This Was The News That Was, #46
March 22 - 28
Howard J. Ehrlich


Come out, come out, wherever you are: 2000 Marines were deployed in Afghanistan this week to
join in the search for al-Qaeda and Taliban. (Associated Press)

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia refused to recuse himself in a hearing scheduled to
determine if Vice President Cheyney must disclose the names and agenda of his energy task
force. Scalia’s 21 page refusal was precipitated by public pressure following a hunting trip he
took with the Vice President. (Washington Post)

The U.S. Senate approved a bill that makes it a crime to injure or kill a fetus during the
commission of a federal crime of violence. The bill is a backdoor attempt by conservatives to
define the start of human life. This would eventually lead to an outlawing of abortion.
(Washington Post)

He’s not heavy, he’s my brother..... British Prime Minister Tony Blair met near Tripoli with
Libyan leader Muammar Qadafi: Beating the US to the economic punch, Blair announced that
Shell Oil had won a $200 million contract to explore for natural gas. In addition, a British
aerospace company will likely provide civil aviation services. (NY Times)

Gasoline prices around the country reached a record average $1.74 - $1.77 a gallon. Writing in
The Guardian, Jeremy Rifkin paints an extraordinary scenario – “...record oil prices triggering a
restriction in US economic growth and an increase in the federal budget deficit, accompanied by
further erosion in the value of the dollar with increased budget deficits and the diminished value
of the dollar leading in turn to higher interest rates to convince foreign investors to lend the US
additional money, followed by a further retraction of the US economy as rising interest rates lead
to a drop in domestic investment and consumption. The cascade of events touches off a tsunami
that engulfs the rest of the global economy, submerging the world in deep recession.”

Mad Cow disease is still producing great controversy. This week the Agricultural Department
announced it would test half of all “donor cows.” These are the animals who presumably are at
greatest risk. Japan, one of the largest importers of US beef tests all slaughtered cows, declared
it would continue its ban on beef imports until the US also tested all cows. (NY Times)

On the health care front..... The FDA approved a quick oral test to detect the presence of HIV.
The test involves a cotton swab along the gum lines and yields results in 20 minutes.
Epidemiologists estimate that one-quarter of infected Americans do not know that they are
infected. (Associated Press) A study by Hopkins researchers published in The Lancet revealed
that uncircumsized men are close to seven times more likely to contract HIV.

This week saw a national gathering of Jehovah’s Witnesses called “the silentlambs.” The group,
formed to eliminate the sexual abuse of children, claims that more than 6,000 children were
molested by congregation leaders.(The Sun)

Condoleeza Rice added a new page to the manual of spin doctoring when she agreed to testify
further at the 9-11 hearings as long as her testimony remained unsworn and in closed session.

Out in space...a NASA prototype, part plane and part spacecraft, reached a record speed of 5,000
mph. The flight apparently lasted 11 seconds.
A British research team announced the discovery of methane gas in the atmosphere of Mars.
Scientists speculate that the gas is being produced by either volcanic activity or by living
microbes called methanogens. As no volcanic activity has been detected, the discovery is a fairly
sure sign of bacterial life on Mars. (BBC News)

The National Urban League’s annual report documented that as compared to Whites, fewer
Blacks owned their own homes, were twice as likely to be denied mortgages and home
improvement loans, twice as likely to be die from disease and accident, to live six fewer years,
with their children twice as likely to be taught by inexperienced school teachers.

This week in history .....marks the 25th anniversary of the near meltdown of the Three Mile Island
nuclear power plant and the 50th anniversary of Brown vs Board of Education, the school
desegregation suit.


This Was The Week That Was
March 14 – March 21 #45

Howard J. Ehrlich

Yankee go home..... A nine-nation survey conducted by Pew found that a majority of poll
respondents in every country except the US ( Britain, France, Germany, Turkey, Russia,
Morocco, Jordan and Pakistan) said that the war in Iraq hurt the battle against terrorism.
(Washington Post, USA Today)

Let’s all go home..... The new Spanish government announced that it will withdraw its troops
from Iraq by the end of June unless the U.N. takes over. Following that, Polish President
Aleksander Kwasniewski said he may withdraw his 2,400 troops early from Iraq. He noted that
his government had been “misled” about the thread of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

This week in Rome, London, Barcelona, and over 200 other cities, hundreds of thousands of
people rallied to commemorate the first anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. In the US, rallies
were staged across the country from San Francisco to Chicago to New York City, from
Montpelier to Cincinnati. (Associated Press)

Don’t drink the water.....If you’re going to Washington, D.C., don’t drink the water. The mayor
has authorized mailing 23,000 water filters to residents most in danger of lead contamination
from lead water source lines. City officials and the Water Authority knew of the lead
contaminated pipelines for at least two years. Further, the filters being distributed can’t cope
with the level of lead in the water. Finally, there are at least 37,000 other homes where officials
don’t know if the source lines are lead. (Washington Post)

What water?.... The aging water systems of large cities had another test on Baltimore County as
two major water mains broke, leaving 200,000 people without water for almost two days. Local
restaurants and 34 schools closed down. (The Sun)

On the environmental front..... A British Survey involving 20,000 volunteer observers noted that
native plants, butterflies, and birds had all experienced serious reductions in population,
indicating that the size of pending extinctions had been grossly underestimated. (Science)

Don’t get sick......A USA Today report indicates that the average premium for a family health
insurance policy is $9,046 a year. This amounts to one-fifth of the median family income.
Moreover, insurance premiums are expected to grow faster than wages over the next several
years. As it is now, 43 million Americans are uninsured.

From the Department of Doublethink..... The Nation noted this week that a recent Economic
Report of the Bush Administration suggested that fast-food industry jobs should be reclassified
as manufacturing jobs. That will, of course, solve the problem of the country’s loss of
manufacturing jobs.

Annals of corporate crime..... Citigroup disclosed its top executive salaries this week. CEO
Charles Prince received $29.2 million while Chairman Sandy Weill had a $44.6 million payday.
Assuming a standard work-week, Mr. Weill earns in two hours what half of all families earn in
one year. (USA Today)

The good guys sometimes win..... New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said that mutual
fund firms have so far paid $1.6 billion to settle with his office, and several firms are still
negotiating their fines. The mutual fund brokers and board managers have been routinely
engaged in a number of improper and sometimes illegal trading practices to their advantage and
the advantage of their more wealthy clients .

That’s 1,000,000,000 dollars..... After BankAmerica pays off its $375 million in fines and
restitution, and after FleetBoston pays off its $140 million, the two will merge. Their combined
assets will be close to one trillion dollars, just behind Citigroup, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase &
Co. (Knight Ridder). The Wall Street Journal estimates the merger will result in as many as
11,000 jobs being eliminated.

The Pentagon giveth, the Pentagon giveth..... Halliburton is still in the news. At the beginning of
the week, the Pentagon declared that it would withhold payment on 15% of meal bills that
Halliburton wanted to charge for feeding the army. The withholding amounts to $300 million.
The company remains under the watch of military auditors. By the end of the week, the Pentagon
declared it would delay withholding payments.

A taxing experience..... Only 40 of the 130 largest for-profit corporations in Maryland paid state
income taxes during 2001 and 2002. The state comptroller’s office estimates that 70
corporations have not paid an estimated $78 million in taxes.

A small step for mankind?.....As soon as the state shoots down the waiting four death row
inmates, the firing squad executions will no longer be allowed in Utah. The governor signed a
bill this week allowing only executions by lethal injection.

Giant and Safeway ran large display ads this Sunday, seeking “temporary store employees.” The
ads did not disclose the likelihood of both chains being subject to strikes by current employees.