Feature Archives

The Director General of Police of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Vishwa Ranjan, faced intense questioning at a Conference on Indian Democracy: Justice and the Law held at the University of California, Berkeley. He admitted that arresting documentary filmmaker Ajay T.G. may have been a “mistake,” and signed a postcard supporting the release of imprisoned civil rights leader Dr. Binayak Sen.

The subprime mortgage crisis has combined with the deregulation of the financial systems and new financial instruments called credit default swaps to cause an international crisis in the capitalist system. As everyone tries to turn their money into cash and nobody knows which company will go under next, banks are unwilling to loan and stock markets around the world are crashing.

The indynewswire show airs weekly on Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM, Friday mornings 10-12 noon, broadcasting news and opinion from independent media worldwide, focused on indymedia sites but also drawing from other websites. The October 3rd episode features discussion of sexual violence, patriarchy, and militarism across Mexico. This show is dedicated to Sali (Marcella Grace Eiler), found dead September 24th in San Jose del Pacifico, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Marcella "Sali" Grace Eiler, a solidarity activist with the struggle in Oaxaca and Chiapas, was found dead on September 24th in a deserted cabin twenty minutes from the village of San Jose del Pacifico, Oaxaca, Mexico. She was brutally raped and murdered. On different occasions and to different people, Sali mentioned that recently she had suffered political persecution and surveillance in Oaxaca. Many people believe that her murder is part of the widespread repression against the social movement and directed particularly at international observers.

Close friends report that the body of San Francisco activist Kirsten Brydum was found Saturday in New Orleans, where Kirsten had traveled as part of a popular education tour. Kirsten was known locally as an organizer of the monthly Really Really Free Market in Dolores Park. Kirsten's death follows closely after news of the murder of another young activist, Marcella "Sali" Grace Eiler, in Oaxaca.

On September 27th, four windows, a glass door and an ATM were smashed out at the Wells Fargo on the corner of Soquel Drive and Thurber Lane in the unincorporated area of Santa Cruz. Wells Fargo is one of the largest single stockholders in the GEO Group, a private prison outfit with prisons and detention centers spread across the world. Among many others, the GEO Group runs the ICE (Immigrations & Customs Enforcement) Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA. The Geo Group also operates a Migrant Operations Center in Guantanamo Bay, on the grounds of the Naval Base, adjacent to the more infamous "Gitmo".

On Thursday September 25th, protests took place around the United States to oppose the proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street firms. In the Bay Area, protests were held in San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, and San Jose. The SF Labor Council has also come out strongly against the bailout.