Feature Archives

Santa Cruz resident Matt Childers, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, testified at the Winter Soldier hearings held last month in Silver Springs, Maryland. Matt served two deployments to Iraq as an infantryman with the U.S. Marines. Originally from West Virginia, he now makes his home in Santa Cruz and is a student at Cabrillo College. His testimony was given as part of a panel on racism and dehumanization of the enemy in Iraq.

anonymous anarchists write, "A Wells Fargo in downtown Santa Cruz was paintbombed during the night. Wells Fargo invests in the GEO Group, the contractor which runs the gulag in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In addition to running GTMO, the GEO Group is also contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to run its immigration detention facilities."

The 4,000th US soldier was killed in Iraq on March 23rd. Vigils and actions were held at the Military Recruiting Centers in Capitola and Berkeley on March 24th to express grief over so many senseless deaths in Iraq. In San Francisco, a vigil was held in Civic Center Plaza. CodePink shut down the Marine Recruiting Station in Berkeley by conducting a direct action inside of it.

The Army recruitment site GoArmy.com is one of the most heavily advertised web sites on the planet. It's a slick marketing effort to make enlisting look like the perfect job opportunity: a stable, safe way to make money and serve America. On March 19th, NoArmy.com was launched to present the facts missing in the Army sales pitch and show potential recruits what they can really expect if they enlist.

The battle to shut down the Marine recruiting station in Berkeley continued on March 19th, the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. Hundreds, including many Berkeley High school students, took part in actions during the day to shut down the recruiting station in Berkeley and to stop the war in Iraq. Several students spoke powerfully to why the marine recruiters should be considered "unwelcome intruders" in Berkeley.

Outraged over the undemocratic nature of the University of California Board of Regents and the Regents’ continued management of the national nuclear weapon labs, on March 19th, students from the Coalition to Free the UC took nonviolent direct action at the UC Regents meeting at UCSF Mission Bay campus in an attempt to obstruct their ability to meet. Over 100 students from five UC campuses participated in the day of action as part of March 19th Direct Action to Stop the War.

March 19th saw a revival of the direct action movement in the Bay Area. Independent media activists came together to broadcast a radio station and DASW had a webcam broadcasting video. Volunteers provided legal assistance. Affinity groups came back together for another day in the streets, putting their bodies on the line to remind the world that torture has been a way of life for the Bush administration.