Things People Believe | Hardly a ‘Do-Nothing’ Congress

• Murders are being committed over hair weaves, reported WMC-TV (Memphis, Tennessee) in March, with one likely explanation being a belief that a person who acquires tufts of human hair surely acquires the fortunes -- good or bad -- of the person who grew the hair. That is especially true of "virgin" hair from India, shorn for religious sacrifices ("tonsuring") before falling into the hands of agents who sell to Western women. Said a Memphis pastor, "A generation back or so," people were being killed over tennis shoes. "Now (it's) hair." [WMC-TV, 3-2-2016

• In March, U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of the House Rules Committee, introduced a resolution to recognize "magic" as one of America's "national treasure(s)," backed by a 711-word paean urging all to "support and protect" the storied craft -- which needs to be "understood and promulgated," especially given that, according to Sessions, it "requires only the capacity to dream." Sessions made no link of magic to resolving other congressional business (such as, for instance, ending the string of 64 consecutive failed votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act). [Politico, 3-15-2016] [H.Res. 642]