Watching the World
Witchcraft in School
◆ High schools in Fresno, California, have introduced a course in witchcraft and black magic. Although the courses are said to cover these subjects only as literature, they are awakening deep interest. Consequently the sale of books on black magic, witchcraft and devil worship are booming in the area. One bookstore owner observed: “I don’t know how deep they go into it in class, but they certainly get these kids interested in witchcraft and devil worship.”
SST Endangers Environment
◆ Recently the United States bowed out of the race to market a supersonic airliner. Only the planes jointly produced by Britain and France and the one produced by Russia are planned for production. Test models of each are now flying. Opponents of the SST have expressed fears about the detrimental effect it could have on the environment. Recently Dr. Harold Johnston, the man who was first to measure the rate at which nitric oxide breaks down ozone, added his voice to the opponents. He estimated that, because of the altitude at which they fly, a fleet of 500 SST’s that operated, on an average, seven hours a day could seriously affect the protective ozone layer that shields the earth from ultraviolet rays. The nitric oxide from the exhaust of the planes, he said, would reduce by half the ozone content of the atmosphere in the space of one year. The result, he said, would be that “all animals of the world would be blinded if they lived out of doors during the daytime.” This would be due to the great increase in ultraviolet rays. His associates went further and said the ultraviolet rays would be so intense that they would kill all plant life except what is growing underwater. His view has increased the concern of many over the manufacturing of this plane.
Warning to Pencil Chewers
◆ People have been repeatedly assured that wooden lead pencils do not contain lead. But now the New York Health Department’s Bureau of Lead Poisoning is warning people against chewing wooden lead pencils. It turns out that some pencils have a lead content in their paint that is as high as 30 percent. This finding resulted when an inspector traced to a lead pencil the lead poisoning of a twenty-month-old infant. It had been chewing on a pencil.
Water Problem
◆ While parts of Mexico and the United States suffer from insufficient water because of a severe drought, British homes have a good supply of water, but it is not always safe to drink. Two Liverpool university research workers claim that in some cases the chemical levels are above international safety limits. Water samples from 43 towns and boroughs were taken and examined by the researchers. They found relatively high levels of lead in the drinking water of Gateshead, Newcastle and Motherwell. The men warned that aches and pains and other symptoms could be due to the water supply.
Catholic Protests
◆ A crowd of about 2,000 Catholics protested in the Vatican against the liturgical reforms recently made by the Church. The New York Daily News reported: “Many of the traditionalists today were openly hostile to the 73-year-old pontiff after it was announced that he had refused to receive them in an audience.” This is the second demonstration within a year against Pope Paul for his liturgical reforms.
Is This Christianity?
◆ Some religious leaders who profess to be Christian have the idea that even pagan forms of worship should be approved. An American Benedictine monk, David F. K. Steindl-Rast, observed: “The future lies in a Christian seeing that when he really is a Christian, then he is also immediately a Buddhist and a Hindu.” While the ecumenical viewpoint might be approved by some persons, it is not in harmony with the Bible, which shows that God approves only worship that is in full harmony with truth.
Business in the Synagogue
◆ According to a former president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the American synagogue is “in a state of spiritual insolvency.” This was his conclusion because of the growing attention that the synagogues are giving to fund-raising activities. He observed that space in synagogues is rented to caterers, who dominate the synagogues with parties and weddings. He viewed the bazaars and bingo of synagogues as “degrading and cheapening the spiritual standards of synagogues.”
Watch Out for Trucks
◆ While truck drivers are usually better drivers than the average automobile driver, there are reasons to be wary of them. The National Observer of June 7, 1971, observed: “There is evidence that significantly large numbers of long-distance truck drivers take amphetamines and drink while driving. Many pilot seriously defective machines. Many force themselves to stay at the wheel after fatigue has made them dangerous.” In the United States during 1969 there were, according to the National Safety Council, 725,000 accidents involving large trucks, with a death toll of 4,700 persons. It is well to realize that a 70,000-pound truck coming toward you deserves cautious respect.
Planting Trees with a Gun
◆ The helicopter has been widely used to reseed harvested forestlands, but now methods are changing. By means of a special gun, a man on foot can shoot into the ground fertilized capsules containing two-inch seedlings. In one day a man can, with this method, plant up to 2,500 trees.
Super-Fast Train
◆ West German Scientists have produced the prototype of a train that is expected to speed between German cities at 350 miles an hour. It is an electromagnetic train that hovers over two steel rails and is propelled by a linear electric motor. It is said to be clean, silent and fast.
Seeking Chemical-Free Food
◆ Throughout the United States there is a growing demand for foods that are free of chemicals. This is causing a boom for stores selling “health foods” or “organic foods,” even though, in some localities, their prices are 150 to 250 percent more than in a regular market. The higher prices are said to be because the foods are produced in smaller quantities. There is also a higher rate of spoilage when preservatives are not used.
Fundamentally Dishonest
◆ Customs officials find that many “reputable” people are fundamentally dishonest. They will try all manner of schemes to avoid paying duty on purchases made abroad. Reporting on this, the New York Sunday News said: “Multimillionaires, royalty, government officials, judges, diplomats and even men of the cloth have been nabbed as amateur smugglers.”
Group Sex
◆ In a growing number of places in the United States clubs are being formed for the purpose of engaging in group sex activities or wife swapping. The members like to refer to their immoral activity as “swinging.” Dr. Gilbert D. Bartell, associate professor of anthropology, has written a book on the subject. He estimates: “The total number of organized and unorganized American swingers is estimated at 2 million and growing.” Advertisements are placed by swinging couples and clubs in fifty national magazines and hundreds of local publications. The members consist of married and single persons. The growing popularity of group sex is further evidence of the general moral breakdown occurring earth wide.
Long Pregnancy
◆ A twenty-eight-year-old British woman reportedly gave birth to a baby girl after a thirteen-month pregnancy. Both were said to be in good condition. Her doctor stated “I thought a 13-month baby was impossible, but the facts have been checked by others.”
Cholera Epidemic
◆ With more than five million refugees flooding India from East Pakistan and living in unsanitary conditions, it is not surprising that an epidemic of cholera has broken out. Already more than 8,000 persons have died. Vultures, dogs and crows fight over the bodies left along the roadsides by relatives too frightened of the disease to bury them. The human tragedy of the refugees is great.
Doctors Recommend Wine
◆ Wine in moderate amounts was recommended by a group of thirty doctors. Dr. Robert C. Stepo of the Chicago Medical School said: “I would highly recommend wine in hospital diets. . . . For normal utilization a food product is highly recommended over a drug product.” He recommends wine over sedatives for calming patients. A half dozen Chicago hospitals are serving wine with meals. Among its various benefits, the team of doctors observed that wine aids the heart patient by relaxing the small blood vessels and reducing cholesterol in the blood; it aids patients in recovering from surgery of the intestinal tract; it adds iron to the diet and stimulates the appetite. Its alcohol content is relatively low, but it has about two hundred other ingredients, the doctors said.
Dangerous Blood
◆ Reporting on the hazards of transfused blood, the Philadelphia Inquirer of May 25, 1971, observed: “A catalog of the dangers lurking in hospital blood these days would provoke all but the comatose to pick up their beds and walk. The commonest ailment lurking in donated blood, of course, is hepatitis. One study reports a serum hepatitis rate of 8.7 percent, or 75,000 cases a year. Of these, 10,000 are fatal.” The paper went on to point out that hepatitis occurs in more than 65 percent of transfused patients in Tokyo. Another transfusion risk is malaria, including now a highly virulent form of it. There is also a parasite brought back by Vietnam veterans that is accompanying the blood they sell.
Hospital Responsibility
◆ Because of an American court decision that held a hospital and its medical personnel responsible for the quality of blood given a patient in a transfusion, many patients are being required to sign a paper that releases the hospital and personnel from such responsibility. One form frankly admits that a blood transfusion is dangerous. Among other things it states: “It has been fully explained that blood transfusions are not always successful in producing a desirable result and that there is a possibility of ill-effects such as the transmission of infectious hepatitis or other diseases or blood impairments.” In view of this, one may wonder why many hospitals and doctors want to force this risky form of medical treatment on people who do not want to accept it.
Malnourished Americans
◆ Although many doctors claim that people get sufficient vitamins from their diet, a nutritional survey ordered by the United States Congress in 1967 indicates that this may not be so. As reported in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer of June 2, 1971, Dr. Nathan J. Smith “confirmed reports that the survey, ordered by Congress in 1967 but not yet released by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, revealed widespread malnutrition among people at all income levels.” Preliminary reports, he said, revealed that Washington state had the highest incidence of unacceptable levels of vitamin A. It was also found that 25 percent of the women of this state had iron deficiencies.