Weekly Review

By Paul Ford

Hurricane Rita, the third-most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, struck Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, killing 36 people and causing flooding, tornadoes, and storm surges, and re-flooding parts of New Orleans. Hurricane evacuations caused miles of traffic jams in Texas, and a bus filled with elderly people exploded when an oxygen tank caught fire, incinerating at least 24 passengers.^{1 2} In the wake of Hurricane Rita, which damaged a number of oil refineries, President George W. Bush called on Americans to conserve gas. "I mean," he said, "people just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption and that if they're able to maybe not drive when they--on a trip that's not essential, that would helpful."³ It was reported that President Bush, exhausted from job stress, was back on the bottle. "Stop, George!" Laura Bush allegedly yelled as she walked in on him drinking straight whiskey.^{4 5 6} The Bush Administration raised $600 from U.S. citizens to help rebuild Iraq, where at least 42 people died in the fighting this week.^{7 8} One hundred thousand people marched in Washington, D.C., to protest the war.⁹ Cindy Sheehan was arrested.¹⁰ In Poland an 18-month-old child ran over three family members with a car,¹¹ and in India a 12-year-old girl killed herself after her mother told her that she could not afford to give her a single rupee for lunch.¹² An earthquake struck Peru.¹³

A Chinook helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, killing the entire crew.¹⁴ Members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division admitted that while in Iraq their battalion regularly tortured prisoners. "Some days," said a sergeant, "we would just get bored, so we would have everyone sit in a corner and then make them get in a pyramid. This was before Abu Ghraib, but just like it. We did it for amusement." Another sergeant said that he had seen a soldier beat detainees with an open chemical light. "That made them glow in the dark, which was real funny," he said, "but it burned their eyes, and their skin was irritated real bad."¹⁵ NASA announced that it wanted to return to the moon,¹⁶ and China was preparing to send the manned Shenzhou VI spacecraft into orbit.¹⁷ New York City announced that it would install up to twenty public pay toilets, one for every 405,203 people.¹⁸ In Wichita Falls, Texas, a man named Roderick Johnson was suing prison officials for allowing him to be made into a sexual slave. Johnson testified that he had once been the "property" of a prison gang called the Gangster Disciples, who rented him out at rates ranging from $3 to $7 per rape. A defendant in the case said that Johnson’s testimony was not credible because he never showed the "bruises," "possible broken bones," or "a little worse" that would prove that the sex was nonconsensual.¹⁹ A man in Butte, Montana, was charged with killing and beheading a dog, then throwing the severed head at the dog’s owner. "Here," said the man, "is your f------- dog back."²⁰ Thirty-six military-trained dolphins with toxic dart guns were reported missing in the Gulf of Mexico.²¹

Hamas announced that it would stop using the Gaza Strip to stage incursions into Israel after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised to crack down on the group. ²² The National Rifle Association convinced a district court to stop gun confiscations in New Orleans,²³ and the Irish Republican Army laid down its arms.²⁴ A man in Portland, Oregon was calling people, telling them he had kidnapped an 11-year-old girl, and threatening to hurt the girl unless the recipients of the calls engaged in phone sex.²⁵ The FDA was criticized for naming a veterinarian trained in animal husbandry as acting director for the Office of Women’s Health.²⁶ Greece won the Eurobasket.²⁷ An Australian surfer avoided a shark attack by punching the shark.²⁸ A Des Moines, Iowa, high school teacher was in trouble for confronting the students who toilet-papered his house with a sword,²⁹ and the skeleton of a schizophrenic man was found in Wales; he had handcuffed himself to a tree. Deep scuff marks on the tree made it clear that the man had tried to free himself.³⁰