QUICK BAUAW MEETING
SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2005:
11:30 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.
Agenda includes: Counter-recruitment work at Balboa
and International Studies Academy High Schools;
USLAW unity proposal; new S.F. ballot initiative;
And more!

Then:

WAGE PEACE
mother's day media walk and rally
1 p.m. at cbs-5
855 battery/broadway

Walk Route:
Rally CBS-5 855 Battery (@ Broadway) 1pm
Leave Battery Street and turn Right onto Vallejo
Left onto Front Street
Rally at ABC
From Front Street turn Right onto Green Street
Right on The Embarcadero
Right on Washington Street
Right on Davis Street
Rally at the U.S. Military Recruiting Office 670 Davis Street

Speakers:
CBS-5 / 1pm - Rally
Medea Benjamin
Blessing by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

ABC / - Rally
Vicki Leidner
Elizabeth Creely/Playwright

U.S. Military Recruiting Office / Rally
Representative/Haiti Action Committee
Mark Sanchez/SF Board of Ed.
Eduardo Cohen/Veterans for Peace
Bonnie Weinstein/Bay Area United Against War
Cristina Gutierrez/Companeros Barrio
Aimee Allison/Military Conscientious Objector
Close with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (maybe, ?)

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

1) HAITI ACTION ALERT: Demand the Release of Yvon Neptune
At 8:33 AM -0700 5/3/05, Ben Terrall-fwd'd from:
Haiti Action Committee
http://www.haitiaction.net

2) Inside the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier's
Account of Life at Guantanamo
Democracy Now!
We speak with former army sergeant, Erik Saar who served as
an Arabic translator at Guantanamo Bay for six months. Among
the abuses he says he witnessed was sexual abuse, mock
interrogations, the use of dogs and a female interrogator
smearing what looked like menstrual blood on a Muslim prisoner.
He also says the military ordered them not to speak to the Red Cross.
http://www.democracynow.org/index.pl

3) Letter to Jeff Adachi on the case of
Mr. Thaer Afaneh, wrongly arrested
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 23:50:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: benno allen
To: bluetrianglesf@yahoo.com
benno allen wrote:

4) Can't Wal-Mart, a Retail Behemoth, Pay More?
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: May 4, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/business/04wages.html

5) Military Base Closings Will Sting, Panel Chairman Says
By ERIC SCHMITT
May 4, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/politics/04bases.html

6) Iraq Backlash in Britain May Affect Future Military Moves
By ALAN COWELL
Published: May 4, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/international/europe/04britain.html

7) Lacking $2 Bus Fare to Shelter,
Homeless Get a Free Ride, to Jail
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
May 4, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/nyregion/04bus.html

8) House and Senate Reach Accord on $82 Billion for Costs of Wars
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: May 4, 2005
"The conference also provided $200 million in aid to the
Palestinian territories, including $50 million for Israel
to improve transportation to and from the territories. The
conference bill also requires that the Government Accountability
Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, audit
United States aid for the Palestinian territories, and it
allocates $5 million for an independent audit of the Palestinian
Authority. The House version of the bill had sought to block
any direct American aid to the Palestinians."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/international/middleeast/04spend.html

9) The Pirates of Illiopolis, Why your Kitchen Floor
may pose a Threat to National Security
By Sandra Steingraber
http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/05-3om/Steingraber.html

10) Kent State, May 4, 1970: America Kills Its Children
The Ethical Spectacle, May 1995,
http://www.spectacle.org
http://www.spectacle.org/595/kent.html

11) Killings at Jackson State University
May 14
Memorial to the incident
"When the order to ceasefire was given Phillip Lafayette Gibbs,
21, a junior pre-law major and father of an 18 month-old son lay
dead. Across the street, behind the line of police and highway
patrolmen, James Earl Green, 17, was sprawled dead. Green,
a senior at Jim Hill High School in Jackson, was walking home
from work at a local grocery store when he stopped to watch
the action. Twelve other Jackson State students were struck
by gunfire. The five-story dormitory was riddled by gunfire.
FBI investigators estimated that more than 460 rounds struck
the building, shattering every window facing the street on
each floor. Investigators counted at least 160 bullet holes
in the outer walls of the stairwell alone bullet holes that
can still be seen today."
http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1660/
Killings_at_Jackson_State_University

12) From Cuba
HUMANITY IS ANXIOUS FOR JUSTICE
Message to the United States of America intellectuals and
artists, read by the author-singer Silvio Rodriguez in
Plaza de la Revolución on May 1st, 2005

13) F.B.I. Will Exhume
the Body of Emmett Till
for an Autopsy
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
Published: May 5, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/national/05exhume.html?

14) Lifting the Censor's Veil on the Shame of Iraq
By BOB HERBERT
May 5, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/opinion/05herbert.html?hp

15) Support for Iraq War at Lowest Level
35-percentage-point drop from high in '03
by Bill Nichols and Mona Mahmoud
Published on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 by USA Today
"The findings, made public on the same day that Iraq's first
democratically elected government in 50 years was sworn in,
show that 41% say the war was worth it; 57% say it wasn't."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0504-12.htm

16) A refuge for homeless female veterans
By Kera Ritter
Inquirer Staff Writer
http://www.myantiwar.org/view/45612.html

17) BAUAW has teamed up with Local Impact
to launch a grassroots fax
campaign to pressure SFPD to stop
interfering with anti-war meetings.
Send a free fax to SPFD Chief Fong
demanding that she keep her officers
out of political meetings.
http://www.local-impact.org
http://www.local-impact.org/takeaction18.html

18) IRAQ: Making a killing: the big business of war
Doug Lorimer
“While nearly 100,000 Iraqis and 1600 US troops have died as
a result of the Iraq war and tens of thousands have been severely
wounded, the war has proven to be extremely lucrative for the
Houston-based oil services company Halliburton and the
San Francisco-based construction company Bechtel. These are
the two largest private contractors to the US occupation
forces in Iraq.”
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/625/625p20.htm

19) Army misses April recruiting goal by 42 percent
By Will Dunham
Tue May 3, 2005 05:41 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8378239

20) [bayareapalestine] weekly report of israeli war crimes, 5/5/05
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bayareapalestine/?yguid=134001410

21) In Kansas, Darwinism Goes
on Trial Once More
By JODI WILGOREN
May 6, 2005
"In the first of three daylong hearings being referred to
here as a direct descendant of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial
in Tennessee, a parade of Ph.D.'s testified Thursday about
the flaws they saw in mainstream science's explanation of the
origins of life. It was one part biology lesson, one part
political theater, and the biggest stage yet for the emerging
movement known as intelligent design, which posits that life's
complexity cannot be explained without a supernatural creator."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/06/education/06evolution.html

22) G.I. DENIED CONSCIENTIOUS-OBJECTOR STATUS
By Russ Bynum
Associated Press
April 29, 2005
"SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The Army said Friday
it has denied conscientious objector
status for a soldier who refused to deploy
to Iraq for a second tour, saying
he became morally opposed to war during
the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Sgt. Kevin Benderman, 40, filed his
objector application Dec. 28, just 10 days
before he skipped his unit's deployment
flight. The Army mechanic faces a
court-martial May 12 on charges of
desertion and missing movement."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/
AR2005042900477.html

23) One year since the torture
revelations at Abu Ghraib
Mistrial in reservist's court martial
By Bill Van Auken
"One year after photographs of American soldiers torturing and
humiliating naked and hooded Iraqi prisoners triggered a wave of
international revulsion, the US Army was forced Wednesday to
declare a mistrial in the prosecution of one of a handful of junior-
ranking enlisted personnel charged in the matter.
Private First Class Lynndie England, an Army reservist, had pled
guilty two days earlier to charges of mistreating Iraqi detainees at
the Abu Ghraib prison and conspiracy. "I had a choice, but I chose
to do what my friends wanted me to," said England."
6 May 2005
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/may2005/abu-m06.shtml

24) Arcata City Council Adopts
"Municipal Response to Federal Lawlessness" Resolution

25) MAY 17, 2005, IS TAKE BACK
OUR SCHOOLS DAY!
On May 17, we will teach in the streets of
Oakland and in the schools!
http://www.ednotinc.org/may1705.html

26) Fidel Castro Warns Against a US Invasion of Venezuela
Havana, May 5 (P26).-"A US invasion of Venezuela would
set the hemisphere on fire," warned Cuban President
Fidel Castro on Thursday evening.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

1) HAITI ACTION ALERT: Demand the Release of Yvon Neptune
At 8:33 AM -0700 5/3/05, Ben Terrall-fwd'd from:
Haiti Action Committee
http://www.haitiaction.net

from which the following is taken
May 3, 2005

Political prisoner Yvon Neptune, Haiti's last constitutional
Prime Minister, lies on the verge of death from a hunger strike,
initiated because . . . jailed for 10 months without formal charges

[A] USAID funded anti-Aristide group, has accused Neptune
of participation in a massacre . . . in February 2004 . . .
never offered any proof . . . an accusation recently dismissed
by official of U.N. [which had the effrontery to investigate the charges]

Neptune has vowed to continue his hunger strike until either
charged or released. [as] illegal "interim" regime of Gerard
Latortue could but refuses [to do]

[R]ecent news reports indicate Neptune [may be removed from Haiti
against his will].

On May 1, Marguerite Laurent of the
Lawyers' Leadership Network,
[after speaking] with [the] family
wrote, "Mr. Neptune's family stresses that
Yvon Neptune would never go into exile
. . . he is an innocent man, wrongfully
accused [who] will not leave prison
unless a judge [orders] his liberation . . .
and acknowledged his innocence of all crimes."
Please tell UN it must
direct the coup government
to finally release Neptune.

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
United Nations Headquarters
First Avenue at 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
212-963-5012
inquiries@un.org
Fax No. (212) 963-4879

Mahamane Cisse-Guoro , UN Human Rights Office in Haiti
UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)

cisse-gouro@un.org
PHONE: 011.509.244.9650.9660
FAX: 011.509.244.9366/67

[Many, including]
Amnesty International . . .
Kofi Annan, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
and Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste
have called for. . . release or trial.

On April 19, . . . lawyers from
the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux,
the Institute for Justice &
Democracy in Haiti, and the Hastings
Human Rights Project for Haiti
filed a complaint before the
Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights on Neptune's behalf
see http://www.ijdh.org/articles/article_recent_news_april-4-19-05.htm

For months, Mr. Neptune has insisted that he will not
leave until . . . justice [is] done.
Haiti's interim government attempted to deflect . . . pressure
by offering to fly him to the Dominican Republic over the weekend
for treatment. Neptune refused . . . an easy escape for either
himself or the interim government.

According to Ronald Saint-Jean, the Secretary-General of the Group
for the Defense of the Rights of Political Prisoners (GDP),
government sources indicate that the authorities plan to wait until
Neptune loses consciousness, then transport him out of the country.
[and with others protest] "this cynical and criminal measure."
They note the . . . government can quickly arrange transport to a hospital
in the Dominican Republic, but . . . not [to a court in over 10 months
and that Neptune's forced exile would be yet another
violation of his . . . rights

For more information:

Groupe de Defense des Droits Des Prisonniers
Politiques, Ronald Saint-Jean,
Secretary-General: 509-244-1254, 509-588-7550 (Haiti)
Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, Mario Joseph, Managing Lawyer:
509-554-4284, 509-221-8686 (Haiti)
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti,
Brian Concannon Jr., Director:
541-432-0597 (USA), BrianHaiti@aol.com, www.ijdh.org
(background information on Yvon Neptune's case
Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, Marguerite Laurent
www.margueritelaurent.com
http://www.haitiaction.net

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

2) Inside the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier's
Account of Life at Guantanamo
Democracy Now!
We speak with former army sergeant, Erik Saar who served as
an Arabic translator at Guantanamo Bay for six months. Among
the abuses he says he witnessed was sexual abuse, mock
interrogations, the use of dogs and a female interrogator
smearing what looked like menstrual blood on a Muslim prisoner.
He also says the military ordered them not to speak to the Red Cross.
http://www.democracynow.org/index.pl

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

3) Letter to Jeff Adachi on the case of
Mr. Thaer Afaneh, wrongly arrested
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 23:50:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: benno allen
To: bluetrianglesf@yahoo.com
benno allen wrote:


Dear Mr. Adachi,

We the undersigned, as individuals and organizations, write
this letter to bring to your attention the case of a (False Arrest)
of one Mr. Thaer Afaneh, a Muslim Arab, by the San Francisco police
department. The enclosed photo-copies pertain to Mr. Afaneh's
arrest, who was held for 5 days in County Jail , and was
(interrogated) before reaching county jail, insulted, humiliated,
threatened with deportation, before being brought before a judge.
Mr. Thaer Afaneh is an educated man with a multiple graduate
degrees including a (Maters in International Finance) from the
U.K. and U.S.A. too, a man who is working on projects which
will bring a large amount of jobs and funds to California too.
He is afraid to move forward because of this incident. What is
of relevance here is that Mr. Afaneh was initially represented
by an attorney from the Public Defenders Office, -Charmaine Yu
who counseled Mr. Afaneh to plead guilty to "a lesser charge",
thus forcing Mr. Afaneh to hire a private attorney at a great
expensive. He eventually had his case dismissed by the court –
six weeks after his arrest. Mr. Afaneh now seeks to:

_ Have his record of false arrest "expunged" and cleared
from the police records and computers.

_ To be "Factually declared innocent".

_ Request that the Public Defenders Office hold an
orientation session for its staff attorneys, together with
interested community and advocacy groups about the still
prevailing (9/11 Hysteria) of nabbing " dark complexion" ,
"Middle Eastern" , " Muslims" , " Arabs" , " South Asians"
on the slightest suspicions.

We look forward to a reply from you.

Thank you in anticipation.

Sincerely.

Shashi Dalal, Interfaith Alliance for Prison Reform.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

4) Can't Wal-Mart, a Retail Behemoth, Pay More?
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: May 4, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/business/04wages.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

5) Military Base Closings Will Sting, Panel Chairman Says
By ERIC SCHMITT
May 4, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/politics/04bases.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

6) Iraq Backlash in Britain May Affect Future Military Moves
By ALAN COWELL
Published: May 4, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/international/europe/04britain.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

7) Lacking $2 Bus Fare to Shelter,
Homeless Get a Free Ride, to Jail
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
May 4, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/nyregion/04bus.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

8) House and Senate Reach Accord on $82 Billion for Costs of Wars
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: May 4, 2005
"The conference also provided $200 million in aid to the
Palestinian territories, including $50 million for Israel
to improve transportation to and from the territories. The
conference bill also requires that the Government Accountability
Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, audit
United States aid for the Palestinian territories, and it
allocates $5 million for an independent audit of the Palestinian
Authority. The House version of the bill had sought to block
any direct American aid to the Palestinians."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/international/middleeast/04spend.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

9) The Pirates of Illiopolis, Why your Kitchen Floor
may pose a Threat to National Security
By Sandra Steingraber
http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/05-3om/Steingraber.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

10) Kent State, May 4, 1970: America Kills Its Children
The Ethical Spectacle, May 1995,
http://www.spectacle.org
http://www.spectacle.org/595/kent.html

Twenty-five years ago this month, students came out on the Kent State
campus and scores of others to protest the bombing of Cambodia-- a
decision of President Nixon's that appeared to expand the Vietnam War.
Some rocks were thrown, some windows were broken, and an attempt was
made to burn the ROTC building. Governor James Rhodes sent in the
National Guard.

The units that responded were ill-trained and came right from riot duty
elsewhere; they hadn't had much sleep. The first day, there was some
brutality; the Guard bayonetted two men, one a disabled veteran, who had
cursed or yelled at them from cars. The following day, May 4th, the
Guard, commanded with an amazing lack of military judgment, marched down
a hill, to a field in the middle of angry demonstrators, then back up
again. Seconds before they would have passed around the corner of a
large building, and out of sight of the crowd, many of the Guardsmen
wheeled and fired directly into the students, hitting thirteen, killing
four of them, pulling the trigger over and over, for thirteen seconds.
(Count out loud--one Mississippi, two Mississippi, to see how long this
is.) Guardsmen--none of whom were later punished, civilly,
administratively, or criminally--admitted firing at specific unarmed
targets; one man shot a demonstrator who was giving him the finger. The
closest student shot was fully sixty feet away; all but one were more
than 100 feet away; all but two were more than 200 feet away. One of the
dead was 255 feet away; the rest were 300 to 400 feet away. The most
distant student shot was more than 700 feet from the Guardsmen.

Some rocks had been thrown, and some tear gas canisters fired by the
Guard had been hurled back, but (though some of the Guardsmen certainly
must know the truth) no-one has ever been able to establish why the
Guard fired when they were seconds away from safety around the corner of
the building. None had been injured worse than a minor bruise, no
demonstrators were armed, there was simply nothing threatening them that
justified an armed and murderous response. In addition to the
demonstrators, none of whom was closer than sixty feet, the campus was
full of onlookers and students on their way to class; two of the four
dead fell in this category. Most Guardsmen later testified that they
turned and fired because everyone else was. There was an attempt to
blame a mysterious sniper, of whom no trace was ever found; there was no
evidence, on the ground, on still photographs or a film, of a shot fired
by anyone but the Guardsmen. One officer is seen in many of the
photographs, out in front, pointing a pistol; one possibility is that he
fired first, causing the others, ahead of him, to turn and fire. Or (as
some witnesses testified) he or another officer may have given an order
to fire. It is indisputable that the Guardsmen were not in any immediate
physical danger when they fired; the crowd was not pursuing them; they
were seconds away from being out of sight of the demonstration.

There was also an undercover FBI informant, Terry Norman, carrying a gun
on the field that day. Though he later turned his gun into the police,
who announced it had not been fired, later ballistic tests by the FBI
showed that it had been fired since it was last cleaned-- but by then it
was too late to determine whether it had been fired before or on May 4th.

It would be too charitable to say that the investigation was botched;
there was no investigation. Even the New York City police, who are
themselves prone to brutality and corruption, do a better job. Every
time an officer discharges his weapon, it is taken from him, and there
is an investigation. Here--to the fatal detriment of the federal
criminal trial which followed--it was never conclusively established
which Guardsmen had fired, or which of them had shot the wounded and the
dead. Since all were wearing gas masks, it is impossible to identify
them in pictures (many had also removed or covered their name tags, a
classic ploy of law enforcement officers about to commit brutality in
the '60's and '70's), and though many confessed to having fired their
weapons, none admitted to being in the first row and therefore, among
the first to fire. The ballistic evidence could have helped here, but
none was taken.

One rumor has it that the Guardsmen were told the same night that they
would never be prosecuted by the state of Ohio. And they never were. The
Nixon administration stalled for years, announcing "investigations" that
led nowhere; White House tapes subsequently released show that Nixon
thought demonstrators were bums, asked the Secret Service to go beat
them up, and apparently felt that the Kent State victims had it coming.
As did most of the country; William Gordon calls the killings "the most
popular murders ever committed in the United States."

The history of the next few years is very sad. A federal prosecution was
finally brought, but the presiding judge is said to have signalled his
preference for the defendants, guiding their attorney's conduct of the
case to help them avoid legal errors. He dismissed all charges at the
close of the prosecution's case, avoiding the need for a defense and
taking the case away from the jury. Among his reasons: a failure to
prove specific intent to deprive the victims of their civil rights; due
to the lack of any investigation, it was almost impossible at this late
date to show which Guardsmen shot which victim.

In the New York City police force, which is far from perfect, officers
who have killed or injured someone under questionable circumstances are
often dismissed from the force even though there is not enough evidence
for a criminal conviction; the standard of proof is not the same for an
administrative action as for a criminal case. You don't want an
unstable, sadistic person on the force, even though there may not be
enough evidence for a criminal conviction. But the Guardsmen--even the
one who confessed to shooting an unarmed demonstrator giving him the
finger--were not deemed unfit to serve the State, even though they had
fired indiscriminately into a crowd containing many passsersby and
students on their way to classes.

A civil suit brought by the wounded students and the parents of the dead
ones deteriorated among infighting by the plaintiffs' lawyers. Unable to
agree on a single theory of the case, they contradicted each other. The
jury returned a verdict for the defendants.

This verdict was overturned on appeal--the main ground was that the
judge did not take seriously enough the attempted coercion of a juror
who was assaulted by a stranger demanding an unspecified verdict--and a
retrial was scheduled. On the eve of it, the exhausted plaintiffs
settled with the state for $675,000.00, which was divided 13 ways. Half
of it went to Dean Kahler, the most seriously wounded survivor, and only
$15,000 apiece went to the families of each of the slain students, a
pathetically small verdict in a day when lives are accounted to be worth
in the many millions of dollars. The state issued a statement of
"regret" which stopped short of an apology for the events of May 4th,
nine years before.

I write this just a week after the Kansas city bombing that appears to
have taken 200 lives (the rescuers are still searching the wreckage) and
the theme today is the same as 25 years ago. Hate was in the air then,
as it is today. Admittedly, the First Amendment protects hate speech,
whether it comes from the most marginal extremist or the highest public
official. Demonizing someone else for their beliefs or their race, or
even calling for their immediate assassination, is legal in America
today and was twenty-five years ago. But the fact that something is
legal to do does not make it right to do, or relieve the speaker of any
moral responsibility for the consequences.

President Nixon created a public atmosphere in which students who
opposed the war were fair game for those who supported the government.
In the week following Kent State, construction workers rioted on Wall
Street, attacking antiwar demonstrators and sending many to the
hospital, some permanently crippled. It was reported at the time that, a
day or two after the deaths, President Nixon called the parents of the
only slain student known to be a bystander--he was a member of ROTC--to
express condolences. The phone never rang in the other parents' houses.
The message couldn't have been clearer: they had it coming.

I was fifteen that year, raised in a very comfortable middle class
environment and very naive. Kent State was my political education. What
I discovered that week, and that year, was that America in those times
was perfectly willing to harass, beat and kill its own children if they
disagreed with government policy. The step from being a member of the
protected American mainstream to being a marginalized outsider, not
entitled to the protection of law enforcement and fair prey to any
violent, flag-waving bully who happened to pass, was to stand up and say
you did not believe the Vietnam war was right.

I am not sure that anyone too young to remember those times can really
appreciate what it was like. We know today the extent to which the FBI
was involved in dirty tricks, illegal wiretapping and burglaries against
even moderate antiwar organizations. Prior to Kent State, I had joined
an organization called Student Mobilization Against the War. One day,
their offices were burglarized and their membership lists stolen. We had
no doubt at the time that it was the government, and we were right.

I led demonstrations that week outside my high school protesting the
Kent State killings and, afterwards, the principal summoned me and my
father to his office and threatened to have me expelled as a
trouble-maker. My father--I am very proud of him, as he was not an
ideological man and his opposition to the war was very muted--replied
that if I was expelled, he would fight it "all the way to the Supreme
Court." I had done nothing else than exercise my First Amendment right
of protest. We heard nothing more about expulsion, but a close friend of
mine, who didn't have an assertive parent to stand up for him, was
thrown out of school.

That week, people came out of the woodwork--wearing black leather,
chains wrapped around their fists, waving American flags--people we had
never before seen in our neighborhoods. These patriots set up a
counterdemonstration across the street from ours. For hours, a rumor was
rampant that they would attack us and that the police would not
intervene--exactly what had happened on Wall Street a day or so before.
Their cursing and chain-rattling became uglier until finally they
summoned their courage and charged. Someone shouted "Link arms!" and
five or six teenagers, me among them, joined to interpose our bodies
between the attackers and demonstrators. The Brooklyn police, unlike
those on Wall Street, or the National Guard in Kent days earlier, did
not seek or condone the killing of children. They ran in and forced the
attackers back. I was fifteen then and am forty now, but I have never
had a finer moment in my life. It was the only moment in my life that I
came close to living up to Gandhi's statement that "we must be the
change we wish to see in the world."

Here are the names of those who died at Kent State, so that they may not
be forgotten:

ALISON KRAUSE

JEFFREY MILLER

SANDRA SCHEUER

WILLIAM SCHROEDER

UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545

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our discussion list by sending a blank email to
ufpj-disc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ufpj-news/

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11) Killings at Jackson State University
May 14
Memorial to the incident
"When the order to ceasefire was given Phillip Lafayette Gibbs,
21, a junior pre-law major and father of an 18 month-old son lay
dead. Across the street, behind the line of police and highway
patrolmen, James Earl Green, 17, was sprawled dead. Green,
a senior at Jim Hill High School in Jackson, was walking home
from work at a local grocery store when he stopped to watch
the action. Twelve other Jackson State students were struck
by gunfire. The five-story dormitory was riddled by gunfire.
FBI investigators estimated that more than 460 rounds struck
the building, shattering every window facing the street on
each floor. Investigators counted at least 160 bullet holes
in the outer walls of the stairwell alone bullet holes that
can still be seen today."
http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1660/
Killings_at_Jackson_State_University

*On this date in 1970, the Jackson State killings occurred.
In the spring of that year, campus communities across this
country were characterized by protests and demonstrations.

No college or University was left untouched by confrontations
and continuous calls for change. At Jackson State College in
Jackson, Mississippi, there was the added issue of historical
racial intimidation and harassment by White motorists traveling
Lynch Street, a major thoroughfare that divided the campus and
linked west Jackson to downtown. On May 14-15, 1970, Jackson
State students were protesting these issues as well as the
May 4, 1970 tragedy at Kent State University in Ohio.

The riot began around 9:30 p.m., May 14, when rumors were
spread that Fayette, Mississippi mayor Charles Evers
(brother of slain Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers)
and his wife had been shot and killed. Upon hearing this
rumor, a small group of students rioted. That night, several
White motorists had called the Jackson Police Department
to complain that a group of Blacks threw rocks at them as
they passed along the stretch of Lynch Street that bisected
the campus. The rioting students set several fires and
overturned a dump truck that had been left on campus overnight.

Jackson firefighters dispatched to the blaze met a hostile
crowd that harangued them as they worked to contain the fire.
Fearing for their safety, the firemen requested police backup.
The police, blocked off the campus. National Guardsmen, still
on alert from rioting the previous night, mounted on Armored
Personnel Carriers, the guardsmen had been issued weapons,
but no ammunition. Seventy-five city policemen and Mississippi
State Police officers all armed, responded to the call.
Their combined armed staved off the crowd long enough for
the firemen to extinguish the blaze and leave.

After the firemen left, the police and state troopers
marched toward a campus women's residence, weapons at the
ready. At this point, the crowd numbered 75 to 100 people.
Several students allegedly shouted "obscene catcalls" while
others chanted and tossed bricks at the officers, who had
closed to within 100 feet of the group. The officers deployed
into a line facing the students. Accounts disagree as to what
happened next. Some students said the police advanced in
a line, warned them, and then opened fire. Others said the
police abruptly opened fire on the crowd and the dormitory.
Other witnesses reported that the students were under the
control of a campus security officer when the police opened
fire.

Police claimed they spotted a powder flare and opened fire in
self-defense on the dormitory only. The students scattered,
some running for the trees in front of the library, but most
scrambling for the Alexander Hall west end door. There was
screaming and cries of terror and pain mingled with the noise
of sustained gunfire as the students struggled en masse to
get through glass double doors. A few students were trampled.
Others, struck by buckshot pellets or bullets, fell only to
be dragged inside or left moaning in the grass.

When the order to ceasefire was given Phillip Lafayette Gibbs,
21, a junior pre-law major and father of an 18 month-old son
lay dead. Across the street, behind the line of police and
highway patrolmen, James Earl Green, 17, was sprawled dead.
Green, a senior at Jim Hill High School in Jackson, was
walking home from work at a local grocery store when he
stopped to watch the action. Twelve other Jackson State
students were struck by gunfire. The five-story dormitory
was riddled by gunfire. FBI investigators estimated that
more than 460 rounds struck the building, shattering every
window facing the street on each floor. Investigators counted
at least 160 bullet holes in the outer walls of the stairwell
alone bullet holes that can still be seen today.

The injured students, many of whom lay bleeding on the
ground outside the dormitory, were transported to University
Hospital within 20 minutes of the shooting. But the ambulances
were not called until after the officers picked up their shell
casings, a U. S. Senate probe conducted by Senators Walter
Mondale and Birch Bayh later revealed. The police and state
troopers left the campus shortly after the shooting and were
replaced by National Guardsmen. After the incident, Jackson
authorities denied that city police took part.

Reference:
The biographical dictionary of Black Americans
by Rachel Krantz and Elizabeth A.Ryan
Copyright 1992, Facts on File, New York, NY
ISBN 0-8160-2324-7

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12) From Cuba
HUMANITY IS ANXIOUS FOR JUSTICE
Message to the United States of America intellectuals and
artists, read by the author-singer Silvio Rodriguez in
Plaza de la Revolución on May 1st, 2005


In the last few days we have been denouncing an extremely
serious and embarrasing fact, so far silenced by the great
communication media, which if known in the United States,
would offend the conscience of all honest men and women of
Lincoln's Fatherland.

The government of said country, self-proclaimed the world
leader of the so called war against terrorism, is hiding in
its own territory one of the most renowned terrorists of the
contemporaneous history.

There exist irrefutable prooves that Luis Posada Carriles,
as well as other terrorists of Cuban origin, all of them with
a broad criminal file, are being harbored by high USA government
officials, in complicity with the Miami fascist anti-Cuban groups.

Cuba has been amongst the first countries to denounce the
monstrous facts that took place on September 11, 2001,
offering its solidarity with concrete proposals directed to
the United States people.

In the conviction that absolutely no reason can justify the
death of innocent persons, Cuban Revolutionaries feel deeply
affected at the terrifying, unforgettable image of the attack
on the Twin Towers. At the same time, with the bitter moral
authority that confers us the fact of having been victims of
similar acts during more than forty years, we demand that
those reponsible of so
atrocious crimes, as the terrorist sabotage against a Cuban
airplane that caused the death of 73 civilians, among whom,
all the members of the Cuban youth team of fence, be duly
punished.

The pain that has damaged during years so many Cuban families
does not
deserve perhaps all the world concern? Is that pain
different as the one suffered and being suffered by the
families that lost their beloved relatives on that ominous
September 11? Is terrorism legitimate when exerted on Cuba?
Crimes against civilians are justified in this case? Are
they trying that the United States people's conscious coexists
with this conception, lacking the most minimal ethical feeling
by hiding these facts indefinitely?

Today we ask United States intellectuals and artists, men and
women lovers of truth, peace and life, not to permit that the
proves submitted by Cuba be ignored and to denounce through
all the media at hand, the existence in the heart of the
United States society, of this dangerous
terrorist coalition. The Cuban people is not thirsty of
revenge, but only yearns for justice.

Casa de las Americas
Union de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba
Uniun de Periodistas de Cuba
Asociacion Hermanos Saiz
Academia de Ciencias de Cuba

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13) F.B.I. Will Exhume
the Body of Emmett Till
for an Autopsy
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
Published: May 5, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/national/05exhume.html?

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14) Lifting the Censor's Veil on the Shame of Iraq
By BOB HERBERT
May 5, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/opinion/05herbert.html?hp

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15) Support for Iraq War at Lowest Level
35-percentage-point drop from high in '03
by Bill Nichols and Mona Mahmoud
Published on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 by USA Today
"The findings, made public on the same day that Iraq's first
democratically elected government in 50 years was sworn in,
show that 41% say the war was worth it; 57% say it wasn't."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0504-12.htm

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16) A refuge for homeless female veterans
By Kera Ritter
Inquirer Staff Writer
http://www.myantiwar.org/view/45612.html

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17) BAUAW has teamed up with Local Impact
to launch a grassroots fax
campaign to pressure SFPD to stop
interfering with anti-war meetings.
Send a free fax to SPFD Chief Fong
demanding that she keep her officers
out of political meetings.
http://www.local-impact.org
http://www.local-impact.org/takeaction18.html

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18) IRAQ: Making a killing: the big business of war
Doug Lorimer
“While nearly 100,000 Iraqis and 1600 US troops have died as
a result of the Iraq war and tens of thousands have been severely
wounded, the war has proven to be extremely lucrative for the
Houston-based oil services company Halliburton and the
San Francisco-based construction company Bechtel. These are
the two largest private contractors to the US occupation
forces in Iraq.”
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/625/625p20.htm

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19) Army misses April recruiting goal by 42 percent
By Will Dunham
Tue May 3, 2005 05:41 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8378239

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20) [bayareapalestine] weekly report of israeli war crimes, 5/5/05
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bayareapalestine/?yguid=134001410

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21) In Kansas, Darwinism Goes
on Trial Once More
By JODI WILGOREN
May 6, 2005
"In the first of three daylong hearings being referred to
here as a direct descendant of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial
in Tennessee, a parade of Ph.D.'s testified Thursday about
the flaws they saw in mainstream science's explanation of the
origins of life. It was one part biology lesson, one part
political theater, and the biggest stage yet for the emerging
movement known as intelligent design, which posits that life's
complexity cannot be explained without a supernatural creator."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/06/education/06evolution.html

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22) G.I. DENIED CONSCIENTIOUS-OBJECTOR STATUS
By Russ Bynum
Associated Press
April 29, 2005
"SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The Army said Friday
it has denied conscientious objector
status for a soldier who refused to deploy
to Iraq for a second tour, saying
he became morally opposed to war during
the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Sgt. Kevin Benderman, 40, filed his
objector application Dec. 28, just 10 days
before he skipped his unit's deployment
flight. The Army mechanic faces a
court-martial May 12 on charges of
desertion and missing movement."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/
AR2005042900477.html

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23) One year since the torture
revelations at Abu Ghraib
Mistrial in reservist's court martial
By Bill Van Auken
"One year after photographs of American soldiers torturing and
humiliating naked and hooded Iraqi prisoners triggered a wave of
international revulsion, the US Army was forced Wednesday to
declare a mistrial in the prosecution of one of a handful of junior-
ranking enlisted personnel charged in the matter.
Private First Class Lynndie England, an Army reservist, had pled
guilty two days earlier to charges of mistreating Iraqi detainees at
the Abu Ghraib prison and conspiracy. "I had a choice, but I chose
to do what my friends wanted me to," said England."
6 May 2005
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/may2005/abu-m06.shtml

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24) Arcata City Council Adopts
"Municipal Response to Federal Lawlessness" Resolution

ARCATA, CA -- May 5 -- The Arcata City Council last night adopted
a Resolution that commits the Council "to do anything within its
power to influence the Federal Government to end immediately the
American occupation of Iraq," and "to support both those residents
who have returned from serving in Iraq and those who have refused
to serve for moral or legal reasons."

The Resolution affirms that "the City Council is our most locally
accessible governmental body and the most direct political
connection between individuals and the federal government."

It budgets $1000 annually to a newly mandated City Peace Commission
that will inform returning troops about locally available services,
and inform troops that refuse to serve in Iraq about the possible
outcomes of their choice and about access to free legal counsel.

The Commission will also work "to limit access of military
recruiters to school and college campuses, and to provide equal
time for views offering alternatives to military service."

The Resolution further commits the City Council to consider
placing a measure on a future city-wide ballot, asking voters
if Arcata should be declared a sanctuary for those who refuse
to participate in war.

The Resolution was adopted by a 3-2 vote, with Green Party
Council Members: Groves, Meserve and Pitino in favor and Machi
and Wheetley opposed. The vote came near midnight after
a marathon public comment period that lasted for over two hours,
with comments from forty concerned citizens. Three quarters
of those speaking favored adoption, citing the local monetary
and human impact of the Iraq war, and the need to support
resisters and to speak out as a city against an illegal and
immoral war. Those who opposed adoption urged the Council to
stick to local issues and cited a Chamber of Commerce poll of
its members, indicating that many merchants feared loss of
business through boycotts, if the Resolution passed.

The "Municipal Response to Federal Lawlessness" is the
latest version of a resolution that was first brought before
the Council in early February under the title: "Resolution
Supporting Troops Who Refuse to Serve in Illegal Wars."
Earlier versions were discussed at three City Council meetings
and at a Town Hall Meeting that drew over 120 participants,
but they failed to gain majority support of the Council.

Veterans for Peace, Chapter 56, The Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom, and the Redwood Peace and
Justice Center all endorsed the Resolution.

We encourage cities that may wish to pass similar resolutions
to contact us at greenarcata@hotmail.com.

RESOLUTION NO. 045-52
MUNICIPAL RESPONSE TO FEDERAL LAWLESSNESS

Whereas, a large majority of Arcata residents oppose the war
on Iraq for one or more of the following reasons:
The war is ill-advised and unnecessary.
The war is based on lies.
The war is illegal.
The war is immoral.
The war does not increase our national security.

Whereas, the cost of the war in dollars is a root cause of
local economic hardships.

Whereas, the human cost of the war is unacceptable.

Whereas, issues of local and global importance are intimately
linked, and the City Council is our most locally accessible
governmental body and the most direct political connection
between individuals and the federal government.

Therefore be it resolved that the City Council of the City of
Arcata budgets $1000 annually (which amounts to approximately
one penny for every person killed in Iraq as a result of the
US invasion, currently estimated at over 100,000 civilian
deaths and over 1500 American military deaths) to be used as
outlined below.

Be it further resolved that The City Council of the City of
Arcata commits itself to do anything within its power to
influence the Federal Government to end immediately the
American occupation of Iraq.

Be it further resolved that The City Council of the City of
Arcata supports those enlisted men and women who are currently
serving in Iraq by repeating its demand for the immediate
withdrawal of all troops; and the Council commits itself to
support, in any way within its power, both those residents
who have returned from serving in Iraq and those who have
refused to serve for moral or legal reasons;

Be it further resolved that The City Council of the City of
Arcata will consider placing a measure on a future city-wide
ballot, asking voters if Arcata should be declared a sanctuary
for those who refuse to participate in war.

Be it further resolved that The City Council of the City of
Arcata will take the steps necessary to expand the mandate of
the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Commission to include "Promoting
peace locally and globally", to rename the Commission as the
"Nuclear Weapons Free Zone and Peace Commission", and to
empower the Commission to use the additional $1000 budget
allocation, as they are able within budget and time
constraints, to:
·
Inform troops returning to Arcata from foreign duty about
locally available services.
·
Inform resident members of the armed forces about access to
free legal advice and counsel for those who are considering
refusal, or who have already refused to serve in the war on
Iraq or other wars.
·
Work with local school boards and Humboldt State University
to limit access of military recruiters to school and college
campuses, and to provide equal time for views offering
alternatives to military service.

Be it further resolved that The City Council of the City
of Arcata will provide ongoing opportunities for public
discussion of current issues by sponsoring regular Town
Hall Meetings at our public facilities.

National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force
Marguerite Hiken, co-chair
318 Ortega Street
San Francisco, CA 94122
415-566-3732
mlhiken@pacbell.net
www.nlg.org/mltf

Kathleen Gilberd, co-chair
1168 Union Street, Ste. 302
San Diego, CA 92101
619-233-1701
KathleenGilberd@aol.com

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25) MAY 17, 2005, IS TAKE BACK
OUR SCHOOLS DAY!
On May 17, we will teach in the streets of
Oakland and in the schools!
http://www.ednotinc.org/may1705.html

In honor of the historic verdict Brown v. Board of Education ,
which promised equal public education for all on May 17, 1954,
a growing tide of youth, educators, parents, union members,
citizens and community organizations are calling for an end
to the destruct takeover of the Oakland schools.

How Teachers and Staff Can Participate

Field Trip for Students.
Noon - 1 p.m.: Rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza
(at Oakland City Hall)
1 p.m. - 4 p.m.: student led teach-ins at the
First Unitarian Church, 14th and Castro streets
4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.: Rally at the State Building
on 15th and Clay streets

Coordinate. Organize your students/parents to march
or car-pool to the State Building for the 4:30PM Rally,
after school.

On May 17, Teach About These Issues at a School-wide Assembly
or in Your Classroom. Education Not Incarceration will provide
materials related to Brown v. Board of Education and its
connection with today's school conditions. Curriculum will
be available at a teacher in-service on May 10
(see details below) and at www.ednotinc.org .

Attend the Teacher Training. Tuesday, May 10, 4 p.m. -5:30 p.m.
at the Oakland Education Association office, 272 East 12th St.
Activities, materials, and other resources will be available.

For more information on May 17, visit www.oaklandrising.com .

For information on teacher activities,
contact Mary Prophet 510-527-1222 or mlprophet@earthlink.net .

May 17: Take Back Our Schools Day is a project of Education
Not Incarceration; Oakland Education Association;
Organize Da BAY, a coalition of youth dedicated to collective
action to reclaim public education, including Youth Together,
Californians for Justice, Tojil and the Xicana Moratorium
Coalition; the Coalition to Defend and Improve Public
Education, which includes Oakland parents, students,
educators, politicians, and representatives from ACORN,
Oakland Federation of Teachers, Million Worker March,
American Federated County State Municipal Employees,
Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network, Oakland
Parents Together, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement,
CalCARE, PUEBLO, and the National Lawyers Guild.

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26) Fidel Castro Warns Against a US Invasion of Venezuela
Havana, May 5 (P26).-"A US invasion of Venezuela would
set the hemisphere on fire," warned Cuban President
Fidel Castro on Thursday evening.

In an address to the nation, broadcast on Cuban radio and
television, the head of State affirmed that should the United
States decide to attack that nation it would have to occupy all
of a burning Latin America, with or without the support of the
Organization of American States. And an invasion of Cuba would
cost them a hundred times more than the price they are currently
paying in Iraq.

Cuba's leader devoted most of his presentation to explain the
potential of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA),
whose principles of solidarity and cooperation are being applied
to Cuban-Venezuelan relations.

In the same vein, Fidel Castro rebuffed statements made by Roger
Noriega, Assistant Secretary of State, who described the new
integrationist project as mockery.

The Cuban leader asked rhetorically whether a million
Venezuelans who have learned to read and write thanks to
a Cuban-sponsored literacy drive is mockery, or 17 million
people who did not receive medical attention before Chavez
took power and now can
go to a doctor's office and get free medications.

Noriega is a brute, said the head of State, referring to
a project to train over 40,000 Venezuelan young people as
physicians in the coming years.

Does he (Noriega) think it is mockery to put an end to
unemployment in a country that was plundered or healing
eye diseases of thousands of people who would go blind
abandoned on the streets, noted Fidel Castro.

With respect to latest attacks by the US official, the
Cuban leader underscored that the White House will not
succeed in frustrating the programs for the people's
benefit which a re currently underway in Cuba and Venezuela.

P26
UPWARDUPWARD

Copyright (c) PERIÓDICO 26, founded on March 15th, 2000

Address: Carlos J. Finlay s/n Las Tunas, Las Tunas,
Cuba 75100 e-mail cip224@cip.enet.cu

| Director: Ramiro Segura García |
Information Chief: Gerardo González Quesada |
Editor-in-Chief: Oscar Góngora Jorge |

| Editing Assistant: Maryla García Santos |
Editor: Leonardo Mastrapa | Webmaster: Reynaldo López Peña |
Translator: Ihosvanny Cordovés González


P26

Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!

For more information, please visit us at
www.handsoffvenezuela.org

Donate to the Hands Off Venezuela campaign! We rely entirely
on our supporters and sympathizers in the labor, anti-war,
solidarity, and other progressive movements in order to build
this campaign. You can make a donation and buy stickers
and DVDs at:
http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/wrapper/
We also offer shirts, buttons and more at:
http://www.cafepress.com/handsoffvenez

All proceeds go towards building the HOV campaign.

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/handsoffvenezuela/
From a message dated 5/6/05 7:36:49 AM, cortgreene@excite.com

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27) Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Alert
Tell Coke: We Won't Stop! - Take Action and Sign USAS's Email
Dear Campaign Supporters: Students, workers and community
members have been pressuring Coke for 4 years now to meet the
demands of SINALTRAINAL in Colombia and the National Alliance
of People's Movements in India. However, Coke has responded
with continued denials and public relations efforts to "clean
up their image"- without actually addressing the human rights
abuses that exist in bottling plants worldwide. Tell Coke and
college administrators from the University of California,
University of Michigan, University of Montana, University of
Iowa, New York University, Indiana University, Rutgers
University and Hofstra University that students won't stop
until Coke takes responsibility for its actions here and
abroad!! Take Action and send an email
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/coke

Action Alert!
Vigil in Solidarity with Colombia's Peace Communities
May 6 Vigil in Solidarity with Colombia's Peace Communities
and a Call for an End to U.S, Support for Colombia's Military.
Disarm and AELLA (Association of Latino and Latin-American
Students) at the CUNY Graduate Center are organizing a vigil
at the Colombian Consulate to the U.S. in New York.
As our outrage over the massacre of eight members of the
San Jose Peace Community grows, let us come together and
be heard as a collective voice of opposition to a misguided
U.S. foreign policy and an exhibit of support for the idea
of Peace in Colombia.
Why: We have chosen May 6 (with its proximity to Mother's
Day) as a symbolic date to stand in unity with all the
Mothers who have lost their children to this devastating
conflict.
When: Friday, May 6, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: The Colombian Consulate in New York City
(10 E. 46th St., between Madison & 5th Avenue, NYC)
The New York vigil will take place in coordination with
vigils happening across the country between April 26 and May 8:
Cleveland, OH - April 26
Hartford, CT - April 26
Chicago, IL - May 6
Minneapolis, MN - May 6
Seattle, WA - May 6
Washington, DC - May 6
Bally, PA - May 6
Contact Person:
Debora Upegui: dupegui@gc.cuny.edu
Joshua Bardfield: jbardfield@disarm.org

Campaign to Stop KILLER COKE
We are seeking your help to stop a gruesome cycle of
murders, kidnappings, and torture of union leaders and
organizers involved in daily life-and-death struggles at
Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia, South America.
"If we lose the fight against Coca-Cola, we will first
lose our union, next our jobs and then our lives."
SINALTRAINAL Vice President Juan Carlos Galvis

Please donate to the Campaign. http://www.paypal.com/xclick/
business=stopkillercoke%40aol.com&no_note=1&tax=0&currency%20_
code=USD


Learn the truth about The Coca-Cola Co. "We believe the evidence
shows that Coca-Cola and its corporate network are rife with
immorality, corruption and complicity in murder."
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke/Corporate Campaign, Inc.
Director Ray Rogers Visit
www.KillerCoke.org
http://www.killercoke.org

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posted 10:59 AM  0 comments

BAUAW NEWS UPDATE: TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2004

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

1) Nonviolent protesters move on Univ. of Hawaii administration
building, demand end to secret military research center Press
Advisory FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Honolulu, Hawaii Contact: Kyle Kajihiro 808-542-3668;
Ikaika Hussey 808-221-2843 Thursday, April 28 2005 10:30 am
Nonviolent protesters move on Univ. of Hawaii administration
building, demand end to secret military research center
http://www.hawaiiankingdom.info/

2) PRESS CONFERENCE TO DENOUNCE GOVERNOR
SCHWARZENEGGER'S SUPPORT FOR THE BORDER VIGILANTES!
NO BORDER VIGILANTES IN CALIFORNIA!
Please come to a press conference
on Thursday, May 5, 11:00 am,
California State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco,
to express outrage over the Governor's comments praising the Arizona
"Minutemen" and welcoming the vigilantes' plans to be present at the
California border with México this August.
WHAT: Immigrant communities and allies speak out against Governor
Schwarzenegger's support for the Arizona border vigilantes and their
intent to come to California this August.
WHEN: Thursday, May 5, 11 am.
WHERE: California State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco.
For more information, call Renee Saucedo, (415) 553-3404.

3) Nat'l Organizers Call for Support for GI Resisters on May 10
"Jeff Paterson"
Mon, 2 May 2005 16:46:14 -0700
Please Forward

4) Call for a GENERAL CONGRESS of WOMEN
SUNDAY, MAY 8, 2005, 4:00 P.M.
Start: 4:00 p.m. at Vietnam War Memorial,
Capitol Grounds, Sacramento State Capitol
Finish: 6:00p.m. with Circles for Peace

5) Pentagon Says Iraq Effort
Limits Ability to Fight
Other Conflicts
By THOM SHANKER
"The annual 'Chairman's Risk Assessment,' which is
required by Congress, warned that additional major
combat operations "may result in significantly extended
campaign timelines, and achieving campaign objectives
may result in higher casualties and collateral damage....
General Myers noted that the American military does not
face 'extreme risk,' the highest level, in any of the
categories analyzed in the report. Among the steps he
listed as being in progress were substantial improvements
in coordinating military efforts with civil authorities,
who are 'playing a critical role in disrupting potential
terrorist attacks against the United States,' he wrote."
May 3, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/politics/03military.html?hp&ex=1115179200&en=8e61d2b8d4bd2e4b&ei=5094&partner=homepage

6) Army Recruiters Say
They Feel Pressure to Bend Rules
By DAMIEN CAVE
May 3, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/national/03recruit.html?

7) Working People Across the Globe March on
International Workers Day
New York March Unites Labor, Community, Youth,
Antiwar and Immigrant Rights Activists
In this email:
a) May Day: Hundreds of thousands of workers take to the streets
around the globe
b) May Day in NYC
c) How you can get involved

8) Widow of soldier says Prime Minister
to blame for his death
By Danielle Demetriou
03 May 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=635214

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

1) Nonviolent protesters move on Univ. of Hawaii
administration building, demand end to secret military
research center Press Advisory FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Honolulu, Hawaii Contact: Kyle Kajihiro 808-542-3668;
Ikaika Hussey 808-221-2843 Thursday, April 28 2005 10:30 am
Nonviolent protesters move on Univ. of Hawaii administration
building, demand end to secret military research center
http://www.hawaiiankingdom.info/

Honolulu, HI ˆ A group of nonviolent protesters have entered
Bachmaan Hall, the University of Hawaii administration building,
and have demanded an end to the University Affiliated Research
Center (UARC) project, which would establish a secret military
research facility to conduct Navy weapons development. The group
-- consisting of students, faculty, and concerned community
members -- has prepared a formal statement of legal, moral, health,
cultural, and political reasons why UARC should be dropped. They
have prepared a formal letter to the US Navy for Interim President
David McClain to sign stating that UH is withdrawing its UARC
application, because of the substantial public concern over
increased secret military research. The nonviolent protesters
have stated that they will not leave Bachman Hall until Mr. McClain
publicly declares the end of UARC.

*** MORE Full text of student/faculty/community demands follows:

28 April 2005 University of Hawaii at Manoa Oâ'ahu, Hawaiâ'i

To: The people of Hawaiâ'i Cc: University of Hawaii Interim
President David McClain

Aloha â'aina kakou:

We, the students, faculty, and community are the â˘ohana of the
University of Hawaii. The health and security of our public
institution of higher learning, and the community it serves, is
our chief concern.

We are assembled here with a simple demand: that the highest
authority of our University of Hawaii, Interim President David
McClain, formally end the University Affiliated Research Center
(UARC) project, which threatens the soul of our university and
endangers the health and welfare of our community with secret
military weapons research.

Frustrated by the UH Manoa Chancellor's lack of transparency
and honesty about the UARC, and concerned that the Administration
is already determined to establish the UARC over the serious
concerns and overwhelming opposition from all sectors of the
campus and community, we are compelled to resort to nonviolent
civil resistance to save our university. We remain steadfast in
our opposition to the UARC project for the following reasons:

1. UARC would be involved in military weapons related
research that is incompatible with the strategic plan, core
values and educational mission of UH. 2. UARC compounds the
historical injustices committed by US forces against Native
Hawaiians and fuels military expansion and its negative impacts
on the land and people of Hawaiâ'i. The Kualiâ'i Council, the
body representing the interests of Native Hawaiians on the
UH Manoa campus, testified before the Board of Regents: Since
the American military has done more to damage our ancestral
lands than any other entity, we cannot support the establishment
of a UARC at the University of Hawaiâ'i.ˇ 3. Military secrecy
subverts academic freedom and public accountability. Research
programs need not be classified to be deemed privileged, and
thus secret. The tragic history of secret military research
programs does not permit us to trust that the UARC will be
safe or beneficial, as proponents argue. 4. UARC is bad
business for UH; it diverts resources from other research
opportunities, imposes restrictions on the types of research
pursuable, and places constraints on publishing. UARC may be
in violation of Federal Acquisition Regulations that require
full and open competition for major federal contracts.
5. UARC is implicated in and tainted by the Navy criminal
investigation of alleged mismanagement of classified research
contracts. The military "pork barrel," coupled with secrecy and
possibly dangerous technologies makes UH more susceptible to
ethical lapses. 6. Recent audit reports indicate that the
UH Administration is currently unable to adequately handle
existing research contracts. 7. UARC would be a major shift
in direction for UH and the beginning of UH's demise ˆ
a mark on UH's reputation forever. 8. UARC is substantially
different from existing faculty driven research. UARC would
be like a marriage between UH and the Navy to provide the
Navy with research on demand: 'problem solving' vs. true
research that expands human knowledge. 9. The process has
been flawed, with the UH Administration pursuing secretive
discussions for more than two years and failing to inform or
involve the public until after significant decisions had been
made and provisional board approval had been given.

For these reasons, and for others which may exist in the
consciences of the people, we resolve to remain in Bachman
Hall until such time as Interim President David McClain declares
an end to the UARC proposal. Such a declaration is essential
to the survival and prosperity of our community's institution
of higher learning. Until Mr. McClain makes that declaration,
we will occupy and demilitarize Bachman Hall. We call out
to all members of the UH community, the people of Hawaiâ'i
and people of the world to join us in demanding that
UH President McClain stop the UARC now. Make education
the priority, not war.

Aloha ╢Ã∑ina,
Save UH/Stop UARC Coalition
www.stopuarc.info
http://www.stopuarc.info/

UARC Protest Day 6: McClain will
respond this morning; Int'l media
impact

The Advertiser reports : "David McClain, University of Hawai'i
interim president, has promised to reply today to a pared-down
list of demands from the coalition of students, faculty and
community activists occupying his office in opposition to
establishing a Navy research center at the university."
The Star-Bulletin also has a story , as does UH Ka Leo .
http://www.hawaiiankingdom.info/


---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

2) PRESS CONFERENCE TO DENOUNCE GOVERNOR
SCHWARZENEGGER'S SUPPORT FOR THE BORDER VIGILANTES!
NO BORDER VIGILANTES IN CALIFORNIA!
Please come to a press conference
on Thursday, May 5, 11:00 am,
California State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco,
to express outrage over the Governor's comments praising the Arizona
"Minutemen" and welcoming the vigilantes' plans to be present at the
California border with México this August.
WHAT: Immigrant communities and allies speak out against Governor
Schwarzenegger's support for the Arizona border vigilantes and their
intent to come to California this August.
WHEN: Thursday, May 5, 11 am.
WHERE: California State Building,
455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco.
For more information, call Renee Saucedo, (415) 553-3404.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

3) Nat'l Organizers Call for Support for GI Resisters on May 10
"Jeff Paterson"
Mon, 2 May 2005 16:46:14 -0700
Please Forward

CALL FOR A NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR GI RESISTERS ON MAY 10, 2005

May 2, 2005

We urge you to join us in a "National Day of Action for GI Resisters"
on Tuesday May 10, 2005. This is the day before the US military is
planning to bring sailor Pablo Paredes and soldier Kevin Benderman
before military court martial tribunals for their opposition to the
Iraq War. They face forfeiture of pay and benefits, and military
jail time.

On December 6, 2004, Navy Petty Officer Pablo Paredes refused to
board his ship as it left the San Diego Naval Station in support
of the Iraq War and occupation. At the time of his refusal, Pablo
said he hoped his protest might inspire other GI's to refuse to
take part in the war.

On January 5, 2005, Kevin Benderman refused to deploy for a second
tour of duty in Iraq with the Army's Third Infantry Division.
At the same time seventeen other soldiers from his unit went AWOL,
two tried to kill themselves and one had a relative shoot him
in the leg to avoid deploying.

Both men applied for discharge from the US military as conscientious
objectors. The military has wrongly rejected both claims.

It's time for us to escalate public pressure and action in support
of Pablo, Kevin and the thousands of other courageous men and women
who have followed their conscience to uphold international law and
to take a principled stand against the unjust, illegal war and
occupation of Iraq. It's time we had their backs.

Objection and resistance by military servicepersons is a healthy
and important assertion of Democracy in a country where the
decisions to invade Iraq, to maintain an occupation, and
engage in widespread human right violations and torture were
made undemocratically in violation of international law and
based on continuing lies and disinformation.

Please join us by organizing a public demonstration, vigil
or rally of support on May 10. Every action, no matter how
large or small is important.

Also,

* Send letters of support and donations to cover legal fees
* to Pablo and Kevin via their websites listed below.

* Come to San Diego, California (Pablo) or Fort Stewart, Georgia
* (Kevin) to show your support during their trials.

* Write letters to the editor, and help educate your

* organization, church, union, school, co-workers and community.

Resisting illegal occupation and war is not a crime! The right
to conscientious objection is being systematically violated by
the military. Those objectors who are publicly asserting their
rights are being singled out for punishment. We demand that
military personnel retain their right to follow their
conscience, publicly dissent and that their basic democratic
rights be respected.

A better world is possible,

* Monica Benderman - spouse of Kevin Benderman
* * Victor Paredes - brother of Pablo Paredes
* * Aimee Allison - Gulf War CO; Oakland City
* Council Candidate
* * Medea Benjamin - CodePink, Co-Founder;
* Global Exchange, Founding Director
* * Andrea Buffa - CodePink; Global Exchange,
* Peace Campaign Coor
* * Leslie Cagan - United for Peace and Justice,
* Nat'l Steering Cmte
* * Stephen Funk - former Marine and first public
* Iraq War resister
* * Susan Galleymore - MotherSpeak; military mother;
* Courage to Resist
* * Lynn Gonzalez - San Diego Military Counseling Project
* * Jack Heyman - Int'l Longshore and Warehouse Union
* Local 10, Exec Board
* * George Johnson - Veterans for Peace, Nat'l Exec Board
* * Ragina Johnson - College Not Combat
* * Naomi Klein - activist; writer
* * Sharon Lee Kufeldt - Veterans for Peace,
* Nat'l Exec Board VP
* * Barbara Lubin - Middle East Children's Alliance,
* Director; ANSWER, Nat'l Steering Cmte
* * Efia Nwangaza - Afrikan Am Institute for Policy Studies
* * Siri Margerin - United for Peace and Justice,
* Nat'l Steering Cmte; Iraq Peace Panel Project
* * Steve Morse - GI Rights Program Coor,
* Central Cmte for Conscientious Objectors
* * Jeff Paterson - Not in Our Name; former Marine and
* 1991 Gulf War resister * David Solnit - People Powered
* Strategy Project; Courage to Resist
* * Vida Shahamat and Brain Barry - South Bay Mobilization
* Against the War
* * Aryeh Shell - Courage to Resist; Popular Education and
* Action CollectivE
* * Samina Faheem Sundas - American Muslim Voice
* * Fernando Suarez del Solar - Gold Star Families for
* Peace, father of Marine Jesus Suarez killed in Iraq
* * Fr. Louie Vitale, O.F.M., St Boniface Church;
* Korea War veteran
* * Liat Weingart - Jewish Voice for Peace, Co-Director
* * Bob Wing - War Times * Howard Zinn - historian; author
* (organizations listed for identification purposes only)

More info about Pablo Paredes:
http://www.SwiftSmartVeterans.com
More info about Kevin Benderman:
http://www.BendermanDefense.org
For May 10 actions, leaflets, and more:
http://www.CourageToResist.org Contact:
courage@riseup.net

Call initiated by Courage to Resist, a new group of concerned
community members, veterans and military families organizing
support for military objectors to illegal war and occupation
and the underlying policies of empire. We have adopted a people
power strategy to weaken the pillars that support the Iraq war
and occupation by supporting GI resistance, which together with
counter-recruitment and draft resistance work can remove the
supply of obedient troops.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

4) Call for a GENERAL CONGRESS of WOMEN
SUNDAY, MAY 8, 2005, 4:00 P.M.
Start: 4:00 p.m. at Vietnam War Memorial,
Capitol Grounds, Sacramento State Capitol
Finish: 6:00p.m. with Circles for Peace

As many of you know, Mother's Day was proclaimed by Julia Ward
Howe in 1870 as a call for women to promote "the great and
general interests of peace". I've copied her proclamation
at the end of this email.

This Mother's Day- Sunday May 8 --we are responding to her call
for a "General Congress of Women" with an event at the state
capitol in Sacramento. I hope that you will be there to
reclaim this day and share your thoughts about how we can move
forward toward Peace.

We continue to honor the origins of Mother's Day as we gather
in front of the Vietnam War Memorial on the capitol grounds in
Sacramento Sunday May 8th to declare "All we want for Mother's
Day is the troops home from Iraq NOW". We know that all too soon
there will be yet another war memorial - we need to make this
our very final one!

We're calling on mothers, daughters, grandmothers to join
CODE PINK : Women for Peace, Gold Star Families for Peace,
Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, Mother Speak,
and other groups and individuals as we embrace Julia Ward
Howe's direction to first "bewail & commemorate the dead"
and then call for a "General Congress of Women without limit
of nationality" to promote the "great & general interests
of peace".

We ask women to bring our ideas for future actions for peace
and to end war - such as the call to return our National Guard
- and share with each other as we continue to build a strong,
active women's movement for peace & justice.

www.bayareacodepink.org

WEAR YOUR PINK, BRING YOUR MUSIC MAKER!

Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity,
mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

5) Pentagon Says Iraq Effort
Limits Ability to Fight
Other Conflicts
By THOM SHANKER
"The annual 'Chairman's Risk Assessment,' which is required by
Congress, warned that additional major combat operations "may
result in significantly extended campaign timelines, and
achieving campaign objectives may result in higher casualties
and collateral damage....General Myers noted that the
American military does not face 'extreme risk,' the highest
level, in any of the categories analyzed in the report.
Among the steps he listed as being in progress were substantial
improvements in coordinating military efforts with civil
authorities, who are 'playing a critical role in disrupting
potential terrorist attacks against the United States,' he wrote."
May 3, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/politics/03military.html?hp&ex=1115179200&en=8e61d2b8d4bd2e4b&ei=5094&partner=homepage

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

6) Army Recruiters Say
They Feel Pressure to Bend Rules
By DAMIEN CAVE
May 3, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/national/03recruit.html?

It was late September when the 21-year-old man, fresh from
a three-week commitment in a psychiatric ward, showed up at
an Army recruiting station in southern Ohio. The two recruiters
there wasted no time signing him up, and even after the man's
parents told them he had bipolar disorder - a diagnosis that
would disqualify him - he was all set to be shipped to boot
camp, and perhaps Iraq after that, before senior officers found
out and canceled the enlistment.

Despite an Army investigation, the recruiters were not punished
and were still working in the area late last month.

Two hundred miles away, in northern Ohio, another recruiter said
the incident hardly surprised him. He has been bending or breaking
enlistment rules for months, he said, hiding police records and
medical histories of potential recruits. His commanders have
encouraged such deception, he said, because they know there is
no other way to meet the Army's stiff recruitment quotas.

"The problem is that no one wants to join," the recruiter said.
"We have to play fast and loose with the rules just to get by."

These two cases in a single state - one centered on a recruit,
the other on a recruiter - may lie at the outer limits of the
fudging and finagling that are occurring in enlistment offices
as the Army tries to maintain its all-volunteer force in
a time of war. But that cheating, evidenced by Army statistics
that show an increase in cases against recruiters, is disturbing
many of the men and women charged with the uphill task of
refilling the ranks.

Interviews with more than two dozen recruiters in 10 states
hint at the extent of their concern, if not the exact scope
of the transgressions. Several spoke of concealing mental-health
histories and police records. They described falsified documents,
wallet-size cheat sheets slipped to applicants before the
military's aptitude test and commanding officers who look the
other way. And they voiced doubts about the quality of some
troops destined for the front lines.

The recruiters insisted on anonymity to avoid being disciplined,
but their accounts were consistent, and the specifics were
verified in several cases by documents and interviews with
military officials and applicants' families.

Yesterday, the issue drew national attention as CBS News reported
that a high-school student outside Denver recorded two recruiters
as they advised him how to cheat. The student, David McSwane,
said one recruiter had told him how to create a diploma from
a nonexistent school, while the other had helped him buy
a product to cleanse traces of marijuana and psychedelic
mushrooms from his body. The Army said the recruiters had
been suspended while it investigated.

By the Army's own count, there were 320 substantiated cases
of what it calls recruitment improprieties in 2004, up from
199 in 1999, the last year it missed its active-duty recruitment
goal, and 213 in 2002, the year before the war in Iraq started.
The offenses varied from threats and coercion to false promises
that applicants would not be sent to Iraq. Many incidents
involved more than one recruiter, and the number of those
investigated rose to 1,118 last year, or nearly one in five
of all recruiters, up from 913 in 2002, or one in eight.

Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, the Army's commander of recruiting,
said the increases reflected a renewed resolve to find and prevent
improprieties, rather than any significant rise in cheating.

Recruiters and some senior Army officials, however, said that for
every impropriety that is found, at least two more are never
discovered. And the Army's figures show that it is not punishing
serious offenses as it once did. In 2002, roughly 5 of every
10 recruiters who were found to have committed improprieties
intentionally or through gross negligence were relieved of duty;
last year, that number slipped to 3 in 10.

General Rochelle said that decline could be explained, in part,
by his decision two years ago to end a policy that nearly always
dismissed serious offenders from recruiting.

"My shift in thinking was that if an individual was accused of
doctoring a high-school diploma, it was an open-and-shut case,"
he said. "It may still be, but now I look at person's value to
the command first."

Recruiting has always been a difficult job, and some say the
scandals that have periodically surfaced are inevitable. But the
temptation to cut corners is particularly strong today, some
experts on the military say, as deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan
have created a desperate need for new soldiers, and as the Army
has fallen short of its recruitment goals in recent months,
including April.

"The more pressure you put on recruiters, the more likely you'll
be to find people seeking ways to beat the system," said David Segal,
a military sociologist at the University of Maryland.

Over the last six months, the Army has relaxed its requirements
on age and education - a move that Mr. Segal says may lead
recruiters to go easier on applicants, with the expectation that
those who are unqualified now may be deemed eligible later on.

Recruiters, who typically work far from commanders in storefront
offices, are the Army's primary gatekeepers. They are required to
press applicants to disclose any police record or medical problems,
from asthma to knee injuries, that could disqualify them.

But applicants can lie, or withhold damaging information.
So recruiters are expected to check court, educational and
criminal records to confirm details and search for others that
have not been disclosed. The records are checked by senior
officers and then sent to a regional processing office that
arranges aptitude and medical tests; it may check into problems
revealed in the files but largely depends on the digging done
by recruiters.

The two cases in Ohio show just how badly the system can veer
off track. In the case of the 21-year-old who had just left
a psychiatric ward, it is not clear what he revealed when he
approached recruiters in September. He could not be reached
for comment through court-appointed lawyers and his parents,
who asked that he not be identified.

But details of the young man's troubled past could have been
easily found on the Web sites of local courts. County court
records show that he was arrested in July and charged with
assault; though the charge was dismissed after his accuser
failed to appear in court, the records could have raised
a red flag.

Probate court records show that in a case later last summer,
a judge committed the man, finding him a danger to himself
and others after he showed up at his parents' door bloodied
and disoriented. He was released in late September under
the guidance of a treatment program.

Recruiters are not required to check probate court records
unless they are made aware of a specific case. But the
man's parents said they did just that.

After hearing that he had enlisted, they said, they wanted
to make sure the Army understood his condition. They said
they went to the recruiting station with the probate court
record, gave recruiters the court's Internet address and
even showed photos of their son. The recruiters, they said,
claimed they had never seen him. "They acted sympathetic,"
the father said.

The parents say they went back twice more after the
recruiters failed to return their calls. At their urging,
their congressmen in early October finally learned that
the recruiters had indeed enlisted their son. Days before
he was scheduled to ship out, the young man was disqualified
only after the father told the commander of the regional
processing station about his illness.

In an interview, the commander confirmed the general outlines
of the case. The Army would say only that at least two
recruiters had been investigated in the case, which is
closed. But the man's father said Army officials told him
they had found no wrongdoing. "The fact that they would
recruit someone straight out of a psychiatric hospitalization
give me a break," he said. "They were willing to put my son
and other recruits at risk. It's beyond my comprehension,
and appalling."

Co-workers in the stations where the recruiters worked said
last month in interviews that the two were still on the job.
One of the two declined to comment when reached on his
recruiting-command cellphone; the other did not return
a half-dozen phone messages.

Recruiters in Ohio, New York, Washington, Texas and New
England said that as long as an offending recruiter met
his enlistment quota of roughly two recruits a month,
punishment was unlikely.

"The saying here is, 'Production is power,' " the
recruiter in northern Ohio said. "Produce, and all is good."

He said that in the last year, he had seen recruiters
falsify documents so that applicants could earn ranks

they were not qualified to hold. When enlistees tested
positive for marijuana, he said, recruiters coached them
to drink gallons of water before visiting military doctors.
Occasionally, the recruiter said, he has been ordered to
conceal police records and minor medical conditions like
attention deficit disorder, which usually disqualifies
a candidate. When he and others resisted such orders,
he said, superiors threatened to ruin their careers.

The recruiter, who has fought in several conflicts including
the current war in Iraq, said one in every three people he
had enlisted had a problem that needed concealing, or a waiver.
"The only people who want to join the Army now have issues,"
he said. "They're troubled, with health, police or drug problems."

The recruiter said he believed in the Army and his job, often
working 80-hour weeks. But he sometimes worries about the
mental capabilities of those who are enlisted, he said,
especially as they move up the ranks.

"If they are in a leadership position and they're sending
10 or 11 people all over the place because they can't focus
on the job at hand," he said, "we're in trouble."

Copyright 2005 The New York Times

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

7) Working People Across the Globe March on
International Workers Day
New York March Unites Labor, Community, Youth,
Antiwar and Immigrant Rights Activists
In this email:
a) May Day: Hundreds of thousands of workers take to the streets
around the globe
b) May Day in NYC
c) How you can get involved

May Day: Hundreds of thousands of workers take to the streets
around the globe

Millions of workers, all around the globe from Mozambique to
Manila marched on Sunday in May Day rallies and marches demanding
a living wage, the right to organize, and immigrant rights and in
opposition to U.S. aggression..

In Germany, more than half a million workers rallied against
layoffs and demanding an increase in wages.

In Bangladesh, thousands of workers rallied in Dhaka to demand
a living wage and better safety standards, just weeks after
a garment factory collapsed, killing 73 workers.

In Nepal, thousands attended two peaceful marches in the capital
city Kathmandu, calling for the U.S.-backed King Gyanendra to end
to martial law.

In Japan, hundreds of thousands marched calling for a global ban
on nuclear weapons, as the 60th anniversary of the U.S. bombing
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki approaches this year.

In the Philippines, more than 10,000 marched through the streets
of Manila against the puppet government President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo.

In Cuba, more than a million rallied in Havana, where they
celebrated the role of working people and condemned
U.S. aggression.

In Russia, twenty thousand trade unionists marched down
Tverskaya Street, one of Moscow's main boulevards, demanding
a living wage.

In Turkey, workers organized three different rallies in
Istanbul, despite a government ban on May Day events.

In Mozambique, at least 30,000 marched through the streets
of Maputo, under the slogan, "Mozambican workers in the struggle
against HIV/AIDS." Marchers also demanded an increase in the
minimum wage and back wages for factory workers, some of whom
haven't been paid for months.

May Day in NYC

In New York City, a unique and historic May Day march and rally
was called by a coalition of labor, antiwar, community, and
immigrant rights activists.

The Million Worker March Movement

and the Troops Out Now Coalition
,
organizers of the event, were initially told by the NYPD that the
city would not issue a permit for any May Day march, to any
location, on any route. The two coalitions, determined to
march, organized a campaign, involving thousands of phone
calls, emails, faxes, and letters to the Mayor and the NYPD,
as well as the threat of a law suit, that forced the city
to back down.

More than a thousand turned out for the rally, with the
march swelling to 1,500 as passers by stopped and joined in.

The lineup of speakers at the rally points to the political
significance of this event, a first effort to revive May Day
in the U.S., as progressive labor leaders joined with immigrant
rights activists, antiwar activists, and international solidarity
organizers to proclaim solidarity with the struggles of working
and oppressed people across the globe.

The program began with a recorded message
Speakers included:
Clarence Thomas, ILWU, Million Worker March co-convener
Brenda Stokely, President of DC 1707 AFSCME, Million
WorkerMarch co-convener
Gerardo Cajamarca, SINALTRAINAL - exiled Colombian unionist
Samia Halaby, Defend Palestine
Chris Silvera, Chair of the Teamsters National Black Caucus
Charles Barron and Margarita Lopez, members of the New York
CityCouncil
Narciso Castillo, Accion 21 Immigrant Rights NJ
Teresa Gutierrez, NY Committee to Free the Cuban Five
Larry Holmes, Troops Out Now Coalition
Carl Webb, member of the National Guard who refused to
deployto Iraq
Nana Soul, Blackwaxx Recordings, Artists & Activists
United for Peace
Bernier Achilles, Haiti Support Network
Jesse Heiwa, Queers for Peace and Justice
LeiLani Dowell, FIST (Fight Imperialism- Stand Together)
Sara Flounders, International Action Center
Dustin Langley, No Draft, No Way
Tylon Usavior, Blackwaxx Recordings
Erik Anders-Nilsson, Jersey City Peace Movement
representatives from Casa Freehold, an immigrants rights
organization in Freehold, NJ
and other labor and community organizers.

Cultural performances by Spiritchild, Foundation,
Catherine Moon,& Billionaires for Bush
The highlight of the day was a spirited march down busy
14th St., which stopped at several non-union retail outlets,
including Dwayne Reade and Whole Foods. The march also
stopped in front of Beth Israel, a major medical complex
that is facing budget cuts, layoffs, and potential closing.
Marchers chanted ,"Healthcare, Not Warfare!"

The march ended with a short closing rally in Union Square.

Police demonstrated their frustration at being forced to
grant a permit by storming the stage at the very minute the
sound permit expired at 5:00 pm.

The Revive May Day March was called for last October at the
Million Worker March in Washington DC more than 6 months ago.
When organizers of Troops Out Now Coalition and United For Peace
and Justice met just prior to May Day, the Troops Out Now
Coalition proposed that messages of unity in opposition
to U.S. war be exchanged. Leslie Cagan, on behalf of UFPJ,
sent a message defending the right to march to the Bloomberg
Administration, when NYC Police Department originally denied
Troops Out Now and Million Worker March the right to hold
a march on May Day.

The Troops Out Now Coalition offered a unity statement in support o
f the thousands who marched from the UN to Central Park that
read, in part, "Even though our movement will be gathering in
different parts of NYC, let no one be mistaken, our messages
overlap, and our arms are locked in solidarity with each other."

How you can get involved:

a) Contact us to find out how you can help & to receive
important updates:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/comments.html

b) Form a local organizing center:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/may1orgcentsignup.html

c) Donate to help with organizing expenses:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/donate.html

Anyone can subscribe.
Send an email request to
Action.News-subscribe@organizerweb.com
Subscribing and unsubscribing can also be done on the Web at
http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/action.news

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8) Widow of soldier says Prime Minister
to blame for his death
By Danielle Demetriou
03 May 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=635214

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BAUAW NEWSLETTER - MONDAY, MAY 2, 2005

1) May 7th Mother's Day Peace Walk

2) Supreme Court to Review Recruiting Law
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:21 a.m. ET
May 2, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Colleges-
Military.html?hp&ex=1115092800&en=866e748c4c561f09&ei=5094&partner=home
page

3) How Far Will The Army Go?
CBS4 Denver | news4colorado.com
How far will U.S. Army recruiters go to bring young men
and women into their ranks? An Arvada West High School
senior recently decided to find out. The following is
CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger's report. .
Apr 28, 2005 9:59 pm US/Mountain
http://news4colorado.com/localnews/local_story_118125046.html

4) From 'Gook' to 'Raghead'
By BOB HERBERT
OP-ED COLUMNIST
May 2, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/02/opinion/02herbert.html?hp

5) Join Howard Zinn and Lynne Steward and sign onto to the
text for a full page ad we are running the San Francisco
State University newspaper in defense of anti-military
recruiter student protesters.
From: chretientodd@aol.com
To: counter-recruitment@yahoogroups.com ;moos-bay@yahoogroups.com


6) US Wants to Sell Israel 'Bunker-Buster' Bombs
by Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Published on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 by the Financial Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0427-05.htm

7) Many Deaths Still Expected With
Earth-Penetrating Nuclear Weapons
Date: April 27, 2005
Contacts: Patrice Pages, Media Relations Officer
Megan Petty, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309096731?OpenDocument

8) This is our Guernica
Ruined, cordoned Falluja is emerging
as the decade's monument to brutality
Jonathan Steele and Dahr Jamail
The Guardian
Wednesday April 27, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1471011,00.html

9) CAMILO MEJIA TO SPEAK IN OAKLAND ON MAY 2
Monday, May 2, 2005
7:00 PM
First Congregational Church of Oakland
2501 Harrison Street (at 27th Street)
Oakland, CA

10) March and Rally for Local 2 Hotel Workers
Tues. May 3, 4:15pm
Union Square at Powell and Geary, San Francisco

11) Socialism, the Only Alternative to Capitalism, Says Chavez
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

12) Memorial for Sakia Gunn, a black lesbian who was murdered
in a hate crime two years ago. The memorial will take place
on May 22, 2pm, at Harvey Milk Plaza. Please put it on your
calendars now. There will a few community speakers and some
poetry.
BADLANDS BAR, IN THE CASTRO, S.F.,
FOUND GUILTY OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
BY THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
thanks.
Tommi

13) House Passes Bill Tightening
Parental Rule for Abortions
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: April 28, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/politics/28abort.html?

14) ACTION ALERT: MAY 3
ORGANIZE A VIGIL TO MORN
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES OF WAR

15) StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network
Dear DRCNet reader:
As you may already be aware, on May 4 in Washington, DC,
and May 9 in Santa Monica, California, the Marijuana Policy
Project will be holding a star-studded pair of 10th Anniversary
Gala fundraisers. Seats are still available, but should be
reserved soon because the events are coming up.
Visit http://www.mpp.org/galas/ for further information or
to purchase your tax-deductible tickets online.

16) Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
New Video Tells Dahr's Story
Testimonies From Falluja


*Eyewitness in Iraq: Dahr Jamail, an Unembedded Report*
A Pepperspray Production, 28 minutes

17) NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR GI RESISTERS
MAY 10, 2005
SUPPORT NAVY REFUSER PABLO PAREDES
& ARMY OBJECTOR KEVIN BENDERMAN
On the day before their scheduled court martial for refusing to
participate in the Iraq war and occupation, tell the U.S. military:
* RESISTING ILLEGAL WAR & OCCUPATION IS NOT A CRIME
* RESPECT CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION
San Francisco Bay Area Support Rally
TUES MAY 10, 12 NOON
War Memorial Veterans Building in SF
401 Van Ness, between Hayes and McAllister, San Francisco
(2 blocks from Civic Center BART)
http://www.CourageToResist.org

18) Palestinian Heritage Committee
4th Annual Palestinian Day
Join us for the raising of the Palestinian flag,
a keynote speech, and performances
featuring children, traditional Palestinian dress and
folklore, and candle lighting.
The day will also include informational displays, Palestinian
olive oil tasting and desserts.
3:30 to 5 PM
Tuesday, May 10 th
Santa Clara County Government Center ,
Isaac Newton Senter Auditorium, 70 W. Hedding Street , in San Jose .
Admission Free
For information call (408) 279-2722.
Senan Khairie
Manufacturing Quality Engineer
408-525-4876
Cisco Systems Inc
http://al-awda.org

19) Outside View: Labor's unfinished business
By Greg Guma
Outside View Commentator
Burlington, VT, Apr. 27 (UPI)
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050426-114358-2257r.htm

20) Military recruiting center attacked
By John Aguilar, the Rocky Mountain News
April 29, 2005
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news/article/