Student organizers handed out literature and dropped a banner during the "Presidents Barbeque" at CSU Monterey Bay on Sunday, August 22. This year a group of students contributed to the event by passing out copies of CSUMB's Otter Disorientation Guide, a guide to a more realistic college experience. It also echoed the recent statewide call to action to defend public education on October 7th.

The Bay Area is commemorating the 90th anniversary of women's suffrage this week with speakers, films, costumes, and concerns. Members of the national organization Radical Women put out a call on the occasion of Women's Equality Day this year saying, "It's time to reclaim and re-energize a fighting, militant feminist movement!" In San Mateo, US Congresswomen Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo warned that women's reproductive rights continue to be threatened.

TO THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO AND THE WORLD
TO ALL THE WOMEN OF THE GREAT TRIQUI NATION
TO ALL THE COMPAÑERAS OF SOCIAL AND CIVIL ORGANIZATIONS
TO THE BRAVE WOMEN OF OAXACA
TO THE BROAD WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

We are the women of the red huipil who have always remained silent when the powerful has sent pain and death to our soil, those who have seen a son, a father, a brother, a comrade die without saying a word. This has been convenient for those interests who have turned our silence into a great business, filling their pockets with money, while our communities, in the midst of the 21st century, continue to be marginalized and forgotten with hundreds of women caring for their children by themselves because our men are murdered, persecuted or in the best of cases have to migrate in order to maintain their family.

We as women have decided to raise our voices and to become a part of this great autonomous project. Today, we are also in resistance, with much pain and hurt, and introduce ourselves to you in order to communicate to you that the first great action called for and coordinated by us, alone, as Triqui women has not been allowed to happen.

Today, August 23, 2010, a mobilization-march was planned that was to leave from our Triqui region and was to pass by the encampment we have in the city of Oaxaca, arriving in Mexico City, a march that was to be led by us, as women, from the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala, where as you all know, we continue living under the constant harassment of this paramilitary group linked to the government and which for more than nine months has impeded the normal development of our lives.

This past August 21, a group of comrades from our Autonomous Municipality were attacked in the community of Hierba Santa, as they were carrying out actions to coordinate the march. But this attack was not the only one. Unfortunately on this occasion three of our comrades died and several more were wounded, but since that day and up to now the violence has increased and has blocked our comrades from carrying out the planned mobilization.

After the August 21 ambush, around San Juan Copala, in the communities of Agua Fría Copala, several shootings have occurred against the houses of comrades who belong to our movement, there have also been attacks on the streets of some nearby communities, which has prevented our comrades from being able to leave their communities.

While in their statements to the media the other organizations that are not a part of this autonomous project have said that they have the intention of seeking peace talks, in their actions their message is different, and we don’t need any more speeches nor do we need to continue to be under the control of leaders who use us as figures or numbers to meet their needs and to obtain money, we need for there to be in action and amongst our communities true respect and no more violence, the facts are those which our comrades are communicating and we will not allow ourselves to be fooled.

In order to support our movement, on the seventh of this month a group of us women with our children decided to begin an indefinite encampment in the zócalo of the city of Oaxaca and to not leave until the conditions exist that will allow us to live in our community. To another group of women we have tasked with the work of raising our voices and sharing it with all of society so that we are heard.

This same group of women who today write this statement want to report that our struggle and resistance continues, that today we suffered yet another blow but this has strengthened our resolve to continue onward, we want to report to you that a delegation of ours will attend the National Feminist Meeting in the city of Zacatecas next week in order to seek solidarity from our comrades from all over the country and to denounce the politics of violence that we are living under in our region.

Finally, we want to denounce that the comrades in the Oaxaca encampment have informed us that they have seen several suspicious men around the area of the encampment, some of whom have been identified as members of these armed groups that have besieged and terrorized our Autonomous Municipality, we only desire that civil society is aware of these facts should they take any aggressive or provocative action against our peaceful encampment.

WOMEN IN RESISTANCE FROM THE AUTONOMOUS MUNICIPALITY OF SAN JUAN COPALA

Information und Diskussion zu Hintergründen des Camps von 25.09. bis 3.10.2010 und organisatorische Fragen, wie Anreise, Teilnahme usw. am Do, 9.9.2010 ab 20:00 Uhr im Politdiskubeisl im EKH, Wielandgasse 2-4, 1100 Wien. ([urlext http://no-racism.net/upload/329833551.pdf]Flyer als pdf[/urlext])

Der folgende Text gibt Einblick in die Arbeitsweise und die Forderungen des No Border Camps in Brüssel vom 25. Sep bis 03. Oktober 2010.

The California Nurses Association held a press conference August 19th accusing Sutter's California Pacific Medical Center, which operates St. Luke's Hospital, of discriminating against Filipino nurses. The nurses presented declarations from three former hospital managers documenting a policy of discrimination and data showing a precipitous decline in the number of Filipino nurses hired at St. Luke's. Union and community leaders suggested that the decline is related to Filipino nurses' leadership in the 2008 campaign to save the hospital.

By Stefan Christoff - August 24, 2010

Under fluorescent lights at the U.S./Canada border, south of Montreal, questions on the war in Iraq and the Palestinian Intifada were fired towards me by officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security..."Can you tell me what you think about the war in Iraq?" questioned the young American man in uniform.

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Five people were arrested on August 20th for chaining themselves to bicycles and blocking an entrance to the Arco/BP gas station at the corner of Fell and Divisadero in San Francisco. Friday evening's action was the 11th since the group Fix Fell began demonstrations to demand that the city and the Department of Public Works take measures to make the street safe for bicyclists.

In another move clamping down on public use of previously public space, the city of Santa Cruz posted "closing hours" on the City Hall grounds for the first time, without any kind of public hearing, announcement, or rationale. When then-Mayor Mike Rotkin tried to close down City Hall in 1996 to end another homeless protest against the Sleeping Ban, the City Council declined to back him and Judge Samuel Stevens ended up granting a very limited injunction requiring that folks there "obey all laws." This time, without a hearing, Parks and Recreation, which controls virtually all the public space around public buildings, issued an edict closing the area.

Social Security was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. Originally a plan for retired workers, it soon became a program to provide monthly income to widows and widowers and their minor children as well as the disabled. Calling the plan "America's promise to its citizens" and opposing any movement to privatize the program, activists in San Francisco and San Jose held demonstrations around the 75th anniversary of Social Security this past week.

Natacha Bouchart, Bürger_innen- meisterin von Calais, will dem No Border-Netzwerk verbieten, "Migrant_ innen" auf der Straße zu helfen. Doch weder No Border, noch die Hilfe oder die Straße gehören Frau Bouchart, welche bei den letzten Wahlen lediglich 23% der Stimmen ergattern konnte.

Early in the morning on August 17th, forest defenders set up a 60 ft. high road blockade to stop the active clear-cutting operations of Green Diamond Resource Company in the redwoods near Jacoby Creek Road north of Eureka in Humboldt County. These clear-cut logging plans represent a fraction of the ongoing clear-cut logging operations in Northern California. "We are not coming down voluntarily until the reckless logging in the Jacoby Creek watershed is stopped," said Fly, one of the activists from atop the 60 ft. high hanging platform.

By Harsha Walia - August 14, 2010

Relying on sound-bites about organized crime and terrorism is the best way to close public debate about government actions. Instead of relying on sensationalism, let us ask: On what basis are the Tamil migrants being declared terrorists?...Even if we believe that women and children were forced onto this boat, how do we justify jailing them as a humane response?

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Eine parlamen- tarische Anfrage nach der Abschiebung von zwei Spielern des FC Sans Papiers wurde beantwortet. Kurzes Fazit: schuld an allem sind die Leute, die gegen die Abschiebung protestierten - und Rechts- beraterInnen droht eine Anzeige.

Anarchist activist and former parade organizer Wes Modes was found guilty on August 16th of walking in the DIY New Year's parade on December 31, 2009. Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Jeff Almquist rejected arguments that the citation was discriminatory and that the city's permit requirements were unconstitutional. Almquist also denied a lengthy challenge to the City's permit requirements without addressing all of the points it brought up.

By No One Is Illegal-Vancouver - August 15th, 2010

Refugees are forced from their homes in emergency situations due to human rights abuses committed during wars, military occupations, or persecution against a minority group. We cannot expect refugees to wait for Canada to select them from overseas...According to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees...there are no penalties on refugees who arrive without pre-authorization and irregularly.

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12 sub saharan africans trying to reach Europe have died from thirst and hunger in the Algerian desert. according to survivors of the failed journey who returned to northern Mali the group ran out of food and water after their truck broke down between the Algerian border and the town of Tamanrasset.

By No One Is Illegal-Vancouver - August 13th, 2010

No One Is Illegal dropped a large banner which read: “Canada Jails Refugees” above Highway 1 in Vancouver/Burnaby this morning during rush-hour traffic. The banner drop was in response to the ongoing stigmatization and public hysteria around the MV Sun Sea, carrying 490 Tamil asylum seekers to BC.

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Demonstrators swarmed the Googleplex in Mountain View on August 13th. They converged on Google headquarters to protest the giant search engine company's proposal to the Federal Communications Commission that would exempt wireless communication from most government regulation.

On Thursday, August 19th at 8:30am the Fresno Brown Berets and CA Prison Moratorium Project will present a petition to the Fresno City Council demanding Police Chief Jerry Dyer be fired and that reforms be made like drug testing the cops. You are encouraged to attend and share your own story.