Fine Points of the Law | Cultural Diversity

• "The ancient art of yoga is supposed to offer a path to inner peace," wrote the Wall Street Journal in February -- before launching into a report on how many yoga classes these days are so crowded that inner peace-seekers are more likely than ever either to seethe throughout their session -- or to openly confront floor-hoggers. Explained one coach, "People who are practicing yoga want Zen; they don't already have it." [Wall Street Journal, 2-16-2015]

• Timely Information: (1) Joseph Forren, 21, with a .172 blood alcohol level, plowed into a pickup truck in April in Trumbull, Connecticut (though with no serious injuries). Police said Forren's cellphone on the seat still displayed a current text message, "Don't drink and drive ... Dad." (2) According to police records released in April, Mila Dago (now 24 and awaiting trial for DUI manslaughter) was trading sarcastic texts with her ex-boyfriend that night in August 2013 while barhopping (later, registering .178 blood alcohol), and as she ran a red light, smashed into a pickup truck, injuring herself badly and her friend in the passenger seat fatally. According to the police report, her last text to the ex- boyfriend (three minutes earlier) was "Driving drunk woo ... I'll be dead thanks to you." [Connecticut Post (Bridgeport), 4-27-2015] [Miami Herald, 4-30-2015]

• Readers' Choice: (1) The Indian Journal of Dermatology announced in April that it was withdrawing a recent scientific paper by a dentist in Kerala state, "Development of a Guideline to Approach Plagiarism in Indian Scenarios," because parts of the article had been plagiarized from a student dissertation. (2) Low voter turnout in non-presidential election years is increasingly problematic in easily distracted Los Angeles, but the issue was specifically addressed by campaigners in the March 3 city council elections -- which, of course, only about 9 percent of registered voters cast ballots in. [NPR, 4-2-2015] [LA Weekly, 3-4-2015]

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