[This photo, from last night's vigil at Kent State University, shows the place where Allison Krause was killed when the Ohio National Guard was ordered to fire upon students during an anti-war protest on May 4, 1970. Also killed were students Jeff Miller, Bill Schroeder, and Sandy Scheuer.]

MESSAGE FROM DENNIS KUCINICH REGARDING THE EVENTS AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY ON MAY 4, 1970

Hi , I'm Congressman Dennis Kucinich. This is an important day for the Kent State community. And it's an important day for the United States, because on this day, we remember the lives of those who died and were injured so many years ago on May 4. And we remember the confluence of events which came to the fore on the campus of Kent State University. We remember the striving for social justice, the passion for peace, the concern about the rights of people 10,000 miles away, that brought students to protest an unjust war. And we also remember those who felt they were pursuing their civil obligation in defending order. What we know too today in looking back at that time, that so often our government can take positions that appear to be defending the established order, but actually those positions end up undermining it.

Let us learn a lesson, not only of compassion from that May 4 so long ago, but let us learn a lesson about our potential to be able to transform conditions which are right for conflict, and turn them into opportunities for peaceful dialogue, for non-violent conflict resolution. We can take from May 4 a lesson that we share with the world. And that is that we renew our commitment to peace, we renew our commitment to peaceful resolution of conflict, we renew our commitment to the celebration of our First Amendment rights, we renew our commitment towards fulfilling community, and the potential that it offers, to elevate the human condition.

Tak and his father Tom ring the Liberty Bell at Kent State University last year in honor of the students who were shot. Tak and Tom passed through Kent on their walk across America called "Steps for Peace." May 4 has so much meaning, and what it means today is an opportunity to remember and to celebrate the deeper meaning of Kent State, of May 4 so many years ago, and the deeper meaning which we bring each day when we remember Kent State and vow to continue our commitment to peace. Thank you.

'Merchant of Shame'
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
by Ruth Rosen
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0503-07.htm
Duchess Note: Like the Bush (empire) Administration ... Wal-Mart is totally arrogant and corrupt. Both don't give a damn about human-beings [employees] or our precious environment. And will stop at nothing to get what they want ... which is domination of the globe. Their both scary as hell and must be brought down, the way David did against Goliath.