Feature Archives

The looming federal police attack on the people and striking teachers of Oaxaca, Mexico has begun. There are reports of between six and eight demonstrators killed on the morning of Sunday, June 19 at the highway blockade in Nochixtlán, northwest of the city of Oaxaca. They were shot and killed when police opened fire with live ammunition on the blockade. At least 45 others have been hospitalized with injuries, the majority gunshot wounds, and 22 have been disappeared.

On June 15, law enforcement officers raided Care By Design and CBD Guild, a medical cannabis grower and manufacturer that tens of thousands of patients depend on across the state. The enforcement comes just days after the company hosted local and state public officials and regulators for a walk-through of their new facilities and to discuss regulations for the emerging industry resulting from the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act passed by the California legislature last fall.

Take Back Santa Cruz, "a non-profit community organization focused on creating awareness and working together to build a better, safer and cleaner Santa Cruz," tried to go silent about one of their most high-profile members facing felony charges for firearms and drug manufacturing. Sixty-year-old James Burtnett of Boulder Creek faces multiple felony counts ranging from illegally synthesizing a Schedule 1 narcotic, to being illegally armed with a firearm. According to court documents, Burtnett was involved in a narcotic processing operation. The illegal lab exploded on September 29, 2013, in Santa Cruz.

On June 4, the family of Yanira Serrano was joined in the city of Half Moon Bay by a large community of friends and supporters to commemorate the two year mark since the 18-year-old was killed by San Mateo County Sheriff's deputy Menh Trieu. Also in attendance were the loved ones of two other victims killed by police in the Bay Area, Errol Chang and Antonio Guzman Lopez.

Communities throughout California and the country continue to demand increased police accountability. Senate Bill 1286 would have shined new light on how police departments handle confirmed instances of officer misconduct and serious uses of force. Police "unions" and lobbyists like the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) fought to maintain the secrecy police enjoy in the state and once again legislators cowed to their wishes.

Google's increasing power over political leaders in Washington, and its collaboration with the NSA and other spy agencies, have allowed the world's largest corporation to pull the strings of power. It started under Bush and grew even worse under Obama. On May 16, art activists in San Francisco postered Google headquarters, Google Ventures, Mozilla, and other areas with satirical art showing Google to be pulling President Obama's strings. Nobody claimed credit for the poster protests.

The National Coordinating Body of Education Workers (CNTE) began an indefinite strike on May 15, primarily against plans by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to implement neoliberal reforms to the country’s education system. Peña Nieto has attempted to privatize and standardize the Mexican education system, along with instituting policies to disempower Latin America’s largest union, the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE), and its dissident and more radical faction, the CNTE.