[scimc-news] Santa Cruz Indymedia Newsletter Septemeber 29, 2005

[the open publishing newswire]

SANTA CRUZ INDYMEDIA UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005
http://santacruz.indymedia.org

News and events currently featured as of Thursday, September 29:

Thursday's events:

4pm EarthVision Environmental Film Festival

6pm Strike Talk on Free Radio

7pm Watsonville Brown Berets

7pm Reportback from the Border
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/newswire/display/18636/index.php

7pm Curtis Reliford - Louisiana Relief report back
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/newswire/display/18653/index.php

8pm Student & Worker Coalition for Justice meeting
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/newswire/display/18651/index.php

Check the SC-IMC calendar for full details!
http://www.radicalendar.org/group/SC-IMC

PUBLISH UPCOMING EVENTS on the SC-IMC Calendar!
http://www.radicalendar.org/calendar/SC-IMC/all/new/index.php


SAN FRANCISCO MIMI TROUPE COMES TO SANTA CRUZ ON OCT 1ST AND 2ND

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.
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/17194/index.php


SANTA CRUZ BUS DRIVERS ON STRIKE

UTU Local 23, the bus operators for the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit
District, are going on strike beginning Tuesday, September 27th.

A State mediated agreement had been reached with the Transit District and
was signed by Les White, the District's general Manager, and our Union.
Our Union agreed not to go out on strike while we tried to resolve some of
the other issues we had with the Transit District. However, on Friday,
September 23rd, the Transit Board reneged on this agreement - they voted
it down. Instead they chose to once again impose their last, best and
final offer.

By vetoing this agreement, the Transit Board has shown no concern for the
public or our passengers. The drivers have tried to preserve the public
transit system in this county but the Board is making this impossible.
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/17193/index.php


UC SANTA BARBARA DISORIENTATION GUIDE

A sister publication to UCSC's DisoGuide is now out! The SBDisoGuide can
also be found on the web at sbdisorientation.org

Welcome to college, what will you do? This is a world of war and
injustice, pain, hope, and struggle. The richest one percent of humanity
controls as much wealth as the bottom 60 percent. There are more than two
billion peasants living today. There are countless more whose lives are
equally difficult, and they all live in the first world’s long shadow. A
global ecological crisis is upon us. Centuries of exploitation have left
large swaths of the earth barren and poisoned. A crisis of meaning has
overtaken us. We are continually bombarded with messages promoting
consumption, wealth, and individual gain as the highest achievements we
can aspire toward.

So welcome to college. How did you get here? Ever wonder how many people
dream of attending the university but can’t afford it? What will you do
with your time and education here? Do you believe that money, appearance,
entertainment, and shopping are the be-all-end-all? Or is there more to
life? Is there a different meaning? Collectively, most of us came here not
entirely of our own choosing. If the future were our own, what would we
make of it? Can we change things for the better?

The (Dis)Orientation Guide suggests some possibilities. The future is
written partly in the rubble of yesterday’s burned banks. It’s etched in
the blazing passions of past hunger strikes, sit-ins and organized
uprisings. Part introduction, invitation, and inspiration, this booklet is
a resource to connect you with others in your search for meaning and
understanding. The goal of the Guide is to challenge all assumptions and
to catalyze radical thought about the university, society at large, and
our individual lives.
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/17192/index.php


MONTEREY'S WEAPONIZED DOLPHINS

It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists
and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Power Structure activists who have studied the US navy's cetacean training
exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers
and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among
the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins
for military purposes at the Defense Intelligence Institute of Monterey,
but has refused to confirm that any are missing.

Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War.
The US Pacific bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot
terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached
during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the
controversial use of dolphins in the US defence program claim it is vital
they are caught quickly.
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/17191/index.php


ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATION HELD IN SANTA CRUZ ON SEPTEMBER 24

On September 24, about 100 people who are "sickened by the killing,
torture, and spiraling human and financial costs of the illegal and
immoral war in Iraq" held an anti-war demonstration in Santa Cruz. People
rallied at the County Court House and marched to the Town Clock.

I got to the rally in time to hear some folk music, take some photos of
the Raging Grannies, listen to a guy describe how voting machines don't
work, listen to another guy descibe how 911 was an inside job, see Robert
passing out flyers about a taser related death inside the Santa Cruz Jail,
etc....

Meanwhile, some Santa Cruz activists chose to protest in San Francisco.

A march and related events are taking place in Washington D.C.
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/17189/index.php


STOP LETHAL TASERING IN SANTA CRUZ

What are sheriff’s deputies doing tasering an unarmed man in jail?

According to Sentinel reports, on September 18th, Santa Cruz Sheriff
Robbins’ Deputies tasered* David Anthony Cross inside the Santa Cruz
County Jail, alleged to “control” him after he began banging his head on
the cell door and “acting irrationally.” The five second “stun” charge of
50,000 volts was applied directly to his shoulder “once or twice” rather
than at a distance, according to Lt. Phil Wowak.

In April, Santa Cruz Mayor Mike Rotkin refused to direct the police
department to open its records regarding taser use. On September 24th, a
Public Records Act request was filed with the City, seeking to determine
how widespread police use of tasers is.
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/17188/index.php


POWER, POLITICS, AND SOCIAL CHANGE: A NEW WEB SITE

Hoping someone out there might be interested in my new Web site on power,
politics, and social change. It includes documents on national and local
power structures as well as an updated photo essay on the Bohemian Grove
and suggestions on new directions for progressive social change.

Who Rules America: Power, Politics, and Social Change is a Web site with
many different aspects, created with the hope that everyone will be able
to find something of use to them. It is based on social science research,
mostly in sociology, but it can be applied in activism, media endeavors,
or teaching.
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/17187/index.php


SANTA CRUZ FIRST NIGHT PARADE OF FREAKS

Call out for Santa Cruz DIY New Year's Eve parade and party

After several years of city-sponsored mediocrity, First Night Santa Cruz
officially goes belly-up. To hell with city-sponsored anything anyway.
Let's do our own parade. A Last Night celebration. A last night of waiting
for governments, institutions, or anyone else to entertain us, satisfy us,
bring us security, freedom, or joy. We reclaim our streets and usher in
the new year with our own celebration.

We're not asking for permits or permission. We're just gonna do it. We'll
start at one end of the mall and march down Pacific. Extra bonus points if
we can pull off a swell dance party to rollicking live music on the other
end. This is your parade, your celebration, and your new year. Interested?

Don't wait to see who else is involved or whether we will really pull this
off. Fuck it. Jump in.
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/17186/index.php


SANTA CRUZ RESIDENT AIDS KATRINA SURVIVORS

Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast region, August 29 leaving a
path of death and destruction. With the eyes of the world focussed
squarely on the relief efforts there, we are hearing alot of stories about
the inadequate response of the federal government. Rather than complain,
some people have decided to take matters into there own hands, and provide
some measure of relief to whoever they can. One such person is Santa Cruz
resident Gary McGlaughlin, a construction contractor who got in touch with
some old friends in Tennesee working with the group Plenty International.
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/17184/index.php


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Center network with a focus on local issues and the direct impact of
larger issues on our community. Santa Cruz Indymedia is not a membership
organization; it is a tactic, a concept, and a movement that can be
effectively utilized in many different ways.

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http://santacruz.indymedia.org

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