On Monday, November 17th at 7:30pm at the newly opened SubRosa Infoshop, there will be a benefit event for Dineh (Navajo) families at Black Mesa who are resisting forced relocation from their ancestral homeland and the continuation/expansion of devastating mining operations by Peabody Coal. Broken Rainbow is an Academy Award winning documentary that tells the story of this genocidal, industry-led displacement of over 14,000 Dineh.

In the 34 years since the Relocation Act was passed, Dineh at Black Mesa have steadfastly refused to leave their homeland, carrying on with their traditional ways. The remaining families face harassment from government officials and the steady degradation of their lands from massive strip mining operations.

A Santa Cruz contingent will be joining this year's Black Mesa Caravan. Work crews from across the US will be traveling to Black Mesa, to deliver supplies and assist with on-land projects. Read More

On November 7th, about 75 people turned out on Science Hill, the site scheduled for construction of a Biomedical Sciences Facility, to celebrate the one year anniversary of the UCSC Science Hill Tree Sit. The festivities featured speakers, spoken word, and musical performances, as well as laughter, storytelling and conversation. People also marked the occasion by sharing memories of November 7th, 2007, the day that hundreds of courageous students, staff, faculty, and community members withstood the violence of the police in order to support the tree sit. Read More and View Photos

see also: Words of a Tree Sitter | Standoff with Police as Activists Occupy Redwoods (Nov. 7, 2007) | Stop UCSC Expansion

Just a few days before the one-year anniversary of the aerial spraying for Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) in Santa Cruz, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) released a report by the Department for Pesticide Regulations (DPR) about the results of environmental monitoring during pesticide applications in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

While CDFA claims that this study proves the safety of the chemicals used, environmental groups and citizen advocates say that statement is misleading and point out fundamental shortcomings of the report. Rather, they argue, the report reveals another breach of the law by CDFA as it states that considerable drift occurred during aerial spraying in 2007. The study also confirms observations made by affected residents of inconsistencies in the dosage of the pesticides, creating whole clusters of illness. Read More

see also: Birds wash up on south county shores after ‘mystery spill’ (Nov. 13, 2007 from the Sentinel) | Fraud and Deception: The CDFA LBAM Eradication Program

The 15th annual Peace and Unity March takes place Sunday, November 16th starting with a rally at 11:00am in the Watsonville Plaza.

For the last 15 years, the Watsonville Brown Berets, along with families of fallen victims and other community members, have organized the Peace and Unity March. In this time, more than 80 residents of the Watsonville community have lost their lives to violence. Organizers say, "This must end! As a community, it is vital to remain proactive and send a united and positive message into all our homes and neighborhoods. Enough of the violence!" Read More

previous coverage: 2007 | 2006 | 2005

The brand new documentary "Terrorizing Dissent: Election Cut" will be screened on the evening of Saturday, November 8th at the Resource Center for Nonviolence. Independent media activists from Twin Cities Indymedia and other groups have released a new film which chronicles the events at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. The documentary shows exclusive footage of the criminalization of dissent in St. Paul, interviews organizers now charged as terrorists under the Minnesota PATRIOT Act, and uncovers who ordered the violence against demonstrators.

Featuring first-person accounts and footage from more than forty cameras on the streets, "Terrorizing Dissent" focuses on the story of dissent suppressed. All donations given at the event will benefit the RNC 8 and general RNC legal support. Read More

Trailer and Press Release | TerrorizingDissent.org

SubRosa, the new community space and anarchist infoshop in Santa Cruz, will host a weekly open mic on Thursdays at 8:00pm. The event is an opportunity to connect with friends and showcase creative music, poetry, and performance. SubRosa - a community space is located at 703 Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz. Read More

On Tuesday, November 4th, Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM will put callers (831-427-3772) live on the air from 10am - 12pm to report their voting experiences. FRSC will also broadcast and stream Democracy Now! at 8am and 12pm, as well as DN!'s Election Night Special for seven hours starting at 4pm. Read More and Share Your Experiences

Problem voting? Report it! | Election 2008: Propositions & Races | Indybay's Government & Elections page

SubRosa, a new community space in downtown Santa Cruz, hosted its grand opening event on November 1st. The event included an art show, spoken word, live music, food, and a first look inside this vibrant new social space.

Music poured out into the rainy night, as people cramped tightly together to share in the musical performances at the grand opening of SubRosa. The small, but cozy space was filled with a vibrant youthful crowd. Event goers snacked on piles of free bread, and coffee from reusable ceramic mugs. Artwork from local artists covered the freshly painted walls, as well as a colorful display of ‘zines, and a lending library. The set had almost everyone jumping and singing along. The space will be a home to future performances, open mics, and Free Skool workshops. Stop in for a steaming cup of coffee and check out the extensive library.

SubRosa: A Community Space is a non-profit, donation-funded space for art and radical projects run by a collective of volunteers from the Santa Cruz anarchist community. Located at 703 Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz, SubRosa is open 7 days a week, 8am-1pm and 3pm-8pm. Read More

On October 17th, Naomi Klein spoke at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz about her new book: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. In The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s “free market” policies have come to dominate the world -- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.

Read More with Audio and Photos | Naomi Klein Speaks at Stanford

anonymous writes, "On October 18th both exterior surveillance cameras at the McDonald's on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz were stolen in a follow-up to the action in August. This time the cameras were removed and disposed of.

"McDonalds is a major sponsor of the 2010 Winter Olympics which are flooding the city of Vancouver with increased surveillance and police presence (and invading native lands that have never been surrendered with rapacious corporate development and profiteering). Our enemy has technological eyes everywhere, but that only means that it is easier to gouge them out anywhere." Read More

anonymous writes, "On the night after Columbus Day 2008 we vandalized eleven windows at the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Recruiting Center in Santa Cruz County with a paint and acid mix.

"The U.S. government has always waged a war of extermination against land-based ways of life in order to impose capitalist exploitation of the earth and its peoples.

"For 516 years they and their predecessors have been met with resistance. Neither law enforcement nor the military can ever defeat our struggle." Read More

George Cadman interviews Antonia Juhasz about her new book, The Tyranny of Oil: The World's Most Powerful Industry and What We Must Do To Stop It.

As oil prices—and public outrage—skyrocket, Antonia Juhasz, a leading industry critic and expert on corporations and globalization, gives the hardest-hitting exposé of the oil industry in decades. In The Tyranny of Oil she investigates the true state of the U.S. oil industry—uncovering its virtually unparalleled global power, influence over public officials, and lack of regulatory oversight, as well as the truth behind $150-a-barrel oil, $4.50-a-gallon gasoline, and the highest profit in corporate history. Exposing an industry that thrives on secrecy, Juhasz shows how Big Oil manages to hide its business dealings from policy makers, legislators, and, most of all, consumers. She reveals exactly how Big Oil gets what it wants—through money, influence, and lies. Read More and Listen to the Interview

Grand juries are one of the good intentions paving the road to our current legal system. Unlike a trial jury, which decides whether a suspect is guilty, a grand jury merely decides whether there’s probable cause to prosecute a suspect on felony charges. The goal was to create a filter to catch unjustified felony cases and stop them at an early stage, so that the suspect wouldn’t be wrongfully prosecuted (and have to spend unnecessary time in jail and unnecessary money on lawyers). But it all went very wrong.

Defense attorneys aren’t even allowed in same room as the grand jury, let alone permitted to put on defense witnesses, question the prosecution witnesses, or make any statements to the jurors. So grand juries nearly always just “rubber stamp” the cases brought before them. For example, in fiscal year 2000, federal grand juries voted to indict a total of 59,472 suspects and chose not to indict 29 suspects—only one out of every 2,000 suspects was left un-indicted. An additional factor in grand juries’ unwholesome compliance with prosecutorial plans is the frequent lack of diversity among the jurors.

download the PDF: What You Should Know About Grand Juries