Wednesday, April 30, 2008
There Is Another May Day In My Soul! May 4 , 1970 (My) Kent State University (Ed.)
They Paid The Price For A Nation That Moved Too Late!
Ending a war: Inventing a movement: Mayday 1971
THE CAMPUS OF THE FOUR CROSSES
38th Annual Commemoration
Kent State University, May 3-4, 2008
May 2nd, 2008
3:30 pm, KIVA
DEBATE
Students from Emerson College in Boston will debate whether the Kent State shootings were justified. They are students of Dr. J. Gregory Payne of the Department of Political Communication and and expert on the Kent State shootings.
May 3rd, 2008
6:30 pm, KIVA
POETRY READING
Including poetry reading by May 4th Poetry Contest winners
7:00 pm, KIVA
Movie: Born on the Fourth of July
Followed by a Q&A with Ron Kovic, inspiration and main character for the movie based
on his autobiography of the same name.
11:00 pm - Midnight, COMMONS
Silent candlelight march
Leaves from the Commons and ends in Prentice Hall parking lot.
Route is both wheelchair and stroller accessible. Approx. 1.3 miles long.
May 4th, 2008
Midnight - 12:24 pm, PRENTICE HALL PARKING LOT
Silent Candlelight Vigil
We ask for total silence in the parking lot this year to respect those
who are standing vigil in the reserved spaces.
Please take all quiet conversations to a grassy area. Thank you.
Vigil spots are in thirty minute increments and can be reserved
through the May 4th Task Force.
10:00 am - 5:00 pm, COMMONS
Eyes Wide Open Ohio
Display by American Friends Service Committee
11:00 am - Noon , COMMONS
Tropidelic performance
Noon - 2:30 pm, COMMONS (Rain Location: KSU Ballroom)
May 4th 38th Annual Commemoration Program,
"Where Does It End?"
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Scott Ritter former UN weapons inspector and peace activist
Other Speakers Include:
Dean Kahler
Wounded at Kent State on May 4, 1970.
Emily Kunstler
Daughter of Bill Kunstler, lawyer for May 4th Families
Joe Lewis
Wounded at Kent State on May 4, 1970 speaking in memory of Jim Russell, also wounded at on Kent State May 4, 1970.
Sad News – Passings
We sadly pass on the news that May 4, 1970 survivor Jim Russell passed away Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 due to a heart attack. He will be greatly missed by our entire extended May 4 family. We all send our sincere and heartfelt condolences to the Russell family.
We also sadly report the passing of William Schultz, a local lawyer and city goverment member for many years. He was a friend to many of the people in the Kent community. There will be a Dixieland send off and service, on May 4, 2008, at 4 pm in downtown Kent. Bill Schultz was a long term member of the Kent City Council and was a voice for many progressive issues here in town. He passed away January 3, 2008. Many can still pick Bill out in the crowd at the 1977 Gym Protests, when he was arrested next to Vietnam War Veteran Ron Kovic.
Both Jim and Bill will be remembered fondly at our upcomming commemoration. If you would like to share a memory of these men with us, please send it to our email address: href="mailto:m4tf@yahoo.com">m4tf@yahoo.com
*All above May 3rd and 4th programs paid for by the Undergraduate Student Senate*
NOTE: Following the main commemoration program there will be a performance by Kent State alum Daniel Cohen performing as MC Translation and an anti-war march sponsored by KSAWC and Portage Peace.
| Kent Anti-War Committee to discuss life in Iraq - News Apr 10, 2008 ... The Kent Anti-War Committee will host a forum on the Iraq War tonight ... a more active discussion among Kent State students about war. ... |
| Defending Kent State Student Protests: msg#00015 On October 19, the Kent State Anti-War Committee (KSAWC) stood around the Army recruiters, who had brought a rock-climbing wall to entice students over to ... |
Impeach, Bush, Cheney: Featuring Essays By Ted Rall (author of the book "Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?," an in-depth prose and graphic novel analysis of America's next big foreign policy challenge. More. )
MAY DAY: MAY DAY: MAY DAY!
There Is Nothing As Powerful As An Idea Whose Time Has Come. We Have The Idea, And Now Is The Time. It Is Time To Find Out Who We Are As A Nation. Strike And Strike Again And Again If We Must Until The Job Is Done, Justice Prevails
And This Land Returns To The People!
If the truckers and longshore men refuse to move the weapons of an Offensive/Illegal War; If the union workers in munitions and weapons plants strike; if we all strike and fill the streets; If the Congress serves notice…no one more cent for war in Iraq, all you need for safe withdrawal;
If we shut this nation down until the Congress Impeaches; This land will once again be ours
and we can be about the tasks of restoration and healing!
We Can Do It!
IMPEACH! STRIKE! MAY DAY AMERICA!
http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/2008/04/impeach-bush-cheney-there-is-nothing-as.html
http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/2008/04/impeach-bush-cheneybring-them-down-in.html
http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/2008/04/impeach-news-updates-impeach-bush.html
http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/2008/04/impeach-bush-cheney-comprehensive.html
http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/
ARREST BUSH Tue Apr 29, 7:57 PM ET
Bush Confesses to Waterboarding. Call D.C. Cops!
NEW YORK--"Why are we talking about this in the White House?" John Ashcroft nervously asked his fellow members of the National Security Council's Principals Committee. (The Principals were Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General Ashcroft.)
"History will not judge this kindly," Ashcroft predicted.
"This" is torture. Against innocent people. Conducted by CIA agents and American soldiers and marines. Sanctioned by legal opinions issued by Ashcroft's Justice Department. Directly ordered by George W. Bush.
An April 11th report by ABC News describes how CIA agents, asked by previous presidents to carry out illegal "black ops" actions (torture and killings), had become tired of getting hung out to dry whenever their dirty deeds were revealed by the press. When the Bush Administration asked the CIA to work over prisoners captured in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere, Director George Tenet demanded legal cover. The Justice Department complied by issuing a classified 2002 memo, the so-called "Golden Shield," authored by Office of Legal Counsel Jay Bybee. "Enhanced interrogation techniques"--i.e., torture--were legal, Bybee assured the CIA.
Tenet was a good boss, a CYA type. He wanted to protect his agents. So he got the Principals to personally sign off on each act of torture.
"According to a former CIA official involved in the process," ABC reported, "CIA headquarters would receive cables from operatives in the field asking for authorization for specific techniques." Can we beat up this guy? Can we waterboard him?
The Bushies weren't otherwise known for dwelling on details. Osama was in Pakistan; they invaded Afghanistan instead. Two years later, he was still in Pakistan. They invaded Iraq. Bush and his top officials still found time to walk through every step of torment a detainee would suffer in some CIA dungeon halfway around the world.
"The high-level discussions about these 'enhanced interrogation techniques' were so detailed, [Bush Administration] sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed--down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic. These top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top Al Qaeda suspects--whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding, sources told ABC news."
Bush knew.
Not only did he know, he personally approved it. He likes torture.
"Yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue," he confirmed. "And I approved."
When the U.S. signs a treaty, its provisions carry the full force of U.S. law. One such treaty is the U.N. Convention Against Torture, of which the U.S. is a core signatory. As Philippe Sands writes in his new book "Torture Team:" Parties to the... Convention are required to investigate any person who is alleged to have committed torture. If appropriate, they must then prosecute--or extradite the person to a place where he will be prosecuted. The Torture Convention... criminalizes any act that constitutes complicity or participation in torture. Complicity or participation could certainly be extended not only to the politicians and but also the lawyers involved..."
George W. Bush has publicly confessed that he ordered torture, thus violating the Convention Against Torture. He, Cheney, Rumseld, Rice and the other Principals must therefore be arrested and, unlike the thousands of detainees kidnapped by the U.S. since 9/11, arraigned and placed on trial.
Because the torture ordered by Bush and his cabinet directly resulted in death, they must additionally be charged with several counts of murder. Fifteen U.S. soldiers have been charged with the murders of two detainees at the U.S. airbase at Bagram, Afghanistan in 2002. They were following orders issued by their Commander-in-Chief and his Principals.
One of the Bagram victims was Dilawar, a 22-year-old Afghan taxi driver. "On the day of his death," reported The New York Times on May 22, 2005, "Dilawar had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days. A guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend... Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time."
At least four detainees have committed suicide at the torture camp created by George W. Bush after 9/11 at Guantánamo Bay. Twenty-five more made 41 unsuccessful attempts to kill themselves. The conditions of their confinement--ordered by Bush and his Principals--constitutes torture. It no doubt prompted their deaths.
If George W. Bush were an ordinary citizen, there can be little doubt that he would face a long prison sentence for the scores of acts of torture he authorized both specifically and generally. Four of the seven white hillbillies charged with the kidnap-torture of a black woman in Logan County, West Virginia are now in jail for at least the next ten years.
If Bush weren't president, he would face murder charges. The maximum sentence in a federal murder case is death.
If Bush and his co-conspirators are not above the law, if the United States remains a nation where all citizens are equal, they must be arrested and indicted. But by whom?
The Supreme Court has never resolved the question of whether a sitting president can be arrested by civilian authorities. Even if he were charged and convicted, many legal experts say he could issue himself a pardon.
However, leaving the presidency in the hands of an self-admitted torture killer is unacceptable. Congress could ask a U.S. Marshal to arrest Bush as part of impeachment charges. But the ultimate outcome--removing him from office a few months before the end of his term--seems woefully inadequate given the nature of the charges. In any case, Democrats have already said that impeachment is "off the table."
Bush could be extradited to one of the countries where the torture and murders were committed--such as Afghanistan or Cuba. But he could claim immunity as a head of state.
There is, however, a person who could begin holding Bush and the others accountable for their crimes.
She is Cathy L. Lanier, the 39-year-old chief of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department. Chief Lanier, take note: you have probable cause to arrest a self-confessed serial torturer and mass murderer within the borders of the District of Columbia. He resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Go get him.
History is calling, Chief Lanier. Your city, and your country, needs you.
One Nation, Under A Heartless God
Bigotry, Apology, Repeat As Necessary
After Downing Street Today:
Cheney lawyer: Vice President is immune to Congressional oversight
By Mikael
In what appears yet another effort to strengthen his position in the executive branch, the attorney for Vice President Dick Cheney said in a letter released by Congress Thursday that the Congress "lacks the constitutional power" to ...
Impeach Bush For Peace - http://impeachforpeace.org/impeach_bush_blog
Congressman Conyers, Impeach!
By mdking
Additionally, Dick Cheney’s lawyer claims Congress lacks the authority to conduct oversight over the Vice President. Is such an assertion any better than Karl Rove trying to fire the guy investigating him? Impeachment would save the ...
WriteChic Press - http://writechic.wordpress.com
The Clock is Ticking for A US Attack on Iran | BaltimoreChronicle.com
By baiano(baiano)
I feel certain that the Bush/Cheney regime is going to launch a disastrous attack on Iran, but have made several calls, which have been proved wrong, beginning back in October 2006, when I wrote that it looked like several aircraft ...
Bushit - http://bushit1.blogspot.com/
Hypocrisy Alert
By Mark In Irvine(Mark In Irvine)
Bring on the special investigations; bring on articles of impeachment; bring on aggressive interrogation techniques: the country is a war and extreme measures are called for. I'm sure Bush, Cheney, Yoo, Ashcroft, et al., wouldn't mind a ...
Hunting Sitting Ducks - http://huntingsittingducks.blogspot.com/
Cheney Begs to be Impeached
By Watcher(Watcher)
The only way that Conyers is going to get anything out of Cheney or his minions is if Conyers starts impeachment investigations. And if Cheney resists then he can be impeached for interposing "the powers of the Presidency against the ...
Impeach Bush - http://impeacher.blogspot.com/
The Case for Impeaching Cheney: Decision to Torture Came From the Top
By mick arran
President Bush recently admitted that he knew discussions about how to make torture legal were going on and that he approved. What he did NOT admit was that he and his Veep, the creepy Cheney, were the ones who started those discussions ...
Fact-esque - http://casadelogo.typepad.com/factesque/
Bush: Congress let down Americans (You Bet! They Haven’t Impeached You.)
Shirley Golub Strikes Again: Pelosi Rubber Chicken AD…
Kucinich joins AFL-CIO election training effort
People's Weekly World - USA
John McCain, the Republican candidate for President in next November’s election. “Everything we have been doing for years,” Kucinich said, ...
*May Day!*Longshore Workers Will Shut Down West Coast Ports To Stop The War
ATTN all Impeach / Peace groups: contact Admin@PledgeToImpeach.ORG ... A.28 Calling!
PTI is submitting a statement of solidarity to the ILWU by APRIL 4th! ... PTI is preparing to call our strike for May 1 in solidarity! ...
network. a28.org/profiles/blog/show?id=595326:BlogPost:63817&page=1
STRIKE for Impeachment! STRIKE for Peace! May 1, 2008!
Longshore Caucus delegates of the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union (ILWU) passed a resolution by 90% to oppose the Iraq occupation towards safely bringing the troops home and re-deploying war funding for domestic needs such as healthcare and education. This demand will take place via stopping work at Pacific ports on May 1, 2008.
Finally, Pledge to Impeach (PTI) has a powerful partner with whom to forge solidarity between labor and activist organizations. All true patriots: WE MUST NOT SQUANDER THIS OPPORTUNITY to finally have our voices heard for impeachment and for bringing the troops home!
Millions of Americans oppose the direction our government has been taking us but have not taken unified action. We need SOLIDARITY if we are to bring sufficient pressure upon Congressional leaders and upon 2008 presidential candidates!
PTI is submitting a statement of solidarity to the ILWU by APRIL 4th! We would like this to include every peace and impeachment group in the country! Please contact Anthony St. Martin with the commitment to communicate to all your group's members plus everyone in your community to join us in staying home from work and shopping on May 1, 2008!
The ILWU Caucus approved a one-day action. PTI considers this a wake-up call to Congress. Once we have gotten their attention via a sizable, nationwide (it's *possible*--the ILWU out of San Francisco resulted in a nationwide strike in the '30s) one-day strike / boycott, we can accompany a subsequent demand with a credible threat to strike and boycott unnecessary spending again. PTI has long advocated that the only effective means We-the-People have in this day and age to influence D.C. is our collective economic voice.
PTI has always declined to endorse actions that did not look viable for success, or we felt were not sincere. This one appears different. The stop work action in CA, OR, and WA is official. PTI is preparing to call our strike for May 1 in solidarity! For almost four years PTI has advocated a comprehensive stay-home strike and boycott of unnecessary spending to back any unmet demand communicated to Members of the U.S. House to pass Articles of Impeachment. THOUSANDS of U.S. residents (you needn't even be a citizen) have signed the PTI Pledge to STAY HOME should such a strike be called. May 1 has been "immigrants' rights" day the past two years; we invite ALL working residents in the United States to join us THIS May 1!
Please help spread the word! Every person in this country who knows that our freedom--and our children's / grandchildren's future--depends upon restoring the Constitution... mark your calendar for MAY 1 and tell *everyone* you know to do likewise! If you agree with the PTI rationale, sign our confidential Pledge, and contact like-minded groups of
impeachment / anti-war / take-back-America activists to join this campaign and to build national unity through this action! Time is short. It is also critical that the voice of The People come front and center in all 2008 candidates' campaigns! This may be our only chance!
Tags: strike, pledge to impeach, longshoremen, may 1, boycott, ilwu, pti, economy, peace, bring the troops home
PTI calls for solidarity with ILWU
With the International Long shore and Warehouse Workers Union passing the resolution to oppose the war by stopping work on May 1, 2008, and doing so by a 90% margin, PTI finally has a solid and powerful partner in forging solidarity between labor and activist organizations. It is clear that we must build solidarity among the millions of Americans who oppose the current direction our government is taking us, before we can even hope to bring sufficient pressure upon the heads of Congress to compel our representatives to do the will of the people and impeach Bush/Cheney and scrap their aggressive war policies. The ILWU action is an opportunity for us to begin building that solidarity, and one we must not squander.
In our effort to help the International Longshoremen's Union and IWW Union (Port Truckers) in their strike, we are asking that you hand out the flyer below at every truck stop, or sea port near you, and inform every suffering truck driver, harbor worker, or otherwise outraged American that the day to warn Congress that American National Solidarity is at hand.Please Print Flyers and forward them widely.
Poster of National Diesel Strike for May 1:
http://pdsj.googlegroups.com/web/National%20Strike.doc?gsc=7xTx3AsAAADkusAcC0C--pRPjwAsHRD8
Poster#2 of National Truckers Strike for May 1:
http://pdsj.googlegroups.com/web/National%20Strike%20%232.doc?gsc=AWgRogsAAADsNoQSaQDuikVQfJNt4dJC
New York faculty/staff union supports IWLU anti-war work stoppage
The following anti-war resolution was adopted unanimously at the March 27 delegate assembly of the Professional Staff Congress, AFT Local 2334 at the City University of New York.
Whereas, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has voted to stop work and shut down all 29 West Coast ports for the full 8-hour day shift on May 1st, in protest against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; and Whereas, this historic decision
http://www.transportworkers.org/node/740
*May Day!*
http://democrats.com/mayday <http://www.democrats.com/mayday>
May 1st is shaping up to be quite a day of resistance, with strikes by the ILWU, the Teamsters, Postal Workers, plus immigrant rights rallies, and peace and impeachment activities.
It's Mission Accomplished Day (5 Years!)
It's Downing Street Minutes Day (3 Years!)
It's May Day, the original Labor Day (122 Years!)
*If you care about the future of our republic, we encourage you to visit your congress member's nearest office at high noon, local time, on May 1st, and ask for impeachment hearings for the Vice President for Torture, Dick Cheney.*
Let us know you plan to do it, and find others to do it with you at http://democrats.com/mayday
Remember to inform the media and to be the media. Please encourage all organizations and individuals to take part!
May Day: Longshore workers will shut down West Coast ports to stop the war
http://www.sfbayview.com/News/Bay_Area/May_Day_Longshore_workers_will_shut_down_West_Coast_ports_to_stop_the_war.html
by: Jonathan Nack {Submitted by Michael Scheinberg
Oakland - An unprecedented job action scheduled for May 1 could shake the West and reverberate across the country. Longshore workers will shut down every port on the West Coast for the day shift in protest against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Never before in U.S. history has any union stopped work over a war.
The decision to down tools for eight hours was made by the longshore division of the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). The union has also issued a nationwide call to action for other unions and workers to take anti-war actions on May 1. They call for the day to be a "no peace, no work" holiday.
A march in San Francisco will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Longshore Union Hall at Mason and Beach streets. The rally will be at Justin Herman Plaza at noon. Speakers will include Cynthia McKinney, Danny Glover and Cindy Sheehan.
The ILWU, particularly Local 10 of the Bay Area, has historically led on social issues. In 1978, they refused to load bombs bound for Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile; in 1984, they refused to move cargo to protest against Apartheid in South Africa; and in 2001, they closed Pacific ports to protest the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. This will be the first time, however, that they've closed the ports to protest war.
In an editorial published by The San Francisco Chronicle, Jack Heyman, an Executive Board member of ILWU Local 10, wrote that at the meeting of the union's Coast Caucus, "the union's Vietnam veterans turned the tide of opinion in favor of the anti-war resolution. The motion called it an imperial action for oil in which the lives of working-class youth and Iraqi civilians were being wasted."
The decision to take action on May 1 was deliberate. "In 2004, Local 10 launched the
Million Worker Movement, and one of the things that came out of that was the need to reclaim May Day," according to Clarence Thomas, another Executive Board member of ILWU Local 10. "May Day is celebrated throughout the world on May 1, but it grew out of the struggle for the eight-hour day in America. It's no accident that we picked May Day to stop work at the ports," explained Thomas.
The Port Workers Organizing Committee, which is organizing a march and rally in San Francisco in conjunction with the ILWU's job action, has incorporated support for immigrant rights into their themes. A number of immigrant rights activists are involved in the organizing and the day's events are scheduled so as not to conflict with immigrant rights marches and rallies which will be held later in the day in both San Francisco and Oakland.
"We believe labor should be united with the immigrant rights movement," said Jessica Sanchez of the Coalition for Unconditional Amnesty and International Workers. "We want to end the wars at home and abroad. We think globalization is the reason why there are so many undocumented workers. Undocumented workers are among the most exploited, and amnesty for them is in the interests of the U.S. working class," concluded Sanchez.
The response by other unions to the call to action has been modest. Letter carriers in San Francisco and Greensboro, N. C., as well as postal workers in San Francisco and New York City will observe two minutes of silence per shift on May 1. City College teachers in New York City decided to organize a campus event. Teachers in Oakland also agreed to mark the day.
The call to action has been endorsed by the Vermont AFL-CIO and by Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney. Both the San Francisco and Alameda County Central Labor Councils AFL-CIO have also endorsed.
"Every step and action we can take, whether strategic or not, helps to further the awareness needed to stop racism and end the incursion in Iraq," said Tim Paulson, executive director of the San Francisco Central Labor Council.
For more information, visit http://maydayilwu.googlepages.com.
The Longshore Caucus passed an antiwar resolution to stop work in all U.S. West Coast ports on May 1, 2008 for 8 hours to protest the Democrats' and Republicans' continuing to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The resolution from Local 10 encountered vigorous debate. In the end the overwhelming consensus to take dock action to stop the war prevailed. It was Vietnam veterans who turned the tide in the debate overwhelmingly in favor the resolution, "For Workers' Action to Stop the War". As the President of Local 34 Richard Cavalli stated this resolution follows ILWU Local 10 and 34's successful Labor Conference to Stop the War held in San Francisco Oct. 20, 2007, as reported in the ILWU's newspaper, The Dispatcher.
Labor Conference to Stop The War: Main Motion
Actions Taken From Main Motion
ILWU Letters to: AFL-CIO, CTW, ITF, and IDC
S.F. Gate: Open Forum - Longshoremen to close ports on West Coast to protest war.
S.F. Gate: Clash Ahead Over Longshore Union War Protest
ILWU Leaders on West Coast Shutdown Against the War Radio Program
May Day History and Rally Radio Program
Members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union are proceeding with plans for a work stoppage at 29 West Coast ports on May 1 to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the fact that union leadership has withdrawn its request to waterfront employers that they accommodate closure of the ports.
Planning for the protest began in February when the Longshore Caucus, the highest decision-making body for the 25,000 members of the longshore division within the ILWU, overwhelmingly approved a resolution in support of a day of protest.
According to its contract, the ILWU is entitled to schedule a "stop-work meeting" each month to discuss union business. It must give adequate advance notice to employers, who are represented by the Pacific Maritime Association, a group of shipowners, stevedore companies and terminal operators that negotiates labor contracts on their behalf.
The PMA routinely grants these requests, but only for meetings that are to be held during the second work shift, beginning in the evening. For the war protest, the ILWU said it wanted stop-work time during the day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the busiest cargo-handling shift of the day.
After the matter was approved by the caucus, ILWU President Bob McEllrath said on the ILWU Web site, "The caucus has spoken on this important issue, and I've notified the employers about our plans for stop-work meetings on May 1."
However, in March, the president of PMA, James McKenna, said he would not agree to the request. Employers do not want the ports to be shut during the first, or day shift, as it would be disruptive to the flow of cargo. The PMA said Friday that about 10,000 containers are loaded and unloaded coastwide during an eight-hour day.
On April 8, the union leadership withdrew the stop-work request for May 1.
The employers wanted the union to convey the withdrawal to its members, but management sources said it was unclear whether that had happened. So the PMA took the issue to an arbitrator. On Thursday, he issued an opinion that the union is obligated to inform members that the request has been withdrawn. There was no mention of the matter on the ILWU Web site on Friday.
Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the ILWU, issued a statement seemingly supportive of a war protest: "The Longshore Caucus resolution calling on all locals to honor May 1 by taking action to end the war and bring the troops home safely from Iraq continues to move forward. Various voluntary rallies and public demonstrations are scheduled for May Day."
The protest was advanced by Jack Heyman, a longshore worker who is a member of the Local 10 Executive Board. He said Friday he expects the ports to be shut down May 1. He added, "I have never seen our membership so resolute on a given issue."
He said it was Vietnam War veterans in the caucus who drove the discussion.
Steve Getzug, a spokesman for the PMA, said, "They informed us they had dropped their demand for a stop-work meeting May 1. An arbitrator has ruled they inform their members, and in light of that we hope the day (May 1) will come and go without disruption."
Heyman and other organizers said there will be a rally at noon May 1 at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. Speakers will include activists Danny Glover, Cindy Sheehan and Daniel Ellsberg.
In the meantime, the PMA and ILWU are negotiating a labor contract. The current contract expires July 1.
E-mail George Raine at graine@sfchronicle.com.
ON MAY 1st We Can Tip Impeachment Too! Light Up the Lines!
By ralphlopez
Legal Immigration and Impeachment.
When legal immigration activists light up congressmens' lines on May 1 for legal immigration and against the globalists' plans to erase the borders between anything except Citibank and B of A, why stop there? Let's light them up for impeachment too.
The fact of the matter is that impeachment hearings are in the hands of about 20 Republicans in the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, where the latest resolution against Dick Cheney, who comes first, is bottled up.
Not giving a good g.d. if they sell the country down the river to the highest globalist bidders dreaming of football fields-wide NAFTA superhighways, not caring if half the U.S. debt is controlled by China, a country which makes no bones about its plans to bury us and become the century's new superpower, George Bush and Dick Cheney are sure that, with maybe a few bombs thrown at Iran somewhere down the line for a "war president" booster shot, they can get out of office scot-free.
But as the clock runs down, more states are starting impeachment measures using "Jefferson's Manual," a parliamentary tactic which bypasses a do-nothing Congress, and directs impeachment hearings to begin upon passage of a resolution by a single state legislature. It's as if the Founders saw a day when Congress could become every bit as isolated and unresponsive as the president, and not give a good g.d. about the country either.
Why keep at it? Besides the arguments that only impeachment will do for the most law-breaking administration in American history, including Richard Nixon's, I recently was given a few more when I found myself in the same room and at the same lunch table with one Dr. Daniel Ellsberg.
Remember, even Nixon never dreamed of holding and torturing American citizens as "enemy combatants," or bragging that he had ordered illegal spying, or started a war on a country which had not attacked us while throwing open the borders so that people who might could slip in.
Lot's of folks don't really know what Dr. Ellsberg did besides leak the Pentagon Papers, which Nixon didn't like. What the Papers showed was that the generals were fighting a war they privately believed could not be won, and were throwing more peoples' sons into the meat-grinder. At the time, Ellsberg was ready to go to jail for violating his security clearance, and he fully expected he would spend the rest of his life there for stepping forward.
The NSA now has the authority to listen to anyone, anytime, without a warrant, in the name of the war on terror. This includes journalists, ALIPAC activists, plumbers, lawyers, and congressmen. Ellsberg said congressmen and journalists are for sure being listened to, then the rest of us depending on who we are or what we do. As part of the Executive Branch, NSA information is a new form of power available to that Branch, not just to the president.
Ellsberg said that if this power stands, then whatever we will be living under, it will not be democracy. That kind of power belonged to the East German Stasi or the KGB. It doesn't belong in America.
Ellsberg also said that impeachment hearings before Bush-Cheney leave office may be our only chance to roll this power back. That's because it will be hard for Bush to claim "executive privilege" during impeachment hearings. That would just make things worse for him, with shades of Watergate. In other words, without finding out what the NSA has actually been doing, who among Americans it has been listening to and who is getting the information, it will be impossible to stop it, because you can't stop what you don't know. Once Bush-Cheney leave office, the strong "discovery" process of impeachment will not be available. That's because we can't impeach a new president who didn't give the original order.
Ellsberg said new presidents, no matter what party they are, will not throw their hands over their ears and say, no, I don't want to hear this about my enemy, when they are being told something obtained through the NSA. That's just not in a president's nature.
The NSA has technology the Stasi could only dream of. I personally believe it is possible that Bush has something on almost every one of these congressmen right now, and that's why they won't impeach despite their clear duty and enormous pressure. This May 1st, as you are calling your own congressmen, call these Republicans on Judiciary too. They are the key. Most Democratic congressmen have shown that they believe in nothing except the kind of rich campaign contributors who are behind NAFTA, China imports for Wal-Mart, and continuing the war in Iraq with our kids, not theirs. Perhaps among Republicans another conservative of conscience, like Barry Goldwater, will step forward.
(want to do more? Here is a list of the top campaign contributors for these reps. Give them an ear full too, demand "not one more penny to these guys until imepachment, or face boycott!" - or whatever you want to say.)
Letter to Republican Members of Judiciary, and Impeachment Articles.
Last, first name, state, PHONE (first #) / FAX (second #)
Conyers, Jr., John D-MI 202-225-5126 / FAX 202-225-0072 (Chairman)
Smith, Lamar, R-TX 202-225-4236 / FAX 202-225-8628
Franks, Trent, R-AL 202-225-4576 / FAX 202-225-6328
Gallegly, Elton, R-CA 202-225-3065 / FAX 202-225-1100
Lungren, Daniel, R-CA 202-225-571 / FAX 202-226-1298
Issa, Darrell, R-CA 202-225-3906 / FAX 202-225-3303
Feeney, Tom, R- FL 202-225-2706 / FAX 202.226.6299
Keller, Ric, R-FL 202-225-2176 / FAX 202-225-0999
Pence, Mike, R-IN 202-225-3021 / FAX 202-225-3382
King, Steve, R-IA 202-225-4426 / FAX 202.225.3193
Coble, Howard, R-NC 202-225-3065 / FAX 202-225-8611
Chabot, Steve, R-OH 202-225-2216 / FAX 202-225-3012
Jordan, Jim, R-OH 202-225-2676 / FAX 202-226-0577
Gohmert, Louie R-TX 202-225-3035 / FAX 202-226-1230
Cannon, Chris, R-UT 202-225-7751 / FAX 202-225-5629
Forbes, J. Randy, R-VA 202-225-6365 / FAX 202-226-1170
Goodlatte, Bob, R-VA 202-225-5431 / FAX 202-225-9681
Sensenbrenner Jr., James, R-WI 202-225-5101 / FAX 202-225-3190
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http://afterdowningstreet.org
May 1st is shaping up to be quite a day of resistance, with strikes by the ILWU and other unions, plus immigrant rights rallies, and peace and impeachment activities. It's Mission Accomplished Day (5 Years!) It's Downing Street Minutes Day (3 Years!) It's Impeachment Off the Table Day (2 Years!) It's May Day, the original Labor Day (122 Years!) If you care about the future of our republic, we encourage you to visit your congress member's nearest office at high noon, local time, on May 1st, and ask for impeachment hearings for the Vice President for Torture, Dick Cheney. Let us know you plan to do it, and find others to do it with you at
Watch this video. Clarence Thomas, National Co-Chair of the Million Worker March Movement and Executive Board member of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10, spoke on April 24th, 2008, at the Iraq Town Hall meeting, in the Grand Lake Theater, Oakland, CA. The ILWU has committed to blocking ports on May 1st in opposition to the occupation of Iraq.
VIDEO: http://afterdowningstreet.org
May Day, the First of May, 2008, is a Thursday. According to the Bush Administration it is Loyalty Day. Are you feeling loyal?
In case you aren't, FEMA has planned terrorism scare "exercises" on May 1st.
May Day is the real labor day, the commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre and the fight for an 8-hour day in Chicago – an American holiday celebrated everywhere except in America.
May Day had a long history in Europe as a seasonal celebration of rebirth and hope. It was also the first of a month, an ideal time for strikes in industrialized nineteenth-century America where workers tended to be paid at the end of the month. At its 1884 convention the American Federation of Labor adopted a resolution that all labor would strike on May 1, 1886, to demand an eight-hour day. The media, which in this country has always been completely fair and balanced, predicted a violent Communist insurrection. The Chicago Tribune reported responsibly: "Every lamp-post in Chicago will be decorated with a communistic carcass if necessary to prevent wholesale incendiarism or prevent any attempt at it."
As documented in "Labor's Untold Story" By Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, 62,000 workers in Chicago committed to strike on May 1, another 25,000 demanded an eight-hour day without threatening to strike, and 20,000 were given the eight-hour day before May 1. Meanwhile, the Armours, Swifts, Medills, Fields, and McCormicks (Chicago's royalty, people who would have adored Loyalty Day) mobilized the National Guard, the Pinkertons, and specially deputized police.
Workers marched down Michigan Avenue in Chicago instead of working on May 1, 1886, and 340,000 did the same nationwide. Albert Parsons and August Spies spoke at the rally in Chicago, which ended peacefully. The Communist insurrection proved as real as Saddam Hussein's long-range missiles. But two days later, Chicago police shot striking workers outside McCormick Harvester Works, and labor leaders organized a protest in Haymarket Square for the next day. In the meantime, thousands of workers all over the country were winning the eight-hour day and returning to work.
As the relatively small and peaceful meeting at Haymarket Square was wrapping up, 180 policemen marched on the crowd, and a bomb went off -- which many believe was thrown by an agent provocateur. The Chicago Tribune demanded that Parsons, Spies, Michael Schwab, and Samuel Fielden be hanged for murder. The police began smashing up labor offices and beating up innocent people. "Make the raids first and look up the law afterwards," said John Ashcroft - oops, I mean Julius Grinnell, Chicago's State's Attorney. The four men named above were indicted for murder, along with George Engel, Adolph Fisher, and Louis Lingg. Parsons, who had escaped, became a modern Socrates and turned himself in to face certain death. Testimony from "witnesses" who had been threatened with torture and others who had been paid turned out so contradictory that the prosecution shifted to a focus on the defendants' thoughts and politics. Fielden and Schwab ended up with life sentences; Lingg died in his cell; the others were hung. Parsons left behind a note to his children that included this:
"We show our love by living for our loved ones. We also prove our love by dying, when necessary, for them."
In the tradition of those who have gone before us and sacrificed so much for so many benefits that we take for granted, we are proposing a day of action on May 1, 2008, to include a general strike for peace, impeachment, and human rights. Here are proposals that have already been made from a variety of quarters:
I. Longshore Caucus calls for Iraq war protest at ports on May 1
Nearly one hundred Longshore Caucus delegates voted on February 8 to support a resolution calling for an eight-hour "stop-work" meeting during the day-shift on Thursday, May 1 at ports in CA, OR and WA to protest the war by calling for the immediate, safe return of U.S. troops from Iraq.
“The Caucus has spoken on this important issue and I’ve notified the employers about our plans for 'stop work' meetings on May 1,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath.
Caucus delegates, including several military veterans, spoke passionately about the importance of supporting the troops by bringing them home safely and ending the War in Iraq. Concerns were also raised about the growing cost of the war that has threatened funding for domestic needs, including education and healthcare. Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard economist Linda J. Bilmes recently estimated that the true cost of the War in Iraq to American taxpayers will exceed 3 trillion dollars--a figure they describe as "conservative."
The union’s International Executive Board recently endorsed Barack Obama, citing his opposition to the War in Iraq as one of the key factors in the union's decision-making process.
Caucus delegates are democratically elected representatives from every longshore local who set policy for the Longshore Division.
ILWU International President Robert McEllrath has written letters to President John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO and President Andy Stern of the Change-to-Win Coalition, and to the presidents of the International Transport Workers Federation and the International Dockworkers Council to inform them of the ILWU's plans for May 1.
Other unions and labor groups are joining in, including:
New York City Labor Against the War,
American Postal Workers Union - New York Metro,
II. Call to Immigrant Rights Actions 2008!
May Day 2008 National Mobilization of Immigrant Rights!
Join the e-mail list: https://lists.riseup.net/www
or send e-mail: mayday2008-subscribe@lists
A Day of Action for Immigrant Rights, Thursday, May 1st
Pickets at the RNC and DNC offices on Capitol Hill:
Gather at the Capitol South Metro at 12:30 pm
Mass Rally in Malcolm X Park: 4PM
March through the Community: 6PM
16th and Euclid Sts. NW Washington D.C.
Metro: Columbia Heights
With national elections underway, this is a critical time for advocates of justice for immigrant communities to raise our voices in solidarity. Raids and deportations continue to tear families apart, both across the country and within the Washington metropolitan region. We aim to challenge the climate of fear that these raids have produced and to show that the immigrant community will not be silenced. We invite all organizations committed to the struggle for social justice to join us in making this mobilization a success.
Our demands include:
* Immigration Reform with Justice and Dignity for All
* Stop the Raids, Deportations, and Use of No-Match Letters
* Rescind the Anti-Immigrant Resolution in Prince William County
* Declare the District of Columbia a Sanctuary City for Immigrants
* Establish Workers Centers in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia
* Support the Right of Return for Mount Pleasant Tenants Displaced by the Recent Fire
Sponsored by: The May 1st 2008 Coalition
Including Mexicanos Sin Fronteras, the Metro D.C. Interfaith Sanctuary Network, D.C. Jobs with Justice, the D.C. Alliance for Immigrant Justice, Tenants & Workers Support Committee, Virginia Justice Center, Casa de Maryland, The Virginia Immigrant Peoples Coalition and many others.
To Endorse or Receive More Information, email may1dc2008@gmail.com or call 202-640-5315
LINK: Rally planned in NYC for immigrants rights and Sean Bell.
III. "IMPEACH OR WE GO ON STRIKE!"
Join PTI in building solidarity for the ILWU May 1 Strike. Carry the sign that helps organize an effective, legal, non-violent "work stoppage" in defense of our Constitution, our heritage, and our freedom.
LINK: North Carolina Impeachment Groups Plan Action.
IMPEACHMENT GROUPS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY PLAN TO VISIT CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES:
IV. DC STATEHOOD
LINK: DC Demands Statehood on May 1.
V. THE MOVEMENT GROWS
LINK: Rome, Italy, Joins In.
LINK: Diesel truck shutdown PDF.
Click to Enlarge Bay Area Poster:
http://www.democrats.com/mayday
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/
Tell House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers to subpoena John Ashcroft and John Yoo so that they can explain their role in enabling torture
It is time to find out who we are as a nation.
It is time to determine if we are truly a nation of laws or if we have resigned ourselves to the fact that some men (and women) in control of our nation can act outside the law without consequence.
If the latter is true, we have turned our backs on the founders of our country and do not deserve the freedoms we have been granted as citizens of the United States.
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former Justice Department official John Yoo must explain to the American people how it came to pass that the Department not only gave the green light to torture, but also prevented the FBI from taking action against the CIA when it was aware of torture taking place.
Please fill in the information below and click on "Send my message" to urge House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers to subpoena Ashcroft and Yoo so that they will be forced to appear before the committee and explain their role in this travesty.
It is time to find out who we are as a nation.
Town hall calls for impeachment to save the Constitution
Bay Area Indymedia - San Francisco,CA,USA
by Sharat G. Lin A regional town hall on the subject "Are Peace and Impeachment Possible?" was held in Oakland to reaffirm the need and political viability ...
See all stories on this topic
