Hot Spots

Fighting stones with bullets, police in the segregated enclave of Soweto near Johannesburg, South Africa, last week opened fire on rioters and according to some reports, as many as a dozen blacks were killed. The official police death toll listed three dead and 30 wounded... meanwhile, across the border, the Rhodesian government began launching an international recruiting campaign lo attract white foreigners to fight against black nationalist guerrillas in that country. Rhodesians refuse to call their newest citizens mercenaries, opting for the more cozy handle of "new white immigrants." The U.S. State Department has forwarded the names of 25 or 30 of the so-called immigrants fighting in apartheid Rhodesia to the Justice Department for possible legal action . . . While the U.S. worries about its diplomatic relations with Rhodesia, South Africa is fretting about its public relations in the U.S. That nation has hired the New York public relations firm of Sidney S. Baron to enhance South Africa's image in the States over the next year. The firm will charge $350,000 for it's services, which will include an American black named Andrew Hatcher proclaiming that the situation in South Africa is improving for blacks and that more U.S. investment is needed. . . Fortunately, the continued suppression of blacks in southern Africa that results in violent racial disturbances isn't all bad, according to a study recently completed by the University of Michigan 's Institute for Social Research. The study, which polled American males in 1969 and 1974, found that "some property damage and personal injuries" were needed to bring about social change. Ten percent of those questioned said they thought "extensive property damage and some deaths" were needed for social control. Conditions ought to be pretty good in South Africa in a couple of years, at least if the violence keeps up. . . And things will be better stateside, too, if the U of M's  findings are any barometer. In apparent violation of federal law. "special force teams" have been training police departments across the U.S. in urban warfare techniques. Green Beret teams have been quietly carrying out mock terrorist attacks in U.S. cities for the benefit and edification of local police departments. .. A Florida prison is in need of an executioner to put to death 75 Death Row prisoners. Although the prisoners will be electrocuted, state officials may be willing to work out an agreement paying the executioner by the head. . . A more fruitful prison job may be that of U.S. Marshall. Janey Jiminez, the U.S. Marshall charged with guarding Patty Hearst during her recent bank robbery trial, is retiring from the force to write a book about her relationship with Patty/Tania. The 23-year-old Jiminez already has an agent, and has even been asked to pose for nude layouts, ala Elizabeth Ray . . . Another public official  going commercial is former presidential candidate and Georgia State Senator Julian Bond. Bond has signed to, make his motion picture debut in an upcoming Warner Bros. film based on the life of black champion race-car driver Wendell Scott. Richard Pryor and Pam Grier star in the film, directed by Melvin Van Peebles... Crime and Punishment Department: a Fort Worth, Texas, justice of the peace has defended the $80,000 bond he set for a millionaire murder defendant accused of killing his wife's lover and 12-year-old stepdaughter. "This man probably will never hurt anybody again," the justice concluded. "He was just drunk" . . . troops of Ugandan President ldi Amin weren't drunk when they shot and killed five university students who had snubbed the dictator's son. It was their mission to teach the classmates of dictator junior a lesson . . . "The Vikings are coming, the Vikings are coming" is the inaudible shout going up on Mars, as inhabitants of that planet are visited by the U.S.' robot spacecrafts. The second explorer spaceship, which entered Mars orbit last week, is scheduled to land on the truly red Planet in September. Meanwhile, Viking I has sent back to earth biological test results which scientists say suggest "at least the possibility of life." Ooooh, ah.