No Shortcuts to the "End of History"

Pondering all the failed revolutions throughout the Third World over the last 50 years, the literary journalist Ryszard Kapuscinsci once offered this summary the lesson of the 20th century: There are no short cuts in history. Using force to try to accelerate social progress and political change before its time will fail.     

Tuberculosis and sudden death in Baghdad

Tuberculosis deaths represent a recognizable proportion of all medicolegal statistics in and around Baghdad. Out of the total number of autopsies performed at the Medicolegal Institute at Baghdad, Iraq, in the years, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1973, and 1978, 168 sudden deaths were attributed to tuberculosis. Bilateral pulmonary tuberculosis was the principle lesion in the majority of the victims. Tuberculosis cavitation was the major finding in 126 cases, followed by advanced pulmonary TB without cavitation in 25. There was no gross abnormality, except for a histological basis of pulmonary TB associated with miliary TB involving hepatic, renal, meningeal, and mesenteric organs in the remaining 17 autopsies. The abrupt and suspicious deaths in older people, especially during cold months, is more likely due to TB. Autopsy should be performed in all cases of sudden and suspicious deaths. Histological study of different body organs, whether death is attributed by the investigative authority or not related to TB, should be required in all medicolegal autopsies, in order to obtain a true picture of TB as a natural cause of death.     

Europe’s Jewish problem

He is affiliated with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria. He is author of Applied Mathematical Demography; Population Change and Social Policy;and co-author (with Wilhelm Flieger) of World Populations: An Analysis of Vital Data.