This Was The Week That Was
February 3–February 9, #40

Howard J. Ehrlich

The primary games continued with Kerry winning in Michigan and Wahington and endorsed by AFSCME. The Ohio sniper struck for the 23rd time since May on I-71 just south of Columbus, Ohio. The bombing of a Moscow subway killing 39 and injuring more than 120 people and the Baghdad car bombing killing 35 were other entries in the account books of senseless murder. And on the senseless war front, the Shrub appointed a panel to whitewash his administration’s use of intelligence about Iraq’s weapons program. The panel is commissioned to investigate how the White House (mis) used their intelligence, and it is not to report until well after the presidential elections.

George Tenet and the Shrub both spoke publically this week on Saddam and the US invasion of Iraq. The Shrub had little new to say, but emphasized the idea that we are at war and that he was our wartime president. Tenet, speaking at Georgetown University on February 5th, declared that “Saddam did not have a nuclear weapon and probably would have been unable to make one until 2007 to 2009.” On biological weapons, he said, “research and development work was underway” but “we do not yet know if production took place. And just as clearly we have not yet found biological weapons.” Speaking on chemical weapons, Tenet added that Saddam “had the intent and capability to quickly convert civilian industry....However, we have not yet found the weapons we expected.” Conclusion? “We may have overestimated the progress Saddam was making.” Full text is available at baltimoresun.com

More importantly, Shrub submitted his fiscal year 2005 budget. Major cuts were proposed in education with 38 of the 65 programs cut being in the Department of Education. These include cutbacks in early childhood education, school aid for low income neighborhoods, programs aimed at dropouts and programs for the gifted and talented The Shrub budget also eliminates the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) research program on how to decontaminate buildings attacked with toxins.

A significant report by the Metropolitan Tenants Organization shows that someone is being evicted form their home every 15 minutes. In Washington, DC, the most recent data indicated that last year there were 55,000 eviction cases.

Here come the judge....The latest nominee to the federal appeals court is William G. Myers III, a lawyer from Boise, Idaho who has a past history of an anti-environmental agenda. He will likely be confirmed as Senate Democrats are seeking “assurance” that he will uphold lawful environmental protections. Is there something wrong with having to ask a judge if he will uphold the law?

Annals of corporate crime.....Halliburton, known for construction and work in the oil fields, earned $2 billion in the fourth quarter with 40% coming from US government contracts nevertheless posted a loss for the quarter. Its subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root also had contracts for managing military facilities, but will reimburse the government $27.4 million in possible overcharges for meals served in Kuwait as well as $11.4 million in previous hidden overcharges in Iraq and Kuwait. In addition, Halliburton has had to pay out billions in health and safety suits because of asbestos-related damages caused mainly by another subsidiary, Dresser Industries. (Washington Post, The New Standard)

Another fish story.....A new EPA study of the contaminants in fish indicated that 630,000 newborns in the US had unsafe levels of mercury their blood. The mercury comes from mothers ingesting shellfish, tuna and other large fish. The major source appears to be coal-fired power plants which dump tons of mercury in the atmosphere much of which falls into the ocean. Other dietary news this week included a report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating that Americans, especially women, have increased their calorie and carbohydrate intake over the past 30 years. The culprits: cookies, pasta, and soda.

Ashcroft goes to college.....Drake University, a small, private liberal arts college in Des Mines, Iowa, has become the scene of a serious repressive event. Federal prosecutors have issued subpoenas ordering the university to turn over whatever records they have about a forum of peace activists, including all information about those who attended the event, which was held on campus and sponsored by the National Lawyer’s Guild. Four participants have been called to testify before a grand jury

Another case of Budget Deficit Disorder.....On the local front the Baltimore Teachers Union voted to reject proposals from the schools’ CEO, Bonnie Copeland, that would have imposed an 8-day “furlough” or a direct salary cut of seven percent. Copeland has threatened to lay off 1,200 school workers, mainly teachers, to balance out a deficit of about $58 million.

Bared or barred....If newspaper space and tv time were measures of importance, then Janet Jackson’s bare breast and the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that same-sex marriages cannot be constitutionally barred were the big stories of the week. (Does this mean something?)

This week in history.....Bill Haywood, a founder of Industrial Workers of the World, born (1869); The city of Baltimore burns to the ground (1904); 32,000 textile workers in Lawrence, Mass. begin their successful strike which was to become known as the “bread and roses” strike (1912); 32,000 shipyard workers strike in Seattle sparking the general strike in which workers take control of the city (1919); the second assault on Wounded Knee began (1973).