The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.4           January 29, 1996 
 
 
The Great Society  

BY HARRY RING
Att. Young Socialists - Trends Journal, which forecasts business and social trends for marketers, predicts '96 will see "a new anti-establishment activism" among teenagers and preteens. The ensuing protests, the mag says, will target the "culture of greed and materialism" and "corporate America."

Border blood - The death toll of 25 in the recent bus crash in Mexico included one passenger who died en route to a Mexican hospital 60 miles away, and another who died at the hospital. The accident occurred 15 miles from the Arizona border but Mexican Red Cross workers hesitated to call for U.S. help. "We've had a lot of trouble before," one said. He cited a recent case where U.S. border cops demanded a patient's papers. "They detained the ambulance for a long time," he said.

As we near the 21st Century - A committee of the California legislature approved a bill allowing judges to order parents to paddle minors convicted of graffiti. If parents refused, or the judge decides they weren't hitting hard enough, he could order a bailiff to do the paddling.

Just work hard and you'll be fine - Forty-four percent of the U.S. families living below the poverty line include two full-time workers.

Flip this - "Good jobs for good people.... Good times, skills for the future... An employer who's respectful. Supportive." - A recruitment blurb from McDonald's.

User friendly - It's estimated that the 40th birthday party for Microsoft's top dog, Bill Gates, cost $250,000, including $98,000 for a miniature golf course that was torn up after the party.

The egalitarian system - Wisconsin's Gov. Tommy Thompson has come up with a new formula for allocating school district funding. The 25 poorest school districts will get an added $512 per pupil. The 25 richest districts will get an added $1,120 per pupil.

Everybody's hurting - In the wake of the bankruptcy, Orange County mansions are being offered at give-away prices. Like the 10-bedroom, 13-bath pad featuring a hair salon, and a disco with a fog machine. The asking price has been cut from $22 million to $9.9 million.

Every little bit helps - Rolls-Royce sold 1,556 cars last year, 142 more than in 1994. These may seem like modest numbers if you forget that sticker prices run up to $366,000.

Declared the company's chief honcho, "We enter 1996 in good spirits."

Proud record - Another footnote to the World War II U.S. internment of Japanese Americans. One of those who experienced it told the Los Angeles Times that while desert internment camps were being thrown up, people in the Los Angeles area were held for several months in horse stalls and at the parking lot at the Santa Anita racetrack.

 
 
 
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