This Is the Week That Was #39

January 27 – February 2

The Shrub proposed a $2.3 trillion dollar budget as the country’s deficit continues growing. The
rovers keep the public titillated with color photos from Mars and the speculation of past life
forms. The Super Bowl with its photos of present life forms continues the pacification of the
public already numbed by the electoral college games. So as not to disturb viewers, CBS–as a
public service-- has refused to run ads during the game which criticize the Shrub administration or
the unethical treatment of animals. So far, over 400,000 calls were made to CBS in protest of
their refusal. (www.moveon.org)

The killing goes on in post-war Iraq and Afghanistan and whistle-blowers and the peace
movement in England are under siege. The BBC was shaken this week by the “findings” of a
right-wing judge. A BBC newscaster had said that Prime Minister Tony Blair had lied to the
British public about weapons of mass destruction saying, among other things, that Saddam could
activate his chemical and biological weapons in 45 minutes. The judge’s ruling concluded that the
prime minister did not deliberately fabricate his intelligence findings but the ruling did not
comment on falsity of Blair’s statements. In the US, where such lies are part of the fabric of the
Shrub administration, the siege has been taking the form of the push to extend the Patriots Act.
Besides, Paul Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the Central Asisan wars, told us that the
invasion of Iraq was right even if the statements made to the world were wrong. (New York
Times)

Secretary of War Rumsfeld authorized an “emergency” increase of 30,000 troops more than what
Congress had approved. And Homeland Security has canceled specific flights of British Airways,
Air France, and Continental to and from the US claiming specific intelligence that they were
targeted by al Qaeda operatives.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor gave consent to the Shrub administration request to block a lower
court from communicating with a Guantanamo prisoner. The US has imprisoned about 650 men
claiming it can keep them in prison indefinitely without specifying charges and without a trial.

The Shrub administration’s journey into the land of friendly fascists is steadfast. The Shrub
announced his intent to appoint Dr. W. David Hager to direct the Reproductive Health Drugs
Advisory Committee of the FDA (the Fooled and Drugged Administration). Hager opposes
abortion, refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women, and wants to revoke approval
of RU-486 (mifepristone) on religious grounds. His appointment does not require Congressional
approval.

The Energy Department in keeping with the administration’s support of the big energy companies
has begun its move to replace government safety standards at nuclear facilities (weapons plants
and research labs). The proposal would allow the contractors themselves to design new safety
regulations! Over 100,000 workers at theses facilities would likely be placed in danger.`

The Supermarket workers strike in Southern and Central California, ongoing since October,
continued with a massive picket of an estimated 14,000 workers. The supermarket chains are
attempting to cut back on health benefits.

Annals of corporate crime....For the third time a Federal District Judge in Anchorage, Alaska
imposed $4.5 billion in punitive damages on Exxon Mobil for its spill of 11 million gallons of
crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska. On two previous occasions the courts had rejected
the penalty saying it was too large. The suit was brought by residents in 1989 and will be again
appealed by Exxon.

GMAC, the financial services unit of General Motors which lends money to GM car buyers,
reached a tentative agreement this week in a class action suit by tens of thousands of African
Americans. GM and other lenders have routinely discriminated against African Americans by
increasing the interest rates of their purchases. Cases are pending against Ford and Daimler
Chrysler.

In Annapolis, a private firm hired to test the fallibility of the Diebold voting machines
demonstrated their ability to gain access to memory cards and internal printers, to vote more than
once without being detected, and to penetrate the system through electronic holes. The head of
the firm said “we’ve only scratched the surface.” The machines are scheduled for use March 2 in
the Maryland primaries.

On the Baltimore scene.... why people don’t use mass transit....In a classic case of governmental
ineptitude, (How do these people stay in office?) The MTA will close down 9 miles of the 30-
mile light rail track Why? Because it was constructed only with a single track That’s in the area
south of Camden yards. When that’s done, the MTA will then close down 6 miles of single track
in the northern section.

There may be no connection to forcing people back in their cars, but the Maryland governor just
unveiled his proposal to construct slot machine emporiums along Interstae 95.

Quote of the week...”It turns out we were all wrong.” David Kay, former chief US weapons
inspector in Iraq.

This week in history.....The House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to
abolish slavery (1865); the first episode of the Lone Ranger radio program was broadcast (1933);
the US launched the first satellite in orbit (1958); four Black students sit in at a segregated lunch
counter, Greensboro, NC setting off mass protests across the country (1960); nuclear warhead
production at Rocky Flats was halted (1992).