This Was The Week That Was
March 1 — March 7 #43

Many events made the news this week, some of it even good.

Three communities in California won important votes on super Tuesday. In Mendocino County,
voters passed a ban on the raising of genetically engineered plants or animals. In Humboldt
County, voters defeated an attempt to unseat a District Attorney who was fighting against the
lumber industry. What made the case so important was that the leaders of the recall vote were
the same companies the DA was investigating. In Berkeley, voters supported a ballot measure
directing the city to use instant runoff voting. Similarly, an Illinois state poll of 1,100 voters
found majority support for a second-choice option on the Presidential ballot. (With instant
runoff voting, voters rank their favorite candidates by their first, second, and third choices. If
there is no majority on the first count, the weakest candidate is eliminated and the ballots are
recounted.)

Shrub giveth, Shrub taketh away....The administration continued its refusal to stop the production
and sale of land mines. (One hundred fifty countries agreed to a land mine ban in 1997.) At the
same time, the Shrub is planning to increase aid for land mine removal and to help survivors.(NY
Times)

The Shrub did declare this week that the US is “relentless” in the war against terrorism bringing
comfort to untold numbers of brain-damaged Americans.

Separate but equal.....The White House announced its support of the principle of “separate but
equal” for public schools choosing to segregate boys and girls. It has been half a century since
the Supremes ruled out racial segregation.

MoveOn.org began a $1.9 million TV ad campaign in 67 media markets. The ads featured
President Shrub’s policies to eliminate overtime pay for eight million workers and the continued
loss of jobs overseas.

Unemployment rates remain fairly stable. By the official count, 8.3 million people are out of
work. Over one out of five unemployed have been out of work for six months or more.
(Economic Policy Institute)

Nuclear free.....Talks on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsular ended this week with the
six nations involved agreeing to further negotiations. The central issue is the North Korean
insistence on retaining their nuclear power program. No talks on the denuclearization of the US
have been scheduled.

Annals of corporate crime—1 American Airlines agreed to spend $1.5 million for a human rights
training program. This was in settlement over complaints by passengers who had been removed
from flights because of their Middle Eastern or Arab ethnicity. United Airlines settled in
November.

Annals of corporate crime—2 Bernie Ebbers, former WorldCom (aka MCI) executive officer,
was indicted on fraud charges in what was the largest accounting scandal in corporate history.
WorldCom distorted its accounting by $11 billion!

Annals of corporate crime—3 The attempt in the US Senate to shield the weapons industry from
lawsuits was outmaneuvered, sort of. The withdrawal of the bill results in the expiration of of
the ban on assault weapons. In September, it will once again be ok to sell and trade
semiautomatic weapons. Plenty of time for Christmas shopping.

Hackergate—the story so far: More than 3,000 documents were stolen from the House
Judiciary’s Democratic staff over an 18-month period. Two republican staffers quit and admitted
to the theft. The documents were used by the Republicans to formulate a counter strategy and
were even distributed to right-wing interest groups lobbying for Shrub’s ultraconservative
nominees for judgeships.

The judge in the Kobe Bryant trial ruled that the woman who accused him of sexual assault could
be questioned about her sexual history in a closed hearing. At issue are the state rape shield laws
around the US.

Take me to your leader....The Mars robot explorers found signs of past water suggesting that
some life forms may have existed at some time.

On the Maryland scene....Dennis Kucinich won about 1.5% of the Maryland primary vote (Can
Ralph be far behind?) Congressmen Cardin and Cummings and Senator Mikulski all won with
more than 90% of the vote.

On the Eastern Shore....Avian Flu has been found on a farm outside of Pocomoke City. Seventy-
one farms have been quarantined until testing is completed, and over 300,000 chickens have been
killed so far. (Associated Press)

The US Conference of Bishops released the report of their commissioned study of sexual assault
in the Church. According to the Washington Post, 4,300 priests were accused of sexually
abusing 10,667 children between 1950 and 2002.

Send in the Marines....Somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 American marines are in Haiti as a
“peacekeeping force.” Traveling with six State department security officers, Haiti’s President,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, took refuge in the Central African Republic while right-wing rebels took
over the country.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....Shiite Muslim worshipers celebrating an important holiday were
bombed at mosques in Baghdad and Karaballa in Iraq and shot down by automatic rifles as they
marched in a religious procession in Quetta in Pakistan. About 200 people were killed and as
many wounded. The perpetrators were members of a Sunni Muslim group.

Most significantly the Iraqi Governing Council agreed on an interim constitution following a last
minute attempt at revision. While likely the most democratic document in the region, it does
does call for the free expression of religion while designating Islam as a “source” of legislation.
It calls for equal protection under the law, an independent judiciary, and civilian control of the
military. Following national elections, a permanent constitution will be drafted. (NY Times)

The ecology front.....Science magazine features a report on global warming. Europe, according
to a University of Bern scientist who led the research team, had the hottest summer since 1500.
Last summer’s heat wave killed 21,000 people in France and other European countries.

This week in history.....William Godwin, anarchist thinker, born (1756); Rosa Luxemburg, revolutionary socialist, born (1871); Kronstadt sailors rise up against Bolshevik government demanding 'free soviets' in Russia (1921); United Auto Workers win 44 day sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan (1937); Lucy Parsons, IWW co-founder, dies (1942); the president’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders warned that racism was causing America to move “toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.” (1968)