A grand jury decided not to indict Ford and district attorney William Ritter refused to prosecute. Angry members of the Black and Latino community where the killing occurred, marched in protest at police headquarters. The Lobato family declared their father was murdered in bed. Ritter has an unbroken record. During his 10 years in office cops have fatally shot 38 people. Ritter has never filed a single charge.

Capitalism, rotten as bad meat—Five days before Xmas, 800 meat packers—almost the entire second shift—was due to be fired at the Swift plant in Greeley, Colorado. The United Food and Commercial Workers union has a contract at the plant. The United Way charity says the mass layoff comes at a hard time in the holiday season. It says its rent assistance program has a two-year waiting list.

The can-do society—London’s 100-year-old water mains are said to be the worst in England. Claiming they can’t afford replacements, authorities want to lower the water pressure, hoping it will give the system a few more years. Critics charge that a million residents will be dealing with showers that dribble and toilets that don’t flush.

Blah, blah—Recalls of defective vehicles have reached a record high. GM leads with recalls of 10.5 million vehicles this year. This is said to be due to stiffer federal safety regulations (a joke?), more complex computer and electronics components, the cost of damage suits, etc. An Associated Press article includes all this. But not a mention of the steady push for ever greater speed-up on the assembly line, which invites defects.

Still a lean new year—On New Year’s Day, in the Washington District of Columbia, the $6 minimum wage will increase 45 cents. The feds estimate that 3,500 workers in the Capital district earn less than the new minimum. (It would be interesting to see those responsible trying to support a family on $258 a week.)

Gosh—The North Carolina National Guard honored the Blue Ridge paper company for paying employees fighting in the Mideast. The company employs more than a thousand workers, and three of them are serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are being paid the difference between the military wage and the pay at Blue Ridge.

‘Nothing’s too good…’—GI Robert Loria lost an arm in Iraq and was shipped back to the U.S. where he found himself stuck in Fort Hood, Texas, and staring at an Army bill of $1,800 for loss of equipment and travel fare. His wife took the outrage to the media and several members of Congress hastily intervened. The military cancelled the bill.

Season’s greetings—Merry Marxmas and a revolutionary New Year. Keep on fighting.  
 
 
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