The Clinton record—Columnist Herbert cites some of the gruesome inmate cases documented in court suits. He points to the curbs on such suits by the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which bars “frivolous” inmate damage suits. And, also, denial of compensation for emotional injury without a showing of prior physical injury. The measure was signed into law in 1996 by then-president William Clinton.

Fact of the week—“The treatment of detainees in Iraq was far from an aberration. They too were treated like animals, which was simply a logical extension of the way we treat prisoners here at home.”—Bob Herbert.

Like he said—“More than a third of the prisoners who died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan were shot, strangled or beaten by U.S. personnel before they died, according to death certificates and a high-ranking U.S. military official.”—News item.

Prison housing—“The Arkansas board of corrections said it plans to seek permission from the legislature to build a 200-bed women’s unit. It reported that state prisons held 760 women, 98 over capacity. An additional 163 women are being held in county jails while awaiting beds in state prisons.”—New item.

Hit them early—In Tucson, Arizona, a cop fired a Taser stun gun at a handcuffed child aged nine. Police said she was a runaway from a children’s home.

Temperature rising?—“Indiana: Bedford—Two cars were flipped over and one set on fire as strikers at a Visteon auto parts plant tried to stop four buses bringing in replacement workers into the factory. It was the latest in several confrontations at the plant since the strike began Sunday after union members rejected a contract offer. State police said three people were arrested.”—June 3, USA Today.

See, there was a stash—“Bush shows off Saddam’s pistol to select White House guests.”—News headline.

Exxon shares your pain—“When people talk about feeling a pinch because the price of crude oil is going up, we understand that.” That’s from the top dog at Exxon Mobil. They understand, he explained, because they’re paying $40 a barrel for crude oil that cost a mere $10 six years ago.

This is interesting since in this past year Exxon Mobil racked up a record profit of $21.5 billion—despite the higher cost of crude. Maybe Exxon recalls the old capitalist wheeze, “We lose money on every barrel, but we sell so many....”  
 
 
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