Watching the World
First “Artificial Blood” in U.S.
◆ In November, the first American “artificial blood” transfusion was administered at the University of Minnesota Hospital. It was soon followed by other such transfusions. The product used, Fluosol, was developed in Japan and had already been used there in about 50 emergency cases (see Awake!, 10/8/79, page 29). The Minnesota patient received six pints of the milky, oxygen-carrying fluid after refusing a blood transfusion on religious grounds.
“Approval by the Food and Drug Administration of such chemicals for routine use is still far in the future,” says the New York Times. However, “the Minnesota surgeon caring for the Jehovah’s Witness was able to obtain F.D.A. approval in a matter of hours under agency policies allowing exceptions.”
According to the Times, one F.D.A. official “said he could not imagine permission being given except in a case of religious refusal to accept a transfusion of blood.” The newspaper also notes that “Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse transfusions because of several Biblical texts—for example, Leviticus 17:11-12: ‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood. . . . Therefore . . . no soul of you shall eat blood.’ Jehovah’s Witnesses have no objection to . . . medical treatment, but believe that sustaining life by transfusion amounts to eating blood.”
‘Grandest Mistake’?
◆ Three prominent American astronomers have come up with a new method of measuring the universe that seems to indicate it is only half as old as has been thought. Their calculations suggest an age of only about 9 billion years, rather than the usual estimate of 15 to 18 billion years. “While other astronomers regard the technique as an important innovation,” notes the New York Times, “they are troubled by so short an age estimate.” And as The Wall Street Journal editorializes: “If the three astronomers are right we challenge anyone to uncover a grander mistake.”
One Treatment for Obesity
◆ After surgery on 225 patients since 1977, Dr. William Pace of Ohio State University claims that his unique operation for morbid obesity is safe and effective. He uses a surgical stapler to partition off the upper part of the stomach, creating a tiny upper stomach with only a small opening to the larger lower stomach. The doctor claims that this method is safer and has fewer dangerous side effects than the better-known intestinal bypass surgery, which eliminates much of a person’s digestive tract. The small “stomach” forces patients to adjust their eating habits, so that they lose an average of 90 to 120 pounds in a year and then stabilize. However, says Dr. Pace, “we don’t operate unless the obesity is more dangerous than the operation.”
How They Feel About the Church
◆ Antonio Tupaz, leader of the Philippine president’s political party, recently spoke out against Roman Catholic pressure on that country’s government. A report in Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Daily News summarized his comments: “All over the world, where the Church has waxed strong, fattening on the ignorance and superstition of the masses, there has flourished true oppression.”
Volcano Hits Aircraft
◆ When Japan’s 3,663-foot (1,116-m) Sakurajima volcano erupted in mid-November, it sent some red-hot rocks shooting skyward. Two All Nippon Airways jetliners, flying at 11,000 and 13,000 feet (3,350 and 4,000 m), respectively, were hit and sustained windshield cracks. Both planes landed safely.
A City Flees!
◆ In November, suburban Mississauga, just west of Toronto, Ontario, experienced the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history. In less than 24 hours, Canada’s ninth largest city became a virtual ghost town. When a train derailed, two tank cars of propane exploded, reverberating shock waves for 30 miles (48 km) and shooting flames hundreds of feet into the air. But a leaking 90-ton tank car of deadly liquid chlorine caused greater concern. Two hundred and thirty thousand people were evacuated from their houses, apartments, even hospital beds. To protect against possible looting, over 500 policemen were rushed in from all over the province. As is often true when disaster strikes, human compassion came to the fore. People living outside the disaster area warmly welcomed total strangers into their homes, supplementing official relief centers. For example, the more than 500 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the area were all accommodated in the homes of fellow Witnesses and relatives during the emergency period.
Inhumanity in Southeast Asia
◆ A group of “boat people” fleeing Vietnam recently experienced shocking brutality. For a period of 22 days, local fishermen held the group captive on an uninhabited island, killing 17 of them and robbing, raping and beating the rest. Most of the 37 women aboard four boats hijacked to the island were raped repeatedly day and night before being freed by an official of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. A police official said that fishermen from 57 boats had stopped at the island to share in the plundering. Is this an isolated case? No. One refugee worker said that in a camp where she had worked, most of the women between ages 10 and 50 had been raped.
Ozone Depletion Doubles
◆ The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has reported that earth’s ozone layer may be depleting at twice the rate previously thought. Back in 1976, the organization estimated that total ozone reduction caused by fluorocarbons in the atmosphere would finally reach 7.5 percent. But new techniques place the “best estimate” for the final ozone depletion level at 16.5 percent. The use of fluorocarbons in aerosols has been banned in the United States and some other countries, but worldwide use has been increasing anyway. As a result, scientists fear an increase in skin cancer, climate changes and other problems.
Eat Less to Live Longer
◆ Does the amount of food and exercise we get affect our life-span? A recent experimental animal study by Charles L. Goodrick of the Gerontology Research Center in Baltimore, Maryland, indicates that such factors may affect longevity significantly. Goodrick allowed one group of animals to eat all they wanted; another group could eat all they wanted, but had free access to an exercise wheel; still another group was fed only every other day; and a final group was fed every other day, and had access to an exercise wheel. His findings?
The animals that ate only every other day, whether they exercised or not, lived nearly twice as long as those that could eat all they wanted without benefit of exercise. Those that could eat all they desired, but also exercised, lived significantly longer than those that did not exercise, but not as long as those that ate less. He also found that those fed every other day were much more active in later life. Of course, it is assumed that they had sufficient food of the right kinds. Concludes Goodrick: “Health, vigor and a long life may be maximally promoted by a reduction of daily food intake or by periodic fasting.”
Rhinos in Peril
◆ Speaking of the African rhinoceros, a director of the East African Wildlife Society recently said: “This was a species that was the most ubiquitous of all African mammals.” But because of superstitions about rhinos’ horns, and their resultant commercial value, poachers have reduced the number of black rhinos in Kenya from 14,000 to fewer than 1,500 during the past 10 years. Throughout Africa it is thought that only about 15,000 may have survived.
A Court’s Dilemma
◆ A court in Florida recently had to make a decision that involved a choice between rather unsatisfactory alternatives. Should three young girls be brought up by the father who is living with a woman he has not married or by the mother who is bisexual and who is living with a female lover? Judge R. A. Green, Jr., decided to give custody of the children to the heterosexual couple. Critical of both parents and noting that the mother was living “in a relationship society condemns,” the judge added: “I cannot help but wonder whatever happened to morality as taught in the Bible.”
Farmers’ Grisly Discoveries
◆ Though it is going on 35 years since World War II ended, each year the remains of some American war dead are uncovered in Europe, usually by farmers. In May last year a German farmer working in a peat field uncovered a flying suit entangled in a parachute, then the remains of an American airman who was shot down in a bombing raid over Nazi Germany. In all, the remains of four American war dead were uncovered in 1978, two in 1977, four in 1976 and one in 1975. In 1974, a French farmer came upon the remains of seven American soldiers in a battle trench of World War I.
Sour Notes
◆ The Finnish newspaper Uusi Suomi reports that the noise of young musicians rehearsing in Kotka was ruining the meat of animals soon to be slaughtered. The youths were banned from using the slaughterhouse building when a study showed that the doomed animals were distressed by the music. As a result, the meat became too alkaline and did not keep well. The manager of the slaughterhouse is said to have noted that ‘the animals need a peaceful final night.’
Snail Overload
◆ The French, famous for their love of snails as a delicacy, recently lost one of their most ardent gastronomes to his weakness for the slimy creatures. Not long after gulping 72 snails in less than three minutes, the 368-pound (167-kg) truck driver had to be rushed to a hospital. He later died of indigestion. A few months earlier, the 27-year-old man had swallowed 144 snails in 11-1/2 minutes to become the winner of the “Olympic Games of Absurdities,” held near Nancy.
China Goes to the Movies
◆ It is estimated that between 10 and 25 billion tickets are sold to China’s avid moviegoers each year for an average of less than 16 cents each. The recent easing of restrictions on imported films has reportedly prompted enthusiastic response. “Tops on the Chinese parade of all-time favorites: Charlie Chaplin,” says U.S. News & World Report. “Almost every film Chaplin made can be seen at jam-packed theaters from Peking to Kunming.”
Seducing the Rain God
◆ When the worst drought in 40 years struck parts of India last summer, certain farmers in Uttar Pradesh State appealed to the rain god Varuna for much-needed water. This they did by having nude women till the soil at night—a sure-fire appeasement, according to their beliefs. But the rains came too little and too late to save over half of their crops. However, the government said that the overall national yield and grain in storage are sufficient to fend off famine.
Drug Crops Tops
◆ The most profitable single crop grown in productive California is not something to eat. According to the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, cultivating illegal marijuana brings enterprising “farmers” over $1 billion annually. The next highest dollar value crops are cotton, at $691 million; lettuce, at $457 million; and hay, at $414 million.