Watching the World

Watching the World
Mental Illness Near “Emergency”
· The number of Americans who suffer from serious emotional and mental disorders almost represents a national emergency, said Dr. Milton Greenblatt of the University of California. Studies indicate, he said, that more than 20 percent of the United States population is seriously ill with such disorders. In Canada, Dr. Peter Matthews of the psychiatry department of the University of Saskatchewan observed that the problem in his country was similar, although he did not call it a national emergency. He noted, however, that one out of four Canadians likely will suffer psychiatric disorders during his or her lifetime.
Dead Sea Nearly Dead
· The Dead Sea, lying below sea level between Israel and Jordan, has long been called “dead” because fish cannot live in its water; it is too salty. But the Dead Sea is now dying from another viewpoint. According to scientists, the sea is shrinking in volume and there is very little hope of reversing the process. The water supplying it, mainly the Jordan River, has been reduced due to its being used so heavily for agricultural and industrial purposes. A drought has accelerated the process. According to the magazine To the Point, the Dead Sea has shrunk so much that it has divided in two at its narrowest part. The only way to avoid the complete desertification of the sea, scientists claim, is by linking it to the Mediterranean Sea by a canal.
Population “Bomb” Keeps Ticking
· Environmentalists warn that the population bomb keeps ticking its way to the explosion point. They calculate that the world’s population will increase from more than 4,000 million at present to 6,000 million in just 20 more years. But the arable land available to feed all these extra people will be less and less, as thousands of acres are lost each year to urban sprawl and soil erosion from overgrazing and deforestation. They estimate that 25,000 plant species and more than a thousand animal species are threatened with extinction by the turn of the century.
“Worthless” Coins
· The government of Brazil says that after January 1, 1981, it will remove from circulation coins of one, two and five centavos. Inflation has made them practically worthless. There are 100 centavos in each Brazilian cruzeiro, the country’s basic monetary unit. Ten years ago, a cruzeiro was worth about 25 U.S. cents. But now the value of the cruzeiro has declined to about two U.S. cents, with the centavo worth only one hundredth of that. Of course, in the United States the penny (one hundredth of its basic unit, the dollar) is not worth much in buying power either.
Car Blessing
· The New York Times reports from Podkowa Lensa, Poland: “Over an altar made of two Fiats, Leon Kantorski opened Poland’s summer motoring season by blessing 2,000 cars.” Mr. Kantorski is a Roman Catholic vicar. The report continues: “The drivers sounded their horns during the mass and at the end of the service drove past Mr. Kantorski to be blessed and receive a medal bearing the image of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers. Mr. Kantorski said that ‘a Roman Catholic car-blessing ceremony has been held off and on here since 1933.’” But in view of the fact that several hundred thousand persons are killed and several million injured world wide in automobile accidents each year, the question can be asked: Does God really respond to such ceremonies and medals? As many churchgoing drivers have accidents as those not going to church.
Timber “Rustlers”
· American forests are being denuded of timber valued at millions of dollars each year, and the problem is growing drastically. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Forest Service attribute the huge rise of “timber rustlers” to the soaring cost of oil for heating homes and the subsequent switch, by many, to wood for fuel. The loss in just two states, Washington and Oregon, is thought to amount to at least $60 million a year, and is increasing.
Lost Oil
· The amount of oil lost through accidents world wide last year was more than the production of the United States for well over a month, and equal in value to thousands of millions of American dollars. A total of 328 million gallons was lost through 159 reported spills, such as tanker collisions, fires, the blowout of an offshore oil well in Mexico, a huge oil-tank rupture in Nigeria, and other accidents. The 1979 losses were 56 percent more than the year before.
Protect Your Hearing
· Researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York caution: Don’t take your sense of hearing for granted. A bulletin issued by the laboratory warns: “Many people don’t realize that your hearing capacity can be selectively damaged by constant or intermittent exposure to noise. . . . In addition, in many cases the sensation of pain does not precede hearing loss.” Some of the more common sources of potentially hazardous noise (off the job) are: a jet airplane at takeoff, disco music, a powered lawn mower, riding a motorcycle, shotgun blasting, riding a subway. Common sources of industrial noise are: air compressors, pumps, drills and saws. It is significant to note that amplified disco-type music is rated as a greater hazard than most of the other items listed. The number of minutes per day it should be tolerated was listed at only 15. It is less than 5 percent under the noise level that the institute says should not be allowed at all.
Help for Kidney Patients
· A simple treatment is bringing new freedom of movement to several thousand persons previously tied to artificial kidney machines, doctors say. The treatment is called CAPD for short (continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis). The treatment “doesn’t require complicated machinery, electricity, anticoagulants or access to blood vessels, and it works all the time, like real kidneys do,” says Dr. Karl Nolph of the University of Missouri, one of the originators of CAPD. In this treatment, the patient’s abdominal cavity is continuously flooded with about two quarts of a sterile salt solution, which is changed four times a day. The solution comes in plastic bags that feed by gravity through a permanently implanted tube. Between fluid changes, the plastic bag is folded and hidden under the clothing. In this method, wastes diffuse into the solution from the peritoneal membrane covering the stomach and intestines. The wastes in the blood are kept constantly low, while with kidney machines waste levels go up between treatments. Doctors say that the treatment offers an alternative for about one third of patients now requiring thrice weekly, six-hour hemodialysis sessions on a kidney machine.
Valuable “Junk”
· At one time old bottles, scrap metal, newspapers and other “junk” were thrown away in East Germany. But with rising world prices for raw materials, “we are faced with an entirely new problem,” said Erich Honecker, the nation’s head of state. This is because East Germany must import more than two thirds of its raw materials. Hence, the government has drastically raised prices for old glass, scrap metal and paper. Now, it is reported that long lines of people gather every day at each of the country’s 11,000 collection points to sell what was once considered junk but which is now being recycled as a conservation measure.
Motorcycle Deaths Soar
· Deaths from motorcycle accidents are rapidly increasing in the United States, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The number of motorcyclists killed during 1979 was 4,850, about 50 percent more than in 1976. Riders who do not wear safety helmets have three times the risk of suffering a fatal accident as those who do wear the helmets. Yet, since 1976, 27 states have either repealed or watered down mandatory helmet laws.
3-D TV
· People in the United States are often thought to possess all the latest electronic gadgetry. But when it comes to three-dimensional television, they are well behind people in some other countries. Japanese children wearing special adapter glasses have been able to watch 3-D cartoons for about three years. Some Italians and Mexicans also have been viewing other 3-D systems in recent years, and Sydney, Australia, has been scheduled to begin broadcasting with a newly devised system. What are the prospects for 3-D TV in the United States? “Uncertainty about the willingness of viewers to buy adapters, glasses or new TV sets for 3-D reception may delay such broadcasts for a long time to come,” says the New York Times. “The television industry is also hobbled by its lack of agreement on which of several competing systems would be best.”
Controlling High Blood Pressure
· A five-year Mayo Clinic study revealed that moderately restricting salt intake has reversed hypertension in 85 percent of mild cases and 51 percent of severe cases, reports Medical Tribune. In these tests, the only therapy was a low-salt, low-calorie diet. However, other doctors maintain that more evidence is required before it can definitely be said that salt intake is so directly related to blood pressure.
Sunday Schools Fading?
· The decade of the 1970’s has seen Sunday-school enrollment in the United States drop by almost one fifth, according to the Institute for American Church Growth. From 40.5 million in 1970, the schools’ pupils now number fewer than 32.6 million, even though nominal church membership increased 16 percent during the same period. Sunday-school enrollment at so-called “evangelical” churches, as well as at the mainline churches, was said to be declining.
Calculators Compete
· Which is faster, an abacus or an electronic calculator? A contest to find the answer was held in the People’s Republic of China. A report from Shanghai says the abacuses won—for adding and subtracting. They were said to be 20 percent faster than the calculators. But the calculators won handily at multiplying and dividing, being over 50 percent faster than the abacuses.
Biting Each Other
· The reported incidents of New York City residents biting each other in anger have increased sharply. Human bites now rank second in number to dog bites, and are ahead of rat bites. City Health Commissioner Reinaldo Ferrer says that the number of cases (973 last year) “has been steadily increasing over the past few years.” According to a study, nearly 75 percent of the human bites take place during some dispute such as fighting, mugging or resisting arrest. “It is not uncommon for children suffering from child abuse to be bitten by their parents or guardians,” the commissioner said.
Best Weapon: Screaming
· Chief Inspector Keith Kilbride of the West Yorkshire Crime Prevention Bureau in England observed that so much sophisticated advice has been given to women on how to ward off male attackers that many women have forgotten their “basic weapon.” He states: “If a woman is attacked, her best weapon is still her lungs.”
Bicycling in Britain
· Increased costs of operating automobiles are giving an impetus to Britain’s bicycle industry. During 1979, 1,450,000 bicycles were sold in that country, more than in any other year since World War II. According to the British Cycling Bureau, between 8,000,000 and 10,000,000 bicycles are in regular use, and more than 3,000,000 people bicycle to work every day.