Watching the World
Flirting with Demonism
◆ Witchcraft studies in some primary schools have had children inventing spells, potions and incantations, reports the New Zealand Herald. The newspaper told of witchcraft-based teachings closely resembling occult practices that have had a revival in Western society. In one class children were urged: ‘Try using your witch’s hands. Stroke your black cat, pick up a toad and chew it, point it at the moon, rub hands when a spell has been worked, cast a spell.’ In another lesson, several classes of young children were described as casting spells and believing that the school was full of magic and witches. The close similarity to the real thing could encourage unsuspecting youngsters to become involved with demonistic practices.
Adding to Their Woes
◆ The world’s poorest countries are having their health and social problems aggravated by rising tobacco consumption. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated: “Failing immediate action, smoking diseases will appear in developing countries before communicable diseases and malnutrition have been controlled.” Since in these lands they ordinarily do not have to print health warnings that might curb sales, cigarette producers are focusing on poorer nations. Cigarettes sold there are said to contain twice as much cancer-causing tar as identical brands sold elsewhere. A WHO committee on smoking declared: “The international tobacco industry’s irresponsible behavior directly causes a substantial number of unnecessary deaths.” A WHO meeting in Stockholm was told: “The invitation to ‘Come to where the flavor is’ is a ticket to the cancer ward.”
Honor System Fails
◆ A group of Arizona-based companies sold snacks to office workers in five states, basing their sales on an honor system as an alternative to vending machines. Boxes of candy, chewing gum and other snacks were placed in offices, and the idea was that customers would serve themselves and leave the required money. But the secretary-treasurer of the companies said that the system failed in every respect. Too many customers took the snacks but did not leave the money, forcing the companies into bankruptcy.
Medical “Muggers”
◆ Mr. Justice Horace Krever of the Supreme Court of Ontario declared that doctors have no more right than muggers to touch anyone’s body without the person’s consent. He told a symposium of students that, while doctors have heard about the concept of informed consent, many do not understand it. He added: “Except in the case of a patient incompetent to give instructions, it is no justification that the interference—the treatment or procedure—was in the best interests of the patient. Paternalism and good intentions alone have no place where the integrity of the person is interfered with.” He called consent “probably the single most important current legal issue in health law.”
Natural Contraception?
◆ Anthropologists long have wondered how certain African nomads were able to space the birth of children three or four years apart without modern contraception. Based on their research, two Harvard scientists suggest an answer. They observed that the mothers breast-fed their infants frequently, although for brief periods, over the course of several years. The scientists believe that this kind of nursing provokes the rapid production of hormones that suppress the activity of the ovaries. This prevents ovulation, thus preventing pregnancy.
Each a Potential Genius?
◆ Venezuelan lawyer and sociologist Luis Alberto Machado claims that every normal child is born with the potential to be a genius. He said: “I don’t believe in super-gifted children. Every human being, from the day he is born, is potentially a genius. We all have the same capacity for developing our intelligence.” As the world’s only government-appointed intelligence minister, he feels that proper early education is crucial. In one experiment 35 Indian children from the Amazon jungle learned to play the violin in just 10 weeks under the guidance of a Japanese master violinist brought to Caracas. His method placed emphasis on getting the children to handle their musical instruments before learning music theory. Later the children performed with the National Youth Orchestra, playing difficult pieces from Beethoven and Haydn. Machado declared: “I believe educational systems worldwide are criminal. Instead of making man more creative, they make him less creative. It is necessary to make radical changes in them.”
Hard Times Take Toll
◆ Medical researchers say that there is a dramatic increase of illnesses during times of economic hardship, such as inflation and unemployment. Dr. M. Harvey Brenner of Johns Hopkins University says that there is strong evidence indicating that just a one percent rise in unemployment over a period of six years leads to about 37,000 more deaths than usual. He noted: “We have found that after two or three years of economic depression, for instance, the death rates from many chronic diseases go up.” Illnesses that increase include heart disease, mental illness, alcoholism and, he says, perhaps even some forms of cancer. One reason is that a person who constantly worries about how he is going to find a job or feed his family adds great stress to his mind, body and emotions. Also, less money often means that needed medical treatment is postponed.
Fallacy of Sport
◆ Addressing a meeting in London, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, observed: “One very popular fallacy is that international sport inevitably creates good will and that everyone is more interested in taking part than winning. Don’t you believe it. . . . many countries see success as a means of gaining international prestige, or as an advertisement for political theory or ideology, that competition is simply a means to a political end. They are not always that scrupulous about the means, either.”
Inaccurate Lab Tests
◆ Dr. Joseph Boutwell, deputy director of the national Center for Disease Control in the United States, says that about one out of seven medical laboratory tests will be inaccurate. He stated: “By my calculations, there are perhaps 14 percent of tests made in this country that are unreliable. Until it gets down to close to 1 percent, we won’t be satisfied.” The 14 percent is a 50-percent improvement over a decade ago when about one in four tests was faulty. Why the inaccuracy? Boutwell cited ‘incompetence of lab personnel, bad management, sloppy supervision, no quality control and bad reagents (substances used to detect or measure other substances).”
Farmland Shrinking
◆ A United Nations agency says that the United States has been losing farmland to homes, roads and industrial developers at the rate of three million acres (1,214,000 ha) a year. In the past 10 years, about 29 million acres (11,736,000 ha) were taken for such nonagricultural uses. Of this, one million acres (404,700 ha) were prime farmland able to produce the most food with the least amount of labor, fuel and fertilizer. A U.N. spokesman said that the one million acres of rich farmland would make a half-mile-wide (.8 km) strip of land reaching from New York to California.
Chimney-Sweep Comeback
◆ In England, during the time of author Charles Dickens, chimney sweeps were a common sight. But as the use of wood and coal for heating and cooking declined, so did the number of men who cleaned out the chimneys. Now, in the state of Maine, their number has increased due to a dramatic growth of wood burning in homes—about 50 percent more this past winter than the previous year. The importance of their work is emphasized by fire-department officials who say that many house fires are caused by dirty chimneys.
Disagreeing Church Members
◆ Research done in the United States has disclosed that most Roman Catholics do not agree with Church teaching on sex. Now a study in England has revealed the same. A survey conducted by scholars from the University of Surrey disclosed that only 13 percent of English Catholics accept Church teaching on birth control. Only 35 percent accept the Church teaching on divorce, and more than 50 percent do not believe that premarital sex is always wrong. Research done in Ireland and Canada came up with similar findings.
Commenting on the disclosures, Catholic priest Andrew Greeley wrote in his newspaper column: “These people are not saying that they will commit sins despite what the church teaches. They are saying, rather, that what the church says is sinful is not, in fact, sinful.”
Killer Dope
◆ Julio Martinez, director of the New York State Division of Substance Abuse, said that a flood of unusually strong heroin from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan caused an astounding 77-percent rise in overdose deaths last year. He stated: “There is high-powered heroin on the streets and addicts are dropping like flies.” He also said that the flood of dope has caused a 42-percent increase in the statewide addict population.
Steel Gap Widening
◆ The Wall Street Journal reports that the gap in steel production between the Soviet Union and the United States will widen in the 1980’s. At present the USSR produces 25 percent more steel than the United States, and this is expected to increase to 50 percent more in the years ahead.
Higher Traffic Toll
◆ Traffic deaths in the United States during 1979 rose above 50,000 for the second year in a row. They had declined below that number in the four years following the gasoline shortage of 1973. Why the new increase? Highway officials say that more older vehicles are on the road, and that “more and more motorists are ignoring the 55-mile-an-hour speed limit.” Another factor blamed was the increasing number of smaller cars in use. A highway safety specialist stated: “When a big car and a small car are in a crash, any fatalities are invariably in the smaller car.”
Ex-Auto Racer Goes Berserk
◆ A former auto racer was recently committed to a mental hospital in Florida after he attempted to murder his mother. Explained a state official: “He walked up to her and said, ‘Mother, I hate to do this to you,’ and she said, ‘What do you mean?’ And he grabbed her by the throat and started choking her, very nearly killing her.” The woman’s grandson, observing the attack, stopped him by hitting him on the head with a jar. The former race-car driver was said to have suffered head injuries many times in auto accidents.
Canned Water
◆ The Waterworks Bureau of Yokohama, Japan, has successfully conducted tests to produce canned water that will remain drinkable for a long period of time. Hospitals, public health centers and other public institutions in the Yokohama area will be supplied with 340,000 cans of water to cope with any water shortage that may arise in case of an earthquake or other disaster. The cans are soft-drink size, and the price is about 34 yen (14 cents, U.S.) a can.
More Television Viewing
◆ According to the Television Bureau of Advertising, TV viewing in the average American household has now reached seven hours and 22 minutes daily. This is two minutes more than the previous year.