Do Tell

SCRUTINIZING the news from Brazil last week, I spotted the following.

SÃO PAULO (Reuters)—Rumor, the great ill born from small beginnings, has been banned among municipal employees in the Brazilian city of Cascavel, the city councilman who drafted the law said on Wednesday. Public servants who gossip may now face official reprimands, obligatory professional sensitivity training and even suspension or dismissal in certain cases.