Watching the World
Food Situation Deteriorating
◆ The president of the World Food Council, Arturo R. Tanco, Jr., recently appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Development and Cooperation. “I come before you,” he said, “to plead for the one billion hungry people of the Third World.” Last year, he pointed out, as many as 50 million persons starved to death in developing nations. One of the most shocking statistics that he presented was that one third of all children never live to the age of five. Hunger and disease kill them off. The world food situation, he said, is deteriorating, and food production in most developing countries is down.
Galileo Sighted Neptune?
◆ A young astronomer in Berlin is credited with discovering the planet Neptune, eighth in order from the sun, in 1846. However, two astronomers now believe that Neptune may have been seen by the 17th-century astronomer Galileo. In 1612 and 1613 the Italian astronomer reported observing “fixed stars” that were near Jupiter. Astronomers Charles Kowal and Stillman Drake made careful studies of tables showing the positions of heavenly bodies during the 17th century. This has convinced them that Galileo actually saw Neptune. “The indicated position of Galileo’s ‘fixed star,’ the exact correspondence of the directions, and the absence of any bright stars in that area make us confident that Galileo actually saw Neptune,” said Kowal. If so, Neptune was unwittingly discovered way back in 1612-1613.
“Only One Integrated”
◆ The Wall Street Journal recently featured a front-page article headlined: “In Much of the South, Separation of the Races Still Is Key Fact of Life.” A subtitle summarized the staff reporter’s conclusions from his research: “Despite New Laws, Old Ways Linger On, Particularly Outside a Few Big Cities.” Writing from Laurel, Mississippi, he also observed that “social mingling between young blacks and whites is rare, and it is discouraged. . . . There is very little interracial social contact among Laurel adults, either. The Jehovah’s Witnesses church here is about the only one integrated.”
Sunday Schools Dying?
◆ In 1974 American Sunday school attendance for the first time dropped below its expected growth rate. The decline continues at a rapid rate. “In the last ten years alone, national Sunday school enrollment has dropped nearly one-fourth,” says Charles Arn of the Institute for American Church Growth in Pasadena, California. “Many major denominations have lost 30 percent to 50 percent of their Sunday school enrollment in the last decade. . . . In fact, if the decline . . . continues at the rate it has . . . in two generations the Sunday school, as we know it, will become extinct.”
China’s Increased Hypertension
◆ High blood pressure has often been viewed as a problem peculiar to Western countries. But now Wu Ying Kai, a director of a cardiovascular center in Beijing, reports dramatic increases in high blood pressure in the People’s Republic of China. “For a long time it’s been thought that there wasn’t much hypertension in China,” he said. “In general we still have a little less hypertension but if we’re going on at the rate we have the last twenty years, I think we will catch up to you soon.” In big cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing, the increase in high blood pressure is 10 percent, a rate corresponding to that of the U.S.
“Frozen Stiff,” But Alive!
◆ “The body was cold, completely solid, just like a piece of meat out of a deep freeze.” With those words, Dr. George Sather described the condition of Jean Hilliard, a 19-year-old girl who was found in the snow after a December night of -22° F (-30° C) weather. The girl’s car stalled in northwestern Minnesota and she tried to walk to a house two miles (3.2 km) away, collapsing just 15 feet (4.5 m) from the door. She was found in the morning and taken to the hospital. Doctors could not give her intravenous feeding because “she was frozen too solid to penetrate the skin.” Her temperature was too low to register on a thermometer. Her pulse was about 12 beats a minute. But after several hours wrapped in an electric heating pad, she revived. “I can’t explain why she’s alive,” said the doctor. “She was frozen stiff, literally. It’s a miracle.”
Ebla Tablets and the Bible
◆ Some 20,000 clay tablets were discovered a few years ago at the archaeological site of ancient Ebla in Syria. A number of Bible names never before found in non-Biblical writings reportedly appeared. Dr. G. Pettinato was formerly the chief translator of these tablets. Recently Dr. Pettinato was interviewed by the Biblical Archaeology Review and asked if he has changed his mind on his readings of the clay tablets since his successor has disagreed on relating some of the tablets to the Bible. “I haven’t retracted anything,” Pettinato replied. Asked about the names of Sodom and Gomorrah, he said: “The names of Sodom and Gomorrah are already published in the catalog. You can check.” He also mentioned the city of Zoar as being in the catalog.
The professor was also asked if he has changed his mind about whether the God “Ya” appears in the tablets. He explained that “in the God list,” they found the “God YA.” And he added: “Also in an economic tablet from Mesopotamia . . . we have an offering to the God Ya. So . . . the existence of this God is sure, and I cannot understand why some of my colleagues don’t want to accept reality. Really I cannot understand it.”—Sept./- Oct. 1980, pp. 46, 48, 51.
Brazil’s ‘Drought of the Century’
◆ Thirteen million people living in the northeastern part of Brazil have been threatened by a drought called ‘the worst of the century.’ The government transferred 800 trucks to the stricken area to distribute 17 million liters (4,500,000 gallons) of water daily, but it was not enough. The mayor of Soledad declared: “There has not been a drop of water in the rural zone for three months and, within a month, the same thing will happen in the urban area.” The Brazil Herald declared: “In colonial times, the northeastern drought region was a fertile zone covered with woods and luxuriant vegetation. Devastation, largely caused by the sugar cane planters, changed it into what is now practically a desert.”
Canine Purse Snatcher
◆ Chicago police were looking for a black Doberman pinscher, wearing a spiked collar. Why? Because it snatched a purse containing $270. The wife of a Chicago police officer opened her car door, and the snarling dog seized her arm. As she tried to flee, the dog snatched her purse and ran off. One detective investigating the matter asked: “What do we do for a line-up if we find a suspect? Do we have to have all Dobermans? Can’t we throw in some cocker spaniels?”
Setback in War Against Malaria
◆ The World Health Organization’s 25-year-old war against malaria with the “wonder drug” chloroquine has suffered a serious setback. According to Asiaweek of Hong Kong, ‘As it cured, the widespread use of chloroquine also produced a new generation of drug-resistant wonder bugs that are ravaging parts of Asia now with stubbornly lethal force.” WHO estimates that about 250,000,000 persons suffer with malaria, mostly in developing lands. One researcher said of some areas: “We’re back to using quinine, the oldest anti-malaria drug.” But since quinine causes side effects such as nausea and ear ringing, people tend to take it a few days and quit. Haphazard use of quinine with a virulent strain of malaria can be fatal. But there is more to the problem than drug-resistant strains of malaria. Political instability and wars in Africa and southeast Asia have greatly disrupted health programs, aggravating the entire problem.
Swiss Savers
◆ According to the International Savings Bank Institute, the Swiss are the world’s “savingest” people. Per-capita savings account deposits average almost $16,000 (U.S.) there, compared to just $11,755 in Japan, which is second highest. United States savers are far behind, with just over a $5,000 average in the bank. Austrians bank about $6,000 on the average, and the Dutch about $4,300.
New Light on Obesity
◆ Researchers at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital may have learned why many overweight people seem unable to lose weight, though taking in a minimum of calories. They found that such persons have lower levels of an enzyme that evidently controls energy use and hence fat storage in cells. The ability to control this enzyme may one day aid in treating obesity. “For the first time, we have a possible biochemical difference in obese individuals that tells us why some people seem predisposed to obesity and have trouble losing weight,” said Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, who reports on the research in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Bomb Shelters for Business
◆ In the People’s Republic of China, Beijing’s massive system of bomb-shelter tunnels is reportedly being put to “peacetime” use. To alleviate overcrowded business areas, government policy now directs that factories, warehouses, restaurants and even movie houses are to fill the tunnels, designed to protect the city’s 8,000,000 inhabitants from air attack. A civil defense official declared: “Their main use is for war. But the city called for us to make full use of the tunnels in peacetime.”
Marijuana “Symptoms”
◆ When children use marijuana they develop “definite symptoms,” according to a letter by pediatrician Ingrid L. Lantner, M.D., published in Medical Tribune. The doctor’s letter said: “Marijuana creates definite symptoms which subside after they are marijuana-free for three to four months, without psychotherapy or environmental changes. These symptoms are tiredness, irritability, [lack of] motivation, loss of short-term memory, cough, irregular periods and others. . . . Marijuana greatly aggravates the symptoms of any emotional or mental illness. . . . The entire medical profession should condemn any use of marijuana because of its horrendous health hazards.”—December 10, 1980, page 11.
Pitter-Patter of Little Feet
◆ Many big families have difficulty providing adequately for food and clothing. But one family in Chile has more of a problem than most. Gerado Albina, 63, and his wife now have 36 children, born over the past 36 years. Mrs. Albina, 54 years of age, is now expecting her 37th child. Included among the children are two sets of triplets and five pairs of twins. Recently, a television program provided funds for the family to buy their own plot of land and a modest home.
More Sugar, Fewer Eggs
◆ The U.S. Agriculture Department has reported on what foods were eaten by Americans last year compared with 20 years ago. Sugar and sweetener consumption soared to an increase of 26.2 percent. This represents a yearly average of 137 pounds (62 kg) per person—over 1/3 pound (170 g) every day! Accounting for a large part of this increase is the growth in consumption of soft drinks—an amazing 175 percent. This amounts to 37.5 gallons (142 L) of soft drinks per person. On the other hand, the eating of eggs dropped 15.4 percent, and butter consumption was down almost 40 percent, evidently because of concern over cholesterol.