BY HARRY RING
Capitalist norms - Spain's jobless rate, the highest in the European Union, dipped below the 20 percent mark for the first time in six years. A headline in the Financial Times of London triumphantly declared: "Spanish Unemployment: Strong economic growth cuts jobless rate to 19.6%."

The can-do system - Last year, Union Pacific bought the Southern Pacific railroad for $3.9 billion and integrated it into its rail system. For nine months since, UP freight trains have been stalled in a humongous gridlock, costing shippers a bundle. Pressed for cash, UP now plans to sell it's billion-a-year trucking business. It estimates it will take five years and $1.4 billion to modernize and expand its rail system in the Texas-Louisiana area.

Defending the American Way - Amnesty International found "credible evidence" of wide-scale abuse of Mexican immigrants by the U.S. Immigration Service Border Patrol. Many of those held as possibly undocumented are subjected to beatings and sexual abuse, and denied food, water, and medical care during detention periods.

No comment - "The Immigration and Naturalization Service now has more armed personnel than any other federal law enforcement agency." - News item.

Be well - A million Epi-Pen injection kits were recalled, creating an emergency for those subject to acute allergies from certain foods and insect bites. The kits contain syringes of medication that can be quickly injected. The recall came after finding batches with insufficient potency levels. The FDA said: "The best advice we can give consumers is to return to the pharmacy and get a replacement if they can."

He's got a point - Commenting on the antitrust suits filed against Microsoft by 20 states and the feds, Larry Ellison at rival software, Oracle, opined that Microsoft prez Bill Gates "wants everybody to believe he's Edison, when he's really Rockefeller."

Gang-busters - A British Labour Party Crime and Disorder Bill was expected to include authorizing cops to pick up youth playing hooky from school and, if they refuse to go back, bust them. For us, it was a reminder of our high school days when we racked up an attendance record of about two days a week.

The joy of commodity fetishism - Homer Simpson loves his "Duff" beer and so many TV viewers love the Simpson series that an Australian brewer began selling a Duff beer. But the owners of the cartoon series went to court, ending production of the beer. Now some of those who were far- sighted, or lucky enough to stash away some Duff are selling them through classified ads, fetching as much as $6,300 a case.

What's a commodity fetish? - For a cogent answer to an intriguing question, check out Karl Marx's Capital. Last section of the first chapter, Volume I.  
 
 
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