Watching the World
Wood Versus Plastic
When cutting up raw meat and poultry, one might assume that a plastic cutting board is more sanitary than a wooden one. A recent study has found the opposite. According to the Berkeley Wellness Letter, two microbiologists at the University of Wisconsin, U.S.A., intentionally contaminated wooden and plastic cutting boards with bacteria, such as salmonella, that cause food poisoning. Surprisingly, the bacteria thrived on the plastic boards, whereas they died or were rendered harmless on the wooden boards—in some cases within only three minutes. When contaminated and stored overnight, the wooden boards were bacteria-free in the morning, while the plastic ones carried abundant bacteria populations. Old wood proved more effective than new wood in this regard. Plastic also proved harder to wash clean than expected, especially if the surface was scratched. Regardless of board type, washing it with soap and hot water after cutting raw meats is crucial.
A Daily Slaughter
“Daily, at least four women die in Brazil because of abortion complications—1,460 every year,” reports the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. The paper acknowledges that this estimate is “optimistic” and that the actual figure may be three times higher. It adds: “The average in Latin America is more dramatic. The UN estimates that 50 percent of all maternal deaths result from abortions, which means 15 thousand women annually—an average of 41 Latin-American women killed every day.”
Stand Straight
Slouch, and your back suffers. According to a report in the International Herald Tribune, poor posture puts 15 times more pressure on the lower back than does standing up straight. Slouching also results in shallower breathing, and that means less oxygen to nourish the body. It can drain your energy and result in aches and pains, especially in the neck and back. It may also make you look older, fatter, and less confident than you do when you stand erect. Good posture, the report says, means that your earlobes, shoulders, center of the hips, kneecaps, and anklebones should align vertically. However, it does not mean a ramrod military posture with knees locked and head and shoulders thrust back. This puts excessive strain on the spine. Experts say that poor posture is usually a bad habit that can be corrected.
Accidents Waiting to Happen
“A fleet of floating catastrophes waiting to happen”—that, according to International Environmental Update, is what some critics have dubbed the world’s oil tankers. The journal alleges that “the world still relies on hundreds of rusting, aging, unregulated tankers with ill-trained crews to transport its most critical fuel.” A big tanker is expected to last for about 15 years. But some 65 percent of the global tanker fleet is at least that old. Even some oil industry officials admit that many of these obsolete tankers should be scrapped. No one agency, it seems, has the authority to order the ships out of service. However, the problem may lie more in how these ships are handled than in the vessels themselves. The journal quotes one oil pollution expert as saying: “The vast majority of tanker accidents are caused by human error.”
Coping Strategies for Children
What enables some children to cope with the heavy pressures of modern life? To find out, researchers at Loyola University of Chicago, U.S.A., conducted a study of 400 children, 9 to 13 years old, from wide-ranging backgrounds. Among approximately half who routinely handled difficult situations well, the researchers found three common characteristics, reports American Health magazine. One, they were willing to ask for help, share their concerns, and seek emotional support from an adult—often, but not always, a parent. Two, they tended to take responsibility for their own behavior and sought to influence their peers to avoid harm. Three, they sought out quiet time or recreation to relieve stress. On the other hand, the researchers found three tendencies that reduced children’s resiliency: resorting to aggression; self-destructive behavior such as drug abuse; and avoiding problems rather than dealing with them.
Happiness in Asia
A poll taken by Survey Research Hong Kong Limited found that the happiest people in both Taiwan and the Republic of Korea are poor and in their 30’s. In the Philippines, where the GNP (gross national product) is just $500 (U.S.) per capita and 41 percent of the people live in poverty, 94 percent claim happiness. This same attitude toward life is shared by almost all their neighbors in Asia, bar one. “In a region generally bubbling over with cheer,” said Mainichi Daily News, Asia’s richest country “came out as the least happy place.” Even with a GNP exceeding $27,000 (U.S.) per capita, 40 percent of the Japanese confess that they are not happy.
A Failure to Communicate
“The average married couple in Germany spend scarcely 10 minutes a day talking to each other,” reports the German newspaper Nassauische Neue Presse. So most couples devote far too little time to working out their problems. Furthermore, family counselors in Germany note that young couples in particular do not know how to handle their differences of opinion. This is a major cause of early breakdown of partnerships; two out of five marriages fail within the first four years. The paper quotes counselor Rosemarie Breindl as saying: “There are hardly any models who show by example how to solve conflicts.” The report adds: “Hence, there is a growing willingness to dispense with marriage problems simply by separation.”
Keep Work in Its Place
Ulcers, heart ailments, nervous exhaustion, absenteeism, and accidents—these are the price of too much stress, which costs both the employee and the employer. According to a report by the French International Office of Labor, work-related stress has become “one of the most serious problems of our time.” In Europe, staff reductions and the increasing responsibilities of employees, together with the desire for increased production and profits, have markedly increased stress in the workplace, notes the French medical journal Le Concours Médical, adding that some in France are even dying from overwork. Interestingly, several studies show that an individual best resists stress when he cultivates warm and loving friendships with those around him. Doctors also recommend relaxation, physical exercise, a balanced diet, and keeping work in its place—reserving time for family and recreation.
Police Learn About Cults
Police officers from around the country gathered in Rhode Island, U.S.A., earlier this year for a three-day conference on an unusual subject: satanic worship, cults, and witchcraft. The New York Daily News reported that the purpose of the seminar was to train veteran police officers to detect the violence perpetrated by such cults. Sergeant Edmund Pierce of the Warwick Police Department is quoted as saying: “What we’re doing is focusing on crimes ranging from cruelty to animals, grave desecrations and robberies, to assaults, ritualistic child abuse and even murder.” The Daily News quotes Dr. Carl Raschke, a professor at the University of Denver, as commenting: “I see a lot more violent cults forming, and violent abuse occurring in the guise of occult beliefs.” Experts at the seminar also warned that such hate groups as the neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan are using occult trappings to attract members and gain more control over them.
A Lethal Trade Makes a Comeback
Despite some gains in recent years, conservation efforts in India have been set back by poachers, reports India Today. In 1988 there were an estimated 4,500 tigers left in the wild in India. By 1992, that number had been reduced to 1,500. The tiger is sold for its skin, its blood, its bones (which are used in folk medicines), its claws, and even its genitals. But the tiger is not the only victim of the army of poachers. Forty-eight Indian rhino were slaughtered for their horns in 1992, the highest number in decades. Indian elephants have plummeted in numbers from 5,000 ten years ago to about 1,500 today. Forest guards are reportedly so fearful of today’s heavily armed poachers that some no longer wear their official uniforms; others refuse outright to do their job until they are properly equipped to defend themselves.