[If you wish, you may send us your donation the old-fashioned way, and send us a check. Quelle Idée!

EPI/CALC
P. O. Box 9334
Berkeley, CA 94709

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GETTING TO GOOD FRIDAY AT LIVERMORE

1.  General caution — for EVERYONE

2.  Driving and parking

3.  Transit info

4.  Toilets

5.  Info for those with limited mobility

6.  Getting to the community gathering afterwards

1.  GENERAL CAUTION — FOR EVERYONE

Traffic tickets are likely for anyone not strictly following no-parking signs, pedestrian signals, and other traffic laws.

Exception: We have permission to park along a specific part of Patterson Pass Road, as described below.

2.  FOR THOSE DRIVING

Same as last year.

Take I-580 to Livermore. Take Vasco Road exit (Exit 55) and go SOUTH. Go south a bit over a mile along Vasco Road to Patterson Pass Road. Turn LEFT there. We have permission to park on the south (lab) side of Patterson Pass Road, EXCEPT near the corner; watch for signs, cones, etc. There will be an unloading zone near the site of the service. Also, we will save a few close-in spaces for a speaker, those needing wheelchair access, etc. If you arrive late-ish, you may have a long walk.

Don’t park or pull over anywhere on Vasco Road, not even to pick people up, not even in bus zones. If you do, expect to get ticketed.

No parking along Patterson Pass Road on the north side of the street, nor anywhere west of Vasco Road.

Additional legal parking can be found, not too far from the service.

You can park in William Payne Sports Park, which is at the northwest corner of Vasco and Patterson Pass Roads (entrance off Patterson Pass). Also, there is some legal parking in residential areas not too far away, for instance along Arlene Way, Alison Circle, and Melanie Way.

3.  TRANSIT

You can get there by BART and bus. It’s a long trip but possible.

Take BART to Dublin/Pleasanton station, arriving there at 6:08 am. (If coming from the Richmond line, take the train which leaves Berkeley at 5:18 am. Change trains at Lake Merritt or Bay Fair.) At Dublin/Pleasanton, you have 5 minutes to get to the bus stop. Take the Route 20X “Wheels” bus which leaves at 6:13 am from its stop, which is on the *south* side of the BART station. The 20X goes to Vasco and Patterson Pass Roads. You’ll get there about 6:37 which is plenty of time. When walking from the bus stop, the pedestrian signals are hard to see; obey them anyway.

If you miss the 20X bus that leaves at 6:13 am, the next bus leaves at 6:58 and arrives at Vasco and Patterson Pass about 7:22, so you’ll miss part of the program.

For the trip back, it’s easiest to ask someone for a ride to BART.

The 20X bus runs only during commute hours. However, there is a bus that runs all day, not too far away: route “R” (“rapid”) which runs along East Avenue. East Ave. is about 1/2 mile south of the lab’s West Gate. The “R” stops at a transit hub off the southeast corner of East Ave. and Vasco Road; also at the community center, which is a few blocks west of our community gathering (see below).

Web sites: transit.www.511.org and www.lavta.org

4.  TOILETS

We rent a porta-potty, and we order it “wheelchair capable.” It will be near the service on Patterson Pass Road. There are no toilets available to us near the West Gate. There are porta-potties in William Payne Park, but we don’t know if they will be unlocked.

 5.  FOR THOSE WITH LIMITED MOBILITY — additional information

Use extra care; read #1 above. If coming in a car, the driver needs to study #2 above.

In prior years, people have asked for car rides between the main service site (Vasco Road and Patterson Pass Road) and West Gate, where there will be more ceremony (about 0.4 miles south). This is not advised. Afterwards, make your way back along the sidewalk. If that’s too far, side streets such as Alison Circle would be the closest pickup sites. (Don’t expect to be picked up along Vasco Road. Use paper maps, Google Maps, etc.)

Sidewalks: Next to our main parking area, the land is unpaved and weedy. Along Vasco Road, and within the residential neighborhoods, there are excellent sidewalks. Along Patterson Pass Road west of Vasco, ditto. Curb ramps: Haven’t checked ’em all, but generally excellent.

If standing for a long time is hard for you, we will have some folding chairs at our event on Patterson Pass at Vasco.

6.  COMMUNITY GATHERING

After the main event, which will end mid-morning, you’re invited to a community gathering. It will be at Asbury Methodist Church, 4743 East Avenue. To drive there, go south along Vasco Road to East Avenue (about a mile south of Patterson Pass Road). At East Avenue, turn RIGHT and go west about a mile. The church is on the left.

“On the Edge of Peace — Voices from the faith-Based Peace and Justice Community”, a new anthology from EPI is here!

For a downloadable and attachable (send it around!) PDF description, click: HERE

O n t h e E d g e o f P e a c e

For domestic orders of “On the Edge of Peace”, the price is $15.00 + $5.00 for shipping & handling (for orders outside the US, (or for multiple copies – a price break on shipping) please write or email us for the cost to you.)

You may read order information in our Donation section. Click here.

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We remain in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Here are two websites: HaitiSolidarity.net is the official site of Haiti Action Committee working to build a strong Haiti solidarity movement, and the best way to help directly is through the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund.

~ See Calendar for details and announcements of other events and actions....

Living Graveyard and Reading of the Names,
Third Mondays

Oakland Federal Building
1301 Clay Street
two blocks from 12th Street BART

Covered with sheets to represent the dead of the war of occupation on Iraq, people lie down on the city sidewalk in front of the Federal Building, This is legal, non-violent witness. People stop, look and think.

Participants lie at least three feet apart and do not block entry to the building.The names of some of the Californians who have died in Iraq and the names of some of the Iraqi dead will be read. People will hand out flyers, as we do each week at the Monday noon vigil.

Please bring a white sheet to cover yourself with. A pad to lie on is recommended.

Contact 510-527-8370.
sponsors include: Ecumenical Peace Institute,
Berkeley Women in Black, Women for Peace,
East Bay Coalition to Support Self-Rule for Iraqis,
Mustardseed Affinity Group.
Wheelchair accessible.

Weekly Vigils

Wednesdays, noon in front of Boalt Hall on Bancroft Ave. on UC Berkeley campus. Teach-in against Torture.

Wednesdays, 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Castro Valley Peace & Justice Vigils, Castro Valley Blvd. & Redwood Rd.

Wednesdays, 6:30-7:30 p.m., El Cerrito vigil for peace, 1st, 3rd, 5th Weds, Del Norte BART, 2nd & 4th Weds in front of Target sign on San Pablo Ave.

Thursdays, noon - one, San Francisco Federal Building, 450 Golden Gate, peace in Iraq, San Francisco Friends

Thursdays, 4:30 - 5:30, Five Flags Park, Foothill, Jackson & Mission, Hayward, justice for Palestinians. South Alameda County Peace and Justice (SAPJC) & Tri-City Peace and Justice (TCP)

Fridays, noon - one, Berkeley, Telegraph & Bancroft, Berkeley Women in Black

Fridays at 3pm -5pm, at Camino Alto and E. Blithdale, Mill Valley.

Fridays, from 3:30 to 4:30, corner of Tiburon Blvd. and San Rafael Avenue, Tiburon. Rain cancels.

Fridays - 4 to 5 pm, Corner of Miller Avenue and Camino Alto in Mill Valley.

Fridays, 5:30 - 7 p.m., corner of Mowry & Fremont, Fremont.

Sundays, 3:00 p.m., walk around Lake Merritt for peace. Meet at the columns at the east end of the Lake, between Grand & Lakeshore Avenues. sponsored by Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace, LMNOP

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Ongoing Actions

Each third Monday, 12:00 - 1:00, at the Oakland Federal Building the weekly anti-war vigil is transformed into a “Living Graveyard.““ Covered with white sheets, participants lie on the city sidewalk, far enough apart to allow for pedestrian and wheelchair traffic. This is legal street theater to make visible the reality of the deaths caused by the war.

Iraq Moratorium organizes a public witness for peace on the Third Friday of each month. To find one near you, visit http://www.iraqmoratorium.com/
In Berkeley, people gather at the northwest corner of Acton & University from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m .

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Background re the The Ecumenical Peace Institute
sponsored Vigil from Noon to 1:00 p.m. ach Monday at the Oakland Federal Building · 1301 Clay (two blocks from the Oakland 12th Street BART Station)

The only legal justification for one country to attack another is to prevent an attack so immediate that the United Nations Security Council cannot be called upon to act.

Some Historical Background:

Post WWI Iraq was ruled by a British-selected monarchy until 1958. In 1968, the Ba’ath party came to power with CIA assistance. Saddam Hussein was supported by both the U.S. and Britain until 1990, throughout the Iran-Iraq war.
In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. Possibilities to negotiate a withdrawal were impeded by two false stories put out by the U.S.

• Allegations that Iraq was poised to invade Saudi Arabia
• The Incubator Fraud: "Nayirah" claimed that Iraqi soldiers had taken Kuwaiti babies from incubators and thrown them on the floor to die. Later it was discovered that "Nayirah" was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S.

As the U.S. moved into Iraq in 1991, Shi’ites and Kurds were encouraged to rise against the Hussein government. When they did, the U.S. military stood aside and allowed the revolt to be suppressed by the Iraqi government. United Nations sanctions, imposed in 1990 to bring about Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait, were continued to bring about Iraq's disarmament with respect to weapons of mass destruction. On May 20, 1991, Secretary of State James Baker stated, "We are not interested in seeing a relaxation of sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power." This remained the position of the U.S. through two subsequent administrations.
In January 1991, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency reported on the widespread epidemic conditions caused by destruction of the water system under the sanctions in place since August of 1990. This analysis proved all too correct in the ensuing years as 5000 children died each month from water borne diseases. (UN figures)

In December 1998 the UN inspectors were withdrawn by Richard Butler in anticipation of the U.S. bombing of Iraq. They were not "thrown out". Hussein did not allow the UNSCOM inspectors to return without a plan to complete inspections and end sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency was allowed to continue inspections regarding nuclear weapons.

The road to Gulf War II

• After the attack on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001, the Bush administration attempted to find a connection between the Islamic fundamentalists and the secular Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein. None was ever found.
• None of the allegations of current Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction has been accompanied with supporting data that holds up under examination. Aluminum tubes, African uranium experts and eyewitnesses have debunked all the stories. UNSCOM inspectors found nothing to indicate a current weapons program. Independent observations of alleged sites have turned up nothing.

All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state ...

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