Watching the World
Gamblers on the Increase
◆ A few years ago the National Commission on gambling said that the U.S. had 1,100,000 persons with an uncontrollable urge to gamble. Today’s estimate is much higher. According to the National Council on Compulsive Gambling, there are about 6,000,000 compulsive gamblers. Whatever the actual figure is, authorities believe that the number is increasing because of the widespread legalization of gambling. Some form of gambling, such as lottery tickets and pari-mutuel gambling at racetracks, is legalized now in 44 of the 50 states.
Record Rise of Terrorism
◆ In 1979, over 3,000 incidents of terrorism world wide brought death to some 587 people. This compares with 1,511 terrorist incidents in 1978. And since 1970, politically motivated assassinations, kidnappings and bombings have grown nearly fourfold. Almost half of the incidents occur in industrial nations, and most of the victims have been North Americans and Europeans. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency predicts that this trend will continue to grow, because terrorists “may believe that a larger number of casualties are now necessary to generate the amount of publicity formerly evoked by less bloody operations.”
Worrying About War?
◆ The U.S. government has taken some little-known steps that indicate concerns about the future. For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will, reportedly, double the amount of opium salts it has on hand for emergencies. The extra painkiller, reports Newsweek magazine, is because “defense experts estimate that survivors of a nuclear war would require far greater amounts of such drugs than authorities had previously calculated.” Additionally, the U.S. Army has announced its notification of some 200,000 retired officers and enlisted soldiers up to age 60, who will be subject to possible recall during a crisis. “Never before in peacetime have retired soldiers been subject to mobilization,” observed the New York Times.
Are Japanese Still Pacifists?
◆ Due to lingering war memories, many Japanese believe that their country is largely pacifist in its thinking. Several local magazines have polled Japanese youths on how they would react to a conscription law. The Weekly Post reports that, of boys in their high teens, 70 percent said they would refuse to obey a summons to “take up arms for their country.” In contrast, the Japan Junior Chamber of Commerce reports that only 41 percent of young businessmen were opposed to a general conscription. The majority (53.9 percent) of these businessmen supported nuclear armament for Japan.
Alaska’s ‘Giant Wire’
◆ The Alaskan oil pipeline has an unexpected property. “It could be described as a giant electric wire,” says the London Times. As a result, “large surges of electric current have been detected.” It seems that magnetic fluctuations in the northern atmosphere are particularly strong, inducing a current in the walls of the Alaska pipeline, as though it were a wire in a moving magnetic field. Currents of over 50 amperes have been measured, and up to 1,000 amps are expected during periods of greatest atmospheric disturbance. (Average household outlets will carry about 13 amps.) Scientists say that the only problems this could create are more rapid corrosion of the metal and interference with the pipeline’s electronic monitoring equipment.
Improving Surgical Skills
◆ The “Medical News” section of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently discussed the new Japanese-developed “artificial blood” (Fluosol-DA), noting that all three Americans who have received the substance “have been Jehovah’s Witnesses.” The article observes that such a blood substitute could “be a boon especially to members of this faith, who number about 2 million worldwide.” The Journal also noted that some “physicians have not wanted to take the risk that the patients will bleed to death and have declined to treat them.” On the other hand, in its comments on one surgeon who has used the new blood substitute, JAMA stated: “Over the years, [California surgeon Ron] Lapin has performed surgery [without blood] on about 2,500 Jehovah’s Witnesses, often using electrocautery to minimize bleeding. Only three of these patients have died . . . Even in the absence of Fluosol, says Lapin, ‘we tend to transfuse a little too much in this country. Working without blood is a technical skill that anyone can learn.’”
Aluminum and Senility
◆ Using a very sensitive analytical method, two researchers have confirmed earlier findings of a link between aluminum and senility in the aged. By means of scanning electron microscopy, together with X-ray spectrometry, they detected “a lot of aluminum in neurons containing neurofibrillary tangles” in brains of the aged, says the report in Science News magazine. “Such tangles are one of the major characteristics of senility.” Aluminum, notes the magazine, has “been introduced into our lives through various industrial products—airplanes, buses, trucks, windows, roofing, foil, cooking utensils and others.”
Sound of Music
◆ A Long Island, New York, carpenter could not sleep because he kept hearing rock music when his radio was not playing, so he called the police. The policeman who investigated finally noticed a faint noise coming from the complainant’s head, and music could be heard clearly by cupping an ear against the man’s face. The officer tried dialing different stations on a radio, and sure enough, found one that matched—broadcasting from Hamden, Connecticut, 30 miles (48 km) away. Was there anything new in the woodworker’s life aside from the rock music? Yes, a set of false teeth. It seems that metal in the teeth was acting as a radio receiver, while the carpenter’s jawbone amplified the music right to his ear.
‘Shrinking Church’ in Germany
◆ “The Catholic Church is shrinking,” reports the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Between 1970 and 1978, Catholics in the Federal Republic of Germany decreased by about 400,000. And during the same period the number of Protestants diminished by 1,900,000. According to a report issued by the secretariat of the German Bishops’ Conference, 52,300 persons left the Catholic Church during 1978 alone. Even with this reduction in parishioners, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted that “a number of parishes . . . are being cared for by neighboring clergymen, because of the shortage of priests.”
Forests Are Falling
◆ The U.S. National Academy of Sciences reports that tropical forests around the world are being lost more rapidly than previously thought. “Even if these (depletion) rates were constant, they would lead to a total destruction of all tropical forests worldwide within 50 years,” said the report. “But the rates are not constant—they are accelerating rapidly.” The forests are being lost to logging, farming and ranching, erosion and firewood gathering. One estimate suggests that deforestation is occurring at a rate of 50 acres (20 ha) a minute, 72,000 acres (29,000 ha) a day, 25,000,000 acres (10,000,000 ha) a year!
Church’s First Concern?
◆ Cardinal G. Emmett Carter, Roman Catholic archbishop of Toronto, recently spoke to students at the University of Toronto in favor of a resolution that “human rights constitute the primary concern of the church.” Even with his advocacy, the resolution was soundly defeated by students who agreed with a speaker from St. Michael’s College who said that the kingdom of heaven and spiritual life should be the Church’s primary concern. But, shedding some light on how Church concerns often affect the average parishioner, when this latter speaker asked rhetorically, “What is the primary concern of the church?” one student shouted, “Bingo.”
“Technological Resurrection”
◆ The Brazilian government is reported to have purchased 11 steam locomotives from Argentina, where they had been retired from service. The steam locomotives will be used in the southern part of the country to transport coal from the mines to the port of Imbituba, in Santa Catarina State. Reporting on the matter, the Gazeta Mercantil said: “This could be one of the rare cases of technological resurrection, caused by a reversal of economic conditions: with petroleum so expensive, coal has again become important and has led to reviving the mines, requiring the strengthening of its transportation system. It is the coal-burning locomotive, which burns cruzeiros instead of dollars, that is the most suitable machine for transporting its own fuel.” (Imported oil must be paid for in dollars, whereas coal is a national product, paid for with the national currency.)
World Hunger Report
◆ The U.S. Presidential Commission on World Hunger spent two years studying the matter and has now released its report: It disclosed that one out of every eight persons world wide is afflicted with malnutrition. If developing nations do not increase food production, it said, there will be a major food crisis within 20 years. Even now, it said, “there are more hungry people than ever before.”
Inflation in China
◆ The People’s Republic of China has long declined to admit that there has been any inflation in that vast land. But now the Peking government has conceded that during 1979 it had an inflation rate of 5.8 percent.
Nun in Politics
◆ The mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, is a nun who has said that she does not plan to quit her job. She believes that the pope’s recent directive telling priests to stay out of politics applies only to the clergy and, “in the Catholic church, women have never been in the category of clergy.” She further explained her position by describing politics as a “way of service.” She said she could not understand why the pope took the action he did anyway, and added: “We’re all trying to sort it out.”
Incorrigibility
◆ An 18-year-old man in Sydney, Australia, who recently was sentenced to weekend detention for illegal use of an automobile was back in court again. His lawyer claimed that he lost his job and did not have the money to pay his fare to go to jail. So he stole a car to drive there. The magistrate sentenced him this time to 12 months in jail and told him: “You are an incredible man and it is quite clear it is useless to extend you any further leniency.”
Gold-Leaf Therapy
◆ Dr. Naomi Kanof, a Washington dermatologist who teaches at Georgetown University Medical School, has long believed that gold leaf is effective in treatment of stubborn skin ulcers. She continues to report success with the gold-leaf therapy. Gold leaf, obtained from art-supply stores, is first sterilized in an autoclave. It is then cut into pieces and molded to the wound. Meanwhile, the doctor removes debris from the ulcer and it is cleansed with alcohol. The gold leaf then becomes the only dressing and can be changed every five to seven days. Dr. Kanof believes that the advantage of gold-leaf therapy for skin ulcers is that it encourages the body to send more blood to the wound.