The Militant (logo)  
   Vol.66/No.33           September 2, 2002  
 
 
Great Society
 
BY HARRY RING  
Why they have to steal so much--"The rich have more, and more to lose"--The remarkably brilliant New York Times.

Bread and water menu--A growing number of state prisons are punishing inmates with bread and water, plus some raw cabbage leaves. They claim the bread meets caloric needs--if they eat three pounds a day.

Try boarding that way--Four male passengers were removed from an American Airlines flight. For 30 minutes they were searched in view of other passengers by three female employees. They were forced to lift their shirts and unzip their pants. Charging public humiliation, they’re filing a civil rights suit against the airline. The three are U.S. citizens of Palestinian descent.

In-depth reporting--Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao paid a visit to San Francisco’s Chinese community. She observed: "Asians are small business people, conservative and opposed to taxes...and few are political activists.... Asians tend to go with whoever is in power because of their respect for power."

Doesn’t even need a shredder--The Denver Post reports that 30-year veteran cop Jerome Powell has arrested nearly 6,000 people for alleged drunk driving. Also, the paper ruefully adds, he has a propensity for violence. He’s been charged with assault and brutality five times and suspended twice. Adds the Post: "He accidentally shot a man in the jaw and has been repeatedly accused of abusive behavior, including against his family." He’s currently being probed on the basis of a videotape showing him roughing up a woman, half his size, in a holding cell. Meanwhile, he continues his job on the graveyard shift.

Enron? Who’s that?--"Enthusiasm wanes for tough reforms in wake of Enron"--News headline.

Judicious--USA Today reported that WorldCom has admitted "discrepancies" and "improperly" accounted numbers that led them to state $3.3 billion more than they thought they had.

Relatives, big and fat--New York City has rent "stabilization" with holes like the ones in antique Swiss cheese. For instance, one of a variety of permitted evictions is that the apartment can be reclaimed by the owner of a dwelling for his own use. One owner in a high rise in a costly area of the East Side had a process under way to get stabilized tenants evicted--so he and his kin can move in. That, he says, will take 23 apartments.

Records fresh as air--Birmingham, an Alabama coal and steel area, has its share of ozone, the corrosive airborne chemical that attacks the lungs. For a period ending seven years ago annual reports were filed on ozone levels. Now, in response to a court suit, a judge suggested the last record filed might be a suitable document in the case.  
 
 
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