The government of France announced that, starting next year, it will regulate the booming business of country-western line dancing, by, among other measures, requiring licenses of teachers, after 200 hours’ instruction. Inexplicably, at least 100,000 people in the country line dance weekly, and the popularity is growing, according to a May dispatch in The Times of London. A French Dance Federation official said he guesses the preference of line dancing over square dancing is the French preference for no physical contact.

Questionable Judgements

(1) Dr. Frederick Lobati, 47, was charged last year with felony abuse of his daughter in Ozark, Mo., but in June 2008 offered the defense that, being of African heritage, he was merely applying a “konk” (a bare-knuckle punch), which is an acceptable punishment in his culture. (2) In June, the High Court in Johannesburg granted the request by a Chinese civil rights organization to switch Chinese South Africans from “caucasian” (as they were during apartheid) to “black” (which would allow them to better qualify for government benefits).

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