San Francisco -- MIM and RAIL spent earth day weekend holding protests proclaiming that the war is not over and will not be until the U.$. gets our of every country in the world. Inspired by the bullshit we are hearing in the media and on the streets that the war in Iraq is over now that Saddam is gone, we targeted earth day crowds who are largely already anti-war but generally not anti-imperialist. Our protests took place at two earth day festivals, one Saturday and one Sunday, where we displayed large banners and graphic signs, distributed revolutionary literature and talked to the crowds as they passed by.

Our advertisement for the protest read: "The U.$. has a long history of invading countries, supporting brutal dictatorships, overthrowing democratically elected governments, financing militias, and sending its armies to stop peoples revolutionary movements around the world. The latest attack on Iraq is just one more example. With Saddam out of power in Iraq we are being told the war is over. Don't believe it! Until the U.$. takes its' armies, money, corporations and power out of Iraq and everywhere else, the Amerikan-led war of terror against the people of the world continues.

"The united $tates is an imperialist country, a country with an economic system that exploits the whole world and cannot stand still within itself. The humyn will to be free of oppression and exploitation is permanent. Economic systems on the other hand have changed many times. It's time to change again. Only internationalism can bring global peace.

"Join us in demanding an end to the U.$. war on the world. U.$. out of Iraq, Palestine, the Philippines, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Turkey, and the rest of the world! A country with hands bloody from wars of global domination is not qualified to define terrorism.

"Here at home we demand and end to the domestic war of terror against internal oppressed nations. A country built on the massacre of indigenous people, with the labor of slaves, which imprisons Blacks at a higher rate than was found even in South Africa under Apartheid is in no position to make itself global arbiter of justice and democracy.

"Join us in raising the consciousness of the peace movement: We will be taking our U.$. out of the World protest to the people at the events below. We need help handing out literature, speaking about Amerikan imperialism, holding signs and banners, making noise and getting attention. Now is the time to speak up for global peace and justice, before it is too late."

At the first protest, outside an earth day festival in Berkeley, many passers-by were appreciative of our U.$. out of the World banner. This earth day festival was sponsored by the city of Berkeley and included vendors mostly focused on environmentally friendly products as well as music acts. There were not many political groups and the MIM protest was the only anti-imperialist activity at the event. A large graphic display of the world with many of the countries the U.$. has invaded stabbed by Unkle Sam drew much attention. People stopped to read the list of countries invaded and marvel at the bloody history of Amerika. Most people were sympathetic to the anti-war message and the poster forced them to consider what the U.$. will do after Iraq.

The second protest, outside the We the Planet "music and activism festival" in San Francisco's Golden Gate park reached many thousands of people attending to enjoy acts including Alanis Morrissett, CAKE, The Coup. This event was focused on renewable resources and environmental issues. The purpose was summed up on the wetheplanet.org web site: "Why is everything good for us considered the alternative? We all know that we live in a world full of problems, We The Planet aims to show that we also live in a world full of solutions. With all that is going on in our world today, more than ever, people are realizing that consciousness is cool". MIM and RAIL pushed for more than just consciousness about recycling, expanding the discussion to imperialism and global environmental destruction.

The musical group CAKE spoke about Chevrolet approaching them to buy the rights to a song for a commercial. The lead singer explained that they turned down the offer (in spite of the financial temptation) but told Chevrolet they would allow them to use CAKE music to advertise for a car using sustainable energy sources. MIM applauds musical groups that use their fame to take stands on political issues. But we don't agree that getting big corporations to manufacture a few environmentally friendly products is going to make strides against the destruction of the world's environment. It is imperialism that is causing this destruction and it is only by taking on imperialism that we can end the destruction.

Other speakers did take on bigger issues including the unjust war in Iraq, Amerikan terrorism, and imprisonment. The revolutionary hip hop group the Coup closed the event with the excellent point that we cannot save the environment if we do not change the economic system. But the focus was on saving the environment by recycling, supporting and using sustainable energy sources, eating vegan, and supporting environmentally friendly stores. MIM Notes was very popular with this crowd both entering and leaving the event. Our banners drew comments of support and as with the Berkeley festival the graphic of the U.$. invasions around the world received much interest and praise. Over the course of the both events we distributed close to 2000 copies of MIM Notes, gathered many signatures on our petition to protest the Patriot Act II, and spoke to hundreds of people about the implications of the war in Iraq, U.$. imperialist invasions around the world, and what we can do to fight it.