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Watching the World

Finding Honesty

◆ After an investigation by America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that more than half of politicians approached with a bribe offer accepted it, the New York Daily News set out to “test the honesty of ordinary citizens.” Newsmen planted 10 wallets, each containing $5 and a card with a telephone number, in downtown Brooklyn. The Daily News reported that the first person to call the number “was a Jehovah’s Witness.” Later, to the newspaper reporter he explained: “If I kept it, that would have been stealing.”

Moving Borders

◆ The regular Sinai desert border adjustments called for by the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty have proved to be a boon to smugglers. It seems that nomadic Bedouins have been burying stolen luxury automobiles in the desert sand of Israeli-held territory and waiting for border changes to shift the area into Egyptian hands. Then the smugglers dig out the cars and sell them to Egyptians at a high profit, due to there being no importation duties. Israeli officials reportedly have found almost 200 autos buried in this way and have no idea how many more the enterprising Bedouins have in the sand waiting for the next border shift.

Caste System Continues

◆ In some parts of India, Hinduism’s much criticized caste system is not a thing of the past. It still causes dangerous confrontations between upper-caste Hindus and so-called untouchables. The Hindu Daily recently reported that high-caste Hindus in southern India attacked untouchables trying to enter an upper-caste temple, sending 14 to the hospital for treatment, and later burned down 40 of their homes. In another village, on the same day, a woman visiting an area out of bounds to untouchables was attacked, provoking a riot that hospitalized 26 people.

Bankers’ Dilemma

◆ Brazil’s indebtedness to foreign banks is about $50 billion (U.S.), said to be the largest debt among developing nations. The nation also expects to come up another $15 billion short in foreign trade and loan payments during 1980. The country has little choice other than to borrow more money from world bankers. Brazilian economists feel confident that they will get the money because, as one said, “if I owe a million dollars, then I am lost, but if I owe $50 billion [and default], the bankers are lost.”

Keeping Cool in Black

◆ Most people believe that one wears light colors to keep cool. Then why are robes of Bedouins in the Sinai traditionally black? Some university researchers from Tel Aviv and Harvard decided to find out. As reported in the British scientific journal Nature, they learned that the surface of a black robe was indeed 6 degrees C (11 degrees F) hotter than a white one. Yet the airspace beneath the robes, as well as the person’s skin, was the same temperature in both robes. But the researchers concluded that the hotter robe may have more air flow due to convection currents and a chimney effect. As a result it may possibly feel cooler than a light-colored robe.

Dressing the Pope

◆ For men who claim to walk in the footsteps of a humble fisherman, Pope John Paul II and his predecessors have worn decidedly unfisherman-like apparel. New York’s Fashion Foundation of America recently judged John Paul to be the “best-dressed statesman of 1979.” The London Daily Mail published a breakdown of estimated prices for his various items of dress. The total for five changes of informal, three changes of formal and five changes of liturgical dress came to £6,245 ($14,350, U.S.). “The red shoes, reminiscent of the fisherman Apostle Peter, cost £115 [$260],” noted the newspaper.

India’s ‘Alarming Crime Wave’

◆ “The burgeoning crime wave that has ensnared [India] in recent months,” said India Today magazine, “is fast assuming alarming proportions.” The article points out that in 1977, “131 cases of crimes were recorded per hour in the entire country​—2 murders, 2 robberies, 2 [armed gang robberies], 7 riots, 23 thefts and 95 assorted petty crimes.” But by late last year, “the crime chart had registered a dramatic upswing, with an average of 212 crimes being committed every hour​—3 murders, 4 robberies, 3 [armed gang robberies], 9 riots, 30 thefts and 163 other criminal acts.”

Fear Strikes Back

◆ An editorial in the Brazil Herald commented on the recent killing of two suspected robbers by an enraged mob in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Such communities “are transformed into monsters when they are corroded by fear and insecurity,” the editorial said. “Brazil presently is in a state of nervousness because its citizens have no feeling of security on the streets and even inside their homes. Murder is a constant threat.”

What Is a “Catyak”?

◆ The Wall Street Journal reports that “Chinese veterinarians are crossbreeding cattle and yaks​—and getting catyaks.” Yaks are at home in cold, mountainous regions such as Tibet. But the Chinese would like to get more milk and meat from their animals​—so, the catyak.

“Tanning” Your Own “Leather”

◆ Commercial tanning parlors using high-intensity lamps to give a “suntan” are springing up all over the United States. However, the fad is “not a safe or innocuous procedure,” according to the American Academy of Dermatology. The academy’s Committee on Photobiology issued a statement warning of skin “damage which leads to a dry leathery appearance” and potential skin cancer. Dr. Frederick Urbach of the Committee pointed out that warnings about overexposure to natural sunlight have been given by skin specialists for many years, but tanning booths are an even greater risk because of additional exposure to damaging ultraviolet radiation.

Big Attendance Contrast

◆ To illustrate his contention that “the mainline Protestant denominations had a rough time during the decade [of the 70’s],” Leslie K. Tarr of The Canadian Press wrote: “Total Jehovah’s Witnesses’ attendance across Canada, for example, is 93 per cent of total Anglican attendance.” If true, this means that the Anglican Church, with almost 1,000,000 members, has very few more attending services than Jehovah’s Witnesses, with just some 60,000 associated.

Heart Therapy: A Pet

◆ The chance for survival of a person who has had a heart attack is tripled if he has a pet, according to Dr. Aaron Katcher of the University of Pennsylvania. “The dog owner has, of course, the advantage of exercise,” he said. “But we looked at people with other pets, from cats to lizards and they also enjoyed an increased survival.” He also noted that petting a dog or a cat lowers blood pressure.

Following Their Leaders

◆ Why are dishonesty and cheating so rampant among today’s youths? One answer was indicated when a New York City district attorney charged 11 public-school teachers with forging or falsifying their own educational records to get promotions and wage hikes. The district attorney said that they would not be prosecuted, though, because they should not be “singled out for committing acts which were rampant [among teachers] throughout the entire New York City school system.” Hence youths are merely following their leaders. It seems that there is safety in numbers.

Tornado? Stay Home

◆ Is it best to try to drive out of a tornado’s path? Scientists from the Federal Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, say No. In fact, of 56 persons killed or injured in their cars during a powerful tornado in Texas last year, 43 had actually entered vehicles to drive away from the tornado. Yet the homes that 20 of the victims left behind sustained little or no damage. According to the researchers’ report in Science magazine, the chance of injury or death when trying to drive away from the storm was 23 per 1,000 people. Staying home lowered the chances to three in 1,000. However, mobile-home residents had a risk of 85 per 1,000.

Church Threatened

◆ Papua New Guinea’s Post Courier reports that local Lutherans received threats of violence from a group that charges the Church with exploiting the people. Claiming to represent four villages in Morobe Province, the group demanded from the Church a large ransom payment to make up for “77 years of inhuman practises, social negligence and exploitive economics.” According to the Post-Courier, the demands also included “immediate surrender of all church assets such as hostels, stores, wharves, airstrips and plantation equipment within their area.”

“Unknown Tribe” Discovered

◆ That there are still peoples on earth unknown to researchers was illustrated again recently when a British expedition in Papua New Guinea discovered an isolated nomadic tribe. Provisionally called the Pogaea, these people had never seen white men before and fled when the explorers’ helicopter first landed. The Pogaea use bows and arrows to hunt wild pigs, and they supplement their diet with wild fruits and nuts. The explorers also were said to have discovered lizards of unknown identity 20 feet (6 m) long.

“Part-Time” Workers

◆ Do people work as hard today as they used to? “American workers are actually working or producing for only about 55 per cent of the time they are on the job,” answers a report from Theodore Barry & Associates, a management consulting firm. “By contrast, their grandfathers produced for 80 to 85 per cent of their time at work.” Though productivity of workers in other industrial nations is also down significantly, American productivity is down more sharply. The wasted time is said to be costing U.S. business $350 billion a year.

Touring China

◆ The number of tourists visiting the People’s Republic of China grew by 30 percent in 1979​—to 800,000—​according to the New China News Agency. Many new hotels, as well as more air and shipping links, are reportedly being added to meet the growing demand.

Fighting Among Brothers

◆ In the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, New York, there is only one non-Orthodox synagogue in the largely Hasidic community. Recently, according to a report in the New York Times, this non-Orthodox temple was vandalized by Orthodox Jews, who charged that the Conservative temple was “destroying” Judaism by their “heretical” practices. The vandals broke two stained-glass windows and sprayed black paint in the form of swastikas on walls. They said they belonged to a group calling itself “TORAH,” apparently meaning “Tough Orthodox Rabbis and Hasidim.” The Orthodox vandals left posters listing various grievances, said the Times, such as “that the men and women were allowed to sit together without the traditional mechitza, or partition, separating them.”

No Longer Exclusive

◆ Being a millionaire is no longer as exclusive as it used to be. There are now about 520,000 millionaires in the United States, 15 percent more than a year ago. Hence, about one in 500 Americans has over $1,000,000 in assets.