Right Here

Shrubbery: Weeding the truth from George Bush seems to get easier.. On signing the late term abortion bill he announced that no government had the right to take a human life. This from a man who as governor of Texas approved the execution of more people than any other governor in history. Apparently, he also forgot the over 10,000 dead in Iraq.

Doublethink: Last week at his press conference, the Shrub said that additional American soldiers in Iraq was not necessary. This week, according to the Boston Globe, the Pentagon announced that it may increase troop levels by as much as 50,000.

Feeling a draft: Although War Secretary Rumsfeld said earlier this year that there was no need for a draft, the Shrub administration has started filing all the vacancies on draft boards. (Salon.com)

Poll watch: In a late October poll, Gallup found that White Americans are more likely than nonwhite Americans to say they approve of how the war in Iraq is being handled since the major fighting ended–-51% of whites versus 39% of nonwhites.(Gallup.com.)

Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb? In a nationwide sampling of adults, the Gallup pollsters found that in a 10-question quiz the majority of Americans could not identify the first ten amendments to the Constitution. One-third did not know who delivered the Gettysburg Address, while four out of five did not know who is the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Who will police the police? Attorney general John Ashcroft issued new guidelines allowing the FBI to collect information on “individuals, groups and organizations of possible investigativeinterest.” (Associated Press)

And who will judge the judges themselves? Senate Democrats continued their struggle to bar Shrub’s highly conservative and judicially suspect nominees to the US Appeals Courts. While successfully filibustering and halting the nomination of Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, they are now trying to block the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown, who opposes abortion rights, affirmative action, and supports limits on corporate liability. (Associated Press)

Annals of Corporate Crime? Richard Scrushy, the CEO of HealthSouth, one of the country’s largest health care chains, was indicted on 85 counts regarding his perpetrating a $2.7 billion stock fraud. Since 1996, Scrushy received a base salary of $7.5 million, plus $53 billion in stock bonuses, and $206 million from sales of HealthSouth stocks. (Washington Post)

Censorship News (http://www.ncac.org/), in their Fall issue points to the Shrub administration’s censoring of scientific research and publication “to promote a political agenda.” Scientific findings have been prevented from publication or strongly modified in such domains as lead poisoning, environmental health, abortion and breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, prescription drugs, and global warming. Documentation at www.house.gov/reform/min/politicsandscience/.

The officer was very polite, somewhat polite, not so polite, hit me over the head As of this week Maryland State Police began handing out brochures to persons they stop. The brochures tell people how to file a complaint. This is part of a settlement in a case involving racial profiling and discrimination. (Associated Press)

Just don’t breathe in: The Environmental Protection Agency will drop investigations into 50 power plants for past violations of the Clean Air Act. Cases will now be judged under new, less stringent rules. This change in regulation likely came from Vice President Dick Cheney's secret energy task force. (New York Times)

Let it out slowly It wasn’t anthrax after all. The post office has reopened 11 Washington-area buildings. They were closed after tests at a naval mail-sorting office indicated the possibility of anthrax. Tests indicated that it was likely baby powder. (Washington Post)

The struggle continues: A federal judge in New York City issued a temporary restraining order challenging the new “Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.” Judges in at least three other districts have also issued similar restraints claiming the unconstitutionality of the law. (New York Times)

This month’s Washington Spectator, a newsletter of political analysis, reports on Congressional redistricting concluding that the current pattern of gerrymandering determines the winner in most legislative races. The writers conclude “For the rest of this decade, the only choice most voters will have in House races is to ratify the nominee of the party that was handed their district, usually the incumbent.” (www.fairvote.org)

This week in history

Locomotive engineers organize the first national union (1855); birth of Eugene Debs labor activist and US Socialist Party leader (1855); 20,000 black & white workers stage general strike in New Orleans, Lousiana (1892); birth of Dorothy Day catholic anarchist and founder of the Catholic Worker shelters (1897); Bolshevik Revolution begins in Russia (1917); Society for Human Rights, first gay rights organization, founded (1924); CIO, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, founded (1935); Soviet troops enter Budapest ending the 13 day Hungarian Revolution, but the workers councils continue the struggle into January, 1957 (1956); workers stage general strike in South Africa shaking the apartheid regime (1984); Berlin Wall falls in Germany as Soviet-type regimes in Eastern Europe crumble (1989).