There were about a dozen people at the demonstration on Mission St. in Santa Cruz on October 2, World Farm Animals Day, to protest KFC. Mission St. is also Highway 1 and there were a lot of people that honked in support of the demonstration. Informational flyers were passed out to passing motorists, as well as customers who were both entering and leaving KFC. This particular demonstration lasted about an hour, and by the time we left, there were only two customers in the restaurant.

At one point, I was standing on the sidewalk and looking inside the KFC when an employee flipped me the bird - you know, gave me the middle finger. I was quite amused by this so I walked up to her and asked her if she wanted to do that again for the camera. She declined and told me she was going to sue me.

But I have to say, the KFC employee of the day award goes to the manager for running after me and kicking me in the upper thigh. It is too bad that Amy, a film student at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, had stopped filming just seconds prior to him kicking me. However, for what it's worth, she recorded a statement saying that she witnessed the manager kick me.

Audio (mp3): Corporations in Santa Cruz || Ryan - health, veganism, the campaign to reform KFC... || Amy

[ The Progressive Animal Rights Alliance of Santa Cruz || KentuckyFriedCruelty.com || World Farm Animals Day ]

see also: World Farm Animals Day in Israel

The San Francisco Mime Troupe is wrapping up thier season with 2 FREE performances of thier production Doing Good in Santa Cruz Oct 1st and 2nd at San Lorenzo Park. Music at 2:30pm and Show at 3:00.

Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for another wild yet thought-provoking ride with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, which will open its new season with a brand new play, Doing Good, inspired by John Perkins’ Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Loaded with history and a global perspective, Doing Good has a backdrop of US foreign policy since WWII. It is an epic work, in step with the Mime Troupe’s raison d’etre, laced with laughter, tragedy, snappy dialogue and live music.

see also: : Political Theatre: San Francisco Mime Troupe in SC Oct 1 & 2 Volunteers needed!

The No Border Encuentro took place on August 27-28th at the Sherman Heights Community Center in San Diego/Aztlan. Two days of events including a maquiladora tour, a benefit concert and a day of forums, panels and encounters took place with over 100 people from San Diego, Los Angeles, Fresno, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Orange County, Eugene, Portland, Tijuana, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia participating. On the walls hung photos of recent actions to stop the Minutemen, a poster of the PGA Hallmarks, and maps of Calexico, where the No Border Camp will be in September. [Complete Summary, another account]

Radio coverage was done all weekend by Blast Furnace Radio, due to some technical difficultues at radioActive sanDiego.

Audio: Beats Against Borders with Dias Tristes, Boomerang Politick and Entartete Kunst | Encuentro Opening and Border History Panel | History of the Border Part 2 | Closing presentation by Ashanti Alston | Migration and Indigenous Nations 1 | 2

Photos: Maquiladora Tour | More | Beats Against Borders | Encuentro

This is only part of a large movement against the MinuteMen, La Migra and the Border itself. Thursday night before the conference, La Raza Rights Coalition held a community forum to present their demands around these issues to legislators. Next weekend, Sept 2-4, BorderHack 2005 will be taking place in Tijuana. Also that weekend, on the 3rd, is a forum against the Minutemen in Chula Vista.

The Encuentro was planned as a space to strategize about how to create a world without borders, how to effectively challenge racism and how to put an end to the Minuteman Project. These strategies will be put into action from September 16-18th in a series of actions and a No Border Camp in Calexico.

see also: Sep. 16-18: Confront & Shutdown the Minutemen! No Borders, No Racists!

Me encuentro en la Plazuela del Carmen, entonces escucho susurros, que se hacen más fuertes. -"...educación primero al hijo del obrero, educación después al hijo del burgués...". Camino aprisa para encontrarme con la marcha de estudiantes de la UABJO (Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca), jóvenes no mayores de 25 años que caminan en dos filas, en medio de estas marcha la gente con pancartas, que acusan al rector Neri de utilizar el Plan Juárez, para disminuir la calidad de la educación, algunas de las propuestas de este plan son: privatizar la educación, aumento de cuotas, recorte de matriculas, eliminar el derecho de los estudiantes para poder elegir a su director, entre otras cosas. Lee más...

I was in the Carmen Plaza and I heard whistling and the chants were getting louder, “…education first for the children of the workers, educucation later for the children of the rich….� I quickly walked to encounter the march of students of the UABJO (Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca), youth no older than 25 years that were walking in two lines, in the middle of the march was the students that were carrying large signs accusing the director of the university, Neri, of using Plan Juarez to decrease the quality of the education. Some of the main points of this plan are: privatize the education, increase the tuition, decrease the number of students, eliminate the students´ rights to elect their director, and other such cutbacks in overall quality of the education.

English Translation || Texto de Aviador || Fotos || Mas Fotos

On Tuesday, July 26th, Felton residents passed an eleven million dollar bond, intiating the process of buying back their local water utility. For the past three years, their water service has been owned by a subsidiary of the German-owned, mulitnational corporation, RWE Thames Water.

A spokesman for the company has stated that that they have no intention of selling the utility and hinted at a long, expensive legal battle if Felton residents follow through with eminent domain proceedings

Multinational corporations are buying up water rights worldwide. About five percent of the global water supply is controlled by private companies. This privatization raises concerns, and in some places, like Bolivia, water privatization has caused deadly conflict.

Audio: FSRN: Felton Voters Support Local Water Control

[ Felton Flow || Felton Water News || Water For All ]

The Committee to Raise the Minimum Wage will hold a press conference Tuesday, Jan. 17th, 12pm, at City Hall, 809 Center St., Santa Cruz.

Friends,

Jeff has recently written two Dispatches, pasted below, about the recent arrests and the death of William Rodgers. Please feel free to forward and post these writings elsewhere.

Thanks to everyone for their ongoing support of Jeff and all political prisoners. Happy 2006,
-Friends of Jeff Free Luers

Forum: Bolivia after the election of Evo Morales: what way forward? w/ a Presentation by UCSC student Eric Blanc, who has spent the last four months organizing in Bolivia.

8pm, Wed, 1/18/06 Porter Fireside Lounge - Free!

Earlier today, someone on the other side of the Potomac
(visitors I.P. 149.101.1.123, US Dept of Justice)
did a Yahoo! search for Banadex (a division of Chiquita Brands), and read my coverage of their corporate impunity enjoyed at expense of US taxpayers. One would expect the Department of Justice would already know about the the case history of Banadex: they've been fined as recently as 2 years ago for their crimes in Honduras. Journalists who have publicly challenged Chiquita in the past have been dogged by lawyers and stalked on the internet, especially the award winning "journalist in exile" Ignacio Gomez, who eventually found refuge in Cuba.

PLEASE FORWARD:

Fighting Evictions in New Orleans

Hundreds of people have been evicted everyday from their houses in New Orleans. Investors and developers are rushing to take advantage of the crisis, overshadowed by a criminal negligence by the Bush Adminstration.

Come hear Jeremy Prickett, an organizer with Labor's Militant Voice, speak about the work he has been doing in New Orleans fighting evictions through direct actions, and how people here in Santa Cruz can help these efforts.

Jan 17, Tuesday 8pm, at the Women Center, UCSC.