This Was The Week That Was
February 17 – 23, #42

Howard J. Ehrlich



Smash the state and have a nice day.....The Iranian government is holding elections but excluding
most of the opposition from the ballot; China persists in threatening Hong Kong against electing a
pro-democracy slate to their Legislative Council; the psuedo-democratic government of Haiti
teeters as the fascist rebels who were ousted in 1994 move in to overthrow President Aristide.
India and Pakistan have again entered into peace negotiations, that is they have agreed to talk
about what they should talk about. And this week Syria made overtures to Israel offering to
restart negotiations. At press time, the Israeli government made no direct reply.

Having been victimized by a highly organized hate campaign and having been labeled by the news
media as too left and unstable, Howard Dean withdrew from the primaries. While Dean managed
to spend a reputed $41 million, the Shrub has so far raised $143 million for his campaign. And at
the end of the week, Ralph Nader announced his candidacy asserting that he saw no difference
between the Shrub and the Democratic party contenders.

GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer announced that they were limiting supplies to Canadian pharmacies
which sell to US consumers. They are doing this, they said, to protect American consumers
against counterfeit or defective pharmaceuticals. Despite their claim the FDA’s director of
pharmacy affairs was not able to provide any serious documentation. The profits of the drug
companies, however, have been well-documented.(Washington Post)

Spring 2007.....That’s the current date being announced by the Shrub administration for the
withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. No date was specified for the withdrawal of American
corporations.

Cases and human deaths from bird flu continue and evidence grows to indicate that the flu is
crossing different species lines.

For the veterans of the 1960s peace movement it is a familiar but no less significant concern.
Undercover police are spying on innocent peace activists, infiltrating organizations, maintaining
files on people, and possibly acting as provocateurs. Nonviolent groups in Denver and Boulder,
Colorado, Fresno, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Albuquerque have uncovered spy suspects so far.
This new wave of police spying seems to be related to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
(Salon.com)

While on the spy front.... the C.I.A. acknowledged this week that it did not provide the United
Nations with information on about one-fifth of the sites in Iraq that were among the most highly
suspect of illegal weapons. The intent of the Shrub administration in withholding the information
was to convince Americans that the United Nations had run its fill course without finding anything
thus justifying the invasion. (New York Times)

Sixty leading scientist, including 20 Nobel laureates, issued a report documenting the
“suppression and distortion” of scientific findings by the Shrub administration.In most of the cases
presented in the report, the administration censored scientific findings which were in disagreement
with their political position.

One example of suppression is the recent treatment of a gasoline additive that contaminates
ground water. The additive, MTBE, dissolves and spreads easily in the ground water. It resists
biodegradation and is difficult to remove. The Shrub shelved the proposal to ban it presumably
because the oil industry is a major, million dollar contributor to the Republican party.
(truthout.org)

Same sex marriages have added to the news as more than 3,000 couples were married in the city
of San Francisco since February 12th. The city based its actions on their review of the state
constitution which was upheld by the courts. Same sex marriages are spreading in other
jurisdiction from New Mexico to Chicago.

Starting this week, the Department of Homeland Security can classify information submitted to
them by businesses as “secret” if the data could be used in “terrorist attacks.” Unfortunately, there
is a strong likelihood that health and safety regulations will fall under the secrecy classification.
(Washington Post)