The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 71/No. 13      April 2, 2007

 
Great Society
 
Children, parents jailed by la migra!—“TAYLOR, Texas—Khadijah Bessuges is confined by metal gates and razor wire. She wears a uniform. She sleeps in an 8-by-15 cell, and stands by her cot four times a day when guards count heads. She has only two pairs of panties. Her favorite teddy bear was confiscated. But she has her father, Sebastien, who sleeps in the cell with her. Khadijah is 9 years old. She is one of 208 [!] children being held with their parents at the T. Don Hutto family detention center, the Department of Homeland Security’s answer to the problem of families caught living in or entering the country illegally.”—Los Angeles Times.

P.S.—The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a court brief challenging the illegal jailing of undocumented children. The lawsuit does not challenge jailing of the parents, since they are considered to be legally incarcerated while waiting for court-ordered deportation.

Urgent, bring down imperialism!—“About 18,000 children die every day because of hunger and malnutrition, and 850 million people go to bed every night with empty stomachs, a ‘terrible indictment of the world of 2007,’ said the head of the UN food agency.”—Wire service

Give your boss a copy—Researchers report that people with heart ailments who took 30 minute naps at least three times a week were 37 percent less likely to die of heart disease.

Don’t skinny dip, don’t gargle—The Los Angeles County Pacific Ocean beachfront has suffered frequent contaminated raw sewage spills. Outmoded and inadequate, the swelling county’s sewer piping is totally obsolete.

Kind of like Las Vegas—“Five Kaiser Permanente hospitals were among the 28 institutions with the highest death rates in California for patients with pneumonia.”—Los Angeles Times.

Need medical care?—At least 1.7 million members of California’s Medicaid program will now have to prove U.S. citizenship. That means denial to legal residents, along with the undocumented.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home