Ensuring ‘democratic rights’—Authorities in the United Kingdom are crafting new “anti-terror” laws and looking to make it easier to nail people deemed to be “on the periphery” of alleged terror groups. “Another possibility,” adds The Times of London, “is a much broader offense similar to France’s ‘crime’ of ‘association with a wrongdoer.’”

True dregs—A study of inmate medical care in the California prison system found doctors who were incompetent and there were continuing life-threatening medical mistakes. The rules are as bad as the doctors. A single example: At Soledad state prison, doctors are not allowed to enter cells to examine prisoners. Their contact with inmates is through a cell-door food slot.

Higher education—Authorities shut down a chain of private California “high schools” which sold 30-hour courses and bogus diplomas to Latino immigrants with the hype it would ensure better paying jobs. The “teachers” apparently got their jobs without diplomas. Teaching manuals show they told students there were 53 states and the flag remained to be updated. It was explained that the two houses of Congress was one for the Democrats, the other for the Republicans. For “graduation,” students had to rent caps and gowns. Federal and state cops peered at the scam for two years before acting

Defies comment—It was a month ago that CNN cable reported on an interview with Martha Stewart, the broker slated for a modest jail term. Said CNN/Money, “As she faces possible jail time, Martha Stewart invoked the name of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s persecuted anti-apartheid hero, saying ‘many, many good people have gone to prison.”’

Correction—Recently, we cited a clipping from The Times, London, that “Ofsted” had called on England’s school system to spend less time studying Nazi Germany and more on the history of the British Empire. We mistakenly assumed Ofsted was a person. Three readers checked it out on a web site explaining that Ofsted is an acronym for Office of Standards in Education—a supervisory agency. More study of the British empire could be a good idea—assuming it focused on the blood shed by British imperialism in its pillage and plunder of colonial nations, and the continuing resistance to imperialism.  
 
 
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