But when Shea-Keneally insisted on an explanation, she was in for an even bigger surprise: The recruiters cited the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's sweeping new education law passed earlier this year. There, buried deep within the law's 670 pages, is a provision requiring public secondary schools to provide military recruiters not only with access to facilities, but also with contact information for every student -- or face a cutoff of all federal aid.

"I was very surprised the requirement was attached to an education law," says Shea-Keneally. "I did not see the link."

The military complained this year that up to 15 percent of the nation's high schools are "problem schools" for recruiters. In 1999, the Pentagon says, recruiters were denied access to 19,228 schools. Rep. David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana who sponsored the new recruitment requirement, says such schools "demonstrated an anti-military attitude that I thought was offensive."

To many educators, however, requiring the release of personal information intrudes on the rights of students. "We feel it is a clear departure from

AUSTIN, Texas -- Osama bin Laden is back, and no one gives a damn? What is this??!! The White House spokesman announced, "This is about more than one man." The president now says it "really doesn't matter much" if bin Laden is dead or alive. This is the same president who promised to bring him back "dead or alive," isn't it?

Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post dismissed bin Laden as "a blast from the past." Well, that was a helluva blast, Howard, and I for one haven't forgotten it. I want that son of a bitch dead or alive, and I want him getting him to be this country's top priority in terms of enemies.

Maybe they're downplaying bin Laden because he's so hard to get. I can understand that. It was always more of a complicated international police operation than a matter of bombing poor Afghanistan. But we knew going in that it was "a different kind of war" and that we were in it for the long haul. The one thing I never expected was that we'd just drop the whole thing.

Yoshie Furuhashi and I traveled to Japan during the 9-11 anniversary, where we attended seminars, actions, and meetings that questioned the direction the USA and the Asia-Pacific region appear to be going. A seminar planned by the American-Pacific Studies Center at the University of Tokyo gathered six professors from Japan, Malaysia, and Hawai’i to reflect on the meaning of 9-11 and the call to war. All spoke on the reality that war on Iraq would reflect a clash of civilizations not seen or wished for in the past.

We also went to a meeting on the Japanese-Korean relationship, to a petition drive on closing the USA military bases on Okinawa which met at the USA embassy, and to several political discussions with movement leaders. As in the USA, the Japanese justice and peace movement must confront the hysteria around the post 9-11 drive to war.

Congress and the White House may soon approve opening a dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada where the nuclear power industry hopes to bury 77,000 tons of radioactive waste. If Yucca Mountain opens in 2010, as scheduled, all that waste must travel American highways or railroads to get there -- some 100,000 shipments over three decades through thousands of American communities. The potential for a serious accident or terrorist hijacking has oppontents to the transport plan calling it “Mobile Chernobyl.” To find out how close you (or your child’s school) are to a proposed route see: www.MapScience.org. (See Nov. 8 calendar event)

On August 22nd George Bush, Jr. came to Oregon to attend a fundraising dinner at the Portland Hilton for Sen. Gordon Smith (R, OR). Local activists used this occasion to let the un-elected president know that the citizens of Portland do not support his administration and its endless wars. Portland has a rich history of opposition to the Republican regime, and this time there were numerous near-riot street protests when Bush, Sr. came to town. This aggressive opposition to the Bush’s war machine caused some White House staffers to label Portland “little Beirut,” a name most radical Portlanders take with pride. A few hours before Bush was to speak at the fundraiser, close to 2000 people had gathered in a downtown park, preparing to march on the Hilton. It was a splendid display of freedom and diversity, with parents and children, Vietnam vets, black bloc anarchists, greens, tree sitters, and everyone in between turning out to express their feelings. A carnival atmosphere was enjoyed by all, with many costumes and a large marching band. It was like a holiday. People were excited to take this festival of resistance to the streets. The march itself was powerful and loud.