11/20 7am: At least 40 students have occupied Wheeler Hall on the UC Berkeley campus and have requested supporters to come to the hall. UC Police have surrounded the building as a "crime scene".

On Thursday, November 19th, the University of California regents approved a 32% increase in undergraduate fees, pushing fees to over $10,000 a year for the first time. Protests, including the occupation of four buildings, have taken place November 18th and 19th at UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, San Francisco State and San Francisco City College.

On November 5th, Adisa Banjoko of the Hip Hop Chess Federation hosted a panel at O'Connell High School in San Francisco's Mission District that included Immortal Technique, Cesar A. Cruz and the Watsonville Brown Berets. The panel addressed issues on US imperialism, police abuse and murder, black & brown youth repression, indigenous resistance and hood liberation.

On November 8th, the SF Bay Area Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal organized an event in San Francisco focused on three innocent men, Troy Davis, Kevin Cooper, and Mumia Abu-Jamal, who may soon be executed depending on upcoming court rulings. Laura Moye, the Director of Amnesty International's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign spoke about Troy Davis, and Moye will also be speaking on behalf of Amnesty International at a press conference in Washington DC on November 12th.

Danny Blackgoat, a longtime Dine' (Navajo) resister of forced relocation, will be traveling from his home at Big Mountain (AZ) this weekend to speak in Santa Cruz on Friday, Nov. 13th and San Francisco on Saturday, Nov. 14th. He will be screening a new 24 minute film featuring Pauline Whitesinger, and giving an hour long presentation about relocation, coal mining, and recent happenings at Black Mesa.

On November 7th, the Democratic-led US House of Representatives passed a healthcare bill that includes a far-reaching attack on abortion rights and repeals the Children's Health Insurance Program by 2013. The morning following the passage of the legislation, women in San Francisco led the rallying cry for "healthcare not warfare" in demonstrations on the steps of City Hall and in front of Speaker Pelosi's and Senator Feinstein's respective homes. On November 12th, the San Francisco branch of Radical Women will hold a roundtable discussion to address the question: What will it take to achieve affordable quality healthcare for all?

Fifteen people occupied the San Francisco office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi on November 3rd, stating they would remain there, risking arrest, until Pelosi explained why she has turned her back on key promises related to health care reform. After three hours twelve people inside Pelosi's office were arrested for creating a disturbance on federal property. The charge against them was based on a technicality; singing and chanting for single payer was deemed not in accord with the rules and regulations of the federal building.

More than two dozen protesters blocked the entrances to the San Francisco office of Blue Shield of California early in the morning of October 28. They were joined by close to 200 other single payer system health care advocates, who festooned the building with crime tape and chanted loudly. The demonstrators charged Blue Shield with crimes including murder, breach of contract, and subversion of democracy.

On Sunday, October 25th, Zoya, a member of the radical underground organization Rawa, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, will speak in San Francisco. Zoya's talk is part of a national tour in the U.S. against the ongoing U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and the threat of fundamentalism posed by the Taliban.

While President Obama spoke inside the St. Francis Hotel on October 15th, thousands of protesters turned out to deliver messages of their own. Health care was just one of many topics as people gathered from the left and right, rubbing shoulders and competing for space for their placards in the crowd. A large group of single payer health care plan advocates supported by physicians and nurses wielded some of the largest banners and drew a heavy turnout.

On Thursday, October 22nd, Ehud Olmert, a war criminal and Israel's former Prime Minister, will be speaking at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco for the World Affairs Council. During his last weeks as Prime Minister of Israel, Olmert unleashed a horrific war on the people of Gaza, that left over one thousand dead, a majority of them unarmed civilians, and hundreds of them children. It destroyed thousands of homes, leaving tens of thousands homeless. A demonstration calling for Olmert's prosecution for war crimes will be held at Union Square at 5:30 PM.
UPDATE: 22 Bay Area residents arrested for disrupting speech

On Thursday, October 15, hundreds came to Civic Center, to protest president Obama's appearance at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in a fundraiser for the Democratic National Convention. Earlier in the day another demonstration took place at SF City Hall to oppose the continuous cuts in education funding.

On Wednesday, September 30th, feminists, activists, and community members protested against budget cuts in front of the California State Building at Civic Center. The rally and speak-out featured demands to "chop from the top" and tax the rich and corporations as a strategy for solving the budget crisis.

On Saturday, October 17th there was an anti-war march and rally in San Francisco starting at 11am in U.N. Plaza. Protesters demanded that U.S. troops get out of of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and that the U.S. government spend money on jobs, pensions, health care, and education rather than wars and corporate bailouts.

On October 7th, over 250 people came out to the New Federal Building in San Francisco on the 8th anniversary of the war and occupation of Afghanistan. While the Obama Administration, the Pentagon Generals and Congress argue over the degree to expand the war they are losing, this protest called to end the war now.

Putting a spotlight on some of the biggest movers and shakers of the vegetarian world, Bay Area residents and visitors celebrated World Vegetarian Day with a weekend-long festival on October 4 and 5. The 10th annual World Veg Festival featured cooking demos, free samples, and international vegetarian delights to pique every appetite. Entertainment included the Red Panda Acrobats and a sing-along of tunes in defense of animals.

On October 11, San Francisco’s Arab Cultural and Community Center will present the 15th Annual Arab Cultural Festival, the largest celebration of Arab heritage in Northern California. This day-long event will showcase the arts, entertainment, food, traditions, and most importantly the spirit of the Arab and Arab-American people, and their contributions to the Bay Area’s cultural landscape.

On September 24th, San Francisco-based Twitter.com shut down an account that was monitoring the movement of police and military through the city of Pittsburgh during protests against the G-20 summit on September 24th and 25th. The Pennsylvania State Police also arrested Elliot Madison and Michael Wallschlaeger and accused them of "criminal use of communication facility" and other charges. On October 1st, the FBI raided Elliot's home in Queens.

Palestine Freedom Walks are taking place in almost 30 cities across the United States on Saturday, October 10th. The Palestine Freedom Walks will be silent marches, on behalf of an equitable U.S. policy toward Palestine that advances freedom for the Palestinian people. In San Francisco the march will start at 11am at UN Plaza sidewalk near the Civic Center.

September 28th was called as an international day of protest against the coup d'etat in Honduras. In San Francisco, demonstrators gathered at the Honduras Consulate to demand the immediate suspension of all U.S. financial aid to the coup government; stop endorsing the Arias Plan; and immediately recall the U.S.Ambassador until the reinstatement of President Zelaya.

On September 26 pioneering performing artists including Temple of Poi and OmniCircus graced Golden Gate Park's band shell stage. The surrounding Music Concourse was a spectacular maze of demonstrations for wearable art, 3D film viewing, and independent media publicity. The gigantic "Show and Tell" drew small tots with doting parents, hip singles, and Raging Grannies.

On September 24th, 1700 hotel workers in Unite Here! Local 2 and their supporters marched around union square to demand a fair contract with a number of San Francisco hotels. Ninety-two union members and others were arrested for blocking the entrances at the St. Francis Westin and the Grand Hyatt.

To kick off the new school year on Teachers 4 Class War on Free Radio Santa Cruz, l@s Maestr@s (the hosts) spoke with Jeff Duncan-Andrade once again, about the conditions facing teachers this year and every year in the California school system. Jeff has been a frequent guest on the show, and he's the closing speaker at this year's Teachers 4 Social Justice conference in San Francisco on Saturday, October 10th.

The amplified voices of activists calling out for health care reform resounded in front of Embarcadero Center in San Francisco on September 22nd. Some called for Anthem Blue Cross, which has offices in the building, to drop their option to a public option, others carried placards espousing a single payer plan for the nation. A dozen "Billionaires for Wealthcare" dressed as golfers, yachtsmen and wealthy socialites, mocked the excesses of health care insurance company executives and investors.

A coalition of organizations rallied in San Francisco on September 21st to deliver a message to U.S. lawmakers and polluting corporations. The protest started at the S.F. office of Senator Barbara Boxer and then moved to Chevron Oil Corporation’s downtown S.F. "Energy Solutions" office. The action capped the weekend-long West Coast Climate Justice Convergence, building grassroots pressure in the lead up to the December's Copenhagen climate talks.