Feature Archives

On January 20th the Iraqi resistance shot down a Blackhawk helicopter killing thirteen American soldiers. Three days later, just hours before Bush would give his State of the Union address, a Little Bird helicopter was shot down, killing five more Americans—but this incident didn’t make nearly the amount of news as the former. While the five men died in combat, they were not members of the US military. They were employees of Blackwater USA, the shining star in a new breed of corporation specializing in private soldiers—also known as mercenaries.

1. The Quiet Apocalypse of Rising Tides Climate change is everywhere, and the somewhat momentous report released February 3 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms that climate change is man-made, and unstoppable. The 21-page report, described as conservative by the IPCC itself, says man-made emissions of greenhouse gases are to blame for heat waves, floods and heavy rains, droughts and stronger storms (particularly in the Atlantic Ocean), melting ice-caps and raising sea-levels.

President Bush stopped in countries where he would meet the least opposition: Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia and Mexico. He nonetheless encountered criticism and protest at every step. In Colombia, demonstrators turned out in Bogotá despite massive numbers of police and soldiers who tried to enforce a ban on protest. Indymedia Colombia writes: "The more than 3,000 protesters here, in one of the most important crossroads of the presidential tour, demonstrated the resistance with which this unwanted visit was met."

On March 4th, US troops killed 16 Afghan civilians following a car bomb attack on their convoy. Eyewitnesses to the incident described the US troops firing indiscriminately at civilians in their vehicles and on foot in angry retaliation for the attack. Hundreds of Afghans protested at the scene of the killings, blocking the main road between Kabul and the Pakistan border. Associated Press journalists at the scene said US soldiers forcibly deleted their footage of the aftermath of the attack. On March 5th, 9 additional Afghan civilians were killed in a NATO bombing raid in Kapisa province. The nine dead civilians included five women and three children.

The Sea Shepherd ship, Robert Hunter, has been holed in its starboard bow, and its port stern section above the waterline, during a collision with the whale spotter ship Kaiko Maru , according to Sea Shepherd's president Paul Watson. No injuries have been incurred by crew on both ships, and neither ship is in danger of sinking.

Since 1998, the V-Day movement has worked to stop violence against women and girls worldwide. V-Day’s model of "empowerment philanthropy" has been a catalyst for activists, college students and anti-violence organizations to "transform their communities," in more than 112 countries to date. Between February 1st and March 8th, local activists will stage benefit productions of “The Vagina Monologues” to raise funds and awareness for local anti-violence groups, rape crisis centers, and women’s shelters in their communities. There will be many performances in California.

Women have not only acted as participants in the ongoing popular movement in Oaxaca, but have also profoundly shaped the course of its history. They have created some of the most powerful stories and moments in the past nine months, and have helped tell them. Stories of women who have built the movement are everywhere in Oaxaca.