You are invited to participate in the Santa Cruz County Food Forum on Saturday, February 26th from 9AM to 5:30 PM (lunch provided!) at the Cabrillo College Cafeteria in Aptos.

If you had a say, how would you change the way we produce, process, distribute and prepare food?

By attending this one-day forum you will help develop specific actions for improving the food system of Santa Cruz County. You will also help build a stronger network of people for accomplishing these actions.

Organizing Resources: Santa Cruz Food (google group) I Downloadable Poster (.pdf)

Call to Action: Converge in Philadelphia, June 18th to 21st, 2005

CALLING ON ALL PEOPLE who resent the demise of democracy and hold to the promise of authentic popular empowerment! All who dare to paint poems of resistance on walls of oppression, dance in city streets in defiance of police states, and plant seeds of sedition in the shadows of Empire: come to Philadelphia! As the world's leading agents of eco-devastation and medical malpractice meet here in June, we cannot stand quiet. Join us to challenge the corporate crime, poisons for profit, and flagrant lies of the biotechnology industry, at the time of their annual international convention, with a creative uprising for truth, life and justice!

RECLAIM THE COMMONS! We recall a custom much older than two-party Republics, in which croplands, grazing land and forests were a public domain that benefited the whole community and belonged exclusively to no one. In today's global society, our commons encompass the biological strata that sustain life on earth --- air, water, food, medicine, energy, biodiversity -- plus the means of communication, education and transit that connect us culturally. Today, to a degree unprecedented in human history, corporations have seized this public wealth and privatized it to reap growing profits for a small and ever-shrinking elite. As public access to and control over the commons has eroded, so has true democracy. For democracy to thrive, for racial, economic, social and environmental justice to take deep root, and for sustainability to flourish ... we must reclaim our commons!

Check these websites in the coming months: [ www.reclaimthecommons.net I www.biodev.org I www.phillyimc.org I biotech.indymedia.org ]

In 2004, Bay Area Vegetarians joined organizations throughout the United States and abroad in supporting People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' campaign against KFC's inhumane practices and calling for welfare reforms. The campaign continued on Saturday, February 12, as several dozen animal rights activists protested at the Mission St. KFC.

Over 750,000,000 chickens raised for KFC (Yum! Brands) endure egregious and unnecessary abuses. Last year, PETA released a disturbing video taken by an undercover investigator in a KFC supplier slaughterhouse. Employees were deliberately kicking, stomping on, and slamming live chickens against a wall, spitting tobacco into their eyes, and ripping their heads and beaks off with their bare hands. Previously, a former employee of another top KFC supplier came forward with accounts of employees using "dry ice bombs" to blow chickens apart, snapping their legs for fun, and intentionally scalding them to death in feather removal tanks. These abuses are in addition to KFC suppliers’ routine practices of callously shackling chickens upside down, often breaking their legs in the process, and slitting the throats of conscious birds.

KFC has so far refused to implement comprehensive guidelines developed by its own animal welfare panelists to prevent these and other abuses. Until it does, compassionate people everywhere are protesting and choosing to steer clear of the Colonel.

Photos: [ 1 I 2 I 3 ]
Audio: KFC Protest in Santa Cruz

[ Progressive Animal Rights Alliance I KFC Demo in Santa Cruz - Oct 2004 I Giant KFC Protest in SF (2/5/05) I Kentucky Fried Cruelty ]

More than 300 students, parents, teachers, and administrators turned out at Scotts Valley High School on February 7 for a special board meeting to address charges that the school promotes a "Gay Agenda." Board members determined that Scotts Valley High is acting in compliance with AB 537, The California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 which prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity in California public schools.

By far the most moving and important words came from students and from teachers. They spoke of the need for open dialogue and education about issues regarding safety and respect. They spoke of the ways they have gone about creating a space for this dialogue and education. They showed that there are problems at the school and that the faculty and administration have identified ways that they can and should be dealt with. They spoke of vandalism, intimidation, fear, violence, name-calling, intolerance. They spoke of communication, solutions, encouraging discussion, education, and dialogue. In short, they demonstrated before the large assembled crowd that they are doing their jobs in a way that deserves our applause.

Audio: Scotts Valley Parents Protest Gay Tolerance
Audio: Scotts Valley School Board Coverage
Photos and Reportback: Scotts Valley High's students and teachers speak out!
Photos: Community Comes Together To Support Through Differences
Photos: Respect All Families

	"You make an issue. The issue isn't there, just lying around waiting to be picked up off the sidewalk. It is what the author is intense about in his life." Last night (2/11/05) the curtain came down on the life of playwright Arthur Miller. His most renowned works dissect social and political issues from an intimate viewpoint.
New York Times Photo

Skidmark Bob interviews Tracey James of Slave Revolt Radio in the studio of Free Radio Santa Cruz and talks about the show, the War in Iraq, Condi, Berkeley liberation Radio.

Listen to the Stream or Download the mp3

[ Slave Revolt Radio I FRSC Archive for Slave Revolt Radio I Free Radio Santa Cruz ]

On February 3, 2005, Mattilda, a.k.a. Matt Bernstein Sycamore, spoke at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Mattilda is the editor of a 37 author anthology called,"That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation."

Mattilda spoke on a variety of topics, including gay marriage and assimilation, challenging power, and the rejection of queer youth from established gay districts such as the Castro in San Francisco. I began recording as Mattilda was talking about a recent book reading in Atlanta, Georgia.

Audio: Listen to the Stream or Download the mp3 (length 31:41 / 14.5 MB)

[ Mattilda I Gay Shame SF I Gay Shame - A Radical Alternative; by Mattilda ]

For the last two and a half years at Scotts Valley High School, teachers have been fighting intolerance targeted specifically at LGBTI & Questioning students, out teachers, and allies. Teachers have placed posters regarding respect for the LGBT community in their classrooms; there have been PA announcements sponsored by the student diversity group regarding LGBT community events; and in-class distribution of the SVHS student newspaper, which has run student-written editorials representing both sides of various LGBT issues.

A parent, Mr. D'Andrea, whose child attends SVHS, is working closely with the right-wing Pacific Justice Institute. He has now threatened to sue the district over its supposed promotion of a "gay agenda."

There is a special board meeting that has been called for Feb 7 at 6:00 pm at Scotts Valley High School's Student Union.

Anti-gay activists have vowed to show up in force. Your presence during this special meeting will show that there is support for a safe learning environment for all students.

[ Leer mas en espanol I Request from an openly gay teacher at SVHS ]

Resources: [ California Student Safety and Violence Prevention I Make It Real I California Safe Schools Coalition I Safe Schools Project of SCC ]

On February 4th at 7:30 P.M. in the Veterans Memorial Building in downtown Santa Cruz (846 Front Street), Penny Little, the producer and director of the movie “Electile Dysfunction� will be at the Open Voting Consortium’s fundraiser event, camera in hand, to film activists, organizers, and members of the general public about the problems with the voting machines used in the last presidential election and alternative systems that can be adopted in the future. Speaking at the event will be activists Emily Levy, Project Coordinator of the Richard Hayes Philips project which discovered many election anomalies in Ohio, and Maureen Smith, long-time peace and social justice activist. Alan Dechert, president and founder of the Open Voting Consortium, will speak at the event to educate the public about the Consortium’s open voting system. The event will also feature showings of clips from the movies “Votergate� and Little’s most recent version of her film “Electile Dysfunction,� live music from the political rock band Ms. Information and the Santa Cruz Jazz Society, and a dance performance by the Federal Dancing Authority. Activists from as far as San Francisco and Berkeley will be attending the event, including Gary Hewlett, one of the organizers of the Mainstreet Moms Operation Blue (formerly known as Mainstreet Moms Oppose Bush).

In response to the FCC raiding Free Radio Santa Cruz on 9/29/04, Utah Phillips called up FRSC with the idea of a benefit concert to help get our pirate station sailing the airwaves again. Many people throughout the Santa Cruz area donated their time and resources to organize a fantastic musical benefit on December 10, 2004.

A commenter writes: Great pictures from a fantastic evening! Initially, I wasn't excited about going to see folk music, but the show completely overwhelmed me. ALL of the performers were AMAZING (including Faith Petric, the 89-year-old Wonder Woman, who sang the most honest song about the male-dominated priesthood I have ever heard!). I left the show energized, feeling more connected with *all* generations of progressive people. (I think it was *the* thing that finally shook off my month-long Post-Election Hangover, too. Thanks.) Did I hear talk about this becoming an annual event???? ;-)

Photos from the Benefit: A Night at the Rio with FRSC and Friends
Audio: FRSC Live Music Benifit at the Rio

[ Free Radio Santa Cruz I Donate to FRSC I FRSC Schedule ]