If there was any genuinely good news this week (Don't be taken in by the claims that the economy has turned around -- the US has lost 2.7 million jobs), it was that the pols all indicate that the Shrub is defoliating. Bush's standing against a generic Democratic nominee is at his lowest level yet and while pro-war sentiments are still high, they are eroding. The White House is obviously worried and has begun talking about an earlier withdrawal of troops.

Right Here

Hungry? You're not alone: The Census Bureau reports that in 2002 approximately 3.8 million families were without money to buy enough food so that someone in the household had to skip meals. Most families try to feed the children but still over half a million kids are likely sent to bed without eating. The poverty rate increased last year over 2001 with almost 35 million persons in the US living at or below the official poverty line. (Associated Press)

On the local scene The People's Homesteading Group announced its plan to rehab 22 houses on the 400 and 500 blocks of E. 22nd Street.

Over There

Take me to your leader: In Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, reputedly one of the wealthiest Russian capitalists now sits in a Moscow prison, allegedly for tax fraud, but more likely for challenging the power of President Putin. The president's chief of staff resigned in protest. (NY Times, Washington Post)

Take me to your leader, 2: Israel's military chief of staff resigned in protest of the hard line policies against the Palestinians.

Take me to your leader, 3: The leader of the British conservative opposition party, Ian Duncan Smith, lost a vote of confidence and they are now searching for some one to stand up to Tony Blair.

Take me to your leader, 4:Kim Jong Il agreed in principle to resume talks about ending Korea's nuclear weapons program. Where is the Shrub?

Mission Accomplished? The UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported this week that Afghanistan, the world's producer of three-quarters of all opium, increased its production this year in 28 of its 32 provinces. Opium now accounts for more than half of its gross domestic product. (Cox News Service)

This Week in History

U.S. Supreme Court decides that Indians are aliens (1883); Socialist Eugene V. Debs receives one million votes for president while imprisoned for antiwar activities (1920); Orson Welles leads a team of Martian invaders at Grover's Mill, NJ (1938); the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded (1966)