Watching the World
Mother’s Milk Is Best
“Breast milk is the mother of all medicines,” says Newsweek. “Babies who drink it get the nutrients they need for proper brain development, while lowering their risk of everything from allergies and infections to diarrhea, eczema and pneumonia.” The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dietetic Association thus urge mothers to nurse their newborn for at least a year. “Yet this exceptional resource goes largely untapped,” notes Newsweek. Why? Often because of misinformation. Some mothers worry that they will not produce enough milk to keep their babies healthy. Others think that other foods are needed early on. “The fact is, most moms can meet all of a child’s nutritional needs until 6 months, when solid foods are gradually added to the diet,” the article states. “And no matter what else they’re eating, kids as old as 2 can benefit from the antibodies and fatty acids in mother’s milk.” There are also benefits for the mothers: Nursing lowers the risk of breast cancer and hastens postpartum weight loss.
Poverty—No Respecter of Countries
According to the International Herald Tribune, a recent United Nations report reveals that poverty is on the increase, even in the world’s richest countries. Many people in industrialized lands are deprived of “basic human needs,” such as employment, education, and health care. According to the report, 16.5 percent of the population of the United States live in poverty. In Britain the figure is 15 percent. In the industrialized world, 100 million are homeless, 37 million are unemployed, and almost 200 million have “a life expectancy of less than 60 years.”
Not Really Cuddly
“If you think the lion or cape buffalo is the most dangerous animal in Africa, think again,” states The Wall Street Journal. “It’s the hippopotamus.” Although cartoons and children’s stories highlight friendly, happy hippos and they are popular as stuffed toys, hippopotamuses are responsible for more deaths in Africa than any other animal. Guides say that the most dangerous spot on the continent is “between a hippo and its route to the water” and the “next perhaps is between a hippo mother and her calf.” Although hippos look quite tranquil lounging together near deep mid-river pools, they are quite territorial and are often very aggressive when surprised or challenged. They are extremely powerful. “A mad hippo can bite a crocodile in two. And a canoe to pieces,” says one guide. Then why go canoeing among hippos? It gives spectacular views of the river and the animals on shore, say the guides, and “is probably less dangerous than some of the other pursuits that tourists undertake in these parts: bungee-jumping 350 feet [110 m] off the Victoria Falls bridge, for example.”
Pre-Holocaust Warning Flags Reappear
“There are ominous patterns in human rights abuses these days, grimly reminiscent of the dark days of the 1930s when similar activities foreshadowed the Holocaust,” says Irwin Cotler, a McGill University law professor and cochairman of the Canadian Helsinki Watch Group, according to The Toronto Star. He says that a study conducted in 41 countries by the Helsinki Federation for Human Rights highlights a clear danger signal—a strong growth in hate speech against minorities. Often in the form of hatemongering by broadcasters and state publications, it results in persecution of the minorities. Said Cotler concerning the trend: “This is a lesson of the Second World War that we have not learned.” Another forgotten lesson, he said, is “the crime of indifference, the conspiracy of silence.”
Children—Victims of War
“According to UN special representative Olara Otunnu, wars and conflicts in the last decade claimed the lives of two million children, left more than one million as orphans, and seriously injured or crippled another six million,” reports the German daily Grevener Zeitung. The UN Security Council has condemned all practices that make children the target of aggression. Of special concern are the more than 300,000 children worldwide who are put to use as soldiers. Many of these are said to be pressed into military service, and a third of them are girls. Often child soldiers are used as suicide assassins. A newly formed coalition of nongovernmental organizations is demanding an international protocol that would raise the minimum age for soldiers to 18 years.
Vatican on the Web
In 1994 the Vatican signed a contract to open a Web site on the Internet. Religious services, such as direct confession and consultation with priests about “any doubt” on religious matters, are now available on the Internet, reports the newspaper El Financiero. At one site, “cybercatholics” can request prayers to be said for them. It is also possible to watch a live broadcast of the pope giving his Sunday blessing. Then there is advertising that offers “specials on the purchase and sale of religious material.” “The problem is that very few Catholic pages are visited frequently,” says El Financiero. “The Vatican page receives fewer than 25 visits a day, and most of the viewers are from the Catholic press.”
Choosing to Remain Ill
“TB remains the world’s No 1 killer,” reports the Cape Times newspaper. Running rampant among the very poor in South Africa, it kills over 13,000 there each year and renders many too ill to work. For the latter, government disability grants are given and TB treatments are made available. But since work is scarce and pay is often little, some patients decide to quit their TB treatment in order to have their monetary allowances continue. “The money is about 10 times more than what they are used to getting for the odd jobs they do,” explained Ria Grant, a director of the South African organization TB Care. “They believe it is better to be diseased than it is to be well once they see how much money they can get.”
Sleepy Drivers
“Some experts say drowsy drivers are just as dangerous as drunk drivers,” reports The Journal of the American Medical Association. “The role that sleepiness plays in [motor vehicle] crashes is largely underestimated, and drowsy drivers pose a major public health and safety threat.” According to The Toronto Star, studies have found that people are just not able to predict when they will fall asleep or to judge their own sleepiness. “Sleep is a need like hunger and breathing,” says Stephanie Faul, a spokesperson for the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety. “When your body needs sleep, it can just click off.” What should drivers do when they find themselves repeatedly yawning or their eyes closing or their car drifting? “Common attempts to wake up, such as rolling down the window or turning up the radio, simply don’t work,” says The Toronto Star. “Caffeine is good for short-term alertness but will not decrease a person’s physiological need for sleep.” Sleepy drivers are advised to pull over in a safe place and take a nap.
How Many Bacteria?
Bacteria are a common form of life on earth. They exist under the floor of the deepest ocean and 40 miles [60 km] up in the atmosphere. Their total mass is greater than that of any other life-form. What may be the first serious attempt to estimate their number has now been published by scientists from the University of Georgia, U.S.A. Their estimate is five followed by 30 zeros. “Most people think that bacteria cause disease,” states The Times of London. “But only a tiny fraction are pathogenic. Even if all the bacteria that live in all animals are added up, they amount to about 1 per cent of the total. Most are not only harmless but vital, helping in such activities as digestion.” Surprisingly, 92 to 94 percent of all bacteria are found in sediment more than four inches [10 cm] below the seabed and in the ground below at a depth greater than 30 feet [9 m]. These areas were previously thought to be virtually devoid of life. About half the dry weight of bacteria consists of their carbon content, an element essential for life. “The amount of carbon stored in bacteria nearly equals that stored in all the world’s plants,” says The Times.