Watching the World
‘No Longer Funny’
● “For years cartoonists and satirists have had fun at the expense of the professional doomsayers,” writes Haynes Johnson in The Washington Post. After mentioning those who proclaim, “PREPARE! THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEAR,” he goes on to say: “And there, under the door at home the other day, was another familiar message in the form of a religious leaflet. ‘Are we nearing Armageddon?’ read the words superimposed over a glowering sky and a bolt of jagged lightning bearing down on us.” Then Johnson observes: “There was a time when that sort of message would bring indulgent smiles. Suddenly, it no longer seems funny.”
On Gambling
● According to the Church of England’s working party report, “gambling can be good for your health,” reports The Guardian of London. “Village fetes, annual dances and club socials would all be duller affairs without the odd raffle or tombola,” it says. One observer noted the effects of this gambling boom sweeping Britain and describes them as suicide, depression, divorce, unemployment and crime. The Guardian stated that 94 percent of the population say they gamble.
Religious Trend
● “Americans are getting more religious year by year. Paradoxically, they are getting less churchy,” according to a Gallup poll. It finds an increase of those seeking to find God, “but there’s no increase among those who look for him in church on Sunday.” It states that 73 percent of Americans in 1965 were church members compared to 67 percent now. It finds that more than half of the Catholics “weren’t at mass last Sunday.” Only 43.6 percent of the Protestants attended church, according to the poll. Over half of those polled felt that religion has the answer to the world’s problems and that there is a definite shift away from a reliance on science.
How Big Is the U.S. Government?
● The federal government of the United States is, “indeed, Big Business,” states The New York Times. It claims that the U.S. government spends “more than $91 million an hour, 24 hours a day.” It further shows that the federal government employs 2.8 million people and spends more than $130 billion a year on goods and services. It also is a big landowner as it owns one third of the United States landmass, an estimated 744 million acres. The report states that the government provides 95 million subsidized meals a day and gives medical care to 47 million people. According to the U.S.News & World Report, the government holds physical assets worth $12.5 trillion, which equals $53,800 for every man, woman and child in the country. So indeed the U.S. government is big.
Pledge of Allegiance—Why?
● “Millions of teachers lead tens of millions of children each day in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Why?” asks Ray B. Knapp, professor of political science at the University of Northern Colorado. Professor Knapp feels that the Pledge of Allegiance has no place in schools, even though the Greeley, Colorado, school board ruled it could be voluntary. He recalls that one student was beaten by the other students when he refused to stand for the Pledge. Then Knapp asks: “Why should any school board be compelling the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance? Our Supreme Court settled the issue 40 years ago in the case of West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette.”
China’s Capital Punishment
● China’s death penalty for 29 offenses covers “criminals involved in homicide, rape, robbery, explosions and other activities that seriously threaten public safety,” says The New York Times. The report states that in two months after taking this hard line, crime fell to its lowest level in years, dropping 46.7 percent one month; 11.5 percent more the next month. A Peking authority reasons that if a murderer is not executed, others may feel that they can get away with it too. What has resulted from this hard-line approach? One Chinese man comments: “It used to be that you couldn’t go out after 11 P.M. Now it’s become completely safe.”
India’s Dowry Disputes
● “Although dowries were supposedly outlawed in 1961, dowry deaths have become a modern plague throughout India,” reports Canada’s Globe and Mail. The complaints by the in-laws are that dowries of the young brides are not large enough. There are instances, it is claimed, where the in-laws have poured kerosene over the bride and burned her to death because the dowry was too small. Some young girls were forced into prostitution to raise enough money to get married, says the report. Some things demanded by the groom are “television sets, scooters, and even cars and video-recorders.” India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, stated that the dowry system is barbaric and “it should go.”
More Abortions Than Live Births
● According to Toronto’s Globe and Mail, “there are more abortions than live births among City of Toronto residents.” There were 7,597 live births in Toronto in 1981 compared to 8,313 abortions in the same year. In 1975 “the number of live births . . . was almost double the number of abortions.” Some women have to wait up to six weeks for an abortion. The report adds that married women or those living with a man accounted for 28 percent of the abortions, single women for 63 percent. “The rest were listed as separated, divorced or widowed.” Abortions among teenagers doubled from 1975 to 1981.
Never-Ending Universe
● Some scientists speculate that the universe will some day collapse. However, London’s Daily Telegraph reports: “New evidence that the Universe will continue to expand forever, so that life could go on existing almost for eternity, was presented by a team of astronomers.” This team of astronomers made up of British, Australian and Chinese, went on to show that the “universe cannot, after all, collapse under its own weight, as many scientists have predicted.” In harmony with this conclusion, the Bible shows, at Isaiah 40:26, that Jehovah God is the Source of dynamic energy, and Psalm 90:2 shows that he is eternal.
New Typewriter Sets Record
● A new kind of typewriter has been invented that, according to a Dutch company, has broken the world record for typing speed. The claim is made that a typing speed of 1,000 characters per minute has been attained. The conventional typewriter world record is 683 characters per minute. This machine types syllables instead of single characters. “The keyboard is arranged to minimise finger movements and balance the work load between the two hands,” reports New Scientist magazine. It also incorporates a microprocessor that prevents the typist from “transposing letters at high speeds.”
Singing ‘Idol’?
● “Young girls fainted ‘like flies dropping’ . . . At least three teenagers were trampled . . . 11 car roofs were crushed and a City Hall window was broken.” What was the occasion? The appearance of a famous rock singer outside City Hall in New York City. The New York Post described it as “pandemonium” and said that a “deafening scream” rose from the adoring fans when he appeared. The entertainer had retreated from the City Hall steps to within the building when his fans surged past police lines. The rock star finally changed into a policeman’s uniform to escape the crowd.
Ponderous Pumpkin
● A retired resident of Falmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, is this season’s world champion in growing giant pumpkins. His entry weighed in at a hefty 481 pounds (218 kg), unseating the former champion. The runner-up and winner for the last four years entered a 476-pound (216-kg) specimen. However, the latter still holds the all-time world record for the largest pumpkin grown, a ponderous 493.5-pounder (223.9 kg)! An international telephone link this year truly made the annual event a world competition. Sites of judging were in Canada, the United States and England. A seed grower in England had even offered £10,000 ($14,600, U.S.) to any grower in England who could best the entries. The British entry was a respectable 400-pound (181-kg) pumpkin.
Hearing-Aid News
● There may be good news coming for those needing hearing aids. After five years of research Japan has developed “the world’s first ultrasmall, highly efficient hearing aid,” reports the Mainichi Daily News. The new aid consists of a mike, an amplifier, an electric cell, a connector and a vibrator. It weighs from 16 grams to 36 grams (.5 to 1 oz), depending on the type of electric cell required. It conveys sounds to the stapes linked to the inner ear and produces “much clearer sounds with no distortion, compared with conventional aids,” concludes the report.
Extraordinary Marathon
● After running 541 miles (870 km), 23 miles (37 km) a day, on the Pacific Coast Highway, a young lad ten years of age decided to run across the United States. Starting out from the West Coast June 6, 163 days later, November 16, found him completing his 3,424-mile (5,509-km) marathon, “dashing” down Broadway in New York City with a full police escort, reports the New York Post. Why did he do it? Suffering from a disability that makes learning and speaking difficult for him and being taunted for this, “he was a young man with something to prove,” the report says.
“Good Samaritan” Law
● “A 13-year-old girl was raped over 40 minutes by two youths as several people stood by. Police finally were summoned by a 11-year-old boy,” reports The New York Times. To prevent such incidents, the state of Minnesota enacted a law “making it a duty to assist” a person in an emergency. Other states have “Good Samaritan” laws that “relieve a person of liability when they render aid in an emergency,” but the amendment to the law in Minnesota makes it a duty. In violent situations reasonable help is required without endangering oneself. This may mean calling the police. “Witnesses whose neglect increased damage to the victim may be at least partially liable in court,” it is reported.