On January 29th, the Berkeley City Council voted 6 to 3 that the U.S. Marine Recruiting Station on Shattuck Avenue "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders." Protests have been taking place in front of the recruitment station for the past few months. On January 30th, Code Pink staged a mock debate against the recruitment station. Conservative radio talk show host Melanie Morgan was originally scheduled to participate, but she backed out at the last minute.

On Friday, February 1st, UC Berkeley's "Activism Right There" festival will culminate with an event that aims to catalyze a student community dedicated to cross-cultural organizing, political engagement and service. The festival will involve over thirty different student organizations and communities, as well as youth and community organizations from throughout the Bay Area.

On February 11th, more than two hundred participants of the Longest Walk 2 will embark on a five-month journey on foot from San Francisco, arriving in Washington, D.C. on July 11, 2008. Native American tribal leaders, religious groups, environmentalists, teachers, students, and people from throughout the world are joining the walk with its "peaceful and spiritual call to action to protect Mother Earth and defend human rights."

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299 contract with the University of California (UC) is expiring on January 31st. AFSCME members (custodians, food service workers, gardeners, maintenance workers, shuttle drivers, and medical center workers), students, teachers, and community allies will rally at UCSC's Baytree Plaza at 3:00pm on Thursday, January 31st, then march to the Chancellor's Office at Kerr Hall to demand justice for UC's lowest wage workers.

On Wednesday, February 14th, the California Food and Justice Coalition will hold a 12pm "Speak-Out and Eat-In for a Fair and Healthy Farm Bill" at the UN Plaza Farmers Market, near Nancy Pelosi's office. Participants will urge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to "have a heart" and support a Fair and Healthy Food and Farm Bill, one that "stops subsidizing corporate agribusiness at the expense of public health and instead invests our tax dollars into creating a sustainable, healthy, community-driven and just food system." After the speakout, participants will walk to Nancy Pelosi's office to deliver their message.

On Tuesday, January 29th, the Berkeley City Council unanimously approved a medical cannabis-related resolution that was co-sponsored by Kriss Worthington and Darryl Moore. This item declares Berkeley a "sanctuary city" for medical cannabis, calls on the local and state officials to not cooperate with the DEA as it undermines state and local medical cannabis laws; urges Governor Schwarzenegger to stand with the state's over 200,000 medical cannabis; and encourages the City to plan for continued safe access in Berkeley in the event of a DEA raid on any local dispensaries.

In the morning of January 30th, Alejandro Barrita Ortiz, director of the Auxiliary, Industrial, Banking and Commercial Police, was assassinated in Oaxaca City at “El Tequio” sports park near the international airport. Barrita had been identified as a key player in police operations during and immediately after the 2006 Oaxacan popular uprising. Police operations are underway throughout the city, and the military has cordoned off the area of the assassination.

The Santa Cruz Municipal Code Chapter 9.64 concerns the use of public parking lots and garages and was later amended to apply to all downtown public lots, and went into affect in mid-November, 2007. The law prohibits any person from staying in a parking garage or lot for more than 15 minutes and then only if you're parking or retrieving your car or bike. If you're disabled and can prove it, you have 30 minutes.

On Saturday January 26th, Bay Area activists protested at Senator Feinstien's home to commemorate the World Social Forum's Day of Action by demanding the Human Right to Housing in New Orleans. Demonstrators targeted Senator Feinstein due to her ambivalence on Senate Bill 1668, the "Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act of 2007," which would allocate funding for housing in New Orleans and guarantee one for one replacement of any destroyed public housing units.

The exhibition "Sunday Walk to the Zócalo of Oaxaca" is a multi-media artistic response to the popular revolt and resistance that unfolded in Oaxaca in 2006 and the first traveling solo exhibition outside of Mexico for artist Gabriela León. Some of the elements of the exhibition consist of a "barricade dress" made of barbed-wire, tire treads and mattress springs found amidst the detritus; a video projection of the artist wearing the dress walking among protestors and police; a sound installation that evokes the voices of the crowds; and tarps inspired by the temporary living structures during the lengthy protest. The exhibit is at UC Santa Cruz until March 8th, with an opening reception on Tuesday, January 29th.

In the week leading up to the January 11th national day of action against torture, student organizers with World Can't Wait and the Bay Area Revolution Club spoke in classes and distributed orange armbands at several Bay Area high schools. Larry Everest was invited by students at Leadership High to give a presentation about the abuses that are taking place at Guantanamo Bay. After the presentation, the Administration sent a letter home to all parents of students who attended the event-- stating the school's intention to teach the "other side" of torture, which one of the teachers described as the "Bush Administration's point of view." In addition, school administrators threatened to take students' orange bandanas.

The community of Santa Cruz won a victory on January 23rd in Parking Lot #4, the lot at Cathcart and Cedar. There under the two tall trees, the weekly drum circle bounced back from last week's police intimidation. Last week cops with ticketbooks dispersed the drummers, Food Not Bombs, and anyone loafing, loitering, or lingering with warnings of $100+ fines.

On January 20th, Retired Army Col. and US diplomat Ann Wright spoke in Santa Cruz to an audience of about 70 people about her new book "Dissent: Voices of Conscience". The book profiles government officials whose loyalty to the Constitution and the American people ultimately transcended partisan politics. The afternoon opened with songs from the Raging Grannies, and an introduction by Santa Cruz County Supervisor Neal Coonerty and Diane Rejman of the GI Rights Hotline.

On January 24th, the California Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that employers can fire workers for using medical marijuana. The court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Gary Ross under the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) that he had been wrongfully denied employment by RagingWire Telecommunications after he had tested positive for past use of marijuana on a urine test. The court ruled that it did not create a general right to use medical marijuana, but only protected patients from criminal sanction for possession or cultivation of marijuana. The court's decision leaves the door open for discrimination against medical marijuana users via drug urine tests.

Emergency protests across the US against the strangulation of Gaza were called for Friday January 25th. A San Francisco protest took place on at the Israeli Consulate from 4-5 PM.

On January 23rd, masked militants destroyed around two-thirds of the wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Tens of thousands of Palestinians flooded across the border to buy food and supplies. On January 25, Egyptian border guards formed human chains along the border, but were unable to stop hundreds of Palestinians from rushing into Egypt after a bulldozer wrecked another section of fence.

On Friday, January 25th at 12pm, Bay Area military veterans, peace and justice activists, Raging Grannies, and military families convened outside the Canadian Consulate in San Francisco (580 California Street) for a vigil and press conference leading up to a 1pm delegation. The delegation presented consulate officials with thousands of letters signed by people in United States in support of sanctuary for U.S. war resisters in Canada as part of Courage to Resist's "Dear Canada: Let Them Stay" campaign. Similar delegations took place Friday at consulates in Washington DC, LA, NYC, Dallas, Seattle, and Minneapolis.

On January 27th, People Power hosted a walk along the rail corridor in Santa Cruz in response to recent threats by Union Pacific to fine "trespassers" up to $2,000. The walk in the rain, which brought out more than two dozen people, featured local historian Ross Gibson who spoke about the past and possible future of rail transportation in Santa Cruz County. The Sunday stroll began at Swift Street on the Westside of Santa Cruz and ended at Bay Street.

On January 12th and 13th the first APPO (Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca) Youth Encuentro was held in Zaachila, Oaxaca, Mexico. Among the many plans of action agreed upon by the diverse group of young folks, was a march on January 15th for the liberation of political prisoners in Oaxaca, in particular David Venegas Reyes, an APPO council member and member of VOCAL (Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy and Freedom).

Weekly protests to demand justice for Gary King, Jr. are now held on Thursdays from 4pm to 6pm outside of the District Attorney's Office at 1225 Fallon St. in Oakland, at the corner of 12th St. & Oak St. Gary King Jr, a 20-year-old African-American man, was killed by Oakland police officer Patrick Gonzales on Sept. 20th, 2007. After tasering Gary King Jr., Gonzales then shot him twice in the back. Family, friends, neighbors, and supporters gather at the weekly protests to demand that Gonzales face the consequences of his actions-- "and to demonstrate that vicious police behavior will not be tolerated!"

Project Censored, 9/11 Truth and dozens of other media activist organizations are hosting the Truth Emergency Santa Cruz Media Summit on January 25th, 26th and 27th at the UC Convertion Center in Santa Cruz. Conference organizers say the three day gathering "is intended as a strategy session for already active and influential players to coordinate their most revealing messages, forge tactical alliances, introduce new distribution technologies, and mutually enhance each other's strongest work."

Native Americans have been in the United States from the beginning, yet according to health and employment statistics, they, like other people of color, still have not achieved equality. For example, between 1998 and 2000 Native American infants in the United States were 1.7 times more likely to die than white infants in their first year of life.

On January 9th, Peter Young spoke at the Long Haul in Berkeley prior to a screening of "Behind the Mask: The Story Of The People Who Risk Everything To Save Animals." Peter says that the film was not intended to entertain, but rather to confront viewers with their own inaction while pulling the mask away from the people in the movie so that viewers see themselves. He emphasized that there are no experts in direct action or animal rights actions and that "every single one of us is an animal liberator."

On Saturday, January 19th, San Francisco pro-choicers celebrated the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which made abortion legal for women in the United States. For the first time in years, pro-choice marchers were granted a permit for a rally in San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza. Following the rally, pro-choicers protested the "Walk for Life," in which thousands of anti-choice people from all over the state marched down the Embarcadero for an anti-abortion rally on the Marina Green. Pro-choice organizers said that "Roe v. Wade must be defended and expanded."

The hearing on the motion for a new trial for Eric McDavid has been changed to January 24th, and his sentencing has been moved to February 21st. Eric is now receiving two veggie burgers a night, and has also been given some items that he can eat for other meals. Sacramento Prisoner Support is encouraging supporters to write to Eric, and to also write to to the Judge in the case, encouraging him to give Eric the lowest possible sentence.

On Saturday, January 19th, the San Francisco Tenants Union will be holding a "Save Rent Control Convention" from 1:00-4:00pm to raise awareness and organize against an anti-rent control ballot measure that recently qualified for the June 2008 elections. The measure, which purports to be about reforming eminent domain, will abolish rent control in California, erode environmental protections, negatively affect local land-use planning, and stop future water projects.

On Friday January 18th, anti-choicers gathered for a "Standing Up For Life" conference and march in Oakland. This particular gathering focused on the African American community of the East Bay and cited the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. They planned to march past the Women's Choice Clinic, as march organizers accused the clinic of participating in a racist holocaust. Those who support Oakland as a pro-choice community for all women confronted the anti-choicers in Frank Ogawa Plaza, just a few blocks from the clinic.