Feature Archives

2/15/05: A display of a soldier's uniform on the gable of a house in a quiet neighborhood in the Land Park District of Sacramento has ignited a battle between anti-war activists and Bush administration supporters over the First Amendment. The conflict has created a media circus of TV cameras, newspaper reporters and talk show radio hosts in front of the house many days over the past week. Stephen and Virginia Pearcy, both lawyers who work in Berkeley, decided to put up a uniform of a U.S. soldier hanging on a noose, with the sign "Your Tax Dollars at Work," at their house in Sacramento. After a group of right wing supporters gathered at the house last week while the Pearcys were absent, two individuals, captured on TV cameras, took the display down. Read the story HERE. Photos from the February 15 demonstration in front of the Pearcy’s home are HERE

About 100 participants from low power FM radio stations, alternative newspapers, newsletters serving the homeless, public access cable TV activists, representatives from Indybay Indymedia, and more networked and learned new skills at the first conference of its kind in Central California. Participants came from Davis, Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, Merced, Fresno, Visalia, Bakersfield, and as far South as Manhattan Beach in Southern California, talking and organizing around various issues involving independent media. The conference was organized by the Community Alliance newspaper in Fresno, and began with an analysis of corporate media and called for alternative/independent journalism. Report here.

2/09/05: An evangelical Christian group in Fresno California has just received a grant from the Bush administration to mentor the children of prisoners. The $360,000 a year grant is from the Department of Health and Human Services “compassion capital fund.” Doug Davidian, a Fresno businessman and vice chairperson of One by One Leadership was quoted in The Fresno Bee as saying, “Because we’re a faith-based organization, there’s money available to us that isn’t to those going through the front door. There are 99,000 people going through the front door. We’re going through the side door.” Read about the reaction from the local progressive community HERE

The Earth Liberation Front, (ELF), has claimed reponsibility for vandalizing and attempted arson of several vacant under construction houses in Placer County. Citing urban sprawl and destruction of green space, the group has published a communique detailing their actions and why they decided to try and halt sprawl. In response to the actions, the group has received the "eco-terrorist" label from the corporate media, and now an investigation by the FBI.

1/31/2005: Porto Alegre, Brazil - The fifth World Social Forum started as an expression of diversity in the world, with many voices that meet the universal wishes for tolerance, justice, peace and equality. And it closes according to these same wishes. But this Forum had the challenge of being more proactive in promoting common issues and proposing actions. It was completely self-organized. All the activities were developed by the participant organizations. Workshops and related events were held in 11 different areas where panels accepted proposals that were discussed. So far, there are 352 proposals from the panels. The proposals are being displayed today. They will be published in a way that movements, organizations and people can read and use them. The Forum helped to inspire many actions that will make organizations and individuals stronger and more organized, with agendas for the whole year. The dialogue and the meetings helped to establish a new world view for many participants and has opened new horizons for international solidarity. In 2006, the World Social Forum will be decentralized, operated in many places of the world. In 2007 it will be in Africa. Self-organized and democratic, the World Social Forum is created by organizations and people who want to build another world with peace, justice and equality. The theme of the World Social Forum is Another World is Possible. Read More

A New World is Possible | The Participatory Budget | Cutting the Wire | The Global Media Democracy Movement | Pictures from the World Social Forum | Should the Anti-war Movement Support the Iraqi Resistance? | Bush Victory Made Possible by Cultural Oppression | Chavez Speaks at the WSF | Confessions of an Economic Hit Man | Venezuela’s Chavez Closes WSF with Call to Transcend Capitalism

1/27/2005:Porto Alegre, Brazil - The World Social Forum (WSF) got underway yesterday with a huge march in downtown Porto Alegre. This year, the WSF has attracted over 100,000 political, social, and cultural activists from all over the world to discuss and strategize about alternatives to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and corporate domination of the worlds economy. The WSF is a manifestation of the anti-globalization movement bringing people from all over the world together for one long weekend of work and play.
Yesterday’s march was something between an international version of Woodstock and the biggest peace march you have ever attended. It was a festival as well as a political march with groups as diverse as the landless workers movement in Brazil, a contingent of GBLT activists from throughout South America, Korean trade unionists, members of the women’s movement, and Greenpeace in attendance.
Read More | Fórum Social Mundial | The Participatory Budget | Cutting the Wire | The Global Media Democracy Movement | Pictures from the World Social Forum | Should the Anti-war Movement Support the Iraqi Resistance? | Chavez Speaks at the WSF | Democracy Now Coverage

Hundreds of people came together to protest the inauguration at the state capital in Sacramento. Marching from Cesar Chavez Park to the Federal Building, the spirited march contained various community groups and collectives. A rally was later held, pictures here. In Modesto, anti-authoritarians, peace activists, and youth took to the streets of downtown Modesto for a illegal march, following an hour long rally in which a list of war crimes was read. Not to be outdone, activists from Fresno with the RANCOR Collective, (Radicals Against Neo-Cons Organized Resistance), was busy in DC, and has published a series of articles and pictures from the inaugural protests here here and here. In Fresno, peace activists were busy “un-inaugurating” Bush. See the one minute video by Elfie Ballis and SunMt here.