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This week on Uprising:

* May Day Events Attract Thousands – Reports from LA and Orange County
* ¡Ask a Mexican! by Gustavo Arellano
* Black Agenda Report on the recent Democratic Debate
* Is Iraq’s Crude Oil Being Stolen?

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Is Iraq’s Crude Oil Being Stolen?

GUEST: Pratap Chatterjee, Managing Editor of Corp Watch and author of Iraq Inc (Seven Stories, 2004)

It has been estimated that hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil are unaccounted for in Iraq daily. The Al Basra Oil Terminal and the Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal, despite being heavily guarded, continue to operate without an oil metering system. When properly functioning, meters measure how much crude oil flows in and out of such terminals. However, in the four years of U.S. occupation, meters have not been repaired, leading to speculations about black market operations and smuggling. Iraq’s proven oil reserves, estimated to be 115 billion barrels, are the third largest in the world.

For more information, visit www.corpwatch.org.

Read Pratap’s article on Alternet here: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/51218/

Black Agenda Report on the recent Democratic Debate

GUEST: Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report

This week’s commentary is on the recent Democratic Debate. Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

May Day Events Attract Thousands

GUESTS: Gloria Saucedo, Director of Hermandad Mexicana and a participant in a hunger strike, Marta Sanchez, Mexican Congressman with the PDR, Jose Jacques Y Medina, Nativo Lopez with the Mexican American Political Association, Rubin Martinez, owner of the radical bookstore, Libreria Martinez, Yeni Diaz of the OC Dream Team, and other demonstrators

Yesterday’s spirited May Day marches around the US in support of immigrants rights brought out hundreds of thousands of people in various cities. Here in Southern California, about 30,000 people showed up in Downtown LA during the day, while in MacArthur Park, about 15,000 showed up. The march in Santa Ana drew several thousand demonstrators. There were unexpected clashes between police and demonstrators at the event in MacArthur Park. The LA Times is reporting that 15 police were injured and about 10 demonstrators were taken to hospitals for treatment. The LAPD is conducting an investigation into the incident. One person was arrested. Uprising broadcast live from the Downtown march on May Day while Assistant producer Gabriel San Roman reported from the Orange County march.

That was part of a live broadcast that Uprising did on May Day in downtown LA. We turn next to Orange County in Southern California where Uprising producer Gabriel San Roman reported from.

¡Ask a Mexican! by Gustavo Arellano

GUEST: Gustavo Arellano, award winning columnist at the OC Weekly and contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times

Was there ever anything you wanted to know about Mexicans, but were too politically correct to ask? For two years now, Gustavo Arellano of the OC Weekly has fielded numerous questions from readers about Mexicans in his notorious column, “¡Ask a Mexican!” Now newly released in book form, questions posed to “The Mexican,” range from the curious such as, “What’s the song La Bamba about?” to the downright racist, “What part of Illegal don’t Mexicans understand?” Arellano navigates the long list of inquires, which he describes as being like a queue at the check out lane of a Northgate Supermarket, with unrestrained wit, sarcasm, and research. Not everyone is in favor of Gustavo’s approach however. When the alternative OC Weekly first published the column in 2004, it angered left and right wingers alike. In one recent case, an Oregon man was suspended by his supervisors for five days for showing his fellow co-worker the “¡Ask a Mexican!” column. The man’s union refused to back him and his lawyer advised him to drop the case. Regardless of what controversies may follow, questions to “The Mexican,” will surely keep pouring in and Gustavo Arellano will be more than happy to answer them.

Read Gustavo’s OC Weekly column, ¡Ask a Mexican! here: http://www.ocweekly.com/columns/

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day:

“Come on, America: I’m your piñata… I welcome any and all questions. Shake me enough, and I’ll give you the goods on my glorious race. But be careful: this piñata hits back.” — Gustavo Arellano, from his introduction to ¡Ask a Mexican!