In addition to funding transportation infrastructure (see Olympia article, this issue) the federal government ought to be providing more funding for education. With that in mind, the National Education Association and school districts in three states (including Bush's home state of Texas) are suing the Bush administration over funding for No Child Left Behind. The lawsuit charges that the No Child Left Behind Act has a clause that says school districts are not required to spend money on facets of the program not funded by the federal government. The Education Department has short-changed school districts by at least $27 billion, the plaintiffs contend, which is the difference between what Congress approved for the program and what the federal government has actually spent on it so far. "Cough up the money," they're saying, "or else we won't adhere to the program." It's the first major challenge to George Bush's centerpiece education program, and it could be the death of No Child Left Behind if the plaintiffs prevail. We can only hope.--Maria Tomchick

A major headline regarding Iraq in past two weeks was the death of Marla Ruzicka in a suicide bombing near Baghdad International Airport. Ruzicka was widely eulogized by the US press, which portrayed her as a blond, 28-year-old, sweet-faced, California surfer girl doing a little bit of aid work in Iraq. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ruzicka had been politically aware since her teens. She'd been an anti-war activist and worked on fair trade issues, and had started her own aid organization, Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict. CIVIC took over the job that the Bush administration refused to do: it raised millions of dollars in private funds to count the civilian dead of the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. She and her organization recently pried $20 million out of Congress to set up a compensation fund for Iraqis whose family members have been killed by US troops.

Just before her death, Ruzicka managed to pry something else out of the US government: an admission by a US Brigadier General in Baghdad that US troops in Iraq always file a spot report any time they shoot a noncombatant. In other words, the US military does "do body counts" of civilian dead, regardless of what Pentagon spokesmen claim. Unfortunately, just as the US press has patronizingly eulogized Marla Ruzicka, they have almost totally ignored her findings. We have yet to see the New York Times and Washington Post or CBS and CNN assign reporters to find these "spot reports" or demand that the Pentagon compile and release its figures of civilian deaths in Iraq. It's another story that the compliant, complacent, pro-business US press is hoping will disappear down the memory hole. It's letter-writing time, folks.--M.T.

Another news item out of Iraq that hasn't gotten the headlines it deserves: the resurgence of the insurgency. Most newspapers were quick to report a decrease in attacks on US soldiers just after the January elections, but few have reported the current increase in attacks on Iraqi police, politicians, government buildings, and mosques. There are several reasons for this. First, US reporters are still stuck in the Green Zone in Baghdad and they can't get outside to verify the stories fed to them by Pentagon spokesmen. Secondly, the drop in the number of attacks against US troops comes as the US military has shifted its focus from running patrols in the countryside to pulling back to their bases and training Iraqi troops and police to go on patrol, instead. And, finally, the guerrillas have slowly, over several months, shifted their emphasis away from targeting US troops and focused on Iraqi police and government officials instead. The insurgents' campaign to encircle Baghdad is still going on, but it's happening without much attention from the US press. Reading the British press or reports from the French Press Agency is especially useful right now.--M.T.

There have been 50 American servicewomen killed in Iraq, and to date another 250 wounded. It is safe to assume that thousandss of Iraqi women, young and old, have lost their lives in this ongoing conflict.

However, the really sad thought for me is how many Iraqi women have lost loved ones in this undeclared American war. The numbers must be staggering, as the deaths appear to be taking place on the hour over there.

I recently heard about an indigenous tribe that had a great solution to the specter of war. Only the women could decide to go to war, and only the men could fight that war. The reasoning being that the women would never send their best and brightest into near certain death unless they had a damned good reason.

Did I hear Hillary in 2008? Perhaps Hillary would think long and hard before she sent any men to war. Well, that is, as long as she could not send the ex-president into battle& --Vivian McPeak

There is a music to this madness apparently, as news stories circulated this week about the music the most powerful man in the world listens to. Yes, President Bush is an avid i-Pod enthusiast who listens to tunes every day when he exercises.

But the factoid that I found the most fascinating that came out of this story is that one of Bush's favorite songs is Van Morrison's catchy tune "Brown Eyed Girl." I couldn't help but stop and ponder how many young and old brown-eyed girls lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan in our campaigns there, and if they had ever heard that song before they died.

More on this story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/04/11/MNGQTC699Q1.DTL --V.M.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels continues to deny funding for a lifeguard at Pritchard Beach for the upcoming swimming season. Pritchard Beach, located in southeast Seattle, is currently the only swimming beach operated by the city that is not funded for lifeguards this year. This despite Pritchards having been in past seasons the city beach where lifeguard rescues were mots frequent.

The services would cost only about $40,000, a mere pittance compared to, say, the current megabucks being poured into Paul Allens South Lake Union revamping. Commuity activists are charging that its yet another example of City Hall ignoring the needs of the primarily brown-eyed people in Sesttles south end. --Geov Parrish

Survivors of a police eviction gone bad in Philadelphia in the mid 1980's have recently been awarded a half a million dollars each by a federal jury. Twenty-four homeowners sued after six adults and five children lost their lives in the fire from an explosive dropped by a helicopter. Police were trying to remove the urban militant political community MOVE from a rundown rowhouse. The city rebuilt the structures, but put such an effort into the project that the buildings were soon condemned. More about this story: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7469764/--V.M.

For children of activists who have been killed but have not received a large settlement, or who have been targeted for their prog-activism, there is an organization that provides substantial grant awards. The Rosenberg Fund For Children was established "to provide for the educational and emotional needs of children whose parents have been harassed, injured, lost jobs, or died in the course of their progressive activities". You can find out more about this resource at http://www.rfc.org. --V.M.