The US-led war against Iraq began suddenly this week with a "decapitation" strike against Saddam Hussein. You can barely avoid the spectacular coverage from the "embedded" reporters offering only the news that the military allows them to report. CNN journalists were kicked out of Iraq, but some foreign journalists remain in Baghdad.

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In response to the U.S. bombing of Iraq, tens of thousands protested across the United States on March 20. The estimates included 3,000 in Ann Arbor, 1,000 in Atlanta, 600 in Baltimore, 3,000 in Boston, 15,000 in Chicago, 7,500 in Detroit, 10,000 in Los Angeles, 5,000 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, 5,000 in New York City, 2,000 in Washington DC. In San Francisco, more than 1,000 arrests were reported on the 20th. Protests have continued. In Baltimore, 40 were arrested in a civil disobedience action at the Garmatz Federal Couthouse on March 21.

March 22 saw even larger numbers in New York City, with radio host Amy Goodman reporting "It looked to me like about a million people." ... "This is one of the largest marches New York has ever seen." See the Global Indymedia site for protest updates.

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FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) released a study this week of all on-camera sources who appeared in nightly news stories about Iraq. They monitored programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS for a two week period, January 30 to February 12. Close to eighty percent of the sources were pro-war and less than one percent represented an organized peace group.

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House Speaker Dennis Hastert secretly inserted a provision in the 3,000-page spending bill without a public hearing that destroys the standards for organic livestock. The new standard would allow livestock to be labelled as organic if the costs of organic feeds seriously exceed the costs of conventional feeds containing antibiotics and pesticides. (Washington Post, March 19, 2003, F-1 ). See the Organic Trade Association for information on how to combat this attack on organic standards.

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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was awarded the "Citadel of Free Speech" award by the City Club in Washington, DC on Wednesday, but accepted only on condition that radio and television organizations be banned from covering the event. Irony, thy name is Anontin!

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The controversy surrounding the staging of the Academy Awards continued throughout the event on Sunday evening. The red carpet was withdrawn, and several prominent stars cancelled their appearances. Director Michael Moore took home the Oscar for Best Documentary, and used his time on stage to berate the president, wagging his finger and stating "We are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you."

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If you encounter a story during the week that deserves mention in our weekly review, please send a brief summary and relevent link URLs to editors(at)baltimoreimc.org. And thank you for paying attention!