Divine justice?—Lawyers for Robert Harlan appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court to scrap a death sentence imposed by a Denver jury. It was learned that jury deliberations included five jurors who presented Bible verses as arguments for the death penalty.

Capitalist education—It hardly seemed new—a Times of London headline: “Rich six times as likely as poor to attend university.” But wait, there’s more.

Columnist makes a point—In a subsequent article, Times columnist Tony Halpin tackled a government report claiming increased unruliness in low-income school areas. Halpin summed the issue up crisply: “Children's prospects are still too heavily influenced by birth and geography.”

How proud it is—Hungry for tourists, businesspeople in Ossining, New York, want to build a museum inside Sing Sing, the notorious prison. With walls topped by razor barbed wire, Sing Sing holds 1,750 maximum-security prisoners. And, in its 180-year-history, 614 people have been electrocuted. The most “famous” were Ethel and Julius Rosenberg who were railroaded to the chair in 1953 as Soviet spies. A local politician says museum visitors will not see the prisoners and assures the museum will be done “in good taste.”

P.S.—In the time of socialism, prison museums will have rich educational value. Visitors will grapple to comprehend the horror of these institutions. They will see how the disappearance of the penal system will provide a measure of how far world civilization had advanced. Meanwhile, it rests on our shoulders to help speed the day.

The rip-off system—“Connecticut—A study ordered by the Legislature found that college students in the state are suffering textbook ‘sticker shock.’ Most of the more than 500 students surveyed described textbooks as sometimes, or always, expensive. More than three out of five said they spent $300 to $700 a semester [twice a year] for textbooks.”—News Item.

Cold as a corporate heart—Oklahoma officials are considering if Electric Power-Public Service Company broke state rules when it shut off electricity to Lloyd Coverdelle, 89, who owed a two-month, $330 bill. Three days after heat and light was cut off he was found dead of hypothermia.

Better late…—“U.S. Territory: Puerto Rico—The Environmental Protection Agency added Vieques to its list of toxic Superfund sites, paving the way for a federally funded cleanup of an island used for decades for Navy bombing exercises. The EPA will conduct a study to determine the level of contamination from toxic material like mercury, lead, TNT, and napalm. The Navy left Vieques in May 2003 after years of protests by residents and activists.”—USA Today.  
 
 
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