Weekly Review

By Roger D. Hodge

A federal appeals court ordered President Bush to release Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen who was arrested last year in Chicago and has been held since then as an enemy combatant. The court ruled that "the president, acting alone, possesses no inherent constitutional authority to detain American citizens seized within the United States, away from the zone of combat, as enemy combatants."¹ A class-action lawsuit was filed against the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security accusing the agencies of illegally using a national crime database to enforce civil immigration laws.² Federal investigators found videotapes of guards at a detention center in Brooklyn beating and mistreating foreigners who were rounded up after September 11, and the³ Department of Justice filed suit against Mississippi for abusing juvenile prisoners. "We found evidence of systematic abuses including hog-tying and pole-shackling," said Alex Acosta, an assistant attorney general for civil rights. "It was even reported that girls, overcome by the heat during drills, were forced to eat their own vomit."⁴ American officials said that the CIA might not be able to use its usual interrogation techniques on Saddam Hussein, because Hussein, unlike many Al Qaeda operatives, will probably stand trial for his crimes.⁵ Nielsen Media Research said that a reality TV show featuring Internet sex star and hotel heiress Paris Hilton received better ratings than the Diane Sawyer interview with President Bush.⁶ In that interview, the president said that he saw no difference between his earlier claims that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and the more recent emphasis on weapons programs. "So what's the difference? If he were to acquire weapons, he would be the danger," Bush said. "I'm telling you — I made the right decision for America because Saddam Hussein used weapons of mass destruction, invaded Kuwait. But the fact that he is not there is, means America's a more secure country."⁷ A nurse in New Jersey admitted to killing up to 40 patients "to alleviate pain and suffering," and the⁸ federal government increased the national terror alert level to code "orange."⁹

Thomas H. Kean, the chairman of the commission investigating the September 11 attacks, said that the hijackings probably would not have occurred if the FBI and the immigration service had been doing their jobs.¹⁰ Senator Bill Nelson of Florida revealed that the Bush Administration told senators last year that Saddam Hussein definitely possessed biological and chemical weapons and that his unmanned drones could reach cities on the East Coast.¹¹ There were reports that David Kay, the head of the American team looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is planning to resign.¹² Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya announced that he has given up trying to acquire unconventional weapons and that he'll be good from now on.¹³ France and Germany agreed to cooperate on restructuring Iraq's debt.¹⁴ Sebaghatullah Mojadeddi, the chairman of Afghanistan's constitutional convention, told women delegates that they should not try to be equal with men, that even God considers a woman to be half the worth of a man.¹⁵ President Bush came out in favor of a constitutional amendment outlawing homosexual marriage.¹⁶ The Journal of Marriage and Family reported that most American parents yell at their kids, and another¹⁷ study found that teens would like to hear more about sex from their parents.¹⁸ Michael Jackson, who remains at large, joined the Nation of Islam.¹⁹

It was reported that the omnibus spending bill passed by the House of Representatives this month includes $23 billion in "earmarks" such as $50 million for an indoor rain forest in Iowa and $225,000 to repair a swimming pool in Sparks, Nevada. Jim Gibbons, a Republican representative, explained that the funding came about because he felt guilty for clogging up that pool with tadpoles when he was a boy. "Look," Gibbons said in defense of his earmark, "this is the standard practice the United States Congress has had for decades." Gibbons said he did not view such projects "as pork."²⁰ Taiwan banned the sale of dog meat as food.²¹ The Texas Department of Criminal Justice website removed its listing of executed prisoners' last meals. A prison spokesman said the last meals were removed because some people thought they were in "poor taste."²² Toronto police arrested a man for raping a pregnant Jersey cow.²³ Colin Powell underwent surgery for prostate cancer.²⁴ The Bush Administration announced that it plans to let companies buy and sell the right to release mercury pollution into the environment, a policy considered and rejected by the EPA in 2000 as inconsistent with the Clean Air Act.²⁵ A federal district judge overturned the Bush Administration's decision to discard the Clinton Administration's ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park and said that the Bush decision was arbitrary and "politically driven."²⁶ Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal crisis in California and invoked emergency powers to deal with it.²⁷ The National Rifle Association was $100 million in the hole, and an²⁸ American gun manufacturer was promoting a new pistol that can shoot around corners.²⁹ Scientists were planning to use giant pouched rats to sniff out tuberculosis.³⁰ Taiwan reported a new SARS case, but said that the patient was a researcher who was exposed in a lab.³¹ Singapore quarantined 70 people who came in contact with the researcher on a recent visit, and stocks in Taiwan dropped 2 percent.³² Spanish and American scientists were searching the sky for signs of megacryometeors, huge chunks of ice, weighing up to 440 pounds, that form in the atmosphere and fall to Earth. The strange ice meteors have been linked to global warming.³³ The National Weather Service posted an urgent advisory to its website saying that "the Earth has left its orbit and is hurtling towards the sun."³⁴ Saudi Arabia banned the importation of stuffed animals, female dolls, crucifixes, and statues of the Buddha.³⁵ Homelessness and hunger were on the rise in American cities.³⁶ Santa Claus robbed a bank in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.³⁷