The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.63/No.21           May 31, 1999 
 
 
The Great Society  

BY HARRY RING
All in a day's police work - Under Chicago police grilling, Eddie Huggins, 16, "confessed" to stabbing a woman to death. He spent more than a year in jail awaiting trial. A judge then acquitted him when a medical expert testified the victim was beaten and strangled, not stabbed.

The humane society (I) - The Austrian government said it's seeking the return of the body of a Nigerian, identified only as "Marcus O," whom it had deported on a Balkan Air flight to Bulgaria. He was bound and gagged, reportedly because the flight captain refused to carry him otherwise. He died of asphyxiation.

The humane society (II) - A U.S. citizen, Thomas Sylvain was deported to Haiti. Finally, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was forced to bring him back. On his return to Miami, Sylvain, who has AIDS, suffered a heart attack and, at last report, was in critical condition.

Although he had provided his birth certificate and an expired passport as proof of citizenship, officials blamed him for the "mistake."

Saves prudently - "A mid-level Border Patrol agent owned a $200,000 home with a five-car garage, an Olympic-sized pool housed in its own building, $45,000 in Treasury bills, 40 acres of land, six vehicles, two boats and 100 weapons." - AP report of probe of corruption in la migra.

Pious concern - Catholic bishop in the United Kingdom gave their blessing to NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia because, they said, there's a grave need to alleviate the suffering there.

Die and be done with it - In England, a poll found that almost 2 million people felt they were treated differently by the National Health Service after they passed the 50 mark. At least one hospital flatly refuses to accept new patients over 65.

One man's fancy - CNN owner Ted Turner just bought 50,000 acres of ranch land in South Dakota to raise buffalo and also cut a deal to buy another 31,000 acres. All of which is hardly worth mentioning compared to the 1.4 million acres he owns throughout the west. He has one of the biggest buffalo herds in the country.

Cheaper than parking tickets? - In Barrington, Illinois, an apparently prosperous family bought a vacant $180,000 house near their son's high school so he could use the driveway as a parking spot.

 
 
 
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