Right Here

No Pride, No Tell Attorney General John Ashcroft has banned a Gay Pride event organized by some 200 Justice Department employees after being lobbied by conservative groups. Meanwhile, President Bush has refused to declare June "Pride Month" -- as it has been known since June 1969 when the Stonewall Riots spawned the Gay Rights movement. He has instead proclaimed June "National Homeownership Month." Way to keep your priorities straight, Shrub.

When I said "have" I really meant..." Subtly shifting from the claim in his state of the union address that "Iraq has an ongoing nuclear weapons program" and "the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agent," the Shrub and his administration spent the week arguing that they had been misinformed -- sort of -- and then staged the transfer of two CIA agents expert on Iraq to other jobs trying to make it look as if they had failed to report accurately to the administration.

From the First Casualty Dept. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, with others, introduced a resolution to force the administration to reveal publicly the intelligence on Iraq's weaponry. Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence Committee begins closed hearings this week. The Committee chair announced that he will issue a report "when the committee deems it appropriate."

It's my bat and ball: Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Offense, threatened to withhold payments for a new NATO building in Brussels. The secretary is fearful of a 1993 Belgian law dealing with war crimes, and has demanded that it exempt Americans and eventually be repealed. Seems like they want to charge General Tommy Franks as responsible for Iraqi civilian deaths.  Charges have also been levied against the Shrub himself as well as Cheney and Powell. (NY Times)

Call in dead...The International Labor Organization released a report documenting that 270 million workers worldwide are injured in workplace accidents every year. More than two million die on the job annually and 160 million are victims of work-related illnesses.  The report received sparse coverage in the straight news media.

On the corporate crime scene... Freddie Mac, the giant home mortgage company -- 32 on the Fortune 500 -- has joined the growing list of majorjor corporations whose creative accounting procedures overstated the companies net worth.

Over There

Blixkrieg: The Guardian, in a private interview with UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, report his charge that the Shrub administration not only waged a campaign to discredit him, but also attempted to influence his reports.

On the terrorist front...Two high ranking leaders of al Qaeda now in custody revealed that their organization had never worked with Saddam Hussein or the Iraqi government. (NY Times)

Counting civilian casualties... Volunteer researchers have now estimated the Iraqi civilian body count at 10,000.

Zion will not be saved in Egypt Apparently the Egyptian government has decided that The Matrix Reloaded is "too religious" and has been banned display in the country. The first Matrix movie -- with its theme of the "last city of Zion" -- was controversial enough, but this latest incarnation was over the top in their estimation.

This week in history: This week in history...The largest rally in US history was held in New York City -- one million people demonstrated for nuclear disarmament (1982); 260 die in Butte mine disaster; 14,000 strike for worker safety (1917); Mutiny abord the Battleship Potemkin (1905); Unions legalized in Canada (1872); Fathers Day established originally in Sioux City, Iowa by then Mayor George Oboe in honor of his grandfather who introduced the musical triangle (1878)