Feature Archives

Darwin Bond-Graham writes: "All summer long the slaying of teenager Alan Blueford by a police officer festered in the city of Oakland, a metropolis already stained by its troubled police department which for nearly ten years has been spiraling toward federal receivership due to its institutionalized culture of brutality and misconduct. It was no surprise then that the first meeting of the City Council [September 18], in its new session after the Summer recess, was met by over one hundred outraged protesters and the family of the young man whose death at the hands of OPD frustratingly remains a mystery, with all known facts indicating an unjustifiable murder."

Six months ago, local Occupy movements arrived at one of Monsanto corporation's Davis facilities at 6 a.m. Monsanto sent a message to their plant's workers to not come into work. The protest educated the public and initiated a conversation as a general assembly brainstormed solutions to Monsanto's corrupt ties with the government, unethical business practices, destruction of the environment, as well as the production of unhealthy food. Local activist groups plan to shutdown the Davis Monsanto plant once again on Monday, September 17th.

John E. Colby reports: "On July 30, the Homeless Services Center (HSC) in Santa Cruz threw Megan Andrea Morgan — a severely disabled woman who suffers from anemia and other disabilities which cause her severe fatigue and exhaustion — onto the street, denying her access to the HSC campus where she was receiving shelter at the Paul Lee Loft. Ms. Morgan has trouble standing without her walker — she is five feet one inch tall.

On August 24, supporters of GMO-Free Santa Cruz and Proposition 37 on the California ballot, marched and sang along Pacific Avenue to raise awareness about the proposition, and encourage people to vote in favor of it. Throughout the United States, people currently eat genetically engineered food, but they generally are not aware of it. The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, Prop 37 on the November ballot, would simply require food sold in retail outlets in California, such as grocery stores, to be labeled if it is produced with genetic engineering.

The 2012 Republican National Convention was held in Tampa, Florida from August 27th 28th through 30th. The entirety of downtown Tampa was within the RNC security zone. There were demonstrations, rallies, and marches happening throughout the week. Beforehand, hysterical corporate media reports — fed by releases from law enforcement authorities — warned of threats from "outlaws and anarchists." Local officials wrote a new-anti protest law, set up security cameras throughout the city, and set aside 1,700 beds at the local jail to handle "troublemakers", but the largest protest was only 1000 people strong and Tampa itself was largely a police state ghost town. There were just two arrests, both under the new city law. Indybay has reports, photos, and video from throughout, with more still coming in.

On August 16th, six veterans and activists in Oakland, CA, and six more in Portland, OR, were arrested at Obama campaign offices for occupying the spaces in solidarity with accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower PFC Bradley Manning. Dozens of veterans and anti-war demonstrators coordinated a West Coast set of actions that also included protests in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Seattle.

Joshua Hart reports: "If the California Coastal Commission’s August 10 decision is any indication, no endangered species, viewshed, or habitat is safe from a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) 4G cell tower popping up right next door. It’s open season, as smart phone addictions drive a kind of selective blindness toward wireless damage to life itself. Those groups who are meant to protect remaining wilderness areas have grown silent, awkward, in denial. We cannot count on the traditional defenders of nature to protect us from the threats of the 21st century."