Vol.64/No.6      February 14, 2000 
 
 
The Great Society  
 
 
BY HARRY RING 
Organize, brothers and sisters, organize—The Times of London reports, "One farmer a week is being driven to suicide by the pressures of maintaining cash flow and dealing with red tape." 
 
Remember, drink lots of water—"A massive pile of radioactive mining wastes sits next to one of Southern California's major sources of drinking water. Every day, radiation and toxic chemical-polluted water from it is leaching into the Colorado River. The source is a gigantic, 10.5 million ton mountain of uranium mill tailing...near Moab, Utah. The pile is a by-product of 28 years of uranium milling operations."—News item  
 
Keeping their cool—"Medical errors kill thousands, panel says—The toll may be as high as 98,000 yearly, a U.S.-funded report states, and it calls for several [!!] reforms."—News headline  
 
'Nothing's too good for our boys'—That was a favorite theme of capitalist politicians addressing World War II GIs. It came to mind on reading the results of a federal study of medical records at the veterans' hospital, covering a two-year period. The probe turned up nearly 3,000 medical "mistakes" and "mishaps," which took the lives of more than 700 patients.  
 
Seize the time—Six bank robberies, not all successful, occurred in San Francisco while the cops were busy staging a mass memorial service for two of their ranks killed in a helicopter crash. Police refused to see a connection. But they conceded the general average is one bank stickup a week.  
 
They do look suspicious—An Immigration and Naturalization Service stakeout in downtown Los Angeles was disrupted when L.A. cops grabbed two of the Immigration cops. One was released but the other was hospitalized—as one news account delicately put it—for "injuries he received during the encounter."  
 
Think that'll learn 'em?—With the stepped-up anti-immigrant drive, the number of border patrol cops in the San Diego area escalated. And apparently so did the number of immigrants making their way across the ranch area immediately east. Now there are bitter complaints by local ranchers that the Immigration cops are acting like cops—entering private property unannounced, leaving gates unlocked, harassing female motorists, etc. Wailed one rancher: "Now we have more of a problem with [border cops] than we do with illegals."  
 
That's capitalism—In California, a six-story-high pile of scrap tires caught fire. It took five weeks, $3 million, and who knows how much damage to the environment to put it out. And, last we heard, authorities were still scratching their heads about the environment.  
 
As we were saying...—To repeat what we said in the last column: Still in rehabilitation from a car accident, we can't, as yet, promise a weekly column. But a stack of items from readers will help speed the process. Send clippings to Pathfinder Bookstore, 2546 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90006. Fax: 213-380-1068. Thanks.  
 
 
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