‘Even’ or ‘especially’?—One rights group voices concern on what turns up in the files sold to landlords, including lists of tenants who have taken landlords to court. Declared the director: “Even if the tenant prevails, that information becomes part of these tenant screening services and the tenant ends up blacklisted.”

Scientist, big time—Stars and Stripes, a federally funded paper for GIs, reported that in a survey half of 1,939 soldiers responded that morale in their unit was low or very low. In a withering rebuttal, Joint Chiefs of Staff head Gen. Richard Myers branded the poll “unscientific.” He declared: “I do talk to a great many of the troops. They seem up and recognize the importance of the task they’re doing and proud of what they’re doing.” Since the U.S. takeover in Iraq, at least 13 G.I.s have committed suicide.

Right on—JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—“A Black community of sheep herders won a lengthy battle over its claim to diamond-rich land that was confiscated over 70 years ago by a white-run South African government. The area is still rich in diamonds.”—Associated Press, October 15.

Ho-hum—Lawyers for Health South reported that company records ordered preserved by the feds were found shredded days later. The documents were to kick off a Congressional probe.

How about crafting prison cells for officials?—We noted the UN finding that globally, the people living in substandard areas and dwellings number in the billions and continue to swell. A UN figure said the trick “is to make the slum dwellers part of the solution by encouraging the development of craft businesses.”

The can-do system—“Raleigh, North Carolina—State workers are quitting in record numbers, officials say. They’ve gone two years without a raise and collected more duties as thousands of jobs go unfulfilled because of North Carolina’s budget troubles. The exodus is forcing the state to hire expensive private contractors and pay overtime to cover essential shifts in psychiatric hospitals and prisons.”—USA Today.

Cultural note—Apple Computers iTunes evoked a blush. In offering George Frederick Handel’s 1742 “Messiah,” it included a warning that it might prove inappropriate to children and sensitive adults. Soon, however, Apple removed the cautionary note, mumbling that it must have been a mix-up.

Homeland security?—The reader who contributed the above item suggests that maybe the “Messiah” “mix-up” was triggered by the line: “Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yokes from us.”  
 
 
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