Feature Archives

3/23: Two days after El Salvador held its highly anticipated election, ARENA's Tony Saca has won another five years for the ruling party. After oppressive tactics on part of the ARENA government to keep out election observers failed, FMLN supporters began a massive mobilization that gave hope to many that ARENA would be ousted. Supporters in red flooded the election polling places in massive numbers, and throughout the day it appeared that guerilla FMLN candidate Schafik Handal was in the lead. After spending over $55 million on a campaign of fear, Tony Saca was able to coerce a win. The FMLN has vowed that it will continue to fight US imperialism in all its forms, especially CAFTA's impending plans for the people of El Salvador.

Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) is urging people to take action regarding the detention of at least 60 people, 13 of them election observers, at customs in El Salvador by immigration officials. Since September of last year, immigration officials have used intimidation tactics and illegal raids on the Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad (CIS), in order to discourage solidarity workers from organizing around the controversial elections of this month. For the past 15 years, ARENA has been the ruling party in El Salvador, employing a dirty campaign to ensure that the popular left-wing party, the FMLN, stands much less of a chance of unseating them. Six months after ARENA started its campaign of intimidation, the immigration police have informed observers that the Ministry of Governance has issued a general directive to deny entry to all international election observers. At least one local bay area observer was detained. The United States government has been complicit in the illegal detentions, issuing vague threats should the FMLN win the election and expressing their support for ARENA. Read more On Detentions

3/3/04: Mendocino County in Northern California voted yesterday to ban genetically-altered crops and animals within the county. In spite of the enormous local support for the Measure, CropLife America spent a total of 500,000 dollars on attempting to defeat the measure, in this county of about 88 thousand people. Washington DC based CropLife America represents biotech giants such as Monsanto, Bayer, Dupont, Dow Chemical and others. They spent 55 dollars per NO vote, outspent the local anti-GMO campaign at a ratio of 5 to 1, and broke all time campaign spending records in Mendocino County. Mendocino County is now the first county in the nation to ban the growing of genetically altered crops and animals. This vote comes as a significant boost to efforts around the country, such as GE Free Vermont Campaign on Genetic Engineering.
Free Speech Radio News Audio Report | Santa Cruz IMC Coverage | National Family Farm Coalition

In June, a convergence of permaculture, guerrilla gardening, and resistance to biotechnology, Reclaim the Commons, will face off against a $1,500-per-head international Biotech industry convention in San Francisco. Also, March 12-14 are the dates of the Genetic Engineering Action Network conference in Berkeley.
Read more about Permaculture. Permaculture Activist Magazine. Biotech IMC

3/4/04: Bush returned to California today, with Air Force One touching down at Moffett Field just a few minutes before noon for a $1,000 per plate luncheon in Santa Clara. Along with some flag-waving pro-Bush-Cheney patriots, several hundred protesters were waiting for him outside the Convention Center to denounce the Adminstration's foreign and domestic agenda. North Valley Baptist Church donated about ten buses to corral/conceal the demonstration from passers by. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5   Video: 1
Also today, Bush unleashed his new ad campaign for the 2004 election, provoking widespread criticism from citizens for capitalizing off the misery of 9/11.

3/3/04: Eureka, CA - In a victory of the voters over Maxxam Inc., District Attorney Paul Gallegos will keep his job and continue with prosecution of a fraud case filed last year against the Texas-based corporation. The special recall election brought voters to the polls in higher than usual numbers. Defeating the recall by more than 61%, Humboldt County residents sent the message that Maxxam cannot bully their way with high priced recalls of elected officials who would hold them accountable.

The recall was the most expensive election in Humboldt County history. The $300,000 thrown in by Maxxam was used to gobble airtime in an advertising blitz that residents called "misleading," "scary," "insulting," and "pornographic." But considering Maxxam siphons $100 million per year out of Humboldt, a mere $300,000 is pocket change. And with attention diverted to the whole dirty affair, forested hillsides were being stripped for cash in areas recognized as highly impaired.

The misleadingly named “Workforce Housing Initiative," written by the Chamber of Commerce and a few developers and PR consultants, is on San Francisco’s March 2 ballot as Proposition J. Read more on the Housing & Poverty page

2/25/2004: Eureka, CA - The District Attorney's richest defendant poured more money into the DA recall this week. A statement filed with the Humboldt County Elections Office reported that Houston based Maxxam dumped another $75,000.00 into the campaign to recall Paul Gallegos.

In recent weeks, assistant DA Tim Stoen, who will lead prosecution of the Fraud lawsuit against PL, had confidential documents related to the Fraud suit stolen from his computer in the DA’s office.

As PALCOgate continues, District Attorney Paul Gallegos' house was broken into a second time. As the March 2, 2004 election draws near, the community is further subjected to Maxxam's expensive and misleading media campaign that aims to demonize Gallegos and steer attention away from the Fraud.

Ralph Nader weighed in on the recall campaign prior to announcing his bid for president. Former California Dept. of Forestry director Richard Wilson recently submitted a declaration stating he would not have agreed to the Headwaters Deal had he known the true probability of landslides connected with the high rate of timber harvest.