Watching the World
The Year 2000 and Christ
“Poll finds fewer than one in six Britons links year 2000 with Christ,” states the ENI Bulletin. A Gallup survey “uncovered massive ignorance about the Millennium, with 37 per cent of respondents saying they did not know what it commemorated . . . , 18 per cent saying the celebrations marked the new century and 17 per cent that they marked the year 2000.” Only 15 percent see a connection between 2000 and the birth of Christ. According to Professor Anthony King of Essex University, for most people the millennium meant “little more than an opportunity to dance, drink champagne, stay up late with friends or travel abroad.” Commented Anglican bishop Gavin Reid: “We live in a society that has lost its cultural and spiritual memory.”
Alarm Over “Superbugs”
“The resistance by ‘superbugs’ to the most potent antibiotics should send alarm bells ringing, not only for the medical profession but for consumers too,” says the South African Star newspaper. Pathologist Mike Dove warns that “diseases once controlled or almost eliminated have mutated and are making a comeback.” Overuse of antibiotics has resulted in new versions of tuberculosis (TB), malaria, typhoid, gonorrhea, meningitis, and pneumonia that are increasingly difficult to treat and are resistant to modern drugs. Over three million people a year die from TB alone. Patients can help by remembering the following: Initially, try such remedies as drinking lots of fluids, getting needed rest, and gargling with salt and warm water if you have a sore throat. Do not pressure your doctor for antibiotics—let him determine if they are really necessary. If they are prescribed, always complete your course even if improvement is noted. Remember, antibiotics will not cure colds and flu, which are caused by viruses, not bacteria. “Everyone,” said Dove, “should work together to combat this very worrying global problem which could create a health catastrophe.”
High Cost of Depression
“Depression—much more than physical diseases—is the main cause of job absenteeism and low production quality in the world,” says the Brazilian newspaper O Globo. A World Health Organization report shows that mental diseases were responsible for 200,000 deaths in 1997. Additionally, minor mental disorders, such as mood changes, had a negative effect on the professional activity of over 146 million people worldwide—a number higher than the 123 million workers who were impeded by hearing problems or the 25 million who experienced accidents at work. According to a study by Oxford University professor Guy Goodwyn, the problem of depression will increase in the coming years, resulting in an enormous burden for society because of loss of productivity and rising costs of treatment. In the United States alone, annual losses due to depression already amount to $53 billion.
Better on Paper
“No monitor is as readable as printed paper,” reports the German press agency dpa-Basisdienst. Reading from paper instead of a monitor results in significantly fewer mistakes and faster reading. Tests show that reading text on a monitor takes, on the average, 10 percent longer than text on paper. Although the results improved when top-quality monitors with increased contrast and resolution and decreased flickering were used, they still did not match the results of reading from paper. “Whoever works at a monitor spends all his time looking directly into a source of light that dazzles, flickers, and reflects,” said psychologist Martina Ziefle, from Aachen, Germany. “The contours of the characters are not as sharp, and the contrasts are weaker.” The conclusion of dpa: “When you are buying a computer, more attention should therefore be paid to the quality of the monitor.”
Sign of the Times
“One more quaint bit of Canadiana will expire in a few weeks when police [in Newfoundland] begin to pack pistols for the very first time,” reports The Toronto Star. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, founded in 1729, was “the last police force in North America to patrol without a gun at hand’s reach.” New legislation abolished the previous policy. It required that officers ask a supervisor for permission to arm themselves. If permission was granted, an officer would keep his weapon in a locked box in the trunk of his cruiser. Then, when it was needed on an emergency call, he had to park his car, unlock the trunk, unlock the box, and load the weapon. “It’s quaint and it’s cute, but it isn’t really practical to say a professional, trained police force in 1998 can’t have access to their weapons,” said Premier Brian Tobin. The Rock, as Newfoundland is affectionately known, still boasts the lowest crime rate in the country and has had no officer shot in the line of duty.
Revenge Is Their Business
Promising “strict confidentiality” and the ability to render service anywhere in Japan, a Tokyo company advertises: “We will settle a score on your behalf.” The basic philosophy is “to cause the same kind of suffering to the person who made the client suffer in the first place,” says the man who runs the service. As reported in Asahi Evening News, the company will “perform legal acts of retribution,” such as making sure “a person loses his job and his family,” breaking up relationships, and “ensuring a colleague gets fired or a boss who inflicted sexual harassment is humiliated.” Of the approximately 50 people who telephone the company each day, 20 ask about contracts for murder; but the company’s general rule is not to use force or break the law, “although at times it comes close.” The service employs dozens of workers, most of whom work full-time at other jobs. Some are people who have suffered themselves and who want to help others take revenge. “You never know if something you did in the past has caused other people to hold a grudge against you. Be careful,” cautioned the owner.
Land Crabs and Ecology
Ants, termites, and worms break down leaves and debris on forest floors, but what happens in tropical rain forests that are periodically flooded? Land crabs do the job. An ecologist from the University of Michigan, U.S.A., was surprised to find an extensive area of forest on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica that had no leaves on the ground but numerous large holes instead. During the night, he watched as land crabs—estimated at 24,000 to an acre [60,000 to a hectare]—emerged to forage for dead leaves, fruit, and seedlings, which they carried to the bottom of their three-foot [1 m] burrows. These eight-inch [20 cm] crabs, which have modified gills for breathing air and make only periodic visits to the sea to breed, help to nurture deeply rooted trees. The whole ecology of the forest is determined by what these creatures do, reports The Times of London.
Far Out in Space
“Voyager 1 has entered the record books as the most distant human-made object,” states Astronomy magazine. “The previous record holder was Pioneer 10, which is heading in almost the opposite direction at a slower speed.” How far away is Voyager 1? A distance of 6.5 billion miles [10.4 billion km], as of February 17, 1998. The spacecraft was launched on September 5, 1977; passed Jupiter on March 5, 1979; and flew by Saturn on November 12, 1980. It continues to return data on the solar wind and magnetic field. “Eventually, its instruments may be the first of any spacecraft to sense the heliopause—the boundary between the end of the Sun’s magnetic influence and the beginning of interstellar space,” says the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Unregistered Children
“Perhaps one-third of all babies do not have their births registered, leaving them in an official limbo that can mean missed educational opportunities and health care,” reports The New York Times. Birth registrations were lowest in sub-Saharan Africa and in some Asian countries, such as Cambodia, India, Myanmar, and Vietnam. “Not having a birth certificate is the functional equivalent of not having been born,” says Carol Bellamy, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the agency that conducted the worldwide survey. Many nations require birth registration before a child can receive treatment at a health center or be enrolled in school, and children lacking the certificates are more likely to be forced into child labor or be exploited as sex workers. The article adds: “Poverty alone does not determine the level of registration, the report found, citing high registration rates in most of Latin America, central Asia and North Africa.”