The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.16           April 27, 1998 
 
 
The Great Society  

BY HARRY RING
Safety second - Fire chiefs in England charge that privatized water companies are increasingly hindering their efforts to fight blazes. To cut down the loss of water caused by leaks in the mains, the companies reduce the pressure rather than repair the mains.

`Just get out' - The Pentagon disclosed that the number of GIs being forced out of the military as homosexuals has jumped 67 percent, since Clinton's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy was adopted in 1993. An edit in the New York Times sighed that Clinton had erred in letting Gen. Colin Powell and others "bully" him into junking his campaign promise to ban antigay discrimination in the military.

What's half a stone? - "We don't do anything halfhearted," said Sunbeam CEO Al "Chainsaw" Dunlop, indicating that acquisition of three more companies would mean more job-slashing.

One for our side -"Jo-hannesburg - South African courts may no longer assume that a woman who says she has been raped is lying, after a landmark decision by the Appeal Court. The [apartheid] rape rule said women are `habitually inclined to lie about being raped.' The Appeal Court judgment means that women's evidence in rape cases will be given as much weight as men's." - The Times, London, March 23.

Fresh air? Who needs it? -The British aviation authority may require may require more air for flight passengers. Airlines deny they endanger passengers by reducing the flow of fresh air as a cost-cutting measure.

A truly great society - Henry Aldridge, a member of the North Carolina legislature, scoffs at data showing that the state's Black infant mortality rate is double that of whites. He said the Black people he knows are "bigger, and tougher, and stronger" than whites, pointing to a Black legislator as an example. Aldridge is co-chair of a committee on welfare, children's health, and day care.

Slurp - Ralph Baldwin, a Los Angeles area judge, resigned and apologized for a "misguided sense of congeniality." While a jury was deliberating, he got a 12- pack of beer and invited jurors to have a "cold one" with him. He also called the court administrator a "wimp" when she declined to have one. He was presiding in a drunk- driving case.

Rest assured - In a three-year period, seven inmates of prisons in England and Wales died while being "restrained" by prison cops. Of the seven, six were Afro-Caribbeans. Richard Tilt, head of the Prison Service, suggested this was because Afro-Caribbeans have physical differences that make them more prone to being choked. With the ensuing public outcry, he assured, "I am not a racist."

Walk on air - Failure to maintain Moscow's aging underground steam pipes has led to casualties from leaks that saturate the ground, creating veritable sink holes. Likening the city to a "minefield," an official said: "People will, I'm afraid, continue falling in such pits in the future.... But for now we're helpless and can only recommend that people be more careful about where they walk."  
 
 
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