Watching the World

Doomed Survivors

The BMA (British Medical Association) estimates that as much as half the population of Britain, 28 million people, would be killed during a major nuclear attack and that an additional 6 million would be seriously injured. However, instead of being treated, some seriously injured victims may be subject to mercy killing, according to the BMA report. The Association says: “We see no categorical solution to the problem of mercy killing of survivors who would otherwise experience great suffering followed by certain death.” In its summary of the BMA findings, The Times of London noted that while “the elderly would have least hope of emergency treatment,” as many injured children as possible “would be saved because denying them medical care would probably have ‘disastrous’ effects on the morale of other survivors.”

Depression Relief

“Aerobic exercise such as brisk walking and jogging may offer an effective treatment for people suffering from moderate depression,” reports The Toronto Star. Commenting on a study conducted by the University of Glasgow, Nanette Mutrie, lecturer with the university’s physical education department, recommended that general practitioners who have patients with symptoms of depression “may do well to advise them to undertake a program of exercise.” The reason for the positive effects of aerobic exercise eludes researchers, but the Star report notes Mutrie’s suggestion that “increased heart rate and oxygen intake may cause the release of mood-altering chemicals such as endorphins or that the rhythmic nature of aerobics may elevate a person’s sense of well-being.”

“Taste the Difference”

“Kiss a non-smoker, taste the difference.” This motto has been suggested by the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, as part of a planned campaign against smoking, highlighting “loss of social prestige.” The parliament also recommended to its member countries the following additional antismoking measures: total prohibition of tobacco advertising in all forms of media; outlawing of the sale of the drug to juveniles under 16; removal of all cigarette machines; ban on smoking in all government buildings, schools, and sports areas; and an information campaign on cancer prevention.

A Current Cause

Studies conducted in Sweden and the United States indicate that cancer cases are twice as frequent in homes near high-current power lines as in homes located in other areas. In the Stockholm area, for example, “3 percent of persons who had cancer lived within 150 meters [165 yd] of 200,000-volt power lines,” notes the French magazine L’Express, while only 1.3 percent of the general population lived near such high-voltage lines. While there appears to be some connection between low-frequency electric fields and certain types of cancer, researchers do not know why. However, according to L’Express, it is known that this type of “radiation modifies the way in which brain tissues produce calcium . . . and accelerates the secretion of a certain enzyme . . . that furthers the development of already formed tumors.”

Drawing the Line

Collisions between birds and aircraft can mean expensive accidents. However, for Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, fishing line proved most effective in clearing its runway approach of birds that rivaled airplanes for command of the air. Previous attempts using shotguns and recorded death screams of birds had not scared away the thousands of roosting sea gulls. An airport employee, hearing that fishing line had scared crows away from a garbage dump, suggested stretching fishing lines across the approach-light bridge where the birds were squatting. Amazingly, the flocks of sea gulls vanished. A researcher at the Japan Wild Bird Society noted that birds hate fishing line “because it gets tangled in their legs and wings.”

Working Children

In many Third World countries, changing attitudes and worsening economic conditions have forced increasing numbers of children out of school and into the working world. According to figures published by ILO (International Labor Organization), a United Nations agency based in Geneva, Switzerland, at least 100,000,000 children under 15 (perhaps double that number) are working worldwide. Even if schools are free in their country, children do not attend because their parents feel that it will not change their children’s future employment prospects. The ILO claims the exploitation of children can neither be “abolished nor kept under control in the immediate future.”

Fatal Weekends

Rural areas in Germany have been experiencing a drastic increase in fatal weekend car accidents. “Those killed and seriously injured are mainly under 20 years of age, and few of them have had a driver’s license longer than a year,” reports the German newspaper Schweinfurter Tagblatt. So serious has the situation become that the government has issued a paper entitled “Traffic Accidents Involving Juveniles Following Social Gatherings.” In addition to inexperienced drivers, overloaded cars and driving under the influence of alcohol are cited as factors in the accidents.

Time Study

“Most people spend about five years of their lives standing in lines and six months sitting at stoplights,” says a report in The Express newspaper of Easton, Pennsylvania. According to the report, studies done by the consulting firm Priority Management also show that “the average person spends one year searching for misplaced objects, . . . eight months opening junk mail, . . . and two years trying to return telephone calls to people who never seem to be in.” How can the time be saved and stress reduced? Among the suggestions given are: Plan travel times and routes in order to avoid delays; have reading material and other projects on hand for use when waiting; have a set place for all items, especially those used often; and make a list at the end of each day of the most important things to be done the next day. On the other hand, the study noted that ‘the average married couple spends four minutes a day in meaningful conversation, and the working couple spends 30 seconds a day talking with their children.’ Says the firm’s president, Michael Fortino: “Most people say their families are important, but they don’t live that way.”

AIDS Lawsuit

Contending that Navy doctors gave his wife a blood transfusion from a homosexual donor who had the AIDS virus, a U.S. Marine officer has sued the federal government for $55 million. As reported in The New York Times, Chief Warrant Officer Martin Gaffney contended in the suit “that the Navy mishandled his wife’s pregnancy by causing their baby to be stillborn, then giving her a transfusion that transmitted the AIDS virus to his wife, then to him and a son born later.” John, the 13-month-old son, died in 1986. His wife, Mutsuko, died the following year. Gaffney says he filed the suit to provide for his four-year-old daughter, Maureene, who is likely to become an orphan.

Bible Addicts

According to official rules, every prisoner in Britain’s jails is entitled to a free Bible upon request. Recently, prison chaplains in Leeds noted that more prisoners were asking for Bibles. An increase of spirituality among the inmates perhaps? Not at all. Many prisoners evidently use the Bible paper for rolling cigarettes, reports the Scottish Daily Express. In an attempt to save Bibles, chaplains bought a supply of cigarette paper for the prisoners. But apparently this alternative has not proved satisfactory. As one ex-prisoner explained: “The quality of paper in the good book is even better than cigarette papers.”