P.S., some clarity—Perhaps mortified, the L.A. Times provided more facts. The judge had ordered two, not one, immigrant mothers to learn English, or else. In addition, Victoria Luna, mother of a child, 3, was also ordered to use birth control. The orders against the two mothers sparked “a furor,” and the judge retreated and granted child custody to Victoria Luna and put on hold the order against Felipa Berrera. A circuit court appeal is pending in her case.

A ‘rounded’ study—An Israeli prof was slated to speak on “Terrorism and Counterterrorism” at the Israeli studies department of the University of California, Los Angeles. A lengthy forum mailing makes zero mention of the Palestinian people, subjected to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile—A dispatch by the French press agency describes the illegal Israeli use of a West Bank quarry as a massive garbage dump, threatening the earth and water supply of a nearby Palestinian village. Agence France-Presse reports “a nauseating stench rises from the disused quarry…. With thousands of tons more Israeli waste set to arrive, the Palestinian village of Deir Sharaf fears the worst.”

A fight for justice—“U.S. Territory: Puerto Rico—More than 200 students sat in front of the entrance to the University of Puerto Rico’s largest campus at Rio Piedras to protest in an indefinite strike after the administration raised tuition by 33 percent. Two other campuses are on an indefinite strike while other campuses have staged five-day strikes.”—USA Today.

Matter of ‘perception—In the Colorado town of Aurora, Blacks constitute 14.5 percent of the population. Last year, they represented 45 percent of those hit by cops using Taser stun guns. In 2003, a cop shot and killed an unarmed, kneeling Black hit initially by a Taser. Recently, his family filed suit. Last November, in a parking lot argument, a white killed one Black man and seriously wounded another. A grand jury is looking at the case. Meanwhile, the acting police chief admitted to the Denver Post that the department has “an image problem.”

Swedish prisoners protest—More than 1,200 Swedish inmates have refused to turn out at their work stations. Prison officials withdrew body-building equipment, complaining prisoners are leaving bigger and “more dangerous.”

Thought for the week—“U.S. and worldwide economic growth peaked in 2004, the World Bank said in a report that predicted a gradual economic slowdown, while not ruling out a global recession.”—News item.  
 
 
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