The world is fraught with dangers of every description: robberies, murders, rapes and assaults occur in every venue, whether school classrooms and hallways, places of work, store parking lots, sidewalks, highways or homes. We all need a protective shield.

“Japanese scientists say that watching TV for hours can raise the risk of dying from a blood clot in the lungs. Researchers studied the viewing habits of 86,000 people between 1988 and 1990—then monitored their health over the next 19 years… for every extra two hours of TV watched per day, the risk of [death]… increased by 40%.

“The German 18-year-old who killed nine people at a Munich shopping centre on Friday night was obsessed with mass killings, owned a book on US school shootings and played computer shooting games. Most of his victims were fellow teenagers” (The Guardian, July 24, 2016).

“Following Brexit, the question of ‘what is Britain’s role in the world?’ has come into sharper focus than at any time for decades’” (The Telegraph, July 20, 2016).

According to a recent UN report, “Almost a quarter of a million children in parts of Nigeria’s Borno state formerly controlled by Boko Haram are suffering from severe malnutrition, the UN children’s agency says” (BBC, July 19, 2016). The report continues, “In areas where Boko Haram militants had been in control, it found people without water, food or sanitation. Last month, a charity said people fleeing Boko Haram had starved to death” (ibid.).