, all the rescue attempts have been suspended until the trapped miners request for assistance. Knowing that they face arrest on reaching the surface the trapped illegal miners might choose to die inside...

Smoking Smoking is costly to the UK government. Thousands of people for example contract smoking related diseases including lung and throat cancer annually in the UK. The cost of treating these people often runs into millions of pounds, and is borne by the government. The government has tried to reduce this burden by banning smoking in all public places including pubs. It wants to take this step further by proposing to ban smoking inside a car with a child. Many drivers however consider this latest move by the government to ban smoking inside a car with a child as an infringement of their civil liberties. These people consider their car as their private property and not property of the state. Like other personal belongings, they want to do whatever they like inside their car including smoking. However, it is not everything that car owners like to do inside their private cars that they are allowed to do by the state. Car owners for example cannot drive while over t...