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Watching the World

“Safe Sex”​—Not So Safe for Women

Despite much publicity in favor of “safe sex” and the use of condoms to avoid contracting AIDS, doctors are beginning to question the wisdom of such advice. A medical report appearing in the Paris newspaper Le Figaro says that although condoms offer men a measure of protection against AIDS, they offer women much less protection because an infected partner can easily contaminate a condom’s outer surface. Women are also especially at risk of being infected during menstruation and when they have any form of vaginal infection or lesion. Statistically, condoms now appear to be less than 69 percent effective in protecting women against AIDS. Commenting on this reduced “safety” factor, one doctor observed: “What would we say about an airplane that had only a 69-​percent chance of not crashing in a year?”

Brain Jogging

“A bad memory is usually a question not of fate but of poor training,” reports DAK Magazin, a German health-​insurance publication. Just as muscles atrophy through inactivity, the brain becomes rusty and stores less data if it gets little exercise. Is this a problem mainly of the elderly? Far from it! “Since thinking is often made easy for us or even superfluous,” comments the magazine, even youths run the risk of developing a rusty memory by not keeping their minds properly occupied. What can help? The magazine recommends brain jogging, using mental games, such as puzzles involving numbers and letters of the alphabet, to stimulate mind and memory. Also, “crossword puzzles can be helpful.”

Trains’ Toilet-​Roll Message

Until more modern equipment is introduced, the only way a train conductor can notify the authorities of an emergency on nearly any Italian train will continue to be as follows: Write a note, place it inside a roll of toilet paper, and hurl it from the speeding train at the next station down the line, in hopes that it will be found and the authorities notified. This system, “as old as the railways themselves,” is prescribed by official railroad regulations. It is “still an efficient, tried and tested method,” says an official of Italian State Railways, who nonetheless recognizes that “communication on trains is a very serious problem.” Faced with the illness of a passenger, a suspect piece of luggage, an act of aggression, or a theft, “the personnel of State Railways are in effect powerless,” says Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, since they are not authorized to intervene. To solve the problem of communication, Italian State Railways intends to adopt closed-​circuit portable telephones in the near future.

The U.S. Gun Paradox

The increasing number of handgun murders in the United States, coupled with a spate of mass shootings, has produced both those who think it is time to take the guns away from the criminals and those who feel it is time to buy a gun themselves. “A lot of people, in fact, may be thinking both at once,” says Time magazine. And while there is increased pressure to control guns, more people are going out and buying guns than ever before. When the Brady law (a gun-​control law) was passed, gun dealers reported skyrocketing sales before it went into effect. There are now about 211 million guns in the United States. In an effort to decrease that quantity, programs were started in which people could turn in a firearm and receive a $100 gift certificate​—no questions asked. The campaigns took hundreds of guns off the streets but also prompted some to buy cheap guns so that they could turn them in and make a profit. Said one gun-​shop owner: “I can guarantee you, many of the people who turn in guns in the morning will still have guns in the afternoon.”

Bugging Japan

Calling eavesdropping Japan’s “national pastime,” Mainichi Daily News reported that “Japan is one of the most widely bugged nations in the world, with 60,000 tiny radio microphones sold” each year. Some bugs are so small they can fit into writing pens. There are devices that can catch a conversation 50 feet [15 m] away and transmit it a distance of two miles [3 km]. Who are Japan’s eavesdroppers? According to the newspaper, many eavesdroppers are simply searching “the frequencies to find the juiciest tidbits” of gossip. But many “are jealous lovers who want to be reassured of their partner’s affections, or fathers who wish to keep an eye on their daughter’s movements.”

AIDS Decimating Africa

According to estimates by the World Health Organization, of the more than 15 million known cases of AIDS in the world, some 10 million are in Africa, making it the world’s worst-​affected continent. “Little dikes of sand against ever swelling rivers,” is how Professor Nathan Clumek described the measures now in place to fight the AIDS epidemic. In an interview published in the Paris daily Le Monde, Professor Clumek said that the African chiefs of state have not yet fully realized the destruction that the virus is going to cause in Africa. In 1987, when Professor Clumek estimated that 10 percent of the continent would be infected with AIDS, many thought it an exaggeration. Today it is estimated that anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of Africa’s population will be infected with the deadly virus.

Overfishing Exhausting the Seas

“‘Plenty more fish in the sea,’ runs the saying. But it is wrong,” notes The Economist. “The sea’s abundance has been stretched beyond its limit.” Since its peak in 1989, the world’s marine fish catch has been declining. The reason is simple: “Too few fish have been left in the sea to maintain spawning stocks. Fishermen are living off capital, consuming the resource that should yield their catch.” According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 13 of the world’s 17 major ocean fisheries are in trouble​—4 of which are classified as commercially depleted. Sophisticated technology​—such as sonar and satellite communications—​has made it possible for fishermen to locate the fish even in remote areas and to return to precise prime fishing spots. Huge factory trawlers the size of football fields, with even larger nets, haul in excessive quantities of fish. Governments are to blame for the wastefulness, says The Economist, since 90 percent of the world’s catch is found within 200 nautical miles [370 km] of some countries’ shores, water over which they claim sovereignty. The governments keep other nations’ fishing fleets out but allow domestic fleets to expand, and they even subsidize them.

Better Sleeping Habits

“Insomnia may seem productive to many people, but the consequences of denying the body hours of sleep will end up being rather unproductive,” says the Brazilian magazine Exame. Explains neurologist Rubens Reimão: “The organism will not forget the hours of sleep that a person owes it. On the contrary, it will always remember and will suddenly present a bill that can be translated into lapses of memory, concentration problems, and slow thinking ability.” To avoid undue anxiety, Dr. Reimão recommends: “Leave the solving of work problems or the thinking about them for when you are at work.” For you to relax and sleep better, Exame suggests regular exercise, soft music, subdued lighting, and good thoughts.

Catholic Mass Served by Altar Girls

The use of girls to assist priests during the celebration of the Mass has, up till now, been tolerated by some church authorities. In a letter approved by Pope John Paul II and sent to the presidents of the Catholic bishops’ conferences around the world, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has given individual bishops the choice to authorize altar girls to help serve Mass. According to Corriere della Sera, as he gave the announcement and in order to “eliminate even the slightest glimmer of hope for feminist aspirations,” Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro Valls was quick to point out that the opening does not in any way modify the church’s attitude toward female priests. Why the altar girls, then? “It doesn’t surprise me,” commented sociologist Franco Ferrarotti. “The Church can’t find priests, and it seems that it can’t find altar boys either.”

A Cult of Eunuchs

The Indian Express of Bombay reports that in India there are more than one million eunuchs. Of these, only 2 percent were born in this condition. The rest were castrated. According to the Express, good-​looking boys are seduced or kidnapped and taken to one of many eunuch creation centers in India. There the boys are submitted to a ceremony that includes “princely treatment” and culminates in the removal of their testicles. Afterward, the newly made eunuch is adopted by an older eunuch, establishing a “mother-​daughter” relationship. These eunuchs are given female names and thereafter behave and dress as women. Most eunuchs are organized into a cult with a presiding deity. There are many temples throughout India in which eunuchs are honored and revered as divine beings during a yearly festival.