Watching the World
A Warring Century
“A bloody century, the 20th has already had 207 wars, and an estimated 78 million lives lost in them, more than five times as many deaths as in the 19th century,” states the recently published report World Military and Social Expenditures 1985. “Two-thirds of the world’s countries, representing 97 percent of the global population, have been in at least one war in this century. Since World War II the level of violence has heightened.” In fact, not counting the two world wars, there have been four times as many deaths due to war in the 40 years since World War II as in the 40 years before it. The number of civil, local, and regional conflicts has spiraled upward. Religious and ethnic causes for these conflicts have reached a new peak in recent years. The battleground for most wars fought since 1945 has been the Third World countries, where advanced weaponry has put every area, however remote, close to the battlefield. Civilian deaths have climbed sharply. “Wars are now more life-threatening for non-combatants than for the men fighting them,” says the report.
Toxic Leaks
In the United States, in the past five years toxic leaks have killed at least 135 people, injured 1,500, and driven more than 200,000 from their homes, reports the Environmental Protection Agency. Each year, there are some 1,400 accidental releases of hazardous chemicals. The agency estimates that about 2,000 people develop cancer annually because of exposure to them—almost equal to the number of people who died in the well-publicized Bhopal, India, tragedy in 1984. “There has been much talk but little action about how to avert similar catastrophes,” says The New York Times.
Alcohol’s Role in Crime
The results of drunken driving are well known. But how about alcohol’s role in other crimes? A recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that 68 percent of those convicted of manslaughter, 62 percent of those convicted of assault, and 49 percent of those convicted of murder or attempted murder had been drinking beforehand. Overall, 54 percent of those convicted of violent crimes admitted that at the time of the offense they were “pretty drunk” or “very drunk.” Even for nonviolent offenses, such as public disorder and burglary, 48 percent of those convicted had been imbibing alcohol before the offense was committed. The survey of nearly 6,000 inmates in some 400 jails across the country was said to be representative of the over 223,000 people locked up in the nation’s local jails at the time.
“Glut Economy”
“All over the globe, in developed and developing nations alike, producers in a broad spectrum of industries are turning out more than consumers can buy, creating a new world economy—a glut economy,” says The New York Times. “Overabundance has replaced the chronic shortages of the 1970’s. There are rising stockpiles of raw materials, underutilized and mothballed factories and vast pools of idle labor.” As a result, protectionism is becoming common in many industrial nations, making it harder for Third World countries to sell their goods. And as prices have been forced down, these nations have resorted to increasing their output, hoping to make up for the loss of income—thereby adding to the glut.
Slowest Rate
Europe now has the slowest population growth rate in the world, says the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Between 1975 and 1980 the yearly growth rate fell from an average of about 0.8 percent to 0.4 percent. Population experts expect the decline to continue—reaching 0.26 percent by the end of the century and zero growth by the year 2025. Africa, on the other hand, has the world’s fastest growth rate. It rose from 2.1 percent in 1950 to 3.0 percent in 1980, and it is expected to reach 3.1 percent by the year 2000. Overall, the world’s population is no longer growing as rapidly as it once did. It now increases at a rate of 1.7 percent each year, adding some 80 million people.
The Heritage of War
A bleak, distorted life faces Beirut’s children, says The West Australian of Melbourne. Even now, toddlers can tell the difference between incoming and outgoing shells, between the various types of artillery fire. “One wonders what these children will be like when they are older, what with all the ugliness surrounding them,” says Beirut nursery teacher Iman Khalife. “Their conversations revolve around shelters, explosions, battles and fighting, electricity cuts and water shortages.” She says the favorite game of the three- and four-year-old children she works with is “War,” in which they react as if a shell had exploded nearby. Older youths are also affected. “I can’t sleep unless I hear the sounds of shells,” says Ghazi Sabbagh, a 20-year-old university student. So in order to sleep when there is a lull in the fighting, he plays a recording he made of the mortars, shellfire, and grenades.
Stronger Cigarette Warnings
The first warning in 1966 said that “cigaret smoke may be hazardous to your health.” The second, in 1970, said that it is dangerous to health. Now, in 1986, cigarette packages will carry four new warnings from the U.S. surgeon general, stating that cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide; causes cancer, heart disease, and emphysema; damages the fetus and complicates pregnancy; and that quitting now greatly reduces such risks. The new warnings, each stating specific dangers, will be rotated quarterly. It is hoped that an informed public will be convinced to stop smoking or never even start.
Tendon “Factory” Discovered
Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., have identified the body’s tendon-producing “factory.” Peering into the cell by means of an electron microscope that magnifies one million times, they found the ribosome that produces collagen, the protein constituent of tendons. With its three protein strands twisted together like a rope, collagen gives tendons their strength to attach muscles to the bone. The Times of London reports that the way the protein strands are produced and twisted together “appears to be the most complex piece of cellular assembly yet discovered.”
Dangerous Company
Living or working with someone who smokes can be dangerous to your health, says a new American Cancer Society study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. After analyzing a group of 134 nonsmoking women with lung cancer, the researchers found that a nonsmoking woman exposed to the smoke of others was 10 to 30 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than was a woman who was not exposed. And the risk of getting lung cancer increases with the amount of smoke to which a nonsmoker is exposed. “The women . . . who were exposed to the smoke of at least 20 cigarettes a day,” notes the report, “showed a risk twice as high as that of women not exposed at all.”
Jazz for Buddhists
For centuries, Buddhist temples have been peaceful sanctuaries for quiet meditation, but now some are taking up unusual sidelines. For example, Jotokuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, reverberates with the sounds of jazz three nights a week. According to Asahi Evening News, the temple’s priest says that “he’s comfortable having young, leotard-clad female bodies gyrating and bouncing in his house of worship.” However, he admits that “it’s not easy to chant sutras to jazz accompaniment.” Other temples use pop music, comedy, and “day-as-a-Buddhist-nun” gimmicks to attract people.
Inadequate Skills
Eighty physicians who volunteered to test their skill in detecting breast tumors did not do well, reports American Health. The lumps, ranging in size from 1/8 to 1/2 inch (3 to 13 mm) and varying from soft to hard, were embedded in silicone breast models. Although they had greater success in locating the largest lumps, each physician, on the average, found only 44 percent of them, and one doctor detected only 17 percent. Internists were the most successful, while gynecologists located the fewest. Many of the doctors said they were inadequately trained for such examinations. The time spent in examining the breasts was an important factor. Experts say that early detection is the best protection, that is, to locate the tumors while they are still small. They recommend monthly self-examination in addition to the physician’s examination. Most small tumors can be removed by a lumpectomy, in which only a small area of the surrounding tissue is affected.
Car Finder
Over a million automobiles were stolen in the United States in 1984. According to the FBI, only half of the cars stolen are ever recovered. This has prompted one Massachusetts company to come up with an electronic device—about the size of a blackboard eraser—that will enable police to track down a stolen vehicle. In a year of testing, most vehicles fitted with the device were located within ten minutes. When a theft is reported, a central computer will be used to activate the electronic bug, which will emit a signal that can be picked up within a five-mile (8-km) radius by tracking units mounted in police cars. The computer will also tell the police the year, make, color, and registration number of the stolen car, for easy identification. The device can be installed virtually anywhere in the car, even inside the upholstery.