News Review #32
December 2 - December 8



This week, the President revoked the tariffs he had placed on imported steel. The administration,
further, has been pushing a phoney “productivity index”trying to portray the economy as
improving. The war in Iraq continues as pressure builds on the administration for the
development of an exit strategy. Meanwhile a Democratic pollster reported that for the first time
the Shrub polled fewer “votes” than a generic Democrat candidate.

On the local scene...The Sun reported that the police department has systematically undercounted
violent crimes. The number of homicide, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults increased by
23 percent following an internal audit.

A civil rights suit filed almost nine years ago against the city went to trial. The defendants, public
housing tenants, claim that the city and federal housing officials have deliberately segregated
public housing since the 1930s. (Baltimore Sun)

Despite the almost 27,000 military sites which have been contaminated by toxic waste, the
Pentagon has continued in its trajectory to exempt the military from laws and regulations
governing all forms of pollution including legislation protecting endangered species and marine
mammals. (Mother Jones, December) The US is not alone in its disregard of environmental
issues. Russia announced its intention not to endorse the Kyoto Treaty. The treaty written to
reduce practices which contribute to the ozone hole and global warming. (Associated Press).

Win one, lose one.....The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unconstitutional part of a 1996
“anti-terrorism” law that outlawed the providing of “material support” to organizations classified
by the State Department as terrorist. This vague provision undercuts the the Attorney General’s
repressive anti-terrorism strategy. (Associated Press)

Knock, knock....who’s there.....The US Supreme Court ruled this week that police do not have to
wait any longer than 20 seconds before breaking down your door. The Justices concluded in the
case under review involving a suspected drug dealer that the police had acted reasonably when
they broke in his front door after waiting 15 seconds without an answer. One Mississippi, two
Mississippi.... (Chicago Tribune)

Last train to Nuremberg....An international court convicted three Rwandans of genocide against
the Tutsi. The three men had used a newspaper and radio station to foment the mass murder of
Rwandan Tutsis. In 100 days in 1994, 7 out of 10 Tutsis, were systematically murdered. (New
York Times)

On the twelfth day...If you are considering plying your true love with the traditional 12 days of
gifts be informed that CNN has priced it at $65,000, a 20 percent increase over last year. It’s the
swans, stupid.

This week in history....Abolitionist John Brown is hanged (1859); Prohibition ended with the ratification of the 21st Amendment (1933); the US enters the world war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor (1941); the major industrial countries sign a treaty setting aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve (1959); anti-segregation bus boycott begins in Montgomery, Alabama (1959); Black Panther leader Fred Hampton is murdered by Chicago police (1969); approximately 4,000 people died after a cloud of gas escaped from a chemical plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India (1984).