Feature Archives

Anti-war organizers in the Bay Area have resurrected Direct Action to Stop the War. The next meeting of DASW will be on Sunday, January 20th at 4pm at the La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck (near Ashby BART) in Berkeley. DASW is organizing actions related to convincing presidential candidates to take a stand against the war during the 2008 presidential campaign, and to exposing companies such as Chevron that profit from the US-led war and occupation in Iraq. Several affinity groups have joined in the organizing, and many more are likely to join in the months between now and the anniversary of the beginning of the war.

The Wireless Radiation Alert Network (WRAN) educates Santa Cruz County community members on the adverse health effects related to Electro Magnetic Frequency (EMF) exposure in the extremely-low frequency (ELF) and radiofrequency (RF) band of the electromagnetic spectrum (1-300GHz). Energies of these frequencies, called non-ionizing, are used in electrical transmission, distribution and electrical use by the public, by radio and tv broadcasts, cellular transmissions, wireless internet access and more. WRAN promote alternatives to wireless communication systems, for example the use of fiber optics and coaxial cables and to preserve existing landline phone networks.

As of December 20, 2007 various governmental agencies and public interest groups have received 643 documented complaints from Monterey and Santa Cruz area residents who believe they suffered adverse short-term reactions following the aerial spraying of pesticide pheromones on their cities in September, October, and November 2007. Of the 643 complaints, 509 are reported here for the first time, along with the original 134 complaints of adverse reactions following the aerial spraying of the Monterey area in September which were released to state agencies and the press in October.

On January 13th, candidates whose names will appear on the California Green Party primary ballot on February 5th came together for a debate in San Francisco. Cindy Sheehan was the moderator, and Cynthia McKinney, non-candidate Ralph Nader, Jared Ball, and Kent Mesplay were in attendance.

The Peace and Freedom Party held six presidential candidate forums this weekend to inform voters about their choices on the February 5th presidential preference primary ballot. These events started with a January 11th forum in Sacramento, and continued with events in San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego.

Steven Argue writes, "For the most part the Iowa caucuses were business as usual for the Democrat and Republican Parties. Among the Democrats, 'anti-war' and 'pro-single payer health care' Democrat Dennis Kucinich put his support behind pro-war, anti-single payer health care Barack Obama. Yet on the far right, anti-war Libertarian and Republican Ron Paul gained a stunning 10% of the vote."

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27th. Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state. She was sworn in as Prime Minister in 1988 but was removed from office after only 20 months on grounds of alleged corruption. In 1993 Bhutto was re-elected but was again removed in 1996 on similar charges. In mid 2007, Bhutto appeared to have arranged a power sharing deal with the US backed dictator Pervez Musharraf, but the deal was scuttled when the Supreme Court appeared set to rule that Musharraf could not legally remain President. Musharraf declared emergency rule in December and replaced the Supreme Court. Bhutto was placed under house arrest and publicly denounced Musharraf, but refused to boycott elections set for January 2008.