community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
may4th / four dead in ohio
by vincent / blast furnace radio
Sunday, Apr. 10, 2005 at 9:15 PM
eirene@telerama.com
may 4, 2005
*** won't you please come to ohio
this year marks the 35th anniversay of the kent state killings. this years
memorial service will be followed by an unpermitted march against the iraq
war.
your help is needed if you can attend please call me 1-888-NOTOWAR.
vincent
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here is a list of events on may 4th in kent, ohio
http://dept.kent.edu/may4/542005.html
general info. http://dept.kent.edu/may4/
http://www.alancanfora.com/
* audio * from past kent state memorials recorded by blast furnace radio,
including jello biafra
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=9125
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=6979
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http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0504.html
4 Kent State Students Killed
By John Kifner
Special to The New York Times
kent, Ohio, May 4 -- Four students at Kent State University, two of them
women, were shot to death this afternoon by a volley of National Guard
gunfire. At least 8 other students were wounded.
The burst of gunfire came about 20 minutes after the guardsmen broke up a
noon rally on the Commons, a grassy campus gathering spot, by lobbing tear
gas at a crowd of about 1,000 young people.
In Washington, President Nixon deplored the deaths of the four students
in the following statement:
"This should remind us all once again that when dissent turns to violence
it invites tragedy. It is my hope that this tragic and unfortunate
incident will strengthen the determination of all the nation's campuses,
administrators, faculty and students alike to stand firmly for the right
which exists in this country of peaceful dissent and just as strong
against the resort to violence as a means of such expression."
In Columbus, Sylvester Del Corso, Adjutant General of the Ohio National
Guard, said in a statement that the guardsmen had been forced to shoot
after a sniper opened fire against the troops from a nearby rooftop and
the crowd began to move to encircle the guardsmen.
Frederick P. Wenger, the Assistant Adjutant General, said the troops had
opened fire after they were shot at by a sniper.
"They were understanding orders to take cover and return any fire," he
said.
This reporter, who was with the group of students, did not see any
indication of sniper fire, nor was the sound of any gunfire audible before
the Guard volley. Students, conceding that rocks had been thrown, heatedly
denied that there was any sniper.
Gov. James A. Rhodes called on J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, to aid in looking into the campus violence. A
Justice Department spokesman said no decision had been made to
investigate. At 2:10 this afternoon, after the shootings, the university
president, Robert I. White, ordered the university closed for an
indefinite time, and officials were making plans to evacuate the
dormitories and bus out-of-state students to nearby cities.
Robinson Memorial Hospital identified the dead students as Allison
Krause, 19 years old, of Pittsburgh; Sandra Lee Scheuer, 20, of
Youngstown, Ohio, both coeds; Jeffrey Glenn Miller, 20, of 22 Diamond
Drive, Plainsview, L.I., and William K. Schroeder, 19, of Lorain, Ohio.
At 10:30 P.M. the hospital said that six students had been treated for
gunshot wounds. Three were reported in critical condition and three in
fair condition. Two others with superficial wounds were treated and
released.
Students here, angered by the expansion of the war into Cambodia, have
held demonstrations for the last three nights. On Saturday night, the Army
Reserve Officers Training Corps building was burned to the ground and the
Guard was called in and martial law was declared.
Today's rally, called after a night in which the police and guardsmen
drove students into their dormitories and made 69 arrests, began as
students rang the iron Victory bell on the commons, normally used to
herald football victories.
A National Guard jeep drove onto the Commons and an officer ordered the
crowd to disperse. Then several canisters of tear gas were fired, and the
students straggled up a hill that borders the area and retreated into
buildings.
A platoon of guardsmen, armed- as they have been since they arrived here
with loaded M-1 rifles and gas equipment - moved across the green and over
the crest of the hill, chasing the main body of protesters.
The youths split into two groups, one heading farther downhill toward a
dormitory complex, the other eddying around a parking lot and girls'
dormitory just below Taylor Hall, the architecture building.
The guardsmen moved into a grassy area just below the parking lot and
fired several canisters of tear gas from their short, stubby launchers.
Three or four youths ran to the smoking canisters and hurled them back.
Most fell far short, but one landed near the troops and a cheer went up
from the crowd, which was chanting "Pigs off campus" and cursing the war.
A few youths in the front of the crowd ran into the parking lot and
hurled stones or small chunks of pavement in the direction of the
guardsmen. Then the troops began moving back up the hill in the direction
of the college.
Students Cheer
The students in the parking lot area, numbering about 500, began to move
toward the rear of the troops, cheering. Again, a few in front picked up
stones from the edge of the parking lot and threw them at the guardsmen.
Another group of several hundred students had gathered around the sides of
Taylor Hall watching.
As the guardsmen, moving up the hill in single file, reached the crest,
they suddenly turned, forming a skirmish line and opening fire.
The crackle of the rifle volley cut the suddenly still air. It appeared
to go on, as a solid volley, for perhaps a full minute or a little longer.
Some of the students dived to the ground, crawling on the grass in
terror. Others stood shocked or half crouched, apparently believing the
troops were firing into the air. Some of the rifle barrels were pointed
upward.
Near the top of the hill at the corner of Taylor Hall, a student crumpled
over, spun sideways and fell to the ground, shot in the head.
When the firing stopped, a slim girl, wearing a cowboy shirt and faded
jeans, was lying face down on the road at the edge of the parking lot,
blood pouring out onto the macadam, about 10 feet from this reporter.
Too Shocked to React
The youth stood stunned, many of them clustered in small groups staring
at the bodies. A young man cradled one of the bleeding forms in his arms.
Several girls began to cry. But many of the students who rushed from the
scene seemed almost too shocked to react. Several gathered around an
abstract steel sculpture in front of the building and looked at the
.30-caliber bullet hole drilled through one of the plates.
The hospital said that six young people were being treated for gunshot
wounds, some in the intensive care unit. Three of the students who were
killed were dead on arrival at the hospital.
One guardsman was treated and released at the hospital and another was
admitted with head prostration.
In early afternoon, students attempted to gather at various areas of the
Commons but were ordered away by guardsmen and the Ohio Highway Patrol,
which moved in as reinforcements.
There were no further clashes, as faculty members, graduate assistants
and student leaders urged the crowd to go back to dormitories.
But a bizarre atmosphere hung over the campus as a Guard helicopter
hovered overhead, grim-faced officers maneuvered their men to safeguard
the normally pastoral campus and students, dazed, fearful and angry,
struggled to comprehend what had happened and to find something to do
about it.
Students carrying suitcases and duffel bags began leaving the campus this
afternoon. Early tonight the entire campus was sealed off and a court
injunction was issued ordering all students to leave.
A 5 P.M. curfew was declared in Kent, and road blocks were set up around
the town to prevent anyone from entering. A state of emergency was also
declared in the nearby towns of Stow and Ravenna.
Front Page Image Provided by UMI
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
if there's a march, we'll have a permit
by sue jeffers
Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2005 at 6:39 AM
sue@portagepeace.org 330-676-9421 257 N. Water St, Left Side Kent OH
We will be having a meeting tomorrow with various anti-war groups in kent to determine what we will be doing following the commemoration may 4th. most likely there will be a march, stopping for speakers along the way to downtown. if there is a march, it will be permitted to allow the largest number of people interested to participate without fear of a repeat of the police idiocy of 2003.
sue j
from the portage community peace coalition
hippie idiocy
by Mark Fencil
Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2005 at 2:26 PM
It's a shame that I'm here in Iraq with the Marines right now and not back at Ohio University completing my senior year and joining in blissful ignorance with the enlightened, war-seasoned protesters who participated in the recent "die-in" at College Gate. It would appear that all the action is back home, but why don't we make sure? That's right, this is an open invitation for you to cut your hair, take a shower, get in shape and come on over! If Michael Moore can shave and lose enough weight to fit into a pair of camouflage utilities, then he can come too!
Make sure you all say your goodbyes to your loved ones though, because you won't be seeing them for at least the next nine months. You need to get here quick because I don't want you to miss a thing. You missed last month's discovery of a basement full of suicide vests from the former regime (I'm sure Saddam's henchmen just wore them because they were trendy though). You weren't here for the opening of a brand new school we built either. You might also notice women exercising their new freedom of walking to the market unaccompanied by their husbands.
There is a man here, we just call him al-Zarqawi, but we think he'd be delighted to sit down and give you some advice on how you can further disrespect the victims of Sept. 11 and the 1,600 of America's bravest who have laid down their lives for a safer world. Of course he'll still call you "infidel" but since you already agree that there is no real evil in the world, I see no reason for you to be afraid. Besides, didn't you say that radical Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance?
I'm warning you though -it's not going to be all fun and games over here. You might have bad dreams for the next several nights after you zip up the body bag over a friend's disfigured face. I know you think that nothing, even a world free of terror for one's children, is worth dying for, but bear with me here. We're going to live in conditions you've never dreamt about. You should get here soon though, because the temperatures are going to be over 130 degrees very soon and we will be carrying full combat loads (we're still going to work though). When it's all over, I promise you can go back to your coffee houses and preach about social justice and peace while you continue to live outside of reality.
If you decide to decline my offer, then at least you should sleep well tonight knowing that men wearing black facemasks and carrying AK-47s yelling "Allahu Akbar" over here are proud of you and are forever indebted to you for advancing their cause of terror. While you ponder this, I'll get back to the real "die-in" over here. I don't mind.
what a load of sh*t
by me
Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2005 at 4:17 PM
what a load of shit from our "brave soldier" in Iraq. You seem to have a serious problem with protests and speaking out against what many see as an illegal and illegitimate war that wastes billions of dollars. Well in case you aren't aware, this is called freedom of speech and its what mine and many others' relatives have fought and died for in many other American wars of the past. Perhaps you should stick with gov'ts and leaders who share your disdain for freedom of speech and any other political openness. Hell i know just the guy!! You got him locked up over there in Iraq and i'm pretty sure he answers to Saddam. You two could together crush any dissent or openness in society!! So it sounds like you found yourself the right place to settle down and raise a family, if you live that long. And don't give me your stupid shit on fighting for freedom, etc cuz its all bullshit and you sound like a damn fox news/cnn/other corporate media soundbyte. Its all a damn lie. I got friends who have come back from Iraq and they agree that we are doing nothing positive there, the country is in chaos, and we should leave immediately. But hey, you signed up and you sound happy, so have fun over there and please take all the spoiled rich pansies here that scream on how wonderful it is to bomb Iraq, yet don't have the guts to put their words into action. I can at least give YOU that much credit. The army needs recruits they say, well i say then the supporters of the war should sign up first!! Or else that makes them as big a hypocrites as their War Criminal-In-Chief. Good luck killing all the fanatics over there too, i'm no fan of theirs either.
Peace is Stupid?
by An Educated American
Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2005 at 7:57 PM
I just read the comment from Mr. Fencil, and I have a few things that I would like to address - mainly factual inaccuracies that he believes are actually the truth. First and foremost, I don't blame you, Mark. You are given pasturized information that has been approved by your superiors - you don't necessarily have access to all of the information that your state-side bretheren do. The military has done this throughout history - they give you information that isn't necessarily the entire truth, mainly to keep up morale. I don't want to lower your fighting spirit, Mark, but a lot of the things you talk about are just not true, and are just as bad as those "hippies" protesting the war - ignorance wrapped in patriotism does not make it any more credible.
First of all, Mr. Fencil, sarcasm and name-calling isn't the best way to articulate yourself - and this goes for both sides in this issue. Also, the person responding to your comment was correct - in America, it's still a fundamental right (despite the Bush administration's efforts to suppress it) to express oneself and their beliefs, especially on political grounds. Just because these people believe that you are over there, endangering your life and the lives of your friends and comrades-in-arms, for a fundamentally flawed and immoral reason doesn't make them unpatriotic. Rather, to stand up for what you believe in when the government would rather you not do so (like Martin Luther King, no?) is truly American in character. You don't agree with the protests? That's okay - it's just as much your right to disagree. Just don't take it personally. These "hippies" are protesting the war, not you. They are protesting a President who told us (and you) that you were going over there because there was an "imminent threat" (those were his words, Mark) posed by Iraqi weapons, particularly nuclear weapons. That's why we went to war - it was a pre-emptive strike (remember the media hype about that?) to supposedly protect ourselves. But then we found out that there weren't any weapons over there, and the message changed overnight. We weren't looking for weapons anymore; we were there to "liberate" the Iraqi people. Not only that, "liberation" had been what we had in mind all along - don't worry about what Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Tenet said before.
Mark, America doesn't go to war unless it is struck first. The American people let Bush go to war because they trusted him when he said that we were in danger because of Saddam. That's all they did - they trusted Bush. You trusted him too, and you may still trust him. But, he lied to us. To all of us, including you. There aren't any weapons. And now you're stuck over there for God knows how long with your life in danger. All for a lie.
As far as the dangers of being in Iraq go, many people back home are aware of that. We know about suicide attacks, roadside bombings, and all of the other things - we're bombarded with it every day on the media. We know that you're putting a lot on the line. But you don't NEED to be putting it on the line - that's the point of these "hippie" protests. You don't NEED to be over there zipping your friends into body bags. And if you don't need to be, you shouldn't be. You should be back here, spending time with your family and living a normal life.
As far as factual inaccuracies go, Mark:
1. Iraq was a secular dictatorship - it wasn't ruled by the Taliban. Islam, while a strong influence over the people under Saddam, did not dictate policy. I don't believe that women were prohibited from walking to the market without a male escort - there were women college students, doctors, lawyers, etc. all under Saddam. There was oppression in Iraq under Saddam, but not in that way.
2. September 11th was completely unrelated to the war you are currently fighting in Iraq. The 9/11 Commission, appointed by Bush, concluded that. There was no tie between Saddam and Bin Laden, no strong presence of al Qaeda in Iraq until AFTER the invasion when al-Zarqawi showed up. Please get your facts straight about this - do you think the 3,000 who died in the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks would have wanted you to be in Iraq for an extended occupation? Do you think those victims would support 1,600 of our troops dying in a country that wasn't even involved in their murder?
3. I don't believe anybody has ever said that "radical Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance" - quite the contrary. Radical Islam, like radical Christianity, is quite a dangerous thing, and usually winds up with people being killed. Moderately-interpreted Islam, like any moderately-interpreted religion, is a philosophy and belief system based on peace and tolerance (and they both, in fact, share the same supreme deity).
4. As far as the world being rid of terror because of your being over there, that's been proven false, too. Several studies, both those sanctioned by the government and by objective non-governmental organizations, have reported that the risk of terrorism has actually gone UP since the invasion of Iraq. Surely, Mark, you can't think that us pushing the people of Iraq around is making them like us. Resentment breeds terror, and us over there is breeding more and more resentment.
I'm not sure what you mean by "you can go back to your coffee houses and preach about social justice and peace while you continue to live outside of reality." Which reality is it that you're speaking of? The reality where Bush hasn't fired ANYBODY because of the ridiculous mistakes made in this war with Iraq (he's actually promoted some people)? The reality where now TWICE the number of children in Iraq are starving (8%) as compared to how many were under Saddam (4%)? The reality where we have to see more and more of our high school friends coming home with missing limbs or dying over there for something that is obviously a lie? I think, Mark, that rather than we, it is the leadership of our government, and people who are misinformed about these things who are truly living "outside of reality."
We're not contributing to terror by expressing those freedoms that terrorism abhors above all else, Mark. And you don't give two shits about what we think about this war, anyway, so people protesting this war shouldn't affect how tenacious you are when fighting the insurgents. Remember: we're protesting the war itself, not you. We're not fans of terror, we're not renegades who hate America, and we're not wishing any harm will come to you. It's not black-and-white, Mark. This is all a mess of brackish gray.
sarcasm and name calling
by not an elitist asswipe
Wednesday, Apr. 13, 2005 at 7:57 AM
Whenever you self anointed "intellectuals" stick your tits out and mewl about how educated you are, that negates anything you say.
The only group of people who haven't gotten the message on just how fucking stupid they are is the ones bleeding profusely from the nose while on their high pedestal.
Fuck you terrorist sympathizing cowards.
.
by .
Wednesday, Apr. 13, 2005 at 9:32 AM
Or we could heed Mark's call and go to Iraq. Teach them kids about fragging. End this war right quick.
yes, peace is stupid
by Matthew R. Skomarovsky
Wednesday, Apr. 13, 2005 at 3:38 PM
Only the "educated" could come up with something as horrifically stupid as Puking for Peace.
http://www.thecrimson.com/printerfriendly.aspx?ref=507037
Dean Retracts Threat to Bar Protest
By DANIEL J. HEMEL
Crimson Staff Writer
A top College administrator who had said she would not allow students to protest the presence of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recruiters on campus yesterday reversed her position just hours before the rally was set to begin.
Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd sent an e-mail message to leaders of the Harvard Social Forum (HSF) yesterday morning informing them that they would be allowed to stage a “peaceful demonstration” outside the Science Center, where CIA and DHS representatives participated in a panel sponsored by the Office of Career Services (OCS) for students considering jobs in counterterrorism.
More than 100 students packed Auditorium E in the basement of the Science Center yesterday afternoon to hear the panel—including several activists who disrupted the event with skits designed to ridicule the CIA and DHS.
One recent alum, Matthew R. Skomarovsky ‘03, induced himself to vomit in order to express his disgust with CIA and DHS policies.
Physics doctoral candidate Suvrat Raju, a member of the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice, rose to question the CIA recruiter about the agency’s involvement in a 1973 coup in Chile. After Raju revealed that he is not a U.S. citizen, a fellow activist dressed as an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) agent seized Raju in a “mock deportation” and dragged him out of the auditorium.
Several audience members said they were unimpressed by the protesters’ disruptive tactics.
“I hate torture as much as the next protester,” Nathan A. Sharp ’08 said.
“But the best way to address the humanitarian disregard or the incompetence of the CIA is not by harassing their recruiters.,” Sharp said. “I don’t know why they’d want to prevent the CIA from reaching out to people who might improve upon their errors.”
The activists who disrupted the OCS event said afterwards they had no official ties to HSF.
“I believe that HSF did try to observe the general terms I requested,” Kidd wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson yesterday evening.
KIDD REVERSES HER STANCE
Kidd had told HSF leaders in an e-mail Monday morning that they would not be allowed to demonstrate because they did not have the required permit.
But leaders of the Forum said that they did not learn about the planned panel until this past weekend—and therefore did not have time to obtain permission.
Administrators recommend that students submit an online form requesting permits three to five days in advance of a protest. But HSF members never submitted a permit request to the College.
Kidd wrote in an e-mail to HSF leaders yesterday morning that she would allow the demonstration to proceed “because of the late notice of the OCS event.” She also told the HSF leaders that they would have received permission if they “had made any attempt to contact our office in advance.”
Kidd asked the HSF leaders to “refrain from heckling, either outside the Science Center or during the presentation.”
As students filed into the OCS event, HSF leaders staged a brief rally outside the Science Center that drew about 30 protesters. The activists distributed fliers assailing the CIA’s role in the torture of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and blasting the INS—now a branch of the DHS—for detaining Muslim and South Asian immigrants in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
But according to HSF coordinating committee member Michael A. Gould-Wartofsky ’07, when activists gathered outside the Science Center yesterday shortly before 3 p.m., they had not yet read Kidd’s e-mail—which was sent less than four hours earlier. The protesters had planned to go ahead with their demonstration even if they had not received administrators’ permission, said Gould-Wartofsky, who is also a Crimso,n editor.
Kidd left her University Hall office and spoke in person to HSF leaders to inform them that she would indeed allow the demonstration to continue.
“We regard this as a victory for free speech at Harvard,” Gould-Wartofsky said.
—Kelly Chan contributed to the reporting of this article.
—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.
puking for peace
by phill
Thursday, Apr. 14, 2005 at 10:31 PM
you read about it, no? unlike the many other invisible protests that go on. That, I think, shows that it worked..
However, I agree with the sentiment...referring to yourself as 'educated' as compared to those who don't have the same access to information you do is elitist
correction
by Ian Butler
Friday, Apr. 15, 2005 at 4:41 PM
It wasn't the courthouse, it was the Federal building.
Someone was kind enough to write a song about it. Might I share it with you? Thanks.
http://www.ianbutlermusic.com/Pukers_For_Peace.shtml
Spoken:
In March of 2003 a group calling itself Pukers for Peace, marched to the federal building in San Francisco, and in protest of the war in Iraq, vomited on the sidewalk. This is their song.
Our country is in trouble, and it needs our help today
It’s time to show the people our patriotic way
We’re heading for the smorgasbord to load our ammunition
And to the demonstration to consummate our mission
We’ll all whip out our feathers at the preappointed time
And do the most revolting thing that isn’t yet a crime
We’ll sacrifice our supper on the sidewalk in a row
In protest of the policies that make us want to blow
Chorus:
Pukers for Peace, Pukers for Peace
Lubricating liberty with gutbombs of grease
Pukers for Peace, Pukers for Peace
Our spirits and our stomach contents soon shall be released
You might think we’re crazy, you might think we’re strange
But vomit is an underused instrument of change
I know it seems disgusting, I know it’s pretty vile
But nothing says dissent quite like the scent of stomach bile
Bridge:
Visualize whirled peas, blowing like a volcano
Flowing like a river, and running with the buffalo
So don’t you dare dismiss us, ignore us at your peril
Just because we smell like hell and look as if we’re feral
Doesn’t mean we’re stupid, or make us less devout
Judge us by the content of what comes out of our mouths
Down with Intellegence!!!!
by USAn
Friday, Apr. 15, 2005 at 6:08 PM
..."Whenever you self anointed "intellectuals" stick your tits out and mewl about how educated you are, that negates anything you say."
Yes! Down with being educated! Down with intellegence! Down with all those un-american, intellegent, educated professors! Application of logic is terrorism! Down with godless terrorist commie Islam! And, oh yes; DOWN WITH COMPASSION!
Up with stupidity! Up with brutishness, thugishness, god, jesus, and hate!
Down with godless terrorist commie Islam!
by you got that right
Saturday, Apr. 16, 2005 at 11:24 AM
You said it - down with Islam. This is all I need to know about Islamo-sewage.
---
by ---
Sunday, Apr. 17, 2005 at 10:44 AM
Pointer you idiot about a hundred people just recently marched regarding the situation in Darfur.
And I doubt anyone here from the left is a fan of ANSWER.
You may disagree with a lot of us but we're at least consistant.
![[masthead]](/images/masthead_140.png)