Watching the World
More Bible Versions
◆ The Bible, the whole or in part, is now translated into 1,473 languages and dialects, according to the National Geographic Society. It estimates that linguists are currently working on 500 new versions.
The Church’s ‘Radical Sons’
◆ Just eight years ago Catholic scholar Garry Wills devoted over 80 percent of his book Politics and Catholic Freedom to defending the Church as “mother and teacher.” Now, Wills’ current book Bare Ruined Choirs: Doubt, Prophecy and Radical Religion makes an abrupt about-face. He quotes the Church’s so-called ‘radical sons,’ priests, who, while acknowledging the Church’s errors nevertheless stay with it, as saying: “Yes, she’s a whore, but she’s our mother.” Reviewing Wills’ current book, G. North pointedly asks in the Wall Street Journal: “If she is a whore, why would her ‘sons’ want to be linked to the family, but if she is not a whore, why would she tolerate the presence of such sons?”
Rage Against Chaplains
◆ How have American military men serving in Vietnam viewed chaplains? After interviewing veterans of the war, R. J. Lifton answers in the November 1972 Atlantic magazine: “The very mention of a military chaplain quickly brought forth smirks, jibes, and the kind of uneasy laughter suggested by the half-conscious witticism, ‘Those chaplains—oh my God!’ With bitter enthusiasm, they gave endless examples of chaplains blessing the troops, their mission, their guns, their killing. As one of the men put it, ‘Whatever we were doing . . . murder. . . atrocities . . . God was always on our side.’” Funerals of American servicemen were used as opportunities for chaplains to urge: “kill more of” the enemy.
Psychiatrists and Suicide
◆ Psychiatrists claim to understand the workings of the human mind. They should have the keenest emotional balance. Yet, studies show that the suicide rate among psychiatrists is highest of all medical specialities! Various explanations have been attempted for this paradox. But one of the frankest appears in a recent Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. W. C. Ellerbroek of Sunset Beach, California, writes: “Speaking as a psychiatrist, I contend that professionals in the field should maintain a high index of suspicion as to the validity of psychiatric teachings until we have the lowest suicide rate of any professional group, not the highest.”
Pornography’s Adverse Results
◆ Some people say that pornography has no adverse effects on viewers. Thus, Ted McIlvenna, a Methodist minister and chairman of the Committee on Human Sexuality of the World Council of Churches, recently told a federal judge in Portland, Oregon, that “pornography has a therapeutic value in society.” But, in recommending tougher anti-pornography laws in Britain, a citizens’ report connects sex crimes with pornography. David Holbrook, in The Guardian, adds that pornography has made a “whole generation of young people . . . actually addicted to sexual perversions.” It breeds, he believes, sexual impotence. Women, he says, are ‘increasingly enraged at having to compete with the super-goddess of pornography.’
Divorce Climbs
◆ The Chicago Sun-Times reports that divorce rates are still climbing in the United States. The ratio has now reached an average of 455 divorces for every 1,000 new marriages. Fourteen states have ratios over 500, including Montana with a staggering 803 and Oregon with 768. Heavily populated California’s ratio is 755.
Gonorrhea in Youth
◆ San Diego County, in southern California, reports that gonorrhea among 15- to 19-year-olds grew from 132 to 1,041 cases in the 1961-71 period; among 20- to 24-year-olds the leap was from 303 to 1,927 cases. The “horrifying” story the statistics tell moved public health official Dr. Donald G. Ramras to tell area educators: “If schoolchildren had measles to the same extent they now have VD, their parents would be pounding on your doors and picketing your offices demanding action. But they are not. And meanwhile a rip-roaring epidemic sweeps through the public unchecked.”
Worst Air Disaster
◆ The worst air disaster in commercial aviation history is reported to have occurred near Moscow’s international airport in mid-October. All 176 persons aboard a Soviet Ilyushin-62 passenger jet are said to have been killed when it crashed in rainy weather. Sources claim the airport’s instrument landing system was out of operation. The flight had originated in Paris, France.
Football Injuries
◆ A recent study of 40 American college football teams reveals that during the 1970 fall season 1,468 players suffered a total of 2,782 injuries. These included 2,040 sprains, contusions and strains; 180 concussions; 118 fractures; 69 dislocations; 26 cases of heat exhaustion. One player was killed. Almost 7 percent of the injuries are expected to be long-time disabilities. The knee, ankle and face were the most common parts of the body harmed. Most injuries occurred during scheduled games.
The Tallest Firetraps
◆ Of increasing concern to firemen in large cities are skyscrapers. They may be firetraps! Some 2,000 buildings in New York city are now taller than the fire department’s longest ladder. Canadian studies indicate that it takes two hours and eleven minutes to clear a 50-story building. Designed for economy and style rather than safety, many feature ‘core construction.’ Stairs, pipes and ducts are in a central chimney-like shaft that sucks flames and gases up a tall building in minutes. Automatic elevators often jam. Central air conditioning means sealed windows. Some plastics used in furniture, tile and even insulation create poisonous and explosive gases.
Soviet Sports Drive
◆ A massive program is under way in the Soviet Union to popularize sports. Laws now make it mandatory that every new housing project include a sports area such as a court, gym or swimming pool. Children are taught to swim at the age of five. The USSR School Games, involving youngsters from all over the country, seek potential Olympic contenders in rural areas. Even television is being pressed into sports’ service. A Soviet television official says: “We judge a [sports] commentator not only by the way he keeps people glued to the TV set, but by the way he talks them into going out and trying for themselves.”
Suburban Shoplifting
◆ Once considered a problem only for larger city stores, shoplifting now menaces the U.S. suburbs. One stationer says he spends 30 to 40 percent of this time “being a policeman rather than a merchant.” While mirrors, television cameras and signs are used by many businesses to discourage shoplifting, these also create an unfriendly climate for honest customers. Young people are the most frequent offenders. Merchants once called parents when a youngster was caught stealing. But many now directly contact the police, since, as one counselor says, “I haven’t had one parent yet who took [his child’s shoplifting] seriously.”
Is It Really Appendicitis?
◆ The Medical Tribune reports a Japanese study showing that over 62 percent of appendectomies performed in that nation are unnecessary. The study was based on over 8,000 operations performed during the last twenty-five years.
More Guns
◆ Much of the violent crime in the United States during 1971, including 65 percent of all murders, involved the use of guns. Handguns are now “flooding the market.” Their availability encourages crime. A recent “Prisoner of the Year,” when asked what he would do when released said: “Do what I always did, get a pistol and stick up anything that moves.” Nor does carrying a gun necessarily aid the victim of a crime. Myron DuBain told the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting: “The weapon merely becomes another aid to the attacker, the expert on guns and force.”
Child Murderers
◆ Five carefully studied infant slayings in the Cleveland, Ohio, area, show that a preschool child is capable of murder. The victims, ranging in age from one and a half to eight months, had been dropped, bitten and beaten to death. Their assailants were children two to eight years old, apparently motivated by jealousy. Can parental training start too early?
Courts Permit Polygraph Evidence
◆ Contested polygraph (lie detector) tests have been permitted as court evidence for the first time in the United States. Two judges, one in Detroit, Michigan, and the other in Washington, D.C., allowed polygraph results within days of each other. For almost fifty years such tests were permitted only by mutual agreement of prosecution and defense.
Old Weapons Kill
◆ Since 1945 thousands of Germans have been killed or injured by old World War II bombs. Though failing to explode when originally dropped, bombs often accidentally detonate when later found, usually by children and construction workers. Last year, in just the state of Rhineland-Palatinate a special government squad found 115 bombs, as well as 47,000 pounds of ammunition, over 20,000 hand grenades and 88 mines. German coastal waters are also being searched for old mines, torpedoes and rocket shells.
Medical Costs
◆ How much does an office visit to a doctor in the United States cost? The 1972 Profile of Medical Practice reports the 1970 average as: general practice, $8.46; pediatrics, $9.95; obstetrics-gynecology, $14.23; surgery, $14.72; internal medicine, $17.81; and psychiatry, $32.64.
False Burglar Alarms
◆ Home security in the United States is now a $75-million-a-year industry. One currently popular item is the “dialer,” an alarm that automatically telephones police when activated. However, wind, rain, lightning, pets, power failures and poor maintenance also set off their signals. Manufacturers and police officials estimate that 85 percent to 99 percent of “dialer” signals are false alarms. Now, some communities are leveling fines for such accidents. Advising neighbors or police before taking an extended leave is still considered the best precaution against rising burglaries.
Greater Gap Between Rich and Poor
◆ On the surface it may appear that vast technological advances were made in the poorer nations in the 1960-71 period. But in some of these nations, the poorest 10 percent of the population actually grew poorer. In terms of 1970 dollars, the 1960 output per person was $2,145 in developed nations and $173 in the less developed ones. But in 1971 it was $3,150 and $238. Twenty-five percent of the labor force was un(der)employed in the developing countries in 1970, and the figure is climbing. There are also currently 800 million illiterates, 100 million more than in 1950.
Drinking Slows Brain
◆ Even small amounts of alcohol slow down the brain’s ability to process information. A study conducted at the University of California in Los Angeles by Dr. Herbert Moskowitz noted that even one drink slowed down the brain’s processes by 11.5 percent. The research psychologist said: “If this delay occurs in a fairly simple, structured laboratory test, we can assume a much more serious slowing down in an unexpected and vastly more complicated automobile driving situation.”